Big Bang Theory

In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded. How does this make sense? To my simple mind it doesn't, it is impossible and therefore it isn't what happened. So if nothing didn't explode and then expand into the universe we inhabit what did happen? If we accept that our universe did start with an explosion where there was nothing before that's a little more believable. So now we have an explosion occurring where nothing existed before, so far so good.  But now we ask what exploded and where did it explode from to appear where there was nothing before? I have no answers, I'm not a scientist, I just don't know. But I wonder what happens to all the matter which is swallowed by a black hole. Yes I know a black hole can grow but can it grow for ever? Can something with a gravitational field so strong that it can rip stars apart and even capture light really remain in a stable state? I have doubts that it is possible for a black hole to remain stable for eternity. I have no foundation whatever for my suspicions but it wouldn't surprise me if, at some time in the future, it was discovered that our universe was spawned by a black hole.  A black hole that has reached some type of critical stage and has done what appears impossible and imploded. This idea, to me, is no more stupid than the idea that nothing can explode, and it has the advantage of rounding the circle as I don't believe that anything can appear from nothing.  This thought, and that's all it is, a thought, gives no explanation of how such a process could occur or how it could occur or expand into somewhere it isn't.  Please could someone explain to me why what I postulate is both impossible and stupid.  

Bank of Scotland (In My View) Very Bad Practice

I am used to using internet banking and am usually happy with the procedure, but today when I attempted to log onto my account I was unable to proceed to my accounts without accepting terms which I feel would lead to my receiving an increase in spam from the bank and others.  I was not presented with any way to bypass this option.  This means that I am unable to use online banking.  When I called the help line they were unable to bypass this option for me and let me have access to my accounts.  Why ask me to accept terms that obviously aren't optional.  In my view this is extremely bad practice.  For the moment I would advise everyone to avoid the Bank of Scotland and as I suspect this is a part of the Lloyd s banking group as is Halifax it might be best to avoid them as well, though I'm not sure if they offer a similar non option.
I am unhappy enough about this to change banks if the situation isn't resolved.  The only thing I will say in their favor is that so far the android app on my phone isn't giving this problem.
Has anyone else come across a similar non option which they feel unhappy about accepting?
Did finally, after some insistence, get hold of a very helpful man called Dave who could understand my concern and gave me a some faith that he would pass on my concern.  So in the end I am reasonably happy that something will be done about it.

27/01/2014
As an add on to the above, I would say that after spending some time on the phone I got through to a gentleman called Dave. He checked that what I said was correct and promised to get back to me.  Dave was as good as his word and has just got back to me. Apparently what I was seeing was correct and intended and there is no way round it.  I think the Bank of Scotland and possibly Lloyds banking group are being arrogant and stupid, they will offend customers with this attitude. Dave aside I am very unhappy with the situation and if it isn't removed I will change banks as a point of principle

Orchard

A view of my orchard from the top.  I have planted three more plum trees and another apple this weekend, all four were maiden bare root.  They are two Seneca plums, one Jubilee plum and a Pinova apple.  I have started another row and have planted them at five meter centres.  The plums are on St Juliens A rootstock and the apple is on MM106 rootstock both these root stocks should give a tree of between three and four meters high and the planting distance of five meters should be about right.  The centre three rows are planted at twice that distance but that's because we are going for looks as well as fruit, but I may fill in the gaps if it seems appropriate.  But I suspect that unless I find a market for any surplus fruit I will produce more fruit than I can easily use.  Anyone got a cider press for sale?

Yesterdays planting.  I will have to keep the hedge well trimmed if I am to get the best from these trees.  Another job!

Writing the sequel.

Now I really must get on with writing. I'm three chapters into the sequel to "The Way In" And this is the book that I started out to write the first time but I have a feeling its going to be a similar experience and it may turn out to take three more books to tell the story. I have also started another unrelated story which I will write along side this so I have something to turn to when I'm stuck. If anyone wants a preview I'm happy to let you have a look, provided you are willing to give me feedback and suggestions. 

Places and Feelings

I made a delivery yesterday to a farm that was hidden at the end of a track in the middle of a small rural village. I have never delivered here before, I couldn't see into the yard from the entrance to the track so I backed down to the first turn, stopped, got out and went for a look. It was only a small delivery so after looking at the first corner I put the goods in my barrow and wheeled them in, this was by far the easiest option. But what I found remarkable was the farm yard. It was one of those places which seem to exude feelings of timelessness and peace. It was as if someone had really loved the place and passed away leaving such a sense of peace and serenity that the feelings soaked into the buildings and land to remain and effect anyone entering the yard.  It was the sort of place I could sit content and soak in the atmosphere. Perhaps it was just that it was a good day holding the promise of spring in its gentle sunshine, but I don't think so.  I think someone had really lived that place and that's what I could feel. What do you think? Are there places that effect you like that?

