tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-119903592024-03-08T04:01:26.007+00:00nb. some men are from VenusA blog from this chap in Cambridge posting about life with photos and the occasional rant. Original posts appear on <a href="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk">nickbailey.co.uk</a> along with some more content. Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.comBlogger476125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-52313330115585282812019-04-26T08:26:00.001+00:002019-04-26T08:26:52.220+00:00Asking Google to go ISO Date<p>This was my most recent feedback to Google:</p> <div class="roman">Please, please, please. Please, can you use ISO date format on your web site? Or at least allow dates to reflect local conditions. <br/> Or at the very very least include the <b>whole of the year</b>: YYYY<br/> <br/> Perhaps Americans can understand 4/11/19 as being m/dd/yy but for the rest of us it just looks confusing and took me a good few minutes to work out when this reply was posted.<br/> <br/> Simply adding the whole year 4/11/2019 would help, and while DD-MM-YYYY is better & more obvious for UK users (being as it is: small-medium-large), YYYY-MM-DD is simply better all round; unambiguous, alphabetical, part of an ISO standard, and machine readable.<br/> <br/> Please.<br/> Please, move to ISO for your dates.<br/> Pretty please...<br/> <br/> Thank you.<br/> Nick Bailey<br/> <br/> PS. Please also remember not to be evil.</p> <p><b>2019-04-26</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-87700566138941574472017-10-11T19:36:00.001+00:002017-10-11T19:36:37.083+00:00Ely, Winchester of the East<p>I've been discovering the delights of Ely with my little boy on our Wednesdays together. Having sampled most of the swimming pools in the area I seem to have settled on Ely as having about the best. The water in the learner pool is warm (I think they have underfloor heating throughout) and the pool slopes gently from zero to about one metre meaning there is a great shallow area for playing and building up confidence. The changing facilities are also quite nice and clean (and bright unlike Abbey Pool). The only down side was that when we went a fortnight ago the lifeguard was falling asleep in his chair - I was alerted by this little voice saying "Daddy, that man's sleeping" - not what you want to see from a lifeguard of a learner pool. This week he seemed well awake and we had a great time playing in the water with the floaty tube things and these armband cakes that a friend lent to us. Thinking of buying a set. After swimming we went to Waitrose for a little shop and a coffee (another key advantage of Ely over Cambridge!) and then took our picnic in the grounds of the Cathedral. We popped inside and the little guy was well impressed with the height of the ceiling and that it was painted. So much so that he was commenting on this as we talked through our day at bedtime. With warm weather we also managed some gardening time, cooking together - made a tofu stroganoff - and then a night time walk round the village.</p> <p><iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=as_ss_li_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=nickbaileycou-21&marketplace=amazon®ion=GB&placement=B07122TJRM&asins=B07122TJRM&linkId=0d2b038ad6fe7f418758a16dccc8e388&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"></iframe></p> <p><b>2017-10-11</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-49700791535962556702017-07-28T21:00:00.001+00:002017-07-28T21:00:27.895+00:00Blackberry Fermenting Progress<p>Here are the first two batches of blackberry wine. It seems that the blackberries are out super early this year which is really exciting to see. In fact after putting the little guy to bed one night this week I was able to get out for an hours picking still in the light. It was a lovely refreshing experience, reminded me of the freedom of my Soton days. I've handled these two batches differently, on the right is my usual bread yeast, while on the right I'm trying a natural wild yeast ferment which I created by essentially making a blackberry starter - mushed blackberries and waited for it to fizz. It seems there is some visual difference between the two ferments, with the wild jar having more lees appearing in the base where as the bread yeast seems somewhat clearer. Sadly, despite my best attempts, I yet again failed to not have an explosion - the bread yeast popped over night leaving a pool of wasted juice on the counter this morning. Thankfully I didn't loose much and also didn't paint the ceiling like I did last year.</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20170728_blackberryFermenting.jpg" alt="Fermenting Blackberry Wine. © Nick Bailey"><br>text</p> <p><b>2017-07-28</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-85119867119507976632017-01-02T20:48:00.001+00:002017-01-02T20:48:47.071+00:00New Year's Day Walk (a day late)<p>I would like to have had a little traditional walk on New Year's Day but the weather was not on my side yesterday. Even less on my side was my entire body and brain which was crashing and throwing up for a second day running. It was a pretty disastrous New Year for me. However, today was much improved - I finally woke without pain (though my knose and sinuses are still clogged) and the weather was stunning, crisp and sunny. I started slowly with some general cleaning and sorting and removal of the various vomit receptacle I'd appropriated over the previous couple of days. This cleaning was also a sort of pre-emptive DIY procrastination which I find myself doing when I have more than one project to achieve. It results in me only just starting various tasks in the hope that having started them I'll have broken the back of the effort and the rest is simply finishing off. (For example, two of the kitchen cupboard doors are now without their failing wood-effect skin).