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We’ve a bit of a dilemma over our central heating. The boiler we have is around 30 years old, so clearly a classic example of the sort of boiler that we’re being encouraged to upgrade to newer, more efficient condensing boiler systems. If we also moved to a “combi” boiler we’d lose the hot water tank (we don’t make much use of it, on the whole, as we have an electric shower), and - I’m told - automatically save about 25% or so on our gas bills.

The complication comes in the fact that our boiler is outside the house, so we have no gas coming in to the house. I’m a big fan of induction hobs, so have no desire to return to gas hobs, so don’t really want to bring gas inside if we can avoid it. Why in the house? Well it turns out that modern boilers are designed to be inside. They’ve complicated parts, and consist of copper and complex electronics. They just can’t live outside without proper protection.

In comparison, we’ve currently got something a solid-workhorse of a boiler: It lives in a simple walled structure (single bricks) with a basic roof and door with some basic insulation. It just about withstood the gales/storms last week. It’s got (I understand) a cast iron core, so can withstand the temperature and humidity variance that comes with being outside in the boiler house. It’s also very uncomplicated. It heats water, has an outlet flue, and the only electronics are the ignition system and the pump. Hardly complicated. But because of the solid cast structure, it takes a fair bit more energy to get up and running in the mornings.

We could put the replacement boiler in a cupboard in a spare room (where the hot water tank is). It’s perfectly safe. The only place you can’t put a boiler is, I’m told, a bathroom. But personally I don’t like the idea of a boiler in a bedroom: it’d certainly be something I’d query if I was buying a house. Other locations in our house aren’t possible for a variety of reasons to do with layout, distance from gas meter and so on.

Whilst our boiler did break down recently (turns out the thermocouple needed replacing), I was rather reassured that it’s easy to fix (Although the markup charged for the thermocouple itself was eye-watering). Newer boilers with their electronics strike me as a bit more higher maintenance as they get older. Specialist parts are expensive even at the best of times. And there doesn’t seem to be a market these days for simple, cast-structure boilers that can work outside the house.

So our option, if we’re against getting gas run into the house, is to build-up our boiler house a bit from it’s current form, so a combi-boiler could be installed outside at the appropriate height, and to install a proper door/roof to keep the elements properly out. But after talking to the boiler repair engineer, I’m somehow reassured that our existing boiler, despite its various inefficiencies still has a fair bit of life left in it. A classic example of old and reliable

Perhaps I can assuage my green-guilt with my ‘inefficent’ (but simple and reliable) boiler by keeping the hot water tank and getting solar panels fitted to reduce the need to fire up the boiler for the hot water we rarely need. But then is that practical in sunny Glasgow? Or perhaps we should get rid of the electric shower and use this hot water we’re heating? But I rather like the consistency and power of an electric shower.

There are a number of excellent programmes on television at the moment about the United States of America. Simon Schama’s The American Future: A History is a particular favourite, and whilst I’m enjoying the variety and cinematography of Steven Fry in America, I fear it’s taken on too much, so we’re left with fleeting glances. I suspect the companion book from Fry, which will probably be on my Christmas list, will be more in depth. Finally, we have Jon Snow’s American Journey, to be broadcast tonight. I always enjoy Jon Snow’s reports from America (he has a knack of finding interesting views from ordinary Americans), so this promises to be a treat.

But in watching any programme or news report on America, so much in vogue as the presidential election nears it’s climax, I find my mind is always cast back to a cafe in Luxembourg one spring day in what must have been 1996. Myself and two American friends and work colleagues (Amy and Peter) from the company we worked for in Düsseldorf, Germany, had hired a car and headed off on a road trip over one of the many really long German weekends.

Of course, given it was Amy who had booked the car, the German company presumed an automatic car was required, so that’s what we got. My first go driving such, and on the wrong side of the road too. I found the automatic harder to get used to by a long shot. A hill start in Monaco a few days into the trip had me asking (quite frantically, I recall) “but where’s the clutch; how can I start on a hill without the clutch”, only to be told all I needed to do was take my foot off the brake, and on to the accelerator.

