If you still believe in Father Christmas and you don't want to know the score; look away now.
I returned from midnight mass on Christmas morning at 01:00, and was faced with what has now become an anual ritual - the impersonation of Father Christmas. We follow the tradition of leaving out a drink and a snack for the big man and his reindeer, and it is my duty on returning from church to consume the said items before proceeding to the filling of the stockings. The particular delicacies that Father Christmas enjoys at our house are a glass of port and a mince pie. In the morning the believers in the household (there are 2 true believers and one who knows the truth but perfers the fantasy) will have a little more evidence to support their belief in the magical man who brings them presents each year.
This year it occured to me that I take part in two rituals in the small hours of Christmas day - each involving the consumption of a round piece of food and a drink made from grape juice. First of all I take communion - a circular wafer of what passes for "bread" in the Church of England and a sip of what passes for "wine". I then come home and consume a mince pie and a glass of port. Each of these actions is a ritual which has no real purpose apart from it's meaning. And though the rituals may look very similar, the meanings are quite different.
Communion is the taking of the body and blood of Jesus Christ himself into my own body, so that the one God who created the universe, the world and all that exists is not just a spiritual idea or thought, but is actually, physically experienced.
The second ritual is a game we play for the children. It entertains them and we are delighted by their delight. Some cynics often call it a lie or a deception, but I think that it is no more than a game. They will know the truth about Father Christmas one day, and I doubt they will be sorry that we played this game with them.
2007-12-26
2007-12-22
Bah! Humbug!
"A merry Christmas, uncle! God save you!'' cried a cheerful voice. It was the voice of Scrooge's nephew, who came upon him so quickly that this was the first intimation he had of his approach.
"Bah!'' said Scrooge, "Humbug!''
He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.
"Christmas a humbug, uncle!'' said Scrooge's nephew. "You don't mean that, I am sure.''
"I do,'' said Scrooge. "Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? what reason have you to be merry? You're poor enough.''
"Come, then,'' returned the nephew gaily. "What right have you to be dismal? what reason have you to be morose? You're rich enough.''
Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, "Bah!'' again; and followed it up with Humbug.''
"Don't be cross, uncle,'' said the nephew.
"What else can I be,'' returned the uncle, "when I live in such a world of fools as this Merry Christmas! Out upon merry Christmas. What's Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in 'em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? If I could work my will,'' said Scrooge indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with "Merry Christmas'' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!''
"Uncle!'' pleaded the nephew.
"Nephew!'' returned the uncle, sternly, "keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.''
"Keep it!'' repeated Scrooge's nephew. "But you don't keep it.''
"Let me leave it alone, then,'' said Scrooge. "Much good may it do you! Much good it has ever done you!''
"There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,'' returned the nephew: "Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!''
From A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
"Bah!'' said Scrooge, "Humbug!''
He had so heated himself with rapid walking in the fog and frost, this nephew of Scrooge's, that he was all in a glow; his face was ruddy and handsome; his eyes sparkled, and his breath smoked again.
"Christmas a humbug, uncle!'' said Scrooge's nephew. "You don't mean that, I am sure.''
"I do,'' said Scrooge. "Merry Christmas! What right have you to be merry? what reason have you to be merry? You're poor enough.''
"Come, then,'' returned the nephew gaily. "What right have you to be dismal? what reason have you to be morose? You're rich enough.''
Scrooge having no better answer ready on the spur of the moment, said, "Bah!'' again; and followed it up with Humbug.''
"Don't be cross, uncle,'' said the nephew.
"What else can I be,'' returned the uncle, "when I live in such a world of fools as this Merry Christmas! Out upon merry Christmas. What's Christmas time to you but a time for paying bills without money; a time for finding yourself a year older, but not an hour richer; a time for balancing your books and having every item in 'em through a round dozen of months presented dead against you? If I could work my will,'' said Scrooge indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with "Merry Christmas'' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart. He should!''
"Uncle!'' pleaded the nephew.
"Nephew!'' returned the uncle, sternly, "keep Christmas in your own way, and let me keep it in mine.''
