I am NOT a morning person

I'm pretty sure that this is a problem shared by all shiftworkers, the curse of the "First Early".
These are especially tough after a block of leave (like today) when your circadian rhythm has slotted back into real days and real nights, like a real human being. What happens is this:
You know that you have to be up at 3 or 4 am, so you have tea with your family and go to bed early, (with a full stomach, which doesn't really help). There you lay, in bed, with the noise of a family evening going on around you. TV downstairs in the background, Kids playing in the bath, having a tantrum about putting on pyjamas or which story is going to be read.
After half an hour, of no sleep, you pick up a book or read Twitter. (Actually Twitter is the worst possible move at this point as you get to see everyone else's normal life and get jealous. Or a contentious political link and get angry. 20 minutes later and you are nearly an hour down on the sleep you planned.)
So you try again, and another half hour later, just as you are staring to get drowsy, someone else will start their bedtime routine. Not noisy, they know you news your sleep. But just that quiet hum of an electric toothbrush will at this point keep you from proper sleep. Or the sound of the shower will make you want to go to the loo. None of this is avoidable, and none of it would rouse you when you are tired enough to crash at 6pm for your 2nd or 3rd early shift. But this is your first attempt to change your body clock, so you are doomed!
Once the other half is in bed, you eventually drop off, no earlier than you would on a normal evening. But this is your first early, so you are subconsciously waiting for that alarm clock. As a result, your sleep is lighter, you hear everything, and it will wake you. A faint car alarm over a mile away, a couple of cats fighting, your other half snoring. Everything will wake you up, even if you would normally sleep through a bomb going off. The less sleep you manage the more annoyed you become. The more annoyed you are, the harder it is to sleep!
Of course you do eventually get to a proper sleep, but it will be around 45 minutes before tour alarm goes off, right in the middle of the deepest part of your sleep cycle.

Then at work there are always the smug buggers who "like earlies because you get the afternoon off" which is fine if you live just round the corner from work, but I don't, and I prefer to spend my afternoons NOT feeling like a Zombie, thanks!



Edited because this is important:
To clarify, I would not fly if too tired to do so. I take my responsibility to my passengers (and the rest of the crew) very seriously. I would (and have) called in unable to operate because of disrupted/inadequate rest.
This is a comment on the occasional difficulty of obtaining that sleep and the fact that I always find it hardest at the start of a run. I'm often tired, never too tired, but always grateful that the coffee chains are now 24/7 in most airports!
-Blogged from my iPhone

Ode to Paul Chambers

Here's my effort for National Poetry Day, inspired by the #twitterjoketrial


An airport was closed coz of snow
So to Belfast poor Paul couldn't go
Angry tweet, CPS
Yorks police, what a mess,
Jack of Kent, Robin Hood, Sky High Blow


- Blogged from my iPad

The visual Arts can get stuffed.

One of the political chaps I follow on twitter posted a Blog today bemoaning the cuts about to happen in "the Arts". He's usually worth reading, but this time, I think it's nonsense. This blog is an edited run-together of my tweets to him.

If enough people think the arts are important enough to pay for, then government handouts are unnecessary. There is already a great way to collect revenue: pay to visit a gallery. Cinemas work that way, so why shouldn't theatres?

Why should the government use my money to pay for art that I have no intention of ever looking at? Let people spend their own money on the art they want to enjoy. If I have a burning desire to see a picture then I will happily pay to see it. I already pay for the films I chose to see or the show I want to see at a theatre.
Even when times were good and New Labour were throwing money at left wing causes willy-nilly, "The Arts" were always complaining that they didn't have enough of my money to spend on interpretative dance. The big problem for "The Arts" is that it's just not as important to people as it thinks it should be.
Please explain why the government should take money from me and give it to self important stars of the industry like Emin & Hirst, when it is these people who should be reinvesting in the industry that has made them millionaires.

By all means flame me. I would actually like to be wrong on this so someone come up with a better argument than "an important arty luvvie with a vested interest says so".