</p > <p>After lunch I finally mustered enough motivation to get outside into the glorious day - yet another warm new year, warm enough to eat al fresco as it happens. I took the car out north to to hunt for a source of horse manure that I'd caught wind of - the <a href="http://www.bfrs.co.uk">Bridge Farm Riding School</a>. I found it north of Cottenham and, after helping the owner locate a rogue chicken, I was shown a veritable quagmire of horse poo. "Take as much as you want, come morning, noon and night, tell all your friends" was the rather encouraging instructions. I loaded two bags of the driest materials into my boot and headed north again to a potential walk I'd seen on the map.</p> <p>So here we are at the walk. Starting from the <a href="https://www.google.co.uk/maps/place/Twentypence+Marina/@52.3212966,0.1736702,14.78z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xf6255dd3e213f422!8m2!3d52.3198517!4d0.1714629">Twentypence Marina</a> I walked East atop the levy on the north bank of the Great Ouse. I'd suggest the 'Great' is debatable - more a disappointing Cam. It was only about two kilometres to the A10 which I used to cross over the river to the South bank's levy and back along another public footpath. It was a nice walk, reminiscent of those along the River Severn, and in glorious winter sun which thankfully stayed aloft all the way back.<br/>PS. Something went funny with my phone camera as I took the first photo, which has turned out rather like an historical artefact.</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/2017-01-02_new_year_ouse_walk_01.jpg" alt="River Oose. © Nick Bailey"><br>The levy along the Great Ouse, C. 1900</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/2017-01-02_new_year_ouse_walk_02.jpg" alt="River Oose. © Nick Bailey"><br>The Ouse, not as great as the Severn, only just about flowing</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/2017-01-02_new_year_ouse_walk_03.jpg" alt="River Oose. © Nick Bailey"><br>In a flat landscape you can't see for miles - those trees on the horizon are Wilburton only 3 km away.</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/2017-01-02_new_year_ouse_walk_04.jpg" alt="River Oose. © Nick Bailey"><br>I came across an scattering of these shells, I assume fresh water shellfish collected by birds.</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/2017-01-02_new_year_ouse_walk_05.jpg" alt="River Oose. © Nick Bailey"><br>Self portrait against the levy (which was dry)</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/2017-01-02_new_year_ouse_walk_06.jpg" alt="River Oose. © Nick Bailey"><br>Much of the local architecture can best be described as "demoralising"</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/2017-01-02_new_year_ouse_walk_07.jpg" alt="River Oose. © Nick Bailey"><br>These pony/donkey/horses were somewhere between friendly and incredibly menacing</p> <p><b>2017-01-02</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-30929117577800720212016-11-10T23:45:00.001+00:002016-11-10T23:45:21.617+00:00Orion Moto G3 Case Mod<p>This evening has been rather successful. I finally got round to attempting this modification of my Moto G3 (3rd Generation) case. I had been planning to simply drill some random holes all over it to let the yellow shine through the otherwise rather dominant black case. But then I realised that I could make a pattern out of the holes. Rather nicely, Orion (which happens to be my favourite constellation) fitted really rather nicely. Win for me.</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20161110_motoG3_orionMod_after.JPG" alt="Moto G3 Case Orion Mod. © Nick Bailey"><br>My Moto G Case Orion Modification</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20161110_motoG3_orionMod_before.JPG" alt="Moto G3 Case. © Nick Bailey"><br>Before, just a black case on my Moto G3</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20161110_motoG3_orionMod_inside.JPG" alt="Moto G3. © Nick Bailey"><br>Behind the case is a rather stunning yellow body</p> <p><b>2016-11-10</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-12923824819426118682016-05-05T08:14:00.001+00:002016-05-05T08:14:10.914+00:00Bike Maintenance Sucess: Delicious<p>What a relief - my bike maintenance worked a treat. After months exposed to the elements and without the exactly correct tools for the job, I managed to reassemble my spare rear axle, attach the new cassette and fit the new chain. My bike feels like new. It is so easy to forget how solid a drive-chain should feel on a road bike as the parts gradually become worn. I often think that the whole thing about chains being worn is just an excuse that bike shops use to add the cost of a new chain. But no, a new chain really is the business.