Mother Nature clears her throat

Mother Nature clears her throat, and we humans in all our arrogance, are humbled.

The bolts of lightning appearing in the plume of the ash-spewing Eyjafjallajokull volcano are pretty to look at, but the truth is that the process that creates this kind of lightning in erupting volcanoes remains something of a mystery. Lightning, which is usually associated with severe weather such as thunderstorms, hurricanes and the like, is also produced by the rolling debris clouds of volcanoes.

It is thought that the lightning in a volcanic plume is connected to the rotation that these hot gases and ash undergo, sort of like a tornado. As a plume rotates, it can spawn waterspouts or dust devils, which gather together the electric charges in the plume to form a sheath of lightning.

Lol, I'm not an expert, obviously, but I've been doing some reading and you can join me by having a look at this site.

All in all this ash cloud business has become rather a nuisance. I did see a few vapour trails of aircraft flying over London today, but the explanation came when I heard that some other European countries had opened their airspace to aviation and that these were aircraft flying across Britain from the European continent, possibly towards North America and vice versa. I learnt also that a few airports in Scotland and the north of England and in Northern Ireland had opened, but only very few aircraft movements had been reported.

Then I was pleased this evening to hear of several British Airways long-haul flights from all around the world headed for London, even though UK airspace remained officially closed and many of the earlier flights bound for London had been diverted to Madrid instead, from where weary travellers were left to make their own way across Spain and France to the channel port of Calais so as to board a ferry to Dover, (if they could manage to get a place on the ferry that is).

But there was then a report that a BA 747 had just touched down at Heathrow, with live footage to boot. Shortly after these pictures were shown, the 10 O'clock news, which had begun with the announcement that UK airspace was still closed and was not expected to reopen before tomorrow morning, ended with the surprising announcement that the airspace was now officially open. What a difference half an hour can make!

So now, we should all feel better that the end to this chaos is finally in sight. But lets not ignore the important lessons that this has taught us, the first being that the world is totally unprepared for an event such as this. Especially, when one considers that this Icelandic volcano is only a minor volcano.

Wow, it's one year already

On 27 February 2009, I set out on a journey. I sat in front of this computer and wrote this post. It was the first post on this blog titled "Greetings Everyone" and for those who do not wish to click on the link, I have reproduced the post here..

Hi, welcome. For years, I have dragged my feet about starting a blog of my own. This has been because I wasn't able to make up my mind what the theme of my blog should be. My interests are varied and my mind wanders all the time like a butterfly. I haven't found it easy to decide on what exactly I should be blogging about. But suddenly, today, I have had a brain wave. Surely, I do not have to blog about anything in particular. I can blog about me and my wandering mind. I can talk about the things that bother me, the things that annoy me, the things that make me smile, the things that make me squeal with uncontrollable laughter. Oh my, there is a world out there waiting to be written about. So yes, I have taken up the challenge. Here we go.

Now, one year later, having had the blog running for all of 365 days, I'm still exactly in the same place in my mind. Except, of course, that since I started the blog, I've met some amazing people in the blogosphere, people I would not have met if the circumstances were different. And you know what, I still have not run out of things to say. And I'm pinching myself, wondering if this is real, but hoping and praying that it is.

I've been somewhat incapacitated for much of the last two weeks. For the first time in about ten years I couldn't get online, and it was as if there was a hollow inside of me, as if something was missing from my life. It's great to be back, it's wonderful to be here, to be a part of a community spread across the world. It's fantastic to be alive in 2010! Thanks to every person who has participated in this journey with me, a journey that God willing has only just begun. Thanks too to those who have allowed me to be a part of their online experience.

Gosh, it appears that the rankings of this blog have slipped considerably over the last few weeks, but I can only look on this as a challenge. I must vigorously strive to regain the position that the blog once held. As you probably can tell, it's late Friday night/early Saturday morning, but there are no corks popping. It's just been a quiet, solemn sober evening, sitting in front of the computer with soft music in the background.

Got him out at last

I made it a point when I started blogging that I would never write about my work, not only because I am aware of my duty of confidentiality, but because I think work should remain where it belongs, at the office. Blogging for me is a hobby, something I've come to enjoy doing. But today something happened at work and I feel the need to share it here. 

My client had been in custody for well over a month. He has been refused bail twice in the last two weeks. First it was because the sureties had failed to attend court with their up-to-date financial details, the second because the name of one of the sureties appeared on the Police National Computer for some misdemeanor going back 15 years. The judge was not satisfied therefore that this was a suitable surety and in the meantime my client continued to be detained, much to my chagrin.

Today I was determined not to walk out of that courtroom with my client still behind bars. Conversely, it appeared that the judge was equally determined that bail was not to be granted and that my client would be spending this holiday weekend in jail. It was a battle of wills, the judge's against mine, and to cut a long story short I won in the end, because with the arguments that were put forward the judge's hands were tied. He had no choice but to grant bail, albeit grudgingly. The fact that the bail was granted reluctantly does not appear on the bail sheet. Bail is bail, reluctantly granted or not. My client is out, and that is what matters. And I feel just great.

That blue car

I've just taken delivery of that car I've always wanted, you know, that blue one with the leather trim interior and the wood effect dashboard. I didn't manage to sort out the insurance before the week's end and against the best advice of my friend Albert, I went spinning around in it this afternoon. And boy, it is something!

I haven't owned a car for the better part of 10 years, mainly because I convinced myself that I didn't need one. And there was a hint of the desire to do my own small bit for the environment. But driving around this afternoon listening to loud Aswad on the stereo, even though the traffic was heavy in parts of town where Premiership football was just disgorging its huge crowds of fans into the streets, I realised what I've been missing. Thoughts of standing all the way to my destination on a crowded London bus, or standing on a train station platform on a freezing cold wet morning flashed through my mind and I shuddered. It was nice and warm and comfortable in the car, and I've vowed never to go anywhere unless I'm driving there in this beauty. Within the last hour I must have looked out of my front window about 100 times already, just to make sure she's still sitting where I left her when I came in. I'm going out again shortly...