- Blogged from my iPad

The view from 34000 feet

I love my job and I am very lucky to have it. I'm. First Officer for a UK Airline flying the Airbus A320 series round Europe on a mix of schedule and charter flights. It's great- I get a fantastic view from my office window, and I get to fly with some interesting people, with wildly varied backgrounds.

So much badly researched nonsense hits the newspapers when there is an Aviation story (usually sparked by The CEO of a budget airline) that I thought I should use this blog to promote understanding of what I do as a First Officer, why it can be an utter pain in the body-clock, but why I love it anyway. I hope you find it interesting.

I'll start the ball rolling with some photos

Didcot, the Oxfordshire town where I am Warlord!





The Scilly Isles





Tenerife



Sunset over the Atlantic




Poole Harbour and early morning sea fog at Swanage






-Blogged from my iPad at 34000'

AVATAR- Speccy Twat Edition

I just got home from seeing Avatar Special Edition and since my blog really doesn't have a purpose yet, thought I would shoehorn in a movie review.

CAUTION- HERE BE SPOILERS!

First off, I loved it. But I loved it because it was AVATAR, which utterly blew me away last year. The visual experience was (and still is) stunning, a league above anything else that has hit the screen in 3D or otherwise – Lets see if TRON can come close at Christmas. I came out of the cinema with the same buzz that I got last year, and this is my 3rd viewing.

Well, I would have been happy with the chance to see it again on the big screen, but clearly to justify the new release to everyone else, something extra had to be added.
On reflection, the new stuff didn't really work. I know of at least one proper critic who disagrees with me, but here's a scene by scene breakdown of the new bits:

The School Ruins
When - Just after Jake, Grace and Norm get dropped off in the Jungle, and just before Jake gets chased by the Thanator they go to the ruined school to collect something.
And? - This is a fantastic scene, well shot and well acted. But fitting it in here is a bit clunky. The original cut has them walking into the jungle, and taking samples, and it's seamless.
It also runs against the story arc of the humans escalating their military action. Machine gun holes in the wall of a school? It paints the humans as too evil too early on.
And picking up the copy of the LORAX? We know its an environmentalists propaganda film, no need to bash us over the head thanks!
Verdict- would be better as a DVD extra.


Why the Mountains Float
When – as the link rooms get moved to the Halleluia mountains
And?- The science geekery that surrounded the original floundered with the floating mountains. Everything else seemed so scientifically plausible and well thought out. But floating mountains? Oh the wails of geek anguish! So in this version Jake's voiceover explains its a “Mag-lev effect, because unobtainium is a super-conductor or something”
Verdict- Superfluous. The mountains look stunning so just suspend your disbelief, and don't draw attention to the obviously dodgy physics.

The Rhino-thing Hunt
When – during the “Jake learns to fly and becomes a member of the tribe” montage, just before the Turuk attack.
Verdict - Absolutely brilliant. Great action, cuts perfectly into the montage and makes the previously disjointed comment about becoming “a stone cold aerial hunter” make much more sense.

Tsutei's Death
When- after the battle.
And?- In the original, Tsutei dies a Warrior-hero's death. In this version, he survives being shot and falling hundreds of feet to the jungle floor below, so that Jake can finish the job according to (previously unmentioned) tradition.
Verdict- detracts from Tsutei's heroic sacrifice. Should be left out altogether.

Overall verdict
If this had been the original theatrical release, then what we saw last year would be the internet fan edit. It's great to see Avatar on a big screen again and in 3D, but the new bits really don't add anything to the stunning vision of the film.

Arguing with a Bigot

I have been arguing with a bigot on his blog for the last week or so. As it is his blog, he can moderate the comments, and has failed to publish my most recent one. It may be an attempt to move on, as he has now published an even more unpleasant blog . I have posted the following, but suspect it wont get past his moderation. People who knew me at school may be surprised:

Richard,

It is ironic that you have (so far) failed to publish the comment in which I gave you credit for allowing all posts to be shown, even the personally insulting ones. I included a cheap shot myself (your parents should have used contraception) to see if I could get a rise from you, for which I apologise. The post is re-capped here, and adapted to fit your latest rant.

