Category: Random musings

Blog block

Do you ever just sit there thinking, “What the heck can I write about?” I’m doing it a lot lately and today is no different. I sign up to the prompts that WP offers but everyday it appears, it states that I have already answered the question, so I presume I’ve answered all that WP offers in prompt form. That surprises me in this day and age of technology, why are new prompts not refreshed on a regular basis?

I need help

I’m calling it Blog Block.

I know creative writers suffer with writers block, and that creates big issues for them. I guess it’s the same as being a craftsman and having your most productive tools taken away from you. Not very convenient or productive.

I’m not a creator in anyway, let’s clear that up.

My problem is that I believe I lead quite a mundane and everyday existence and there is absolutely no interest in what I do or have to say in that case. Millions if not billions of people lead the same life and just get on with the day. However occasionally there are little peaks and troughs in day to day life that are worthy of a few words, but that is all. It amazes me how many people I follow on this platform have such a wide and varied, and consistent supply of good content. This is where I struggle.

The prompts helped me I must admit, and now I’m just like an engine without that spark plug, and the prompts were that spark I needed to get the motor going.

How does everyone else overcome this malaise in creativity? Because to be honest I’m struggling at the moment.

I’m probably just going to fill my pages with drivel like this until my productivity engine kicks into life.

It could be a long and tiresome journey. Bring plenty of refreshments and maybe a pillow.

Have a wonderful day and stay safe….and productive 👍

Bye bye moon

One of the finest documentaries I have watched in recent years was by the British space scientist Maggie Aderin-Pocock. It was called Do we really need the moon?

Do we really need the moon?

I like Maggie, she’s one of those tutors you wish you’d had at school, she’s just so good at getting you to understand a subject, and is just so good at making you feel at ease through her enthusiasm and energy. As well as being the Chancellor of our local university in Leicester, she can also be seen on the popular BBC space programme “The Sky at night”

This documentary was released about 12 years ago but is not available on BBC platforms at this moment. I have however included the link to YouTube where you can watch the programme in its entirety.

One of the fascinating facts, and one that had me questioning whether it was a contributor to global issues is that the moon is moving away from Earth at a rate of about 3.8 centimeters (1.49 inches) per year. This might not seem like a lot, but over billions of years, it sure adds up. Since the Apollo 11 landing on the moon on July 20th 1969 the moon has moved away from us by approximately 209 centimetres or 6.85 ft. That’s in just 55 years. The moon invariably has an effect on a number of factors here on earth, with the major one being its effect on the tides.

The moon’s gravitational pull is the primary driver of the tides on Earth. As the moon moves further away from Earth, its gravitational pull weakens, which in turn affects the tides.

Effects on Tides

  1. Weaker tidal forces: With the moon moving away, its gravitational pull on Earth’s oceans decreases, resulting in weaker tidal forces.
  2. Lower high tides: As the tidal forces weaken, the high tides will be lower than they would be if the moon were closer.
  3. Higher low tides: Conversely, the low tides will be higher than they would be if the moon were closer.
  4. Reduced tidal range: The tidal range, which is the difference between the high and low tides, will decrease as the moon moves further away.

Don’t panic though as these changes will occur gradually over an extremely long period. It’s estimated that the tidal range will decrease by about 1-2% over the next 100 million years.

These distances between earth and the moon are calculated quite accurately by a piece of space hardware placed on the moon by the crew of Apollo 15 in 1971. It’s called a retro reflector unit. When a high intensity laser is fired towards it from earth, the time it takes to reach the reflector and then be beamed back to earth is measured, and from this measurement they can give an extremely accurate reading of the current distance. This system is still in use to this day. It also features in the documentary.

I’m fascinated by everything lunar related as I was brought up during the space race and was very much around when all of this occurred. I’ve witnessed a space shuttle launch (STS-79) and long to head back and witness one of the many launches taking place now in this revival of space travel.

My favourite ever quote was the one that went so:

“Don’t believe the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon”

Adventure, exploration, breaking barriers and exceeding limits. Everything that the human race is capable and very good at doing.

And some people are just fantastic scholars at teaching the subject.

Maggie is one of those special individuals.

Stay safe. Shine.

How many days have passed since the first photograph was taken?

I was intrigued to know just how many days ago that the first photograph was taken.

There are a few things to consider before we make such a calculation, first a little history.

