Broad sword calling Danny Boy....

Well it's been rather longer than I hope it would be to post this blog, but I have been busy...
I've got a new job!! and I'm rather happy about it, those of you know me well will know I've had an 'interesting' experience over the last 12 months, and I'm rather glad for some sanity.
I'm rather pleased to be back in the Energy Sector proper, and yes that does mean I'm in Oil and Gas but not all of it. To be fair the biggest twist in all this resurgent work load is that I am back at the one place I didn't think I'd be going back to, and one that I very much doubt Danny Bahar will ever pass again. Yes I'm back at the place that became my second home for so long....The Hethel Engineering Centre...but this time I'm not a civil servant, this time I'm business developing for a control system company, PROEON Systems Ltd.
So what does that all mean, well it means I get to be involved in something I've been fascinated with since I was a boy, Jet Engines!!! yes that's right! bot not in the way you think, or you might conclude...I'm not talking about the jet engine that you have dangling on the bottom of your Ryan air flight to London Leeds airport, I mean static engines, for power generation... about the only time you can get up close and personal to a jet engine running at full tilt on the ground doing a job...
and I'm not talking little turbines that you see on trolleys in airport used to start 747's...I mean the type of engines as a school boy you read about in cut-away in the Eagle...Avons, Olympus, etc.
but that's not all we do and I'm so happy that when I was in college I did automation and control systems for industrial applications. I really never thought I'd ever need to use that information ever again, but now I have found that it has become invaluable.
The rest of the time I've been actually quite relaxed, I've even had time to enjoy a bit of an outing to that British Sanctity of Sunday, the pub by the river...The only down side is....what happened to the  Sun! I've been waiting for it for so long......

Spot the sun competition, mark a cross where you think the sun is.

So lessons learnt this week...
Don't be 'on the take' in a company like Lotus (allegedly) you'll get caught....
never burn your bridges or piss people off, it's just not worth it....
and you should never forget your education...it comes in handy some where....


Next time I'll be preparing for a Show...

To EV or not to EV, that is the practical question...

Well I've been naughty and skipped a week of Blogging, but I have a genuine excuse Miss.
It's been a very busy week and I have officially lit the candle in the middle, which initially gives me no where to hold it as both ends were lit ages ago. The middle section flame is heading towards either end and soon there will be two slightly smaller candles....which I can hold in either hand, in the middle, and carry on with more light!!
For those of you that have worked it out it does mean that the candles will in actual fact take a 1/4 of the time to burn, releasing all of their light energy, and Co2, in a 1/4 of the time also. But... can I get the jobs done in that time?
Well this is the same predicament I have just had to deal with with my 24 hours ownership of the Nissan Leaf Electric car. The metaphors just keep on coming...
I had planned my date with the leaf week's in advance, taking into account the promoted range of the vehicle, the fact that I wanted to demonstrate it was actually possible to live the electrical dream, including business and domestic pleasure (according to the insurance policy), however things did not go all to plan....
I have to say it was not Nissan's fault, but my planned route of 89 miles for the day, including two designated charge points was not to be...I set off bright and early to pick up the Leaf from Desira Nissan in Norwich, I arrived for my 10AM rendez-vous and 'the chap that normally deals with Nissan Electric is not in today' so the leaf had a charged range of 80 miles indicated when I picked it up. Not too much off a problem. I excitedly drove to my first business appointment in Gt Yarmouth, getting used to the feel of the car, choosing econ mode, switching off all the climate trickery and concentrating on the drive.
After Gt Yarmouth a steady drive to Hethel in South Norfolk was next, and the first charging post!
The car drove faultlessly if a little slower than I would have normally driven, but I arrived with 11 miles to spare...PHEW! but to my horror the post was broken!!! blimey! that's a problem, 11miles left, and about 13miles to my next appointment. Too risky. I felt like a 1906 Silver Shadow driver with a one gallon petroleum Spirit can standing in a Que at Boots Pharmacists....
Nice car, but infrastructure lets me down. Luckily for me the kind bods at Magnus Marine lent me a 13Amp socket for a couple of hours and I got some charge on board. Magnus laughed, they do BIG charging systems and power control for super Yachts, so Abramavich and clan can have an air conditioned Deck while they watch someone else play deck coytes....
Anywho, I had to cancel much of the afternoon's meetings, and a suprise test, take the Leaf home and prepare for family life activities.

