Tag Archives: swindon

by | April 11, 2010 · 7:08 am

letters to the editor #14 – share the election

Sir

I was saddened to read of the loss of the Polish president and colleagues in the recent air disaster, and my condolences go out to the familes of those lost and the Polish people. I understand that a general election has been called in Poland as a result.

Given that there are lots of Polish people living here in the UK, many of whom are families of gallant allies that have resided here since helping us defeat the Axis powers in WW2, and that we also have a general election in the offing, is this not a chance to merge our countries under a single leadership? It could save costs by having just the one election and we might end up with a much better government (it couldn’t be any worse surely).

Suddenly our general election might be of interest after all.

Yours

Saddened of Swindon

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by | April 10, 2010 · 7:32 pm

getting the best from Powerpoint, part 2

For those of you that have enjoyed my 10 tips on getting the best from Powerpoint, I do a spoof presentation to illustrate the worst ways to use it with some discussion and examples of good practice. Feel free to get in touch if you’d like me to come along and present to your team or group.

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by | April 8, 2010 · 8:53 pm

mri scan results again

Down to the hospital again today. I walked both ways again, a nice day for it, 25 minutes or so each way. Inconclusive, so we’ll wait and see and have another go in a couple of months. No news is good news as they say.

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by | March 20, 2010 · 1:51 pm

letters to the editor #24 – a hung parliament?

Sir

My enthusiasm for a hung parliament has waned since it was brought to my attention that it will not require the use of many lengths of rope and most of the lamp posts along the embankment as I had first thought.

I therefore formally withdraw my support.

Yours faithfully
Disappointed of Dorcan

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by | March 18, 2010 · 11:49 am

letters to the editor #37 – car parks and saving the planet

Sir

At what point did the Government rule that one way systems in car parks did not apply? Why are car park owners allowed to waste the planet’s precious resources on painting arrows and erecting signs that no-one follows?

Or could it be that 90% of people operating vehicles (they could not be called drivers) are either blind, stupid or just ignorant? If so, surely getting them off the roads would make a significant reduction in emissions?

I think that we should be told.

Worried of Wiltshire

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by | March 14, 2010 · 1:22 pm

letters to the editor #23 more joys of shopping

Sir

Whilst in our local Sainsbury’s this morning there was an announcment on the public address regarding their range of East Regs. On enquiring whether they also had West Regs I received a blank stare and felt that security may have been about to be called, so refrained from also enquiring after North and South Regs.

I can’t have been mistaken as the annoucement was made, at a far to strident a volume, several times.

Yours faithfully

Surprised of Swindon

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by | March 13, 2010 · 10:17 pm

letters to the editor #57

Sir

The young lady, twenty-something, ahead of me in the supermarket queue bends over her trolley to unload. The usual expanse of bare skin is revealed, punctuated by a hint of buttock cleavage.

I cast my gaze up to inspect the ceiling, but wait! Something is amiss. I look again and there it is (or isn’t). The flesh on display is devoid of decoration.

My dilemma? Should tell her that her tattoo has fallen off, or have I just spotted a rare member of the species; the un-tattooed twenty something woman?

Yours faithfully

Surprised of Swindon

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by | March 11, 2010 · 9:00 pm

Driving Logs #2

Not much of a trip this time, just a run of less than 70 miles over to Milton Keynes and back, but I felt it was worth recording as it represents a trip I have done regularly for 25 years (at least to the MK area if not this specific address). It is also, for part of the run, one leg of a longer journey to and from the North.

As an aside, I got my route planner software to propose a route. It suggested the fastest way was to go down the M4 to the M25, round to the M1 and up there to MK. That trip was estimated at 111.1 miles and taking 99 minutes, but the software would have not known about the several sets of 50 mph restrictions on that route, let alone the likely congestion. The route I used is virtually a straight line on the map, and the distance and timing make an interesting comparison.

My route across country involves a mixture of rural and urban roads, some 2 lane single carriageway with speed limits between 30 and 60 mph and others 4 lane dual carriageway. The Oxford Western by-pass still has a 40 mph restriction around the bridge works at Peartree, but that was my only issue with road works. I chose to drive straight through Bicester both ways rather than use the ring road. Rush hour traffic was worse on the way out, especially towards the Oxford end of the A420 and around Buckingham.

