Tiny Living.....

'Tiny house movement....'

An interesting article popped up on the BBC News website recently about the 'new' phenomenon of Tiny Living. Now you may or may not have heard of this before, but it's all about 'downsizing'. Selling up your big sprawling house and building yourself a garden shed, with all mod cons, to live out your days in.
Needless to say, this is being hailed as a new American idea, but, forgive me for disagreeing, it's been going on in one form or another in the UK for about a hundred years or more, and how about all those pilgrims and prospectors in the american 'gold rush' days.
Anyway, I decided to research this one, thinking I might make a whole piece out of it. Surprised? Yes I was. My first Google query yielded over 200 million hits and even allowing for there being a goodly number of them being nothing to do with the actual query,as usually happens with Google searches, that's still an awful lot of hits. Narrow it down further to the first ten or so pages, and you've got a hundred or so dedicated sites about the construction of, or living in, a Tiny House or apartment. Fascinating reading mostly too.
Now, being in the construction/engineering/maintenance sector, I found the descriptions quite simplistic, but I have to step away from that background, no easy task after 40 odd years of doing, and look at it from a novice point of view.




Many houses have innovative, space saving designs making full use of mezzanine floors,and compact, modern kitchen and laundry equipment. Most that I've seen make full use of wood cladding on the inside and out, although personally I think this makes them look kind of temporary, rather than contemporary, and would give me the feel of living in a Swedish sauna, or in some cases a garden shed. But that's a matter of personal taste, and bearing in mind that the majority seem to be self design and build, that personal choice would be reflected in the final finished house.




When first thinking of design a look at some retro images of older caravans may be useful, as this kitchen from a 1960's caravan shows. Although modern cooking equipment can be more compact, and should electricity be available, cleaner in terms of design and use.
Many, if not all, early 'holiday' caravans made full and innovative use of folding panels, and multi use items, such as dining table/ bench units that doubled as beds at night, full height cupboard doors that would unfold out across the width to form a bedroom at one end and drop down doors on kitchen cabinets which formed worktops. Of course this changing around was time consuming at bedtime and in the morning, but the family all joined in, it was part of the holiday fun!









A typical 1960's holiday caravan. This would be on a large site with maybe 100 similar 'vans, arranged in rows around central shower, washing and toilet blocks. It was very unusual to find a caravan with toilet facilities, the best hoped for was to be close to the block, and that they were clean!







Now, of course, life is much easier for 'tiny livers' because build-ins and mezzanine floors have negated the need for these daily changes to the living space, except where folk have opted for a futon rather than a conventional bed, and the only drawback I can think of just now is the provision of fresh water and sewerage problems.
But, of course, if you are lucky enough to find a plot of land where a) You want to live and b) The land is already, or can be connected to at reasonable cost, the relevant services, then away you go, start building your 'tiny house.'
As far as I am aware they don't need planning permissions because of their size, but local zoning/building regulations and safety/sanitary rules will apply. Ask the local authorities before you commit. You don't want to end up with a plot in an ideal position that you can only picnic on a few times a year!

A Varied Bunch of Nonsense

Legal Aid...


There is definitely something wrong with a legal system that allows confessed, tried and convicted killers to challenge the Judge's sentencing in the first place. But to allow them to pay for the services of lawyers and barristers with legal aid is bordering on total madness. We can only hope that any appeal is denied for this man, Michael Adebolajo, who walked the streets of London carrying a knife and a machete in order to cut down and viciously murder a soldier, Lee Rigby. The astonishing thing is that he didn't run, or try to hide, he flaunted his actions, calmly speaking to passers by as he waited for the police to come to arrest him. If for any reason he manages to get an appeal, and some reduction is made to his whole life sentence, then those do-gooders that facilitate that, one would hope, will be outcasts in society and pilloried by everyone that they know. 


Windows XP...


So, after 12 years Microsoft has decided to cease support and security updates for one of their best ever efforts, XP. It comes as no surprise I suppose, after all, they have released three operating systems since XP,Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8, (plenty of thought went into those names, obviously!) and in an effort to get yet more of our hard earned, they had to stop supporting the older brother sometime. I'm still firmly entrenched in 7, although I did cling on to XP for a good while, only a disastrous crash meant a complete rebuild and the machine came back with 7 installed. Who am I to argue.
Just a short while ago I tried Linux, hey, it's free and I thought I'd be able to break away from windows forever. Unfortunately, things are never that simple. I just could not get on with Linux. Half of my programs didn't work, I couldn't get Wine( an abstraction layer that runs windows programs on Linux) to work correctly and the free programs I downloaded to replace the windows ones that wouldn't perform weren't a patch on the originals. So it was back to Win 7.
In short, I'll run with 7 until Microsoft decide to be generous and give away a free OS to a poor struggling OAP and wordsmith! It is rumoured  that a free lite version of 8.1+Bing will be available this summer, lets see eh?

