Category: learning curve

Just Yorkshire things

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Here’s the headline that piqued my interest:

Of course he does.

And here’s the quote which drew me in:

Mr Trevelyan said: “Those who know me well know I was eventually going to build a giant curlew.”

Of course they did.

It’s all good, though. Mr Trevelyan – an ex-puppetmaker, obviously – is raising awareness of the loss of habitat, land-use changes and climate pressures on the Eurasian Curlew (Numenius arquata) – by walking 53 miles (that’s 85.29km) dressed as a curlew.

He crafted the 10ft-long (3m) costume of a Eurasian Curlew – Europe’s largest wading bird – out of polystyrene and bamboo.

It’s an admirable endeavour. Although not without its dangers:

It’s got a 4ft-long curved bill…

[the costume, not the actual bird]

[Jesus. Can you imagine?]

…which I’m quite worried about snagging in trees on the way, or tripping over and it snapping, but I’ve got a splint and I’ve got strong tape in case that happens.

But that’s not even the most dangerous bit.

It’s very lightweight luckily, but I am a bit worried about getting up on the tops because it’s quite windy today.

Actual Curlews can fly. 3m long bamboo and polystyrene costumes of Curlews aren’t meant to.

Still, if you’re going to die in a horrific freak gust of wind/giant Curlew costume-related accident, it’s a beautiful part of the world for it to happen. Just look at those views (only mildly spoiled by the ubiquitous massive beak).

You can follow Mr Trevelyan’s journey on his IG, and you can donate to his (and the Curlews’) cause here.

Which is more expensive?

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Well, I can safely say that whatever we’re talking about, it’s probably more expensive now than it was this time last year.

But let’s compare like with like, instead of now with then.

I’m forever being asked about the prices of things. Printer ink, for example:

6000, exactly how expensive is printer ink?

We’ve all seen that thing about the world’s most expensive liquid being printer ink.
Of course, it’s not true – depending on what source you choose, perfume, scorpion venom, and the bloods of both human and… er… horseshoe crabs are way pricier* – but whenever you’re buying your printer ink cartridges**, it doesn’t feel that way.

So. Printer ink: actually not that expensive.

But no sooner have we determined that printer ink isn’t the world’s most expensive liquid (not even close), then suddenly the line of questioning obviously goes straight onto cars and cheese.

6000, pound for pound, which is more expensive: cars or cheese?

See?

At first thought, this seems fairly straightforward. It’s clearly… it’s… hang on, actually, which one is it?

Thankfully, there’s a graph. There’s always a graph.
And yeah: it’s actually pretty tight.

Can’t read it? Make it bigger by clicking here.

Is this pre-tariff or post-tariff? And if it is (or isn’t), which prices will be more affected?

OK, let’s leave out the ridiculously priced vehicular outliers at the top. And the run-of-the-mill mass produced dairy products at the bottom, and… it’s actually pretty even, isn’t it?

Stilton: more expensive than a Range Rover.
The 4 wheels of a BMW 330i: cheaper than a wheel of brie.

How bizarre.

It was Gouda outpricing a Ford Mustang GT that really got me, though. A Gen-4 5.0L Coyote V8 engine generating a track-ready 328kW of power and 540Nm of torque, or some rather bland, beige, Dutch dairy offering?

I know which one I’m choosing – and it’s not going to fit on a cracker.

I’m not sure if ranges of any other everyday products would fit together so nicely when measured on the same price for weight scale – oranges and refrigerators perhaps, or household pets and glass – but if anyone has any examples, please send them through.

.

* And if we’re going down the route of molecular biology reagents, then this stuff at €1,750 for 10uL (that’s 0.00001ml) beats everything else hands down.

** LPT: Get a tank printer.

Plane turns round. Twice.

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Much excitement last night as one of the BA flights from Cape Town to London Eefrow reported smoke in the cockpit and turned back to the Mother City. Here’s what that looked like on the big map of Southern Africa.

Halfway up Namibia is clearly enough for anyone.

But when my wife told me about this story, I was vaguely concerned that either she or the site had got it wrong. Because I had heard this story before. And it wasn’t a BA plane from Cape Town to Heathrow. It was a BA plane from Heathrow to Cape Town.

But neither of us was wrong. Because it was both of them. Look:

That’s a BA flight from LHR to Cape Town. A few days ago.
And clearly Algeria is far enough for anyone.

But hang on just a second: THAT’S THE SAME PLANE!!!!

That diversion was due to a “full electrical shutdown”. And that’s concerning, because that might have affected the entertainment system. No wonder they went back. It’s only influencers that pretend to rawdog their flights.

No-one on that first story (which was actually the second diversion), seems to have picked up on that second story (which was the first diversion). But I would say that two diversions for one plane on a single round trip is a bit dodgy.

And honestly – without being dramatic – I’d be thinking twice about getting on board G-XWBG when it leaves Cape Town (for however long).

This all sounds a bit dodgy to me.

Crazy day

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Sick wife, sick daughter (exams start next week).

Grumpy beagle. Dust and grit everywhere.

Flooring to arrange. Invoices to pay.

Bathroom builders knocking seven bells out of several bits of the house.

And questions. So many questions.

What height do you want the basin?

What pattern should we use for the tiles?

How wide do you want this ledge?

Is your beagle usually this grumpy?

For the record, I went 900mm, offset,  75mm and no, she’s just had a rough few weeks.

Hopefully, once my wife emerges from her viral nastiness, she’ll agree that those were suitable answers.

I was wrong (but I was also 100% right)

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Remember this post?

It was the one where I shared this graph:

And I said that the graph was 100% true. There is nothing more exciting than getting the front seat upstairs on a double decker bus at any age. I absolutely stand by that.

And then I said this:

I’m just sad that my kids never got to experience it. 

And that prompted an email from my dad. He expressed his disappointment that my usually unerring accuracy on the blog had… er… erred.

Because he attached this image of my kids. It was taken at 3:30pm on Thursday 12th July 2012, and there they are – aged 6 and very almost 4 – on the front seat upstairs on a double decker bus.

And that looks like the bottom of West Street.

To be fair, I wasn’t there. I had no idea that this had happened.
This was clearly a Grandma and Granddad sponsored trip to town.
I was uninvolved.
(I was probably in a pub somewhere.)

So I was wrong. My kids did get to experience it.

But did they enjoy it?

Well, let’s check this photo, taken a minute later at the junction of Holly Lane.

Oh, I think so.

So it looks like I was absolutely right, as well.