S’cuse Me Guv… Got The Time?

/ masher / 6 Comments

Last night, I saw a lecture at the Royal Institution.

It was all about time – a subject that has always fascinated me.

Called “Fragile Times: Why Accurate And Resilient Timekeeping Is Critical”, I found it amusing – and, of course, somewhat ironic – that it started two and a half minutes late.

But it was enjoyable, nonetheless.

Several speakers from the National Physics Laboratory, gave talks covering their particualr fields of expertise: starting off with a bit of history, then some examples of areas where accurate timekeeping is essential; onto the current range of atomic clocks, using caesium fountains and hydrogen masers and finally onto the latest devices which are under development: optical clocks.

With an uncertainty of just a couple of parts in 1018  these latest timepieces are 100 times more accurate than the best atomic clocks we have today.

To give an example of the level of accuracy they hope to achieve, one of the speakers said that it would be like calculating the age of the universe (circa 14 billion years)… to within half a second.

Boom! Mind blown.

Ride Out

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Yesterday, I went out for a group ride with the club.

It was this: most excellent.

And this: very enjoyable.

About thirty of us took a circuitous – but scenic – ride along some wonderful back roads, going from Woburn Sands and ending up at quaint little St Neots.

Locals sitting in the town square, drinking coffee and watching the Neotists (a local troupe, playing melodies from Tudor times on recorders), looked on, bemused as a hoard of Triumph motorcycles – and one Kawasaki – decended upon them.

We stayed there for about an hour, drinking tea and eating cake, listening to the live music (!), and then made our way back to Woburn, taking a different route to the one we did earlier.

It was just as enjoyable.

Back in Woburn, more tea and cake was scoffed before we headed home.

It were a grand day out, Gromit.

 

 

 

Juxtaposition

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I was walking the dog through the woods, early this morning.

Early Sunday mornings are a great time: nobody about.

I could tell I was the first to be treading the multiple paths that criss-cross the woods, this morning, by the amount of cobwebs that I walked into.

As I walked, I was thinking about nerdy stuff – as I often do.  AX25 Packet Radio links and the issues I’m having with getting some connections, if you must know.

I do a lot of thinking in those woods. Some of my best ideas have come to me whilst I been walking the dog through there. If I have a problem, more often than not, I have solved it whilst traipsing along the many paths that have been worn into place by the footsteps of a thousand dog-walkers. All thinking their own thoughts… some nerdy, some not, I am guessing.

I wandered along, deep in thought.

And then the rising sun reached a point where it’s light lit everything around me with a warm orange glow.

Suddenly torn from my nerdy thoughts, I stopped and took in my surroundings.  Orange sunlight dappled playfully through the leaves – still green but with a few brown autumnal colours starting to appear. The silence was delightful, with the warm breeze  causing just a few rustles in the branches of the trees.  Saber stood at my side, ears up, motionless but alert, her nose thrust high in the air. She could smell something.  About 20 metres away, I could see a Muntjack deer. Saber couldn’t see it from her low vantage point. The deer was stood motionless too, aware of our presence and not wanting to give away it’s location.

The deer; the trees; the sun; the stillness… this was nature at her finest.  A perfect morning.

I walked on.

“Ahh, now, what if I reduce the packet size using PACLEN…”

Norway, José

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The current Mrs Masher and I have just returned from a week’s cruising along Norway’s fjords, looking at Slartibartfast’s crinkly bits.

What a picturesque country. Absolutely gorgeous.

In some places.

A couple of the ports we pulled into, were lacking in picturesque gorgeousness, but generally it was lovely.

And expensive!

On one of our trips out, taking a walk through the town of Haugesund, I realised that the sun and come out and I was sweating profusely.  We nipped into a shop to buy some anti-perspirant and I went for a roll-on, for two reasons: 1. it’s small enough to fit in my pocket and 2. it’s cheaper than a can: £1:50 in Sainsbury’s.

189 Krona, it cost.  I didn’t question it and just paid up, as I hadn’t yet got the hang of the conversion rate, but when we got outside the shop, I worked it out.

