Kates Journal

I finally finished the first episode of the podcast. Be gentle, I know the levels are a bit up and down, but audacity and I are only slowly becoming friends, and let’s be fair, the ’studio’ or ‘lounge’ isn’t the ideal place to record it, as I tend to change my distance from the mic – depending on where I decide to sit on the sofa.

Anyhow, the site is here. Try not to kill it. It’s been submitted to itunes, so it should appear on there once it’s all checked and approved :)

So I finally got around to filing the claim against the company who ‘restored’ my car the first time. It’s actually not for anywhere near as much as I thought because I looked at the bill and realised that a big chunk of their bill was for ‘mechanical’ and ‘interior’ works. Indeed, that should perhaps give me an idea of what I should have expected in terms of quality.

Anyhow, since I was angsting about it I thought I might as well be mid claim and angsting about it.

For those of you who aren’t yet in the world of XKCD (Particularly Chrissy)

So, being a classic car owner, and occasionally driver, I’ve spent a fair bit of time lurking and chatting on classic car forums, and one thing that gets me is that – as a broad sweeping generalisation – classic car owners seem to be very much in the climate change denialist camp.

Any suggestion that you’re someone who feels that the Climate Change theories indicating global warming are correct, and you’ll be commented on by a miriad of people who all feel that climate change is a load of rubbish. These people also seem to fall into the ‘oil will never run out’ camp, or that it’ll run out in a very-long-period-of-time, at least, they appear to.

Fine, okay, let’s put it this way:

Option A – I’m wrong and climate change is rubbish:
Result of following the ‘climate change is happening’ course of action: We spend a lot of money and time investing in new technology, creating new jobs and improving our environment. Old industries decline, and people have to be retrained in new skills or fall out of the workforce. Cities become cleaner, less polluted places. We reduce our dependence on foreign oil, start developing drugs and food technologies that aren’t dependent upon oil. Final result: It’s expensive, and lots of work, everyone lives. Oil continues to lurk under the ground.

Option B – They’re wrong and climate change happens:
Result of following the ‘climate change is rubbish’ course of action: Sea levels rise, vast areas of land become unusable, vast numbers of people are displaced and die. We run out of oil, that means no food (no fertiliser) no drugs (petrochemical derivatives), no transport. We are, in short, screwed.

Given the two options, I’d rather be in camp A which spends money to fix a problem which doesn’t happen. Except that I think it’s a problem that will happen. I’d really rather not be in camp B.

Did not know that such a thing existed to intense desire for ownership in 0 seconds flat.

MONOCHRON – open source retro clock from adafruit industries on Vimeo.

Monochron.