Category: General

The cold equations.

I read this story, lo, these many moons ago, (about 600, plus or minus,) and came across it again, as you often come across stuff, when googling something else. I shared it with my children and my two daughters confessed to squeezing out a little tear, as did I when I first read it – hey, I was a sensitive lad once, before life knocked a few rough edges on to me, like, ‘Hey, if you have to knock someone down, the last thing you want to do is let him get up again, you prat.’ But I digress, it’s still a haunting little tale even after all these years. It was written by a Tom Godwin and appeared in ‘Astounding,’ or ‘Amazing,’ or one of those good ol’ pulp fiction sci-fi mags – sadly missed in these days of eBooks, Kindles and whatnot – though I read a lot electronically these days, everything to its place and a Kindle’s place is not next to a roaring fire on a rainy winter afternoon with a glass of something smooth, mellow and golden…but I digress, again. The story is now public domain, so no copyright issues. I hope some of you might enjoy it as much as I did. The Cold Equations, by Tom Godwin

How would you say it?

I had just published my November Winner post when an impassioned cry shot down the corridor from Boadicea’s study, “You’ve made a spelling mistake; you’ve left an ‘i’ out”.

With the aplomb born of certainty, I strolled into her sanctum and replied smugly, “No I haven’t.   There are only two ‘i’s in miss-chee-vus”.

“No, no,” she insisted, “miss-chee-vee-us has three ‘i’s.”

This is an error which has been perpetrated and perpetuated since the 17th century.   Indeed, in South London and Surrey where Boadicea and I were raised, the latter pronunciation was commonplace, and it was only as a result of an uncomfortable encounter with my prep school headmaster that the correct version of both speech and spelling were etched into my young brain.

Mischievous has no correlation with devious, or any other words in -ious, but many assume that it has.

I wonder how many of you might say “miss-chee-vee-us” in an unguarded moment? 😀

House hunting

“A room with a view…and you….dah dah dahdahdahdah dah!” Isn’t that top of the list of priorities? Mrs J and I are on the move again because of the Count’s (spelling optional) plan to erect three 500-ft. wind-turbines in the field next-door – as I reported some time back. So we have to give up our ‘Hansel and Gretel’ lookalike with its idyllic half-acre and go – but where? Continue reading “House hunting”

The Steadfast Tin Soldier, a pome

(With apologies to Messrs. HC Andersen and R Dahl)

One Yuletide Eve, in days of yore (when children all learned fairy lore)…..
No! Mercy me! How mem’ries fade! In telling you his escapades
I quite forgot that time before: a birthday, when the boy received
A troop of soldiers –  now displayed upon a table near the door.

Continue reading “The Steadfast Tin Soldier, a pome”

What I do when I’m not on my holidays – Part 2

So, what do I actually do when I start a new contract? It depends on the type of contract. I do shorter engagements where there is a specific requirement, such as audit security at a particular installation – perhaps ‘short’ is the wrong description, a review of the security of a company’s ocean-shipping facility can take a reasonable amount of time – but those are quite rare and usually part of a longer engagement. Short engagements usually last from a few days to a few weeks – anything more than a month and my daily rate goes down a bit to reflect the length of the contract. Bummer

Danegeld in the 21st Century?

I’m sure most here have heard of Danegeld:  money, raised by taxation, given as a ‘bribe’ to the Vikings in the 10th and 11th Century to stop them raiding, raping and pillaging. It wasn’t just England who levied Danegeld – several other European countries did much the same.

In 991, Aethelred the Unready  King of England gave the Vikings about 3,300 kilograms of silver. The bribe worked – well for a while. But, as anyone could have told Aethelred (whose name means noble counsel) the Vikings stayed away for a bit and then turned up, fully armed of course, and expected to be paid another large sum of money. No wonder Aethelred rapidly acquired the tag Unready (ill counsel). Continue reading “Danegeld in the 21st Century?”

COP17 – Durban

Durban

Nestling on the shores of the Indian Ocean, Durban is the holiday place of choice for probably more South Africans than anywhere else. It’s subtropical climate and warm waters almost guaranteeing a holiday free from the vagaries of the weather.

Durban is a relatively short 4 hour drive from Johannesburg with multi-lane highways and dual carriageways the whole way, making it relatively close and convenient.

Which suits me, Continue reading “COP17 – Durban”