Wednesday 5 May - The Hip Op Days - The Twitter's View

A Tweeting View of a Day in the General

On the way to hospital 4 my op just passing Oadby halls of residence. Not far to go now there shortly. Deb enjoying driving Dona’s car.NOT.

6:46 AM May 5th via Snaptu

Just arrived seems there are 4 procedures scheduled and apparently mine is the last so I'm in 4 a long wait!

7:04 AM May 5th via mobile web

With that in mind I suppose I should try and conserve battery life as much as I'm able.

7:06 AM May 5th via mobile web

As I'm sat on a ward at Leicester General waiting to have my 2nd hip replacement (I'm only u r hubby.s age) I will definitely b watching... (response to tweet from Mrs. Stephen Fry)

7:18 AM May 5th via txt

Its beginning 2 get busy but as I've been ignored since they dumped me here I guess I am last in line

7:51 AM May 5th via mobile web

Hopefully Nat's in school by now and having breakfast there. Han photo b off 2 in a little while.

7:55 AM May 5th via mobile web

Just seen my surgeon and has previously said it would seem that I'm going to b waiting till pm 4 my op.

8:22 AM May 5th via mobile web

I think I'll read 4 awhile, just had weirdest sense of déjà vu in the Loo*. Used it last time just found mp3 I was listening 2 last

8:29 AM May 5th via mobile web

Found mp3 I was listening 2 in there just b4

8:31 AM May 5th via mobile web

Can’t make that sentence make sense no matter what.

8:34 AM May 5th via mobile web

OK been seen by practice nurse now forms done BP done 124 over 73 temp 98 and serving heart 77 or 64 when I deliberately relax it. Still pm

9:50 AM May 5th via mobile web

Eavesdropping on all those sound about. Was going too sleep listening to podcast until nurse came. Wide awake now unfortunately.

9:55 AM May 5th via mobile web

Just been listening to a podcast that mentioned, in passing, that addiction to gaming equals 7+ hours per WEEK!!

11:10 AM May 5th via mobile web

Still waiting to be chopped up by the NHS it's not the death panels that get U it's the waiting!!!

11:31 AM May 5th via mobile web

I think I'm dying of thirst where's a death panel when you need one? It's 11.45 nearly afternoon :) Who Ray

11:54 AM May 5th via mobile web

Anyone out there figured out why I use this name to tweet on? This morning may provide you with a slight clue.

11:57 AM May 5th via mobile web

Just been told I'm next after the person who's just gone in. How long I asked? 2 HOURS!!!!!

12:19 PM May 5th via mobile web

So I'll have been sitting here, unable to eat or DRINK, ANYTHING FOR 7.5 HOURS B4 MY OP THAT’S ANOTHER 2+ HOURS!!!

12:24 PM May 5th via mobile web

If I'm out and on a ward by 6pm then that's 12h no water 16h no food. I'm flipping starving and edgy

1:39 PM May 5th via mobile web

In addition I doubt I'll see the kids tonight or get any food or net book delivered plus no cash 2 buy anything.

1:40 PM May 5th via mobile web

Just been given permission to swill my mouth out with water, it's as dry as a kangaroo's jockstrap, but on no account could I swallow Well

1:46 PM May 5th via mobile web

I wonder if I killed and ate another nurse would they notice cos I'm getting hungry enough to do so! Or the maternity ward 4 Yummy Mummy!

1:57 PM May 5th via mobile web

2pm I've now sat here 4 7 hours. I wouldn't mind he I'd been able to have a drink cos the 1st patient had op at 7am + could drink up till 6am

2:09 PM May 5th via mobile web

I've left all the tweets as unedited as possible to demonstrate how many mistakes you can make tweeting on a mobile with a small key-pad.

They finally came for me just after 2:30, I undressed and put on a hospital gown but didn’t put on the supplied paper pants because I thought they were a head cover (they were wrapped up in plastic and could have been anything) and I only discovered differently when I asked the nurse whether I should take it with me. Anyway, after we’d cleared up this mix up the Anesthetist came in to have a word, I confirmed that yes it was my left hip that was being removed and that yes I wished to remain awake during the operation and wanted an Epidural not a General anesthetic. They asked me if I wanted to be wheeled to surgery or would I prefer to walk. The theatre wasn’t far so we walked and chatted as we went. There must be a note on my medical records saying “he’s happy for students to participate and observe any procedures he undergoes” because once we were in the pre-op room readying me for surgery once again I was the guinea pig they were to train on; how else are they going to learn? Anyway, eventually the big needle was in my spine and very rapidly I lost all sensation from that vertebra down. It’s a peculiar feeling, or lack of, and the nearest anyone can get to experiencing what it’s like to be paraplegic because of spinal cord damage. Honestly you could have set my legs on fire and I wouldn’t have felt a thing. Eventually, I was  positioned properly on the operating table, my earplugs were in place, a Short History of Nearly Everything (it’s four hours long and if I’m already sleepy Bill Bryson’s voice is guaranteed to put me to sleep) was set to play on my phone; I was wheeled in to be sliced and diced. Now, when you decline a General anesthetic that doesn’t mean that they can’t or won’t put you to sleep; what it means is that they won’t use drugs to induce a coma (which is what a GA is – a pharmacologically induced coma). So, as is usually, after a little while the anesthetist slipped a little gas into my oxygen supply and off I went into the land of Nod.

