Bubble in the desert

Isaac - first word - Teeth

2011-12-30T01:41:00.002Z

For some reason Isaac has decided his first word will be Teeth! Weird.

Here he is with self-styled flavoured hair straining at the restraints on his chair.

Here he is calming down after dinner.

And people wonder why we are mad.

Isaac took a step

2011-11-20T00:44:00.002Z

Isaac is a master of crawling so we thought he might not be too bothered about walking but today he took a step in between cruising. If he really wants to get somewhere though he descends to crawling, which he is very fast at!

Isaac is crawling and climbing, meanwhile Sol is singing and even eating

2011-08-30T23:50:00.004+01:00

Isaac has been crawling for about a week. Just before that he discovered how to move but in typical baby fashion could only go backwards at first. Then he was defeated a bit by having slippy knees on a laminate floor which slowed his progress a little. Eventually though, well rather quickly, he was making forward progress. Unfortunately he has taught us a new trick. About the same time he took to hauling himself to standing on a bewildering array of objects. It goes like this. Isaac starts crawling. We look away. As we look back he is standing, hanging on to something (sometimes even a sheet or something draped over a chair). He smiles, wobbles, falls and then bashes his head on the floor. Poor thing. He does seem to be addicted to standing up though so we're having to keep a very close eye on him now.

Sol meanwhile has been speaking much more Spanish since our Spanish friend Laura has been staying. He decided she had been here so long she should be called Tia Laura (Auntie Laura pronounced Tia Lauria).

Sol has also started singing to himself. 'It's raining its pouring the old man is snoring'; also twinkle twinkle little star, and 'super duper' (to the tune of Abba's Super Trooper). He also unwillingly and rarely sings 'Get down, Get down' (Jungle Boogie) since we made a song into his demands to get down from the dinner table. By all accounts though he doesn't much like this. As I write, at midnight, we can hear Sol singing Twinkle Twinkle little star on the baby monitor, and ba ba black sheep before that - sleep singing?

He is a bit bashful when asked to perform his greatest hits but he did sing us 'It's raining it's pouring...' at the weekend for which we gave him a medal, which he seemed pleased with.

Sol has uncannily now started to eat more readily. I wonder if this is as a result of seeing his rapidly enlarging younger brother put everything he can find into his gob (2 crayons during breakfast one morning was not unusual).

Probably the best MOT centre in West London, Hounslow and around

2011-06-18T13:41:00.003+01:00

Thoroughly thrilled with the guys at Berkeley MOT centre as usual. It is so rare to find an MOT centre which is NOT also a garage and so has no interested in inventing work that needs to be done.

Their MOTs cost a bit more because they are not subsidising the fee with bogus repairs like many others do. I would imagine that for most people, spending a couple of extra quid on the MOT itself is much more cost effective than spending hundreds of pounds on potentially unnecessary repairs.

Highly highly recommended.

http://www.berkeleymotandtyres.co.uk/page/berkeleymot

I think Marting would approve too.
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot

Just after Isaac's first swim

2011-05-29T21:39:00.001+01:00

Guess which post office ?

2011-05-29T21:37:00.001+01:00

We hardly get a minute these days...

2011-03-02T00:22:00.003Z

Today Programme Discuss RadioHead's new album - Andy Kershaw Classic - very enjoyable

2011-03-01T00:14:00.002Z

Radio 4 Podcast (short).

Fantastic comment from Andy Kershaw.

Formal abstract...

"The band Radiohead has come under criticism after some critics claimed its eighth album, The King of Limbs, which was released this month, was "impenetrable". Others have said the album needs time to grow on the listener. BBC DJ Andy Kershaw and Alex Poots, director of the Manchester International Festival, debate if good music should be instantly recognisable or needs time to grow on the listener."

Isaac Arthur Bryant Myhill - officially registered

2011-01-19T10:36:00.001Z

Here you go Mum, we thought of a name!!!

Gotta love volcanoes and Snow

2010-12-21T21:34:00.002Z

Sorry to all the people trying to go on holiday but when you live in the flight path of Heathrow it's a blessed relief when the planes stop flying over every couple of minutes or so. It's nice to be able to talk on the phone without stopping for 30 seconds every 2 minutes!

New Arrival - Zac (probably)

2010-12-13T12:50:00.013Z

We've had a long night!

Yesterday (Sunday) at about 5am Yolanda started having contractions. Pretty much the same as last time with Sol the intervals were far too short for it to be 'by the book' but we were relaxed about it. In the calm I warned work that I wouldn't make it in on Monday. Mid-morning we fitted the TENS machine, which apparently worked excellently. Yolanda was able to make us lunch and then go off to sleep. Unfortunately during her sleep the contractions stopped. We weren't really sure what to do so we hung out for a while and then went for a walk to her Mum's. Whilst there Sol started playing with the Nativity scene, of which there is a very cheesy electronic component. Anyhow, standing there about to give birth was too good an opportunity to miss so we dressed up a bit to honour the season and tradition.

Some hours later I trotted back to Maribel's (Yolanda's Mum's) to pick her up and we all walked back and put Sol to bed. It took quite a while for the contractions to start again, giving Yolanda a chance to cook dinner whilst I watched the football (I was really doing DIY - I fitted a cooker hood and a couple of hooks to hang guitars from) but I know how this story will be told, even though I of course offered to cook but felt that Yolanda being vertical might speed things along! We also had chance to watch 'Big Bang Theory' and then Yolanda watched Casualty before we felt inspired enough to go and get checked out at the hospital. Just like last time, she was 5cm dilated at this point, so we were in for the night. Contractions seemed to be irregular but with the assistance of a stopwatch on my phone I was able to bring a bit of science to bear and found them to be mostly 1m 50 with some sneaking in at about 30s. Yolanda didn't believe me until I started counting down to the next contraction, by which time she was convinced!

After the usual painful and long contractions process and thrashing around in the birthing pool both Helena's back and mine had had it, and Yolanda wasn't having much fun either. But when the pushing started things were very different from last time and it seemed like only 5 good pushes did the job and out plopped the little boy in to the water. We think we'll call him Isaac when he is naughty and 'Zac' the rest of the time.

Zac was born about 4am on Monday 13th December weighing 7lbs 7oz (his brother was born on Monday 13th of July 2009 but it would be too eccentric even for us to use the 'Solomon Grundy born on a Monday' inspiration for a second time!)

So, Mother and Baby are doing very well and we're already back home. It's odd but in less than the time I usually spend at work we've been to the hospital, had a baby and got home! The helpers are completely knackered. I may need to see the osteopath again soon. Sol has so far been very good with the little one but he is not quite sure what to make of him, though we had a GREAT time feeding the pigeons and the ducks when I got home (I think he even said Duck! for the first time). A bit later some ducks spotted us along the river and flew over. How impressive are they at landing their little water ski feet on the water. I don't think I've ever seen that so clearly before. Wow!

Sol communicating hunger

2010-11-29T08:15:00.002Z

I was trying to cook Sol's dinner last night whilst he was quite hungry. He made a few motions towards his high chair but I managed to ignore them so he hung around my legs as I tried to cook. By 6.15 he was pretty eager to eat and wandered over to the nappy bag, opened it and pulled out a bib and wandered back across the kitchen trying to put on his bright yellow bib. What a very communicative little boy (he usually resists the bib!).

I said to him earlier in the day 'have you got poo pants?' and he said 'yeah'; and I said, 'shall we change your nappy?' and he said, 'yeah'. Quite impressive!

Really enjoying the name solomon

2010-09-22T01:33:00.002+01:00

I went for a walk at the weekend to let Sol have a sleep. My idea was to go to starbucks in Hounslow and hope he would fall asleep on the way so I could do a few emails. The plan looked like working but I only got one email off before he started to wake up.

Meanwhile I had said hello the the lady at the nearby next table who was asking about my boy. It turned out she was from Somalia. A guy went past and seeing the pram and not Sol, and thinking me and the Somali woman were together asked about the colour of the baby. How nice it is to discuss colour in such a matter of fact way. We laughed about us not being together and had a long chat. She ended up playing with Sol and I ended up having a long chat with a Somali chap whose grandad was called Solomon (or ~Soollamon is more how they said it). It stuck me that we would not have made this connection without Sol's name, and that was very cool.

In the end I asked them where I could eat good Somali food and got some restaurant names and an invitation to dinner.

How splendid to make such an easy connection with people in this way. It makes me think that choosing a multi-purpose biblical name was not such a bad idea!

Just back from a holiday in Brittany

2010-09-01T21:40:00.002+01:00

We had an awesome time in Brittany with Pete, Carole and Mattis and their very very exceptional house - a petit manior. So nice to have such good friends scattered about even though we don't meet up very often. Sometimes I wish all my friends lived in the same village so we could go to the pub now and then!

a few more Sol pics

2010-08-02T22:55:00.004+01:00

A birthday poem

2010-07-22T22:56:00.002+01:00

My friend Dave sent me this for my birthday, from the New York Times, he often sends me interesting stuff from there - thanks Dave!

A SPEECH TO THE GARDEN CLUB OF AMERICA
by Wendell Berry
SEPTEMBER 28, 2009
(With thanks to Wes Jackson and in memory of Sir Albert Howard and Stan Rowe.)

