06 Sep 12 Necessary Evils
Work and Rain. Who wants them? We need both of them.
We have to work, not only to earn money to pay our way in the world, but to give a service or product to our fellow-men. Think about it, if we were all idle rich, who would make the stuff we need, grow our food, and give us all the services we expect with our contemporary living style?
Same goes for rain really. It’s a pain in the butt when you plan a day out after two weeks at work, and then it rains all darn day. Still, we’d not live in a green and pleasant land without it.
I’ve got two weeks vacation time in September, and of course, I’m hoping that the weather is good enough to be able to indulge in some outdoor activities – that it’s not too cold, and not too wet!
Still, if it isn’t I’ll have to make the best of what’s on offer. We can’t change the weather yet – which is probably a good thing, as I’m sure we’d manage to screw that up big time!
Anyway, next time it rains on your day off, just remember you’re lucky to live in a place where there’s usually enough rain, and you’re lucky to have a job that you can have a day off from!
Have a good one!
Tags: big time, contemporary living, fellow men, job, living style, money, necessary evils, pain in the butt, rain, vacation time, weather
05 Mar 12 Religious & Political Contradictions
There are politicians who rant on about getting government off our backs.
How much government has intruded into the lives of ordinary citizens. How we need to reduce bureaucracy, cut red tape, slim down the civil service.
I agree.
However, in the next breath many of these same politicians want to interfere more in people’s lives. Take the issue of gay marriage.
A couple who happen to be the same sex wish to make a commitment to each other. They would like to tie their personal and perhaps financial lives together.
Why should they be denied that choice? How does it affect the people around them? It certainly doesn’t bother me, why should it bother you?
Then there’s the clergy. Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but Cardinal O’Brien says “Gay marriage is like slavery”.
How does he come to that conclusion, and how does he know anyway?
Tags: bureaucracy, civil service, conclusion, contradictions, gay marriage, o brien, ordinary citizens, politicians, red tape
28 Feb 12 Reach For The Skies
Seems to me that we want our cake and to eat it.
Dungeness Lighthouse
The largest population concentration in England, or indeed the whole UK, is in the South East; London and the Home Counties.
There are more of us in that part of the nation, so that is where the demand for air transport is highest; it’s also because of population density, the part of the nation that is most affected by any expansion of existing airports.
Nimbyism is alive and well of course, and we’re almost all guilty of it. A friend of mine once stated that he’d like to live in a picturesque village, with a medieval church and pub, as long as there was a large supermarket out of sight, but very close, down the lane.
Those of us that ravel overseas, on business or vacation, like to have easy access to the airport. Indeed, many of those that live in the Midlands and the North complain that southerners get the best deal, as the airports are, relatively speaking, on their doorsteps.
To be honest, I am surprised that the option of the third runway at Heathrow has so far been rejected. Logistically, it would make the most sense, as the transport infrastructure is already in place, unlike the case of building a brand new airport on the North Kent Marshes, or on a man-made island in the Thames Estuary. Of course, Boris Johnson, the current Mayor of London, gets brownie points for favoring the Estuary idea, as most voters in West London would say no to any expansion of Heathrow.
Gatwick cannot be expanded until 2019. Stansted Airport, however, is operating under capacity.
Once Proposed Site for Third London Airport
Projections generally show passenger journeys increasing, but it is by no means a certainty. In fact passenger journeys reached a peak of around 240 million in 2007, and have dropped back to 211 million in 2011. This is party due to the economic climate, and partly due to air fares being raised as fuel costs climb to well over $100 barrel.
BAA claim that Heathrow is always hit hard by any weather issues, because it’s already operating at 99% capacity, and they also complain that other airports in mainland Europe are in a better position to take airlines and possibly business, away from London and the UK, because of this capacity problem. However, they would say that wouldn’t they? Their standpoint is hardly impartial for obvious reasons – they want to grow their business.
Southend airport is expanding, and hoping to carry 2 million a year; Manston airport has applied to start night flights; and a Saudi owned consortium, LAA (London Ashford Airport), has submitted plans to massively increase the capacity of little Lydd Airport that’s situated in the remote, barren but strangely beautiful Romney Marshes near Dungeness, that is already home to two life-expired nuclear power stations, that are in the process of being decommissioned in the next half a dozen years.
Would the expansion of all these airports solve all the air transport problems in South East England? Would it create many more jobs? If oil prices continue to rise, forcing up air fares, will the predicted increases in passenger journeys actually happen? If they don’t do we ruin large parts of the countryside or suburban London, to end up with white elephants?
It’s anyone’s guess.
Tags: boris johnson, heathrow gatwick, home counties, man made island, mayor of london, medieval church, north kent marshes, passenger journeys, picturesque village, population concentration, south east london, stansted airport, thames estuary, transport infrastructure