14 quid! Yes, fourteen!

Crikey,  and I thought Switzerland was expensive.

Exorbitancy was confirmed later in the week, when I paid eleven quid for a box of Nurofen.

Beautiful place, but I don’t think I could ever afford to live there.

Having gone from Southampton, I was surprised at just how many Japanese, Italian and Spanish people were on board.

And I know we always joke about how fat Americans are, but from what I could see, we’re not that much better. Boy, there were some fatties on that boat!

On the return journey, they put the new Top Gun film on the big outdoor screen. I thought it somewhat aposite, watching Tom Cruise… on a cruise.

Barcelona… sort of

/ masher / 7 Comments

My daughter is yet to pass her driving test.

Annoyingly.

Meantime, I have to drive her to work each morning and Mrs Masher picks her up each evening.

She works in Watford… exactly twenty miles away.  That journey there and back takes about ninety minutes on average.

Each morning.

Before I start work.

It’s a pain.

And, quite often, on the last leg of the journey down the A41, I find myself singing the Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé song, Barcelona.

I don’t know why.

Or at least, I didn’t, until a few days ago when I realised that I see this particular building, just as I drive onto the A41 each morning.

It all makes sense now.

Sort of.

 

 

Twat

/ masher / 2 Comments

Sitting at the traffic lights in Dunstable today, I noticed that the car in front of me had put some – what he/she considered to be very amusing, I’m sure – bumper stickers on their car.

I’ve never found these things to be particularly amusing, but maybe that’s just me.

And I always wince at the thought of anyone sticking something to the paintwork on their car.  Last week I saw an L-plate sellotaped to the bodywork of an otherwise mint-condition Jaguar. What is wrong with these people!

Anyway.

The first bumper sticker made me smile.

A bit.

It was kinda funny.

But, the second one didn’t make me laugh or smile in any way whatsoever.

On the contrary, I actually felt aggrieved by it.

Now, I’m not some some lefty-liberal-do-gooder and I have no problem with swearing… when it’s appropriate.

But, to me, this wasn’t appropriate in any way.

What if I’d had my ten-year old son or daughter in the car, asking me to explain to them what that bumper sticker meant?

You’d think common decency would stop most people from displaying such a thing in public.

Finding My Inner Ken

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Me and the missus did the whole Barbenheimer thing, last weekend.

I’m not going to write a review here, but needless to say, Nolan’s Oppenheimer is a masterpiece.  For me, it could have spent more time looking at the work of the Manhatten Project: their triumphs and their setbacks, before showing what we all know to be their ultimate achievement.  I was more interested in the science and the scientists than the politics which take up much of the film.

But that’s just me.

And Barbie? Well, a very different kettle of fish, but – much to my surprise – quite kenjoyable nonetheless.  And it was fun to see Mattel not take themselves too seriously.

If you only get to see one film this year… make it one of these.

Diddly Squat

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At the weekend just gone, the current Mrs Masher and I took drive westwards to visit some friends.

Our route west, took us through Chipping Norton and within spitting distance of Jeremy Clarkson’s Farm, Diddly Squat. But rather than spit at it, we decided we’d pop in for a visit.

Mrs M thought it would be great to nip into the farm shop and get some BeeJuice (honey) to take home.

Judging by the number of vehicles in the car park, though, I guessed this was going to be either a very long stop for us or a very quick one.  It was the latter.

The queue for the farm shop was horrendous! I stood and watched it whilst the missus availed herself of the lavatories and in that time I estimated it would likely take at least 90 minutes to just get into the shop. Bugger that!

So, we wandered round to the café at the back. I saw a couple of people carrying burgers and chips to one of the outside wooden tables. The burgers looked fantastic, but once again, the queue was horrendous, so we didn’t bother.

So, in the end, we were only there for about fifteen minutes. Oh well, maybe we’ll try again another day, when all the fuss has died down.

For The Ride

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Yesterday, myself and a few mates went up to Hinckley – the home of Triumph Motorcycles –  and took a guided tour around their factory.

It was most interesting.

