Yum Yum Helen's Made Pumpkin Pie 😊
Yum Yum Helen's made pumpkin pie 😊
More Posts from Jbheffernan and Others
Open Water Swimming at RWSABC
I am the Open Water Swimming Convener at the Royal West of Scotland Amateur Swimming Club. The upcoming season will start soon. We have set out the programme for the upcoming year. The programme is shown below:
Social Swims for members of RWSABC
Thursday and Friday evenings every week with water entry around 6:30pm starts Thursday, 17th April ends Friday, 12th September
Swimming generally takes place along the Esplanade but sometimes in certain conditions swimming takes place in the direction of the Battery Park.
“Open” Social Swims for members of the public
Fridays - 23rd May, 6th June, 4th July and 1st August.
Moonlight Swim for members of RWSABC
Saturday, 12 July at 10:00pm - Dependent on weather and cloud conditions
The Cross Clyde Swim
From Kilcreggan to The Esplanade, Greenock the distance is about 3km
Saturday, 16 August - This swim is dependent on conditions and the event may be rerouted or cancelled in case of poor conditions. There are strict criteria for entering this event.
You can find more by contacting me at openwaterswimming@rwsabc.com
Happy swimming!
Today's highlight was Gullfoss Waterfall!
Open Water Swimming along The Esplanade, Greenock - 7 January 2014
Happy New Year!
This is my first Blog of the year. I am working at home today to try to get some marking done. I have done a reasonable job but there is still lots of marking to do.
Seeing as I was at home I decided to go for an Open Water Swim in The Clyde. As normal I swam from the Royal West of Scotland Amateur Boat Club (RWSABC).
The last time I was in was in December. Today's weather was fairly mild with with the temperature around 9 degree C. It was overcast with lite winds.
I went in around 15:45 and stayed in 15 minutes. High tide today was at 16:41 so the water was well in. I much prefer to be swimming around high tide if possible. The main reason is probably that you are walking over sand to get in the water. Going in at a low tide means that you are walking over cobbles and larger stones to get in the water. I am guessing I swam about 400m. I never did put my face in and mostly swam side stroke. After coming out I went into the boat club a took a nice hot shower. I was still a bit shivery after the shower.
Having said that I am still on a bit of high from the swim. It was great.
I didn't take a picture today but here is one from early December when the conditions were much the same as today.
I have spoken to a few people who tell me stories about people they know who made it a habit to swim in The Clyde every day. I certainly believe them now. Today's swim means that I have had at least one swim in The Clyde every month since April 2013. I expect that to continue. I would like to get in once per week but I'm not sure if my schedule will allow this.
Happy swimming!
My thoughts on the summer budget
I read the full Budget speech that George Osborne gave today.
I think that from a public relations point of view it has been a good budget for the Chancellor. I found myself thinking, "I agree with that" when watching the news and hearing the headlines.
Now that I have read the budget I am less pleased.
I am disappointed in his Infrastructure plans to increase productivity.
He said -
“Four fifths of all journeys in this country are by road, yet we rank behind Puerto Rico and Namibia in the quality of our network. In the last 25 years, France has built more than two and a half thousand miles of motorway – and we’ve built just 300. In the last Parliament I increased road spending, even in difficult times, and set out a plan for £15bn of new roads for the rest of this decade.”
I was disappointed in this because it makes no mention of public transport, it makes no mention of improving streets and paths to allow and encourage people to walk and cycle. Roads and streets are important and are a good place for investment, but I am concerned that the Governments plans will see more roads built, which will then fill up with cars and lorries, leading to no net improvement in productivity or happieness.
At one point in his speech he said -
For Britain is home to 1% of the world’s population; generates 4% of the world’s income; and yet pays out 7% of the world’s welfare spending.
What a meaningless statement!!! It may be factually correct but it is not illuminating. We should really be proud that we spend 7% of the world's welfare spending because there are lots of places that spend zero.
I was disappointed that the budget didn't set out any proposals to increase the affordability of housing or energy by increasing supply. This is the other side of the tax cut coin, making peoples money go further.
