Some Good News About the Weather, at last.

It’s Wednesday 10 April at 22:45 and I have just watched the weather forecast for tomorrow. Some rain but the wind is coming from the South West which is a big change. For the last month it has been an East wind which brings cold air from Siberia. My most often saying so far this year since the middle of January has been, “God, isn’t it cold.” The temperature here seems to have been stuck on a max of 6C with an overnight low of zero.

But not tomorrow, the South West wind brings warmer air and the day time temperature is forecast to be 13C. A heat wave at last. If the forecast is correct then Thursday 11 April will be the hottest day so far this year.

People say global warming isn’t happening and point to the cold weather we have been having and the complete lack of spring. However I happen to know that in Australia they are wondering what has happened to autumn, temperatures in Sydney are still in the mid to high twenties so something is definitely happening to the world’s weather.

If it isn't climate change, what is it?

Maggie, let her rest in peace.

Maggie is dead. Now I didn’t much like Maggie when she was Prime Minister. She did and said things that, at the time seem to suggest she was completely uncaring about people. All she wanted was for the machine, that is the state, to work. The fact that millions lost their jobs and that manufacturing, mining and heavy industry appeared to vanish overnight while she was prime minister didn’t seem to bother her. This was made worse by the rise of the get rich quick yuppie class who made money and spent it just as fast on wine, fast cars and more wine. The poor ex workers meanwhile spent their time in dole queues and hanging about on street corners, when they weren’t out on strike that is. True there are two sides to every story and to some Maggie’s greatest achievement was curbing the power of the unions and her transferring how Europe and on the world saw the UK.

 

Whatever people feel about her and many are aggressively nasty on twitter and other web sites she is dead and like Hitler and Stalin is beyond any harm.

Let history decide as it will.

Grey water and Foul water. What's the Difference

According to figures released yesterday there is 21 000 cubic metres of Raw Sewerage being pumped in to the sea at Hopes Nose. Now for those not completely up to date with the beloved metric system a cubic metre of water is 1000 litres and weighs 1 tonne ( which is more or less the same as 1 old ton). So 21 000 tonnes of raw sewerage, that’s 365 litres a second, is heading for our golden beaches to cover centimetres inches deep in brown sticky smelly stuff that we, and any brave holidaymakers (brave for being out in the bitingly cold wind) just don’t want to see, or walk in while strolling along the above mentioned beaches. Well not quiet. 95% of that 21 thousand tonnes of mostly water being pumped out to sea is exactly that, water. True, it’s been used for washing both ourselves, our clothes, our veggies, our dirty dishes, the kitchen floor, the windows, the car and so on. Its' known as grey water and can be recycled or used to water your garden. It isn’t what we think of when the word sewerage is mentioned. Though some of it is. About 1000 tonnes is foul water, which is not good, but does sound a bit better than imagining 21 000 tonnes of crap all over our lovely beaches.

One other point. According to my water bill I use 70 litres of water a day and almost all of that ends up going down the drain either as grey water or foul water. Twenty one thousand cubic metres of water is 21 million litres. Do a little sum, 21 million divided by 70 = three hundred thousand. Now remember it only sewerage from Torquay going out to sea. Paignton and Brixham are still connected to the sewerage works hidden away in Churston.

What all the sums mean is that given the population of Torquay was  63,998 during the 2001 UK Census and we need 300 000 people to produce 21 000 cubic metres of sewerage then we must have at least two hundred and thirty six thousand and two holiday makers in town which must be good for someone. It’s an ill wind, as they say.

Or maybe I use less water than most or I’ve got my sums in a twist. Or someone else has got the figures wrong.

   

Torbay Rd Closed, Buses on Diversion

This is the main Torquay to Paignton road at Livermead. Sometime on Easter Sunday the sea broke through the seawall and damaged the pavement and the road had to be closed.

It is likely to be a week before the road is open again. At first there was concern that the main sewerage pipe had been damaged but at the moment it does appear to be intact.

There were repairs scheduled to take place a few weeks ago but they were put off for some reason. The result of strong east winds lasting over the previous few weeks put a more than usual strain on the weaken seawall and something had to give. The Bay is normally very sheltered, except when the wind is from the east.

So if you are using the 12 or 12A service to get anywhere and it turns up late don't have a go at the poor driver, it isn't his fault.

Malta to scrap Arriva!

A couple of years ago Arriva took over the running of the bus service in Malta. They got rid of the iconic yellow buses and brought in a brand new fleet of modern low floor air conditioned buses, including a few bendy buses. Bus enthusiast were reported to be booking flights to Malta to photograph the old buses on their return to the congested streets of the island.

 

Today, 09:51Old buses, drivers to return

The Government is planning to remove the much-maligned modern buses from Malta’s roads and bring back the old buses in a drive to boost usage, The Times has learnt.

The surprise decision will see the return of some 150 of the old yellow buses,...

 

Read more at: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130401/local/old-buses-drivers-to-return.463644

 

A friend of mine sent me an email this morning. It refers to an item that appeared today ( April 1) in The Times of Malta.

Over 1000 comments were added to the story by readers, most but not all of the earlier ones suggesting that this was the best thing since sliced bread. Only later in the day did the more awake commentators point out what day it was.