Gym Pursuits

I'd hoped to be able to write this morning that I'd achieved the goal outlined in Monday's post
(2 5km runs, each within 30 minutes, on two consecutive days) but it isn't to be. Last night's session went well and I hit the 5km target but back pain a third of the way through this morning's session ended the attempt. Try again next week, I guess.

Malta

I'm staying at the Victoria Hotel in Sliema, Malta (recommended by a colleague who is a more regular visitor to the island). The bar, lobby and rooms are all fine but I really wouldn't recommend the breakfast (I'll be eating out if I stay here again), particularly if you are a fan of early-morning fruit.

A Minor Accomplishment

I reached a minor milestone at the gym yesterday as I completed two 5km runs in two days, total time 63.75 minutes. The next target is two 5km runs on consecutive days with a total time less than sixty minutes. After that, it is shellfish time!

International Earth-Destruction Advisory Board

If you're interested in knowing whether or not the Earth has been destroyed (it hadn't last time I refreshed the page), check out this useful website. Particularly useful if you're having a bad day and you want to know if everyone else is having a similarly bad time.

Wind Turbines

I've been thinking for a couple of years that it might be nice to "go green" at home by having solar water heating and a wind turbine installed. We're in a reasonable spot for both technologies and reducing our energy bills is very tempting.

Tempting, that is, until you work out the costs. B&Q will install both items for £5,396 but even if this reduces our monthly gas and electricity bills by 100% (which clearly isn't going to happen) we'd be looking at a payback period of around just under 10 years. A 20% bill reduction might be feasible, but a 50 year payback period is rather longer than I'd hoped for.

Here are my suggestions for making these products (and solar panels and the like) feasible:

1. New build houses should include the power meters that allow excess electricity to be sold back to the grid,
2. New builds should also be pre-wired for solar panels, solar hot water heaters and wind turbines; including these items as optional extras would make them easier to afford (mostly because the developers would have efficiencies of scale and reduced costs of installation),
3. Costs have to come down; £1,898 for a 1.2kW wind turbine is way too high; increased volumes will help,
4. Planning regulations need to be relaxed to allow this equipment to be installed in more properties,

I doubt that much of this will happen any time soon and the only real hope is that a new generation of solar panels, with lower production costs and higher efficiencies, will reverse the economics. Until then, I'm off to insulate my loft.

Flying to the US

The Register is running a story about new regulations covering flights into the US which will require airlines to register passenger lists 72 hours before departure. That might not be a major issue for most people but business travellers often travel at short notice and there are bound to be other occasions when immediate travel is highly desirable (visiting a sick relative, for example). I can't help thinking that the US Government, in its desire to prevent terrorists entering the country, is over-reacting somewhat; either that or they just don't want anyone at all to visit.

Have I Got News for You?

Well, no, not really, but I did go to see the recording of the first in the new series of HIGNFY last night with a bunch of friends from work. The show, to be broadcast tonight, was presented by Kirsty Young (newly appointed to Crimewatch, so you can guess the evening's theme) and featured Ross Noble (long-haired northern comedian - very funny) and Robert Harris (Author - famous for completely ignoring Mrs Thatcher while filming a report in 1983).

It takes a couple of hours to film a 30 minute show, especially when Paul Merton keeps interrupting the retakes, but it is very entertaining - a bit like watching it on a very large screen in a very uncomfortable seat with none of the dull boring bits removed, no opportunity to pause or to grab a beer and with 400 people you've never met. Will definitely go again if the opportunity arises...

Fog

London was covered in fog this morning as the train inched over the last ten miles or so to Waterloo. By the time I'd reached Waterloo Bridge, much of the cloud had cleared and the river was bathed in sunlight - very nice. Strangely, though, the Houses of Parliament were still swathed in thick fog, almost as if the weather was embarrassed to expose its Members to the full light of day; quite appropriate, I thought, in a warped kind of way.

Would you believe...

While surfing randomly, I found a link to "The Only Wiccan Spell Book You'll Ever Need". I can't actually imagine myself ever needing a Wiccan spell book, but it is comforting to know that such things exist in case my brain (which some might claim is already severely limited) suddenly leaks out through my ears and I want something to mop it up with.

Strangely, this appears to be a popular subject; Amazon lists 2,335 items related to Wicca, including the bizarre "Witch in the Boadroom: Proven Business Magic" (actually, that isn't the strangest book on their list - search for "Wicca" if you're desperate). It's very easy to mock the hard of thinking, but what else can we do when faced with apparently serious comments like "The author is very grounded and obviously is not only a powerful witch but lives in the real world too."?

Election Fever

It looked like we were going to get a November election, and Election Fever gripped the nation, but Gordon hasn't the nerve to go to the country and, in a stunning display of poor leadership, he's decided not to bother.

This, of course, is a golden, once-in-a-lifetime oppurtunity for the opposition, particularly the Tories. Already ahead in the polls, they now have a great change to consolidate their lead and to press the Government into unexpected mistakes. Cool.