More than a tad less temperature at the Castle this morn,
the moon is hiding behind a whimsy of cloud, the butler is feeding the furnace
with fat teenagers and his Maj has discovered the joy of hiding on the stairs
in the dark and trying to break my neck.
Late this day, overslept, and now I can’t get going.
And now Blogger keeps freezing and won't let me insert pictures or videos....I will try later; managed to get the pics in using hmtl, but can't upload the video.
The move follows a
sharp fall in the price of wholesale gas over the winter period due to the mild
weather.
EDF increased its
gas bills by 15.4% in November in response to rising wholesale gas prices.
So why are they only cutting prices by 5% then?
Some hospital trusts commit just £2.57 for each patient’s
daily food and drink, according to the latest statistics, despite growing
concern about poor nutrition on wards.
At least 30 hospital trusts, almost one in 10 of the total,
spend less than £5 a day on breakfast, lunch and dinner for each person in
their care.
The statistics, placed in the House of Commons Library this
week, drew allegations from patients’ groups that nutritional standards are
slipping as managers strive to save money.
Compiled by the NHS Information Centre, the figures give
details of spending on food and drink in 2010-11 by more than 350 primary care
trusts, foundation hospitals and other NHS bodies.
They reveal large budget disparities, with some trusts
spending more than £20 a day on each patient, while others commit barely a 10th
of that.
The lowest spender was the Western Sussex Hospitals trust,
which was listed as paying £2.57 a day to feed each patient.
Several other trusts spent less than £1 on each meal. Harrow
in north-west London spent £2.75 for each patient each day, compared with £2.83
the previous year. North Somerset spent £2.76 per patient. Bassetlaw in
Nottinghamshire spent £3.02, down from £4.78 in 2009-10.
In total, 30 of the NHS bodies listed spent less than £5 a
day on each “patient meal day” — the average daily cost for the provision of
all meals and drinks fed to an in-patient. By contrast, Wiltshire primary care
trust spent £22.31. Several others spent more than £10 a day.
I’m orf to Wiltshire then...
Barclays Capital reckons that there is an "unhealthy
correlation" between the building of skyscrapers and subsequent financial
crashes.
Examples include the Empire State building, built
as the Great Depression was underway, and the current world's tallest, the Burj
Khalifa, built just before Dubai almost went bust.
China is currently the biggest builder of
skyscrapers, the bank said.
India also has 14 skyscrapers under construction.
"Often the world's tallest buildings are
simply the edifice of a broader skyscraper building boom, reflecting a
widespread misallocation of capital and an impending economic correction,"
Barclays Capital analysts said.
The bank noted that the world's first skyscraper,
the Equitable Life building in New York, was completed in 1873 and coincided
with a five-year recession. It was demolished in 1912.
Other examples include Chicago's Willis Tower
(which was formerly known as the Sears Tower) in 1974, just as there was an oil
shock and the US dollar's peg to gold was abandoned.
And Malaysia's Petronas Towers in 1997, which
coincided with the Asian financial crisis.
Barclays Capital's Skyscraper Index has been published every
year since 1999.
So that’s where what is left of my money is going....
A Chinese company has released a time-lapse video of its
construction of a 30-storey mega hotel in just 15 days.
Released by the Asian sustainable building firm Broad Group, the video shows
the impressive infrastructure being constructed within a 360-hour time frame in
China’s south central Hunan Province.
Using cutting-edge building technology, which uses six times
less cement and is believed to be five times more energy efficient than regular
construction material, the 17,000-metre-squared earthquake-proof skyscraper was
completed at the end of 2011.
The Ark hotel was built using pre-fabricated modules and uses a diagonal steel
bracing.
The remarkable building also boasts a filtration system with
air 20 times purer inside than outside and can withstand a 9.0-magnitude
earthquake, as tested by the China Academy of Building Research.
And it’s not just the hotel that was built in the 15 days,
but all the furniture has apparently been moved into the building, so it’s
ready for guests.
Note to myself-do not stay at the Ark hotel...
The perfect gift this coming Valentine’s Day could be the
Japanese boob warmer (powered by USB and weighs only 38 grams-22 Japanese what knots),
or you could purchase the breast pillow, or even the Nork roller for a loved
one.
Or maybe not…..
You can visit the Museum of bad art in the basement of the
Dedham Community Theatre. The gallery is conveniently located just outside the
men's room. The nearby flushing helps maintain a uniform humidity.
This, MOBA's first permanent gallery, proudly opened in October 1995. For a
number of years, it was the world's only museum dedicated to bad art. A small
museum in the basement of an old building, MOBA is appropriately lit by one
large, humming fluorescent light fixture.
Go on, click on the link, you know you want to....
And finally:
Hu Jiakai has hit the headlines after cart wheeling
continuously for 3.5km through the streets of Changsha, China.
It took Jiakai an hour to complete the pointless task
The 47-year-old who didn't stop or stand up during the whole
event - although the reason for his hour of head-spinning is not yet known.
The local builder was aided by his brother-in-law throughout
the stunt, who acted as an escort and witness to the bizarre spectacle.
It seems his apprentice struggled to keep up with the
acrobatic stuntman however, revealing: 'His tumbling is really faster than our
walking.'
And I thought I was desperate for “news”...
And today’s thought:
Angus
