Panorama and a Sandwich Wrapped in String? You'd Better Believe it!

Did I tell the truth about the sandwich or what?

DW

Whoops! I did it again!

I was unhappy with the photos of the sun I took last night so I went back again and this evening. I was a BIT more successful but nowhere near as good as the very first photo of the sun I took ... sun spots and all.

Judge for yourself. I hope you like the other photos too ... including a revised version of last night's photo of me in a lift: I changed the settings for that one too and it looks better.

Hey ho!

DW

Every now and Again

Sometimes i take a photo and think ... that's not bad ... take a look at this one, taken in a lift in a hurry!!

DW

I Know, I've Been There Before

Take a look!

DW

From the Hotel Yesterday

Isn't that nice?

DW

One Done It!

Did it!

DW

Ever Had That Feeling?

That you woke up looking like this?

DW

A Perambulation Down Sheikh Zayed Road

I took a walk along Sheikh Zayed Road about an hour ago and took a load of photos. Here are some of them!

DW

Enlightenment

Here I am playing with my new camera toy! The plant in this photo is a cutting of a Fuchsia plant that I bought earlier this year: it was fantastically prolific too.

These photos were taken in RAW format with my Olympus Digital 70 - 300 mm 1:4 - 5.6 ED lens: varying time delays ... from 1/6 second to 3.2 seconds. All at ISO 100, 202mm and f5.6.

I have compressed the files to show on here.

DW

Camera Settings

Here's the result of my latest photofaffography. Looks good i think, he says 😔

DW

Pay or Not Pay?

Someone somewhere has sent me s letter or parcel and has under paid the postage.

The card that landed on my door mat asked me to pay the shortfall of nine PENCE and a handling fee if £1.

What would you do?

I am not expecting a special letter or parcel

I decided that after 18 days the Royal Mail can return whatever it is to sender. If it's important those people will send it back to me. If it's junk mail, i've lost nothing have I?!

DW

Beige ... Moi?

I read a birthday card in WH Smith yesterday that said something like:

On his 60th birthday Fred found himself ordering a beige jacket, beige trousers and a beige shirt from the beigewear catalogue.

I'm saying nothing ...

Bad Firework Photos

Maybe i will see more fireworks with less stress tomorrow.

Here are two really hurried firework photos for you!

DW

Feeling much Better

I have had two relaxing days at home and I have kept myself very warm. With the benefit of some antibiotics and some painkillers I feel 98% perfect now.

A throat infection leading to or linked to a fever is not a good thing.

DW

Gold Medal Awarded!

From Emirates, today:

"Congratulations! You have qualified for your Gold membership status for another year."

Ta daa!

DW

Fever!

High fever means sleeping badly, boiling to death, the same dreams as i had the last time this happened to me.

This is all because of air conditioning.

DW

Ruinair? Not so bad!

I have flown Ryanair now and i have to say it wasn't bad. Only a 45 minute flight though but there was a highlight!

As i got onto the plane the stewardess pointed at the front row and said no one had bought them so i could sit there. That was nice of her 😀 and i assume she did it out of admiration for my charm and good looks and not because of my height!!

Five minutes before take off, a couple arrived with tickets for that front row 😒 so i was demoted! However, very few of the extra leg room seats had gone so i was allowed to sit in row two!

I have been on other low cost airlines and they do not allow you to sit in the expensive seats if you haven't paid for them.

Ryanair, u just went up a notch!

DW

Dublin

My first visit to Dublin. Just arrived and looking forward to the experience.

DW

Unfortunate Incident

I witnessed rather an irate man trying his best to be understood ... he was German but speaking English to people who were neither German nor native English speakers.

This man did well but kept referring to his gebau ... I think no one knew what that was.

I noticed that he was being answered by one or other of the staff behind the desk but not one person consistently.

Then he wandered off in a bit of a huff, still unsatisfied. When he walked up to the wall at the end of the counter i realised he was blind.

