by Fern Shaw | Jun 2, 2014 | Health and Hydration
Do NOT blame me for whacked out this week. I innocently typed in ‘coolest water coolers global’ (or something thereabouts) and I ended up with *pointing upwards* ‘Coolest Inventions’. But just to make things more ‘cool’ – aha aha – these ‘coolers’ are apparently invented by the Ozzies. No, I’m not talking about the The Wizard of Oz and Dorothy and click-ee red shoes, I’m referring to the land of wombats and wonder – that Oz.
1854: The fridge
There’s one in nearly every kitchen, at least in the Western World, but the ubiquitous fridge was originally conceived in Geelong, Victoria, in the 1850s by James Harrison. His patented ether liquid-vapour compression system, whereby gas was passed through a compressor to be cooled and liquefied, and then circulated through refrigeration coils, is still the most widely used refrigeration system today — not just in fridges, but air conditioners in homes and offices around the world.
1970s: Permaculture
Bill Mollison and David Holmgren, later to become known as the fathers of permaculture, rigorously worked to develop a sustainable method of farming. Modelled on the relationships and patterns found in natural ecologies, the purpose of permaculture is a sustainable and harmonious use of land and resources, putting back what you take out. The end result is a higher level of self-sustainability within communities, lessening the reliance on industrialisation.
1990s: Spray-on skin
Plastic surgeon Dr Fiona Wood was frustrated at treating burns victims; the faster they can be treated the less chance of scarring – but sheets of skin tissue take 14-21 days to grow. Wood also noticed that skin sheets with holes healed faster than the sheets that had more fully meshed, and so she conceived the idea of a skin spray. Made from the patient’s own skin cells, the spray was used to impressive effect after the Bali bombings, but clinical trials are ongoing.
2003: Google Maps
Google Maps actually began as a C++ program designed at Sydney-based Where 2 Technologies. The project was the brainchild of two brothers, Lars and Jens Rasmussen, who originally intended the product as a downloadable app. However, when the company needed venture capital, they pitched the program to Google as a web-based application. Google bought Where 2 Technologies in 2004, and Google Maps was announced in 2005.
All of the above I did not know. Now I do and so do you. Psst! We may not have invented the water cooler erhm … fridge, but we certainly supply the best of … hot, cold, as you like it.
by Fern Shaw | Apr 25, 2014 | Water, water cooler, Water Coolers
It shouldn’t come as any surprise that thanks to social media, the gathering place to shoot the breeze, hang out, flirt a little, or just generally compare notes about how your Uncle Seamus’ carrots beat your colleague’s Aunty Bettina’s leeks in the local produce fair is not so much in the real world at the water cooler but rather through social media sites.
In a global survey by Alexa, as of December 2013, these social media sites took top dog position:
Facebook (colour us not surprised); QZone; V Kontakte; Odnoklassniki; Cloob and Drauglem.
Facebook is the dominant social network in in 127 out of 137 countries analysed.
Facebook has now 1,189 billion monthly active users, but it is growing less rapidly than before (it has added just 34 million active users in 6 months). 351 million users in Asia, 276 million in Europe, 199 million in US & Canada, 362 million in remaining countries. This according to Q3 2013 Earnings.
Active users as of January 2014 on various social media are: Facebook – 1.2billion; QZone – 623.3million; Google+ – 300million; Tencent Weibo – 220million; Twitter – 218million; Instagram – 218million and 4Sq at 8million.
Now I’m well immersed in the world of social media (for obvious reasons I hope) but these stats did jog me out of my little neck of the woods comfort zone to be sure – Cloob? Really?
When all is said and done though, I must say that I’m a little nostalgic. I recently received an article posted to me from a friend overseas – my address – ‘Blogista woman lurking at the water cooler, AquAid Water Coolers, Cambridge’- was handwritten. I pounced on it like it was platinum. A couple of days after someone e-mailed me this funny which sort of brought it home.
So, yes, it seems that social media is very likely the new water cooler, but I think I’ll stick with lurking around my local water cooler to catch up on the latest – before I truly become a ghost in the machine.
by Fern Shaw | Apr 22, 2014 | Health and Hydration
Unless you’ve been buried in a snow drift for the past, oh – 100 years – I think you may have noticed the raging debate about global warming.
Having watched this debate and its proponents and opponents with interest over the last 15 years or so, I came to the conclusion recently that if there are 2 people in a room with no external influences whatsoever, where potentially they could actually get on famously, throw in the words ‘global warming’ and watch the feathers fly.
The further conclusion that I draw from this is that people seem to have to have something to argue about – irrespective of whether they are versed on the topic or not. From Donald Trump through to David Cameron, everybody has an opinion it seems.
Before we get ahead of ourselves though, perhaps it’s a good idea to clarify the difference between weather and climate.
This from Jeff Schweitzer at The Huffington Post:
‘Climate describes atmospheric behaviour averaged over long time periods of decades and centuries across large geographic areas. Weather describes actual local atmospheric conditions over short periods of time, from hours to days. Weather is all about the actual state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, moisture, pressure, cloud cover and other instantaneous measurements. Climate is a composite of weather conditions averaged over many years. Think of weather as a single datum point and climate as a large collection of those data. Better yet, think of weather as a one-night stand. Then climate would be raising the kid resulting from that night for the next two decades. One immediately leads to the other, but the two are completely different phenomenon. And that is why we have two distinct fields of study: meteorology and climatology.’
