Saturday, April 28, 2007

Something else to talk about

There's been an earthquake in Folkestone. Sounds like a line in Yes, Primeminister, doesn't it? BBC Radio Kent, doubtless grateful to have some news for once (actually, Kent seems to get it bad - the worst of flooding, the worst of the '87 hurricane) have been talking about it non stop for about 4 and a half hours.

Four and a half hours for something that lasted about 15 seconds??!!

OK, so you have to think about context and probability. We have had earthquakes of more than 4 before, but not very often. We get 'baby' ones every 6 months or so, but only dogs and the extremely alert feel them. As we are merely on the Eurasian plate, and not even the edge of that plate, an earthquake is an earthquake as far as we're concerned. I love to go to the USGS Earthquake Hazards Program website to get it into context of just how minor our big event was.

Have a gander at this. The stake was driven through the tyre by a tsunami caused by the Prince William Sound Earthquake of 1964.

We got it easy. Talk about important stuff please.

Friday, April 20, 2007

a word from archie

helo. my name is archie. i am a flea who lepes from kee 2 kee to tipe owt mi mesage. fi has had a hard weke so dained to pas the keebord 2 me. as this is hard wurk as it is, i realy canot be botherred 2 hit caps lok evry tim i nede to start a sentuns, so u ma find redeing this a bit odd. fi dusn't like me posting 2 often as she sez i hav a speling problem. i hurd sumthin toda tho, and took grate delite in teling her that even the xperts get it rong sumtimes. royal male haz manidged to spel the ile of wite rong, it shud b wight hamshire sa. wel i can't tel any diffrunce myself, but wot wud i no im only a flea. i also poynted out that she maried sum1 who used to spel hounslow with a d in the midle and feltham contaned an o. that shut her up toot sweet and sed to post hear befor i showed her up even mor. so well done royal male. you prooved that not only fleas hav got speling problems, gave me a chans to hav my sa and also shut fi up 4 a bit.

Tuesday, April 10, 2007

Woodwork squeaks...

I don't rely on tourism for a job. In some ways, I'm glad I don't, but sometimes, particularly when there is heavy pressure from the Global IT company on behalf of the rather well known utilities company, I think that just some pressure, occasionally, is better than the full-on-omg-we've-only-just-finished-tax-year-end-and-have-2-weeks-to-get-the-next-payroll-out stress that I seem to face every year, no matter how much quality prep time is available.

So it is with tourism. It's not like the onset of spring - you see a snowdrop, maybe a crocus one morning and then gradually, the daffodils appear and slowly turn the brown earth to green. Oh no. Every year, without fail, and without warning, on the first sunny day on or after Easter, most of Liverpool invades the coastal towns from Prestatyn to Llandudno. Llandudno has more to offer year round than most, so it is well prepared. Sleepy Prestatyn barely knows whats hit it. Rhyl, who looks ridiculous in bright colours from early October to Easter, suddenly wakes up and becomes a personality again, rather than a shameful blot on the North Wales landscape.

Its not so much woodwork squeaking (was not was), more a sorta battering ram at the gates of a flimsy barn, and when you spend hours on buses to get to favourite destinations, so easy to get to in the winter. And people can't even say to me, you wouldn't have a livelihood without them, cos I would.

There are plenty that do though, and once the true personalities come out during winter, i.e. everyone takes a deep breath and starts talking to one another again, and with civility, I just wonder whether the stress is worth it, and does the money really compensate? And who does it compensate?