Difficult for him and brave of him to travel alone. More sensitivity from the staff would have helped.

DW

Manchester Airport Terminal 3 ... Rubbish!

Imagine that you arrive by air from somewhere and you then fly somewhere else ... to and from Manchester Airport.

Imagine that the time between arriving and departing is 8 or 9 hours AND you cannot check in for 6 or 7 hours from your arrival time.

Manchester Airport Terminal 3 you are rubbish!

There! Said it! Land side, this is true:

No free wifi ... well, a thirty minute gift
No decent place to sit
No public power sockets
No shops worth shouting about
Nowhere to eat ... Ok, a caff
Nowhere to shower
No left luggage office
No heating
Etc

In my case i use Manchester many times a year AND i pay for the privilege. I get nothing in return.

By the way, how often do they clean this place? Look at the photo below ... one of several such bits of detritus near me.

See also how i had to spread out and find somewhere to charge my laptop and phone.

I wonder if anyone from MAN will find and respond to this?

DW

747 at Warp Speed

I went on flight on a Boeing 747-400 the other day: my first 747 flight for many years.

Maximum thrust at the start of the runway pushed us right back in our seats and we were airborne within 22 seconds, fully laden too. That's fast!!

I normally time all take offs and 22 seconds for any wide bodied plane is from 10 to 20 seconds faster than average.

DW

Xmas Cake Tester ... Tested

Here it is, the Christmas cake tester for this year.

Verdict: all round winner with the Be-Ro recipe.

Since 1975, there have been just two occasions when i did not use the Be-Ro recipe, as far as i remember:

When i used a different, utterly rubbish recipe
When i forgot to make a cake one year

Here it is, then ...

DW

Xmas is Coming!

It's mid October and time to bake the Christmas cake. Here's the 2012 version:

Main cake (round)
Tester (oblong)

Ta daa!

DW

Dublin Here I Come

I have prepared a paper for an international education conference to be held on and between 29th and 31st October.

The paper is on my work in Kabul: the setting up of a TVET college there.

The conference is being held in the centre of the city.

This is my first trip to Dublin and if you are in or going to be in Dublin at that time, why not say hello!

DW

Moths and a Spider

How about these three specimens?

I went to post a letter this afternoon and clinging to my house were the following three insects/arachnida and I wish someone could identify them for me.

DW

WWWWinter Arrived?

I got back home yesterday bang on time. Even though my initial flight from Riyadh was late, my flight from Dubai left the gate on time TO THE SECOND ... I checked my watch as we pushed back!

Unusually, the Dubai to Manchester plane was almost empty, so many people were flaked out across three or four seats.

I think I was the only Gold traveller on the flight as I was greeted and treated very well throughout the flight.

On the other hand, I was cold at home. It is October and I don't mind putting on the heating but it seemed too cold too soon to me. Jet lag also makes me feel like death on day one too and yesterday was no exception.

I had a sleep during the day, went to sleep early and woke up at a reasonable time so today should be a normal day.

DW

Push Means the Ashtray Won't Work

I am a frequent flyer: I use a lot of aeroplanes and I know how to open the toilet doors. For some reason, many people get to the loo on a plane and all semblance of reason and problem solving skills escape them.

I have seen people trying to use the drinking water dispenser as a door handle. Then there are the people who explore all door furniture but leave defeated ... they go to another loo or or they go back to their seat!

Here are two hints:

The big sign on the door that says PUSH means push that door at that point and, providing the door is not locked, you will gain access!
Secondly, in the absence of a push sign there will be a HANDLE! Just depress or turn the handle ...

Finally, opening and pulling on the ashtrays that are still inexplicably built into many toilet doors will NOT get you into the loo!!

DW

Olympic Gold, Paralympic Gold now Emirates Gold!

I have done it in good time this time, by the time of my annual significant date, I will have renewed my Gold card status with Emirates Airlines.