Thank you. I’m glad to know we’re friends, of course;
There are so many outcomes that are worse.
But I must add I’m sorry for getting here
By a sustained explosion through the air,
Burning the world in fact to rise much higher
Than we should go. The world may end in fire
As prophesied—our world! We speak of it
As “fuel” while we burn it in our fit
Of temporary progress, digging up
An antique dark-held luster to corrupt
The present light with smokes and smudges, poison
To outlast time and shatter comprehension.
Burning the world to live in it is wrong,
As wrong as to make war to get along
And be at peace, to falsify the land
By sciences of greed, or by demand
For food that’s fast or cheap to falsify
The body’s health and pleasure—don’t ask why.
But why not play it cool? Why not survive
By Nature’s laws that still keep us alive?
Let us enlighten, then, our earthly burdens
By going back to school, this time in gardens
That burn no hotter than the summer day.
By birth and growth, ripeness, death and decay,
By goods that bind us to all living things,
Life of our life, the garden lives and sings.
The Wheel of Life, delight, the fact of wonder,
Contemporary light, work, sweat, and hunger
Bring food to table, food to cellar shelves.
A creature of the surface, like ourselves,
The garden lives by the immortal Wheel
That turns in place, year after year, to heal
It whole. Unlike our economic pyre
That draws from ancient rock a fossil fire,
An anti-life of radiance and fume
That burns as power and remains as doom,
The garden delves no deeper than its roots
And lifts no higher than its leaves and fruits.

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/poetry/2009/09/28/090928po_poem_berry#ixzz0uS0qtYQC

Co-pilot bike seat

2010-07-19T20:31:00.001+01:00

Luckily the seat can be removed with co pilot still asleep!

British 10k run - Carrying a 4ft inflatable banana

2010-07-15T20:18:00.005+01:00

I wasn't feeling fully fit on race day (Sunday) so decided to give up the notion of going really fast and instead do a bit more PR for Fairtrade. I did the whole 10k run carrying a 4ft inflatable banana. I made it home in a time of 53m33s. This is my best time for a 10k carrying an inflatable banana but I do think I could go quicker in this event - race ettiquette on the day was very poor with nobody recognising the 'overtaking on the left' rule.

All good fun and surprising not too painful to carry a 4ft inflatable banana!

Thanks for all the sponsorship!

Carl
http://www.justgiving.com/carlmyhill

Sol's first birthday

2010-07-13T10:06:00.000+01:00

The actual day of Sol's birthday was today but the party is on Sunday. Here is one picture from the day, showing Sol enjoying sitting on Helena's bike...

There are a few more pictures on flickr.com too.

We took a couple of videos as well, some showing Sol doing some pretty impressive walking!

Sol took 2 steps!!

2010-07-05T23:11:00.002+01:00

Sol took his first steps today, walking from Abuela to Mummy!

He seems to understand quite a lot of spanish too, though he looks at me funny when I speak spanish (probably knows it is very poor Spanish!).

He seems to be almost able to say some words:
- MA MA means 'More'
- Dee Dee, is me!
- 'At' is cat
- 'Mu Mee' means everything
- 'bir' means bird

He understands a lot more words though:
- manos
- abuela
- get down carefully
- mummy
- daddy
- bird
- pajero
- cat
- water
- milk
- shoes (as in 'Don't touch the shoes!!!')
- kiss
- hands
- various fruits (English and Spanish)
- brushing teeth
- brushing hair
- put the lid on the jar
- close the fridge
- give a kiss to baby doll

Favourite books:
Nightime Maisey
Wide Awake Jake
Honey Hills Noisey Day

TV:
In the night garden - with iggle piggle (who he waves at)

He also hates going to bed at night and screams for a long time.

Oh and he squeals with delight when he gets to the swimming pool (a full body shake!).

He also waves at the flowers in the garden, since Abuela taught him to wave at the flowers instead of pulling them (he pulls them when nobody is looking).

And today he got his first pair of real shoes!

Our Holiday...

2010-06-06T00:07:00.006+01:00

We have been on holiday for a week. We first went camping with some friends in Derby. This was first a little wet and then quite windy. When our tents got blown down, rips and all, we left.

I took Sol to the swings!

We then went to Leo's first birthday, which was fun.

Then we visited Sarah, Marc, Lorimer, Rory and Hermoine, who made us a lovely lunch!

Then we visited Nicola and Arthur in Cambridge, who are not commonly in the company of babies but were excellent nonetheless. It was really nice to spend time with them and Sol even slept at night. Most excellent! Their new eco home improvements are really splendid and the garden was great to sit out in.

From there we visited Mum and Fred and Hector the dog in Bury St Edmunds. Mum had a lot of food in, as usual. She also had loads of toys, bubbles (Sol's first), loads of food and spare baby stuff that we were critically lacking. We had an excellent time and went for a walk in Felixstowe by the beach (where radar was developed) and in the woods.

Well, here are the photos...

Would you like to sponsor me to run 10k for Fairtrade?

2010-05-27T21:58:00.002+01:00

I've been 'selected' to run the British 10k for Fairtrade. I should say that the selection was not based on athletic prowess! Nonetheless, if you'd like to sponsor me that'd be GREAT!

Crazy plans come good - Meeting Bill Griffin in the middle of the Lakes

2010-05-23T23:09:00.004+01:00

I was really pleased that Bill Griffin from Nevada looked me up when he was planning to come over to the Lakes to walk the Coast-to-Coast route. A couple of emails and one hurried phone call and our crazy plan to meet at Black Sail Hut fell into place like magic. We both had long walks to the meeting point and yet Bill reached the hut at 11:50 and I made it at 12:10. Not bad at all!

By complete coincidence my work colleagues were heading for the Lakes the same weekend that Bill would be passing through and were planning to camp the other side of some mountains from where Bill was headed. Unfortunately, we didn't discover until late that their intended campsite was full and they ended up staying on the banks of Windamere instead. This would have been another 6 or 7 miles hiking for me on friday night but I sat in the car making signs to 'The ODG' and 'Langdale'. I think i got out of the car about 21:00 and started walking along a surprisingly quiet road. I stuck my thumb out and the first car stopped for me but they were not going my way. It didn't matter, of the first 5 cars that passed me, 3 offered me a ride. I was soon at Langdale ODG (pub) and was on my way, with grateful thanks to a hardcore fell running couple who gave me some good advice about my route.

I hiked a couple of miles along Mickledon and as it got dark I decided that the lush grass was more tempting than a 500m climb in the dark and so pitched up. I noticed some spots of grass were boulder strewn so picked a spot where the mountains don't seem to be able to reach when they throw rocks down.

Breaking out my Henry Shires Tarptent again (out of my ULA pack) was an experience to savour and took me right back to the months I spent on the PCT. There is something very freeing and relaxing to know I have the right gear for long distance back packing even if I'm only out for the weekend. I got organised in the standard PCT fashion (apart from not needing to hang my food in a tree - no bears here!) and had a deep sleep out on my own in the mountains. What a treat! I hoped my work colleagues, some of whom were new to camping, were having a nice time and were not too packed in to little tents as I feared they might be. The luxury of my isolation in the mountains far far outweighed running water and a hot shower!

The next morning I broke camp and was on my way up Rossette Gill at just after 7am and the climb was already very hot then. This was quite a climb too, about 500m. As I climbed I had the notion that my brain was fried like a computer battery on 'critical' and as I walked it was on fast recharge. By the top I felt almost completely recovered from the stresses of normal life. Soon I was at Angle Tarn and Sprinkling Tarn (both excellent places to camp) and was looking up at Great Gable, which looked HUGE. I had originally planned to get over the lower pass of Windy Gap but figured I had time to get over the top of Great Gable (899m) which was only another 150m above Windy Gap. I assumed it might take a couple of hours but I set my mind to it and was very soon on the top, which quite surprised me. I guess by the time you get to Sty Head Tarn you have gained a lot of altitude. When it came to Great Gable I thought back to climbing 14,000 ft up to Forrester Pass in the Sierras an it made the mountain seem that much smaller!

Sitting on top at 10am and planning to meet Bill at 12pm I figured I had a lot of time and set out to have a little sleep and some food. I slept for about 10 minutes and then ate something but then the top got a bit busy so i decided to head off down towards Black Sail Hut.

I was VERY surprised to realise how hard the descent from Great Gable was on the other side. It was certainly enough of a scramble for someone with a full pack and poles and in something of a hurry. This was the first time I started to feel a bit tired. After what seemed like an age I got back to a path I could move quickly on but the path down to Black Sail Hut was non-existant so I strolled down a grassy ridge instead (which was probably what I was supposed to do).

Arriving at Black Sail I stopped to chat to a biker heading for the opposite coast, since I had done that trip on a bike a few years earlier - see Gary Hill's C2C 2002 write-up.

Saying cheerio to the biker I hear, "Dr Myhill !" and there he is, it's BILL! I fully expected him to be there on time. What a treat to see a smiling face from Nevada. Black Sail Hut is something else too with all kinds of treats for the hiker with a few quid to spare - like cake for purchase and tea and coffee. Sadly, having only £20 notes I wasn't able to partake but another time I shall!

Bill and I had lunch and caught up on things a bit before setting out towards Borrowdale, a lovely walk taking in the Slate Mine at Honister Pass which now sells Ice Cream and teas and coffee (though the staff were exceedingly grumpy). It turned out that Bill only retired the friday before he flew to the UK on Monday to start the trail - now THAT is how to retire!!

Another hour and we were at the Borrowdale YHA. I failed to secure a bed but did manage to negotiate breakfast and find somewhere else to camp, and was very pleased the place had a shower - what a hot day.

That night we found a local pub, heaving with trade from the C2C walkers, and got some decent food and a couple of pints before crashing out.

