Wordless Wednesday - Cala Galdana

Actually it's a gloomy and soaking wet wordless Wednesday here. But I can still dream.

The Spectacular Scenery of the Yangtze River

Photo by Andrew Hitchcock

My head's been in China again today as I am once again writing about travelling in that country which I have never experienced. This time it's about cruising on the Yangtze River, and I hit a problem. When I was well into my research and the first part of my article, I discovered that some of the info on the travel guide and cruise company websites is pretty old and discusses things that were visible before the Three Gorges Dam project got as far as it is today.

This controversial project is an enormous dam that has been built across the river. Even though it is not due for completion until next year, the water level of the river behind it has risen significantly. Eventually the level is expected to be around 600 feet higher than before, and many of the historical sites I'd recommended holiday makers to look out for are, or will be, under the water line.

Of course there are good reasons for building the dam - it will generate enormous hydroelectric power; it will conserve water for irrigation where needed; it will provide more protection from regular flooding; and it makes river navigation safer and easier. On the other hand it has already displaced millions of people from their homes in towns and villages that have been sacrificed. It has cost billions in public money. And there are concerns about water pollution. Only time will tell whether the benefits are worth it for the general population of the country.

Away from the dam, the river scenery remains spectacular. I found the photo of dusk on the Yangtze at Wikimedia.

Back in the Hot Seat.

I'm back at my computer today and writing about Chinese Astrology. Again. The last time I wrote about this and offered the article to my favourite customer on Constant Content, it wasn't taken up. But a few weeks later it was - by someone else. And now the first customer wants something on the subject. I suspect they came back to search it out and realised they'd missed the boat. I know their publication date is 15 September so they'll be wanting it quickly. I needed to work up a slightly different angle, so that I can't be accused of plagiarising my own work. It meant doing a bit more research.

I'm not going to get it finished tonight so I decided to take a break and do my blog post. I did check the CC forum this morning and read a thread enquiring how people manage to churn out 10 or 15 articles a day. It beats me: I'm always battling against time, even since I retired from the day jobs.

In between some staccato bursts of researching and writing today, I've had to:

• sort the laundry and get on a washload
• call Autoglass to find out why they hadn't turned up at 11.30 this morning when I'd been expecting them at 10
• deal with them when they finally did turn up at about 1.30
• negotiate space with my neighbour so I could give the engineer space to open the doors on both sides
• discuss my cat feeding duties with wife of said neighbour while they go away for a long weekend
• head out for my weekly electrolysis session and get some bits for the fridge and our evening meal - fortunately hubby was around to drive me to the salon in his taxi, because my car still couldn't be moved. I had to walk home - just as well as it was my only exercise today
• return a call from a friend who invited me to walk around Blagdon Lake with her on Monday. I had to explain that I can't take yet anther day off the writing just yet. I didn't mention that the weather forecast is horrendous for Monday anyway
• decide to put off making several other phone calls I'll have to catch up with this weekend.

So it is now 10 pm and I haven't even completed a first draft of my article. And I simply must do some Entrecard dropping before I turn in.

Windscreens and Flying Stones

I'm forward posting again. And I still haven't finished the ironing and putting everything ready for packing at 6 am, so this ought to be short.

I'm not too enamoured of Autglass at the moment s I won't be adding their link. It's their fault I'm having to get a train to my daughter's tomorrow. Here's what happened.

Monday: after the latest flying stone chips my windscreen, I think it's time to sort out all my chips. I call Autoglass.

"The first appointment I can give you is on Friday morning at about 10. That ok?"

"Sure. I don't know if I will get away with a repair or need a new windscreen." Not that last quote from me. It's important.

After going through all the necessary questions. the girl at the end og the phone says, "As you don't have any shelter, our representative won't be able to do the work if it's raining."

Later a man calls and says they have double booked and will not be able to come before noon.

Wednesday: I have a brainwave and knock on my neighbour's door and ask for a favour.

"Of course you can use our car port if it's raining."

I call Autoglass. They note that shelter is now available if needed.

Friday: The phone rings at 11 am - the Autoglass man has been knocking on my back door which I can't hear because I am working in my office upstairs and not expecting him before 12. At least he had the sense to use the phone. We go to my car and inspect all the chips.