I woke, sometime later, and was told it was all over and that I was about to be wheeled to my ward (Ward 21); things get hazy after that, there was a problem with the pain medication and as the epidural wore off I found myself gradually experiencing more and more pain but was too drowsy to say anything. When Deb and Han arrived, Nat was at Scouts; Deb realized that something was wrong because I was starting to shake and moan because of the increasingly severe pain. Eventually a nurse came and gave me a morphine shot into the hip and the pain, almost immediately, started to subside but my God it was horrendous, if I’d had a gun I honestly think I would have shot myself if there was no other way to stop it. The good news is that it seems that your body is designed to forget such traumatic memories fairly rapidly and now, while I can still remember the event, I can’t truly recall the pain. As you can see from the time between my two final tweets the morphine acts virtually instantaneously. Han took charge of the phone and sent me some sweet tweets; she’s such an Angel it’s such a shame that equally she’s such a Monster!

Just come round been wheeled onto ward pain starting big time. Epidural worn off and no other pain killers in yet... Christ it Hurts

6:58 PM May 5th via mobile web

it's 6.55 I’ve lost track of time and want a beer now

7:00 PM May 5th via mobile web

hello daddy from Hannah

7:59 PM May 5th via mobile web

I love you so much from Hannah

8:01 PM May 5th via mobile web

Deb and Han stayed for about an hour then left me to get some sleep. I can’t recall much of the rest of the night, like the first night last time it was uncomfortable but eventually I dropped off and slept till the morning; well kinda, I forgot to mention that they wake you up every two hours to check your vitals. This entails them shoving a thermometer into you ear, shoving a blood pressure (BP from here on) cuff onto your arm and attaching a pulse monitor to you finger. This continued through the night until official wake up time at 6:00. At least I got to meet the night staff and as I was the only new admission on the ward that night got lots of TLC.

*déjà vu in the Loo
Last time I was here and using this loo I was listening to a pod cast about how twitter had been used to let people know what was going on during the 2008 Mumbai attacks. Just before I went to use it this time I found that self same podcast on my creative MP3 player and as I entered the Loo the whole memory flashed through my head.

Saturday 1 - Wednesday Morning 5 May - Sam's Clothes, Doctor Who, Rugby, Preston Grasshoppers, Allotment, Tigers, Harlequins, Car, Head Gasket, RAC, Star Wars day, Donna's car, Braunstone Life magazine and finally Hip Replacement Operation

Sat 1 - AM – Finished work for a few months and took home a big bag of clothes from Dawn’s daughter Sam for Han. She was delighted and we spent much of the morning watching the Han Show. I wanted Han to call dawn to say thank you but when I went into my mobile directory for her number I discovered that this was one more entry where the phone had kept the persons details but deleted their number so we weren’t able to ring her. I’ll have to get her number after my Op from someone (if you’re reading this Dawn text me your number) and Han can give her a call next week. Most of the rest of the day just passed quietly I tried to stay awake so that I could go to bed at night and try and break the night shift sleep cycle. As a result I was extremely tied and can’t recall anything about the day. I know that for some reason we didn’t watch Doctor Who went it was screened that evening, either Nat was at a friends or his friends were here upstairs on the X-Box. No it’s because it’s a two-parter and we hadn’t watched part one yet…Han was too scared to watch last week because the episode features the horrible angle statues who only move when you’re not looking at them

Sun 2 – Last game of the season this morning and the last time I’ll see Robin who can’t play rugby with the lads anymore; thought I’d see her one last time at the presentations next week but I’m not sure that the Vipers stairs, hip surgery and crutches is possibly a good combination. The teams were playing a match against Preston Grasshoppers who were on tour (from Preston surprisingly). 

Great match both teams were very closely matched and Preston just managed a last minute try to win 15:10.  of the two tries scored by Vipers, one was scored by Jacob and the other was scored by…wait for it…NAT…yahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Home from game around 1PM Deb put joint in oven and we chilaxed. Sent Nat for shower and when he was done we all sat down to watch both episodes of Doctor Who back to back. Like the Doc’s future wife but I’m sure the Angles in this story don’t behave in the way in which they did in the original story in series two. Though that just might be me and my crap memory…NOT!

Later that evening I watched, and made the family watch too, Dispatches: Election Secrets what the parties aren’t telling you about the cuts to come. I didn’t learn anything I didn’t already know but I think the kids may have got an idea of how tight things are going to be over the coming years. The years when they will both be in secondary education.

Mon 3 - We spent the morning at the allotment weeding and clearing ground for our peas and beans.  What with my operation enforcing me to by physically inactive re gardening for at least the next 8 weeks we are agreed that the allotment, this year, will be a very piecemeal affair, we’ll do what we can, grow what we can and cover over for next year what ground we can’t use this year.