The next morning, we scoured the route and asked around and planned to arrive at Grassmere by 3pm to meet my workmates for the ride back to Oxford. I'd not had phone reception until this point so had failed to check in and see how they had done on Scarfell Pike (they had ALL made it!). We had breakfast at the YHA, which was really excellent value, and then slathered on some sun cream and headed for the hills.

From Borrowdale we often followed a pretty creek with some excellent water pools and water falls with swimming, or at least dunking opportunities. Unfortunately we were a bit pushed for time.

The route has a key decision point about 4 miles in - high route or low route. We had plenty of time before 3pm so went for the high route (which we had heard didn't take much longer and indeed wasn't much more of a climb). At the top of the first crag I noticed someone on the phone so checked my own. It showed no bars but I thought to try to send a message anyway and sure enough, a couple of messages had already come through and mine sent. So I sent a message confirming my intention to be at Sarah Nelson's ginger bread shop by 3pm. It wasn't until 1:15 until I received a message back asking if I could get there for 2pm instead of 3pm.

I had expected I might have to run at some point to get back in time so from here I said my goodbyes to Bill and Earl and tightened up my rucksack straps before attempting to jog the ridge, which was a bit rocky in places but was mostly runnable. I probably ran the last 3 miles back to Sarah Nelson's and made it for about 2:30, which was not perfect by any means but my work mates had waited for me so it all turned out for the best and I was certainly very grateful for the ride back.

An awesome weekend!

I finally managed to map my route. It seems to come out at around 21 miles, 2 on friday, about 10 on saturday and 9 on sunday, of which I ran the last 2 or 3.

And the elevation profile was like this...

You can see the back of Great Gable starting just after the 6 mile point. It was quite a lot harder coming down the back than going up the front!

Abuela asked for a kiss in Spanish and Sol kissed her!

2010-05-17T22:18:00.000+01:00

He understands Spanish already!!!!!!!! WOW!

We will keep encouraging Abuela to hablar espanol!

Granne came to visit (Sol behaved very well!)

2010-05-15T22:07:00.003+01:00

Sol is much more mobile now than when he last saw Gran but is not walking yet, though he likes to walk with a bit of help and can pull himself up. He can even lower himself off Mummy's bed!

Sol's toy of the moment is a mop which Yolanda picked up from a playgroup type session. He loves to sweep the floor. We wonder (quite often) if he is related to us!!!!

Today Granne did a long drive to come and visit. She bought a number of presents one of which was a book about animals called 'Duckling and friends' which made animal noises out loud. It also had some tactile things to touch so Sol could see what a duckling felt like. He liked it so much he bent over and kissed the book - what a star!!!!

A short while later he decided to give Granne a kiss. We couldn't have paid him to be better behaved!!

Later we walked to Syon Park where, for the first time ever, Sol waved to Mummy as she was buying some coffee and cake. We shouted at Mummy and sure enough, he did it again!

I have already voted

2010-05-06T00:24:00.002+01:00

I voted Lib Dem. You may wonder why.

Last year we wanted to campaign to get people more allotments. Our MP David Howarth (LIb Dem) had put in place a system whereby with a validated petition we could get a council hearing. So we did. He even signed it. Check out his expenses record - no second home for him. He is 100% straight up and down and clever to boot.

Our local lib dems do a whole lot and for a whole little. I've been very impressed and even as a former labour voter have had to switch. David H, Jenny (squared) and Neale Upstone - thank for making it a very easy decision.

Carl

Nice one Ed

2010-05-05T22:53:00.004+01:00

Many congratulations Ed!

Hard work and preparation paid off this time.

Carl

Kiss from Sol

2010-04-30T22:50:00.002+01:00

It's funny watching Sol kiss people. He especially likes to kiss other children. It's funny because you might think he was forced into it but no, he decides who to approach with open gob and to plant said gob on their cheek (or wherever). He had steadfastly refused to plant on on me but on friday after Yolanda showed him my smooth bald forehead he decided planting one there would be ok, even if he was completely caked in food at the time. So, I have finally got a kiss from my boy!

Surely it's time for a change...

2010-04-24T13:39:00.001+01:00

...or the forked tongued PR man?

So, how much CO2 emission has the volcano saved us?

2010-04-16T22:21:00.002+01:00

I was wondering about this too and was, as ever, pretty impressed with those folks over at Information is Beautiful.

More photos

2010-03-28T21:32:00.001+01:00

Added a few more photos to the latest set...

Todae still selling Halogen lights and calling them ECO!

2010-03-26T07:48:00.006Z

I got a mailshot today from Todae in Australia, it went like this...

My first thought was, 'great they have stopped selling halogen bulbs and calling them eco'. So I had a quick look at their website, only to see a whole range of halogen bulbs still for sale. I point this out to professor David MacKay on a previous occasion and he felt they were deserving of a prestigious 'Hot Air Oscar' nomination for boldest appropriation of the word eco.

Sadly they are still selling 35W Halogen bulbs with the strapline, "These 35w halogen downlights are the ultimate in energy efficient halogen downlights"

Poor show.

The Story of Bottled Water - Annie is at it again

2010-03-24T19:02:00.005Z

Check it out.

Annie's done some pretty cool films like this - check out The Story of Stuff if you haven't already. If you like what she's doing, you could donate.

If you think clean water is a basic human right and want to do something about it, you could give some money to WaterAid - that's what I do.

Well, why not buy yourself a nice drinking bottle, fill it from the tap and give the money you save to WaterAid?!

Sol's first choir practice

2010-03-24T18:45:00.002Z

I was a bit surprised to arrive home last night about 8pm to see Sol still awake and totally animated. He had rather enjoyed his first choir practice, especially when they were singing in the round. He apparently was very impressed with the little girls in the choir and less interested in the boys.

So I was surprised to have the opportunity to see him before bedtime and I even got to change a nappy, which was a bit of a job since he is no longer co-operating with the whole process (though he is better at putting his arms in his sleeves now at least). Such a little wriggler! Apparently he even turns over during nappy changing now!

Waved goodbye on my way to work (sort of)

2010-03-22T10:00:00.002Z

Sol is quite entertained by looking at the comings and goings in the street in the morning. Letting him enjoy the view is also a good way to stay in bed a bit longer!

This morning, Sol and Mummy were looking out of the upstairs window as I left the house. I think Sol was a bit confused about seeing me in the street but as I stood there with my little bike waving at him he finally got the idea and the look of concern turned to a smile and his hand against the window looked like a wave but he is not a real waver yet!

A lovely way to start the day.

A few more photos of Sol at 7 and 8 months

2010-03-20T22:42:00.002Z

Sol's first sit in our new car; Sol with a good read (the Gazette legal mag); Sol with uncle Ed; and Sol with Mummy's new sink plumbing.

New Greenpeace Video about Deforestation - Banned?

2010-03-17T22:23:00.015Z

Greenpeace has put together a new video to highlight the problems of deforestation caused by increasing demand for Palm Oil. Sadly the video was removed from youtube the same day they launched it, so here is the apparently banned video...

Have a break? from Greenpeace UK on Vimeo.

What is the Mobile Phone Emergency Number?

2010-03-12T12:01:00.002Z

Yolanda and I did a St John's First Aid course last weekend and one thing that surprised me was that I did not know the emergency number to dial from a mobile phone - it is not 999! If you dial the right number, apparently your phone will often show stronger signal strength than usual for that area when you dial that number.

Am I the only person who didn't know it?

OK yes, first person to guess gets it - well done Paul. It is 112

Sunday Lunch for Some American Friends of Friends

2010-01-24T19:45:00.003Z

Reflecting on how my American friends looked after me in Nevada we were very pleased to cook Sunday lunch for Mara and Tara some friends of friends from Nevada. Nice to meet them at last - I hope they didn't mind my cooking too much. They were very polite about it at least.

Some photos of Sol

2010-01-24T19:41:00.002Z

Just had a little photo session in Sol's new giraffe gear. Oddly the red eye seems lessened in the photos because the rest of the room was quite dark. I was pleasantly surprised by these!

High point of the weekend - giggling

2010-01-20T23:43:00.003Z

Weekends looking after Sol, who likes being carried most of the time, can be pretty intense, especially with a bad back.

On Sunday afternoon I had him sitting in a cardboard box on the spare bed, well, it's my bed really. He loves sitting in cardboard boxes, especially when I make them into Star Trek shuttle craft. Anyway, I was putting my washing away and despairing about the lack of pairs of socks. So I started chucking them over my shoulder and onto the bed.

The little man sat amid a shower of socks and pants and giggled his head off. It's really cool to make a small person chuckle. And then it is really quite something that he figured out for himself that something funny was going on. I wasn't even laughing myself, I was just throwing socks and pants around but he found it very entertaining.

My boy chuckling has got to be one of my favourite things!

Humane Mouse Traps - they really work!

2010-01-20T21:05:00.002Z

Yolanda did one of those standing on the toilet seat shrieking moments classic of the sudden mouse appearance. I've used the Live Capture humane mousetraps below so we tried that again. A blob of peanut butter on the trap and a bit of smelly cheese and we caught our little friend - ok it took a few days but it worked and we didn't have to kill him.

The only downside with these traps is that if you don't check them every 6 hours or so the mouse can die. I thought that had happened today but when I opened the trap next to a nice hedgerow outside the church, he shot out of there like a greyhound from a trap.

Got mice, get a humane trap!

Switch to 100% renewable energy with one phone call

2010-01-10T19:08:00.002Z

I've been a fan of Good Energy for a long time. Most energy suppliers have some sort of 'green tariff' but it is really only Good Energy, a small company in Wiltshire, that supplies electricity from 100% renewable sources.

