by Fern Shaw | Oct 8, 2014 | Charity, water cooler, Water Coolers
When you type blogs in English English (not a typo), but your Office is set to American English (default for the globe it would seem) you very quickly develop a sense of humour or humor, with all the typo’s in the different spellings e.g. organise vs. organize; and then with measurements – litres or liters vs. gallons, etcetera, etcetera.
So, imagine my delight when I was advised that the AquaAid Group were water winging their way across the Atlantic and opening up a bottleless water cooler company in the States. The United States of America that is. This meant that for once, when I typed a blog, my spell and grammar check would take seconds instead of minutes.
Even more amazing is that their flagship company HQ is in the City of Luuurve, San Francisco. We will be supplying bottles water coolers all around the San Francisco and (can it even get any better!) San José and Sacramento, all in the (uno momento as I remap my map brain to see states vs. counties) very fabulous (translate), rather marvelous State of Californ I A. Yessiree Bob, we’ve arrived!
Before you get all worked up and think your fave blogista is in town, sadly, this is not the case. When I heard that AquaAid was opening up in the City of Love, I did suggest that perhaps I should be on the scouting party list, but I gathered from the deafening silence that this was unlikely to happen. That’s OH KAY though, as I get to be involved in the manner that I’m best accustomed to – in cyberspace.
As you may have noticed from the different spelling in the logo above, AquAid in the States will be known as AquaAid, to avoid any confusion as to its pronunciation.
As Uffe Hansen, Group Manager of AquAid, says, “We really believe that our mix of high quality products, great service and charitable donations will be a winner in the US Market, as it has been in the UK. We are starting with one office in San Francisco, but hope to open a second in Los Angeles within 18 months”,
More relevant information about us:
Water coolers are our business, and making the world a better place is our passion. That’s what drives us to deliver exceptional products and service to all of our customers.
The AquaAid Group has been supplying bottleless water coolers since its foundation in 1998. Today, we supply an estimated 30,000 customers with 55,000 water coolers from 26 depots.
Our day to day focus is based on solid business principles:
- High quality water coolers, from US manufacturers.
- Environmentally friendly products, removing the need for deliveries of bottled water around the country.
- Most advanced filtration in the bottleless water cooler industry.
- Six-monthly servicing of water coolers, offering peace of mind that your water cooler will always dispense the highest quality water.
- Next day call-outs in the rare event your water cooler develops a fault.
- Local service. No call centers, no sub-contract engineers, just good honest service from a company you can trust.
So, there you have it – we’ve gone Stateside. If you’re planning to relocate to the States, you can now ‘take’ AquAid or AquaAid, rather, with you. If you’re already there, get in touch, we have a dynamic team happy to assist.
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 | water cooler
Yes, it’s come to that. I’m addressing my fears. I know I’m probably one of millions of arachnophobes the world over, but when it comes to this particular fear, I’m only really interested in how it applies to me. And in case you were wondering as to why there’s a pretty photo of a spider’s web and not the topic at hand, all I can say is ‘are you barking mad’ that you imagine an arachnophobe would add to their misery but pasting an image of the dreaded creatures anywhere.
I read recently that apparently spiders are repelled by peppermint oil. Joy abounded, until I did a little research and found out that the peppermint oil doesn’t work. Hmpf – back to square one. You might wonder why I’m going to such lengths to use a natural repellent vs. a manufactured chemical and it goes something like this: your average tin of Raid is chock full of serious chemicals (that most creatures are resistant to anyway) and you’re willingly spraying them in your home. As per some pop speak of today would ask – what’s up with that? Of course, when it comes to a pathological fear, one must take into account that in the past I was known to empty an entire tin of bug spray onto a spider – we don’t mess around spider size where I live – and then spend the next few days sleeping on the patio because of the fumes generated from the attack.
Another idea was to buy those cutesy little bubble type spray bottles – brightly coloured, of course – we all know what a sucker I am for the colourful – fill them with lemon water and try spraying the critters into submission. Ya, right – that went down like the proverbial Hindenburg.
So, for now, it would seem that I’m pretty much stuck. Not prepared to get in close enough to handle the things, which means no guaranteed outcome and also not prepared to chemical the nasty 8 leggers into submission. ‘Tis a quandary.
