Decrease in Energy Demand

I subscribed to Sharenet’s (www.sharenet.co.za) load shedding alerts. Worked like a charm, especially during the high load shedding periods. This morning I received this mail from them (all credit where credit is due etc…) Interesting reading.

“There has been no load-shedding for several months now, and ESKOM have informed they do not expect any load-shedding to occur in 2016. This is the good news and for once, we agree with ESKOM that load-shedding probabilities are low next year.

Now for the bad news – the low probability of load-shedding in 2016 and beyond is not solely due to ESKOM getting its act together with its maintenance program and horrific building delays. It’s mostly due to a massive fall-off in DEMAND caused by the shutdown in factories and mines and other energy intensive industries, as well as a slumping SA ECONOMY.

The pullback in demand is horrific.

So despite improved and accelerated maintenance (we fully accept the great job being done by ESKOM new management here), demand continues to trend downward, now down almost 8% since the Jul 2007 peak at the height of the last economic expansion.

This is bad news because this means the economy is contracting and if this continues long enough, we will be plunged into another recession. A recession will likely affect your business or employer and it will definately affect the Rand/$ which in turn will drive up costs of imported goods. Falling earnings will affect JSE shares that are heavily exposed to the SA economy, but fortunately there are many listed shares on the JSE that are immune to the local economy and actually gain in value when the Rand falls.”

Nasty Crosswind Landing

I went flying last week Friday. Nothing funny there.

Then a storm happened. I was turning final and ready to land when I was told to Go Around as there was a vehicle on the ground doing safety inspections on the runway.

No problem. Go around.

All this time I am keeping an eye on the storm to the south of the airport, hoping against hope that it will give me time to land before it hits the airport.

I turn base. All is well.

I turn final. ATC announces “The storm has just hit. Surface wind 240 Gusting 35 Knots.”

That’s bad.

I’m lined up for runway 29. That means the wind is coming from the left. Almost 90 degrees from the left. And 35 knots gusting is strong.

The Piper I am flying has a 10 knot crosswind limit.

But I need to land. The storm will keep me in the air for another hour and a half, and I am running out of daylight. Not good, especially if you do not have a night rating.

“JTO. You may go around and rejoin at a later stage if required.”

Nice. But no.

“Tower. JTO. For a full stop please.”

“Copy full stop. Clear to land runway 29. Surface wind 240 gusting 35 knots.”

Deep breath.

Crabbing works like this; You fly semi into the wind, lining your approach up with the runway. Ailerons controls drift, rudder controls direction. I’ve never landed in a strong crosswind like this. Especially one that is not constant. But I bring it in. As I come in I notice a funny phenomenon. The crosswind is so strong, I cannot get the plane lined up with the runway. If I turn any more to the left, I will be flying into the wind, and not closer to the runway.

Bummer.

Wait a second!!! Throttle!!! I have a very long runway to play with. If I slightly overshoot the threshold… no biggy.

More power and she starts lining up.

Now for the easy part. Down to the runway, and at the last moment ailerons into the wind and opposite rudder. No problem.

It’s funny how the repetition of training kicks in when you need it most. I slightly overshoot the threshold but put her down and evacuate the runway well before the halfway mark.

ATC: “JTO. Nice landing. Evacuate Charlie. Hold short Bravo.”

“Nice landing…” I smile.

I had to sit short of Bravo for a second or two just to catch my breath. That was epic!! Do I want to do it again? Not if I can help it. But, at least, now I know I can.

It’s difficult to explain how a severe crosswind landing looks and feels like, but the following video has some nice examples. Enjoy.

The First 20 Hours

I am stuck in traffic for a large part of every day. If it is not on my way to work, then it is on my way back from work. Or on my way to a meeting. Or on my way back from a meeting… you get the idea.

I have therefore invested in Audible. What is it. Audio Books. On your iPhone (and I would imagine Android device as well). My “reading” of books has therefore increased from near zero to about 4 books a month. Which is great.

Latest one I “read” is ‘The First 20 Hours’ by Josh Kaufman. Interesting read about Rapid Skill Acquisition (RSA). Josh sets himself a couple of tasks ranging from learning to code in Ruby and learning to play the Ukelele to Windsurfing and Yoga. All to be mastered to a certain level with 20 hours of practice. And he does it. And I’m impressed.

Definitely a book I would recommend. You can find it here.

To Print or not to Print… that is the question

We have all seen the little note at the bottom of most e-mails. “Consider the environment before printing” or something along that line. Now here is the question… What do you intend doing with that e-mail. Just a quick read and delete? By all means, go ahead.

But are you going to archive or save it for later reading or reference? You may want to re-think your position then.

Granted that printing an e-mail is mostly a waste of paper, it should be noted that if the paper is from a sustainable source, there may actually be merit in doing that.

Consider, if you will, the storage of said e-mail on a server of some sort. The server requires power. Power (especially in South Africa) is far from a clean resource. Not to mention the building required to house the server, the HVAC required to cool the server and a myriad other silicone based components required to actually save the data. Putting all of this together, saving the e-mail might actually be worse for the environment than printing it.

That said, most companies these days have a backup of all mail somewhere in cyberspace. Printing the e-mail may then actually be a terrible thing. Two wrongs do not make a right.

Solutions?

I am sure somebody is just waiting to revolutionise the soft- vs hard-copy arena. I cannot wait.