All entries for January 2008

We're going nuclear

Writing about web page http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7179579.stm

So today the UK government announced their intentions to go Nuclear again for the next generation of power generation technology. I’m impressed… the first intelligent thing Gordon Brown has done. I’m not sure it makes up for the Working Tax Credit System, Massive public sector and private debt, Dropping the Fuel Tax escalator because it reduced their majority, Playing with consultants in the NHS and Education or years of hidden tax rises to cover inefficiency but it is a good decision.

Of course, naturally, Greenpeace are up in arms…

We simply can’t go nuclear, it’s not nice, we don’t know what to do with waste

which is kinda at odds with

We need to reduce our CO2 emissions to prevent global warming getting worse

Greenpeace. You are morons. End of story. The alternate you propose is incomprehensible. Yes you are right, we should attempt to make things more energy efficient and it’s perfectly possible to do this, at a cost, today. We should also make efforts to use more renewable power. The only thing is Wind is not consistent, nor is tidal energy. Sure you can make a barrier that can get power out of any tidal movement, but when a real storm hits it will be torn apart as it will be far to delicate to cope with the extreme forces hitting it. Likewise a Wind Turbine has to be shut down in high winds to avoid it taking a walk across the countryside.

Nuclear power offers us the best opportunity to fill our short term energy gap. In 20 years we might well be a in position where Fusion power is coming online, and all of our electricity is generated by renewables and Fusion/Fission power – 0 emissions from power generation and electricity so comparatively cheap most homes and businesses will switch to using it instead of gas. The amount of high level waste produced is minimal as most usable waste is reprocessed. Yes its dangerous if mishandled, but guess what? You don’t eat it.

Gordon? Want somewhere to build a power station? Near me is absolutely fine, I have more chance of being hit by a comet than having a problem. Go on people, cite Chernobyl (an outdated 1940s design reactor overridden by human error) or Three Mile Island (human error)... then remind yourself how many people died mining coal in the last twenty years, how many were killed on Piper Alpha and how many have died in gas explosions. We need dense energy sources, the problem with any concentrated energy is that it yearns to be less concentrated. Ignorance breeds stupidity and thankfully the UK government has overcome that this time round.

Christopher Hinds : 10 Jan 2008 21:53 |  Comments (1) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

New Years Resolution: Be less dumb

Yes, be less dumb is my primary new years resolution which got off to a flying start during the 6 hours or so between the UK new year and the US new year. Well I say flying, more of a non-flying start. I have just returned to the land of freedom of speech, SUVs and checked shirts. I chose to fly on 31st December out of Heathrow to arrive in Indy sometime on 31st December. As before this entailed a Virgin flight from Heathrow to Chicago and then an American Eagle flight from Chicago to Indianpolis.

Most people who have used Virgin’s rail services will know they can be a little unreliable at times. Fortunately the aircraft work perfectly, of the three Virgin flights I’ve taken, all have left on time, arrived early and given me the luggage when they said they would. Information has always been readily presented and passengers are kept informed of what is going on. With American Eagle (the domestic Branch of American Airlines) I’ve attempted three flights too… the first one was delayed by an hour and overbooked and consequently I very nearly didn’t get a seat. The second one was delayed by over an hour and nearly made me miss the punctual Virgin flight back to the UK.

Then we come to yesterday. My flight out from Chicago was supposed to be 17:40 following an arrival at 14:20 to the USA. At 16:00 they posted a gate change for the flight, but I only noticed it because I went to the bathroom, there’s no automated notices given, just a quick flick round on the powerpoint screen above the gate exit. So I moved to the gate, noting that there is a 16:55 departure currently there. To check I join the queue to talk to the agent (by now it’s about 16:20), and when I get there I’m told

“Your flight is cancelled, go and use the red courtesy phone to talk to a representative”

I shake off feelings that I’m in a newsagent at the start of Airplane! and go and stand in another queue to use a phone. It turns out that there is a flight out from Chicago to Indy at 21:00, but I may not get a seat because it may not fly due to the conditions, if it doesn’t fly I’ll be left in the terminal because the local hotels will be full of all the cancellations from the other dozen or so posted cancelled flights. So when is the next flight after that I ask… apparently then next one not fully booked is in the evening of 1st Jan and maybe not till morning of 2nd. Not good. Oh and I can’t have my checked luggage i.e. CLOTHES back because they’re out freezing on the tarmac.

Now my mind switches into overdrive, if I can be sure of getting to Indy on 31st and maybe not on the first, it’s only 175 miles, how about I drive it instead? The snow in Chicago is barely a flutter in the air though there’s clearly some on the ground from the past few days. Deciding that I don’t have a huge amount of option if I don’t want to spend the night in the terminal, I opt to drive. This could be seen as a dumb decision but since the cheapest hotel night is $250 (hey it’s NYE) and it’s less for the car, I take the car. The lady from American assures me I can have a refund, and my baggage will make it to Indy on the next flight. This will be chased up.

