by Fern Shaw | Sep 2, 2014 | water cooler
You should know by now that history fascinates me. If you don’t, I have to ask, where the Sam Hill have you been?
I made mention of symmetry in a previous blog – all to do with lots of info about our forefathers and Vikings, etc. etc.
In my virtual and literary travels, I got to wondering about who the British are as a people? Did we spring up one day, teacup in one hand, doses of common sense in the other? Did we, as some historians and anthropologists believe, all originate from one woman?
There are so many schools of thought about this, it’s pretty mind boggling but this is what I managed to piece together:
Already in Scotland were the Picts, made up of two main groups composed of a related Celtic people and a Phoenician people. The Celtic Picts embodied others who had settled in Scotland at an earlier date, including the Iberians. According to the British historian Bede, the Celtic Picts had arrived in Ireland (Scotia) after journeying from Scythia in longboats, and were from there directed by the inhabitants (Scots) to Scotland (Alban). Before the Picts, Scotland was colonised by the Iberians.
Ancient historians named the divisions of the Celts as the Hyperborei, who dwelt beyond the north wind; the Cimbri, settled at the “Old Oceans utmost bounds,” Jutland, Friesland Islands, etc.; the Scythae, which included the Goths and Danes; the Dacii, who dwelt around the sources of the Danube; the Teutons, called Germans by Tacitus and others; the Acquitani, occupying the territory between Garonne and the Pyrenees.
Scots came from Ireland in A.D. 258 and settled in Argyll on the western coast of Scotland. In A.D. 364 Scots, Picts and Saxons joined forces to attack the hated Romans – reaching as far south as London before finally being repulsed by superior Roman arms. A regular flow of Scots immigrated to Scotland from Ireland.
The Anglo-Saxons had been raiding Roman Britain for some time but when the Roman Empire started to collapse and the legions left, Britain was pretty much defenceless. The economy collapsed too, so it was easy pickings for the Anglo-Saxons. Jutes joined in the fun too, then later the Vikings.
So there you have it. Clear as mud. I did test these theories out on the unsuspecting at the water cooler, but after being threatened in a rather aggressive manner (they must descend from the Goths, that lot), I retreated to my desk and typed up this fascination for you. Aren’t you glad?
by Fern Shaw | Aug 4, 2014 | Water, water cooler
This is an absolutely 100% true story. I’m still a bit traumatised, so I’ve been guzzling water for the past hour or so in order to calm down enough to write this.
I’m beginning to wonder about karma; destiny; poetic justice – all those good? things that defy normal day-to-day occurrences.
Allow me to explain:
My poor, long serving car went in for what Round 32 in seems to be an endless series of repairs this past week. The mechanic decided to loan me his car as I needed to get around while he’s effecting repairs.
During the week, I had replied to an e-mail from my mum, where she made mention of her car being rear-ended by a chap driving a Lexus. My response, based mostly on concern, was that she seemed to not have the best luck when it came to having accidents (and she’s had some humdingers in her time).
I’ve always prided myself on being able to drive just about anything – this includes, with absolutely zero experience, a big lorry for the first time ever, down the M5 when I was working on a farm some years ago – without incident. I also have a rather overdeveloped sense of responsibility when it comes to driving other people’s cars – I take exceptional care of other people’s belongings as I would like them to take of mine.
Add to this, the fact that I have had, in 30 years of driving, a total of 1 accident that I caused. It involved a Fiat Mira Fiora, a Greek style toga made out of a bedsheet and a very slow release clutch on a steep hill. ‘nuff said. Anyhow, let’s return to the story.
So, I’m tootling along in the loan car; which is easy peasy as it’s the same make as mine – doing good I might add – buying tinned food to donate to a charity that’s holding an indoor market in the area. I buy the tinned food, get into said car, check behind me to my left for oncoming traffic and people walking behind me and slowly reverse out, smack bang into an Audi which has parked illegally behind me. Loan car’s bumper 1 – Audi bumper 0. It honestly felt like I’d collided with soft tin. Huge dent in the Audi’s bumper. A man the size of a caber tossing Highlander (and I’m not kidding) gets out of the Audi. Things went pretty pear shaped from there.
I then had to ‘phone the friendly mechanic and explain to him that I’d just dinged his car.
So that’s my sad story. It’s left me wondering. Was it because I’d cautioned my mum about her bad luck? Because I’d loaned a car instead of just patiently (not my strong suit) waiting for my car to be returned?
Whatever the reason, I’m not the happiest camper at the moment. Silver lining? Hmm, I’ll have a good story to tell at the water cooler when I get in on Monday.
by Fern Shaw | Aug 4, 2014 | water cooler
*smack*! Excuse me, that wasn’t you I slapped, dear reader – that was for the smart aleck who saw the title and sniggered something about, ‘You really shouldn’t put yourself into your blogs, Shaw …’
… Anyhoo, this blog is a little bit about the wonder of whales, just another incredible inhabitant of our amazing planet.