</p> <p><b>2016-05-05</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-11490076684254064092016-04-26T20:05:00.001+00:002016-04-26T20:05:47.093+00:00New Shimano Freehub for R500 Wheel<p>I disassembled my spare rear axel many months ago when I found that the free hub had cracked. I eventually got round to buying a new free hub (nearly as much as a whole wheel - damn this capitalism) and now, eventually eventually getting round to re-assembling the thing. Of course that meant I had forgotten how I disassembled it. Thankfully youtube to the rescue:</p> <p align="center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/a9mAHypsjdo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></p> <p><span class="grey">Ha! In writing this HTML I've had to teach Chrome to accept the misspelling: center. Damn doublethink.</span></p> <p><b>2016-04-26</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-28429167267518656612016-03-15T11:13:00.001+00:002016-03-15T11:13:55.264+00:00Sungkyunkwan Univeristy Logo on the Earth<img alt=". © Nick Bailey" src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/sungkyunkwanUniLogoEarth.jpg" /><br />Alaköl Audani bearing a very close resemblance to the Sungkyunkwan University Logo<br />
I was browsing the Earth as you do (or at least as I do) following this tweet from <a href="https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake/">Tim Peake</a> on board the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html">ISS</a>:<br />
<a href="https://twitter.com/astro_timpeake/status/709676910800982017"><img alt="A Tweet by Tim Peake" src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/timPeakeTweet.JPG" /><br />Tims tweet</a><br />
While trying to locate those mountains I zoomed in on a rather intriguing formation which looked like a bit of human engineering - it was indeed a river delta which has been massively utilised for farming right in the far reaches of the east of Kazakhstan near the border with China. I then realised that the formation looked quite like a ginkgo leaf which is the logo for my Father-in-law's university in South Korea - Sungkyunkwan (also the oldest). Sadly when I checked the logo online I realised that the land formation is instead the mirror reflection of the logo. Here they are side by side. For your interest the geographic coordinates are: <a href="http://binged.it/1U3GUHt">46.040012N, 81.036736E</a> near the town of
Alaköl Audani<br />
<img alt="Sungkyunkwan University Logo. © Nick Bailey" src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/sungkyunkwanUniLogoEarth.jpg" /><br />Alaköl Audani bearing a very close resemblance to the Sungkyunkwan University LogoAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-8166990609080350342016-03-11T09:49:00.001+00:002016-03-11T09:49:27.448+00:00Bad + Good or OK?<p>Here is a <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1578275/">dilema</a> I face remarkably often: if there is something I don't like, should I dilute it in order to make it weaker but longer, or have a short sharp but horrible hit? Most recently occurrence of this is with tea. My usual supplier, The <a href="http://www.dailybread.co.uk/">Daily Bread Cooperative</a> in <a href="http://www.dailybreadcambridge.org/">Cambridge</a> used to stock really nice "breakfast" tea, by which I believe they meant Assam. Either way, it was a really good taste, strong but smooth loose tea. Sadly some time last year their supplier failed meaning they were out of stock for months. Then when they finally got more stock in the quality was significantly reduced - much more dusty than it used to be making a much rougher cup (yes, this is going to be one of those dull blog posts I'm afraid). Dr K brought a bag recently and we found that not only is the quality still rubbish, but also it has gone up by nearly £1 (~+20%) [yes, this is a grumpy moan <a href="https://twitter.com/DB_Cambridge">@DB_Cambridge</a>].</p> <p>Anyway, to my problem. It has crossed my mind that I could simply ditch the tea, but I hate being wasteful, so I feel compelled to consume it. Now should I buy some other tea which is nicer - say <a href="http://shop.clipper-teas.com/collections/speciality/products/clipper-organic-assam-tea-125-g">Clipper Loose Assam</a> - and mix it together to make the worse tea better? Of course this also makes the nice tea worse and also last longer all round. Or shall I try and work through the worse tea keeping the nice stuff separate so that occasionally reward myself with a nice pot? The same thing has happened at work when I brought some Coop loose tea only to discover that, surprise surprise, it's equally dusty rubbish (actually, it's remarkably identically to the Daily Bread tea - suspicious?</p> <p>Forget my dilemna. Where can I buy nice tea nowadays?</p> <p><b>2016-03-11</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-19030949547782253282016-03-09T15:25:00.001+00:002016-03-15T11:16:04.648+00:00Brimstone Moth<p>Using this rather nice simple website I was able to identify a moth I photographed 11 years ago as being a Brimstone. Go and check it out at <a href="http://www.animalphotos.me/moth-.htm">animalphotos.me</a>.</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20050501BrimstoneMoth.jpg" alt="Brimstone moth. © Nick Bailey"><br>brimstone moth in 2005</p> <p><b>2016-03-09</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-23161252389768281612016-03-03T15:35:00.001+00:002016-03-03T15:35:57.749+00:00Forget Apollo 13<p>This is perhaps the most well orchestrated music video I have ever seen. As far as I can see there are no cuts, instead they all hold position while the plane bottoms out of the zero G parabola and the video is smoothly zoomed forward. Very very nice, hypnotic even. I like the uplifting music beat too.