Another Day Another Dollar Another Death

I am starting to really look forward to a day off. When you are tired, you start to find mornings hard. Some of it might be physical tiredness, but it is more the emotional tiredness I am aware of. Just starting to feel I am ready to shut myself away from the whole world for a while.

But in the meantime I am sipping my coffee in hopes the caffeine will have kicked in before it’s time to shower.

Then I will go and collect the dark sourdough loaf reserved for me by the bakery. I was so pleased to find I had two slices of bread left when I woke up this morning. I didn’t feel like eating granola again. I am losing my appetite at the moment.

We all start to be affected in different ways when we are in touch with illness and death. It does tend to get at you in little ways even it is something you are used to because of your profession. For me, it’s slightly chipping away at my emotional energy, my enthusiasm and my appetite. But I am aware of it. I know it will be good for me to spend my day off doing some things that will invigorate my heart and desire to enjoy life.

I was even more pleased this morning to find I still had half a jar of St Dalfour Apple and Cinnamon preserve. I spread some of it on my toasted sourdough. It is absolutely beautiful. It was a perfect start to the day.

Better go now. Another day of work ahead.

 

 

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I Have Absolutely No Interest Whatsoever In How Much You Paid For Your Watch

My working week is over and I am finally able to put my feet up and let myself sink into relaxed mode.  My energy has drained out of me and I am trying to work out if this is an acceptable time to slip into bed and let myself drift into unconsciousness.

I want to get a little something off my chest.  It is not a big thing…I just feel better stating it so that the air is clear.  I love treating people well.  I love showing honour and respect to people – but especially those who are not normally treated with dignity or even in a humane way by many others.

When I worked within a medical practice we had patients from all sorts of walks of life…including some pretty rough backgrounds.  Some were unkempt and dishevelled in appearance…but I took delight in addressing them with the same manners I would a peer of the realm.

I noticed the effect it had, which moved me to want to dignify them even more and show as much politeness and grace as it was possible.  I love showing dignity and honour to those I guess you could say would generally be viewed as lowly.  It is such a wonderful thing to be kind and respectful to someone who seems to have been stripped of their self-worth by a harsh world.

My parents taught us that good manners were indispensable in life and were to be applied universally, to all others.  Now good manners and respect should extend to all other humans (excusing those who are purely evil – but I don’t cross paths with such folk).

But where I am really struggling is those who are pretentious and boastful about  what they own.  The honour I extend to them is done so in such a grudging spirit.

In all honesty, it gets right up my nose when someone starts telling me about how much their watch cost and telling me all the names on the labels sewn into their jackets, their new car, where they are going on holiday.

I feel like explaining to them, “I am being respectful and polite to you because you are a fellow human being and I believe in treating others well…but it has absolutely nothing to do with your watch, your clothes or your wheels – in fact the more you talk about them, the more I feel repelled by your being in my vicinity.”

Years ago we watched a Julie Andrews film about a nanny (Mary Poppins) who helps to bring a family back together again.  I am sure Mary Poppins would sit me down and explain, hopefully to some delightful melody, that I ought to carry on showing respect and kindness to all, but always look out for those who are often overlooked.

Aaaah…I feel better for saying that…I am treating you with respect because you are a human…not because of your watch, your jacket, your wheels or where you are going on holiday.

 

via Grudging — Word of the Day Challenge

https://wordofthedaychallenge.wordpress.com/2018/08/17/grudging/

https://onedailyprompt.wordpress.com/2018/08/17/your-daily-word-prompt-humane-august-17th-2018/

https://fivedotoh.com/2018/08/17/fowc-with-fandango-energy/

Vast Dynamic Energy

Just what you wanted on a Friday night – a physics lesson!  Whether you love or hate physics may have depended on your teacher.  Don’t worry, you don’t need to read every word, you could just scroll through to the lovely pictures if you prefer.  For those who want to look over this, I have tried to make sure the key points are in bold type.

I am no expert, but my pea-brain is wired mathematically – lock in me in a room for several hours with a pen and paper and you will probably find I have filled the paper with as much of the Fibonacci Sequence as space would allow rather than a story.  So I find that my mind laps up physics and maths…and I often find myself staggered by the order, the genius, the laws that have been there far far before humans began looking up at the stars.

Goodness, I’m typing with a terrific thunderstorm erupting outside – it’s breathtaking.

Photo credit ParentRap @ pixabay.com

In 1905, Albert Einstein published a paper that was considered to be a mathematical footnote to his special theory of relativity. It contained the formula now synonymous with his work:

 E=mc² 

This famous equation tells us that the amount of energy released when an atom is split equals the loss of its mass times the speed of light squared.  Easy yeah?

E Energy

= equals

m mass

c² times speed of light squared

c² means c times c, or 186,282 miles per second times 186,282 miles per second

Because c² is an enormously large number (34,701,000,000 mi²/sec²), a small amount of mass can be converted into an enormous amount of energy. When an atom of uranium is split, it quickly forms two smaller atoms but also loses about 0.1 % of its mass; that tiny amount converts into a vast release of energy.