Note that the stop at the Kingston Centre retail park added 1.2 miles to the journey – big places these.

Way Point Time Elapsed Distance Speed MPH
Home (depart) 719 0.0
A420 (join) 724 5 2.6 31.20
A34 (join) 800 41 27.6 40.39
M40 (cross) 810 51 36.6 43.06
Finmere 825 66 46.3 42.09
A421/422 Buckingham 836 77 51.0 39.74
Watling Steet (cross) 852 93 61.1 39.42
Kingston Centre (stop) 901 102 64.6 38.00
Kingston Centre (depart) 912 113 64.6
Magna Park (arrive) 917 118 66.9 34.02
Net driving time 107 66.9 37.51
Way Point Time Elapsed Distance Speed MPH
Magna Park (depart) 1600 0.0
Watling Steet (cross) 1609 9 4.6 30.67
A421/422 Buckingham 1621 21 14.6 41.71
Finmere 1628 28 19.2 41.14
M40 (cross) 1646 46 29.0 37.83
A420 (join) 1656 56 38.4 41.14
A419 (cross) 1729 89 63.1 42.54
Home (arrive) 1734 94 65.7 41.94

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by | February 28, 2010 · 1:53 pm

driving logs #1

This is the first of my driving logs. I used to keep regular logs of my trips my road, rail and air, but got to the point in my business life that I was just doing so many journeys I couldn’t keep up. However, I’ve had to keep one form of log for my back to the floor driving and have just re-read a book from my personal collection that covers a number of road trip logs, both of which have inspired me to start again.

The basic principles of the logs are that the time is taken from the dashboard clock as I put the car in gear to start, as I join, or cross, each new road and as I apply the parking brake at each stop. I carry a voice activated recorder slung round my neck for recording random thoughts, so the waypoints are recorded using that and I do not include the odometer reading as it is too much of a distraction to note that each time. Mileage is taken from Autoroute 2002 instead. Unless otherwise noted, journeys are in my 2003 Jaguar S Type 3.0 SE (V6 petrol)

This first one is on a Friday morning in February 2010 and I’m up early for a trip from Swindon out to Bishops Stortford on the Essex/Herts border. It should take just over 2 hours, but allowing 3 for road works and traffic. Last time I did it on a Friday it took 5 hours to get home. This time we are starting the meeting earlier, so I’m hoping for an earlier finish and the chance to get on the M25 and M4 before they get too busy.

My log for this trip shows that, even with the 8 minutes stop at Birchanger services (why name them after an obscure, if local, village when they are just as close to Bishops Stortford and barely off the end of the runway at Stanstead?) the outbound run was quicker than the non stop return. The latter featured a number of undesirable stops on the M25 and M4 and both journeys were slowed by 5 sets of 50mph restrictions, two of which were lengthy.

Point Time Elapsed Distance Speed MPH
Home 600 0
M4 607 7 4 34.29
M25 704 64 63.2 59.25
M1 724 84 82.6 59.00
M11 748 108 106.5 59.17
Exit M11 800 120 120.4 60.20
Birchanger Services Stop 802 122 0.00
Birchanger Services Start 810 130 0.00
Bishops Stortford 817 137 122.4 53.61
Point Time Elapsed Distance Speed MPH
Bishops Stortford 1451 0
M11 1458 7 2.7 23.14
M25 1511 20 16.9 50.70
M1 1532 41 40.2 58.83
M4 1608 77 60.6 47.22
Exit M4 1713 142 119.6 50.54
Home 1717 146 122.2 50.22

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by | February 23, 2010 · 7:52 pm

Back in the MRI Scanner

Back in the MRI today. They wanted a scan from a different angle and also ones with die added to the bloodstream.

Now the MRI scanner I’m OK with as regular readers will know, but needles & stuff? Not my favourites and I hadn’t expected that today. I’ve had a lot of blood samples taken over the last couple of years and have only had the one wobbly moment, but today, it was lights out!

I had warned them that I can have problems, and had made sure that I was well anchored in the chair, so it was not big deal and I was soon back with them. They kept an eye on me for a few moments after the scan as well just to make sure I was OK before letting me go.

So another set of scans in the can. Thanks to the MRI team at GWH for looking after me and I’ll be back in a couple of weeks for the next set of results to see if they’ve found anything of interest.  Watch this space.

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