Pakistan Baby 'Killer'...
Incredible but true. This 9 month old baby was accused, arrested and taken to court in Pakistan for attempted murder. Yes, he was part of a gang that was accused of the attempted murder of the policemen that were sent to break up their demonstration which was to bring attention to the erratic electricity supply in their neighbourhood. When the police arrived the demonstrators apparently started throwing stones at them, which so angered the police that they arrested them all and charged them with attempted murder. Good job none of them had real weapons or the nasty policemen might have got really hurt! Needless to say a top cop and several underlings have been carpeted, and the boy was acquitted and released, seen leaving court with his grandfather.

Conspiracy Theorists....

They are out there somewhere... conspiracy theorists I mean. From the sinking of the Titanic, to the first moon landing, Roswell, Torrey Canyon, Gulf of Mexico, The World Trade Centre 9/11, and now MH370, the list goes on. Wherever and whenever there is a disaster or a great event the conspiracy theorists will be there with their own interpretation of events, and lets face it, some of them are laughable, crackpot ideas that could only have been formed in the mind of some person or persons not in full control of their faculties. Theories still abound claiming that the moon landings were a put up job, filmed in California, Mexico, Florida and various international locations. The 9/11 atrocity was actually carried out by the US military, on the orders of the CIA, who also, by the way, have had a hand in the assassination attempts on every president since Lincoln, the Gulf Oil disaster and Torrey Canyon oil tanker disaster. Aliens, both alive and dead are being kept at Roswell even now, even though no-one actually knows where the facility may be located, although pictures have surfaced from time to time of huge underground caverns, built by, you guessed it, the CIA and of course, the aliens helped with their superior technology because they like it so much they don't want to go home. The Mafia tried to kill the Pope, And MI5 have been linked to bombings, plane and ship disasters and of course spy deaths.

Some Thoughts on Our Modern Way of Life...

French Working Hours.
I'm amazed at the reactions to this one, have we become a Europe of workaholics? Is it so much to ask that our leisure time is actually our time? And anyway, isn't it personal choice to allow telephone calls out of normal work hours?
In my 'day job' I work maintenance for a bar and restaurant group, and sometimes get 'phone calls after work. For the most part I can sort the problem during the call by instructions, and don't have to go in, but there have been occasions when attendance is necessary, because the caller either hasn't the skill or ability to solve the problem. What this boils down to, in my mind, is the old fashioned work ethic, which sadly doesn't seem to exist any longer, that what is good for the company, is good for me. The company prospers, I prosper. Maybe I've been lucky, maybe my boss is unusual.
We don't have a house 'phone, we use mobiles, they're cheaper to use here, and my boss only has my number, and he knows my 'phone is off after about 9pm, so any jobs for the following day are by text or a call after 7am the in the morning, when I switch on again.
My thinking is that one of the problems faced today is that more and more companies are 'floated' on the markets, and workloads are driven, not by consumer demand, but by shareholder requirements and accountants figures. Chasing the buck to please shareholders has become the norm, rather than good old customer satisfaction.

Office Jargon...
I crack up laughing sometimes when I hear or read some of the stuff that 'office types' come out with nowadays, the so-called 'office jargon'. Things like "Let's touch base in a think-shower" meaning "We'll have a meeting an see if we can come up with some good ideas between us". Or "Can I stir fry an idea in your think-wok", which translates to "Can I have your opinion of my idea?". "Can you leverage the drinkables" is a good one, "Go get the coffees".
Just Google 'office jargon' and have a good laugh in your next 'offline time'.

Text Speak...
I'm in the process of reading a book, not a 'real' book you understand, but an electronic version of a book. I don't have a problem with technology, I regularly use a computer, and a tablet, as this blog attests, and indeed send more texts than I make 'phone calls, but I do get seriously antsy when I receive some missive, be it text, instant message or e-mail, and it's full of abbreviations or jargon, the dreaded 'text speak' or 'txt spk' as folk are wont to put it.
Just last week I read, in a UK national daily newspaper, an article where a celebrity was described thus: 'She 'channels' [a long dead celebrity] and 'rocks' [some item of clothing]'. Now what on earth that is supposed to mean is beyond me! Why can they not just write 'reminds us of' and 'looks stunning in' or something like it? Maybe the price of printing ink has risen again, so economy is called for in its use.
Anyway, I digress, the book in question is a classic, Oliver Twist, and the copy I got is a faithful reproduction of the original manuscript by Charles Dickens. The language does make heavy going at first, but once used to the turn of phrase and the slang of the time, is quite enjoyable. I defy anyone under the age of 50 to read it and understand it at first reading!

Stupid News Of The Month
I just had to throw this one in. It may even be the best of the year.
A 'Body language expert' has worked out that Prince George is advanced for his age, and I quote
"Prince George's body language spoke volumes at his first royal 'meet and greet' - and every movement revealed a baby destined to be King, says body language expert Judi James".
What a load of twaddle! The baby, bless him, is 8 months old, his movements and 'body language' are the same as any other 8 month old, play, explore, feel, taste etc, he has no idea of his parent's station in life, or his own, he is simply doing the same as all babies, learning by example.
Well done Daily Mail, for finding this 'expert' and sharing her insight.

