Of course Daniel is right - it is all about self control. But fuckit I haven't come all this way to exercise self control have I? The beer is fabulous. Very crisp, hoppy and refreshing. Ailsa and I went for a run in the van (we have to run the van about once a week to keep the battery charged - well it's an excuse anyway). We went to Strathy Point, Melvich and Portnaskerray.
The highlight of the trip was Ailsa taking her shoes off at the top of the cliff - one shoe inevitably rolled down the grassy cliff and stopped, tantalisingly, at the edge of a 40 ft drop - I had to use my best commandful dad voice to stop her running after it. I think I stayed remarkably calm under the circumstances - she was out of reach and she'd started to run after it when from my inner recesses arose commandful dad voice and halted her. When I caught up with her she insisted she could retrieve said shoe - in socks on wet grass. No chuck. I sent her to safety and stared down the precipice wondering if it was worth orphaning Ailsa for the sake of a shoe.
It's all about risk assessment innit? Likelihood of risk, consequences and things to do to mitigate against the risk. Well, the fact that it was her school shoe conquered all and I brought it safely back. It's nice when people are pleased to see you - like when my head resurfaced over the lip of the cliff - Ailsa's face was a picture of delight.
So I deserved the beer when we got back. I think it is as well that I did - cos it made me go back and check the calculation I'd done for working out the amount of priming sugar to add. I'd got it hopelessly wrong so I added more.
I wont touch it again until tonight maybe. But I'll definitely offer it tomorrow when key neighbour comes round to discuss fencing. (Boundary fencing divvy! really!)
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Firstly, there is nothing more important than me and my family. The most precious thing I can give them (including me) is time. In my job, with all it's pressures, I singularly failed to do this. So we run for the hills and try to redress the balance.
Secondly, climate change is happening. It's a cataclysm, the scope of which is beyond our comprehension. This is why we are doing so little to stop it - we just cant imagine the scale of the upheavals to come, and we can't imagine how we, as individuals, can stop it.
Everything is stacked against effective action. Our economy is driven by consumerism and it is consumerism that is driving climate change. Our political leaders are paralysed - to curb consumerism would cripple the economic engine. We increasingly define ourselves by our economic position and the things we buy. We are what we buy. What politician dare restrict our ability to buy, our ability to define ourselves? It would attack our very self and would be political suicide.
And anyway, the real power lies with money - and the people with money want us to consume and they spend millions every second of the day persuading us to consume more. What hope do we have against such power? And everything we buy pumps a little more CO2 into the atmosphere.
Thirdly, I am no saint. I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to change my life for the benefit of myself, and, I hope, the planet. Ultimately my reasons for doing this are selfish, and although I'll do what I can to keep my carbon footprint low, I'll make many choices that are not so good for the planet. Like anyone, I can only voluntarily make changes to my life at the speed I can. I don't intend to beat myself up over this - I do intend to change faster than most.
Fourthly, there is hope. Our lust to consume is a very recent phenomena. Not so long ago we principally defined ourselves by our relationships with friends and family and place and we defined ourselves by our usefulness to society. I believe that climate change will force us out of consumerism, and in its place we will find those core values, and rediscover a sense of wellbeing that is so missing from our current fractured existence.
There are lots of examples where this is starting to happen. The transition town movement is one - people getting together and learning to appreciate the things and people around them. I played a small part in helping Sustaining Dunbar get off the ground. (http://edubuzz.org/blogs/sustainingdunbar/about-us) What I found there were people striving to build a positive and resilient future and there are transition towns popping up all over the place - a really positive movement. (find out more about transition towns)
Fifthly, At the end of the day it's all bollocks. So let's all go off and have some fun - it's the most important thing we can do - but let's just try to do it without killing the planet in the process.
If you think there's something wrong, change what you can to make it better. I'm trying to lower my carbon footprint, step out from the 9-5 grind, rise from the weight of leadership and responsibility and have some fun again.
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Where I"m coming from - !CAUTION! a bit of a polemic
Secondly, climate change is happening. It's a cataclysm, the scope of which is beyond our comprehension. This is why we are doing so little to stop it - we just cant imagine the scale of the upheavals to come, and we can't imagine how we, as individuals, can stop it.
Everything is stacked against effective action. Our economy is driven by consumerism and it is consumerism that is driving climate change. Our political leaders are paralysed - to curb consumerism would cripple the economic engine. We increasingly define ourselves by our economic position and the things we buy. We are what we buy. What politician dare restrict our ability to buy, our ability to define ourselves? It would attack our very self and would be political suicide.
And anyway, the real power lies with money - and the people with money want us to consume and they spend millions every second of the day persuading us to consume more. What hope do we have against such power? And everything we buy pumps a little more CO2 into the atmosphere.
Thirdly, I am no saint. I am lucky enough to have the opportunity to change my life for the benefit of myself, and, I hope, the planet. Ultimately my reasons for doing this are selfish, and although I'll do what I can to keep my carbon footprint low, I'll make many choices that are not so good for the planet. Like anyone, I can only voluntarily make changes to my life at the speed I can. I don't intend to beat myself up over this - I do intend to change faster than most.
Fourthly, there is hope. Our lust to consume is a very recent phenomena. Not so long ago we principally defined ourselves by our relationships with friends and family and place and we defined ourselves by our usefulness to society. I believe that climate change will force us out of consumerism, and in its place we will find those core values, and rediscover a sense of wellbeing that is so missing from our current fractured existence.
There are lots of examples where this is starting to happen. The transition town movement is one - people getting together and learning to appreciate the things and people around them. I played a small part in helping Sustaining Dunbar get off the ground. (http://edubuzz.org/blogs/sustainingdunbar/about-us) What I found there were people striving to build a positive and resilient future and there are transition towns popping up all over the place - a really positive movement. (find out more about transition towns)
Fifthly, At the end of the day it's all bollocks. So let's all go off and have some fun - it's the most important thing we can do - but let's just try to do it without killing the planet in the process.
Things I"m going to miss
- Jour Fixe - especially Tagd and CDs from Sean
- Lennie's coffee, bacon rolls and flapjacks, always served with such...erm...charm
- Liz's happy hello in the morning
- Unpacking the Crunchy veg box (people of Dunbar - use them! - http://www.crunchycarrot.co.uk/crunchy_carrot_4/services.html)
- Our wood burning stove - we had a hybrid - http://www.dowlingstoves.com/stoves.htm
- Oh and that pumped up sense of self importance you get from being the big cheese
- Financial security
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3 comments:
Trickle Charger £5 - bargain. Mind you the engine likes being run every now and then.
Nice one Chris - never come across these before - do they work?
Check out this Maplin Q&A They are more like a tenner when you look at the P&P but I think they're probably worth it. Car Starter batteries are designed to give a big burst of energy and they don't like being flattened. Their plates are thinner and they buckle when they drain completely - I don't understand how but that's what I was told. It is definitely worth running the engine regularly but it should be run until the temperature rises in the engine - otherwise the condensation in the exhaust leaves water to lie in the pipe, rusting it from the inside.
BTW, leave that beer alone...
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