Our trip took us down through Germany, to Strasburg, then in to Switzerland, where we stayed in Berne. Then down to Italy and Genoa, over the border to Monaco, then back through France, and a few excitements in Lyon, and on to Luxembourg. It was a great break, and what working abroad was all about.

Luxembourg left me with two memories. One, that there are an awful lot of petrol stations there. Brought about, I seem to recall, by the tax policies, which made it very attractive for German, Dutch, Belgian and French motorists to fill up.

The second leads on to my choice of the title. Over lunch, I idly asked Amy and Peter if they could name all fifty states, because, I suggested, I didn’t know if I could do the same about English counties (I knew I couldn’t name many Welsh ones, so English was it!). They seemed to think this was achievable, easy even, and set out to name them.

Thankfully we had a paper table cover, and a pen, so they set out to write out every state and write it down. Quick progress was made. I even chipped in with some easy ones. We made good progress. But as we hit 40 states, it genuinely started to get tricky. But one by one, they fell. Until we had 49 states. Out of, of course, 50.

And there it stayed. As did (perhaps most regrettably of all) the table cover. We didn’t take it with us, so no way of working out which one had been missed. So as a result I’m left with this annoying gap of one state. Whenever America is mentioned, a programme featuring an off-the-beaten track State, I always find myself wondering “was that the state we missed?“. That red table cover with the 49 states, and the furrowed brows of my American friends, 12 years ago in a Luxembourg cafe, at the end of a superb road trip. I’ll never know which one was it, of course. But do like to think back to a great road trip with good friends all those years ago.

I’m delighted to hear, and fully intend to support, the creation of a new ‘Friends of Pollok Park’ group that will be launching after the Save Pollok Park meeting (Tuesday 28th October at 7.30pm, at Pollokshaws Burgh Hall, opposite Pollok Park). Members of Kelvingrove Park’s Friends Group will be along to explain how they operate. A constructive supporters group should be a great asset to the park. I’ve myself put forward one or two ideas as to how the park could be improved, without recourse to commercially focused development, and hope they’ll be considered at the public meeting next week.

The Save Pollok Park meeting that precedes it should be interesting too, as it’ll be covering the legal arguments as to why the Go Ape lease can’t be granted, and updating supporters as to progress and strategies. Hopefully a constructive series of discussions. 

There’s a petition still open for supporters to sign. It closes next Tuesday, so be sure to get your name down on it before it’s presented to the council.

One of my intentions with this blog is to make sure I speak out when I experience something positive. I also do the converse and write up bad experiences, and it’s resulted in interesting (not always in a good way) exchanges with individuals and organisations who discover my comments (the joys of a seemingly well linked-to website). Oddly, the positive comments don’t get quite as much comment, presumably because people are rarely motivated to comment on good things. Newspapers don’t sell on good news, after all. So the lack of comment oddly motivates me all the more.

Today, First Scotrail is in need of praise. I’m frequently through to Edinburgh to work with a client. Over the few years I’ve been making the trip, I’ve only once been badly borked (very bad flooding on 7th August at Waverley), and that wasn’t even their fault. A few delays are ok, and I’ve only been forced to stand three or four times. It’s all a lot better, on the whole, than commuter services in London several years ago.

Today, something odd happened. I managed to lose my ticket between the entrance gate at Glasgow Queen Street, and the train. All of 50 metres. I’m baffled. I must have dropped it after passing through the gate. Anyway, it’s long been a fear of mine, and I normally take care. But not today. So I got worried I’d get in trouble with the ticket inspector on the train (always puzzled they come through the train given the turnstiles at the starting station), or at Haymarket where I alight.

I needn’t have worried. By having all my receipts, the return ticket, a recent purchase time, and - perhaps - forgiving staff, they accepted my apology and excuse for not having a ticket. I’d worried they’d apply the letter of the rulebook.

So there you have it. Praise for First Scotrail, in particular the ticket inspector on the 7.30am Glasgow to Edinburgh express service, and the barrier guy at Haymarket at 8.20am, for not being what I feared would be jobs-worths.

