In the News

[John Knight]

M.E.N reported that a £30billion rail link has been unveiled connecting Manchester and Liverpool with Heathrow and then the continent. It will be a major investment in rail services which are seen as key to reduce the reliance on the ever expanding runways at Manchester and Heathrow.

I am sure I posted that on Monday.

[Mike]

I am sure I posted that on Monday.

I was just re-enforcing the the quality of the news article. . . .

[John Knight]

Lol... I found another one a while back that is even more unlikely to happen.

http://www.500kmh.com/

We need to remeber how southern centric this countries government and economy is.

[stimpsonslostson]

We need to remeber how southern centric this countries government and economy is.

Its not just them, its the media too! If its not happening in London (or the South) its not important. One of my favourites was a few winters ago temperatures dropped to -5 in London, so ITV dispatched their intrepid reporter to Stirling (where we lived at the time) to see what the locals thought of the cold snap (it was -15 for most of that week).
The general response was
"Its Scotland, its winter, and you're asking if we're surprised its cold?! OF COURSE IT'S COLD. It was cold here last week, and the one before. Because your office in London has had to put the heating on you're now interested in how we cope?!"


p

[Mike]

This article explains the process of of installing $36k of photovoltaic panels on the roof of a house in California. The $36k included a federal rebate and some 'grant' like funds that were available for the property. It is still a pretty heavy investment for the household though.

They generated about 5.5KwH at peak times on a sunny day and are anticipated to reduce their annual electricity bill from $4,400 per year to $1,100 per year which is pretty good. They were claiming a 9 year pay back time. (don't quite know how their maths adds up but meh!) Not to shabby, don't think it would work in the UK though. Interestingly if the cost was £30k per house in the UK we and we installed on as many properties as possible then we would be putting a big dent in the requirement for a new nuclear power plant. I guessed that 670,000 houses could be fitted with the devices for £20billion pounds. That is around 6.7% of the houses in the UK.

[Mike]

Telegraph notes it costs £2.8 billion to build each nuclear power station and they are going to build 10 by 2020. I was not too far off with my guesses!

[Mike]

M.E.N has a green power station that is powered by rubbish! Cool!

[stimpsonslostson]

Watermelon acts as natural viagra

the list of its very important healthful benefits grows longer with each study.

p

[Mike]

Genius! If you see lots of watermelon lying around your parents houses be happy for them but DON'T ask questions!

[Mike]

Wogan still rules the Radio Roost with Moyles a youthful upstart challenger dropping from 0.03million listeners gap to over 0.5million this quarter. I wonder if this is because lots of the older generation still tune in to good old Wogan?!

[Mike]

Another indication that you should NOT tip restaurants! The article shows that staff at a so called Ethical Restaurant are on less than minimum wage and the owners expect punters tips to make up the salary to minimum. Why should we tip to bring a company into legality and allow them to pay their staff worse than minimum wage. It goes to show that a tip is no reward only a bolstering of a company profit line!

I am disgusted by this practice. The company should not be allowed to include tips in their minimum wage calculations.

[Mike]

In a slow news day M.E.N are reporting that the Gnomes are trying to gain access to a highly secure Tatton Park Royal Flower Show! Could you imagine the 'brightly coloured mythical figures' invading such a respected show?!

[Mike]

BBC are reporting on some interesting ways to fix your lawn mower when it does not start. This man decided to shoot it with a sawn off shotgun. He reported said, "It's my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want.". In response to the article a local retained commented that he might find it difficult to repair because "Anything not factory recommended would void the warranty,"

[stimpsonslostson]

oookay... Sex testing at the olympics.
Tests will be done with the utmost care and to cause the minimum of embarrassment. (Until the list of those being tested gets on to the internet!)


As Austin Powers said "Thats no chick! Thats a MAN, Man!"


Also... is Mr Gordon a shrew? After seeing him the last morning of the camping trip, who can be sure?
p

[Mike]

The architects tabloid Building Design Magazine has shot my home town of Tylersley to a rather unfortunate fame. BD reported that St Georges Church in Tyldesley has been flooded after thieves stole the lead off the church roof for the third time in three years. Aparently following an £80k refurbishment! Oh well, you win some and lose some I suppose.

As another point of interest this same church narrowly missed out in a place of innovation history! It was considered for a steel roof structure in place of timber due to the excessive cost and poor supply of the building material during construction. The diocese decided against the idea and paid the extra time and money for timber. It is now known as almost the first church to have a steel roof! Those 20th century architecture books were deffo worth the investment.