If you sign up from my recommendation, quoting offer code: 2001460 you will get £25 off your first bill and I will get a £25 finders fee. You can call them on 0845 456 1640 to sign up.

The more individuals sign up for renewable energy, the more demand will be demonstrated for this means of supply and perhaps we can all start doing something about climate change just by changing our consuming habits.

Good Energy are also actively promoting Micro Generation.

They can even supply your gas and have an interesting take on doing that.

So, why not think about doing something about climate change and reducing your carbon footprint from just one phone call? Good Energy costs a little more than energy from other suppliers but it is really not that much different.

We finally ordered the red duck - Skoda Octavia Greenline Estate

2010-01-10T18:45:00.003Z

We finally paid the deposit for a new Skoda. Buying a new car really goes against the grain but we managed to get £3,500 off from the scrappage deal and a further 4% off. The dealer was pretty furious that we had managed to get such a deal. I nearly walked out to buy it somewhere else since I was so disappointed at the rudeness I was confronted with whilst paying for the 2nd most expensive thing I have ever bought. But I suppose the more unhappy the dealer the happier I should be with my bargaining.

I think the poor salesman nearly had a breakdown as we showed up for the 3rd time at the showroom, with our noise machine, and still considering which car to buy. Both the Fabia Estate and the Octavia Estate are exceptional cars. We ultimately went with the Octavia Estate. Road tax on this will be £30 a year from April because of low emissions, partly due to it making 64mpg. The way we drive we hope to exceed the stated mpg.

It was a hard decision to buy a new car. We really wanted to stay true to our values and get a very economical car - this lead us towards a recent or new car. With the scrappage deal we realised buy a recent second hand car would cost us more than buying a new one. Not only that but buying new meant we could specify extra options which seemed important, such as ESP and curtain airbags. Our unreliable salesman advised against this but a little research gave us a strong impression that ESP is well worth paying for. Just take a look at this video to understand the difference between ABS, Traction Control and ESP...

It's going to take up to 12 weeks to arrive so we hope the old Punto's head gasket will hold out a bit longer for us.

New car - what colour? Sol decides

2010-01-08T11:59:00.003Z

Without using the power of speech we let Sol choose the colour of our new car. WHAT a NEW CAR? Yes, it has come to that. We can get a Skoda Octavia Greenline (64mpg) with a £3,500 discount for our old banger - AND a further 4% off the new price.

We would rather buy second hand and get no pleasure from having a brand new car. Well, we get a bit of pleasure from getting a more economical car, one that will cost just £30 a year to tax (band C), and from some extra safety features. But a second hand one would have done, had they been reasonably priced and this economical.

We decided to skip the metallic paint options and choose from the 3 standard colours: white, red and blue. I quite liked white but Yolanda really didnt (and feared we would have to wash it too much). So, we looked at the red and the blue but could not decide between them.

So, we involved Sol in the decision making and fetched 2 ducks, one blue and one red. In three trials he picked the red every time, so we're going with the red!

... perhaps when he can speak he might say, 'RED IS FOR DUCKS NOT CARS' but we will have to wait and see. We plan to keep the car for 20 years so he might end up with it eventually. Unless of course the plug in Prius is too tempting later this year but we'll have to wait and see, at the moment we don't have anywhere we could plug it in!

Car Scrappage Scheme - Scandal

2009-12-18T16:36:00.008Z

Our old Fiat Punto is not looking so good. Since it is 10 years old we have wondered about the govenment scrappage scheme and buying a new car.

The Punto makes about 41mpg with emissions of 161 g/km, at least this is what the Parker's Guide says - not bad for a 10 year old car.

I would have thought that the purpose of the scrappage scheme would be to stimulate demand for more modern and efficient cars. It is proving quite difficult to find one! The Skoda Fabia is particularly nice but they are hard to find (even new!).

What I find staggering though, is that the scrappage scheme applies to any new car. You can go and buy a Jaguar XKR which does about 20mpg and has emissions of just under 300 g/km, and get £2,000 for scrapping your old car - even if it is MUCH less efficient than the new one.

Clearly, the scrappage scheme is ONLY about stimulating the economy. It has nothing to do with encouraging us to buy more efficient cars. I wonder what would have happened if the scrappage scheme ONLY applied to cars which are tax bands a-c.

Disappointing Gordon, what a wasted opportunity.

Nice to see IDEO's 'Deep Dive' video now online...

2009-12-08T23:36:00.000Z

This is one of my favourites...
The Deep Dive

Repairing my bicycle track pump with a topeak super chuck

2009-11-16T02:24:00.003Z

Any cyclist knows that there is only really one piece of kit to use to pump up their tyres, a Track Pump. Sadly all too often the valves on these floor pumps often break and the vendors don't seem to sell replacements.

I hate throwing away anything that is still serviceable so did a bit of research and came up with the Topeak Super Chuck which looked substantial and like it might have that workshop look about it. I wasn't sure but decided to part with my £6.

I was really surprised how easily I was able to remove the old valve (you can just cut it off if you want) and replace it with the brass super chuck and jubilee clip. The whole thing took about 5 minutes and the pump now works a treat, even on my little 16" wheels and shrader valves! Highly recommended.

Saving the planet one repair at a time!

Education and Creativity - what an awesome TED talk

2009-11-04T22:11:00.001Z

I'm a bit fan of TED talks but don't watch enough of them. My friend Dave Potts told me to check this one out. It's about creativity in education and is very inspirational and though provoking. Well worth watching right to the end.

Highly recommended http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html.

Yolanda says, "I can't wait to cut his hair...

2009-10-31T18:06:00.002Z

"I can't wait to cut his hair, it's like having a Girl's World" init?"

This is a 'Girl's World'...

Sol with his first book!

2009-10-17T18:03:00.001+01:00

Getting google maps directions onto a GPS Garmin 60CSx

2009-10-04T23:21:00.001+01:00

I have no idea why this was so hard to find but it is brilliant...
www.takitwithme.com

Bicycle ambulance in london

2009-09-23T19:02:00.002+01:00

Cycling home last night I came upon a bicycle ambulance and stopped for a chat at some traffic lights. The guy was riding a specialised rockhopper with 6 stone in weight on it and has a response time of just 4 minutes within his 2 mile area. I was pretty impressed I have to say!

Bike ambulances

Growing an ectomorph

2009-09-21T21:46:00.001+01:00

Sol's height is at the 75th percentile after 10 weeks and his weight is at the 9th percentile.

I think we have an Ectomorph on our hands!!!!

Weeks 8-9 (phew)

2009-09-14T00:37:00.001+01:00

It's still all go. Here are a few photos from weeks 8 and 9...

Wow - a mobile

2009-09-03T20:27:00.002+01:00

My friend Julie (and Dave) have given us a mobile (and loads of other great stuff too). In fact loads of people have given us loads of stuff which is really nice.

Anyhow, the mobile was pretty impressive. On first sight of it Solomon really got interested in it. We made a little video to say thanks to Julie and Dave, on which I sound like a complete dork but nonetheless it is quite fun we think. What do you think?

"Solomon James Bryant Myhill" now officially named & more visitors

2009-08-30T23:30:00.002+01:00

Poo - just like london buses, you wait days and then three come at once (or, the tale of 3 poos)

2009-08-05T20:29:00.003+01:00

We've been a bit worried about the absence of poo from junior. He had not passed anything from that exit for 5 days. Convenient on the nappy changing front but nonetheless worrying.

Well tonight we thought we should have a go at bathing. Per instructions we started by cleaning his head, then removed his nappy. WOW he POO'D !!! Great! But now we are not in our usual nappy changing spot so he wrong footed us.

Still upset from his unusually clammy bum - he has only done about 4 poos in his whole life - we proceeded with the bath plans.

The bath itself involved him laying in a kind of sling/seat to keep his head up whilst parents fretted.

He seemed to prefer being dried after the bath in a hoody bath towel someone had bought us. He seemed quite content and relaxed in here and looked so cute he probably remained in there precious seconds longer than he should have.

As we proceeded to begin to dress him we were surprised to see a further big brown delivery in the towel. To be honest we were still pleased to see any of the brown stuff after the dearth.

With a deep breath we started our second clean-up operation, during which a third delivery presented itself, as if from a toothpaste tube.

Despite the inconvenience it was quite nice to see him relaxed and sleepy after his adventure, though he clearly didn't take to water like a duck.

Presents, baby, names and work

2009-08-02T15:08:00.004+01:00

All kinds of people are sending us presents for our new baby adventure. Some have been hand knitted (thanks Mum), a couple have come in boxes from the USA, a pannier full were 'real nappies' - we've had all kinds of things and are extremely grateful for the thoughtfulness and consideration of those that know better than us about babies. I'm least of all impressed with the baby snot removing device but despite that we really must get some thank you cards written.

We still don't have a name for the baby yet but secretly we think it shall be Solomon and indeed that is what we call him already. This is likely to be shortened to Sol, which of course means Sun to most hippies and Spanish people! The official name means 'man of peace' or something and he is quite chilled out unless he has a nappy full or is hungry so this seems appropriate too.

My first week back at work last week. Mostly I've been on the go for 19 hours a day, including 25 miles of cycling across London (which I love) and 2 hours on the train. Being at work though has been quite fun, especially since my project is pretty decent.

A few more photos added to flickr...

2009-07-23T22:45:00.000+01:00

See slideshow from previous post which now shows a few more photos.

It's a boy!