</p> <div align="center"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/LWGJA9i18Co" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> <p><b>2016-03-03</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-603738306977649202016-03-01T23:13:00.000+00:002016-03-01T23:14:04.555+00:00Grand Designs - It Still Holds Me<p>It felt like one of those evening in which I needed to watch Grand Designs, and I knew I happened to have one still saved from the the most recent series (<a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/grand-designs/on-demand/52739-010">County Antrim 2015</a>). It pretty much followed the usual flow from massive undertaking, through huge debt to wondrous conclusion and amazing space. It really never fails to get me hooked.</p> <p>I've been watching since the very beginning (I was enthralled by Kevin McCloud's previous series about scaling the UK's famous architecture which must have been in 2000 perhaps - Wikipedia reveals that to have been a BBC2 series called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don%27t_Look_Down_(TV_series)">Don't Look Down</a>). Dang! I should have been an architect.</p> <p>The slight difference this evening was the feeling that perhaps I <i>could</i> still one day build my own home one day. I suppose I'm too late to be on GD as I've already had my first child (everyone knows that the "now his wife is pregnant" is the cliff hanger with which to go to the first advert break). But I could perhaps, if I sold our house and took out a new massive mortgage, build my own house one day. Friends of mine from Cheltenham did it only recently in their retirement - <a href="http://colemanshill.blogspot.co.uk/">Colemans Hill Ecobuild</a>. It would allow use to escape the stale confines of East Anglia where views don't exist and skies are not (despite what the locals will have you believe) enormous - for enormous skies go to Seattle where the sky reaches from the Space Needle right over to Mt Rainier 100 km's away. That would be something to aim for and what is money for other than for sinking into the folly of a grand designs project which shou ld outlive me. The only real decision would be where to move to?</p> <p><b>2016-03-01</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-32560710513952743202016-03-01T22:41:00.001+00:002016-03-01T22:41:43.178+00:00A Wonderful But Worryingly Forgetful Morning<p>I had a lovely early morning with the little boy after he woke at half five. I was pretty knackered initially but perked up pretty soon, and pleased I did as he was so super chatty and laughing at me and with me. It was just super. We snacked on some malted wheat flakes, looked at each other through our legs and explored the utility room. He even managed three separate poos on the potty (that's five in total now) along with a couple of wees! :) He spent most of the few hours before his nap holding a pencil and chewing the end. He has a penchant for pens so I'm not surprised he liked the pencil, plus it seemed to taste good - he munched on the led leaving dark marks around his face and on his teeth which is all probably fine. That was not before I tried to show him how to draw with it on the newspaper which he seemed to find exceedingly entertaining watching the mark come out of the end. He didn't have much luck drawing there but I did find later that he'd made some good swirls and lines around the kitchen draws. Eventually he got a bit grumpy and frustrated so I took him to bed where drifted easily off to sleep as did I - I needed a nap too.</p> <p>What was odd was that a little later in the morning as we were watching him in the bedroom looking out of the window excitedly at the moving machines, I mentioned that I'd had a lovely morning with him but immediately realised I couldn't remember anything about it or why it was lovely. Things that are otherwise normal have such a tendency to slip out of the mind. This is so sad when we really had had fun. So this is why I sat down to write this post, and only in doing so did I remember the pencil and three poos. Had I not, these would have been lost to the mists of time.</p> <p>I realise I can't begin to expect to remember everything, but it really is important to record some of the usual things that happen, things that otherwise would be lost. I find photography is not sufficient for this as taking out the camera is usually only triggered by an event of some such. But in words the humble everyday can be recorded. Which makes me suspect that this is just the sort of thing that other people (i.e. you the reader) are less interested in. So forgive my indulgence in writing this mostly for future me.</p> <p><i>PS. How do you spell poo and wee?</i></p> <p><b>2016-02-24</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-11768200202268340662016-03-01T22:40:00.002+00:002016-03-01T22:40:41.241+00:00PooNot wanting to be neither too disgusting, nor too proud a dad, but today was my Son's first poo on the potty. Yesterday he accidentally did a wee when I sat him on it. But today we managed a number two! I was well chuffed. In fact I was a proud dad because I took this photo. Sorry.<br />
