2009 — 3 May: Sunday

Nefarious plans are somewhat afoot for a walk later today (assuming the forecast rain has cleared away). I currently lack details. But as I listen, again, to some of that wonderful Ian Carr music, tonight's picture of Christa shows her being "mine hostess" in Old Windsor to Ron and Jenny (over from NZ) just a few months after we'd moved into our house.

Christa, Ron and Jenny in Old Windsor, 1976

When I sent this photo over to them just before last Christmas (some 33 years after I'd taken it — which is, I admit, going some, even by my tardy standards) Jenny told me "Neither of us can remember looking that young!! Ron turned 60 in November and I was 56 this week, and in 1976 when we visited you in the UK we were 27 and 23 respectively. The years have rolled away so quickly."

You can say that again. By the way, I'm pretty sure that's my own homebrew they were bravely sampling! The long, hot summer of 1976 made our new sunlounge ideal for fermentation.

Jump to it

It's 08:25 and (thankfully) I've just missed Danse Macabre. It's quite sunny, there's an empty crockpot to be stuffed, a packed lunch to be packed, and some walking fuel to be loaded, all before the day gets too much older. Off I go.

Crockpot? Full and getting agitated. Fuel? Absorbed. Lunch? Yet to pack — I'm predicting a sausage sandwich. Sun? Back out from behind a bunch of clouds. Music? Massed harpsichords, by the sound of it. Time? 09:34 and counting. Tick tock.

Somewhat later

It's 17:20 and another cuppa is part of my immediate future. I've been back for about 40 minutes from a nice 6.5 mile walk in and around Ashmansworth — new territory for both of us. Our route at one point took us quite near the other side of the Beacon Hill that we'd climbed last year. (25th January, for example.) Cool, clear, not too sunny, no rain, hardly anyone around. Most enjoyable.

That was followed by some spending of Mike's money (always cheaper than spending mine) at the devilishly-tempting Amazon Blu-ray "3 for 2" section. Now I see there's an email from niece #1 (who's working in London) to read and respond to. (She finally got around to reading the batch of delightful "Don Camillo" stories I gave her. Though I'm almost willing to bet she hasn't tackled "The Master and Margharita" yet. Give it time, David.) Also, the crockpot is simmering along nicely downstairs. Yum. And, rumour has it, it's a Bank Holiday weekend. Frankly, as a pensioner, how would I tell the difference?

Bright sparks... dept.

Crikey. Time to put another shilling in the Interweb's electricity meter:

One study by [Rich] Brown, [an energy analyst at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California], commissioned by the US environmental protection agency, suggested that US data centres used 61bn kW of power in 2006. That is enough to supply the whole of the UK for two months, and 1.5% of the entire electricity usage of the US.

Bobbie Johnson in The Guardian