Some pictures of Diana and Myself, where we now live and places around us, things that we find interesting, amusing or just plain weird!
Tuesday 5 April 2011
By The Time You Read This,
I will hopefully be well on my way to meet Diana in the Philippines, but first I spent a bit of time tidying up the place, I am not known for being tidy on the domestic front, but today I wanted everything to look nice for when Diana returned, so at about 4 in the afternoon I made a break for a late lunch, no breakfast, the skies over the Punch & Judy looking ominous to say the least, there had been a thunder storm in the distance going on all morning,
but at last time for a quick 'Cheers!' from me as I tucked into a steak and stout pie, then home to get ready to leave, Mark was going to call round later to pick up the keys so he could feed the fish, I was all packed and ready to go,
but during the afternoon I watched a couple of DVD's, first I Am Legend, I just like these end of the world movies so much, I guess it started with me reading War of the Worlds as a kid, but back to I Am Legend, years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure, to little too late springs to mind, but great special effects,
then to round off the evening before the taxi arrived a couple from Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, I had seen these before but were well worth watching again, basically a drama-documentary series which describes some of the key technological achievements of the industrial age, first Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806 - 1859), this a true story about the building of the steam ship The Great Eastern, it made history with its revolutionary design, (twin hulls for one, pity the oil industry did not take note!), the ship was never a great success commercially, and was plagued by a series of mishaps, least of which was when it was scrapped the body of a riveter was discovered between it's twin hulls, worse, along side the body was the body of a young child, they were used as only children could fit between the twin hulls to catch the red hot rivets, eventually it ended its days as a tourist attraction, before being broken down for scrap, a sad end for a magnificent 'Wonder of the Industrial World', next to the designer and builder of the Brooklyn bridge, as any American will tell you it lead to the death not only of it's German designer, John Roebling, but also of his son, Washington, after an accident his wife Emily, directed the construction of the bridge, Emily Roebling studied higher mathematics and bridge engineering, and soon made daily visits to the bridge to oversee her husband's staff of engineers and builder, the 1,595-foot main span would be the longest for any suspension bridge in the world, and would be more than 500 feet longer than John Roebling's Cincinnati-Covington Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge cost $15.1 million to build, $3.8 million of which was to purchase land for approaches and the remainder going toward construction, this was more than twice the original cost estimate of $7 million, but as well as success there was also tragedy, on Memorial Day, 1883, a woman who was walking up the steps of the Manhattan side tripped, and her female companion screamed, the scream triggered off a rumor that the bridge was about to collapse, in the panic and resulting crush, 12 people were killed and 35 others were seriously injured, then for me feet up and wait for the taxi, Philippines here I come!
but first I spent a bit of time tidying up the place, I am not known for being tidy on the domestic front, but today I wanted everything to look nice for when Diana returned, so at about 4 in the afternoon I made a break for a late lunch, no breakfast, the skies over the Punch & Judy looking ominous to say the least, there had been a thunder storm in the distance going on all morning,
but at last time for a quick 'Cheers!' from me as I tucked into a steak and stout pie, then home to get ready to leave, Mark was going to call round later to pick up the keys so he could feed the fish, I was all packed and ready to go,
but during the afternoon I watched a couple of DVD's, first I Am Legend, I just like these end of the world movies so much, I guess it started with me reading War of the Worlds as a kid, but back to I Am Legend, years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure, to little too late springs to mind, but great special effects,
then to round off the evening before the taxi arrived a couple from Seven Wonders of the Industrial World, I had seen these before but were well worth watching again, basically a drama-documentary series which describes some of the key technological achievements of the industrial age, first Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1806 - 1859), this a true story about the building of the steam ship The Great Eastern, it made history with its revolutionary design, (twin hulls for one, pity the oil industry did not take note!), the ship was never a great success commercially, and was plagued by a series of mishaps, least of which was when it was scrapped the body of a riveter was discovered between it's twin hulls, worse, along side the body was the body of a young child, they were used as only children could fit between the twin hulls to catch the red hot rivets, eventually it ended its days as a tourist attraction, before being broken down for scrap, a sad end for a magnificent 'Wonder of the Industrial World', next to the designer and builder of the Brooklyn bridge, as any American will tell you it lead to the death not only of it's German designer, John Roebling, but also of his son, Washington, after an accident his wife Emily, directed the construction of the bridge, Emily Roebling studied higher mathematics and bridge engineering, and soon made daily visits to the bridge to oversee her husband's staff of engineers and builder, the 1,595-foot main span would be the longest for any suspension bridge in the world, and would be more than 500 feet longer than John Roebling's Cincinnati-Covington Bridge, the Brooklyn Bridge cost $15.1 million to build, $3.8 million of which was to purchase land for approaches and the remainder going toward construction, this was more than twice the original cost estimate of $7 million, but as well as success there was also tragedy, on Memorial Day, 1883, a woman who was walking up the steps of the Manhattan side tripped, and her female companion screamed, the scream triggered off a rumor that the bridge was about to collapse, in the panic and resulting crush, 12 people were killed and 35 others were seriously injured, then for me feet up and wait for the taxi, Philippines here I come!
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