Thank you, thank you

I am honoured to be awarded this small but significant medal (the Napier Shaw Bronze medal) for the best paper published in the CIBSE’s Building Services Engineering Research and Technology journal (BSERT). However, I would rather not focus on the technical aspects of the paper as I'm not at all convinced that my report on why we should not use panels of trained sniffers to assess air quality in offices is of wide appeal.

I would rather focus on how I came to write a paper at all. And I'm hoping my story will inspire you all to try something new, to achieve a distant dream and to unlock your hidden potential.

Bog Off Bunnies, Celebrate Easter with a Hare

Easter is almost upon us and the shops have been filled to the rafters with chocolate eggs and bunnies for some time now. But if you really want to be Easter-authentic then I propose you treat your beloved to a hare related gift. 

Easter is thought to be German or possibly even Babylonian in origin. Some believe that Easter gets its name from the old English Ēastre or Ēostre, the Teutonic/Anglo-Saxon goddess of spring, for whom a festival was held in her honour every year at the vernal equinox. Ishtar, the Babylonian goddess of spring, is another homophone of Easter. The date of Easter is not fixed, but instead is governed by the phases of the moon – very pagan.

Give Evolution a Chance

We live in a stupid world, a world now overpopulated with unintelligent and ignorant people. We place these stupid people in positions of power and we idolise them.

If you are not convinced then consider global politics and the leaders of the free world – halfwits like Reagan, George W Bush and Trump. In the UK, celebrity status is bestowed upon morons from reality TV – idiots like Joey Essex who can't tell the time or blow his nose. We worship fatuous footballers like Wayne Rooney, say no more. And our children aspire to be pop stars like the puerile Jedwood and Justin Bieber.