The plan was – of course – for us to ride there, but the inclement weather put paid to that and we ended driving up instead. It didn’t feel right, turning up in a car, but I’d rather that, than get soaking wet.

The tour is a 90-minute, approx 1 mile walk around the factory. Being the weekend, the factory floor was empty, but apparently they aslo do these guided tours during the week, which I think would be far more interesting – being able to walk round and actually see the bikes being built.

Nonetheless, our tour – on a quiet factory floor – was still fascinating. I highly recommend it… if you’re into that sort of thing.l

A toasted sarnie and a cup of tea in the café afterwards, made for an excellent Sunday morning.

For Sale: One Back Burner – Heavily Used

/ masher / 7 Comments

As you both know, I have several hobbies that take up much of my spare time.

The most prolific of these is electronics, which I have been playing around with since I was 14.

Over the years, I have built many projects, most of which have ended up being dismantled or discarded once I’d lost interest in them, but also some that are still in use regularly to this day.

Nowadays though, it takes me longer to build things, because I simply don’t seem to have as much spare time as I used to.  And, I’ll often find, that halfway through building a project, something else will grab my attention. Project A will then go on the back-burner whilst I start on Project B.

I am in that situation right now: Project A – a large project that I have been working on for a couple of years (it started life as my Lockdown Project, back when we had the plague) has spent more time on the back burner than on the front. And it is sitting there right now, gently simmering whilst I work on Project B.  Occasionally, I will come back to it and give it a bit of a stir, but for the moment, all my time and energy is focussed on completing Project B.

Or, at least, it was. Because the components for Project C arrived in the post yesterday and I am quite excited and keen to get started on that one.  Of course, I should put it to one side and wait until I have finished Projects A & B, but I know that won’t happen… Project B will be squeezed onto the back burner, alongside Project A, whilst I put all my focus into Project C.

Having a back burner really isn’t helping.

 

P&T

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On Sunday, Son and I went into that London to see Penn & Teller at the Hammersmith Apollo… or the Eventim Apollo, as it is now called.

It was magic.

But, as good and as enjoyable as it was, I must say that I didn’t feel this show was as good as when I saw them there a few years ago.

Their tricks were clever and were delivered in the usual entertaining way, by these two guys who have been doing this for fifty years now.

But they didn’t wow me… not like they have previously.

Don’t get me wrong: they were brilliant and funny and entertaining.

But I missed getting wowed.

Maybe because many of the tricks were re-worked ones that I’ve seen them do before.

Or maybe paying fifteen quid for two pints of lager in plastic cups, had upset my sensibilites.

Or maybe having to go through airport-style security, with body checks and scanners to step through, had rankled me. I mean, what sort of society are we now living in, that one has to have a body search before being allowed in to see a show?

Perhaps having to drive down because the trains were still not running – even when they’re not out on bloody strike – had already put me in a bit of a mood.

Or maybe it was the stationary traffic on the M25 that caused me to be pissed off. I sit in traffic every bloody morning during the week and now I have to do it on a Sunday as well?  Jeez!

Sorry, P&T: you’d have had to perform a couple of literal miracles on Sunday (preferably, new ones), to have got my astonishment senses tingling again.

Big Brother?

/ masher / 3 Comments

During the week, I received my Google Timeline update.

I get one each month. This is because I have Location Services turned on. and am quite happy to share my location data.

I have nothing to hide.

It’s sometimes interesting to look back over the month and year to see where I have been.

Google knows exactly where I’ve been.

It also knows how long I spent there.

And it gives a breakdown of how many miles I have walked and how many miles I have driven.

Further to that, it even knows whether I have travelled there by car on my motorbike.

I kid ye not: it knows whether I drove or rode somewhere.

And it is spookily accurate.

Me, Son and a couple of mates took a short ride out today. Not too far as it’s way too hot.  Basically, we took a ride out to the nearest place to get a full English breakfast.

And Google knows.

How? How can it know? How can it know that I was on my bike and not in the car?

Next time, I might go there in the car, but wear my crash helmet.

Let’s see it’s little AI algorithm work that one out!