A search through the budget statement shows that equality or inequality was only mentioned once. He stated that - "In the last fortnight we’ve seen independent statistics showing that since 2010, child poverty is down and so is inequality." I do not see this as a strong budget to reduce inequality.
I was pleased to see that non-dom status is to be phased out.
I see that corporation tax will be reduced to 18% by 2020. I would have liked to see that a reduced tax rate associated with less unequal pay structure within corporations. Rather than just taxing high earners companies should pay more tax if they have highly unequal wage structures. One way to assess wage structues within a company would be through the use of the Gini Coefficient.
I understand that there is going to be further tightening of the rules concerning taxation to close loopholes and I support this.
I find that the discussion of tax credit and minimum wage confusing. I see that Ian Duncan Smith was cheering the increase in the minimum wage and I am prepared to trust his judgement.
In conclusion, I see this as a budget that was well crafted from the political point of view for middle England. I think the Budget will not play so well in Scotland. I am disappointed because I do not see this budget as making Britain a happier place to live. The Chancellor and the Government don't seem to want to promote more equality, or if they do, they are limiting themselves to only a few tools. The Budget will not improve affordability which is the other side of the tax coin when it comes to improving peoples lives.
I hope you find these views interesting.
If you want to read the full budget statement for yourself the reference is:
Osborne, G. and HM Treasury, (2015). Chancellor George Osborne's Summer Budget 2015 speech - Speeches - GOV.UK. [online] Gov.uk. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/chancellor-george-osbornes-summer-budget-2015-speech [Accessed 8 Jul. 2015].
Posing them will help you find work in two important ways.
BUY land, advised Mark Twain; they’re not making it any more. In fact, land is not really scarce: the entire population of America...
Dome City Blog 2 - What is my vision for a Dome City? Why might we build one?
The Guardian newspaper Reported on 6 October 2014, in an article by Nicholas Watt, that Nick Clegg and the Liberal Democrats are proposing 5 new garden cities between Oxford and Cambridge. He suggested that this would provide around 50,000 new houses. He was quoted as saying: “Garden cities are a vital cornerstone of our plan to boost house building to 300,000 homes a year – enough to meet demand and keep prices in reach – while still protecting our precious green space and preventing urban sprawl. Our plan is to build a series of high quality new towns and cities where people want to live, with green space, sustainable transport and spacious homes."
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/oct/06/nick-clegg-promises-10-garden-cities-built-train-line-oxford-cambridge
It is my view that dome cities could help to accomplish this aspiration of 300,000 homes per year. Of course this is no use if no one would want to live in a dome city. I have spoken to a few people and most of them are initially reluctant to consider living in a dome city. First and foremost a dome city must be a place that is pleasant to live. Briefly allow me to set out what I think a dome city will offer. In my first blog of this series I proposed that a dome city is a geodesic dome 1 km in diameter and 500m high. This first pass proposal would have around 48 equally spaced levels and a population density of 3860 people per square kilometre to house a total of around 100,000 persons. To put this into context, this is a population density of Birmingham, UK or Miami, FL. However, given the compactness of the site there will not be a need for cars within the dome. I would suggest that lanes of about 4m in width will provide space for people to walk and cycle everywhere within the level. Levels would be linked with elevators, escalators, stairs and ramps. Walking and cycling are good for one's health. In addition, I think these activities can foster a better sense of community because we are seeing and interacting with a fellow citizens as we walk and cycle. When we're in our car our interaction is minimal. I hope that this form of structure is feasible from a structural engineering point of view. This isn't something I can answer at this stage so it could be something that destroys the feasibility of this proposal. My second biggest concern would be to provide light to the centre of the dome, especially in the lower levels where the centre could be upto 500m from the edge. I am hopeful that we could replicate daylight conditions during daylight hours with modern low energy lighting. This lighting would follow the outdoor lighting levels so there will be a form of night in the dome with street lights for the residential areas. Lighting is another aspect of the proposed design that I still have to investigate so it could be a show stopper. Housing would mainly be in the form of single family dwellings. In most cases people would not share any walls with their neighbours. These homes could be prefabricated and built in a factory environment within the dome. They should have outstanding design and flexible layouts and features. I would hope that the initial residents would order a bespoke home to suit their exact needs. These houses would then be delivered to their final location with only hook up and final fit out required. This factory construction