Praise be!

DW

How to Charge Batteries

When wishing to charge batteries, don't forget to take the batteries with you as even the most sophisticated charger cannot charge thin air!

Another top tip from yours truly.

DW

Would I Want to be Coached by this Person?

Every now and again I look for someone from my dim and distant past. Often, I draw a blank. This time I found the person first time although I have not seen him since 1964 I think it was.

He says he is now a coach of some sort ... here are a few words from his web site:

"Born in Halifax, Yorkshire, XXX has lived for the past 30 years near Constable Country on the Essex/Suffolk borders, but still keeps traces of a Northern accent!

"He studied languages ... and maintains an interest in learning languages along with playing golf and chess. He prefers to live in the countryside and, although work and leisure travel takes him to many major cities, he’s always pleased to get back to the open spaces.

"The coachee can now speak with confidence ...

"A coachee wants to influence a colleague ...

"After, I ask the coachee how she felt ...

"A frequent role for XXX in these sessions is to support the coachee through these steps ...

"I’ve been both a coach and a coachee. I’ve remember some of the powerful feelings ...

"I’ve heard a coachee say something similar ...

"XXX’s training in recent years has taken place in the UK, in most European countries, and beyond in places such as Dubai and Colombia."

So, XXX, I think your attempts at trying to impress me are falling well short. Also, anyone who called me a coachee would suffer extreme disdain! On the other hand, he seems to know how to use a colon!!


DW

What a Diversion

I am on my way to Riyadh and as and when I can I fly Emirates. I have done this trip before and the last time I did it the flight from Manchester was late so I ended up in an hotel in Dubai for 24 hours and that's bad because it meant that I got to the hotel in Riyadh at about 4 am but had to be at work at 8 am.

This time the Manchester flight was late again: it was tight but the connection was still possible. Possible that is until the captain said we have to hold BUT as we are running out of fuel and Dubai cannot accommodate us, so we were diverted to Sharjah.

We are at Sharjah now, refuelling. The Riyadh flight must be long gone. What was announced as a 45 stop looks more likely to become at least 90 minutes.

There are 489 of us on this flight so that's a lot of sorting out that someone is having to do.

DW

Berries

October in the countryside and there be berries abounden.

Blackberry and Elder are what I came across today.

DW

Delayed Cramp

When I go on a long flight it is not unusual for me to suffer cramp within 24 hours of such a trip.

This time the cramp stalked me but delayed its attack a further 24 hours. I just flicked my quilt with my left leg to go and get my morning coffee when SQUEEEEEZZZZZEE.

It hurt!

DW

Gangnam Style

Just to let you know that I am well down with the kids.

Before I went away last week, I heard gangnam style being played on BBC Radio 4 of all radio stations and they said it was taking the UK by storm. I saw the video on the telly a couple of nights ago and I think's it's well sick.

DW

Rubik's Cube: the power

First of all, I have never solved the Rubik's Cube but this morning I came across a young lad solving a 5 x 5 x 5 Rubik's Cube and wondered what the results look like for a 3 x 3 x 3, 4 x 4 x 4 etc cube. This is what I have found:

By size, I mean 2 represents a 2 x 2 x 2 cube, 3 represents a 3 x 3 x 3 cube and so on

By seconds I mean the fastest actual time I can find recorded for anyone having solved that size of cube

By SecPred I mean the predictions made by using the Power Function y = 0.0327x4.6187 determined from the trendline on the following chart:

Without having done any extensive checking, the actual data, albeit very limited, seem to follow a power function, rather like a learning curve; and the question is, can we use the actual data as the basis for predicting potential record solving speeds for existing and larger Rubik's Cubes? I created the following table, which is an extension to the table above:

Interesting ... for me anyway!

DW

From the Moon to the Sun

I was pleased with this one ... the setting sun, complete with sun spots. I cropped this photo so some resolution has been sacrificed, of course.

DW