A few unusual whale facts:
Female Humpbacks Have BFFs
The Mingan Island Cetacean Study group have been using photographic techniques to study humpback whales for the last 16 years. In that time, they began to realize that female humpback whales not only make friends with one another but reunite each year. They remember their pals and even find them across the ocean and among other whales. This was quite a shocking discovery, as up to this point scientists believed that humpback whales were generally unsociable towards each other.
When a female humpback meets her friend, they simply float along together, eating and enjoying each other’s company. These friendships seem to have benefits as female humpbacks who hang out in this way are healthier and give birth to more calves each year. However, friendships between females and males (or even male-male friendship) are mostly unheard of. For reasons that no one can explain, only the ladies like to hang out with each other.
Sperm Whales Sleep Standing Up
Until fairly recently, whales were all thought to share the sleep pattern of dolphins, who sleep with half their brain, letting them keep one eye open for threats. However, a group of scientists in 2013 following sperm whales fitted with location tags discovered something very different and bizarre.
They found the whole pod just of the coast of Chile with their bodies’ vertical to the surface of the water and their heads just bobbing at the surface. The scientists were able to get right into the middle of the pod and could even nudge one of the whales. At that point, all the whales sprung to life and took off. They had been sleeping.
This means that sperm whales sleep in one of the weirdest ways known within the animal kingdom. We think that they dive down and grab snatches of sleep that can last up to about 12 minutes and then slowly drift to the surface head-first. Also, for some reason that remains unknown, they only sleep between the hours of 6:00 PM and midnight.
Whale Song Spreads Like Pop Music
Scientists studying humpback whale songs in 2011 discovered something very odd. The rise and decline of an individual whale’s song is very much like that of a pop song.
In any area shared by whales, everyone sings the same song. Over time, the song will change, and if the new song is catchy enough, it will spread to other populations of whales. When a new whale song comes out, it’s sometimes a sort of remix of the previous song. And that’s not just a gross oversimplification—a researcher from the University of Queensland who has been analysing this odd trend described it as “like splicing an old Beatles song with U2.”
Other times, the new song can be completely original. The more popular songs act like chart music, rising in popularity as they’re sung by more whales and then travelling eastward to other whale populations.
‘How longggggg? How long must we sing this songgggg?
How long? How long?’ ~ lyrics from Sunday Bloody Sunday as sung by U2 (and not the whales).
So, this is my whale (not swan) song or; ‘Ode to the Whaleth’ as sung by me, broadcasting from the water cooler area, where I’ve also set up a slight water balloon trap for Mr. Smart Aleck.
*excerpts from an article at List Verse
by Fern Shaw | Aug 4, 2014 | Water, water cooler, Water Coolers
What I know about maths could fit on one hand, both hands, at a stretch.
The first one that boggles my mind is the Fibonacci numbers that are Nature’s numbering system.
Another example is from The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson. In it, there’s mention made of Fermat’s Last Theorem, which Lisbeth Salander attacks with relish. It’s round about here that my grey matter literally freezes and I’m not joking – I can almost feel my brain kick into neutral. There’s actually little wonder that I spend so much time at the water cooler, my brain grinds to a halt so often that I need to drink lots of water to lubricate it to start functioning again!
Having said this, I do believe that the Fibonacci numbers do kind of, sort of, make sense. There’s symmetry in there that appeals to my rather particular warped logic. All of these equations point to connections that are just there or have been there all along if we just choose to open ourselves up to this magic.
Here’s why I think this:
I’m history mad. When it comes to my forefathers, colour me fascinated. Racial memory, call it what you will, whenever I hear about certain ancient tribes, something resonates within me. One particular example of this is the Vikings. I watch a series called Vikings. I see how fierce they were but also discover that they were also interested in farming and fertile earth and all good things. I see some of their rituals which are, to put it politely, rather brutal.
Not one week later, I start watching another series, Shetland and in the second episode, it shows a centuries old Scottish festival called, wait for it, Up Helly Aa. Part of the festival involves the dragging of a galley through the streets of various towns, culminating in lit torches being thrown into the galley, setting it alight and the galley being consumed in fire. (Early galleys were made from a light timber frame covered with canvas or alternatively old boats, whose useful life afloat was over, were converted and subsequently sent to Valhalla). The festival seems to have derived from the Norse culture, some of whom invaded the Shetlands in the 12th century. We all know by now my wish to have a Viking burial, see Tornados are water, who knew? Sometime in all of this, I watched another program and there was mention made of Freya, the Norse goddess of love and fertility, who I only learnt about while watching Vikings.
