This woman of 26 was walking home from a party in Taupo, New Zealand, in January 2008 when she was wantonly attacked by a boy of 14. He struck her over the head with a baseball bat, killing her. Fourteen months later, her attacker was sent to life imprisonment, with a minimal term of 12½ years. He is one of the youngest convicts ever to receive a life term. Karen came from Orkney, and her family was there to hear the verdict in New Zealand. Her father, speaking on BBC Scotland, said he was smiling broadly - because he had known her. Although he was very sad that instead of seeing her in her wedding dress, he now had to see her in her coffin. She was buried in Holm, Mainland Orkney, in late January '08. RIP.
More on this story here.
Thursday, 26 March 2009
Thursday 26 March
Very unfriendly weather today, with winds gusting in excess of 60 mph at the moment. The ferry services up and down the west coast are severely disrupted. Calmac, the ferry company, tell us that on 26/03/09 Ullapool/Stornoway route is liable to disruption and is sailing on a sailing by sailing basis. Sun has just come out, but that doesn't negate the heavy showers. South of here, I can just make out the outline of a cable-laying ship, the Leonid Thevenin. It has been joined by another cable-layer, the Silure. I do not know whether they are laying cables, or just sheltering from the weather. I get the information from this website. If you live near a port, either in the UK or elsewhere, there may be an AIS site for your location.
Wednesday, 25 March 2009
Sat nav is naff
There continues to be a steady stream of stories of people who are led astray by their satellite navigation system. The latest involved a man who was going to drive his car over the edge of a 100 feet precipice because his sat-nav insisted his narrow track was a road. His vehicle was left dangling over the edge of the cliff, and the emergency services took 9 hours to get it out again. The man is now facing a court appearance for driving without due care and attention.
When you're using a satellite navigation system, don't close your eyes to the world around you. If it leads you onto a cliff, into water or onto undrivable terrain, just don't follow it. Satnav systems are known to be out of date or just plain wrong.
When you're using a satellite navigation system, don't close your eyes to the world around you. If it leads you onto a cliff, into water or onto undrivable terrain, just don't follow it. Satnav systems are known to be out of date or just plain wrong.
Wednesday 25 March
Bit of a non-descript day, weatherwise. We get the odd shower, it's neither really cold or really mild. Tomorrow should see the start of a decidedly windy spell. The weatherchart shows a deep depression moving in over Scotland, and hanging around for a day or so. Result: galeforce northwesterly winds in the Hebrides.
Those familiar with affairs in the West Highlands and Islands of recent years will have heard of community buy-outs. That means that local residents can buy the land they sit on from the landowner, who more often than not is not himself living in the area. The most high-profile ones were in Assynt and the Isle of Eigg in 1992 and 1997 respectively. They were not the first community-owned tracts of land in the West. Back in 1923, Lord Leverhulme was going to sell the islands of Lewis and Harris (one landmass), but offered the residents of Lewis the right of first refusal. The parishes of Lochs, Uig and Barvas declined, not trusting anything a landlord offered. The parish of Stornoway accepted, and the Stornoway Trust was set up to administer the area. Elections for trustees were held yesterday. The focus was on Sunday ferry sailings and renewable energy. I disagree with the Trust's stance on both issues. I am in favour of a ferry on Sunday, and I don't want huge big turbines spoiling the natural beauty of this island.
Those familiar with affairs in the West Highlands and Islands of recent years will have heard of community buy-outs. That means that local residents can buy the land they sit on from the landowner, who more often than not is not himself living in the area. The most high-profile ones were in Assynt and the Isle of Eigg in 1992 and 1997 respectively. They were not the first community-owned tracts of land in the West. Back in 1923, Lord Leverhulme was going to sell the islands of Lewis and Harris (one landmass), but offered the residents of Lewis the right of first refusal. The parishes of Lochs, Uig and Barvas declined, not trusting anything a landlord offered. The parish of Stornoway accepted, and the Stornoway Trust was set up to administer the area. Elections for trustees were held yesterday. The focus was on Sunday ferry sailings and renewable energy. I disagree with the Trust's stance on both issues. I am in favour of a ferry on Sunday, and I don't want huge big turbines spoiling the natural beauty of this island.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Closing notes
Not that much more to comment on really. Although the sun did come out later in the afternoon, the weather remained unpleasant and cold. The lorries rumbled past on their way to the freight ferry half an hour ago, and by 11.30pm, we'll see MV Muirneag sailing by on its way to Ullapool.