Briefly said hello to a few people on site inc: Margaret And George (who’s no longer in charge of the site though Margaret is still secretary to the committee). Margaret told me that there was a committee meeting tomorrow night if I wanted to come along and show them the allotment website I’d built but I explained that I would probably wait until after my Op. There’s a committee meeting on the first Tuesday of every month apparently so I’ll have to put a reminder on my phone for the next one. Spent the rest of the day chilaxing again; my how my thumbs hurt after all that…on my knees weeding I had done earlier. Needed to keep an eye on my intake of alcohol because they advise you not to drink anything for 72 hours before the Op. Mind you as I’m having and epidural and not a general I’M NOT ON QUITE SUCH A STRICT TIMETABLE; but its best not to turn up pissed I would imagine!

I almost forgot to mention this!!!!!

Rugby Match and Car Breakdown…Prat

Deb had been online a few days before and downloaded free tickets for the development teams game between Leicester Tigers and Harlequins for this evening. The match started at 7PM and we needed to be there before then if we were to get reasonable seats; we were going to leave the car at Deb’s works car park, which is about half a klick away so we also needed to build in time for me to walk this. We left home around 5:45 and from the outset the car didn’t sound right and the wrong sounds rapidly got worse as our journey continued. We literally just made it to the car park before the old heap went and died on us completely. There was nothing we could do, lifted bonnet and topped up water reserve because over heating light kept coming on then left it to cool down while we watched the match. We walked, I hobbled, to the new Welford Road Caterpillar Stand and managed to get seats down toward the Nelson Mandela Park end. It was a great match which was won, narrowly, by the Tigers the final score being 29:27. Christ theses guys are good and the physical contact is awesome. Two guys continued fighting even though the ball had come out of the ruck and play had moved on down field. It’s no wonder that they won’t let Robin continue playing with the boys if this is how rough it’s going to get once they hit puberty and all that testosterone gets pumping.



Nat disappeared just before half time and finally return just before the second half started clasping a Tigers Pie in his greedy mitt; that boy and food!!!!! The match finished at around 8:40 Pm and we made our way out of the ground and walked back to the car. The car started but lacked any power, Deb managed to nurse it along and got it restarted when it cut out until finally , as we drove onto the grass in front of our drive it gave up the ghost for good and died completely; Nat Han and I pushed it onto the drive. Once inside Deb called out the RAC, we have home start, and an hour later their chap turned up. Great news…the head gasket completely gone and will need to be replaced and we’re looking at a bill of One Thousand Pounds approximately to have this work done. The Guy got the car started and Deb followed him to a garage he recommended and there they left it on the forecourt until morning. The nice RAC guy dropped Deb back at home.

So, I’ve got to get to hospital by 7:15 AM on Wednesday, it’s now Monday night and we have a broken car that’s going to take at least 3 days to fix…anyone else see a problem here?

Tues 4 – Happy Stars Wars Day – May the Fourth was it with you… well was it? Note to self remember to register religion as Jedi next year during census or else start a campaign to get everyone one to register as Flying Spaghetti Monster. Kept waiting for the Fourth to be with me but no apparent luck “strong the fourth is not in this one” as the little Fozzie Bear sound alike would say.

We’ve sorted out the car situation, Deb is going to borrow Donna’s car and so spent much of the evening at Donna’s online getting herself put on Donna’s insurance as an additional authorized driver; at least that’s one less problem to worry about. I passed the day mainly doing little or nothing checking that I had everything that I would need the next day and packing separately those items that Deb would bring in after my Op. I’m taking the bare minimum, Dressing Gown, PJ’s, Slippers, couple of books, MP3 player (in case my phone batteries die) and N82 mobile for pods and twittering (see separate entry above for - A Tweeting View of a Day in the General).

We received the May issue of the Braunstone Life (the Community Newspaper of Braunstone Town) this afternoon and there was a special two page spread entitled “Millfield Mercury” featuring items from Han’s (and formally Nat’s) primary school. There, slap bang in the very fist column, was the Millfield marathon badge that Han had designed for the marathon run they were going to do at school to support their teacher Mrs. bates who was running in the Brighton marathon to raise money for guide dogs for the blind (Mrs. B completed it successfully).

Wed 5 - Hope yesterday that everyone had a happy Star Wars day and that the Fourth was with You!

Anyway it's currently 01:41 on the 5 May and today's the day of my operation. Why am I up so late? well I've got to be at the General by 07:15 this AM and I figure, if last time was typical, that'll I'll be waiting round for a few more hours before going under the knife. Now after that's over then the last thing I want to be is wide awake so if I'm tied already hopefully I'll sleep through the worst of the post-op pain. Anyway that's my plan. In sixteen minutes time I pass the point of ingesting anything other than water, I've a cup of coffee here that I'll finish before then after that it's nothing but water up until 06:00 and after that nothing at all. I'm going to bed at 02:00 then getting up at 05:00 because despite the fact that I can't have breakfast I have got to have another shower with the "special" cleaner in order to try and avoid infections. Anyway, since the kids and Deb went to bed I've been able to check that I've got everything I need to take with me and everything Deb needs to fetch over later...thank God for Donna we've got her car as ours went tits up on Monday (see previous entry for weekend and Bank Holiday) night, we barely made it home, , head gaskets gone and we're looking at approximately a Grand in repairs and no car for three or even four days, talk about great timing!!! I'm taking my phone, creative MP3 player (charging cables) and a couple of books. Hopefully Deb will fetch over surge protection multipoint extension cable, net-book and portable hard drive (with their charging cables) and, finally, some additional books.
Anyway, it's time to sign off now; hopefully I'll be back to tell you what my time in hospital was like...fingers crossed everyone, please : )

