Where Is Our Global Warming ??????

Today was a holiday, part of the September Weekend. Saturday and Sunday were sunny, but hardly hot. Today it has not stopped raining, there was a strong cold wind blowing, strong enough to bring
branches down, and it will continue like this for the next few days. We have the heating on tonight.
My fruit trees have produced 4 apples in total on one tree. The other - nothing. And the berry bushes zilch.
Where is the Global warming we have been "threatened" with? Where is the proof for the justification for the onslaught of green taxes which have driven up the costs of just about everything we use? My flight to America next month costs more in taxes and  conservation fees that exceed  the actual ticketcost!!!
Enough is enough  already! Give it up. Tell us you are wrong. Take away the green taxes. And if the temperature rises??? Hooray!
The fact is the climate is controlled by factors beyond human control, principally the Gulf Stream and Solar activity.
The world has cycles of weather and climate changes. It is nature. We are being fleeced by powerful organisations who have no interest in anything save the acquisition of Global Power. And our Governments are under their sway.

So on a cold wet day we drove south a bit to Lanark and Biggar. En route we stopped at Craignathen Castle, the last purpose built fortress to be constructed in Scotland. Of that more in another blog.

Tomorrow it is back to school. We had an inset day on Thursday during which we kept our coats on because the school was so cold - no heating till the end of October. We were chilled!
I nearly got my smart board working. The technicians came to fit the projector, but sadly the fittings installed are the wrong ones. They will return another day........aye....right. I have a little under 3 weeks left in the school. Will my room have its projector before I leave?

I have an uncarpeted room - no money: no blinds on the windows - no money - which means that even if the smart board works, it faces the naked windows. If the sun shines it will be useless. And the smart board is an infant one, small and at low level!! It would be nice if class teachers were consulted in the design of classrooms.

I have a mixture of various tables that do not match up. Ditto the children's seats. I have no proper chair nor a desk. The childrens's trays are piled up 3 high on a worksurface, beside the single computer. How do you cover ICT for 32 children with 1 computer?

If another Government Minister says anything about Teachers having an easy life and having to be prepared to work longer hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

If another Government Minister says anything about Teachers having an easy life and having to be prepared to work longer hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!.

The trouble with TalkTalk

Our phone line supplier and ISP is TalkTalk. We have had some problems with them. It can be difficult to have a problem solved. Their help lines are in India, and sometimes, it has to be said, it can be difficult to understand the accent.

In August we kept losing our Internet connection. I contacted TalkTalk. After the usual online checks they found a problem and said an engineer would call....at a cost of £50. I protested. I pay for the line rental and the services. I do not pay when there is something wrong with the line. They agreed no payment. The engineer called, spent 40 minutes, said he would contact BT about the line fault.
24 hours later we got a text advising problem sorted.

Then 3 weeks later, we lost internet again, and then the phone went dead. They mooted another £50 charge, which was again withdrawn....till the bill arrived today with £50 engineer charge.
I phoned, was told there was no record of charges being waived. I asked to speak to a manager. After 15 minutes I was told none were available. I can expect a call within 24 - 48 hours.
I will cancel my direct debit and move to another supplier if they insist on this charge.
I now know why TalkTalk have a huge list of complaining customers.

I will keep you advised.

Elsewhere resources problems continue at school. I am preparing the class forward plan. I am having difficulty with some sections - Technology ~ no resources - Music ~ no resources - Art ~ no resources ( my wife has bought 33 paint brushes and paints, and supplied paper, scissors and library books) ICT ~ 1 slow desktop for 32 children - Topic Scotland ~ no resources - Spelling ~ no textbooks.
  My school e mail has begging letters from schools looking to beg or borrow materials.
The school is cold, but the heating is not allowed to be switched on till October!
What do we do?

Here are more photos from Leuchars.

Leuchars Air Show 2012

On Saturday, daughter and I travelled up to RAF Leuchars for the annual Air Show. We travelled on the Clydebank RAF Cadets Squadron bus. This has the great advantage that you enter the show via the Base, avoiding the compulsory Park and Ride.
This new system has hugely reduced the chaos that usually brought the whole Leuchars area to a standstill.
We left Clydebank about 7.30 am and travelled via Paisley to collect more cadets, and we arrived at Leuchars shortly after 10am.

The day was sunny and dry, but there was strong cold wind that had its effect on the show. The Parachute display team were unable to participate, the DC3 developed engine trouble, but all the others, including the First World War Fighter managed their displays despite the gusty conditions.

We had displays from The Blades, the last flying Vulcan Bomber, a Typhoon, The Tucano, The Battle of Britain Spitfire and Hurricane, a Pitt Special, an amazing display by a Chinook Helicopter, A fly past by a B-17, an E3-D Sentry Boeing, a Hawker Sea Fury, the Tornado GR4, a Hawk T1, a Gloster Meteor, and the Red Arrows.
There was plenty of noise and a lot to see in both flying and static displays.

There seemed to be a much larger crowd this year, probably  due to the possibility of this being the last Leuchars Show.

The only negative item was the bally sun. It played havoc with the auto focus on everyones' cameras.

Peronally speaking I thought this year' show was not as engrossing as that of last year. But despite that reservation, it was still a nice way to spend an afternoon.

I will add more photos in later blogs....come back and see them!




http://theblades.com/

http://www.raf.mod.uk/reds/

http://www.vulcantothesky.org/news/184/82/The-last-flying-Vulcan.html


http://raf.mod.uk/bbmf/

static display

USA DC9

B-52 Stratofortress

crowds await the flying

The Hawk

Spitfire and Hurricane

Tornados

Red Arrows arrive in style

Tucano

2 of the 4 Blades

Pitt Special

Gloster Meteor

E3-D Sentry

the Vulcan

The Chinook

B-52 fly pass