Sounds of Spring

The weather remains mild for the time of year and I am beginning to see catkins on the hazel bushes by the road side.  I haven't seen any snowdrops yet but if this weather continues it won't be long.  I heard a Mistle Thrush singing for the second time today.  These large thrushes are amazing birds once they start their spring songs they don't give up easily, I have heard them singing in rain storms and I think in snow storms as if everything in the world was beautiful.

A High Walk and More Rabbit Troubles

On Saturday my wife decided to have a day off, she's a teacher and works most every day weekends included.  The first stop was a problem, Monks Cross shopping centre, I hate the place and didn't get out of the car.  Yes I can be a miserable git at times.  Next stop a visit to my Mother for a couple of hours.  Much better than Monks Cross.  For a change we decided to go for a walk, not able to think of anywhere else I suggested the Humber Bridge.  I have driven over it many times and had crossed it a couple of days before for a delivery.  I noticed people walking over it at the time and thought it would make an interesting walk.  So we went, the only problem was that we followed the signs to the car park, there are road works going on on the bridge and on the approach so before knew what was happening I had joined the queue for the toll booth with no possible way to turn round.  But when I explained the situation the woman in the booth said to cross the bridge and come back so I could enter the car park form the other side of the road.  This problem must happen regularly as they haven't bothered to redirect traffic to the other car park entrance.  The result was we got to cross the bridge twice, once by car there and back and once on foot there and back.  Another happy discovery, the car park was free as was the entry to the bridge by foot.  The day was bright clear and breezy but well wrapped up the experience was great and well worth the effort.  Just before we got back in the car i heard the first Mistle Thrush of the year singing in the trees surrounding the car park.  I have been worried about the lack of thrush song, even though the weather has been good.  It's as if the birds know something I don't, perhaps the weather is going to turn and we are to be covered in snow.

What an amazing construction.

Had a walk round the orchard this morning and found more rabbit damage on one tree and rabbit damage on two ornamental trees that my wife planted in the garden.  I had to fit more rabbit guards on the two trees in the garden and add to the protection of the tree in the orchard.  But on the good side there appears to be one less rabbit, I think and hope the buzzard has been feeding well on these demons sent to destroy my fruit trees. 

Lighting up Life for Bats.

Yes I know bats have poor vision but I have seen bats appreciating the illumination provided by electric lights. A lot of years ago now I decided to light up the yard outside the house and to save me the trouble of looking for a switch in the dark I installed a light with a proximity sensor so all I had to do was walk out of the back door and the light came on; great everything worked as planned and as soon as I stepped in front of the light it came on.  Not only did this help me see but it was a great security feature all was well, or so I thought.  We had quite a large population of bats living in the old buildings and they appeared from the cracks every night to hunt the night flying insects.  I like bats, I have always enjoyed watching them in the evening, before it gets too dark.  I find it amazing that they can navigate round objects at such a speed using nothing more than echoes.  Well the proximity switch was sensitive enough to switch the light on as a bat flew past, the trouble was that when the light came on it attracted moths.  The moths attracted more bats which switched the light on more often and this attracted even more moths and other insects so the bats continued to flit around the light keeping it on.  I eventually added an off switch to bypass the sensor.  I felt sorry to be depriving the bats of easy feeding but I didn't like the electricity bill.  

Colour Vision ?

Have you ever thought about our eye sight?  When I was at school, perhaps I was around fourteen, I watched an episode of a television series, "Tales of the Unexpected.."  The gist of the tale was that a woman who couldn't see had her vision restored by a double eye transplant.  The catch to the tale was that the eyes which were transplanted belonged to the wife of the recipients lover whom he had murdered.  But its not the catch that's important, its the thoughts and conclusions that the tale started.  And as yet, thirty six years later, I still aren't able to find a way to prove my conclusions.
On my way to school on the bus the next morning I was thinking about the programme and wondering what it would be like to see the world through someone else's eyes.  My initial thought was that it would be just as I see the world, as everyone sees the world surely it must.  But then I had another thought would things look the same through another's eyes for instance does everyone see the colours the same? Could the colour I see as green be, when seen by someone else, be the colour I would think of as red.  After all colour could be all our brains interpretation of what the eyes see and the brain is so complicated that I'm expect everyone has a completely different thought pattern.  So if I could see the world through another persons eyes it could might look completely alien.  Just imagine what the world would look like with all the colours mixed up.  But surely this can't be or can it?  I would say yes it is possible and I can think of no way to prove that we all see colours the same.  In fact I think it very likely that  we all see the world differently.  Can anyone correct me and explain how to prove I'm wrong?  If so please let me know

The Wonder of Gravity

I find gravity amazing, don't you?  We all feel its effects for the whole of our lives but we give it so little thought and we seem to have so little idea what it is or how and why it works.  But if gravity, which I assume is the attraction of matter to matter, didn't exist we wouldn't exist.  Nothing in our universe would hold together, it is literally the glue that sticks everything together.  If I understand things correctly, which given my limited understanding isn't likely, the higgs boson particle is what gives matter its mass, I think this translates as gravity.  I have no understanding of how it all works and I have tried reading it up.  If I understand things correctly the discovery of the higgs boson particle could be one of the greatest discoveries of this century, that is when we understand how it works.
The trouble is I find everything about our universe fascinating and my understanding is too limited for my fascination, there is so much I will never know or understand.  I find that unavoidable fact very sad.