The first photograph was taken by Nicéphore Niépce in 1826, using a process called heliography. This process involved coating a pewter plate with a light-sensitive substance called bitumen, which hardened when exposed to light. The image, titled “View from the Window at Le Gras,” shows the view from Niépce’s window and took about eight hours to expose.

To calculate how many days ago the first photograph was taken, we can subtract the date of that photograph (1826) from the current year (2025).

2025 – 1826 = 199 years

Since there are 365 days in a year, give or take the occasional leap year, we can then multiply the number of years by 365 to get the total number of days.

199 years x 365 days/year = 72,635 days

So, the first photograph was taken approximately 72,635 days ago. (Give or take a few days)

Wow

That doesn’t seem as great a number in my mind compared to the 199 years, maybe because we relate to a day being considerably shorter than a year (Obviously 🤦‍♂️). It sounds as if you could have even been around when the photo was taken, obviously you couldn’t have been and this is just me having an early morning ramble. So the next question is how many pictures have been taken since then?

Considering the usage of mobile technology I’d suspect that the answer is unobtainable due to the sheer volume of pictures now taken on a daily basis.

But I have put this question to one of those A.I apps available on my phone, to see what it says, and here is the answer that it has given, I asked:

“How many pictures have been taken since that first one in 1826?”

Estimating the Number of Pictures Taken

Using historical data and trends, we can estimate the number of pictures taken since 1826:

  • Pre-digital era (1826-1970s): Assuming an average of 1 million photographs taken per year (a rough estimate), we get approximately 150 million photographs taken during this period.
  • Digital era (1970s-2007): With the advent of digital cameras, the number of pictures taken increased significantly. Let’s assume an average of 100 million photographs taken per year during this period, resulting in approximately 3.5 billion photographs taken.
  • Smartphone era (2007-present): With the widespread adoption of smartphones, the number of pictures taken has grown exponentially. According to a report by InfoTrends, over 1 trillion photographs were taken in 2015 alone. Assuming an average of 1.5 trillion photographs taken per year since 2007, we get approximately 23.5 trillion photographs taken during this period.

Total Number of Pictures Taken

Adding up the estimates from each era, we get:

150 million (pre-digital) + 3.5 billion (digital) + 23.5 trillion (smartphone) ≈ 23.8 trillion photographs taken since 1826.

Keep in mind that this is a rough estimate and should be taken as a rough order of magnitude rather than an exact figure.

Meta A.I

Wow. Big numbers.

Amazing. Just like you. Have a great day.

Who are you? Peter Pan

The boy that never grew up. I guess that was intentional regression and not recreational regression on his behalf, however today in a supermarket whilst doing the weekly shop, my wife believed I was attempting to re enter my youth. I was accused of having a middle aged crisis!

No! You are not having highlights, are you having a middle aged crisis?

She was wrong, but I understand why she thought that way😂

Anyone who reads my posts will realise I have recently written about restoring old ABS plastic from the 80s back to life and removing the yellow hue that they acquire over time. Retrobrighting.

We were walking around the local supermarket doing the weekly shop, I asked where the hair care aisle was and she pointed me on the way. She did tell me that she already had my hair gel, but I said I was looking for something else. I could see the look of suspicion in her eyes.

When I returned from my little detour I asked her to scan the item in the picture above, a small bottle of 40vol 12% peroxide.

She looked at the bottle that says, “Blonde” and at this she’s instantly reverted back to when she first met me about 36 years ago, when I used to have highlights in my hair and changed its styling as often as the weather changed.

“No. You are not having highlights, are you having a middle age crisis or something?” This was her comment.

It took some skilful diplomacy to explain to her that it was required to complete a project I was working on. And I’m still not sure she quite believes me. I will have to show her what I will be doing for her to believe me.

Her parting comment before we moved into the washing powder aisle was, “Who are you? Peter Pan?” So I still don’t really believe she heard and understood my explanation.

I used to love those highlights though…..I wonder 🤔

Tweety pie is being noisy

First a little history. We live in a two bed semi that was built sometime around 1935. Yes it’s aging and has a lot of charm and character. Our neighbours on one side are quite vocal at times but that’s about it, in general life is quite peaceful. They have had a parrot in residence for a number of years who used to live in one of the loft rooms who you only heard occasionally when the loft window was open and you were in the garden. You’d be in the garden listening to all the small birds chattering, when the beauty of it all was broken by a parrot raucously squawking like a banshee with a sore throat above it all. However it was rare and totally acceptable if not strange to hear.

