In other news . . .

[zotz]

It's windy outside. Proper weather!

There's a willow up by the main road that looks just fantastic, waving as if it's in pain. If I head back up that way while the wind holds I'll take a camera with me.

We're back onto proper time as well. Why is it that we change the clocks round twice a year instead of just agreeing to turn up to work an hour earlier? Makes no sense to me.

Another thing I didn't do was go see some friends in London for a drink yesterday. Saturday was a bit of a washout in social terms. Ho hum.

Comments

Wind Up

[dennyd.livejournal.com]

It's windy outside. Proper weather!

Oh, is that why my fence is laying down in that rather lethargic fashion? I thought it was just a Sunday morning thing :)

The joys of house-owning...

~Denny

[dryad-wombat.livejournal.com]

I am astonished at the wind. It's so powerful and unremitting - it woke me at seven, and seems to have become even faster since then. Do you perhaps know those names correlating with different wind speeds? Is it the Beaufort Scale? I heard that it was up to 40 miles an hour at Stansted a few hours ago.

[dryad-wombat.livejournal.com]

... and Richard nearly got neatly decapitated by a falling tile! Cripes.

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

This page may be helpful: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~jesu0073/beaufort.html#land

[zotz]

It gets up to a gale really quickly. I'd always thought that a gale was a really extreme thing.

It's fairly windy today, but not so much that I'll remember it in a couple of weeks.

[dryad-wombat.livejournal.com]

I'm impressed by your nonchalance :). I was decidedly awed by it, personally -- especially when I found massive old trees snapped in two like lying over the road. That was startling.

[zotz]

Well, there wasn't anything like that near me, or it would be a lot more memorable. I wasn't kept awake by the noise, either. I suppose back in Ayrshire we'd expect several days like this in an average winter, so any delicate or decaying trees would disintegrate piecemeal rather than fail spectacularly.

[felishumanus.livejournal.com]

it was great having some soothing winds to send my asleep at last, good to see southern climes at least gfet their winds right!!

[ex-lark-asc.livejournal.com]

You forgot to come to my party too ;-)

[zotz]

Yes, you're right. Sorry. And I'm sure there were still other things I missed also.

[serpentstar.livejournal.com]

It's windy outside. Proper weather!

Yeah, it's power-cut weather in North Wales -- not for me, but for the next-door neighbour & the old chap who lives across the road. I have ranted about Manweb & every other British institution's inability to cope with weather elsewhere, in quinnster's (http://www.livejournal.com/users/quinnster) LJ.

We're back onto proper time as well. Why is it that we change the clocks round twice a year instead of just agreeing to turn up to work an hour earlier? Makes no sense to me.

I find it fairly aggravating. I like to have at least one clock in the house on GMT even in the summer, just so I have a solid reference point to real time.

I suspect I'm just getting stressed because I've spent the past couple of hours surfing the web so as to avoid doing any work. I really should be designing giant Japanese-style robots right now.

[zotz]

I have ranted about Manweb & every other British institution's inability to cope with weather elsewhere

Did the words "privatisation" and "deregulation" crop up?

I like to have at least one clock in the house on GMT

My watch has hands, which I move, and a little digital display, which stays on permanent GMT all year round - and wherever I am. As you say, useful.

I really should be designing giant Japanese-style robots right now

There's something very pleasing about seeing those words. The world is a far more interesting place for things like this.

[serpentstar.livejournal.com]

Did the words "privatisation" and "deregulation" crop up?

Yes, but unfortunately only in the context of "they were exactly the bloody same before." Which isn't entirely true, of course -- before, they were the same only cheaper.

My watch has hands, which I move, and a little digital display, which stays on permanent GMT all year round - and wherever I am. As you say, useful.

I used to do the reverse when I had a watch. It is now in the bottom of the Mediterranean near the island of Comino.

There's something very pleasing about seeing those words. The world is a far more interesting place for things like this.

Well I like to think so. I'm just pondering quite hard now as to whether the game needs an intermediate size of autocannon between 20mm and 40mm.

Still not as socially valuable as your work, of course. That said, I am planning on being fairly scathing about Bush in the 'Future History' section, so maybe that counts for something.

[zotz]

unfortunately only in the context of "they were exactly the bloody same before."

The impression I get generally is that quality of supply has degraded over the last decade or so. The CEGB used to take the reliability standard seriously - although this did mean that they could average the more reliable areas with the less, so there were still ropy parts away from population centres that were undermaintained - while current suppliers find it economic to skate on the edge or even fall below and pay penalties.

It is now in the bottom of the Mediterranean near the island of Comino.

Someday an archaeologist will thank you for that accident.

I'm just pondering quite hard now as to whether the game needs an intermediate size of autocannon between 20mm and 40mm.

So the question is whether the series of available calibres should be spaced apart at a ratio of 2 or the square root of two? Well, 5.56 to 7.62 is about 1.37, and 7.62 to .50 is 1.6, which suggests that the military find the added flexibility useful.

How many calibres are in use currently in your target range?

your work

In which I play a very small part. Fortunately, we are legion.

That said, I am planning on being fairly scathing about Bush in the 'Future History' section, so maybe that counts for something.

Counts for a fair amount in my view. As the Blessed Saint Patti of New York said, "I ain't fucked much with the past, but I've fucked plenty with the future."

[serpentstar.livejournal.com]

The impression I get generally is that quality of supply has degraded over the last decade or so.

Sounds plausible

current suppliers find it economic to skate on the edge or even fall below and pay penalties.

Very Fight Club -- it's not worth our while dealing with this stretch of dodgy supply until five or more people per year start getting electrocuted. . .

Someday an archaeologist will thank you for that accident.

Yeah, if they find the thing. In theory it's waterproof down to 100m., too, so it ought to survive pretty well at 6m. or so. I tried diving down to look for it but I'm pretty sure it had gone under some weeds. Hopefully by then yer future archaeologists will be able to remove things from the sea without much chance of them exploding or withering away, as seems to happen with so much of the shipwreck materials brought to the surface.

So the question is whether the series of available calibres should be spaced apart at a ratio of 2 or the square root of two? Well, 5.56 to 7.62 is about 1.37, and 7.62 to .50 is 1.6, which suggests that the military find the added flexibility useful.

Yeah, and it would fill a good gap, allowing some of the very lightest mechs to have at least some chance of harming the bigger tougher ones.

How many calibres are in use currently in your target range?

LMGs we have 12.7mm, then ACs 20mm, 40mm and 60mm, then various types of cannon (conventional, electrothermal, and hybrid) at 80mm to 140mm, a few railguns, some high energy lasers, and a particle accelerator. Gotta have that particle accelerator. I discovered they work a bit like shotguns when used anywhere but in orbit, due to interacting with the ions of the atmosphere in an explosive way, so they're short range, high area of effect, radioactive monsters.

In which I play a very small part. Fortunately, we are legion.

And being ripped off by assorted 'Genestealers' (how prescient of GW).

Counts for a fair amount in my view. As the Blessed Saint Patti of New York said, "I ain't fucked much with the past, but I've fucked plenty with the future."

She knew her stuff did BSP.