Today, elections were held for the Stornoway Trust. Since 1923, all the land between Stornoway and Tolsta is managed for the community by the Trust. Trustees are elected by secret ballot, and in recent times candidates have been issuing their policy statements. That sounds grand, but is not. It mainly focuses on land usage (crofting) and the vexed issue of Sunday sailing and trading. The Sabbatarians have a strong foothold in Lewis, and are opposed to the breaking of the Sabbath, the Day of Rest. Without being disrespectful, I just don't see how that reconciles with the opening on Sundays of pubs, restaurants, airport and the petrol station cum shop. This link, 13 days old, explains further.
Off to bed shortly, and hoping for more springlike weather tomorrow. Fat chance.
Today, elections were held for the Stornoway Trust. Since 1923, all the land between Stornoway and Tolsta is managed for the community by the Trust. Trustees are elected by secret ballot, and in recent times candidates have been issuing their policy statements. That sounds grand, but is not. It mainly focuses on land usage (crofting) and the vexed issue of Sunday sailing and trading. The Sabbatarians have a strong foothold in Lewis, and are opposed to the breaking of the Sabbath, the Day of Rest. Without being disrespectful, I just don't see how that reconciles with the opening on Sundays of pubs, restaurants, airport and the petrol station cum shop. This link, 13 days old, explains further.
Off to bed shortly, and hoping for more springlike weather tomorrow. Fat chance.
Tuesday 24 March
The day started wet and windy, but the rain stopped a little while ago. Whether we had a frost last night I do not know; the reports say we went down to -3C, but I find that very hard to believe. Looking at the Met Office reports, we had +1.1C. That's more like it. We certainly had high winds yesterday, going up to 54 mph at one stage.
So we now have zero inflation, and going down further. That means we're having deflation in the UK for the first time since 1960. Not as good as it appears on the surface, according to the economists who say it will slow the economy down even further. When you expect prices to fall in the future, you'll put off your purchases, won't you.
More later.
So we now have zero inflation, and going down further. That means we're having deflation in the UK for the first time since 1960. Not as good as it appears on the surface, according to the economists who say it will slow the economy down even further. When you expect prices to fall in the future, you'll put off your purchases, won't you.
More later.
Monday, 23 March 2009
Sold out
This is the look of one of our local supermarkets on Monday. It will also look like this if supplies have been disrupted due to poor weather. Although it is currently blowing a near-gale (see report in previous entry), the ferry is sailing. However, we had Mothering Sunday yesterday, which explains the bare shelves. I hope everybody who was celebrating yesterday had a great time.
Otherwise, the current weather does provide for some great cloudscapes, so here goes.
And I'm going to close with this greenfinch
Monday 23 March 2009
We've lost spring and are back to soft hail and rain showers. Oh, isn't that normal in March? Yes, actually it is. I've just been to the shop, a five-minute walk up the road, but it was singularly empty of stock. Had to have an in-depth search for bread and other stuff. Ferry was late getting in this afternoon, and consequently equally late going out again.
I couldn't help noticing when checking the weather reports on the NOAA site that the quality control had missed that dip to -25C in the middle of the night out here. This is the listing for the last 24 hours:
Think it just went down to about 4C in the night, actually. Don't see how you could possibly get light rain at -25C.
I couldn't help noticing when checking the weather reports on the NOAA site that the quality control had missed that dip to -25C in the middle of the night out here. This is the listing for the last 24 hours:
Think it just went down to about 4C in the night, actually. Don't see how you could possibly get light rain at -25C.
Sunday, 22 March 2009
Sundown notes
Ten to seven and it's not even dark. The equinox is behind us, and from now on the nights will become shorter - and a lot shorter than points south. As I say every year, Stornoway lies on the 58th parallel north, and that leads to short nights in summer and short days in winter. Come June, the sun will rise at 4.20 am and set at 10.35 pm.
Not springlike at all today, intermittent rain at the moment. The navigation lights around Glumag Harbour (which lies across my field of vision) are on, with the buoy next to the lighthouse and two smaller lights by the Fabrication Yard, more than a mile away to the south. A small sailing craft came in earlier this afternoon.
