PartialPressures (ex Vox)

Well, there's something you don't see every day

The CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) has decided it's safe to reopen most of UK airspace.

They came from the North

They came from the East

It's only been a few hours since the announcement, and it's going to be a few hours yet before things are back to anything like full swing (and days before it's back to normal).

But I think I'm going to miss the unblemished skies, just a little.

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Grumpy footnote

And I'd almost forgotten what an absolute pig the Vox editor is. *sigh!*

Still unnaturally quiet...

The cloud of ash continues to spread.

2010-04-18_090023

The little blue crosses are airports; the little yellow planes are aircraft in flight. You'll notice one plane over the Netherlands; that's because KLM and Lufthansa have been sending up a couple of old planes as test flights. Given that they didn't fall out of the sky, the next step there is to dissect the engines and check for damage.

Overhead, the sky is blue and empty, apart from birds and insects. By way of comparison, here's what the sky would normally look like around this time of day. I took this a couple of weekends ago, about this time of the morning.

Counterflow

The current reckoning is that, across Europe, it's costing the airlines around $200 million per day. And even if the skies cleared in the next hour, it would still take several days to get everything running on schedule again.

Unnaturally quiet

Not me (although that could be said, I suppose.) I mean the sky overhead.

It hasn't been this quiet since, oh, September 2001.

It's all because of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which has thrown out a cloud of jet-engine-chewing ash that's now drifting over north-western Europe. It's not a theoretical danger. A 747 lost all four engines to volcanic ash over Java in 1982 (luckily, they were able to restart them by the time the plane got down to 12000 feet, and it landed OK, but still...)

Airspace over Ireland, the UK, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and the Netherlands is all closed (or closing imminently); nearby countries are watching and waiting.

Which means, the sky over Schloss Spike, normally a mess of contrails and aluminium, is clear.

Here's how it looks on radar (via flightradar24.com)

2010-04-15_150632

UK airspace is closed until at least 0600 GMT tomorrow morning.

The last time Eyjafjallajökull erupted, it carried on for a year, and presaged an eruption by one of its bigger neighbours. This one, as they say, could run and run.

On the bright side, the sunsets could be quite good for the next few days.

Something to chill-out to

Via Darwin Wiggett's blog. People keep telling me that Vancouver is the best place in the world to live. Watching this, one could start to believe them.

Vancouver City

Worth the bandwidth to watch in higher resolution.

This song is ending, but the music never ends

Matapedia by Kate & Anna McGarrigle

Kate McGarrigle 1946-2010

Say it ain't so

Allergy-advice

I bet they're still laughing about having to do this, down at the ol' egg-packing plant.

Hallowe'en moon

I tawt I taw a puddytat

Despite the best efforts of the supermarkets and chain stores, Hallowe'en passed quietly here: barely a pressed doorbell, let alone the vandalism of a couple of years ago.

Or so I hear. Rather than wait around to pander to miniature extortionists, I took the camera out for a wander. This was one of those shots that you get when you remember to turn around; there was just enough time to spin the tripod around, aim, and fire.

After three and a bit years...

Eh? Oh... I see what you mean.

No, I'm not giving up on Vox (despite the eternal frustrations with the blimmin' editor and photo-mangler). I like the folks in my little neighbourhood.

But, I am making a couple of changes.

First off, I've started a photoblog over at aminus3*. It's a site dedicated to posting (at most) one photo per day. It's nicely done, and well worth a browse - there are some interesting people and stunning photos there; I'm hoping some of it will rub off on me :-) Besides, it's a challenge to myself - my track record for keeping diaries, journals, daily-anythings is pretty much zero-for-zillions. Please feel free to drop by - and to nudge me if I seem to be slipping. :-)

Second, I'm changing names here from frostbitten to partialpressures. No big reason; it's just one less thing for me to remember. Fingers crossed, the change may already have happened, and it shouldn't make the slightest difference to anyone. Either that, or you won't be able to read this anyway...

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Lexical footnote
That's aminus3 as in arithmetic a – 3, not animus as in psychology.

Too close for comfort?

xkcd.com: Bored with the Internet

From xkcd.com – a webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language.

The obligatory autumn colour post

Horse chestnut

People come to the Arboretum in their thousands - literally - on Saturdays and Sundays at this time of year. Only a handful ever stray from the footpaths.

Heavy traffic through "The Link"

Last year (OK, and a couple of weeks earlier), my friend the sugar maple was still a happy green. He's not so confused this year.

Under the spreading maple tree

I don't know why people stick to the paths... but I'm not complaining, because it means I get the little treats all to myself.

One of many Japanese varieties

Despite the low and brilliant sunshine, it was raining a little as I took these. It was that sort of day.

Carpet of the sun