<img alt="Poo in the potty. © Nick Bailey" src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20160222_poo.jpg" /><br />yes, there is poo on my websiteAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-2348390251399045742016-03-01T22:35:00.001+00:002016-03-01T22:35:23.132+00:00This Time Last Year, Joining the NCT<p>I can't remember if I wrote anything about our NCT classes last year. I was, as far as I can remember, not in a great mental state over the winter feeling a mix of feelings about the loss of youth, the loss of freedom and the prospect of completing the first turn of the wheel of life. I also remember that I didn't have a strong connected with our unborn child - the bump was growing but I didn't feel much. I suspect I was putting things off (well, we were also in the middle of a rather massive building project at home which required the cutting of a window in the wall, external insulation and re-carpeting of the new internal landing, so I was probably quite stressed with that. In fact I seem to remember that the feeling of not wanting Dr K to give birth grew almost exponentially as the time drew nearer, that final two weeks I was madly appreciating every quiet calm evening.</p> <p>However, what I wanted to write down here is the change brought about by our attendance of the NCT (National Childbirth Trust) course. We joined the Cottenham branch as that was the only one nearby. One thing that made it really extra special was that a yoga friend of Dr K had coincidentally joined the same course and, having a car, was offering to give us a lift. As a result we had a number of consecutive weeks where she would come for a bit of dinner that I made before we all set off arriving invariably a little late. The thing that the NCT class gave me, other than the opportunity to ask questions and meet others in a similar situation (and thereby confront my ignorance) was a sudden connection to the past - it reminded me of the past me who had really longed for a baby and to be a dad. That was such an important piece of my journey to becoming one.</p> <p><b>2016-02-05</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-76192281060995454042016-03-01T22:31:00.001+00:002016-03-01T22:31:56.574+00:00A Vision Of My Past<p>I woke up recently in a bit of a hazy state - this was not alcohol induced, rather due to a baby child - and as the world came into clear view I was momentarily taken back to my childhood bedroom. What I could see from my bed, something about the way the door looked, or how the light and shadows were cast, made my think I was back home waking up in Cheltenham. But not like waking up in Cheltenham now (as I still do when we visit), but the view from bed just as it was when I was young (the bed was in a different location then). It even had the feeling of my bedroom when I was young. I couldn't work out how old I was; it was exceedingly visceral like a super strong bout of deja-vu. As I came round and managed to work out that I was in Cambridge and that I was now grown up, it did make me more than a little sad for the time past. As if my inner child, the me who I was, slipped back into the distant past after having just moments before been here with me. Perhaps I will have more of these as I get older, will they make me increasingly sad for the time slipping away. Realise that when I was that young boy I was well aware that I was young and that I was quite happy not growing up for exactly these reasons, I dreaded the passage of time and the fact that one day I would not be there. Was I implanting future points in my life with connections to the past? OK, gone too far there, I'm sure it was just a fleeting memory feeling which is totally normal. But I do carry that sense of sadness for my growing up and now I've created a new generation these thoughts and feelings are only more real and vivid, especially now that I witness how quickly babies grow up. A lmost terrifying.</p> <p><b>2016-01-28</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-71074930955784197252016-03-01T22:30:00.001+00:002016-03-01T22:30:43.698+00:00What is meant by the UK's housing shortage?<p>I'm really enjoying the BBC Radio 4 programme called <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qshd">More Or Less</a> which was was highlighted to me by an ex-colleague. It has a lovely presenting style with some lovely gently deprecating, ever-so-british humour, on the edge of silly (slapstick even), often breaking the 4th wall. They are always asking for listener questions and this is what sent in about the UK's so-called housing crisis. (At least I think I sent it in; I might have forgotten).</p> <p>I found this on the BBC website: <i>The government says it wants a million homes built in England by 2020. The National Housing Federation estimated 974,000 homes were needed between 2011 and 2014 but figures from 326 councils showed only 457,490 were built.</i> This suggests that we are 516,510 homes short. Assuming at the very least single occupancy, does this suggest there are over half a million people without houses? Where are all these people living currently? Or is there a certain requirement for a certain number of empty homes to exist in order to sustain the system?</p> <p><b>2016-01-13</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-81367056394405094592016-02-17T05:27:00.001+00:002016-02-17T05:27:25.202+00:00Early Morning Failure to Sleep<p>The first rule of blogging is never blog at 4 in the morning. But the little man woke me up and made me think about the fractal nature of enjoyment and then the fractal nature of humanity, and eventually the overwhelming sadness of life and the need to let go (all the time). I've got this habit of talking him to sleep - I think he gets board and drops off while I hold him talking inanely in his ear (though I do try and get him lying down before he's asleep). I realised, with a pang of sadness just now that there will come a time, and not too far off, in which he will be too big to hold in my arms. I already miss the time when I took a shower with him one evening and he dosed off so totally peacefully cradled in my arms with the warm water falling over his little body. One joy of this positing is his little cheek which glows so softly in the semi moon light of his bedroom, with his tiny eye shut, just a flash of dark eyelashes. I digress.