Is it only uranium that we may associate with nuclear energy that this applies to?  Well the principle is the same with all matter or substances.  Here are some interesting ways of explaining what it would mean if it was easy for us wee humans to extract and harness the energy from any substance around us other than by setting it on fire:

Just 450 g of any substance completely converted into energy equals:

• 11 billion kilowatt hours
• the power needed to drive a car around the earth 180,000 times
• the power required to propel the largest oil tanker around the world 400 times
• the electric power needs of the United States for one day

 The reverse is also true. It takes a tremendous amount of energy to “materialize” just one atom.   But this is basically what happens in a cyclotron – a type of particle accelerator. Matter is produced by colliding particles at high energy. The resulting mass of all particles produced in the collision is greater than the two particles that collided. In other words, matter has been created. That is why enormous energies are required in the cyclotrons.  Think about that: an enormous amount of energy is needed to make a tiny amount of matter.

Modern science is aware that matter can be changed into energy and energy into matter.  Our sun provides an example of matter being converted into energy. Every single second, the sun converts about four million tons of matter into sunlight and other forms of radiant energy. The small fraction of that energy that reaches us is sufficient to sustain life on the earth. It is quite simply mind-boggling to contemplate the tremendous power and energy that were required to create not just the sun but also all the other billions of stars.

I love this verse penned three thousand years ago, long before Albert Einstein was born.

 “Lift up your eyes to heaven and see.

Who has created these things?…

…Because of his vast dynamic energy and his awe-inspiring power

 

As I mentioned in a previous post…not all see the physical and scientific information in front of them in the same way.  It is not my place to belittle anyone else’s views.  There is no way I would mock anyone for their sincere beliefs.  However, it is not at all difficult to understand why so many billions give glory to a Creator.

Through my eyes, I see abundant reasons to ascribe glory to an intelligent mind, a wonderful, purposeful, incredible mind behind the existence of the material universe. As someone who loves science I find it hard to understand why some are dogmatic and close-minded in their view that it was all one big accident.  Mathematically that is more than preposterous.

When I look up at the stars…aah!  My oh my, it’s really hard to find the words. I’m in tears. I can’t explain the surge of love and wonder and utter esteem and admiration…it fills me with energy to live my life (forgetting anything that has hurt me) convinced this power will be used to put all matters right.  It’s an astonishing thought, but there have been times when I felt so alone due to the challenges I was facing, that it was only because of Him I found the fight to keep breathing.  I remember it that night in the park.  I remember seeing stars above me and not knowing what was happening…but sensing an urgent order that I had to keep breathing.

Now, if you think any of the physics above was complicated, then check out the many helpful explanations that have been published of what goes on inside one of these cyclotrons.  Of course if you watch Star trek regularly you probably understand all of this!

Have a wonderful weekend…I am heading out to dance in the rain with my friends!

 

https://thehauntedwordsmith.wordpress.com/2018/07/27/worth-a-thousand-words-11/

https://fivedotoh.com/2018/08/17/fowc-with-fandango-energy/

https://onedailyprompt.wordpress.com/2018/10/04/your-daily-word-prompt-abundant-october-4-2018/

 

Canolfen y Dechnoleg Amgen (That’s About As Much Welsh As You’re Going To Get Out Of Me I’m Afraid)

Just a stone’s throw from the cottage belonging to some family members is a site we have not been to for ages…and we decided as it is was close to the town we were visiting today we would take a visit with Little One.

Our destination today was the:

Yes, that’s right, just behind the welcome desk which is on the same level as the car park, there is a cable car up to the rest of the site.  Here in Wales, they are very considerate of English folk who might not be use to walking up mountains every day.

As if this not enough excitement for little one!  And for me!

It makes me laugh that when you read the information leaflet, it makes the center sound as interesting as reading the information on the side of a cereal box, or the back of a utility bill.

The reality is that not only is the center very interesting and of relevance to just about anyone at all who lives in a house, or uses electricity or takes showers or eats food…

The VIEWS…the Center is worth a visit just for the views alone if you are really not interested in any of the information presented.

I wish I had a better camera to take better pictures for you…there is nothing like your own eyes though to see Wales for yourself.

I took about fifty photos today of exhibits and my family as we toured the buildings displaying information, the gardens and all sorts of displays, and fun exhibits.  In addition we stopped off at the mostly vegan cafe and shared a vegan chocolate cake and a vegan lemon drizzle cake.

Then there was the playground…and the slide – my niece was in her element!  Oh she had fun.  A one year old child makes everything a hundred times more fun.

We learnt all about the origins of CAT (Center for Alternative Technologies), energy efficient construction techniques, how to conserve and make wise use of resources, including electricity and water, how to grow your own veggies and herbs, and there was a huge amount of information on all the alternatives to burning fossils fuels.

I don’t want you to tire of my holiday photos, so I will try to put together a little collage so you get the idea of what we were up to today.

Wish you were here with us in Wales!