A Leaf today with a hairdryer from boots

The wife likes it, so does Baby Em, plenty of room for shopping and baby stuff, quiet enough to have a conversation with the passengers, and plenty of power in the lower speeds to make driving interesting. But a few too many dash board distractions, side lights that won't go off, and a handbrake with a mind of it's own....Electric transmission is the future, but.....
and it's the But that trips me each time, infrastructure...I'm not happy filling up from a vandalised-exposed-bollard in the middle of no where. I'm sure it will change as more people but them, but for now it's a problem.
Would I have one, possibly, it's a very good car for its application, but there are alot of hybrids that are comming about now!
I'm all for clean tech, in all its guises, and support the Nissan's future, and the diesel and the petrol and the hydrogen, and the.......
I'm just left with thinking that it's a compromise of large ish proportions, you want comfort? Well you have to burn the candle in the middle. You want to get there? Then just light one end, and role the window down and be happy you will get there....


Next time, New Job and what it means to change tack in life at my age....

These views are the views of the author and not associated to Nissan or any other automotive manufacturer.

Hydrogen Galore...and other single malts...

Well last week was interesting from a technology and travel point of view.
I was in Oxford, Edinburgh and Newcastle within a couple of days of each other, and I drove the entire way! I was talking to clients and partners about technologies that the company I work with has got. Its all gone Hydrogen, which is a good thing. Hydrogen is going to be the new fuel for transport, but has it got it's work cut out if it wants to compete with smelly diesel or petrol?
Technology is always tomorrow, and as a result people see it and scoff at it, and continue to use the existing technology until, quietly, methodically, inevitably technololgy is there! In your hand...
I note that Hydrogen is always 30 years away acording to some Hacks, but in all realistic terms we've already got it. It's like the day you woke up and realised you can't live without your mobile phone or the internet. I can remember when it was novel to have a mobile telephone, and now my 75 year old father has two!
If we're really going to use Hydrogen, Alternate fuels, Electric cars etc it will happen passivly and without us concensly being aware of it. What do I mean? Well government are pushing for cleaner tail pipe emmisions, and the UK golden target is 100grams per Km out put of Co2. The vehicle companies have duely reduced emmisions, and a vast number of cars are there, we are more likely than ever to purchase a clean tailpipe car than ever, and we would'nt know. We would'nt care that we can fill it up at a petrol station or plug it in, we're used to plugging our phones in every where. So Hydrogen? well it will come because we need to reduce Co2 further, and its an easy change to meet the rules. We wont have a national change over day, or a special Hydrogen Bank Holiday, but cars will move over, infrastructure will move over, technology will move over, and we, the users will never know. Thats the process and relentless march of technology!!

Cars take in the view at Edinburgh Castle last week

What will make hydrogen easier to use is its flexabilty and ease of manufacture, we'll be making it locally and cleanly, and that's the game changer, that's the bit that makes it all worth while, even in the remotest parts of the country, from the highest Highlands of Scotland to the lowest lowlands of the Norfolk fens, Hydrogen will be there.

For reference, I managed 48.8Mpg to Scotland, in my gas guzzler, and I'm happy with that, 630 miles a tank ful makes for better driving. I wonder what the next trip will bring....
Next week... The Nissan Leaf arrives!!!

Naaa, I'm off to rent a Neutron gun...