</p> <p>This constant growth and his incessant desire for it is wonderful to observe but yet almost heart wrenchingly sad. I realise now all the little things mum said over the years, about how time flies, and how precious it all is (actually these don't capture quite what I'm referring to - it is a more intangible empathy I have for her experience of my growth which at the same time makes her proud of me and somehow sad for the loss of the little boy I once was. This raw emotion is almost too much and typically is the leading cause of me slipping into tears as I lay his tiny frame down, kiss him one last time and leave him sleeping. Apparently I'm still in a bracket - ) - there, that's better. The one consolation I have is that if I leave him I can have some time for us, like it used to be. </p> <p>One of mums greatest teachings to me is the knowledge that it's the little things that matter. This I feel has formed much of my world view, I think for the better. This came to mind as I was chatting him asleep just now explaining to him that he mustn't get bored and frustrated but instead look closely and discover the tiny joys that are hidden around the edge of something that otherwise seemed smooth. Like a Mandelbrot fractal - as you zoom in, on top of each blob is another tiny blob which itself has another blob and so on - as it is with life. Something that initially seemed old and boring has other uses waiting to be discover. Unopened books have whole hidden worlds waiting to be discovered, cardboard boxes can be cut up and made into new things and possibilities, each tiny flower-head can have a whole ecosystem thriving inside. Perhaps this is why I like macro photography and also why I am so looking forward to spring and showing the little guy the garden. Again I digress and loose my thread (sorry to you and future-me reading this if it makes little sense).</p> <p>Perhaps my final word before I head back to bed (05:18 now) is that the crinkly edges of life itself are to me the most important and that having a child has introduced a whole new level of them as he grows and experiences life for himself. I get the opportunity to experience with him and see things afresh through his eyes. But I wonder how much I hope and want him to grow and appreciate these things like I do. Perhaps he won't. He might be totally unsentimental and think I'm an annoying old man for wanting him to slow and appreciate life rather than rushing to grow up. Perhaps this is inevitable (although I think I grasped the idea quite early on that I didn't want to rush life - perhaps too early). Perhaps all I can do it make the most of the opportunities he grants me and appreciate the time for myself.</p> <p>Like I said at the outset, never blog late at night.</p> <p><b>2016-02-17</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-65042336738682281992016-01-31T15:24:00.000+00:002016-01-31T15:25:06.604+00:00Sprautumn already and it's only January.<p>It is the end of January 2016 and the cherry plum blossom is out. I noticed this last weekend, the odd emergin flower, but then this week as I've cycled to work, more and more plum blossom has been emerging until whole trees are out. This can't bode well for a plum harvest this year can it? Fingers crossed for no frost/snow even though I like a good blizzard.</p>
<p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20160131_plumBlossom.jpg" alt="spring or autumn. © Nick Bailey"><br>descriptive text</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-78505498803438507162016-01-07T14:32:00.000+00:002016-01-07T14:33:03.982+00:00Do I want one of these? I think I might, but I can't be certain.<iframe style="width:120px;height:240px;" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" src="//ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?ServiceVersion=20070822&OneJS=1&Operation=GetAdHtml&MarketPlace=GB&source=ss&ref=ss_til&ad_type=product_link&tracking_id=nickbaileycou-21&marketplace=amazon®ion=GB&placement=B00SDTTH5E&asins=B00SDTTH5E&linkId=&show_border=true&link_opens_in_new_window=true"> </iframe> <p><b>2016-01-07</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-44106298214278888072015-12-19T21:16:00.001+00:002015-12-19T21:18:02.114+00:00Home Made Christmas Tree<p>For our Christmas tree this year I've taken inspiration from my favourite computer game of all time - Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crisis (now sometime referred to as ARMA). Some of you might have heard me drone on about it, which I shalln't do now, suffice to say it is most excellent and there is a compass and map with which you can navigate completely by <a href="http://www.snowdonia-adventures.co.uk/skillscourses/navigation.html">dead-reckoning</a>. In that game, as with many early 3D games, volume was achieved by having two textured plains dissecting each other at 90 degrees. (actually, if I think about it, this is also exactly how one might make a cardboard tree - like the sort we used to have at Christmas which would "flower". WOW! THEY STILL EXIST: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000KFXVLU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B000KFXVLU&linkCode=as2&tag=nickbaileycou-21">Tobar Magic Growing Christmas Tree</a>). I pruned the neighbours laylandii hedge and shoved the branches into holes drilled in a wooden post. So far it seems to be holding up and has taken the decorations. It certainly first the bill making the house feel much more like Christmas than it did beforehand.