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...