Last week was a normal week in my world apparently...This week not even a day into it, and I've been to the biggest science lab in the UK, walked on top of a Neutron accelerator, and seen more people in white lab coats than an episode of Silent Witness.
Where was I? I was was at the UK's top secret Labs, just outside of Didcot in Oxfordshire, called Rutherford Appleton Laboratories. This place is massive, from Nuclear to Geology it does amazing things. I was only there to talk about Hydrogen, another areas they are leading in, as they can see what makes hydrogen work...wow!
What struck me the most about this facility was the fact that everyone has heard about Cern, but hardly anyone brags to the British public about the scale of the work going on in the UK. More experiments, more analysis, more answers to monster questions. The site there has been at the forefront of British science since the 50's and just keeps on getting bigger.
You can even rent the neutron accelerator by the day for your own experiments!! WOW!
Rent a Mondeo?..."Naaaa, I'm off to Rent a Neutron gun!!"
The energy used at the site is horrendous, one of the reasons it's a tad pricey to rent, but if it enables us to lead the world in new fuels, understanding new space exploration, test electronics etc etc then it's worth it.
I'm proud of the fact that we still have such facilities in the UK, I'm proud of the fact that they lead the world, I'm not proud of the fact that we say so little about our status in leading the world...as part of the Uk's inward investment and overseas investment, we as a Nation should be taking pride in these technologies and facilities....Darn it...

So this week, as part of my 'sneak up on Science week' I'm off to Edinburgh, and Newcastle Universities. Both strong hydrogen and plasma facilities in the UK...I'm even more excited to see what they've got in their labs, though I do doubt it will be as big as RA labs...

Special thanks to the team at CellaEnergy for a perfect day!

Land-Hi-lux-Jagu-Panamera-Kia does 800 miles on a tank... so Ner-Ner

This week I went to an old stomping ground of mine I've not been too for 3 of 4 years. Silverstone Race Track. It was wet, cold, and generally miserable...as per usual when I go there. I was actually test driving some of the latest cars from top companies around the demanding short circuit. But what cars was I let loose with? Porsche? Ferrari's? Aston Martins? Nope...sorry to disappoint the 'bedroom poster' brigade, I was driving the latest offerings in EV's, Hybrids, multi fuels etc. The Car industry is awash with them, from full Electric in the Nissan Leaf, through to Peugeot/Citroen's 200BHP shared platform diesel electric. (I prefer the Pug, but then I have a soft spot for them)
It was a exhibition focused towards the biggest purchaser group of cars in the UK, the Fleet vehicle market, and I have to say, I'm be happy to sell 'carpets' or 'non essential luxury items' up and down the M1 all day  in a Peugeot 508 hybrid....

So is the word going EV hybrid...in an word 'Yes'. the car companies have got it right now, the technology is robust, and it makes real world sense now to have this technology.
The cost of fuel is huge for the average vehicle user, I'll demonstrate, I filled my car yesterday and it was particularly thirsty. £105 to the neck!! blimey!

So thrashing these cars around a track what has that done for me....we apart from being impressed at ride, quality and performance it's made me think about my own driving more. When you drive a GM Ampera for example, with a list of 245Mpg and it's quick enough, comfortable enough and stylish enough to think "I could see that on a drive". and have a bit of pride, you notice your consumption of the elixir of right footedness is horrendous... I drove back at 60 to 65Mph, slow accelerations at roundabouts and junctions, and long cruises with foot off to them! and I got....wait for it... 500 miles of motoring out of my £105 quid!! Now some people will be staggering around saying...

"We'll that's nothing, my Land-Hi-lux-Jagu-Panamera-Kia does 800 miles on a tank... so Ner-ner!!"

and I say to you, I normally get 300 miles, and the over optimistic trip computer always starts with 500 miles after a fill up..some where between forecourt and forecourt I loose 200 miles! but not so Yesterday! I did it! 500 miles from the tank!!! and the enthusiastic trip is now suggesting that I have a range of 650 miles...blimey!  I'm actually not fussed because of the cost really, it's a sting but it lasts 3 minutes. But I'm doing this to see if I can get some driving enjoyment still by being frugal, it's a game, it's hard, I like it...you should try it...!!