"Keep it!'' repeated Scrooge's nephew. "But you don't keep it.''
"Let me leave it alone, then,'' said Scrooge. "Much good may it do you! Much good it has ever done you!''
"There are many things from which I might have derived good, by which I have not profited, I dare say,'' returned the nephew: "Christmas among the rest. But I am sure I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round -- apart from the veneration due to its sacred name and origin, if anything belonging to it can be apart from that -- as a good time: a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time: the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow-passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. And therefore, uncle, though it has never put a scrap of gold or silver in my pocket, I believe that it has done me good, and will do me good; and I say, God bless it!''
From A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
2007-12-20
Efergy Smart Meter
In a bid to do everything to reduce expenditure, I have focussed on Electricity consumption. When I last checked the cheapest supplier for my energy, I found that our household uses the “average” amount of gas for a UK household, but 1.5 times the “average” amount of electricity. I recently heard of a device called Electrisave, which is designed to get your electricity meter out of the cupboard and put it in front of your face. The objective is to allow you to monitor continually the total consumption of power by the house, and take action when it seems too high. In researching the Electrisave, I came across a superior product called the Efergy Smart Meter. This device does the same as the Electrisave, but also has a memory so that you can review historical consumption without needing to note down meter readings. The Efergy Smart Meter is also about GBP 25.00 cheaper than Electrisave. The only down-side is that the designers have not taken so much care over looks, and I would say that the Electrisave is a more elegant gadget compared with the Efergy’s functional feel – something that may be important if you want to keep it on a coffee table in a pristine living room; but something which matters not one jot to me.
The Smart Meter works by monitoring the current flowing through the wires leaving your electricity meter (which it does by induction, so there’s no wiring to do, just a clip that fits round the meter wire), and transmitting a radio signal from the meter cupboard to the hand-held metering unit. This means that the device is completely wireless and can be taken from room to room to keep an eye on what happens when electrical equipment is turned on. It runs on AAA batteries, 2 in the transmitter, and 2 in the receiver. The transmitter batteries last only about a month, so rechargables might be a good option.
So what have I learned about my energy consumption? If you’re going to make savings you need to learn what’s going on and put some changes into practice. The unit costs GBP 45.00, and as electricity costs GBP 0.07/kWh, you have to save about 650 kWh before the unit has paid for itself. That might not seem much – savings of 10% are quoted by salesmen – but it does require very disciplined application. It’s no good turning off stuff today and then ignoring it for the rest of the year. Smart Meter is a way of life. You have to watch it all the time. However, it does teach you some basics about electricity consumption. For example, I found that the house consumes a base load of about 200 W. That is, when I turn off everything, I still see (by torchlight) a reading of 200 W, which must be accounted for by standby, digital clocks, wireless access point etc. That might not seem a lot – a mere GBP0.336 per day – but this is a constant load which adds up to over GBP120 on my annual bill. (Or course the central heating pump and the fridge are intermittent loads, and it’s hard to know if they are included in this figure or not.) Another lesson is that lighting actually uses up a lot more energy than you’d expect. The humble 40 W light bulb seems fairly cheap to run (less than 1 kWh per day). But we have these in triple light fittings, so that’s 120 W for each fitting. Then consider that we have four of these on the ground floor and five on the first floor – that adds up to more than 1 kW just in lighting if you put on all of these on together.
To sum up: the Smart Meter is an educational tool which will open your eyes to the way you use energy. However, you need to be obsessive if you really want to make it into an investment and expect to save any money by purchasing it.
The Smart Meter works by monitoring the current flowing through the wires leaving your electricity meter (which it does by induction, so there’s no wiring to do, just a clip that fits round the meter wire), and transmitting a radio signal from the meter cupboard to the hand-held metering unit. This means that the device is completely wireless and can be taken from room to room to keep an eye on what happens when electrical equipment is turned on. It runs on AAA batteries, 2 in the transmitter, and 2 in the receiver. The transmitter batteries last only about a month, so rechargables might be a good option.