It’s such a shame, really, as when I think about the beauty that spiders produce – what’s more delicate and feat of nature gasp out loud amazing than a dew spread spider web I ask? Or the facts that spiders will munch most of the other in-house nasties like mozzies and flies?
I’ve had my ideas laughed at (a lot) around the water cooler and when the riff-raff heard of my water bottle spray deterrent, that provoked roars of laughter heard as far as the mailroom underground. But it’s fine, I’ll come up with something. They’re a pretty useless bunch anyhow, I’ve noticed that not one of them has come up with any useful ideas as it is, so what they’ve got to crow about, I’ve no idea.
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
by Fern Shaw | Sep 2, 2014 | water cooler, Water Coolers
I’ve hit a bit of creative burnout, people. Happens to the best of us. It may have something to do with that inevitable, eventual information overload, or the hailstorm I slid through yesterday, or the fact that I’ve not been getting my full 6 hours sleep a night. Who knows? So here I slump. Hence the title, ‘slumping at the water cooler’. It goes without saying that the HOD and her gang are casting dark looks at me, but I’ve sort of perfected the ‘speak to the hand’ ignore – when I’m not slumping or draping myself over the bottle fed, I upend myself (a little like the water bottle does) and hang upside down, trapeze like. If anyone approaches with a battle light in their eyes, I just lift my top lip, showing my fangs, uhh, canines, ever so slightly. Works like a charm I tell you.
So, the idea today is all about free association, which as you may have twigged by now, is rather a speciality of mine. Before you chip in, no, you can’t play – this is a game I play all on my ownsome. Off we go:
Penguins – Opus & Bill – fabulous, fabulous cartoon from Berkeley Breathed circa the ‘80’s. I passed my passion for Opus onto a dear friend of mine who named his cat after him.
Cat on a hot tin roof – Fiddler on the Roof – To Kill a Mockingbird: A life changing novel by Harper Lee. Cannot even begin to explain the connection there.
Wacky Wicks – Beechies – Strawberry Beechies and that bubble-gum smell. Still a favourite.
Nosferatu – Dracul – Dracula – Nazgul (the winged creatures from The Lord of the Rings). Okay, that one, perhaps, is not so difficult to figure out.
So, there you have it, dear people, plenty of brain fodder for you to go and eddicate yourselves with. Pleasure.
Psst. The photo of the penguin baba was initially chose for no reason at all – just because it’s a really good photo and also because it’s of a cute, fluffy, baby penguin. This of course started the Penguin – Opus etc. association. Powerful stuff, eh?
by Fern Shaw | Sep 2, 2014 | Water, water cooler
Seeing as I’ve done more intensive online research for blogging this week than a mole trying to tunnel through concrete, I’m taking my foot off the proverbial accelerator pedal and doing a gentle segue into a few fun water facts:
- Human blood is 83% water. Now I better understand Dracul and his ilk – the oke’s just dehydrated, man!
- Over 90% of the world’s supply of fresh water is located in Antarctica. Ernest Shackleton and those that followed were definitely onto something.
- Since life began, we have had the same amount of water on the planet. To the best of human understanding, life can only exist with water. Now you know.
- The water from your tap could contain molecules that dinosaurs drank. Ew.
- More than half (63%) our daily water consumption at home originates from the bathroom and the toilet. Grey water rules!
- Water regulates the Earth’s temperature. Mine too! I overheat badly, so I can really relate.
- Water is the only mineral that is found naturally on Earth in three forms; liquid, gas, solid. Gas – *snigger*
- If the entire adult population of England and Wales remembered to turn off the tap when they were brushing their teeth, we could save 180 mega litres a day – enough to supply nearly 500,000 homes and fill 180 Olympic swimming pools! (One Olympic sized pool is 1 million litres / 1Ml). More brushing, less tap on and more tap off, people!
- Each Briton uses about 150 litres of tap water a day, but if you include the amount of water embedded within products, our water consumption increases to about 3400 litres a day.
At the rate this consumption is going on, I think I’m going to be bringing my blankie to work and draping myself around the water cooler for the foreseeable future.