Friday 30 April - Last Night 4 Now

Watched rest of Flashforward episode this AM on return from work (fell asleep during episode the night before) but resisted the temptation to watch the next. So after my morning dose of the great JK show I departed for my bed. Slept intermittently as usual and woke at 6:00 PM unrefreshed. Deb left immediately to pick up Nat and his mates from the Vue where they’d gone to see Ironman 2, leaving me to cook tea. I cooked the spaghetti but left the rest until they were home, Deb had left the meatballs on the work surface and it appears that Monty has finally twigged how to get things off of it because when she returned, shortly later, half of them had gone. So we had spaghetti with a wartime portion of meatballs for tea...bastard dog!


It’ll be my last night at work tonight for probably the next two or so months as I’m finally getting my hip replacement next Wednesday. It was frantic at work you’d have thought it was winter again; I think the company may have switched to the summer manning rotas a little early! Frighteningly, my mobile rang, I rarely get calls on it, and I rushed outside to answer it expecting the worse. It was Nat asking what email he had used to register with X-Box; he and Deb were trying to sign him up for a year’s membership before his months free trail ran out tomorrow. Gave them the needed info and later phoned to check they’d done what they wanted. What a joke Nat can’t renew his membership with his existing name because the system says that name is already taken…of course it’s taken it’s his name you stupid system. It’ll be a shame if he can’t use UBUMMER because he’s told all his friends that it’s his online name and they search for it to see if he’s online. Microsoft you really do deserve the bad name you so often get…You Gits!

It continued to be as busy as buggery until well after midnight but finally toward 1:00 things began to slow down. I took the opportunity to fill in this and next week’s holiday and sick leave forms. I must remember to send JDM an email, to let him know where I’ve left my lottery money, before I leave in the morning.

Having been impressed by other peoples efforts I decided to try and come up with a tweet exactly 140 characters long using as many election hashtags as I could fit in and still make sense; I’m very please with the following tweet:-

“#thesun #fakecleggheadlines says it’s #nickcleggsfault that #DavidCameronIsACunt. #nickclegg in #leadersdebate, says no he’s a selfmade man! “

Six, count them, hashtags and it makes sense and it’s exactly 140 characters…I rule!!!! I also added the following question and answer, again 140 characters:-

“What do call, a young, geographically astute American civilian, with a passport, who can find Afghanistan on a map? A wannabe drug smuggler.”

I’m about to see if I can come up with anymore, I use twitter fairly infrequently but when I do I tend to get the bit between my teeth and endeavour to create as many as I can. My rule is though that they have to be exactly 140 characters. I’ll do shorter for genuine communication but not for these. Here goes on a couple more:-

If #DavidCameronIsACunt and #iagreewithnick that he may be, does that mean that The Slitheen have the same sexual organs as normal ladies?

#DavidCameronIsACunt and it isn’t #nickcleggsfault; is it because he’s the result of an experiment mixing the worst #Blair + #Murdoch genes!

I've just turned round in my seat to find the entire team assembled behind me; they've got me a brilliant card wishing me well for my coming op...what a smashing bunch they all are. I never expected anything like this it never even crossed my mind. Thanks everyone.

Just two and a half hours left!

Penultimate Night at Work and The Long Dark Night of the Soul

I've just arrived at work for my last but one day before I go on sick leave to have my hip replaced. In addition deb and I have just had a massive fight at home. My head is splitting and I feel like I'm burning up, I've just been to the loo to dab my ears with water in an attempt to cool down. I must look as red as a beetroot, if the way my face feels is any indication, I know my arm arches like buggery from lying on it awkwardly in bed today, somebody shoot me...Please!

There’s just one week left in this election campaign and the last leadership debate took place this evening. As on the previous two occasions I’m at work and unable to watch it on TV. However I had the BBC website up and, between calls, read the ongoing reports as it proceeded.

Still not one of them is willing to tell the unvarnished truth above how bad the cuts, they’re going to have to impose, are going to be. Maybe, after the polls are closed and the unlucky winner is in office, he’ll let us know the truth.
Aside from the constant tiredness brought about by my poorly hip I think this is the real reason why I’m so short tempered with the kids and Deb; it’s because I think I know what’s coming and I CAN’T SEEM TO GET THROUGH TO THEM JUST HOW COMPETITIVE AND DANGEROUS THE WORLD is likely to be when the kids are grown.