You can catch more of my daily exploits on twitter.com/DrHindmarsh and my online paper http://paper.li/DrHindmarsh

What a week...

It's been a short week, but also inversely a very long week...
It's never easy being a single parent, and I'm sympathetic of all those out there that are full time single parents. I am lucky, my wife is simply on a business trip as is so common now for both of us. But the appreciation of managing a hard working life and bringing one little monster up is absolutely apparent to me.
I've built processes into the daily routines now that a major manufacturing facility would be proud of. I've adopted LEAN management in the kitchen for breakfast, using Six Sigma in the Bathroom for control, and the standard of time keeping and documentation is to ISO levels.
I've not shadow boarded the coat rack yet, but it is tempting...
Evenings are just as tough, you have to scoot to Nursery and then be the entertainer and feeder till bedtime... then and only then can you get back to the important emails and work that's been avoided in this necessary distraction...
I try not to let it impact productivity, but it does mean midnight to one AM often appear before I get to sleep... I am not alone I fear...
What can we do about it? the very reason for human survival is to invest in our children and provide for them, but part of that investment needs to be quality time, and quality interaction. That's why this last week for me has been such a wonderful experience. Just me an the young-un... work hasn't suffered... I have, and I don't just mean Nursery-bubonic-Flu....it's a breeding ground. But the work is moving at a fantastic pace, I've got projects to plan for, business to develop... Its exciting, it will mean that clean technology will push through the smog of 300 years of hydrocarbon Co2...
And that is my investment to the future of my family...I want my child to be happy and say 'Daddy did something for the environment we live in'.

So yes it's hard work, yes the hours are tough, yes being a parent is tricky, but the pay off will be massive in so many ways... so here's a cheer to all hard working parents, single, married, co-habitating, what ever, there's alot to do and no-one else is gonna do it!!!

Easter Egg-citment!

So Easter is here, a lot of people seem to think that the working year is one long holiday, and I say 'naa...' well that was until today when I thought about it abit...
You see we have Christmas at the beginning or the end of the year, depending where you start.... but let's start there... we have a mad business rush to get things done by mid December so that we can have time off, then about 3 weeks of office parties, relaxation, home early requests, and lack of productivity.
We then have January and February, a time of cold depression, some work gets done, but to be fair it's not enthusiastic, it's laboured, and it's covered in Flue and Cold!!
First warm day in March and we're looking out of the window wanting to be in the sun...
April, Easter...schools are off, it's a 4 day week end officially, but as I've just seen, companies are letting people take the week off before and most after...so yet another 2 weeks of reduced productivity.
May...Bank Holidays...we've got a weird one or two this year, but that's a knock on...we have run ups to deadlines before "The Friday" that everything has to be done by.... 2 weeks reduced productivity there...
June, Queen's Birthday...For F Sake...!
July...ahhh a month without a holiday....er.. Nope, Schools are off and parents book their holiday entitlement....
August, (see July)...and we have a bank holiday...Jesus wept...!
September....Finally a month we can get some work done...Europe's on board with it, so's the US, September...that's the month we'll do some work...
October we'll get some done there, and even November.... but not long, Christmas is round the corner and it all starts again....
So the way I see it, we work in the UK, EU and US 12 weeks in the year productivly and 12 weeks of the year we're "Finishing off!" in prospect for another Holiday...any wonder this so called 'Developed Western World' is looking pretty shocking compared to a Country that has 7 public holidays over only 11 days of the year...China....
'We' have a work ethos failure and it needs to be addressed... I'm not sure how...and what we can do about it. I'm aware this is a bit tongue-in-cheek...but it makes life very awkward in the business sector when the person, project, or product is being held up by another bloomin' HOLIDAY!!! 

Enjoy Easter...you deserve it...