by Fern Shaw | Nov 21, 2014 | Water
We should all know by now that keeping hydrated is one of the givens whilst travelling – it really is one of the simplest ways to combat fatigue, puffiness (everywhere where it shouldn’t be), jet lag and generally feeling like you’ve partied with a roving band of Muscovites who’ve just been given furlough from their time in the Gulag.
But, as it happens, especially on those long haul trips, drinking sufficient water can often be the last thing on a traveller’s mind, as fatigue that stems from jet lag can take your common sense and twist it to the point that you can find yourself incapable of stringing together a legible sentence never mind remembering the R, K and E’s of healthy travel.
I myself have whigged out on occasion whilst in the air. An incident that I remember in particular was after almost 3 days of air travel with a crushing 6 hour layover in Dubai. I had very little money in the airport of bling and a pot of tea cost about £10. That was pretty much my only sustenance over the already 2 days of travel, so stretching the tea for 6 hours was asking a bit much.
By the time I landed at home I still had a final leg to do. The wonderful ground crew wouldn’t let me check-in early. Exhausted, grubby and with zero sense of humour, when I finally boarded the plane that was half empty, I was squished in next to 2 people and my claustrophobia rose to the surface kick-starting a panic attack of note. I barely managed to keep it together during take-off, then launched myself across my neighbours into the aisle and flung myself into an open row of seats further back, gasping like a guppy out of water, flight attendants peering at me all the while. All of this was done with much drama, drama, drama, but I was past caring.
I suppose that there are certain elements of modern travel that we just have to accept. This is something that I normally do with general aplomb. I Richard Scarry with the best of them; I’ve come up with ways to pretzel twist my rather long body so that I can get a bit of shut-eye (feet HAVE to be off the ground for me to sleep – I’m make a really poor soldier) but sooner or later (usually later) there’s a sense of humour failure that no amount of chugging water can prevent.
So, take it from me – rather drink your water as you should during the course of your travels and possibly avoid turning into that throw the toys out toddler that so many grown ‘uns seem to turn into – again, me being the case in point.
by Fern Shaw | Oct 23, 2014 | Water, Water Coolers
Recently a real and FB friend posted something on my page about listing your top 10 books to read ever or that had a huge influence on your life.
Now as a complete and utter bookworm, believe it or not, I was stumped. A wee bit ironic, that – a wordsmith / blogista without words. Why though? Well, I suppose it’s a little like this – bookworm envy I’d call it. When I read through said friend’s list of what her top 10 were, I saw how inspirational and life affecting they all were. My top 10, not so much.
The reasons are that I have an attention span of a goldfish or what the purported memory span of a goldfish is – 5 seconds … sorry, what? See, like that.
Somehow, my goldfish brain made the connection between water and books and The Wind in the Willows (author – Kenneth Grahame). I was very fortunate to grow up in a household of bookworms, and British classics abounded. The book I had was illustrated by the incredibly gifted E. H. Shepard and his illustrations just brought the magic of the book to life even more.
Anyhow, once my brain had made this wind, willows and water connection I started wondering about the volume of books (fiction) had water in the title. Even specifying fiction, it soon became apparent that I’d bitten off far more than I could digest. Digest, geddit? As in Reader’s Digest. Before your time? Sorry for you as they say in my neck of the woods.
From Like Water for Chocolate to Ring of Bright Water, there are thousands of watery books, more than you can shake a stick at. I’m not even going to go there.
I think I’ll rowboat race my office chair down to around the water cooler and compile my 10 best ever list there. Not a Herculean task as watery books, but close.
by Fern Shaw | Oct 23, 2014 | Water
I am sorry to bring you yesterday’s news, but it’s possible that you weren’t aware of the event, so there’s that. This is what it was – there was a total lunar eclipse yesterday. There it was …. and … it’s gone.
Apparently, it was a Blood Moon (which should please all the vampire / werewolf lore people – awooooo!) but interestingly – the full eclipse was only visible from locations such as:
Detroit, Michigan, U.S.A.