2009-07-15T00:53:00.001+01:00

Born 13/7/2009 at 19:54 weighing 7lbs.

Obama's Speech - Cairo - Awesome

2009-06-07T12:26:00.002+01:00

Hard to believe floating duck islands have overshadowed this speech from Obama this week. I think I will get a picture of Obama for my wall and perhaps a print of this speech to go with it.

G20 Policing - undercover police placed to incite the crowd

2009-05-19T22:44:00.002+01:00

I read about this over the weekend and was really shocked. I hope we get to the bottom of whether the Met placed undercover Police within the crowd to incite them.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/may/10/g20-policing-agent-provacateur

"An MP who was involved in last month's G20 protests in London is to call for an investigation into whether the police used agents provocateurs to incite the crowds."

Liberal Democrat Tom Brake says he saw what he believed to be two plain-clothes police officers go through a police cordon after presenting their ID cards.

Brake, who along with hundreds of others was corralled behind police lines near Bank tube station in the City of London on the day of the protests, says he was informed by people in the crowd that the men had been seen to throw bottles at the police and had encouraged others to do the same shortly before they passed through the cordon.

Brake, a member of the influential home affairs select committee, will raise the allegations when he gives evidence before parliament's joint committee on human rights on Tuesday.

"When I was in the middle of the crowd, two people came over to me and said, 'There are people over there who we believe are policemen and who have been encouraging the crowd to throw things at the police,'" Brake said. But when the crowd became suspicious of the men and accused them of being police officers, the pair approached the police line and passed through after showing some form of identification."

I look forward to waiting to that one to unfold.

Vote Lib Dem!

2009-05-19T22:39:00.002+01:00

This is a new thing for me but perhaps it is time for me to join with a lot of the rest of Cambridge and vote Lib Dem.

I really like my local MP. He bothered to meet me to discuss our Allotment Petition and offered us lots of ideas. He encouraged us to have a council hearing following a sufficiently large petition (a scheme he pioneered). After reading it he even signed it. David Howarth is a good bloke.

He is also an MP living outside London who does not claim a second home but prefers to commute by train.

A good bloke, an active politician who is not a crook. He's got my vote.

David MacKay on R4

2009-04-30T01:24:00.002+01:00

Simon told me he'd heard David MacKay on R4 (about 1m30 in)

www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b00jvdhb/b00jvctc/More_or_Less_24_04_2009/

David is very clear as usual. The fluffy individual from the sustainable energy commission on the other hand, does rather seem to have her head shoved firmly up her arse (but judge for yourself!).

Mr Monbiot on the Police...'Printing Police Lies'

2009-04-21T18:38:00.000+01:00

Printing Police Lies

A good read.

BBC on Police Kettling Tactic

2009-04-19T12:14:00.001+01:00

Writer and director Zia Trench thought she might visit the G20 demonstration in the City of London earlier this month.
"I wasn't sure if I wanted to protest, but I thought I'd check out the demonstration, and show my face for half an hour," she said.
"As I walked out of Cannon Street Tube I literally found myself facing a line of police. When I asked if I could get through, the police refused. They then moved me down the street towards the Bank of England."
There, Ms Trench joined a growing group of protesters corralled within a circle of police in the square in front of the Bank.
Held by the police within the circle for up to seven hours, the protesters found themselves trapped.

BBC on Police Kettling Tactic - is this how we want our Police to behave?

More on the G20 protest from the BBC

2009-04-19T12:08:00.001+01:00

This speaks for itself.

Interesting article about the IPCC too...
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8006622.stm

More on the G20 protest and police action

2009-04-18T09:56:00.002+01:00

On thing to keep in mind when you watch these videos is that the Police have 'kettled in' or ring-fenced the protesters (and some people from the general public) such that they could not leave. It is hardly surprising that people being held in this way without water for 8 hours might get a bit frustrated.

I find this Police action outrageous.

G20 Protest

2009-04-16T01:42:00.001+01:00

With all eyes on the G20 protesters the media made a lot of very little trouble from the protesters. The idiots who look for trouble when they are protesting really annoy me but for the most part I respect people who show up and defend our right to protest. I'm sorry I wasn't at this protest.

I was disappointed by the near universal condemnation of the protesters and sympathy for the Police from the Radio 4 Any Questions program the following weekend. It seems that everyone believes it is all about the protesters being dangerous or potentially dangerous.

Only now is it beginning to emerge quite how outrageous the Police tactics were that day - see Metropolitan police chief launches inquiry into G20 protest tactics | Politics | The Guardian and the videos linked from there.

I really fail to see how people holding up their hands and chanting, "this is not a riot" are lining themselves up for a beating by Police.

It seems a new law has been passed to make it illegal for us to photograph the Police. Luckily a few have violated this law or we would not know how outrageous their tactics were. Some were even photographed hiding their badges. Is this the sort of Police we want?

A million people protesting in London against the Iraq war were not heard. This has put a lot of people off exercising their right to protest. I'm sure Kettling tactics and Police violence will have put off even more people.

Shall we just hand it over to Gordon and let him do what he likes?

We can sit at home and watch the telly.

Heros: Kevin McCloud (Grand Designs bloke)

2009-04-15T22:02:00.002+01:00

I can't help being impressed with Kevin McCloud and his enthusiasm for the Grand Designs whilst maintaining the ability to speak frankly, "that looks crap"!

What a decent bloke who I'm sure is really in to his subject.

Knock once for yes, twice for no...

2009-04-13T23:28:00.003+01:00

Baby kicking has reached new heights. I spoke to the belly and asked it to knock once for yes and twice for no and got three kicks in return! Ear to belly I could hear a very strong heartbeat and putting my fingers on top you could see them move with the baby heartbeat - I guess she had her back to us.

In the morning the kicking spree was stronger than usual with something pokey near the surface too - a hand or an elbow I expect.

Quite fun!

The routine of singing Spanish songs to the belly at night continues... (poor thing).

The Pope is Ever More Outrageous

2009-03-27T01:54:00.002Z

The Pope on HIV/Aids, ""a tragedy that cannot be overcome by money alone, that cannot be overcome through the distribution of condoms, which can even increase the problem". He said, "the traditional teaching of the Church has proven to be the only failsafe way to prevent the spread of HIV/Aids".

What utter rubbish. Event the Lancet has attacked his twisting of the data saying he has, "publicly distorted scientific evidence to promote Catholic doctrine on this issue".

See http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7967173.stm

Any Old Iron Man Website

2009-03-25T02:53:00.002Z

I've built a new website - wanna look?

http://www.anyoldironman.co.uk

- it is to advertise an Iron Man style triathlon we are organising in May for Parkinson's

Excellent Talk: ‘Statistics are either dull or wrong:discuss - Statistics: can we sex them up without dumbing down?’

2009-03-18T00:17:00.005Z

Went to a great talk this evening.

Billed as, "Join the Winton Professor of the Public Understanding of Risk, Professor David Spiegelhalter as he discusses ‘Statistics: can we sex them up without dumbing down’. Bad Science’s Dr Ben Goldacre will then explore ‘Intellectual stunt doubles: learning from other people’s mistakes in statistics’.

David made some excellent presentations on understanding statistics and has some great online resources here...
http://understandinguncertainty.org/node/213

Ben's talk was based on some of his material here...
http://www.badscience.net/

Both talks highlighted some of the absolute rubbish written in the national press about statistical results. There has been a bit of a debate about bacon sandwiches causing bowel cancer. David has a really nice way of showing many different ways to look at these risks. Some ways make good newspaper headlines but are really just bull when it comes down to it.
http://understandinguncertainty.org/node/233

Having recently read 'Reckoning with Risk' I was familiar with natural frequencies but was very impressed that David went a lot further in thinking about how to convey statistics. I chatted to him at the end of the talk about climate change (of course) but he had nothing to offer since the climate models are a bit inconvenient.

Street Chess

2009-03-14T23:56:00.002Z

I've been looking for a street chess set for ages so was pleased to find one when Dave and Heather were in town. It's in Twickernam near the river and York House. Good fun!

The score now stands at 5 games to 5 !

Dave and Heather visit the UK (from the USA)

2009-03-11T23:44:00.000Z

&set_id=72157615404526032" frameBorder="0" width="500" height="500" scrolling="no">
Created with flickrSLiDR.

Cambridge Boundary Run - Marathon

2009-03-01T22:28:00.003Z

Well the boundary run was no picnic. After about 8 miles I was pretty sore from chaffing in the shorts. At about 11 miles my thighs were quite heavy. By 20 miles I didn't think I would make the last 6. A few wise marathoners told me helpful things like, 'a marathon is a race of 2 halves, the first 20 miles and the last 6' - they were right! Having previously run 50k in the Mojave desert I was surprised by the both chaffing and the overall difficulty of the run.

I ran the whole way with my friend from work, Peter. We ran a bit slower than I would normally run and I wonder if that made the run a bit harder on my legs. I like running with other people though and was very happy to have Peter's company. He claims that this was his second to last ever marathon, since he is in training for the Paris marathon (I don't believe him though).

At the end of the race my legs were pretty sore, particularly the thighs (Adductors and Hip-flexors especially). Although, in the photo you can see blood from the chaffing at the top of my thighs, it was muscular pain in my thighs which was the worst.

It was after this event that I have decided to end my empirical research on the Linebreak compression tights. In the days following the event my legs suffered no problems whatsoever. The night of the event I had a shower and donned the Linebreak compression tights. I cycled about 6 miles that night and then slept in the tights. I awoke without painful legs.

