Macronencer/Journal Archive 2009

Macronencer Journal Entries (2009)

July

2009-07-17 Couch Potato...
I have just worked out that at my latitude of 50 degrees, assuming my house includes its land area of about 30x40m, there is a 1 in 6.7 million chance of getting a couch potato award on a given day. Not good odds, though admittedly a little better than the Lotto jackpot :|

2009-07-29 More about Couch Potato
I think my previous estimate was pessimistic. Personally I would count anything within a 30m radius of the centre of my house, given that the grounds are fairly large. Actually they are rectangular, but likely to be equivalent to a 30m radius circle. I must measure this accurately at some point.

Anyway, this new criterion yields a 1 in 3 million chance on a given day (equating to a 1 in 8200 chance in a given year).

2009-07-30 How accurate are the co-ordinates?
I like to answer questions like this, so I had a go. By my reckoning, the geohash algorithm gives a maximum grid resolution of about 6 femtometres, which is about 6,000 times smaller than a hydrogen atom. Talk about a hammer to crack a nut!

2009-08-01 Kayaks!
I went looking at water transport today. I seem to have these options:

1. Solid sit-on kayak

Pro Less work paddling against the wind, more rugged for larger stretches of water, can get a larger version and sit my son in the back seat. Andark's even told me it might fit IN my car, removing the need for a roof rack. I'm going back there to try doing that tomorrow, though I don't plan to buy anything just yet.

Con Expensive. Too large to take on bike-only expeditions, and I will get wet (but hey, that was probably going to happen anyway with a water hash)

2. Inflatable

Pro Cheap. Small enough to go in a bike trailer. I could probably get bike, trailer and boat into my car for maximum Ninja-strike capability.

Con Hard work to paddle against wind, and slightly more limited in choice of water. Probably dangerous in large tidal rivers, and NO WAY I would take one on the sea, of course.

This is interesting. The inflatable is cheap enough that I could get one and get the solid kayak later as well. This would allow me at least to have some water capability in the mean time. I also want to get some kayaking lessons (I need a refresher!)

2009-08-02 More about boats...
I cycled over to Hamble Canoe Club today and spoke to them about my plans. Alex was very helpful, and told me about this wonderful thing called a Tote-n-boat. It looks perfect! It could go in the car, or behind my bike in a trailer very easily. Were I fitter, I might even be able to sling it over my back while cycling, but I have my doubts about that. There's even a sailing rig for it, should I ever feel the need for such a thing. I wonder whether there's a UK supplier...