A "State of technology" post.
I write these every so often.
(though may be should be retitled "Judith catching up with the past 10 years of technology post)
It is just after the end of 2022 - i.e the first week of 2023 - A good time to write it before another year goes by.
So many national and International Events have happened recently:
Internationally
Russia who invaded Ukraine almost 11 months ago was supposed to give a few days ceasefire for the Orthodox Christmas, but apparently didn't.
Brasil has a new (well new old) president, De Silva - as President Jair Bolsonaro has been voted out. During his presidency, he rolled back protections for Indigenous groups in the Amazon rainforest[19] and facilitated its deforestation.[20]
Nationally:
Three different prime ministers in the last 6 months,
Prince Harry's book leaked a week early by the Spanish press has filled our radio media with much "He said this, she said that.."
The hospitals have had some sort of strike. Many ambulance drivers are vey unhappy because when they take an emergency patient to hospital, accident and emergency are full, and they have to wait with their patient in a queue sometimes for up to eight hours. One reason is because many hospital beds a blocked because there is not the social care to look after peope who have just come out of hospital.
Locally
I had a bad cold three weeks before Christmas and then tested positive for COVID on Boxing Day. (I also had it last February) Lots of people in Settle have both the cold and Covid. The Coop, Booths and Boots all have empty shelves where there should be Lemsip.
I enjoyed having a very quiet time from Christmas Day for the next ten days. I got more sleep than usual. I went for about three walks and looked for a few lichens- But swimming and strenuous exercise were out. I hope that by having Covid now, that I won't have it again in the next few months.
I had enthusiastically said I would help Eluned run a stall at the Association of Science Education Winter conference at Sheffield Hallam. And I ought to be Coved free two days before the conference (I was).
But the train strike meant that I would have to travel by car to Sheffield. I used google maps to consider the several options to get to the M1 - via Bradford or Leeds if I could get through before the traffic was bad.
I spent a while using booking.com (which I have used over the last 8 years occasionally) to book a bed and breakfast £70 at the same hotel as Eluned, and even longer trying to work out where to park (the hotel said it had discounted parking at a carpark near by.)
"Come on," I say to myself, "your brother and countless friends who travel for work do this regularly".
I have a silver grey diesel Peugeot 208 - which I have had for 5 years. It has run well. I have had to have both front shock absorbers replaced this year, than you Stainforth garage. The right wing mirror is supported by silver gaffa tape as a result of it being knocked by another vehicle when parked on Church Street opposite the old chapel site, but the indicator light in it still works.
The website https://vehicleenquiry.service.gov.uk/ tells me it was registered in 2015 - that's 7.5ish years ago and that it produces 98gCO₂ per km (= 157.72 g/mile) As my return journey is about 190 miles this is 29,965.98528 or approx 30kg CO₂. I assume I used between 4 and 5 gallons of petrol. THis website gives a similar estimate (and says that real mpg is generally 75% of official mpg). This website tells me that 1 gall diesel produces 11.9kg CO2 equivalent - so my journey would have produced between 44 and 55kg CO2.
THe trainline will tell you how much CO2 you save by travelling by train instead of car. it told me I would have saved 21kg
Small diesel car (>2 litres) | 0.12/km |
Electricity in my house over winter
January 2023 - highest use all year, but not away at all, 711kWh 317kgCO2 £263 wha!!! = 10kgCO2 per day. If I use the computer 10 hours, or sit around, that is mostly what I used heating for. If I am tidying.cooking cleaning I make energy and don't need heating. SO that is 1 kg per active hour.
I have just spent 2 hours doing this blog. 2 kg CO2.
In summer e.g. Sept it was 108KWh and 48.5 KgCo2= 1.5 Kg/10hr. =.15kg/hr.
I set off at 5.45am. (not the 5m I had planned, but - still not a bad start) and at least was entering Shipley and the beginning of Bradford by 6.40 am and the traffic was still quiet -ish - then I went of went diagonally towards Leeds - and although I think I went in the right direction, it wsn't along very major roads so it took ages till I saw signs to the M62 and (M1) - by which time the traffic was getting denser. Once on the M62/ M61 it was another 30 minutes down the M1 to the Meadow Hall turnoff and another half an hour along the 5 miles into Sheffield. Then round and round til I finally stopped, got out my mobile phone and asked Google Where is The Moor Car Park", placed my phone on the seat, and it took me there.
No problem.
Why hadn't I used the phone the whole way?
Once in the carpark I drove
up and round and
up and round and
up and round and
up and round and
up and round and
up and round and
up and round and
up and round and
up and round and
up and round and
up and round and
up and round till I found a level with lots of car spaces.
This level was labelled Oslo.
I trotted up a couple more floors to the the roof and had a look at the view.
Then I tidied my car, went down the lift, collected the blue plastic token and used my phone to take me walking almost to the ASC conference.
Eluned was sitting at the table....
Maybe one day I will have time to describe some of the gadgets and equipment now available..
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I drove home late on the evening so that I would be able to take part in the Settle Harriers Handicap race the next day. I used my phone speaking to the microphone: "Take me to Settle" to direct me when driving home. It got me through Sheffield whilst it was quiet at night which was good.
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