I took part in the 2008 Glasgow Half Marathon yesterday. One year on from my first half marathon, a very different runner was hitting the streets of Glasgow. My goal last year had been to run it in a reasonable time, but primarily to get around and justify the sponsorship I’d managed to raise. It was an unknown quantity. But as I enjoyed myself thoroughly, I decided to take my running up a notch and joined a running club.

So a year later, I’d managed to run the Helensburgh half marathon in my buildup, and completed the clubs winter handicap championship (coming second, no less). The Glasgow Half would be the last race for me to complete the main club championship. A total of 15 races over the course of a year.

I’d been training as hard as I could, but hadn’t managed to get quite as many decent long runs in as I’d needed, and this showed in Helensburgh. My goal there had been to get around, but I still managed a time of 1:41:23, a full 11 minutes improvement. I was chuffed to bits, and deliciously close to a 1:40. So that became my target for Glasgow. “Get safely below 1:40″. I figured a 1:37:30 target time would be sensible, but largely dismissed any suggestions of anything faster than that.

The day dawned, and despite heavy rain in the North of England (which had, I think, been expected to move further north), nothing other than grey clouds and a breeze hit Glasgow. Nice for a change, but perfect running weather. I took no chances though and took all the appropriate precautions (close inspection of the Helensburgh photographs will reveal why), and headed in to town with Frances (who was going to dart around the course and take pictures).

After a brief warmup, I joined the starting area. I was in the white group (ie. the first section to start). Last year I was in the green area (third group to start), so felt like quite a step up. Ahead of us loomed St Vincent Street, which seemed to get steeper and stepper as the start time approached. The course was different this year due to road works, so we had an incline up St Vincent Street, over the M8 to Finnieston, then up an off-ramp and onto the M8.

Whilst trying to ignore Jimmy Saville who seemed to do nothing more than wave, the start seemed like quite an anti-climax, and after the usual big race jostling (reminding me why I prefer smaller club-run races) it was off up St Vincent Street. I’d largely written off the first couple of miles given the inclines, but the first mile bleep gave a time 0f 7:29 - nicely on target. A relief, and I’d been feeling a lot better than expected (all those hill training sessions paying off!). The second mile was even better, but probably too fast: 7:05. Perhaps because there was a bit of downhill along the way, and the crowds were easing out a bit.

After last year, when I found it all very interesting, the run over the Kingston bridge (M8 bridge through Glasgow) felt a bit of a silly diversion, so I was glad to get off the bridge and onto the flat straight that led through to Paisley Road West. Mile 3 at 7:02 was another speedy split, so eased off and found a more reasonable pace, but still fast at 7:12, but seeing Frances gave me some encouragement and passing some fellow club runners I’d been eyeing as a target perhaps helped too. Mile 5 at 7:30 was a little under pace, but a few windy corners, and I wasn’t too bothered. More than enough ‘in the bag’. Time for a wave as I passed through Bellahouston Park, where Frances’ brothers Brendan and Paul, who were with my nephew Nathan (looking very confused as to what all these silly people were doing). But I did manage to get a bit confused by the changed water layouts (a feature of the race).

Mile 6 at 7:18, and Mile 7 at 7:23, and feeling very comfortable, but not wanting to push some as I knew Pollok Park was coming up, and it always catches me out, despite doing most of my training there and knowing it’s inclines inside out. Through the park saw Mile 8 at 7:31, which was better than I expected, and Mile 9, just as we exited at 7:33 (missing Frances’ parents and assorted uncles and aunts, but hearing them). They’d changed the exit from the park at the last minute (as far as I can tell), so a nasty incline was inserted by the Burrell collection, but pleased my times weren’t too affected. I’d also passed a Fetchie (Alex) from the 1 mile challenge a few months back suffering from stitch. Something I’d never experienced in a race, but come mile 10 (07:30) I was starting to feel a bit in my left side. That said, it could also have been trying to drink water. I knew I needed some, but struggled with it. So mile 11 was at 7:34 pace. This was through the dull streets into town, so whilst the end was almost in sight, it was ‘dig deep’ time.