So innocent looking 😇

However things in the homestead next door have changed. The old fellah that used to be the head of the house passed away last year, bless him, and I don’t think he appreciated the birds presence, hence its indoctrination in to the loft space. Now he is no longer there, the daughter has placed the bird in the living room with a full view of everything at the front of the house, and he has a lot to squawk about.

This is not a major issue, please don’t judge me I’m not complaining, things could be an awful lot worse. It could be a dog constantly barking, it could be people constantly shouting, so we should really count ourselves lucky.

It’s just that the wife, even with her hearing problems will often comment, “That bloody bird” so in theory my biggest issue is keeping my wife under control and reassuring her that things could really be a lot worse.

I have personally on occasions been known to comment similarly. But I’m the only person who can control my thoughts and feelings (How very Stoic!) and I choose to remain generally unaffected by it all.

So why did I write this post?

I’ve answered all the daily prompts, and whilst I was thinking of what to post, all I could hear was Tweety pie.

I guess it was just to reiterate that sometimes you just need to accept what you have and embrace it all. The alternatives could be better, but they could also be a lot worse.

And to me there is nothing nicer than the sound of a bird even if it sounds like it has a 60 a day habit and a voice as rough as course sandpaper. 😂

Have a lovely day.

Latest Icelandic Volcano eruption

Whenever we go to Iceland one of the things I’ve always wanted to view is an active eruption. But they always happen just after we leave and stop just before we go.

Today an eruption has begun on the Reykjanes Peninsula, the eleventh in just over four years and the eighth since December 2023. The eruption appears to have occurred just southeast of Mt Þorbjörn.

And as quick as it arrives, it’ll disperse just as quick. So by the time you get to peruse this video, it may well be over. Sorry about that. That’s Mother Nature for you.

Live volcano cam

And we were there about five weeks ago. Missed it again….damn.

All joking aside, here’s praying everyone in the area stays safe.

Nature at its most violent.

You fake

Imposter syndrome. The black dog is back.

Imposter syndrome, also known as imposter phenomenon, is a psychological experience that causes people to doubt their skills, accomplishments, and intellect. It can manifest as a persistent feeling of self-doubt and fear of being exposed as a fraud. People with imposter syndrome may feel undeserving of their achievements . 

Wikipedia

I’ve even removed the final part from this quote, “and the high praise that they receive” as it embarrasses me.

I’ve pretty much suffered this issue the whole of my adult life, I haven’t made that diagnosis, that was made by far better qualified persons than I, that I have seen over the years. I can manage it most of the time and then for some reason I have a rotten bad day, like yesterday when I totally withdraw and slink into a dark area where I do nothing but run myself down.

You’re useless, you’re crap, you’re no good, you have no purpose, you’re a failure, you’re an arse, you’re incompetent….. you name it, anything bad, I quite openly said it to myself yesterday. I don’t know why.

All the arty stuff I’ve done recently, I just went and binned, because in my eyes it’s crap. A child could have done better, why show it to other people. You’re useless. I’ve had such a brilliant, positive attitude of late that I don’t know where this came from. It’s just as if I’m punishing myself for feeling good.

It was a bad day, and unfortunately I’ve upset those closest to me and I’ve now got to start rebuilding bridges.

It takes me to some dark places at times and I’ve controlled it so well over the last year or two, I don’t know where it came from this time.

That’s the problem with these ailments. You think you’re got it sussed and then BANG 💥 it hits you right between the eyes… it’s back, and it’s overwhelming.

It’s the retracing my steps and rebuilding those bridges I hate. I’m lucky to have understanding people around me, but just how much more can they take?

Peace.

I can’t get no sleep

3am in the morning and I’m wide awake. Damned annoying as I know what the cause is. It’s been an issue that has pestered me in excess of 30 years now and it’s called –

Shift work

Says it all

I’ve been working shifts in my job for about 35 years now and I still haven’t come across a way to get your body to adapt to all the changes that shift work burdens upon you, and number one in that list is insomnia.

Insomnia, also known as sleeplessness, is a sleep disorder where people have difficulty sleeping. They may have difficulty falling asleep, or staying asleep for as long as desired. Insomnia is typically followed by daytime sleepiness, low energy, and a depressed mood. It may result in an increased risk of accidents of all kinds as well as problems focusing and learning.