The next night I cycled about 35 miles on a business trip and then wore the tights in bed. The second day after the event is usually the worst but I had no stiffness in my legs and I managed to cycle another 25 miles on my folding bike without major problems (though the head wind was a bit of an arse).

I am forced to conclude that the Linebreak tights work. I don't need further experiments to prove this to myself!

What else I've been doing - campaigning for allotments with Cambridge Transition Towns

2009-02-19T21:39:00.002Z

At the end of last year I spent some time with others in the Cambridge Transition Town food group campaigning for more allotments for Cambridge. We were really fortunate to hook up with Dave Fox, who is pretty much THE allotment person for Cambridge.

We pulled together a petition, got some press coverage and presented it at a council meeting. The Cambridge Transition Towns Past Events page gives a bit more detail.

The council, to their credit, discussed the issue for some time and made a commitment to do something about it. This made all the effort worthwhile.

Growing your own food is one of the most environmentally friendly things you can do (after giving up flying). And the rewards are great - just the taste of home grown food alone makes it all worth it. The fact that 600+ people are on waiting lists for allotments in Cambridge made this issue a no brainer. If people are this desperate to grow their own, the only environmental thing to do is support them. I'm very pleased with the time I put in to this issue and reckon it was well worthwhile. A very effective campaign. Now all we need is some land.

Mind you, I was pleased to hear that the National Trust are releasing some of their land for allotments, even quite locally at Wimpole Hall.

Blog backlog - given up shopping at Tesco

2009-02-18T21:26:00.004Z

In the months I didn't blog recently, one of the things I have done is given up shopping in Tesco. I've popped in for a couple of emergencies but rarely go there (even though there is a massive superstore on my way home).

How do I eat? Well I get my vegetables delivered from Waterland Organics (a local smallholding). This gives me a tasty supply or organic veg and lets me make my own 'ready meals'. I've been surprised at how much this has saved in packaging too - I hardly ever need to put my garbage bin out now.

For supermarket things I always shop at the Co-op, which is quite a different sort of supermarket. They are very ethical and are not just about making money. They have recently banned a number of pesticides on their farms because they are worried about bees (a very valid worry). I try to buy relatively local stuff too - so I don't buy australian wine or californian since french wine is from nearby and tastes pretty good. French wine is often produced on small scale organic farms too!

There is quite a lot to worry about with shopping at Tesco. For one thing they are such a powerful buyer that they have too strong an influence on farmers and fix prices unrealistically low.

Here is a website highlighting some of the issues: http://www.tescopoly.org/.

I'm not saying that Tesco, as a supermarket, is particularly bad. It's more that I believe supermarkets in general are bad. The co-op is different; local shops are different (particularly farmers outlets); so they all get my vote, and my money.

More on the tights - some research

2009-02-18T21:24:00.001Z

My mate Ian sent me a link to some of the best research on these compression tights - http://www.tri247.com/article_4747.html.

An Empirical Investigation into Linebreak Compression Tights for Runners

2009-02-18T01:24:00.003Z

Quite a number of runners I respect have started using Compression tights to aid recovery after running. Even Adam has now bought some compression socks.

Great claims are made in the literature about the performance of such tights during races (6 minutes faster marathon times!) and for recovery. It's hard to objectively assess whether they really work. Often in sport if you are given some technology which is supposed to make you perform better, it is hard to know whether the technology actually makes a difference or whether it is your belief in the technology that makes the difference.

I wonder if I can analyse my own use of the tights to see if I can detect a difference.

One of the early questions I had about the tights was whether I could wear them underneath my work trousers after a lunchtime run. I read somewhere that someone else found this ok. I also found the tights perfectly comfortable and not too warm to wear under my work trousers.

One question I have not been able to work out is whether there is a difference between Linebreak tights (£40 on wiggle) to Skins (usually around £60).

Perhaps I need a scale to express my level of cramp.
1 - barely discernable cramp
5 - pretty stiff on standing up after a run or during
10 - so stiff that legs cannot bend enough to sit down

On to my study...

Case 1. 19 mile run, Sunday 15th February - Tights not worn during run nor recovery

Pace: 8.30-9.30 min/mile pace with breaks
HR: 130 (very low)
During run: Stiff quads from about 13 miles, particularly near tops of legs adductors/hip flexors i think. Front of leg and inside leg.
After run: Quite stiff (score 5 out of 10) but loosened after stretching
Monday: no run
Tuesday: Heavy legged (quads) 6.5 mile run
After run: Very stiff legs an hour after running (score 7 out of 10) - perhaps insufficient water

Summary: Even though I often run 6 - 10 miles, stretching to 19 even at an easy pace has proved a stretch and recovery without tights not great.

Quite fun to run around Richmond Park and Wimbledon Common and to bump into Andrew Marr running too.

Cambridge - A Cycling Demonstration City (have snorkel will cycle)

2009-02-13T01:01:00.005Z

I took this photo of a cycle way in Cambridge today. I don't really mean to criticise since this is a little used route but it looked pretty impressive. I've actually been quite impressed by the flooding of late since it seems to have been planned for. Houses which normally flood are dry and some fields seem to have been deliberately given over to the flood plain, which is a great idea.

Much less impressive for our 'Cycling Demonstration City' has been the lack of any gritting or salt on the cycle paths and footpaths around cambridge. In places there has been 2 or 3 inches of thick encrusted ice over the whole road which is difficult to walk or cycle over. Ironically, the safest way to cycle at the moment is to stick to the bus routes. This is safe because the roads are gritted but doing this puts more cyclists into the main routes used by cars. Like most cyclists, I would rather cycle down back routes which keep me away from the bulk of the traffic so this is not ideal. It's certainly not what you would expect from a Cycling demonstration city

Here's another... Kayak or Bike?

Man walks the Earth and does not speak for 17 years

2008-11-14T00:09:00.002Z

I really enjoy Ted talks and this one is very special... http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/john_francis_walks_the_earth.html.

This guy witnessed a massive oil spill in the San Francisco Bay in the 1970s and was so appalled that he gave up petrol power transport and just walked. He also gave up talking for 17 years. He realised he didn't listen enough and through not speaking he was able to learn more - as well as teach and get a PhD.

Inspirational. Reminded me of the PCT hike and the people I met doing that. There is something about people who walk long distance.

"The Secret" - AWFUL

2008-11-11T21:30:00.002Z

I was very pleased that Maribel had a copy of the DVD entitled "The Secret" and we sat down to watch it on Friday.

The basic premise of "The Secret" is that there exists a "law of attraction" and if you are positive and wish hard enough you attract to yourself whatever you want.

I had hoped this movie would be about the power of being positive and how just being positive can allow great things to happen in your life. It turns out that the film is really not like that.

The film focuses on the power of being positive so you can get stuff. It shows footage of a boy who wants a bike and who really thinks about the bike, draws pictures of it and longs for the bike. One day and old bloke shows up and gives him the bike.

The film advises that if you want a Porsche you need to really think positively about owning the Porsche. You need to extend your arms and imagine yourself driving the car and you will end up getting it.

One example in the film was of someone who wanted millions of $ so he took a $1 bill and wrote $1,000,000 on it and stuck it on the ceiling above his bed and you know what? He had an idea that got him a $1,000,000.

If it is not bad enough that this is mystical clap trap the thing that really gives me the creeps about this film is that it is all about getting stuff, like that is some worthy aim. The film lets you understand that you deserve this stuff.

WHAT CRAP!

As if that is not enough there is an implication in the film that anything that goes wrong in your life is attributable to your lack of positive thought in the past.

WHAT COMPLETE CRAP.

Yes I believe that being positive is important but it's a bit sad if your only motivation in being positive is to get STUFF.

I am deeply disappointed with this film - go watch something else!

Meeting my MP - David Howarth - Regarding Allotment Provision

2008-11-07T14:12:00.002Z

Most people find it funny that I chose to spend Friday night meeting my MP rather than going down the pub like everyone else. I believe that getting local food growing on the agenda is one of the most important things I have done this year and was very pleased to get some great support from David Howarth - who has even signed our allotment petition.

I feel like a kid with trading cards or something since my petition now has 2 heavyweights on it, David Howarth and Tony Juniper, former head of Friends of the Earth.

I am really grateful to Transition Towns and my friends in the Cambridge Transition Towns initiative, to be providing a framework for us to take some of these issues forward. I was really pleased that Colin Clews from the Transition Towns Food Group came along to meet David Howarth with me, and that Dave Fox has put together such comprehensive research regarding the allotment situation in Cambridge.

Woo Hoo!

2008-11-05T10:56:00.002Z

Well done America! Thanks to all of my clever friends over there.

Carl

PS I won a bet on Betfair - $12 !

You know what to do today...!

2008-11-04T15:58:00.001Z

Petition for better provision for bikes on trains - a nice idea!

2008-10-07T00:03:00.002+01:00

http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/bikes-on-trains/

"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to require the train operators to provide an integrated system for the carriage of bicycles and ensure there is adequate capacity available."

(updated with split times) Roade Sprint Triathlon - 5 year Triathlon Anniversary

2008-09-28T21:11:00.004+01:00

Five years ago I did my first Triathlon at Roade in Northampton. It's a 414m swim (pool); 20km bike (sporty) and 5km run (60% off-road with hills).