Another sighting of Frances around the 12 mile mark (7:27), and just over a mile to go. Whilst by now feeling really rather tired, I managed a 7:13 (thousands of people lining the finish straight must have helped too), and I was across the line in 1:36:46, a full minute faster than even my most optimistic time prediction, and very safely under my target of 1:40. That said, I’m not looking forward to the finish-straight pictures that are usually available, which will probably have me pulling a very odd expression!

I’d largely made good progress throughout, and didn’t really lose too many places once I’d taken them. I fell in with a few people along the way. I was quite glad to see a chap with loud headphones disappear off into the distance. Grrr!!! Similarly, the chap with the very noisy breathing/nose-blowing (what was that noise! Sounded like a dog sneezing…), I was glad to get some distance ahead of him! It’s amusing what can annoy/inspire you to push that bit harder whilst you’re running!

Along the way I was boosted by the support from the Bellahouston Road Runner supporters. Many of the club runners who weren’t taking part in the Half (many did the 10k earlier) were along the route crying out names or just “Come on Bella!”, which really made a massive difference. If there was a club-supporters championship, I’m pretty sure Bella would be up there at the top!!

Chuffed to bits with my time, and delighted to have finished the season in such fashion. I’m deferring thought of targets for next year for some time, but already eagerly looking forward to the next few races. I’ve a 10 mile race next weekend down in Cumbria (where I’m away for a short holiday), and am looking forward to finding a decent 10k somewhere to mount an attack on my 45:01 time!

Links

• Full results
• 2008 Glasgow Half Marathon pictures (Bella Selection), courtesy of Frances
• 2008 Glasgow Half Marathon Pictures, the full 245 picture set, including Beagles!
• Norman’s writeup
• Ian Goudie pics, plus a special mention for being the loudest supporter!
• Jim’s pics
• Captain Caveman’s pics selection

News came through late yesterday that Scottish ministers weren’t going to call in the Go Ape proposal, handing it back to the inept at Glasgow council.

I suppose the indecision was writ large in the various delays in coming down off the fence. Once was understandable. Twice just silly. It was turning into a farce, but one with a painfully inevitable punchline.

A newsletter to campaigners last night from savepollokpark.com shows the fight is continuing. There’s a sound legal challenge underway, the opposition of the NTS and maxwell family, and a number of significant issues the council has to see resolved before trees get cut down and rich businessmen start swinging from the trees of Pollok park.

I settled down to watch Richard Dawkins’ new series “The Genius of Charles Darwin” last night with high hopes. Unfortunately, it fell somewhat short of my expectations.

The subject matter certainly demands coverage in this, the 150th anniversary of the publication of his ground breaking work ‘The Origin of Species’. What it didn’t need, in my view, was to be turned into another atheist argument. Channel 4 has done an admirable job over the last few years of representing various world views, it’s the only channel to devote any serious time to the specific subject of atheism. I’m also quite curious about the series “make me a Christian” which starts this Sunday, but - I should add - more for the comedic value I see in the prospect. That said, I fear I’ll get wound up by it in no time.

In my view, the subject of evolution by natural selection could have been dealt with - and been the better for it - if the subject of religion had been left on the side lines. Leave it as an exercise for the viewer to draw what (to me) are solid conclusions. But accept that there are many biologists and geologists who do find a way to allow evolution to sit side by side with their beliefs (Don’t expect me to explain the mental gymnastics that requires). I simply take Occam’s razor - the simplest explanation is most likely true - quite seriously, and evolution to me does a more than adequate job at explaining our place in the world. Gods only complicate it further, and actual demand far more difficult explanations.

Dawkins’ medium is definitely not television. His written works are elegantly written, and in them he deserves his position at Oxford as the Charles Simonyi chair for the public understanding of Science. But in television I feel he comes across as slightly arrogant, smug, distant and, I’m afraid, somewhat grating over the course of an hour. I’m a big fan, so goodness knows how anybody who wasn’t would feel after settling down for an hour of documentary.

Compare this to National treasure, David Attenborough. Attenborough has found a way of reaching out and pulling his audience in to the savanna and rain forest with him, so we all manage to enjoy the splendour and variety of the life about us with him. It’s clearly a tall order to expect Dawkins to become a similar treasure overnight(!), but if he could take on some of the approaches, and manage to find a way to better engage with the audience, it’d make for far more compelling, informative and educational television, especially when dealing with scientific subjects rather than his atheism.

