An Event Driven Life

Yesterday, when I went to Bognor, it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, when I saw the weather forecast, which said that Bognor would be the warmest place in the UK.  The hotspots today are Heathrow, Salisbury, Birmingham, Harlow and Barnsley.  I hsven’t been to Salisbury for years, but I don’t think I’ll be going today.  But who knows?

So every day, I look at the news and the weather and decide where I might go, if I feel a trip coming on.

I also try to sign up to offers, I get from places like Liverpool University.

It is a mildly exciting way to live.

I’ve Got Catkins

The hornbeam outside my house has got catkins.

I’ve Got Catkins

At last we’re beginning to see flowers on the trees.

The Sun Is Out In De Beauvoir Square

I took this picture yesterday morning, as I walked through the are to my doctor’s for a B12 injection.

The Sun Is Out In De Beauvoir Square

Last year, at this time of the year, there would be a lot more colour and leaves around. It really has been a bad winter.

Although, it was good to see the gardeners setting up the garden for Spring.

I don’t think many would associate this quiet and pleasant square with the inner London borough of Hackney.  But then Hackney is one of the inner boroughs with most green spaces.

This Wasn’t News Just Good Airmanship

I found this article on the Daily Mail website. The headline is alarming.

Look away now if you don’t like flying: The terrifying moment a plane came in sideways as Britain is battered by 70mph gales

But the pilot just flew the plane, how it was designed to be handled in the circumstances.

I’ve only ever been a passenger once, when an airliner landed in a severe crosswind and that was coming back from India quite a few years ago on a Thai Airlines Boeing 747. The pilot made one approach at Heathrow and then asked for permission to land on the cross runway 23, which has now been removed. The landing was rough and a bit bumpy, but safe. There were a few screams.

The Boeing 737 in the picture is showing what happens in a text book crosswind landing.

I think people don’t realise how manoeuvrable most airliners are. Remember too on landing the weight is low, as a lot of fuel has been burned up and they still have full power to if necessary climb away safely and go to another airport, where conditions are better.

Perhaps the most famous crosswind landing was performed by Captain Eric Moody in the Jakarta Incident.  Although it technically wasn’t a genuine crosswind landing, it probably used similar flying techniques.  A British Airways Boeing 747 had lost all power because it flew through clouds of volcanic ash.  Three engines were restarted, but when it came to landing at Jakarta airport, Captain Moody found that some of the navigation aids on the ground had failed and he had no forward vision, as the volcanic ash had etched the windscreen so it was opaque. By effectively bringing the aircraft in to the runway slightly sideways he could get limited forward vision through the undamaged side window of the cockpit. At the last moment he straightened everything up and landed. Captain Moody described the approach like this.

a bit like negotiating one’s way up a badger’s arse

But it was a genuine case of all’s well that ends well.

One of the reason, I don’t fly with Air Neck End and their ilk, is you can’t be sure of their pilots. I’ve never had any problems with any British, Dutch, Scandinavian or Irish airlines in Europe, but there are some national carriers I just won’t fly.

In my own flying, I only ever had to perform, one extremely difficult landing and that was at Cardiff Airport, where the wind was gusting over fifty knots. but at least it was virtually straight down the runway. It was raining very heavily and the cloud base was about eight hundred feet. I was in my Cessna 340A twin and the aircraft in front was a Boeing 737, that because of the rain and strong wind, was having difficulty keeping the engines alight. I did a very good landing in the circumstances and seem to remember that I cheated by putting the plane down straight into the wind, rather than due straight down the runway. But then Cardiff is a big, wide runway!

How To Get Cancer And Pneumonia

I t0ok this picture on the top of the North Terminal at Gatwick, as I walked into Departures.

How To Get Cancer And Pneumonia

Some people never learn. Or even want to!

On a serious note, I wonder how many have given up smoking this winter, as they don’t like being banished to the cold from their workplace or home.

Blankets At Carluccio’s In St. Pancras Station

Carluccio’s in St. Pancras Station has started issuing customers with blankets.

Blankets At Carluccio’s In St. Pancras Station

I’m not sure, but I’ve used that restaurant for some years now and I’ve never seen the blankets before. A few customers outside had the blankets wrapped snuggly over their laps and around their legs.

Has this winter been that bad?  Or are we all getting soft and feel the cold more?

I did find the blankets mentioned in Trip Advisor for March 20th this year.

Should We Buy Tea Shares?

The Times today makes a joke on the business pages about builders in wet February and freezing March, sitting around in huts drinking tea.

I must admit my consumption, has been very high in recent months.

So should we put our money where our mouth sups and invest in tea shares?

April Snows In Piccadilly Circus

I was going to Waterloo and the way I often go is to take the 38 bus to Piccadilly Circus and then get the Bakerloo line direct to the station.

But you don’t normally get snow showers in April!

The Stand Says It All

At Millwall yesterday, we sat in the North Stand and could see this on the top of the stand opposite.

The Stand Says It All

Cold Blow Lane was the location and name of the old Den.

However, yesterday it would have been an ideal name for their current ground. Look at these flags on the East Stand.

Stiff Flags In A Cold East Wind

They are standing out ram-rob straight right across the pitch due to the biting easterly wind.

If you look at the shape of the roof, it might even act like a wing and create all sorts of vortices and downdraughts.

Whatever though, the cold and wind ruined the match.

For a lot of the time, play was consistently in front of the West stand, as the ball was blown across, with long sequences of throws-in. Passing was awful on both sides and the match is summed up by the score, as no-one seemed to be able to get a decent shot on goal.

Ipswich nearly scored an unusual goal.  This is from the BBC report.

But Ipswich, themselves unbeaten in three games, came back into the match and nearly took a bizarre lead when Forde’s poor clearance fell to Hyam, whose 50-yard lob was headed clear by Millwall defender Mark Beevers.

Until, this point, Town were playing extremely badly and every clearance seemed to go to Millwall.

After the match, I talked to a couple of Millwall supporters. They said that they’d had several matches like this and this was the fourth goal-less draw. They all said that the pitch was rock hard, hence the watering at half-time.

Cricket may have Rain Stopped Play, but Millwall seem to have other weather related problems.

The match may have cost me only £17, but I would have enjoyed myself more if I gone to bed for the afternoon.

Blue Skies Over London

On Friday, back in London, I was out and about in the morning doing a bit of shopping.

I saw a lot more sun in those few hours, than I did on ten days of the cruise.