Wikipedia

As if you need it explaining to you. Now I don’t suffer from permanent insomniac conditions, mine is purely based around the segment that involves night shifts. My shifts cover 24hrs and are on a five week rolling cycle. They involve three main sets of shifts and those shifts are 0600-1400hrs, 1400-2200hrs or 2200-0600hrs and at weekends they are either 0600-1800 or 1800-0600.

I have just finished a run of 11 consecutive night shifts after one of my coworkers has been taken ill. And that’s the problem. I finished at 0600 yesterday morning and deliberately did not sleep beyond 11 am as I’m now having to swing back to daylight timings, as I now have the weekend off before transferring on to the early mornings shifts from Monday. I was suitably tired last night, in fact I was all day, but I resisted the urge to nod off as I wanted to try and fool my body clock in to getting back to normal habits. But my body clock doesn’t work like that and isn’t having it.

Over the years I have tried many ways to try and evolve my body clock to understand when moving from Night shifts to day shifts. I’ve tried not sleeping at all, but that results in irritation to all those around me, and a general malaise that is unproductive and non conducive to a friendly peaceful atmosphere. I’ve tried the couple of hours in bed routine but that again is problematic as you fall in to such a deep sleep, so quickly that whoever is tasked with waking you up undoubtedly gets both barrels and you don’t speak for the rest of the day getting labelled as a miserable old git. Or you can just go to bed and wake up when you feel fit to, as I did yesterday and here I am now, in a blacked out bedroom putting my thoughts into this post, quietly as my wife sleeps beside me.

I’m totally wide awake and ready to go. But I don’t want to go anywhere…just yet.

I know I will pay the price later today by feeling tired and tempted to take a nap, however I have to resist that temptation and try to get back to a normal sleeping pattern tonight.

I must apologise in advance to all those individuals who I will meet today who think “He’s a miserable old git.” If I’m nodding as we talk it’s not that I’m bored it’s just I’m lacking the one item you have probably had plenty of.

Sleep.

I can’t get no sleep….(to quote a superb tune)

I can’t get no sleep

There you go. I said it was a great tune.

Peace and plentiful sleep to you all. Stay safe.

Mainly Victorian…but getting there.

How has technology changed your job?

Change? What’s that?

I work on the railway, in many aspects there has been a technological change especially in the development of new rolling stock and safety aspects.

However where I am in the East Midlands we still use an awful lot of Victorian technology, and yes you travel over it every day especially if you use the line that goes between Leicester and Peterborough via Melton Mowbray. Here we have signal boxes that still use Absolute block technology with the signallers using bell codes to communicate. The signalling is the Victorian semaphore signal type and the signal boxes all have large amounts of levers to pull using a wire and pulley system to activate the signals. Most of the boxes themselves are listed buildings and can’t be renovated in any way, yes some of them are getting on for 150 years old.

In my job I spend an awful lot of time on this line, I must admit it is very safe and quite reliable, however sometimes the system has issues that need attending and due to a lot of parts being widely unavailable due to the systems age, this is when the new technology gradually gets implemented. It’s taking time but as they say on the railway….

We’re getting there.

Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but who knows when.

Don’t ask me 🤷‍♂️

We’re getting there.

Have a happy and safe day.

Eh…. Not often

How often do you say “no” to things that would interfere with your goals?

Yes/No

To be honest my Mañana / Procrastination gene has gone into a higher gear in the last few years and I must admit I’m extremely indecisive as well. My goals, or the few I have had, have pretty much been achieved and I’m in a sort of “I don’t give a damn” cruise mode at the moment.

I don’t like saying no to anyone really, it’s just not me and I guess that’s probably why I find my place in society as one of those little worker ants rather than a high achiever. I could have done better, a common statement since school and throughout my adult years.

It kind of breaks me in two to use the word “No” and to be honest I can’t, hand on heart, say that the word has ever featured to as much as restrict my goals or accomplishments in life.

I’m ok, and I’m happy with my lot. Maybe I was just not brought up to say it. Maybe putting restrictions on demands and saying “Yes, but!” Draws a line in the sand instead, and that’s probably as close to the word “No” as I tend to get.

Probably why I’m so damned knackered 😴

Happy day all. Stay safe.