In the core message of the programme it did better, when he wasn’t bringing religion in to it. Evolution is not a complex concept - indeed it’s rather obvious when you look at the selective breeding process we apply to our favourite animals - but it really seemed a bit more mixed up in the life of Darwin than would have been ideal. The budget may have been at play here: The choice of what seemed like aging natural world footage of animals fighting, eating, copulating and fleeing, and the strange metaphore of a piano to explain the relative duration monkeys (and humans) have existed to the entire span of life on earth. Some on-screen graphics really would have been better, and more emphasis on the simply vast stretches of time involved. Geology plays a key part in demonstrating evolution, but it didn’t seem to be applied or explained very effectively. Similarly it was very fleeting (but when it was mentioned, did so very effectively) how horrifically cruel yet wonderful the natural world is. Parasites, eat or be eaten, how the eye has independently evolved multiple times, and how there are some bizarre relics of evolution within our own body.

All said, I’d give the programme 6/10 - Could do (much) better. It fell short of really engaging effectively with a fascinating subject, and Dawkins made atheism a far more a central part of the programme than was necessary. Dawkins perhaps needs to realise that if he had been less up-front about atheism, and focusing on the core concepts he was supposed to be putting across, it might actually have convinced more people to what seems to now be Dawkins’ main role as lead atheist. As it was, a programme that should have been about a stunning piece of science, it became more of a programme about atheism, and as such was much the poorer for it. And I say this as both a Dawkins fan, and an atheist myself.

My friend shardcore offered to paint a picture for Frances and my recent wedding. Frances wasn’t so keen on the prospect, but I rather fancied seeing what would happen, so jumped at the chance at getting the shardcore treatment (How often do you get such an offer?). So without further ado here’s Richard and Marvin (2008). I’ll leave the explanation of what’s what with the picture to shardcore: he’s done a far better job than I could manage. But I’m honoured to be featured on what he describes as perhaps “the geekiest painting ever”.

The fun didn’t stop there though! After the post was submitted to boingboing.net, it then got picked up by no less than gizmodo, and the comments on both have been (mostly) enjoyable, and nice and geeky too. My server ‘dexter’ (which hosts both leyton.org and shardcore’s website) has managed to survive the ensuing load reasonably well too. It’s also getting it’s first public viewing at Brighton’s £5 app get together. I’d be there myself if I didn’t live at the other end of the country.

Anyway, hope you like the painting. I think he’s done a great job - Be sure to check out his other pieces too.

Update: The original was taken by Chameleon at a Scottish Bloggers get-together a while back.

Marvellous news from my old University, Oxford Brookes. They’ve announced that Shami Chakrabarti is to become the new chancellor. She succeeds Jon Snow, from Channel 4 news. I’ve a huge amount of respect for both Jon Snow (my various posts here), and Shami Chakrabarti: She’s an impressive personality who has helped make Liberty the impressive force it is today, and I’m sure she’ll do a superb job at my old University.

I’m pleased to be able to say that this Sunday Frances will be running her very first 5k race, in order to support her friend Maggie, who is currently battling cancer. Maggie has had a tough time of it, but is being incredibly inspirational, as well as brave, by fighting back and helping raise awareness all that she can. Indeed, this will be the second year she’s taken part in her local Race For Life event, and will be supported by Frances and a good number of her other friends.

You can read more about Maggie, and why she’s running, at her Race For Life sponsorship page. It’s a difficult read, but still very inspirational stuff. As with all the other Race For Life events, it’s for the excellent Cancer Research charity. So if you can spare some money to make a donation - of any size - it’d make a big difference, and really help Maggie, Frances and her friends on their run this Sunday.

Sadly though I’m not going to be there to cheer Frances and her friends on as I’m running in a different race that day, in the the MHFS 10K in Glasgow. This event is doing a great job in itself of raising awareness of men’s health issues. I’m sure she’ll do very well: She’s been putting in some decent training, but I’ve been told in no uncertain terms she’s not about to take up running, but I’m still quietly enjoying seeing her running shoes by the door