Right, so now that I’ve flung the proverbial cat in amongst the pigeons with that clarification, you lot can thrash it out amongst yourselves. Me, I’m going to make up some placards, go and lurk near the water cooler and pick a fight with the first person that mocks my manifesto.
by Fern Shaw | Mar 26, 2014 | Health and Hydration, water cooler, Water Coolers
I know, I know, I know. I do carry on (and on and on) about how very crucial water is, and I blog about it from every conceivable and (some rather inconceivable) perspectives, but the fact is – it is.
Putting this all into perspective:
Apparently a water pipe burst near my hoos the other day. Turned on the tap to wash the dishes and all I got was this rather impressive gurgling and rather scary pipe rattling. Then, my tap turned into a Spitting Cobra of brown muck. Then, nothing. It was the weekend. None of the neighbours had water either. So;
- no water to drink;
- no water to make a cuppa (which was my next task after doing the dishes);
- no water to wash my hands (bit of a clean hands phobic, me);
- no flushing the loo;
- no water to shower with, which meant I grunged my way into work on Monday (don’t imagine it, it was pretty awful);
- no water to give to the animals; never mind considering watering the plants. Just NO WATER.
Of course, for me as a town dweller, worst case scenario was that I hoof it off to a friend or the shops and buy bottled water. Except, then of course, the rather Scottish part of me had an internal whinge about using bottled water to wash my face with – wastage – perish the thought! Also, with it being rather warm down our way at present, I started getting a little precious and thinking about how thirsty I was. I made up scenarios in my head of me classic desert-scene-leopard-crawling down the street, gasping, ‘Water …. waterrr … waterrrrrr!’ then my head lowering , as I sagged into helplessness – fade out. Eventually, I got over myself and realised the impact of having no water had on me, and then it really struck home.
If that was just me without water for a few hours, try, if you can, to imagine what it is like to not only not have water on tap, but no water anywhere near you, for days. I think, then one begins to realise the importance of water from a very different perspective:
- How by you, dear, dear Customer, purchasing your water coolers translating into money meaning that we are able to donate towards charities like The Africa Trust that build life-saving Elephant Pumps;
- Meaning that people’s lives are literally saved and;
- How these contributions can honest to goodness make the difference between life and death and a future filled with that most precious of necessities – hope.
After this little brain-stretching exercise, I truly am going to be a lot less whiny about having no water and how ‘badly’ it affected me.
Perspective – she’s a bit of a meany.
by Fern Shaw | Mar 17, 2014 | water cooler
Britain has a long and varied past – it has been conquered repeatedly, it has conquered others, and it has colonised half the planet. Through its history, many strange traditions and festivals have arisen.
Of course, there are oodles of odd rituals globally, but the blogista (moi) gets to call the shots (on this page anyway) and I like to talk about things British.
Gurning
The Egremont Crab Fair – one of England’s weirder events – gets its name from crab apples rather than the marine variety. It started back in the 13th century when the Lord of the Manor gave away crab apples to the populace. In fact, to this day, the Parade of the Apple Cart, where apples are thrown into the crowds on the Main Street, is part of the fair. There are a host of other non-mechanized, traditional events – greasy pole climbing; a pipe smoking contests; a talent show; Cumberland wrestling; a hounds trail. But let’s face it, the reason Egremont makes the news every year is the gurning competition. Home of the Gurning World Championships.
Gurning, involves a rubber-faced skill that is totally bizarre and unique to this part of England. Contestants put their heads through horse collar or braffin while they create the ugliest, most grotesque faces they can manage. A certain amount of skill is involved but a lot of beer and a certain amount of toothlessness probably has an impact as well. Celebrities occasionally have a go and the national news usually features the winning gurners.
Worm Charming
Worm charming is a way to of attracting earthworms from the ground. Many do it to collect bait for fishing. But there are also those who do it as sort of sport. The village of Willaston, near Nantwich, Cheshire is the place where since 1980 the annual World Championships have been organized. The competition was actually initiated by local man Tom Shufflebotham who on the 5th of July, 1980 charmed 511 worms from the ground in only half an hour. The competition has 18 rules. A few are – Each competitor competes in the 3 x 3 metre area. Music of any kind can be used to charm worms out of the ground. No drugs can be used. Water is considered to be a drug (stimulant).
Bog snorkelling
Yes indeed, you read correctly, bog snorkelling. Basically participants dive into a bog, wearing goggles, a pair of flippers and a snorkel, they then proceed to race each other along a 120ft trench filled with mud. Held every year, the participants come from all over the world and raise lots of money for charity.
Legend has it that bog snorkelling was invented near Llanwrtyd Wells in Wales in 1976. It began, as great things often do, over a pint (or probably several) at The Neuadd Arms public house. Mr Gorden Green is said to have had the idea whilst talking to some of the locals.
We promise that when we source your water for your water coolers that we don’t throw the sourcers (or should that be sourcerers – hyuk) into various bogs to see how they manage in water. AquAid’s water comes from three different sources throughout the U.K.
We also don’t make anyone from any of your convenient AquAid branches charm worms or try their hand (face) at gurning.
Promise.