Reflections on Some Things of Note.........To Me

Moving...
Funny how, when you move to another part of your country, or another country altogether, some things you get used to straight away, and others take a while. In each place, be it village, town, city or whatever, the local population have their own ways and idiosyncrasies which may, or may not, match with yours.

One of the very first things about Cyprus that I noticed, on moving here, bearing in mind that I'd never been here before, was the laid back attitude, so laid back, in fact, it's practically horizontal!

In the UK, if you order a delivery, or call a plumber or builder or electrician, you almost expect them to be knocking on the door before you have put the 'phone down. In Cyprus you get  "Maybe I come tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow." ..... Truly! How great is that? It's like the Spanish "Manyana" but with passion!

 

Politicians...
There is an old joke, which still circulates now and again, which goes thus:

"How do you tell when a politician is lying?.....Their lips are moving!"

It still raises a chuckle, and to my mind, still holds true. No matter your country, language or political allegiance, they're generally all the same, of course there are exceptions, and I know I shouldn't generalize, but think about it, when they are chasing votes, they're nice people, but once elected, seem not to care a jot for supporters, only to line their own pockets.

Kim Dotcom and Piracy
The German/New Zealander Kim Dotcom seems to be in a lot of trouble because he dared challenge the greed of the film and music
industries by setting up MegaUpload a few years ago.
The 'aggrieved' seem to have worked out, and it probably cost them millions of dollars to find, that he's cost them more than $500 million.
Now my simple question is, if they are that perplexed about so-called 'piracy' why are thy not persuing a legal case against the makers of DVD and CD re-writers and dvd-r and cd-r disks?
Probably because those manufacturers have their own billions of dollars to fight with!
I can buy a spindle of 50 dvd-rw's for 8euro, so how come a single mass-produced DVD film costs upwards of 15 euro? My opinion, which I think may be shared by a good portion of the free world, is that we don't have 'piracy', we have highway robbery, and not by the likes of Mr Dotcom.


Newspaper story comments
I like, each morning, to scan through a couple of UK daily papers. My two of choice are diverse, one a traditionally thought of middle class, middle of the road daily, The Guardian, and the other thought of as a working class 'sensationalist' daily, The Mail.
I read the articles, the reporting styles differ greatly, but most of all I enjoy reading the comments by 'readers' at the bottom of them.
It is quite clear from those comments, that a large percentage of the 'readers' of The Mail are actually 'lookers' not 'readers'. I'll explain. In the online version, the pictures tell most of the story, but not all, so when you read the comments it becomes obvious which are by 'lookers' and which are 'readers'.
The Guardian, on the other hand, has few pictures, and the comments reflect this, where they are actually about the copy and the news rather than the pictures.

April so Soon!

So, here we are already a week into April, and it seems not that long since we were doing Christmas! Here in Cyprus it's starting to warm up nicely, can't wait for summer myself.

In the news....
My heart goes out to the families of the MH370 passengers. Let's hope that the latest 'ping' discovery leads to some answers and maybe some closure for them, any news at this stage is bound to be bad, but its maybe better than no news.
In Pretoria the Pistorius trial continues, and I can't help thinking that this trial, in common with a number of high profile trials of late, UK, Italy, USA, are no more than a stage for the barristers to enhance their reputations. I feel that they don't really care if the accused is guilty or innocent, as long as they win their own particular argument.

Formula 1
It seems the governing body of formula 1 have finally listened to fans and viewers and leveled the field for all teams with the latest rule changes. I remember the days of drivers actually having to drive the car, with a clutch and gearstick and no electronics for brake balance etc, and then it was exciting, although more dangerous, even with maximum speeds of only around 100mph.
It sounds to me like the only team to be chucking their toys is Red Bull, because they have now lost last seasons advantage, and are trailing badly.

Protesters
Have you noticed lately how protesters, wherever they are in the world, tend to be masked. In my youth protests were quite common, against wars, financial institutions, universities, government, in fact any excuse for a protest. I joined in a few, even though I wasn't directly involved in the 'cause'. The war in Vietnam was perhaps the biggest, and as I then was only about 15, and lived in Dagenham in the UK, the protest was hardly relevant to my somewhat small existence.
The point being, we didn't throw rocks or Molotov cocktails, we didn't, mostly, fight with the police, we carried and waved our banners and placards, we chanted and sang protest songs, and not a Guy Fawkes mask or face covering in sight. Generally protest marches broke up at opening time, where we regaled each other with our tales of derring do over a pint of best bitter! Any news of violence toward the authorities reaching our parents would have resulted in a right hander from dad, and a grounding for a week!
How parenting has changed in the last 60 years!