</p> <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/2015christmasTree.jpg" alt="2015 Laylandii Christmas Tree. © Nick Bailey"><br>descriptive text</p> ' <p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/operationFlashpointTrees.jpg" alt="Operation Flashpoint Cold War Crisis"><br>descriptive text</p> <p><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000KFXVLU/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1634&creative=19450&creativeASIN=B000KFXVLU&linkCode=as2&tag=nickbaileycou-21"><img border="0" src="http://ws-eu.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B000KFXVLU&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=GB&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=nickbaileycou-21" ></a><img src="http://ir-uk.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=nickbaileycou-21&l=as2&o=2&a=B000KFXVLU" width="1" height="1" border="0" alt="" style="border:none !important; margin:0px !important;" /></p> <p><b>2015-12-19</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-84476494213517672172015-12-12T11:15:00.003+00:002015-12-12T11:15:34.671+00:00This shouldn't make me as happy as it does<p>I've found my preferred oil bottles and now I have my own set of own-branded oil. The bottles are from <a href="https://www.aldi.co.uk">Aldi</a>, their <a href="http://www.foodmanufacture.co.uk/Business-News/Discounter-takes-8-share-of-rapeseed-market">Cold Pressed Rapeseed Oil</a> (which is nice and remarkably good value). I'm thinking some people might be getting these bottles for Christmas...</p>
<p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20151208_oil.JPG" alt="Aldi Rapeseed Oil bottles. © Nick Bailey"><br>rough labelled oil</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-70825721444856414242015-12-09T13:06:00.001+00:002015-12-09T13:08:38.330+00:00@NationalTrust Wimpole Hall Estate in Autumn <p>With autumn upon us and unseasonably warm weather since getting back from Korea we headed out to <a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wimpole-estate">Wimpole Hall</a> (<a href="http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk">National Trust</a>) to have a weekend walk around the estate with a friend of ours. I was in a t-shirt walking around, utterly splendid despite being Halloween (surprisingly similar to last year in fact). What's more there was an actual hill to climb which afforded an actual view. A view. In Cambridgeshire. What joy!</p>
<p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20151031_wimpoleAutumn_1.JPG" alt="wimpole estate cambridgeshire. © Nick Bailey"><br>wimpole tree stitch</p>
<p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20151031_wimpoleAutumn_2.JPG" alt="wimpole estate cambridgeshire. © Nick Bailey"><br>wimpole pond</p>
<p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20151031_wimpoleAutumn_3.JPG" alt="wimpole estate cambridgeshire. © Nick Bailey"><br>branches stitch</p>
<p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20151031_wimpoleAutumn_4.JPG" alt="wimpole estate cambridgeshire. © Nick Bailey"><br>light through the trees</p>
<p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20151031_wimpoleAutumn_5.JPG" alt="wimpole estate cambridgeshire. © Nick Bailey"><br>autumnal leaves</p>
<p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20151031_wimpoleAutumn_6.JPG" alt="wimpole estate cambridgeshire. © Nick Bailey"><br>yellow and orange</p>
<p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20151031_wimpoleAutumn_7.JPG" alt="wimpole estate cambridgeshire. © Nick Bailey"><br>wimpole at sunset</p>
<p><img src="http://www.nickbailey.co.uk/images/20151031_wimpoleAutumn_8.JPG" alt="wimpole estate cambridgeshire. © Nick Bailey"><br>last light through the trees</p>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-585986306392663482015-12-09T08:35:00.001+00:002015-12-09T13:08:50.502+00:00Wiping Away Snot - Never Felt More Like a Dad<p>The little chap has a cold. Or rather, a cold is all he has left after about three weeks of various infections picked up through cross contaminated toys at the local playgroup. It started with a fever reaching 38 degrees and lasting enough days to get us worried enough to ring the vet. Thankfully patience + Calpol were enough to see us through his temperature which finally abated leaving him with a cough quickly joined by conjunctivitis (an itis! - I'd forgotten about those). He battled through despite the clammy eyes and red face although his sleeping was shot to pieces (as was ours). The eyes cleared as did the general face redness and now his cough is finally improving but his nose decided to join the party and leak continuously. I'm finally pleased to see that the leaking has turned thicker and greener following the usual pattern of my runny noses suggesting it is nearly over as well. Fingers crossed he'll be clean by Christmas as will we be having both suffered most of his symptoms (my temp reached 38.6).</p> <p>The cutest thing in all of this, apart from his remarkably good spirit throughout (the daytimes), is that I feel like a proper Dad when I wipe his nose. It's been so sweet teaching him that my actions are helpful and now he is really calm as I wring out his nostrils, holding his head up to help.</p> <p><b>2015-12-09</b></p> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11990359.post-13173260765719123272015-10-10T15:33:00.001+00:002015-10-10T23:49:39.161+00:00Two Mini Open Letters to All Car ManufacturersI have two suggestions for the automotive industry. The first involves indicator lights, the second an idea for electric vehicles. I do not posses the means attempt to profit from these ideas (if they are even worth considering), so rather than try I would like to let all the manufacturers know together so that hopefully, if any of them feels it worthwhile, they could give it a go.<br />