So now it seems that there is this symmetry and connectivity in choices that I’ve made – okay, watching Vikings was very much a conscious decision, but I had no clue that Shetland would have all the ancient Viking elements in it nor that they would be burning galleys at festivals or that Freya is mentioned on more than one occasion all of a sardine.
I’m going to leave this with you to ponder over. My brain hurts and I need to drink water.
by Fern Shaw | Jul 14, 2014 | Health and Hydration, Water, water cooler, Water Coolers
Bananas are Best!
I found this Scottish children’s song:
Chorus
Banana, banana, bananas are the best
A nice squishy middle in a big yella vest
Today or manyana, ah’ll be sayin ‘Can ah,
Can ah have a ba-na-na?
What am ah goin to have for ma tea? Banana!
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday? Banana!
What’s ma Sunday dinner goin to be? Banana!
Can ah have a ba-na-na?
(Chorus)
Fifty million monkeys can’t be wrong – banana!
From totie wans tae Old King Kong – banana!
They all love to sing this song – banana!
‘Can ah have a ba-na-na?’
Lovely! I can see me singing this for the next few weeks and getting myself some serious skew looks!
Now for the amazing properties of the banana peel:
Banana peels are full of antioxidants, minerals, and vitamins, so they can naturally cure many ailments and can aid cell regeneration.
* Water Filtration – Research shows they have a capacity to absorb lead and copper from water.
I wouldn’t suggest trying this using the office water cooler + AquAid’s water doesn’t need to be filtered. So there. J
Bug Bites – Just rub a banana peel on a bug bite to soothe the skin and reduce the itch.
Bruises – With regenerative properties, banana peel can speed up the healing of bruises.
Teeth Whitening – Rub the inside of a banana peel on your teeth for a couple of minutes every other day, and your teeth could be noticeably whiter in a few weeks.
Warts – Banana peels help eliminate warts and prevent their return. Tape or somehow strap a piece of banana peel to the wart overnight for about a week or rub the banana peel on the affected area daily. This can also work for plantar warts. A potato skin has been known to be able to do the same thing.
Scrapes and Scratches – Rub a banana peel on small cuts or scratches and it can help promote healing
Splinters – The enzymes help dislodge the splinter and can help kick-start the healing process if you tape a piece of the peel over a splinter for a couple hours.
Acne – A banana peel can soothe the inflammation and irritation of acne. It also helps to prevent future outbreaks. Rub a peel over the acne every night. You should see a positive change within a few days.
Psoriasis – Once or twice a day, try rubbing a banana peel on a psoriasis-affected area. Bananas have properties to reduce itchiness, moisturize, and heal psoriasis. You should see noticeable differences in a few days.
Rashes and Itches – Poison ivy, mild rashes, dry skin, irritated skin and even sunburn. Banana peel is good for relieving itch and promotes healing of the skin. Rub the peel over the rash or affected are twice daily until it is gone. If you notice it getting worse you should see a professional.
Oh, the photo. I’m in no way suggesting that you try this at home (or anywhere for that matter). Nor should you immerse bananas in your water cooler for summery tasting water. It’ll just be messy and most likely you’ll be getting the bill for cleaning out said water cooler.
*excerpts from an article at Natural Cures Not Medicine
by Fern Shaw | Jul 8, 2014 | Water, water cooler, Water Coolers
Image ~ Darrin Gatewood
I thought my parrot had finally fallen off its perch when I read the headline.
Water cooling your PC? Mais oui, according to various articles.
Whether you’re using a desktop or laptop computer, there’s a good chance that if you stop what you’re doing and listen carefully, you’ll hear the whirring of a small fan. If your computer has a high-end video card and lots of processing power, you might even hear more than one.
In most computers, fans do a pretty good job of keeping electronic components cool. But for people who want to use high-end hardware or coax their PCs into running faster, a fan might not have enough power for the job. If a computer generates too much heat, liquid cooling, also known as water cooling, can be a better solution. It might seem a little counter-intuitive to put liquids near delicate electronic equipment, but cooling with water is far more efficient than cooling with air.
A liquid-cooling system for a PC works a lot like the cooling system of a car. Both take advantage of a basic principle of thermodynamics – that heat moves from warmer objects to cooler objects. As the cooler object gets warmer, the warmer object gets cooler. You can experience this principle first hand by putting your hand flat on a cool spot on your desk for several seconds. When you lift your hand, your palm will be a little cooler, and the spot where your hand was will be a little warmer.
Well, colour me watercated.
What’s even more impressive is apparently you can fit your own pc water cooler system in your own home. I’d suggest trying it at the office too, but fearless guinea pig that I am, I tried and well, let’s just say that my fans were working overtime once I received the response that I did.
Before any of you get into hot (harf harf harf) water in your work place, I’ll save you the trouble and tell you that asking if you can experiment and replenish your water cooling system using water from the office water cooler is most likely to get you a big, fat ‘No!’ in reply.