By no means take my apology as an endorsement. Your repugnant politics is ill conceived and poorly argued. Your bigotry has no place in mainstream politics, which is why you were expelled from the Tory party. Sephton didn't beat you in selection because he didn't have to; you had already been thrown out, which is more humiliating than losing fair and square.  Your previous blog post started as a jealous personal attack him, and weird imaginings of his behaviour, so your claim to be doing serious political work here is not valid.

In this recent case, the Lambeth registrars are required as part of their job to carry out civil partnerships. They are refusing to do their job, I would say that's professional misconduct. If I refused to fly to Spain on moral grounds as a stance against bullfighting, I would expect to lose my job. You describe their actions as "Honourable and Righteous"- I would describe them as unprofessional and prejudiced. You complained previously about homosexuality impairing a persons professional judgement, and relied on stereotypes and assumptions to back your statement. In this case you have a clear example of Christianity impairing a persons professional judgement, even their willingness to do their job and yet you defend them. Your hypocrisy is astounding.

Your self-comparison to the BoB pilots is as offensive as the BNPs use of Churchill's image in the last election. If you are so determined to champion the cause of good over evil you should maybe direct your anger toward the atrocities committed in the name of your religion over the past two centuries. the Crusades, the Inquisition, the Witch hunts, and more recently the treatment of "Child-witches" in Africa, to name but a few. In contrast the Homosexual agenda has been about striving for equal treatment and respect - something these two state servants were trying to deny them.

You argue that chastity before marriage and fidelity within (which I do not disagree is a sound principle) contributes significantly to the reduction of STDs. Why then would you deny Homosexuals the chance to join in civil partnership- a long term relationship which can serve as an equivalent to marriage?
Civil partnerships in the UK have not undermined marriage in any way. Elton and Dave making a public commitment to each other has not made anyone rush out and get a divorce, or encouraged anyone to have an affair. You have still failed to answer the key question
"Is the idea of marriage so fragile that it cannot stand alongside commitment by two men (or two women) to each other?"

The health problems you mention are by no means isolated to homosexuals. Your inclusion of anal dysfunction points out your ignorance of the condition, which is more to do with nerve damage than anything else. The most common causes are Childbirth, Constipation, and Haemorrhoid surgery. (Wikipedia)
Do you think it possible that a higher suicide rate amongst homosexuals could be due to people in authority (Parents, Pastors, Registrars etc) constantly calling them sick and perverted? You make the classic error of confusing correlation with cause. The Suicide rate amongst men is significantly higher than that amongst women. Should we ban being male too?

Simply because most people are straight does not make people who are not straight wrong. As a non RC Christian, you are in a pretty small minority yourself.

For someone not willing to discuss theology, you seem very keen to do so. Is it just that you stop when you are losing? you brought up creationism twice in the comments section, but I'm not going to  bite and start arguing Evolution vs Fairy Tales with you, I'm bored enough with your nonsense already. If you choose to live your life according to rules written 3000+ years ago by a desert nomad, then go ahead. A problem arises when you choose to apply only the ones that suit your narrow and bigoted world view, but it's your problem, and you can stew in your own misery and hatred. When you insist that your rules apply to everyone outside your club, you become everyone's problem and your errors need highlighting.  It's a pity that more people aren't taking you on- it is surprisingly easy to make you look foolish.



Some housekeeping:

Where I said (13 Aug) ANYBODY I meant of course 'any consenting adult'.

My pseudonym is the result of a joke with a university friend of mine, not an attempt at deceit or cowardice. I was going to get around to writing a bio on my blog site, but I lost interest. Blogging just isn't that important to me. So why sign in here as the First High Warlord? Firefox did it automatically. And why sign off FHW of Didcot? Because i was already signed in that way. Make of that what you will, but it's essentially a mix of laziness and a sense of humour.

MI5 - YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG!

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