<b>Car Hazard Lights</b><br />
Can someone tell me why car hazard lights flash at the same rate as indicator lights? Before someone tells me that is is because they are bimetallic bulbs, therefore have an inbuilt cycle frequency, this can not be the case any more. Surely indicators are controlled by a computer keeping time not a electro-mechanical phenomenon. So who on earth would think it sensible for a hazard light to flash with the same pattern and frequency as an indicator. Just from the thought of it a hazard light should be a little more in-your-face in order to make a statement. But my main reason for this annoying me is that, if you can't see BOTH indicator lights of a car, say due to it being partly obscured by other cars, you have NO IDEA if the car is indicating or has its hazards on.<br />
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<span class="grey"><i>Dear Car Manufacturers,<br /> Please set a standard for hazard warning light flashing pattern. I suggest a simple double flash rather than the current single. This would immediately distinguish between hazard and indicator in the event that an observer can only see one side of the vehicle.<br /> Yours Sincerely,<br /> Dr Nick Bailey</i></span><br />
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<b>External Ambient Sound Through Stereo at Low Speeds</b><br />
The second thought concerns electric vehicles, particularly the issue that have regarding their lack of noise. This idea has b<span style="font-family: inherit;">een on my mind for</span> about a year now, but since March there has been some media attention in the UK, in particular this advert by the charity <a href="http://welcome.guidedogs.com/">Guide Dogs</a> (for the Blind) alerting people to the <a href="https://youtu.be/H2AlpZfhlYg">danger of electric cars to blind people</a>. I found out about this via Robert Llewellyn (aka Kryton from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094535/">Red Dwarf</a>)'s excellent <a href="https://www.youtube.com/user/fullychargedshow">YouTube channel</a> <a href="http://www.fullychargedshow.co.uk/">Fully Charged</a>. In <a href="https://youtu.be/95O14kUgmBI">this recent video</a> on the subject he performs a little experiment with a blind friend and they find out that at very low speeds electric cars are indeed very quite and difficult for a blind person to hear coming. Indeed they make the valid points that this is akin to a road cyclist and furthermore that it is very much one the responsibility of the driver to be aware (we've been warned about kids running into roads long before electric cars).<br />
My idea fits this problem precisely and it stems from me being a cyclist first and driver second. When I cycle I rely heavily on my ears to build a picture of the world around me that I'm cycling through. When I drive I feel drastically deprived of this sense. Cars have long had stereo systems which increase the volume at higher speed when road noise is loud. So, as a first step do the very opposite in electric cars - turn the volume down (or off?) at very low car-park type speeds. But more than that, my suggestion is to attach a microphone to each external corner of the vehicle and then use the in-built speakers to literally pipe the sounds of outside inside. I realise that this will not make blind people visible (unless they are particularly chatty), but it would heighten the awareness of the driver to the environment they are driving through. What better way to use technology that exists, and take advantage of the very issue - the silent nature of electric cars at low speeds - to enable the driver to hear the outside making the walls of the vehicle effectively disappear. We have rear view cameras for parking, now think exterior-ambient-surround-sound.<br />
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<span class="grey"><i>Dear Electric & Hybrid Car Manufacturers,<br /> Would you very much mind considering my suggestion to implement an exterior ambient microphone array to bring exterior sounds inside the electric vehicle at low speeds, much akin to how a rear-view camera allows the driver to "see" behind them as they reverse. This could greatly assist in heightening the drivers awareness of the environment through which they drive and could have the potential to prevent accidents by allowing the driver to "hear" someone or something outside their car that they might otherwise collide with.<br /> Yours Sincerely,<br /> Dr Nick Bailey</i></span><br />
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<b>2015-10-10</b><br />
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<b><br /></b>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03338008709251733739noreply@blogger.com0