There is not much going on regards hurricanes (Ilsa keeps trundling west across the Indian Ocean, more than 600 miles from any land), the email inboxes are checked, I have been round those of you who posted in journals, Facebook and Twitter. Have downloaded Tweetdeck, but will probably throw it off - don't need it that much, really. Dinner will be served shortly, and I am going to close my Internet and computer activities for the day.
Not springlike at all today, intermittent rain at the moment. The navigation lights around Glumag Harbour (which lies across my field of vision) are on, with the buoy next to the lighthouse and two smaller lights by the Fabrication Yard, more than a mile away to the south. A small sailing craft came in earlier this afternoon.
There is not much going on regards hurricanes (Ilsa keeps trundling west across the Indian Ocean, more than 600 miles from any land), the email inboxes are checked, I have been round those of you who posted in journals, Facebook and Twitter. Have downloaded Tweetdeck, but will probably throw it off - don't need it that much, really. Dinner will be served shortly, and I am going to close my Internet and computer activities for the day.
Sunday 22 March 2009
Sunny intervals and showers on a cooler day than of late, with the mercury back at 9C / 48F. The end of the past week saw us at 13C, but that quickly went.
Jade Goody has died in the night. RIP.
She has made good use of her celebrity status by raising awareness of cervical cancer and the importance of cervical smear tests and following up any adverse results. There is ample coverage in the media about her, so will simply refer to that, and my previous postings.
The search for two men, missing (now presumed dead) on Loch Awe in Argyll, has resumed this morning. They disappeared after setting forth in a boat at 11pm on Friday night. Two others were found dead on Saturday morning.
Jade Goody has died in the night. RIP.
She has made good use of her celebrity status by raising awareness of cervical cancer and the importance of cervical smear tests and following up any adverse results. There is ample coverage in the media about her, so will simply refer to that, and my previous postings.
The search for two men, missing (now presumed dead) on Loch Awe in Argyll, has resumed this morning. They disappeared after setting forth in a boat at 11pm on Friday night. Two others were found dead on Saturday morning.
Saturday, 21 March 2009
Exhibition
Well, made the bold move and entered a framed photograph of mine in local exhibition Grinneas nan Eilean. This runs in Stornoway's art centre An Lanntair from next Saturday until mid-May. There is the odd chance someone may buy it, but it's more for the sake of making a contribution of sorts. Like the book I plugged last night. That was not the first book I produced on lulu.com, but the first one (a printed copy of Faces from the War Memorial) is not publicly available.
Saturday 21 March
First day of spring by the astronomical calendar. Quite a springlike day, with blue skies, scattered clouds and a mild breeze. I am watching the afternoon ferry coming in, which will depart back to Ullapool at 2.30pm, in 90 minutes from now. It will return here at 9 o'clock this evening. The crossing takes just under 3 hours, and can be a bumpy affair.
Police are searching Loch Awe, east of Oban, for two men who went missing on the loch overnight. They were in a party of four, two of whom were found dead in the water. Searching was severely hampered by dense fog (visibility 5 yards) overnight. Loch Awe stretches for 24 miles and is up to 300 feet deep. It is not as deep as Loch Morar, further northwest near the port town of Mallaig, which goes down more than 1,000 feet.
All Coastguard helicopters in the north of Scotland are grounded, pending the fitting of essential parts. Last week, a fatal crash off Newfoundland claimed 17 lives, and a faulty part was found to have played a role in that incident. Replacement parts are being transported to Lewis and Shetland, but the 4 helicopters will remain out of action until they are fitted. RAF helicopters out of Prestwick and Lossiemouth will provide cover in the meantime.
Police are searching Loch Awe, east of Oban, for two men who went missing on the loch overnight. They were in a party of four, two of whom were found dead in the water. Searching was severely hampered by dense fog (visibility 5 yards) overnight. Loch Awe stretches for 24 miles and is up to 300 feet deep. It is not as deep as Loch Morar, further northwest near the port town of Mallaig, which goes down more than 1,000 feet.