The term “A Perfect Storm” seems to have been over used in the last few years, especially in disaster films, but it seems to me that it’s apropos to the coming decades:

1. The West, the USA in particular, has virtually bankrupt itself over the last 3 decades in an orgy of (increasingly Chinese financed) over consumption and it now faces a period of austerity unparalleled in modern times. What’s happening in Greece today could easily spread to and affect all of the other economies of the European Union tomorrow. The USA has had a generation of political leaders who have convinced its citizens that they can have the best of both worlds - increase consumption and reduced taxes, hence the reason that their internal infrastructure, road, rail and most importantly EDUCATION, is collapsing. The have cultivated a population of demanding ignoramuses who don’t understand why they can’t keep having more and more and who either, refuse to try or are too stupid to understand this - if ever a state could be equated to a spoilt demanding brat then the present day USA is such a state. If you don't agree; watch this

If all of the forgoing weren’t bad enough then given the additional factors listed below there’s no guarantee that the West, or the World, will ever truly emerge from this situation;

2. China, India, Brazil, Russia, to name just the four biggest, have growing economies and populations (well not Russia in the case of population) and these populations aspire to emulate the living standards of the West. The Earth can’t, in the long term, sustain the West’s consumption at its current level so how can it possibly support all these additional aspirations?

3. The World blindly uses up irreplaceable resources without giving any serious thought to how it will replace the irreplaceable. After peak oil* comes no oil – literally - and given point 2 above we’ll slide down the slope a damn site quicker than we climbed up it; The US military, at least, has already grasped this fact!

4. The population** of the world continues to rise and rise and rise with no, non-Malthusian catastrophe, end in sight. This uncontrolled growth is encouraged by the primitive religious faiths that cling to the belief that contraception is a sin against God – Yah Christianity and Islam, in particular, I’m talking about your deluded death worshipping cults;

5. The World refuses to face up to the REALITY of Man made climate change and take drastic action to avert its worse consequences. In fact, to make things even worse, there are groups who, for various and sundry reasons, seek to deny that there is even such a thing as climate change;

6. Fusion power****, the great hope of my childhood ( I was and am a Sci Fi reader), still appears to remain fifty years away and without it there’s no possible way we are going to be able to meet future energy demands, no matter how many windmills you built. Solar has a chance in some places, the US could supply all it's domestic power requirements if it deployed enough solar furnaces in its desert states, but even then you can't power a plane or car directly with it.

The only good thing that can be said about is that they provide all the elements needed to write the greatest dystopian post-apocalyptic novel ever written.

Is there any wonder why I’m so short tempered, if I could afford a fortress I’d equip it for a long term siege and lock the kids in it until the slaughter was over; because the wars over oil will be as nothing to those that will be fought over food and water. Without oil the USA won’t be the bread basket*** of the world any longer; it’ll have enough problems feeding its own population. If Europe wants to survive it’s going to have to become a self-sustaining fortress and hope that it can keep out the millions of dispossessed clamouring at its doors long enough for them to die off!!!

Well on those cheery notes perhaps it’s time to stop for tonight.

*Oil will not just "run out" because all oil production follows a bell curve. This is true whether we're talking about an individual field, a country, or on the planet as a whole. Oil is increasingly plentiful on the up slope of the bell curve, increasingly scarce and expensive on the down slope. The peak of the curve coincides with the point at which the endowment of oil has been 50 percent depleted. Once the peak is passed, oil production begins to go down while cost begins to go up.
Optimistic estimations of peak production forecast the global decline will begin by 2020 or later, and assume major investments in alternatives will occur before a crisis, without requiring major changes in the lifestyle of heavily oil-consuming nations. These models show the price of oil at first escalating and then retreating as other types of fuel and energy sources are used. Pessimistic predictions of future oil production operate on the thesis that either the peak has already occurred, that oil production is on the cusp of the peak, or that it will occur shortly. As proactive mitigation may no longer be an option, a global depression is predicted, perhaps even initiating a chain reaction of the various feedback mechanisms in the global market that might stimulate a collapse of global industrial civilization, potentially leading to large population declines within a short period. Throughout the first two quarters of 2008, there were signs that a global recession was being made worse by a series of record oil prices.

** Another significant factor on petroleum demand has been human population growth. Oil production per capita peaked in the 1970s. The United States Census Bureau predicts that the world population in 2030 will be almost double that of 1980.[29] Author Matt Savinar predicts that oil production in 2030 will have declined back to 1980 levels as worldwide demand for oil significantly out-paces production. Physicist Albert Bartlett claims that the rate of oil production per capita is falling, and that the decline has gone undiscussed because a politically incorrect form of population control may be implied by mitigation. Oil production per capita has declined from 5.26 barrels per year (0.836 m3/a) in 1980 to 4.44 barrels per year (0.706 m3/a) in 1993,[29][33] but then increased to 4.79 barrels per year (0.762 m3/a) in 2005. In 2006, the world oil production took a downturn from 84.631 to 84.597 million barrels per day (13.4553×10^6 to 13.4498×10^6 m3/d) although population has continued to increase. This has caused the oil production per capita to drop again to 4.73 barrels per year (0.752 m3/a).
One factor that has so far helped ameliorate the effect of population growth on demand is the decline of population growth rate since the 1970s, although this is offset to a degree by increasing average longevity in developed nations. In 1970, the population grew at 2.1%. By 2007, the growth rate had declined to 1.167%. However, oil production is still outpacing population growth to meet demand. World population grew by 6.2% from 6.07 billion in 2000 to 6.45 billion in 2005, whereas according to BP, global oil production during that same period increased from 74.9 to 81.1 million barrels (11.91×10^6 to 12.89×10^6 m3), or by 8.2%. Or according to EIA, from 77.762 to 84.631 million barrels (12.3632×10^6 to 13.4553×10^6 m3), or by 8.8%.

