iPadawan

I've been a quiet for a while. If you are wondering why, it's because I've been working on some other writing projects. One is a socio-technical essay about the Apple iPad and I'm feverishly trying to complete it so I can get it online while the device is still new. Its pretty long and I'm trying to cover things that most of the reviews have missed... which is largely to do with the non technical stuff.

oh, and I'm on holiday in America.

watch this space.

The heat of the matter

argh! Goddammit!" Denis jumped back from the stream of scalding water and cursed as he banged his head off the bathroom wall. There were other expletives, but they are not fit to be written here.

"Is everything alright in there?", came a voice from beyond the bathroom door.

"Yeah, its all fine, no worries ma", he lied. He took a closer look at the taps. "Nothing a little bit of precision twiddling can't fix", he mumbled to himself.

* * * * *

So I left Japan. After a year an a half. Not a bad run - certainly longer than I expected when I went out there. Been back in the UK for 2 days and am slowly waking up to the reality of life here.

Before I left the land of the rising sun, I was out for dinner with my friend Shanel and she asked me what I thought I'd miss the most (and the least) once I was gone. My immediate answer was the bathroom. It always is - this isn't the first time I've re-located back to the United Kingdom. But this is the first time after a japan experience, which is a whole different thing.

In Japan, everything is push button digitally controlled. You can set precise temperatures for the shower water, bath water... even the toilet/bidet water. Yes, the toilets with the built in bidets are often computer controlled allowing you to set everything from the pressure of the water jet, to the temperature of the seat you are sitting on.

And of course, being Japan, everything is incredibly polite. At my friend Luke's house, after a 10-15 minute wait, the water heater would play a little tune and say in happy female voice "your water is at the desired temperature. Enjoy your bath!". In Japanese of course.

In contrast, English bathrooms are crap. They have the least amount of design effort put into them in the whole house. Cold, unfriendly places with leaky plumbing and toilet flushes that always seem to trickle. The showers are nearly always a bolt on to the bath (England is a bathing nation, not a showering one) and are woefully inefficient at providing you with a refreshing, cleansing experience.

This morning, I was reminded of this immediately. The shower at my mum's - who I'm visiting for couple of weeks - is really just a spout of dangerously hot water.

Now, before I say any more (which I will) I need to point out that my elderly mother is poor and lives in a subsidised council property. Last year, Westminster Council changed the water boilers in all the apartments on the estate for reasons of efficiency, safety, bla bla bla.

So, I took the liberty of investigating the 'new' water boiler and it turns out that the hot water has a fixed temperature of 55 degrees Celsius. Hold on, let me clarify that: The hot water has a fixed temperature of CRAZY!! that's about 10 degrees hotter than I would expect to find in a hotel shower or a thermostat regulated one (like the one I had back in Japan).

The problem is, that its fixed. you can't regulate it. So that means you have to mix it with cold water. Which is tricky to do because the taps themselves are cheap and clumsy.

Can anybody see where I'm heading with this? No? OK, I'll spell it out:

Aside from the safety issues, it would seem that a lot of energy is being wasted here. At no point is the water cool enough to touch, so you always have to run it with cold water in the mix. So much for energy efficient eh? most of the residents here are probably wasting 25% of their water heating bill.

Or perhaps my science is wrong here? It is wasteful to heat water to a high temperature and then let it cool down, isn't it? At least, that's what the public service announcements on TV would have you believe.

Global Warming? I blame Westminster Council.

Rude awakening

e woke with a jolt. The ground was shaking. Vibrations ran through his spine. Earthquake? He opened his eyes... Everything was moving now. There was a sudden jolt, strong enough to knock the book that he'd been reading when he nodded off out, of his hand. Through the window he could see the ground rushing by as if everything around him was tumbling into space. His stomach lurched as the ground seemed to fall away...





Why is it that no matter how awake I am when I get on a plane, as soon as we leave the gate I start to nod off to sleep? I've noticed this phenomena in other passengers too. Is it something to do with pressurizing the cabin? Or is it something more sinister than that? Do they release something into the air to make travellers more compliant?

