One of my favourite typs of cloud is the lenticular or as I like to call the standing wave cloud. On a breezy day to the leaward side of mountains or a range of high hills if your lucky you will see a smooth looking cloud at eight to ten thousand feet (possibly higher). The reason the cloud does not move is on the upwind side moist air has been forced to a altitude where it reaches its dew point, on the downwind edge the visible water evaporates and becomes invisible again. So the cloud is constantly...

Many of us go to the seaside in the summer months, we set off on a warm sunny day only to find on arrival a cool onshore breeze and cloudy conditions especially coasts bordering the cold north sea.
I just wonder how many people understand the workings of the land sea breeze effect.
Imagine for a moment a sunny morning the temperature is expected to go into the seventies, the land is warming up nicely, it is these conditions that causes the air to rise over the land mass. But out over...

The Meeting
Now I'm just an ordinary bloke who has spent his life doing practical things with practical people, to my surprise a couple of years ago when houses were worth the national debt I was invited to a high level meeting with very senior management.
Very excited and full of my self importance I duly attended at 0930 on the dot, as I walked into the large room the smell of expensive coffee was overwhelming. The large...

It was perhaps the late sixties when we took delivery of a new calor gas cooker, a few weeks later the thermostat went faulty, when the oven was turned on the gas came out at full throttle whatever the setting on the dial. So a few days later the gas man arrived, he was an elderly man who looked as though he should have retired years ago, he had very little hair and had a large deaf aid in his left ear. He asked me in a loud voice "WHAT'S THE PROBLEM?", I answered in an equally loud voice...

I was rostered to work an express parcel train with a great guy, Wilf was a driver with many years experience.
We were at Newcasle and we were going to take the train non stop to York where a relief crew would take over, that would be the end of our shift.
It was 0400 hrs on a lovely warm summer morning, the sky was cloudless and we were keen to get underway, having carried out the safety checks all I needed to do was contact the signaler for departure.
I give Wilf the signal to...