2003 Results
01:11:58 (153rd), Swim 00:07:08 (73rd) Bike 00:42:37 (175th) Run 00:22:13 (202nd)

2008 Results
1:06:48 (78th 0f 420), Swim 00:07:11 (87th) Bike 00:38:37 (74th) Run 00:21:00 (111th)

So I've trimmed off 5 minutes in 5 years. Not too bad I suppose. I think quite a bit of that will be the transition (both transitions are reflected in the bike time). Not wearing socks on the bike or run must save over a minute, and having a top I can wear in the water is probably another minute. The swim was 3 seconds slower than 5 years ago which is partly luck I think since I had a very clear lane to swim in and was not held up (but conversely didnt get a tow either!). My bike is much faster than the one I rode 5 years ago so I expect that made quite a difference. Overall, with the bike and faster transitions I chopped off 5 minutes from 5 years ago and didn't feel that I had a good ride. My running fitness is coming back so I am pleased to see I was 1:13 minutes quicker than last year (I have more to come here too).

Most of all it was good fun and a nice crowd from Cambridge Triathletes to hang out with.

In terms of looking for improvement, my swim could improve a bit, perhaps 30 seconds max, so that would be 6:30; the bike could perhaps be 2 minutes quicker on a different bike (say 36:47) and the run could perhaps be a minute quicker (20:00). So, perhaps 63:17 is a good target, which, looking at this years results would have put me in the top 30 (and 9th in my agegroup :-( ). A bit dreamy but nice to have a target anyway!

Campaigning at the Food and Garden Show - Cambridge Needs More Allotments

2008-09-22T21:11:00.001+01:00

I spent all weekend at the brand new Cambridge Food and Garden Show on Parker's Piece. I was working on an allotment stall, selling some veggies and trying to get people to sign a petition to ask the council to provide more land for our over-subscribed allotments.

Carl, Mary and Dave

Growing food locally is one of the most environmental things we can do (after giving up flying). In Cambridge there are huge waiting lists for allotments (around 380 people). In many ways this is GREAT since it shows there is a lot of demand from people who want to grow their own food. Unfortunately it also means that some people wait for many years before getting an allotment and others just give up and don't bother to apply for one, which makes it hard to gain a true impression of the demand. The council have a legal obligation to provide land for this purpose so we put together a petition and gave up our weekends to campaign a little. The council seem to be listening and are very cooperative so we have high hopes for our campaign.

If you live within the city of cambridge, please do sign our petition.

I have done a few marches and a bit of campaigning this year but this weekend and this campaign seem by far the most important and worthwhile. It was a pleasure working with the team: Mary, Colin, Jerry, Ceri, Kim, Yolanda and especially the legendary Dave Fox, who is perhaps more organised and enthusiastic than anyone I have ever met (he also won many of the vegetable prizes!).

The team from Oakleigh Fairs were also incredible, especially Emma and Charlie. Very welcoming of our little stall and very good at what they do.

Please do this today - respond to the DEFRA discussion paper on food security

2008-09-17T02:22:00.002+01:00

During his speech at the Garden Organic AGM, Tim Lang called on gardeners to respond quickly to the DEFRA discussion paper "Ensuring the UK's Food Security in a Changing World".

Responses need to be in by September 18th. No pressure then :)

What to do...

1. Read the paper at http://www.defra.gov.uk/foodrin/foodstrategy/security.htm

2. Respond urgently by sending your comments to: foodmatters.security@defra.gsi.gov.uk - your response can be any length you need.

Prof. Lang's speech is worth reading: http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/events/agm_2008_speech.php

(Thanks to Dave for sending this on)

Project Pooley - Silver Medal!

2008-08-13T20:02:00.004+01:00

It's pretty impressive when Cambridge Triathlon Club produces an Olympic Silver Medalist. Time Trials are incredibly hard - it's hard to to appreciate it when you see it on the telly but you ride until you are nearly sick. Emma's effort was incredible - what an amazing result. Well done Emma!

Kudos to Tim Williams too, her coach - he's been a long time cycling coach with Cambridge Triathlon Club too. Most impressive.

Cambridge's Emma Pooley Instrumental in Olympic Gold for Nicole Cook

2008-08-10T23:11:00.002+01:00

I've been waiting all day for the iplayer to upload the Women's Road Racing.

An excellent race in very difficult conditions. Early on Emma Pooley, from Cambridge Triathlon Club, split the field early on making a very brave break on the climb and forcing the rest of the pack to respond. Nicole Cook was able to tuck in to the main pack knowing her team mate was ahead.

Road cycling is really a team event, much the same as in the Tour De France. Emma worked really hard for her team mate and Nicole Cook played a very wise and strong race. An awesome effort.

For more Cambridge Triathlete's at the Olympics watch out for Will Clarke tomorrow night in the triathlon. Many of us in the club are learning how to place a bet at the bookies for that one!

Marshaling the Cambridge Triathlon

2008-08-10T18:46:00.000+01:00

The Cambridge Triathlon took place this morning. I had a late night and still had not had a chance to shower since my race yesterday before I showed up at 7.30 to marshal our own triathlon. I'm always impressed with those from our club that are instrumental in putting on these events. I just showed up and did my job. It was lucky that I had come straight from a race though since a competitor had forgotten his wetsuit. I pulled my soggy out of its bag and offered it to him. He seemed reluctant but I said, "what are your choices? If you don't borrow it you can't race." He seemed happier at the end of the race when he handed it back (along with the Frys cooking oil I loaned him!).

My job was to marshal a tricky section of the bike course with Ian. It's a spot where there are double mini-roundabouts and spurts of traffic. We were relieved to see all the cyclists through there though I felt for some of them. The leading female in the race got held up behind a tractor and a couple of others got held up too. I guess this is all part of racing but it's very frustrating to lose time when you've worked so hard.

I was particularly impressed with the competitors' politeness. The majority said thanks as we gave them directions and encouragement, notably even those who were leading the race. I previously had the impression that those at the front are too focused and pushing too hard to have any facilty for speech but was very pleasantly surprised to find that was not the case at all.

An excellent event!

London Sprint Triathlon (750m swim/20k bike/5k run) - 1:20:54 - 107th (of 1,405) - top 8%

2008-08-09T19:23:00.012+01:00

The day of the London Sprint Tri dawned wet and stayed wet. I may have been slightly less enthusiastic to accept the Wiggle prize entry to the event had I known what the weather would be like!

We set off from West London a bit later than planned, at 1pm. This still seemed like tons of time. Google reckoned it would take just under an hour to reach the Excel centre at Victoria Docks in East London. From the start we were stuck in traffic. After an hour we hadn't got far but I thought, even if it takes another hour we'll be there in time. By 3.15 we were a mile away and stuck in thick traffic. We sat stationary at one set of traffic lights and watched the lights change several times before I realised I was not going to make it to the start. Unfortunately you cannot take a bike on the tube or the DLR so competitors were recommended to bring their own transport. With this being the biggest Triathlon in the country, it was likely to be part of the cause of the traffic. I wish I had cycled from west london - it would have been faster but a lot wetter and colder.

Just sitting in the car and looking at the traffic lights change with no traffic movement triggered our decision. With just 45 minutes to get to the race, queue up for my timing chip, queue up to rack my bike, set out my stuff, put on my wetsuit and get into the water, we decided to ditch the car.

I got to the Excel centre. Ran through the crowds with my stuff. Got my chip. Hussled along the bike racking, which was frustrating slow since many people were racking for the race on the following day. It was the biggest transition area I had ever seen! The racks were all full so I had to find someone who was hogging too much space and budge them up a bit. I had planned to buy some locking laces for my running shoes but in the end had to do a trick Ben had told me about a week before. I laced the shoes up quite loosely, shoved some talc in there and hoped for the best. I set out my bike helmet and shoes and then slathered my legs in Frys cooking oil before donning my wetsuit and timing chip on my ankle.

With scant 8 minutes to the start I asked the marshals where I had to go to the start. They were not very helpful (especially since quite a lot of people had been stuck in traffic) and told me I had to go the long way around. I ended up running through the Expo in my wetsuit trying to get through the crowds. I completely missed the race briefing but managed to reach the other 285 people in white hats making their way into the water.

After such a hectic time to getting to the race it was with considerable relief that I jumped into Victoria Docks. Visibility wasn't terrible, you could see about a foot, - in fact I saw many feet during the swim! I gradually got used to the temperature and made my way to the deep water start over the other side of the dock. I hadn't been there long when the race starter started shouting encouragement to the swimmers to quickly get to the start line. They weren't all there when the horn sounded for the start and we were off.

At the club relays the week before I was uncomfortable in the swim, couldn't settle and was borderline panicing. In this swim it was a mass start with 285 people and quite a narrow course. Oddly, although it was a bit of maul I managed to finally feel some benefit from swimming close to other swimmers - the swimmer version of drafting. I really noticed this for a while when I found some clear water and it felt like harder work. Unheard of for me, I headed back into the crush! My first race victory was my mental state during the swim. I had settled from the very start and despite the worst maul I'd been in. Well, that's a bit of an exaggeration since I think the London Tri has a huge proportion of novices so they are perhaps kinder in the water than the more gnarly regular triathletes.

Finishing the swim felt like taking a long time because from in the water I couldn't see anyone getting out. I expected to see people in front running along and couldn't. I soon saw the exit point though and headed towards it, a sloping and slipperly plastic thing hanging into the water with marshals stationed to help pull you out. As we jogged along out of the water and began getting out of my wetsuit I quickly realised that this race was odd - you had to get the wetsuit off during the run in and bag it. My Frys spray on cooking oil worked an absolute dream and I quickly got out of the suit, was handed a bag by the marshal and set off again - up a flight of stairs to the transition area.