Tokyo, Japan
Guatemala, Guatemala
Beijing, Beijing Municipality, China
Hanoi, Vietnam
Mexico City, Federal District, Mexico
and
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Seems those in Engalend didn’t get much a look-in on this one, but hey.
Anyhow, now you know. In a recent blog, I spoke about the demise of the planet Pluto to just a body, but this blog is not really about the planetary aspect of the moon, but more about what it is that makes the Moon affect the tides.
How, what and why – *The alternating pattern of rising and falling sea level with respect to land is what we know as the tides. What causes this ‘motion of the ocean’? In one word, gravity. Specifically, the gravitational forces of the Sun and Moon.
The key to understanding how the tides work is understanding the relationship between the motion of our planet and the Moon and Sun. As the Earth spins on its own axis, ocean water is kept at equal levels around the planet by the Earth’s gravity pulling inward and centrifugal force pushing outward.
However, the Moon’s gravitational forces are strong enough to disrupt this balance by accelerating the water towards the Moon. This causes the water to ‘bulge’. As the Moon orbits our planet and as the Earth rotates, the bulge also moves. The areas of the Earth where the bulging occurs experience high tide, and the other areas are subject to a low tide.
Water on the opposite side of Earth facing away from the Moon also bulges outward (high tide), but for a different and interesting reason: in reality, the Moon and the Earth revolve together around a common gravitational centre between them, or centre of mass. Here’s a rough but helpful analogy: picture yourself swinging a heavy object attached to a rope around your body as you rotate. You have to lean back to compensate, which puts the centre of mass between you and the object. With the Earth-Moon system, gravity is like a rope that pulls or keeps the two bodies together, and centrifugal force is what keeps them apart. Because the centrifugal force is greater than the Moon’s gravitational pull, ocean water on the opposite side of the Earth bulges outward.
So there you have it – well, the basics at least.
*extracts from an article at Moon Connection
by Fern Shaw | Oct 7, 2014 | Health and Hydration, Water, water cooler
There I was, playing with the water cooler bottle (I love making the water gloomph, Mrs Furtheringstoke not so much) when it suddenly occurred to me – what makes a water fall a waterfall? Is it a height, volume, water per second thing or what?
Inspired, I made the water gloomph one more time before racing back to my station and hopping on web. The nitty gritty:
Height
The primary qualifier is the height of a waterfall as it is the most visually indicative of a change in elevation. Depending on the average discharge of the stream along which the waterfall occurs, there are two different qualifiers for the height of a waterfall:
- Perennial Streams – Waterfalls occurring along streams which maintain a discernible volume of water throughout the year must drop at least 15 vertical feet (4m) to qualify for inclusion.
- Intermittent Streams – Waterfalls occurring along streams which run dry for part of the year must drop at least 50 vertical feet (15m) to qualify for inclusion.
Additionally, the drop of the waterfall in question must conform to the definition of Waterfall:
“A well-defined change in slope, velocity, aeration or agitation of the water within a stream over an immediately abrupt distance, where an identifiable loss in elevation may be perceived due to non-uniformity of the underlying geologic structures.”
… and as such must have an easily identifiable top and bottom, and must fall as a result of contacting or being interrupted by solid bedrock rather than talus, boulders or rock lying on top of the earth.
Seasonality
Should a waterfall along an intermittent stream qualify based on height, it needs to meet a secondary requirement of flowing consistently for at least one month out of the year. This stipulation is meant to prevent rainstorm fuelled waterfalls (such as those seen throughout Arizona’s Grand Canyon) from being included when they meet the 50-foot requirement.
After all this fact, being me, I got totally distracted by all the pretty waterfalls. These are 5 of the most beautiful around the world:
Nohkalikai Falls is found in India. Water falls down for 1100 ft. (335 m). Although the feeding stream is only 1.5 miles (2 km) long, Nohkalikai is still very impressive. A pool is formed below the fall, in which the water receives its green colour.
Sutherland Falls are located in Fiordland, New Zealand. With its 1902 ft. (580 m) plunge it is one of the tallest waterfalls in the world. It falls in three cascades that create this unique landscape. It was named after its discoverer Donald Sutherland in 1880.