All Coastguard helicopters in the north of Scotland are grounded, pending the fitting of essential parts. Last week, a fatal crash off Newfoundland claimed 17 lives, and a faulty part was found to have played a role in that incident. Replacement parts are being transported to Lewis and Shetland, but the 4 helicopters will remain out of action until they are fitted. RAF helicopters out of Prestwick and Lossiemouth will provide cover in the meantime.
Friday, 20 March 2009
Picture book
I have now compiled a book with about 260 of my pictures, which is available for anyone to purchase on-line. It's a wee bit on the dear side (£20.75 baseline price, excluding P&P), but if you're feeling like it, why not get yourself a copy of Lewis Light from lulu.com.
End of commercial.
End of commercial.
Friday 20 March
Last day of winter, and I'm glad to leave it behind. Another sunny day, but quite blustery in contrast to yesterday's mild breeze. Temperatures at 12C at the moment, and may rise higher.
It seems to be relatively common for women to give birth on planes, but one lady from Samoa left her newborn baby in the garbage bin in the toilet. Charges are now likely to be brought against the woman involved; she was spotted by airport staff at Auckland as her clothes were bloodstained.
I am pleased to note that a debate has commenced in the UK on the difficult subject of assisted suicide, mercy killing, euthanasia. All descriptions of the same. Helping someone end their life when there is great suffering with no hope of alleviation or improvement. The BBC has a forum thread into the subject which shows the spectrum of opinion.
Personally, I advocate the Dutch model, in force in the 1980s. In such a situation, the patient discusses the subject with their doctor, who then seeks a second opinion. It is ensured that the decision is made by the patient of their own free will, being of sound mind at the time. After the patient is deceased, the death is reported to the procurator as an unnatural death. He will review the evidence and decide not to prosecute if all prerequisites are met.
It seems to be relatively common for women to give birth on planes, but one lady from Samoa left her newborn baby in the garbage bin in the toilet. Charges are now likely to be brought against the woman involved; she was spotted by airport staff at Auckland as her clothes were bloodstained.
I am pleased to note that a debate has commenced in the UK on the difficult subject of assisted suicide, mercy killing, euthanasia. All descriptions of the same. Helping someone end their life when there is great suffering with no hope of alleviation or improvement. The BBC has a forum thread into the subject which shows the spectrum of opinion.
Personally, I advocate the Dutch model, in force in the 1980s. In such a situation, the patient discusses the subject with their doctor, who then seeks a second opinion. It is ensured that the decision is made by the patient of their own free will, being of sound mind at the time. After the patient is deceased, the death is reported to the procurator as an unnatural death. He will review the evidence and decide not to prosecute if all prerequisites are met.
Thursday, 19 March 2009
Blogger Community Photo Challenge
Mailboxes is the subject of this challenge. Well, this picture dates from 6 August 2006 and shows a house in the village of Laxay, some 12 miles south of Stornoway in the Isle of Lewis (Scotland). The microwave oven on the post is actually the mailbox for 38 Laxay.
Volcano
I have always found volcanoes intriguing natural phenomena, and my interest was tweaked when an underwater volcano erupted near Tonga in the South Pacific. My attention was already focused there on account of tropical cyclone Ken (now a mid-latitude depression). The link shows an impressive display of ash and steam being ejected from the volcano.
Fritzl
Josef Fritzl, aged 73, was sentenced to life in prison today. He kept his own daughter imprisoned for 24 years, raping her and fathering 7 children by her - one of whom died because Fritzl denied medical help to the child. The man will be held at a secure psychiatric facility, and will be assessed whether he can be treated. If so, he will be transferred to a normal prison and could be eligible for parole in 15 years from now.
The twists and turns of this mind-boggling case have gained high prominence in the media in the past year or so, and the nation of Austria is still to come to terms with the horror of this scenario, enacted by one of its own citizens.
The twists and turns of this mind-boggling case have gained high prominence in the media in the past year or so, and the nation of Austria is still to come to terms with the horror of this scenario, enacted by one of its own citizens.
Thursday 19 March 2009
Bright and sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky. Feels like spring, and certainly the birds are behaving in that fashion. The mercury has crept up to 13C / 55F, a value not seen on a sunny day like this so far this year. So, long may it continue.