could greatly improve quality. The housing should have high energy efficiency. I would hope that we could make these homes very affordable. Beside factory construction, another factor that could lead to lower cost is less need for waterproofing of the roof since the dome itself provides this. I would propose that there be a power station adjacent to the dome city to provide electricity for the city. The waste heat that arises from electricity production could be easily used for the supply of hot water all year round and heating in winter. I was recently in Reykjavik. Iceland for a short holiday. Hot water is never in short supply there and it make for some wonderful swimming opportunities. Swimming is something I greatly enjoy. This power source will form the topic of a future blog. I would hope that we can provide extensive public spaces with opportunities for recreation such as sports like football, hockey (field and ice), bowls, tennis, badminton, basketball, swimming, ping pong etc... We wouldn't want to neglect cultural aspects and there should be plenty of areas where these activities are encouraged and allowed. To foster one facet of a vibrant and caring community, religions would be encouraged to provide churches/mosques/temples for their people to celebrate their religious beliefs in. Public halls would also be a feature of the dome to encourage clubs, bands, youth groups and other organizations that allow us to build a civil society and connect with our fellow citizens. Around each level in the dome, I would want to see a buffer of unbuilt space to allow people to see the sky and feel the wind on their face. Given that Britain is a temperate country I do not envisage very much glazing on the exterior of the structure. These buffer zones may become the places where the community goes for a stroll every evening. I was once in Rostov on Don, and the Rostovian make this a regular habit when I was visiting. I would propose that here be a green belt at least 500m wide around the base of the dome. This green belt would mainly be in the form of park land but some of it should be set aside for allotments, a community farm, and outdoor sporting facilities like grass football and rugby pitches. With a population of around 100,000 people, good public transport links would be viable. In addition, I expect that some of the residents will still need cars for commuting and excursions. An extensive parking garage would need to be provided. I would also hope that some sort of car sharing/rental scheme arises to allow access to cars for those who don’t need to own a car. However, within the dome city, cars will not be required so some of the building area that is currently turned over to allow cars, trucks and buses to move around in modern cities becomes available for people. Transport in the dome, for heavy goods, deliveries and for those with limited mobility, would be provided using electric vehicles. With 100,000 people living in the dome there is an extensive demand for public services like schools, hospitals, police, fire fighters. The city will need to provide services like energy, waste disposal, water and sewerage. Retail space would be needed to supply the needs to of the dome. Light manufacturing would be encouraged as well as service industries. I would hope that the dome city becomes a magnet for some that will form new businesses because they are attracted to the high density, good communication links and high quality of the community. I would hope that it does not simply become a dormitory for commuters working in a nearby city. Some people tell us to buy land, because they're not making any more of it. For a dome city the land area at the base of this dome is 0.785 square kilometres (194 acres, 78.5 hectares). With the 48 levels the building area available within the dome is 25.3 square kilometres (6250 acres, 2530 hectares). This has increased the available land area by a factor of 32. The total land take assuming we have a 500m green belt around the site is 3.14 square kilometers. This particular blog prompted by the extract shown below from The Economist magazine dated 04/10/2014 Having workers in the right places is critically important to generating more and better jobs. In both the rich and the emerging world unmet demand for housing is a significant constraint on growth. In developing economies many large cities have outgrown their capacity to house their populations, resulting in sprawling slums that harbour crime and disease. India’s government, for example, tightly restricts land use, making new construction costly and modern housing extremely expensive. In rich countries restrictions on the supply of housing can be just as pernicious. In economically dynamic places such as New York and London the shortage of housing is a serious constraint on growth in output and highly paid jobs. Inadequate investment in infrastructure exacerbates the problem. As roads and trains become more crowded, residents grow wary of agreeing to new developments, and so it goes on. Taken from: The Economist, Special report: The world economy, In this special report - The third great wave, Article Title: Means and ends - How governments can deal with the labour imbalance, Oct 4th 2014 | From the print edition I hope this blog has made you consider dome cities as one possible way to address this problem of having workers in the right place. Dome City Blog Number 2 12 October 2014 Joe Heffernan
Dome City Blog 3 - Energy production in the city
In today's blog I plan to talk about energy production and use within a Dome City.