"Only these two need to be repaired.," he tells me. "The others are just surface chips and are not a problem. But this one is very near the edge so I'm not sure I can repair. But I'll try , and I'll start with that one. "

I tell him to open the door and call out when he needs me, and retire back upstairs.

Three minutes later, I'm called back down.

"Sorry, I'd only just started and, as I thought, it was too near the edge and it's started to crack."

"OK. I'm prepared to pay the excess for the new windscreen as I told you girl on the phone."

But HE HADN'T BROUGHT A WINDSCREEN.

"The earliest we can do it is next Wednesday."

"I won't be here then. I'm going away and will be back latish on Thursday. I suppose I'd better go to London by train."

We arrange an appointment for Friday morning, one week ahead.

"You can still drive," he said. "It's safe enough."

At that point the crack was about an inch either side of the chip. The next morning the crack was half way across the windscreen. I gingerly did a 10 mile round trip to Shaftesbury. I haven't looked at it today, but I'm too chicken to try taking it up the M3.

The Polar Front Jet Stream

I’m using the blogspot facility to pre-post this to be published while I’m away again for a few days. If it works you’ll be able to see it on August Bank Holiday Monday while I’m heading to London by train.

Our local BBC TV news service is Points West. Their resident weather forecaster, Richard Angwin, is very popular. I won’t steal a picture of him but you can find him here.

He always does his best to make his forecasts interesting, giving tips on what we might be able to see passing in space on clear evenings, and so on. Last week he was trying to explain how the reason for all our recent bad weather is the behaviour of the polar front jet stream.

This is a band of wind that separates the mass of warm air to the south and the colder air to the north. It’s the wind that makes a flight time from America to Europe faster than going the other way, when the aircraft would have to make headway against it. The wind usually blows from west to east, the way the earth rotates. But sometimes it can move in a more southerly direction.

The jet stream also brings the weather fronts. And so the reason for all the rain we’ve had recently is that this jet stream is much further south than it usually is at this time of year, bringing us the rain-bearing depressions and storms we’ve had recently.

Unfortunately, after the floods in the dreadful weather here last year, it seems to be setting a trend. No doubt it’s one other thing we can lay at the door of global waming.

Menorcan Horses

I’ve been writing about Menorcan horses this week. They are so beautiful. It’s hard to do them justice. I went to a spectacular equestrian performance of dressage by some magnificent black stallions. We weren’t allowed to take photos during the show but were invited into the arena to do so afterwards. Of course, it was impossible to get a good shot amidst all the other people. Here’s one that’s not too bad.

The island has lots of fiestas and one of their traditions is the rearing horse. Spectators jostle to pat the horses to make them rear up and walk forward on their hind legs. This, of course also formed part of the show. The next photo shows a statue on a roundabout in the old capital of Ciutadella. It’s a pretty good likeness.

Do Writers Ever Switch Off?

I’ve just read an article about freelancers and holidays. It seems that most acknowledge they a) need their breaks and time to switch off, and b) fear the results of taking holidays away from their homes and computers, ie losing out on potential work because they are not there to answer the phone or collect emails.

Many people find ways to do this anyway, even when they are half way across the world. When I was away recently I resolutely walked past the internet café every day, but I admit it was tempting. I did turn on my mobile for a short period each day, to check for messages and texts, but that was really in case family wanted to get in touch.

What I did have with me, and use, was a notebook and some pens. The writer in me simply has to record what we’ve done and where we’ve been. And at some point I have to write out the ideas that I’ve been thinking up during the day.

Another item of writing equipment is my trusty camera. It’s a lightweight digi SLR, and I’m actually thinking I also need a little compact that’s even easier to carry everywhere. But that won’t get further than my wishlist for a while. Anyway I try to have one with me most of the time, and I’ve recently transferred nearly 200 holiday shots onto the computer.

So here’s yet another holiday shot from Minorca – the taula at the Torralba d’en Salord. The human figure shows the scale of the tablet, which we are told was used for worship. There are a number of prehistoric settlements on the island, and it is known as an open-air museum.