*** Because supplies of oil and gas are essential to modern agriculture techniques, a fall in global oil supplies could cause spiking food prices and unprecedented famine in the coming decades. Geologist Dale Allen Pfeiffer contends that current population levels are unsustainable, and that to achieve a sustainable economy and avert disaster the United States population would have to be reduced by at least one-third, and world population by two-thirds The largest consumer of fossil fuels in modern agriculture is ammonia production (for fertilizer) via the Haber process, which is essential to high-yielding intensive agriculture. The specific fossil fuel input to fertilizer production is primarily natural gas, to provide hydrogen via steam reforming. Given sufficient supplies of renewable electricity, hydrogen can be generated without fossil fuels using methods such as electrolysis. For example, the Vemork hydroelectric plant in Norway used its surplus electricity output to generate renewable ammonia from 1911 to 1971 Iceland currently generates ammonia using the electrical output from its hydroelectric and geothermal power plants, because Iceland has those resources in abundance while having no domestic hydrocarbon resources, and a high cost for importing natural gas However, in the near term, almost every large-scale source of renewable energy still requires petroleum inputs, such as to fuel construction equipment and to transport workers and materials. Iceland, for example, has abundant renewable energy resources, but still depends critically on liquid fuels from petroleum, all of which it must import. If the supply of petroleum should fall faster than people can learn how to build renewable energy infrastructure using only renewable inputs, it may not be possible to maintain the intensive agriculture necessary to support the high global population.

**** Despite optimism dating back to the 1950s about the wide-scale harnessing of fusion power, there are still significant barriers standing between current scientific understanding and technological capabilities and the practical realization of fusion as an energy source. Research, while making steady progress, has also continually thrown up new difficulties. Therefore it remains unclear whether an economically viable fusion plant is possible.[22][23] A 2006 editorial in New Scientist magazine opined that "if commercial fusion is viable, it may well be a century away." Interestingly, a pamphlet printed by General Atomics in 1970s stated that "By the year 2000, several commercial fusion reactors are expected to be on-line."
Several fusion D-T burning tokamak test devices have been built (TFTR, JET), but these were not built to produce more thermal energy than electrical energy consumed. Despite research having started in the 1950s, no commercial fusion reactor is expected before 2050. The ITER project is currently leading the effort to commercialize fusion power. A paper published in January 2009 and part of the IAEA Fusion Conference Proceedings at Geneva last October claims that small 50 MW Tokamak style reactors are feasible. On May 30, 2009, the US Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), primarily a weapons lab, announced the creation of a high-energy laser system, the National Ignition Facility, which can heat hydrogen atoms to temperatures only existing in nature in the cores of stars. The new laser is expected to have the ability to produce, for the first time, more energy from controlled, inertially-confined nuclear fusion than was required to initiate the reaction.
On January 28, 2010, the LLNL announced tests using all 192 laser beams, although with lower laser energies, smaller hohlraum targets, and substitutes for the fusion fuel capsules. More than one megajoule of ultraviolet energy was fired into the hohlraum, besting the previous world record by a factor of more than 30. The results gave the scientists confidence that they will be able to achieve ignition in more realistic tests scheduled to begin in the summer of 2010.

Wednesday 28 April

 

 

After school today I went to Hinckley and I played a 40 minute game of rugby which went:

1st 10 min period - 0 tries

break

2nd 10 min - 2 tries to them

break

3rd 10 min - 0 tries

break

4th 10 min - 1 try to us 1 to them. 

End

So they won 4 to 1 but oh well it was just a game. We went back to the changing room with the bike that almost killed Ben because the pedals, which are spiky, hit the back of his leg and drew blood. But any way we got changed into shirts and trousers, however I did keep my shin pads on ( in case they were like Syston ) then we went to the club house and had sausages, beans and chips. We were presented with our ties, so now we are juniors not minis. we now have to wear a shirt and tie ( and trousers ) to games. Robyn who has to leave this year because we can’t mix boys and girls next year got a present and a card and was called one of the worlds most frightening women After this we had a team photo and went home had some chips and a pie and a sausage and went to bed.    

practicing mobile blogging

I'm lying here in bed waiting to get up when i thought I'd see what it's like to blog on a phone from bed something I'll be doing next week in hospital. It seems quite easy all told and i cant see it being a problem.
This has taken of about 5 Min's to write including working out how to do paragraphs.

Tuesday 22 - Wed 28 April -

I've not done a GREAT DEAL this last 8 days it seems or if I have I can't immediately recollect it; Tues, Wed and Thurs were work days therefore daytime consisted, in the main, of going to bed to try and get some sleep. Spent much time on line following the election and, finally, started to watch my way through the backlog of TV programmes stored on the Virgin+ box.
I'm going to have to set up a private Twitter account and use it to make brief blog notes. That way if, like this week, I fail to keep this blog up to date then at least I'll have a list of items to aid my recollection when I do get round to writing it. I've just done it
It was Deb’s Mum’s birthday on the 24th but I’m not sure which one… sorry Doreen.