Yosemite Falls is the highest waterfall in North America. It drops 2,425 ft. (739 m) in the Sierra Nevada, California. The source of water is melting snow, therefore sometimes the stream may cease due to a little amount of snow. Plitvice Falls are found in Plitvice Lakes National Park, Croatia. They are not very high falls, but are stunning due to the many cascades the water has to overcome. There are hundreds of waterfalls. The colour of water varies from crystal clear to azure, to turquoise.
And finally, we have the Gullfoss (Golden Falls) in Iceland. Gullfoss is a magnificent waterfall located in southwest Iceland. Not particularly high (two 36 ft. /11 m and 68 ft. /21 m plunges), however, it is very beautiful. Due to a crevice, the river Hvítá seems to disappear into the abyss.
Next week we have a look-see at the top 5 out of 10 most beautiful waterfalls around the world. As for me, I’m back off to make the water gloomph again. Shaw out.
by Fern Shaw | Oct 7, 2014 | Charity, Water
I believe that you will have gathered by now that I’m a pretty huge proponent of The Africa Trust. I may blather on about it, but please, pick one of numerous reasons, not in the least the fact that thanks an incredibly hard working team, potable water is brought to millions of people in the world and you’ll have really clear idea of why I’m such an enthusiast.
With this in mind, I’m constantly on the look out for discoveries / inventions that can make the world a better place for all involved. Ways that draw from nature, science, ways that are practical, sustainable and more often than not, pure genius.
*Open-Source, Personal Water Desalinator: Italy
Briefly, Eliodomestico is an eco-distiller that uses solar power to make salt water drinkable. Created by Italian designer Gabriele Diamanti, Eliodomestico is an open-source project designed to provide safe drinking water for people in developing countries. Essentially, the device works like an upside-down coffee maker to produce five litres of fresh water every day. Users begin by adding sea water in the morning. Over the course of the day, the heat of the sun causes steam to rise into a water-tight boiler. The steam is then forced down through an expansion nozzle and condenses against the lid of a collection basin. At the end of the day, users can remove the basin, which is full of fresh water and designed for transport on the head.
Eliodomestico is made from widely available materials and requires no electricity or filters; maintenance is simple, Diamanti says.
Gravity-Powered Lamp: United Kingdom
Many of us may take electric lights for granted, but there is a considerable portion of the world—around 1.5 billion people—that lives in poor, remote areas and has to rely on dangerous kerosene alternatives. Currently being funded through an Indiegogo campaign, the GravityLight hopes to change that by offering a cheap lamp that runs on a renewable resource. The device is attached to a weight, which when lifted for a few seconds harnesses enough energy to power the light for 30 minutes. Operating without batteries, the GravityLight contains no deteriorating parts and means owners don’t have to spend money to keep it running.
How fabulous are those? Pretty fabulous I say.
*extracts from an article at Spark
by Fern Shaw | Sep 12, 2014 | Water, water cooler
Summer is winding down to a close – we’ve all had (hopefully) our summer hols, gloried in our blooming gardens and green spaces, watered the lawn, rejoiced in the warm temperatures and generally had a jolly good old time.
Now late summer progresses into autumn and with it comes a new set of to-do’s for your gardens in preparation for the winter months –
September is generally a cooler, gustier month than August and the days are noticeably shorter. While there’s not as much to do in the ornamental garden at this time of the year, if you have a fruit or vegetable patch, you’ll be busy reaping the rewards of harvest. It’s also time to get out and start planting spring-flowering bulbs for next year and you can collect seeds for next summer’s colour too.
1 – Divide herbaceous perennials.
2 – Pick autumn raspberries.
3 – Collect and sow seed from perennials and hardy annuals.
4 – Dig up remaining potatoes before slug damage spoils them.
5 – Net ponds before leaf fall gets underway.
6 – Keep up with watering of new plants, using rain or grey water if possible.
7 – Start to reduce the frequency of houseplant watering.
8 – Clean out cold frames and greenhouses so that they are ready for use in the autumn.
9 – Cover leafy vegetable crops with bird-proof netting.
10 – Plant spring flowering bulbs.
* Excerpts from an article in the Royal Horticultural Society