Hurricane season is drawing towards a close in the southern hemisphere. Tropical cyclone Ilsa is roaring away with winds in excess of 110 mph, about 600 miles from Australia. It is not going near any land as far as the forecasters can tell. Hurricanes are one of Mother Nature's safety valves, and serve to disperse heat from the tropics to higher latitudes through a venting mechanism in the upper atmosphere. The amount of energy involved in your average hurricane would be sufficient to power everyone on planet Earth for a year - 200 times over. Annually, there are about 100 tropical cyclones anywhere on the planet. They can only occur over warm water (80F / 26C or more) with a specific set-up in the atmosphere (winds all blowing at the same speed and in the same direction at all levels) and away from the equator. They only happen in summer - which is why the southern hemisphere is currently having cyclones (= hurricanes). The phenomena are poorly understood, and are highly unpredictable, both in terms of course and intensity.
Hurricane season in the northern hemisphere will resume in two months from now. If you are in an area likely to be affected by these storms, please review your preparations now and make sure everything is in readiness for hurricane season.
I have kept my Tropical Cyclones blog since July 2006, and update it daily - if there are any storms or tropical disturbances to be reported on.
Hurricane season is drawing towards a close in the southern hemisphere. Tropical cyclone Ilsa is roaring away with winds in excess of 110 mph, about 600 miles from Australia. It is not going near any land as far as the forecasters can tell. Hurricanes are one of Mother Nature's safety valves, and serve to disperse heat from the tropics to higher latitudes through a venting mechanism in the upper atmosphere. The amount of energy involved in your average hurricane would be sufficient to power everyone on planet Earth for a year - 200 times over. Annually, there are about 100 tropical cyclones anywhere on the planet. They can only occur over warm water (80F / 26C or more) with a specific set-up in the atmosphere (winds all blowing at the same speed and in the same direction at all levels) and away from the equator. They only happen in summer - which is why the southern hemisphere is currently having cyclones (= hurricanes). The phenomena are poorly understood, and are highly unpredictable, both in terms of course and intensity.
Hurricane season in the northern hemisphere will resume in two months from now. If you are in an area likely to be affected by these storms, please review your preparations now and make sure everything is in readiness for hurricane season.
I have kept my Tropical Cyclones blog since July 2006, and update it daily - if there are any storms or tropical disturbances to be reported on.
Wednesday, 18 March 2009
Wednesday 18 March
Late entry for today, after being sidetracked on various fronts. Had to install Windows Vista Service Pack 1, which took me several hours this afternoon. Downloading nearly half a gigabyte of file (took me about 45 minutes), then installing the update, which took me 3 hours in all. Let's hope it does make a difference - we shall see. So far so good, I can now try to update my firewall software which it would not do without SP1.
It has been a grey and overcast day, although dry. Not exactly warm either. Caught a glimpse of one of the press conferences linked to the trial of Austrian man Josef Fritzl, who held his own daughter captive for 24 years, fathered 7 children by her, allegedly killing one of them. I speak German, although the Austrian accents had me straining a bit. The trial is expected to be over by the end of the week.
It has been a grey and overcast day, although dry. Not exactly warm either. Caught a glimpse of one of the press conferences linked to the trial of Austrian man Josef Fritzl, who held his own daughter captive for 24 years, fathered 7 children by her, allegedly killing one of them. I speak German, although the Austrian accents had me straining a bit. The trial is expected to be over by the end of the week.
Tuesday, 17 March 2009
Tuesday 17 March
Another sunny day in Stornoway, although the actual temperature is still low, 7 degrees this afternoon. Behind glass, it feels a lot warmer. You feel the chill when you're outside in the wind. Visibility is very good, as I can clearly see the hills of Applecross Forest [no trees there by the way] some 60 miles to the southeast across the Minch.
I am currently trying to get Windows Vista Service Pack 1 installed on this computer. It doesn't show up on the Automatic Updates list, so I have asked Microsoft for help. Can't find anything useful on the web, apart from downloading the 434MB stand-alone version. The A.U. version is 45MB, so if I can get and spare my broadband traffic cap, that would be great.
I am currently trying to get Windows Vista Service Pack 1 installed on this computer. It doesn't show up on the Automatic Updates list, so I have asked Microsoft for help. Can't find anything useful on the web, apart from downloading the 434MB stand-alone version. The A.U. version is 45MB, so if I can get and spare my broadband traffic cap, that would be great.
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