The Drop

hhhh.... Now this is a nice little thing isn't it. Thanks to Daily Drop Cap by Jessica Hische for making this possible :-)

I was on a quest for drop caps for an illustrated childrens story (sort of - it's part of 'the comic') and a friend on facebook pointed me in this direction. Even if he didn't realise he was doing so at the time (thanks charlie!).

Now all I have to do is actually write something a regular basis. starting... tomorrow!

Fast and small

So I bought an iPod touch. And I found some cool little apps. Question is... Does it work? By which I mean, will it make me blog regularly?

Intermission

So, the thing about blogs is that you have to do them regularly for them to mean anything. don't you? And the thing about doing things regularly is that ideally you need to be motivated in some way. or conditioned. For years I've conditioned myself to writing a journal when I travel. I mean, literally - when I'm sitting on a plane or train or similar long journey. I used to do it on my palm pilot. These days events have transpired such that I don't really take long journeys, and when I do, I no longer use my palm pilot - it's old and I lost the input pen.

Now, I know this seems like a lame excuse, but its the truth. I find myself on the way home from work in someone's car or on a bicycle thinking about things I would've written had I been on the long 1.5 hour countryside tour de force back in the days when I lived in Valkenswaard. Admittedly, I didn't have a palm pilot back then, but I did use a notebook. Then, when I arrive home, after dealing with things in a timezone 8 hours away, it's very suddenly is time for bed.

How then, do I motivate myself, or condition myself to *remember* to write my blog / journal? Do some during my lunch break? Get up earlier in the morning? It does seem that this is the other 'writing window' I have. So that's what I'm trying now. Before I go to work. I'm going to try and ramble a bit everyday.

Because in the end there are NO EXCUSES!

10 months earlier: July 2008

hy is it always raining in this country?" Denis-Jose stared at his sorry looking tomato plants which had seen way too much water and no where near enough sun. Was that a mould he could see on their leaves? It was the end of July but it may as well have been the beginning of March. Despite a promising early spring the British weather had once again lived up to its reputation of being, well, rubbish. "What?" shouted Gavin from the kitchen, "Can't hear you over the noise of the kettle!" "I wonder what the weathers like in Japan?" Denis continued to talk to no one in particular as he stared at the grim darkening sky, from his balcony in Battersea, London. "I heard you say something about Japan?" said Gavin, wondering over and handing him a cup of tea. "Did I?" Denis frowned. "Sorry, I didn't realise I was speaking out loud. lost my inner voice. I was just wondering what the weather was like in Japan." Gavin, sat down on the couch with a slightly puzzled look on his face. Denis Sighed. "I think there is something I should tell you. Do you remember I said I was waiting to hear about a new job?..."

* * * * *

17 years ago, in July 1992, I quit my job, stuffed some things in a backpack and headed off into the big wide world. The plan was to travel round Europe and Asia, whilst I figured out who I was, where I was going and what the meaning of life was. You know, typical early 20's angst stuff. I thought I'd be gone for a year or so, but aside from the occasional visit back home*, it was 13 years before I came back to live in the UK. I returned full time to London life in July 2005. Older, wiser, battle-scarred and ready to get on with the rest of my life. Or so I thought. My return home was the right thing at the right time. I'd been away for a very long time. Socially, I had a lot of catching up to do! I formed new friendships - some of the best I've ever made - and enjoyed some the craziest, most amazing, social engagements of my life. But after 3 years it all started to feel a bit hollow. Along with a string nightmare jobs, the stress of London life, a series of panic and anxiety attacks and other things, life started to feel pretty grim. In Spring 2008 I started to think it was once again time for a change in scenery. So I applied for loads of jobs overseas. Much to my surprise I almost immediately got a positive response from an animation studio in Japan. The details were worked out pretty quickly. Could I start in a few weeks? Sure! Suddenly I had less than 4 weeks to move out of my house, tie up loose ends and move to the other side of the world! I had to cancel a long planned (paid for!), much anticipated holiday. I didn't even have time to tell everyone I was leaving. But, you know, if there's one thing I learned on my previous adventures its this: When it's time to go (and you'll know when that is), it's time to go! One month later I was sitting on a plane heading east to the land of the rising sun. * and one very ill-fated attempt to start a business & live in two countries at the same time