It was Debs birthday on the 27th I’m sure which one but I won’t mention it. As with mine we didn’t do anything special on hers, cos we’ve not got any fricking money!
She did buy the DVD of Avatar that day, I think it was that day it may have been the day before but which ever one it was we watched it that day. Donna’s Son Josh had to go into hospital to have FOUR!!! Teeth out and when he came home he was in such pain that he had to be rushed back in; his loving Father and his gorgeous bird pulled up outside the house to drop his sister off just as the ambulance arrived but being the delightful people they both are neither could be bothered to get out of their car to see if he was OK!
Wednesday signalled a Rugby Right of Passage for Nat. This was the night of the memorial match with Hinckley Rugby club the last match that either team would play as mini’s marking their transition to juniors. After the match, which The Vipers lost for the 16th year in a row, there was a meal in the Hinckley club house followed by the presentation of their club ties. From now on they can’t come to matches already dressed in their kit; they have to ware a shirt and tie and get changed at the venue. Oddly Nat likes wearing shirts and ties…he’s a strange lad! Bye the Bye, even though they lost the game it was one of the best they have played and it allowed Robin, the only girl in the team, to go out on a high note hitting all and sundry of the opposition with her deadly elbows and making some great breaks…Christ that kid’s tough! She was presented, at the meal, with the photo that Deb had bought of her when she had last played at Oadby Wyggstonians. Junior teams are single sex so she can’t play with the lads any longer but, it seems, she’s already signed up to play for a girls team next season.

Sunday 25 - tuesday28 of April

 

 

Sunday

Today we did rugby training so we did sprinting used scrum machines and did tackling drills and the like so nothing spectacular happened except I won in my part of the sprinting races and brought glory back for my team so yeah.

Monday

Sigh back to school back to RE and English the subjects created by saten which is ironic for RE when I got home there was nothing to do so I went on the XBOX and found a funny Skeptoied.

 

Tuesday

Today the only thing that happened today was that I trapped my thumb in a door at school and it hurt allot so I was sadend and then it swelled and then it healed and I was happy again I then came home and wrote this.

Wednesday 21-Saturday 24 of april

 

 

Wednesday

Today I had scouts were we did a night hike and my patrol came first we got back first and had all the right answers to the questions we had been set then after that we played net ball and I scored … 2 shots. More than anyone else and that is because I am the greatest. I can’t really write any more about Wednesday so now I’ll go to…

 

Thursday

Today I did Judo and as usual I won some fights lost others I also helped teach the younger ones there with throws and holds and other Judo things Like lifts and strangle holds. And now on to…

 

Friday

Today in cooking we made macaroni cheese

 

the recipe is

put 250ml of milk,50g of flour and 50g of butter put this on a stove at a low temperature and stir until about the density of custard while doing this put your pasta in to a big saucepan filled with water and a dab of olive oil then great 100g of cheese put about 2/3 of this in the source and stir until you cant see the cheese then drain your pasta and put the source on it put in a container and sprinkle on the left over cheese top it of with some tomato the put it in the oven at a medium temp for 10 min now sit back and enjoy.

 

Saturday

Today I went into town to go to GW so we went in Sam,Zac and I we played a few games with the might of my space wolves winning as usual. At about 12:30 we had lunch Maryland Chicken and then I got a GAME reward card.then we went back to GW and played more games and did some painting and the we came home and went on our XBOXs and played halo 3 which is one of the best games of all time.

Thursday 22 April - CRB, School Rugby, Twitter headlines

Got home this A.M. and spent most of the morning writing stupid, but I thought they were funny, #fakenickcleggheadlines for Twitter (see below) because I was to tired to be tired, if that makes any sense (it will to anyone who’s ever worked nights). Shortly before I actually decided to bite the bullet and go to bed I received a call from Brockington College re: Deb's governor's Meeting next week and her needing to complete a CRB* check form. Left her an almost incomprehensible note requesting she called the school when she got home...surprise surprise she didn't ring. I told her, it doesn't matter how much she tries to avoid filling in the form eventually they're going to find out that she was one of the Great Train Robbers… Sixty years and a sex change can’t hide some things!

Nat was supposed to play Rugby for Brockington College over in Market Harborough today but forgot to get Deb to sign the permission slip; no problem his nine year old sister faked their Mum's signature for him**. Unfortunately, as it turns out, they lost the match but that's all part of life's rich tapestry…Losers!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I'm on EA tonight’s whilst Ash is doing manuals; it's pretty quite tonight so, in between him watching Top Gear and me scrutinising the twittersphere for more Nick Clegg tweets and reading reviews of the three leaders debate earlier, we've been swapping telephone call horror stories. I couldn’t top his Thai Bride and her Thirteen Bedrooms Saga…Oh God the sheer unmitigated horror of it all!!
I'm not planning on a huge enormous gigantic large long big entry tonight, Oh Ah Mrs, so listed below are my attempts at being funny or even occasionally serious, on twitter...nite all.