In general, residents of cities use less energy per capita, then people in rural areas. Some reasons for this are:
Distances travelled can be less,
Mass transportation systems can work well,
Shared walls in housing lead to lower heating requirements,
If energy sources are located in the city then combined heat and power can be used, and
Less resources are used to provide infrastructure for high density populations compared to low density ones.
A Dome City should have nearby power resources large enough to cover the needs of the population for electricity, heating, cooling and local transport within the city. Transport away from the city would most probably provided in standard cars and trucks powered by gasoline and diesel.
I would propose that the Dome City has a electricity power station sited just beside it. This power station would be located close enough to the Dome City to allow the waste heat, which arises from electricity production, to be used to provide hot water, heating and if required, cooling, to the city. This is known as combined heat and power (CHP) or as cogeneration. When a Dome City is sited in a tropical location then a "trigeneration" systems which includes refrigeration could be provided. The typical efficiency of thermal power plants for electricity is 30% to 40%. This waste heat represents a significant resource. District heating would be feature of the Dome City. This heat supplied to residents and business would form another source of income for the city.
My preferred method of dealing with electricity production would be with Nuclear Power. Nuclear Power is a low-carbon form of electricity production that is not so climate dependent compared to wind or solar. Furthermore, while wind and solar can be excellent sources of low-carbon electricity at the right locations, these forms of energy production are intermittent. This intermittentcy requires back up power sources to cover the times when these renewable sources cannot provide power.
There are proposals for new smaller reactors known as Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). By definition these reactors have electricity outputs of less than 300 MWe (Megawatts electrical). The suggested size of these reactors varies from 2 MWe for the UPower proposal to 130 MWe for the B&W MPower proposal. The system that I would most want to see would be 3 number NuScale 45 MWe reactors to provide electricity and heat to the city. A combined output of 135 MWe would generally provide more power than the city would require. I would estimate that the city will consume around 100MWe. However, the additional supply could be used to entice power hungry industries to move to the city. Some energy intensive industries are data centres or heavy manufacturing. Alternatively, the additional supply above the needs of the city would be a useful source of income for the city.
The NuScale reactors have a refueling cycle of around 2 years. Refueling would be staggered such that no more than one reactor is off line at any one time. In the UK, the city should be connected to the National Grid and any shortfall in power during a refueling shut-down could be supplied from the grid.
The use of 3 number SMR's has the advantage of "right-sizing" the plant to the population of the Dome City. The Dome City will take several years to build. Once the lower levels have been constructed I would expect that people would begin to move in. However, to reach the full population of around 100,000 people will take a number of years. Initially a single reactor would provided for power. The second and third would follow in later years when the population as grown large enough to justify the additional generating capacity.
I would very much hope that the power station for the city be owned and operated by the municipality.
I appreciate that there will be some reading this blog that are opposed to or afraid of nuclear power. In addition, the NuScale SMR is still in the design and licensing phase. We are still waiting for the first one to be constructed. An alternative to an SMR that would accomplish much the same ends is to have a Combined Cycle Gas Turbine (CCGT) power plant producing electrical power for the city.
This brief outline on the supply of electrical power and heat to a proposed Dome City has set out what I consider to be the "best" option. The compact nature of the Dome City would allow Combined Heat and Power to be feasible. The power station would have 2 sources of income. One comes from the Electricity produced and the second is the hot water and heat supplied. This would increase it's financial performance and make it easier to find financing for this aspect of Dome City development.
I was down at the Boat Club today. David Jenkins and I did a 500m swim in around 16 minutes without wetsuit. Water temperature 9 degC. Highish tide going out. After our swim I needed to get more steps. These birds were sitting on The Esplanade railing across from the Old West Kirk. (at Greenock Esplanade)
This is a blog where I can write those things that interest me, including but not limited to, Nuclear Power, Climate Change, Engineering, Open Water Swimming and Economics.
75 posts