So what have I learned about my energy consumption? If you’re going to make savings you need to learn what’s going on and put some changes into practice. The unit costs GBP 45.00, and as electricity costs GBP 0.07/kWh, you have to save about 650 kWh before the unit has paid for itself. That might not seem much – savings of 10% are quoted by salesmen – but it does require very disciplined application. It’s no good turning off stuff today and then ignoring it for the rest of the year. Smart Meter is a way of life. You have to watch it all the time. However, it does teach you some basics about electricity consumption. For example, I found that the house consumes a base load of about 200 W. That is, when I turn off everything, I still see (by torchlight) a reading of 200 W, which must be accounted for by standby, digital clocks, wireless access point etc. That might not seem a lot – a mere GBP0.336 per day – but this is a constant load which adds up to over GBP120 on my annual bill. (Or course the central heating pump and the fridge are intermittent loads, and it’s hard to know if they are included in this figure or not.) Another lesson is that lighting actually uses up a lot more energy than you’d expect. The humble 40 W light bulb seems fairly cheap to run (less than 1 kWh per day). But we have these in triple light fittings, so that’s 120 W for each fitting. Then consider that we have four of these on the ground floor and five on the first floor – that adds up to more than 1 kW just in lighting if you put on all of these on together.
To sum up: the Smart Meter is an educational tool which will open your eyes to the way you use energy. However, you need to be obsessive if you really want to make it into an investment and expect to save any money by purchasing it.
2007-12-04
Vectrix Electric Scooter
This summer I took a Vectrix electric scooter for a test ride; and I have to say that I was very impressed. With a top speed of 100 km/h and a range of 110 km, this could easily be the first truly usable electric vehicle since the milk float. The acceleration was extremely good; the feel and handling were excellent. With all the weight low down, but with much less weight than the older generation of electric vehicles, it makes for a really useful little machine. I was very impressed with the sales team too. They were both bikers, so they new what they were talking about and understood their customer. They were quite happy to bring a machine with a fully charged battery to my home, follow me on a test ride to work and recover me if the range of the vehicle wasn’t up to it. That may seem rather odd, since my journey to work is only 55 km – half the maximum range of the Vectrix - but apparently the maximum range is not available at the maximum speed. My journey to work looks like this: 5 km town driving (max speed 50); 35 km motorway (max speed 120); 15 km dual carriageway (max speed 80). That middle section of 35 km at what would mostly be flat out for the bike could prove a big drain on the battery and would need to be assessed. In the end I decided not to buy one. Below is my assessment of the pros and cons of this particular vehicle, but my main concern was that the top speed just isn’t high enough. It’s not the time – it would add about 3.6 minutes (or 9%) to my minimum journey time – but the actual usability on a motorway. I watched how I ride on motorways, and came to the conclusion that I do use that top 20 km/h most of the time. Given that more than 60% of my journey is motorway, I just wasn’t happy with having no acceleration above 100 km/h.
Advantages of the Vectrix (over my Honda ST1100):
Advantages of the Vectrix (over my Honda ST1100):
- Cheap to run – would cost about £1 a week.
- Cheap to service – apparently has only 7 moving parts (brakes and bearings)
- Zero cost to tax
Disadvantages
- Unknown battery life. Ten years is claimed, but warranty only covers two or three
- Unknown resale value – Have to assume that it depreciates fully over the warranty period.
- Lack of top speed for motorway work
- Unknown insurance costs – Vectrix recommended a broker who quoted a crazy price
- Unknown range when the battery gets old. I’d be a bit stuck if the range drops off after a year of use and I can’t get to work.
It’s very difficult to get an accurate picture of the true cost of ownership of the Vectrix. With fuel costs at £50 per year instead of £1500 you’d think it would make sense. One model I built, the whole thing hinged on the tyre life, believe it or not. But any realistic model of cost for any vehicle is based on the depreciation. Buying a brand new scooter for £7000 with an unpredictable resale value, compared with a middle-aged big bike with a strong second-hand market just leaves too many unknowns. So it was with some reluctance that I gave up my hope of going electric for my commuting. But give up I have until there’s a bit more top end, and a bit more history on which to base depreciation estimates.
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