Writing At Last

At last I have started working on the sequel to The Way In, (Witches Wood Gate Book 1)  I think I am a little better organised this time.  I have organised my notes a little better, with the first book my notes were kept on a single word document and I found great difficulty finding the exact note I needed.  This time I have broken them down into several categories and used a different word document for each one.   I'm sure that I am still making many mistakes but I should be able to progress more easily.  I am finding, as I did before, that no matter how well I plan a chapter I don't manage to write it as planned.  The plan for the second chapter just didn't translate onto paper and I wrote something completely different.  That's not to say  that the plan for chapter two was wrong, it wasn't.  Its just that as I wrote something that I hadn't planned started to develop so I decided to let it run as it was.  The planned chapter two is now chapter three and possibly chapter four as well.  Well I'll continue writing and see what develops, it should be interesting as though I have a plan I have no idea or control as to how it will turn out.

Trees and Rabbits Again.

Haven't seen any of the rabbits from hell all weekend.  With a bit of luck they have been eaten by the buzzard, but I have my doubts.  Anyway for the moment the fruit trees seem safe.  Perhaps they are just lulling me into a false sense of security and are planning a major attack, or perhaps I'm paranoid.  The trees look well at the moment.  I am waiting two deliveries of fruit trees that I have been unable to source locally.  I will say more about the varieties when they arrive and I plant them.  I still need to repair my strimmer, I suspect I broke the gear head while doing a final cut of the wilder area of the paddock.  I am looking forward to seeing if and where the daffodils we planted come up.  Rosemary and I planted 25 kilos of bulbs last autumn but we aren't able to see where we planted them, not that it matters, all we are sure of is that they aren't where I will be planting trees.  I surpassed myself and pegged out every possible tree station before we planted the bulbs, I hope.  At least I think I did, maybe! Oh well time will tell.
What I have realised is that in five years time we could have a lot of fruit on our hands, at least I hope we will.
While I haven't seen any rabbits I have seen several squirrels.  Now I quite like squirrels even if they always win in the race to get to the hazel nuts on the bushes at the top of the paddock.  So long as they don't develop a liking for plums, apples or pears we will continue to get along fine.
A problem I might encounter in spring is the bullfinch, for those who don't know these pretty little birds have a large appetite for flower buds.  There isn't a large local population, if fact I haven't seen one here.  I won't begrudge the birds a snack if they do visit.
All in all I think this first year with the trees should be interesting, I have a lot to learn.

Longer Life Span

I have often thought that the world would be a lot better place if we all lived longer, a lot longer.  I think about five hundred years would suffice.  No I don't mean just me I mean everyone, absolutely everyone.  Why? you may ask, would I think this would be good for the world considering the damage that we can do in our short life spans.  Well simply put if we lived that long we  would be around long enough to have to endure any harm we caused to the environment, we would be directly accountable and suffer the consequences of our action or inaction.  Whereas we know that we can only expect around eighty years on this earth so we can bequeath any problems we create to future generations as we peacefully breath our last breath.  And before you react with horror, I know you wouldn't wish to leave your children and grand children to face the problems of global warming that we created would you?  Global warming doesn't really exist does it, and if it does its worst effects will be felt far enough in the future not to effect you.  Yes we all go about with this attitude, I'm just as guilty as you so I aren't absolved from my own criticism.  But that isn't really my point.  And no I'm not one of the save the planet green brigade, we can't save our planet, it is doomed to be destroyed.  All we can preserve is our place on this planet for as long as possible.  And if we don't manage to develop the means to leave the earth humanity as a species is ultimately doomed.  But that debate is for another time for the moment just imagine if you could plant an oak tree you would probably live long enough to see it grow to maturity giving you the option of harvesting it or leave it to live and die in its own time.  Imagine knowing you would live long enough to invest enough money in a pension plan to be able to spend the last fifty years of your life in comfort while not having to work.  Yes I know that if everyone who had been born in the last five hundred years was alive today we would be even more overcrowded, but consider this, if humans were able to bear children up to the age of four hundred and fifty years why would you rush?  Just imagine the enormity of the change a five hundred year life span would bring to the human outlook.  But I'm sure I haven't considered every possibility that would be created by such a long life.  Perhaps others can run with this idea and speculate how our lives would change. Just something for you to think about at the start of the year.
Happy new year to you all.