I was very lucky to quickly locate my bike, though the flag I had put on the saddle helped. A race referee wasn't happy about that and told me it was illegal. This conversation slowed my transition a bit. I told him to write me down for a penalty if he wanted and that I didn't realise this broke some rule - I guess I had better not do that again! I quickly had my glasses and helmet on and wriggled on my bike shoes before running off with my bike. I mounted pretty quickly and set off. After a while I realise my race number was still stuffed down the back of my shorts so pulled that out, stuck my head down and pedalled.

Cycling is the only event I had been training at race pace this year with weekly time trials with Team Cambridge. On the bike then I was quite comfortable and soon set out overtaking people. Many people were on mountain bikes or various hybrids so there was not really very much satisfaction in overtaking them since the technology on my bike gives me such a huge advantage over them it is quite imbalance. Mind you, my bike is worth about 1k whereas some of the bikes out there are significantly better than mine - worth about 5k some of them! Anyway, technology aside I got the bit between my teeth and picked people off. The course was wet and had quite a lot of roundabouts, tight sections and inexperienced cyclists on it. The latter was a problem at times when it came to overtaking. One cyclist was busy hanging out on the right side of the track waving at his friends as I tried to get past him, though like most he responded well to my, "On your right" as I edged past. Another cyclist was asking anyone if they had a pump. I'm not sure he really expected someone to stop to give him a pump and thereby wreck their race because he had come out unprepared. I even thought about stopping but not for too long.

I don't know how many cyclists I passed but only one or perhaps 2 went past me. I was quite confused in the race though. Some people on the bikes in front of me were spectacularly slow so I figured they must have put in olympic efforts in the water to be ahead of me and to have managed to slow down so much. It wasn't until the end of the race that I realised I was overtaking people from the race heat that started 30 minutes earlier. It was really impossible to tell who I was racing against. The only hint really was that anyone moving at my pace was probably someone I should be racing against. Because I missed the race briefing I had to ask another cyclist if the race was of 2 laps and he confirmed that yes, indeed it was, so I set off for another.

I'd finally done the 20k and cycled back into the transition hall, hopped off my bike and headed for my rack to get my running shoes. I racked, switched shoes and set off. It struck me that there were very few bikes racked by this point. I was frankly staggered. That had to mean I was doing rather well in my heat since the vast majority had not finished the bike yet. Aware that some triathletes excel at the running part I didn't hang about. I ran off making time to tag little hands poking through the rails trying to get a 'high 5' from the 'athletes'! I saw Yolanda too and managed another high 5 before continuing down a slippery slope to the waterfront.

It was pretty tough to run after the ride but I felt ok, just a bit of disappointment that I couldn't get more speed out of my legs. I like running through a busy field since I can pick someone in front and reel them in. When I have reeled someone, even before I overtake them I try to focus on the person ahead of them. Otherwise I can fixate on someone just ahead who might only be going quite slowly - I'm sure that slows me down. It was funny to catch up with people who were walking. I was thinking they must swim like absolute fish and ride like the wind to be in front of me and be walking! It wasn't until later that I figured out they were from a previous heat, though I had my suspicions that something was amiss.

(photos available from SportsCam)

Eventually I found someone in front who was hard to reel in. It took me a while but I was eventually past him but not very convincingly. I felt he was close behind and might come back at any moment so it spurred me on. With 1k to go I picked it up a bit and tried to overtake a few more folks. Coming up the ramp to the finish I was quite frustrated with 3 runners side-by-side blocking the way and failing to move aside when I said 'on your right'. Expending more effort to say it again I pushed through and rapidly accelerated past them to the finish. The guy ahead of me was moving pretty slow but was 20m from me. I hit the 'sprint' button but was too far out to get to him.

Over the line I laid down to get my heart-rate down (my running coach taught me that one). The guy I struggled to pass came over and shook my hand to thank me for pacing him. I could see his point. It's nice to run with people who are just a little faster than you want to go.

My time was 1:20:54. I later found this was 17th in my heat (out of 285) and 107th overall (out of 1,405). This is perhaps my highest ranking in an event like this, putting me in the top 8% - huge thanks to Wiggle for the race entry competition prize! What fun!

Comparing my results with the other competitors it seems that my bike time was respectable, swim a little slow, transitions a tiny bit slow. The run though, disappointingly, was where I lost a lot of time. I know I can run faster than a 23 minute 5k but doing that at the end of an event is pretty tough.

So, an excellent event for me, marred slightly by the deadful traffic on the day. We walked for half an hour after the event to find the car and then had another 90 minutes of driving/traffic to contend with.

Detailed results:

Swim (750m) 00:15:27
T1 (transition swim-bike) 00:03:18
Bike 00:37:30
- lap 1 00:18:17
- lap 2 00:19:13
T2 (transition bike-run) 00:01:40
Run 00:23:00
- lap 1 00:12:15
- lap 2 00:10:46

Preparing for the London Tri

2008-08-07T02:24:00.002+01:00

I'm resigned to the fact that my swim is going to be a bit poor in the London Tri. I've put a lot of effort into familiarising myself with open water swimming this year with my mates at Cambridge Tri Club but in the last race I could not settle down for the swim. So I'm resigned to just getting it done and slathering myself in Frys vegetable oil to get my wetsuit off fast. Perhaps a super fast transition will be what I need on race day. The shoes are a problem and I've not practised the elastic band trick when attaching bikes to pedals so I'm not sure how that bit of transition will work - I am planning to hobble in cycling shoes at the moment.

This week my preparations have all been about getting my running form back a little. I did 5km in the race Sunday, ran 5 miles Monday with my mates from GE and ran just over 5 miles Tuesday (in the rain) and today. Unimpressive times and asthma kicking in a bit but not terrible and it's nice to be out running again.

I tried running without socks on Monday and that was fine, so that's part of my race strategy - cut some time off transition by skipping socks and gloves and stuff!

I've got some fierce deadlines this week and would really like to be at climate camp but I will stay focussed on this little sprint and see what I can do.

Triathlon National Club Relays

2008-08-02T21:50:00.003+01:00

In preparing for the London Triathlon I was pleased to be taking part in the National Relays in Nottingham this weekend. Having just reached the age of 40 I was invited to join Cambridge Triathlon's COGs team (Cambridge Old Gits).

We got the bus at 5.15am from Cambridge to be there for the morning events - mixed and ladies teams. The mens teams had to wait until the afternoon to race. The waiting around was ok but we all but missed out on the Cambridge Triathlon BBQ which occurred throughout the afternoon whilst we were racing. There was some food left when we finished about 6pm but I failed to find a beer and we had to be packed up and on the bus for 7pm. Next year I think COGS needs to be a mixed team!

Anyway, the event is a relay where each member of a team of 4 does each event. So, we all swim, one after the other, then we all ride then we all run. Transitions are not really involved since you are handing off to a team mate and can then get your wetsuit off at your leisure.

I was quite disappointed by my swim. Race nerves, adrenalin, murky water and crowded swimming always seems to unsettle me. My disappointment comes from the fact that I have been enjoying swimming in a lake every friday night to get familiar with this outdoor swimming thing and in the race I still struggled with it, even though it was just 500m. I'm not sure what time I got but it would have been quite unimpressive.

Mind you, after the swim leg we were still in the middle of the pack so, putting that behind us we hopped on our bikes. I had nearly an hour to wait for my bike leg but it was hard to really relax. Before long I saw Gregor cycling in and we handed over the wrist band 'baton' and I hobbled in my bike shoes to the mounting area and shot off. The course was a loop around a lake with strong wind in one direction letting me get near 30mph in one direction at least. I've been riding time trials quite a bit this year so I enjoyed the bike leg a lot and managed to overtake a few folks. I think I did about 24:15 for the 15km. Don, who is 20 years older than the rest of us, did the fastest bike leg in 23:30 or something - pretty impressive.

Finally it was the run. I set off and held a 6:50min/mile pace for a while but couldn't hang on to that after the efforts on the bike an hour before. I haven't run for a couple of weeks and I really felt it in my legs. People I could normally keep up with powered past me. Quite disappointing. I think I finished the 5km in about 22 minutes even though I had had an hour to recover after the bike.

As a team we did alright really. The COGs were 3rd out of the 12 teams Cambridge entered and one of the teams ahead of us has world champions in it!

Our times were:
4x500m swim (36.12 - 83rd overall)
4x15km bike (1:36:19 - 106th overall)
4x5km run (1:27:37 - 100th overall)

Overall time: 3:40:10 (16 Male Vet 40 team out of 37; 103rd of 202 teams in total)

Good fun! I was very pleased to see our Ladies 50+ team win a 1st place too.

New Job - Cambridge Assessment

2008-07-31T23:59:00.002+01:00

I started work for Cambridge Assessment today. They are the organisation that handles most exams for kids in the UK from 16-18 but they do a ton of other stuff.

I was a bit late on my first day because a lady fell off her bike in front of me and cut her chin and hands. She was bleeding quite a bit and was in some shock so we had to get her some medical attention. The poor thing. I told her I hoped it wouldn't put her off cycling but it seemed she was tougher than that. I fixed her bike and put her on her way to work.

I was pleased to join the new media team. They are a pretty cool bunch and do some interesting work. I can't say more because of my contract but it seems like a lot of fun and like I might learn a lot there too.

I Count - Stop Climate Chaos

2008-07-31T23:50:00.001+01:00

I quite like the campaigns of I Count - Stop Climate Chaos and the way they are managed. If you want to sign up to petitions agains coal-fired power stations and learn what else you can do, this is a good place to start.

This Video is theirs...