Tweets
The BNP, it is #nickcleggsfault that its Simple Mission is providing Simple Answers 2 Simple Questions 4 Simple People… BNP simply nonsense!


about 2 hours ago via web

Delete #election It’s Our Simple Mission Simply providing Simple Answers 2 Simple Questions 4 Simple People… BNP you know i



#fakecleggheadlines Dole scrongers who do murder their kids will keep their benefits unless they opt to serve their sentence under rule 42.about 7 hours ago via web

• Delete

1. #fakecleggheadlines To reduce future social security costs dole scrongers who don't murder their children will have their benefits withdrawnabout 7 hours ago via web
   
2. #fakecleggheadlines Clegg plans to compel all Daily Mail readers to fellate seven bogus asylum seekers daily Policy re:their wifes undecidedabout 7 hours ago via web
   
3. I’m not saying its #NickCleggsFault but the last time I looked I wasn't sharing my home with 20 asylum seekers who expect me their cook tea!about 7 hours ago via web
   
4. I’m not saying its #NickCleggsFault but the last time I looked I wasn't expected to share my house with 2 convicted Paedophiles and now I amabout 7 hours ago via web
   
5. “I hate fucking pouffe” says man who fails 2 comprehend the joy of sexual congress with an item of furniture used as a footstool or low seatabout 7 hours ago via web
   
6. “I hate fucking poufs” says man who failed to understand the joy of indulging in congress with a hairstyle deriving from 18th-century Franceabout 8 hours ago via web
   
7. #fakecleggheadlines mysickbones rejects epithet of "sad wanker". "It's not my fault" he claims "I just had this persistent itch in my pants"about 8 hours ago via web
   
8. #fakecleggheadlines Clegg laughs at torment of sad wanker compelled 2 tweet fake headlines when he's got work tonight and should be in bed!about 8 hours ago via web
   
9. #fakecleggheadlines Clegg defames late great TV Stars Reg Varney and Gordon Jackson at medieval fencing contest "I hate you Buckler" he saysabout 8 hours ago via web
   
10. #fakecleggheadlines Inarticulate Clegg claims "when I supped with the Devil it was him wat had to use a long spoon the fucking nouncy twat."about 8 hours ago via web
    
11. #fakecleggheadlines Clegg announces - 72 virgins for every muslim voter plan. Offer not valid in Essex or surrounds due to severe shortages!about 8 hours ago via web
    
12. #fakecleggheadlines Clegg says LibDems will clear national deficit and hasten Rapture by selling scrapped Trident missile system to Al Qaedaabout 9 hours ago via web
    
13. #fakecleggheadlines Prince Albert strips to reveal his Devil worshipping baby eating puppy buggering rubber donkey molesting Clegg piercingabout 9 hours ago via web
    
14. #fakecleggheadlines Video exposes Clegg's promise 2 Lucifer Virgin Sacrifice will become part of primary school syllabus when he's elected!about 9 hours ago via web
    
15. #fakecleggheadlines All Daily Mail reader's underage daughters 2B married off to bogus asylum seeking paedophiles to massage asylum claims!about 9 hours ago via web
    
16. #fakecleggheadlines Clegg claims the late belove TV chef Keith Floyd was crap, " every fucking baby he ever cooked me was burned, the twat"about 9 hours ago via web
    
17. #fakecleggheadlines To reduce prison overcrowding, families with young children will have to provide lodgings for two convicted Paedophiles!about 9 hours ago via web
    
18. #fakecleggheadlines "Yes I did rape Nora Batty, so what the fuck's it got to do with you cunt face" says foul mouth LibDem heartthrob Clegg!about 9 hours ago via web
    
19. #fakecleggheadlines "David "call me dave" Cameron ate my fucking hamster" first, claims blood soaked, lip licking, Devil worshipping Clegg.about 9 hours ago via web
    
20. #fakecleggheadlines OAPs to get single mothers babies as part of winter fuel allowance. Clegg claims it'll provide much needed extra heatingabout 9 hours ago via web
    
21. #fakecleggheadlines Why I don't regret the time I spent as chief oven repairman at Auschwitz. You call it a Holocaust I called it a Holiday!about 10 hours ago via web
    
22. BBC 4 announces latest new series. Examining claims that capital punishment does deter murder. Working title: Let them Hang Goes The Theory.about 10 hours ago via web
    
23. BBC 4 announces latest new series. It examines people who only crash their cars when they are very tired. Working title: Prang Go The Weary.about 10 hours ago via web
    
24. BBC 4 announces latest new series. It examines people who get sexually aroused when they are very tired. Working title: Bang Goes The Weary.about 10 hours ago via web
    
25. "Eat my shots" says man wearing whisky soaked trousers. Later seen shouting at passerby "Vodka looking at u twat". Seems to be a rum fellow!about 10 hours ago via web
    
26. If the knives are out for Clegg & it certainly seems that they are, then he must be doing something right. Is the Daily Mail running scared?about 10 hours ago via web
    
27. Re: David "call me Dave" Cameron I agree with my wife if elected PM he will unzip his forehead and show us all The Slitheen within#electionabout 10 hours ago via web

* Criminal Records Bureau – what everyone in the UK, who comes into regular official contact with Kids, has to fill in to prove that they are not a paedophile (or a liar)! Methinks that the Catholic Church might have benefited from having a similar vetting process for anyone applying to join the Priesthood…NOT!


** We still deciding whether to punish them for dishonesty or reward them for showing initiative