Weather You Like it or Not

 Severe weather updates look to me to be a used increasingly as click-bait.   They don't suffer from the other click-bait options such as grossly exaggerated facts about something you were not probably interested in in the first place thereby reducing the potential audience immediately.  Weather warnings can be classified as 'news' and therefore we should (usually) be more interested in them.  The trouble is they eventually get a bit tiresome, churning out predictions that never come true will inevitably lead to a 'crying wolf' scenario.   

It Pays Dividends.

 'Stacy Solomon divides the internet over how she folds sheets'.  Wow, what a headline.  The mind boggles as to how this could possibly divide opinion in such a way.  What could she have possibly done?  Folded them in a coal mine whilst whistling God Save the King?  Put them on a washing line and then had them trampled on by wild elephants to put the creases in?  There's one thing for certain though, I am not going to click the link to find out, so we will all be a little less informed but the better for it.

However, I did get drawn into an article about a big (physically and financially) lottery winner who has sadly died, but the article was simply a regurgitating of his last will and testament.  The clue was one of the final sentences where they revealed he was £37 in credit with his council tax.  Evidently he was spending £100k per week, but I figured that was because he found out he was dying and carried out the 'you can't take it with you' rule.  It also demonstrates that health is probably more important than money.  Both would be good though.

The Nuclear Option

Nuclear powered rockets would 'reduce the risk for astronauts' according to NASA.  This is in relation to the proposed new rocket propulsion system to get to Mars and beyond.  Evidently, it will be ready 'as soon as 2027'.  Using the work 'soon' in this sentence seems a bit, well, misleading, surely they could have just said 'ready in 2027', which says the same thing without fooling us into thinking they are acting quickly.  I couldn't bebothered to read the whole article, but the statement that current rocket propulsion has been around for about 100 years is a bit off the mark, I thought it wasn't developed until the 40s in the second world war.  Still, what's 20 years?  The whole piece is littered with unnecessary adjectives so I'll just have to live with it.

Exercise news: Having had a whole week off due to severe man-flu (mild cold) I've been back on it this week with 2 x 5 milers and a 10 mile turbo sesh so far this week.  Holiday in the sun next Monday, so I'll get out most days although mileage will be curtailed due to the heat I expect.

Early Adopter

 BBC Breakfast is 40 years old today.  When it started I remember it was ground breaking, no-one had thought of viewing TV at that time of the day (although ITV has mooted the idea, BBC rushed to be first) and I definitely switched it on most mornings to catch up with events.  Interestingly, it's now quite a dated idea what with internet access to thousands/millions of news clips available at a click of a button (or touch of a screen) and I think it's probably morphed into being a bit more of a magazine type of program but with a current affairs bent.

Interestingly, I never switch breakfast TV on nowadays, preferring to consume the news via a couple of phone apps and never tempted to watch the news videos, but I'm not sure if I am a typical viewer/reader or not.  It's not that the medium of moving pictures is declining, you only have to watch Youtube of TikTok for a while to realise there is near limitless supply videos to entertain/annoy you for hours and hours.  I'm fairly certain that this is not a good thing. 

It's a Sign!

 'Danger, slippery Floor' signs are used to prevent falls.  Pretty obvious really, but what about the 'Danger, sign in the walkway' signs?  You don't see any of those do you?  What I am getting at is that the slippery floor sign is there for a reason, but it's also obstructing the pathway which in itself is probably a good idea given the state of the floor, but what about when it dries up and is no longer slippery?  I wouldn't have an issue if they were impressively obstructive, but they're barely 18" high and hardly stand out if walking along at a normal pace.  They tend to inhabit washrooms the most frequently, but you can spot them on that day of the week when the floor is scheduled for it's weekly mop.  In order to improve this situation, I always move the signs when it is obviously not needed, but always feel a little guilty in case there's a hidden slippery bit that only the sign erector knows about and I might end up the wrong side of a law suit.

So, I'd like to see bigger signs followed by prompt removal of aforesaid mentioned signage when no longer required. Easy.

Won't you Please, Please Help Me!

 Outgoing, extrovert, life of the party, etc. etc.  These adjectives would neve be used to describe me, and fortunately I don't want them to be.  It's interesting how some people are these things, and I suspect that some do it naturally, whilst some contrive to be like that.  I think you can always spot the unnatural versions and when I do, I have different adjectives to describe them none of which are polite I'm afraid to say.

But this brings me on to our own personalities and how for we can/should/do go to change them.  There are countless number of training courses helping us be better at any number of things.  I happened to chance upon one of these last night whilst whiling away an hour or 2 on YouTube and ended up watching most of it. What it taught me was that YouTube's algorithm kicks in straight after you have viewed something, because I then received a string of similar 'help' videos clogging up my feed.    

Que?

 Blimey, this Prince Harry story show no sign of stopping does it?  I thought he would just disappear back to his mansion leaving us enlightened but relived that he has gone into hiding.  But no, he seems to be doing exactly what any  self-publicist would do, and selling his book via a few carefully scripted interviews to carefully selected interviewers.

I'm not going to comment/quibble/agree on his outpourings, mainly because I'm not too interested in the content, it's the whole marketing aspect that has got me hooked.  I wonder if he has anything else planned.  It's intriguing that they published his book in Spain a whole week early.  I mean, was it easier doing that?  Maybe he wrote it all in Spanish?  That would explain it, of course he did.  Speed up the translation process.  Very odd.

Promises, Promises.

New Year resolutions are a bit odd.  I know the new year is the time you can look forward (as well as a retrospective view I guess), so that's probably why a resolution that starts at the new year takes on a bit of a special significance as opposed to the June 8th resolution (other dates are available).

However, we are all well aware of the number of gym subscriptions that are never used after January, the yoga mats that gather dust and the monthly payment to Peloton that continues to drain the finances until the cancellation time comes round.  I wonder if we should have a 'Resolution Day' where there is even more emphasis on sticking to them, or (preferably) don't have them at all.  I know there is value on saying these things out loud so other can hear them - they then take on a bit more significance and therefore higher profile which (in theory) should motivate you to keep at them.  Real life shows that this rarely happens, but I suppose at least you have tried.

A better idea (based on my own experience) is to by all means make that resolution but don't tell anyone until you are well on the way to achieving it.  You then have the smug satisfaction of being able to announce 'Oh yes, I've been going to the gym for 3 months now, 3 times a week and twice on a Sunday' or similar.  And if you are bitterly regretting taking out the enhanced subscription, keep your mouth shut.  

Planning Cycle.

 Christmas is over, only another three hundred and something days to go.  Can't wait (note: said with sarcasm).  Busy planning my cycling break at the moment though - much more interesting.  Plan A is to go to the Dolomites for 4 days, I just need to get agreement from the rest of the gang and if I don't, then I'll persuade them.  This does mean I need to up my cycling game.  I did 10 miles on the turbo last night, but need to get motivated to bike into the office even if the weather is a bit grim.  At least we're past the shortest day now so there will be an improving picture there.