Unfortunately Enterprise don’t do one-way rentals so I have to visit Hertz and get myself the cheapest car, a Hyundai Elantra. By now it’s heading for 5pm and so I’ve got a good 4 hours before the flight to Indy potentially takes off. I need to average about 45mph on the journey to beat the plane and to get to the Enterprise desk before midnight to pick up my car. As I leave the snow eases and conditions are good, except that I have no cash on me so I have to make a stop to get some for the tolls on the Interstate. Fortunately the nice lady let me through the first toll for the only US cash I had (5c).

Then I turn off I-294 onto I-80 the I-65. Not long after that then snow started, and I mean really started. It’s like the snow was waiting for a permit to enter Illinois. It was coming down thick and fast and the roads were being ploughed by many snow ploughs. On the plus side this makes the road clear of snow, on the down side, behind them they spread salt which melts the snow to water. The salt is then driven off by cars and the water becomes ice with a layer of snow on top. After about ten miles at 30mph, I have a nasty moment where the car decides it would much rather be off the carriageway on the shoulder. Somehow (drivers instinct in a FWD car?) I got back straight instead of sideways and carried on but shaken and with the snow getting heavier.

I pulled into a rest stop on I-65 somewhat scared and shaking, it’s getting worse, the snow is falling faster. I felt so scared because of the conditions and having seen more than a dozen cars that had ended up in the central reservation or in the hedge, it seemed like only a matter of time before it was me too. I rang Emma and talked to her which cost me a bomb no doubt but it was so worth it. I have no fear of dying but dying in a Korean car?! I mean really what would Sig say… Anyway I bumbled into the rest stop and found a very nice trucker who told me it was apparently not as bad to the south, but it might cut me off before I got there. He offered me a place to sleep in his cab and some coffee if I wanted it. I felt very heartened by this show of kindness from a stranger but decided if there was a hotel in Lafayette (about 50 miles south) I’d try and make it as far as I could. For another 20 miles or so I battled on, all the while my nerves were on edge and my mind thinking two things. Firstly I’d rather be with Emma, and secondly I’d gladly pay double list price for a Range Rover about now. Another couple of slips happen that I recover and then we crawl past a huge accident, 5 cars have all gone into the ditch together.

I found myself a snowplough and settled down to follow behind that for about ten miles. Then about 35 miles north of Lafayette I notice the speedo, the plough is up to about 45mph and the road feels more solid under me too. The land to the right of the plough is empty and looks much more snow free. Moving across a very slippery patch of snow from lane to lane is nerve racking but then we’re ok and moving fine. Another 5 miles or so and the snow stops, the road becomes clear and the verges only show a hint of snow. Along with everyone else we cautiously build up speed to about 60-65mph. Just north of Lafayette we hit more snow and it’s back down to about 30mph and feeling the way gingerly. I count up more cars in the ditches and press on. It’s coming up for 20:00 and I’m not even half way but we are once again moving consistently. Then Lafayette is on the horizon and there’s seems to be a miracle. The snow is gone, the roads are dry and there’s not even any rain.

Remarkably from Lafayette onwards the last 80 miles were a breeze and I didn’t have any issues apart from being very wary of the conditions. There was a huge sense of relief as I got to the I-465 at Indy though, I was just so happy to have made it, there were certainly points where I thought I might well not. I managed to get my rental car and then went to pick up my bag. The flight did leave Chicago, but not until 21:30 and from speaking to another passenger I’d seen at Chicago I was given to understand that many people had taken hotel rooms as they thought it wasn’t going to go. Fortunately it did and brought my bag with me. I think it was naieve of me to think the conditions wouldn’t be too bad (the trucker told me we’d had about 2 inches an hour of snow) but at the same time I can’t help thinking if I’d stayed in Chicago I wouldn’t have been allowed on the flight due to overbooking. It was a lousy decision and I should probably have taken the flight, but at the time it didn’t seem like a good option. I was speaking to a guy at Chicago and he’d been trying to fly home with American for three days but they kept cancelling his flights and I guess this convinced me they’d just do that to me too. Nobody was prepared to give me any assurances at all that I would get a seat and with the cancellations from the 15:10 and 14:00 flights all waiting for seats on the 21:00 I figure my chances were very low.

So lessons have been learned. Americans do need SUVs in the Northern states, the Jeep Cherokee feels so much more secure than that Hyundai did in the conditions (we’ve had more snow overnight here). American Eagle are rubbish and I will never fly with then again, I will walk instead. I’m going to request that my flight to Chicago is with Northwest or someone else next time, because of these consistent delays and having no faith in them at all. Driving in Snow is a scary experience and not one to be repeated wilfully. I don’t like flying, it’s not enjoyable for me and the delays all round are an irritation.
Still in the end I made it, I’m here, with a proper car, a full cupboard of food and about ten hours left today to unpack and get ready before trying to get back on USA time for work tomorrow. Oh by the way, we’re expecting snow all afternoon and night today and currently the temperature is 11 degrees… Fahrenheit.

Christopher Hinds : 01 Jan 2008 16:07 |  Tags: Airlines America Delays Driving Flights Resolution Stupidity |  Comments (3) |  Close comments |  Report a problem