Summit 30th.... The goal is in sight!

Life such a funny and fragile thing, from the moment we are born our destiny is to die but what we do in between is the difference between living, and a life.


When you lose yourself, you forget who you are or where you came from with no true direction or knowledge of where north is. And then when you find your compass and maps you see a direction and for a long time is feels right. The green lights are flashing and being true to yourself in the dead of night you know you are on the right path.

I have been blessed in having this contentment for the last year. To finding a small island which accepted me for who I was, but didn’t know or understand the depth; And I was happy for them to see that surface.

Things are changing now and different doors are opening. I know I was destined to do great things with my life and to live it. I am at another cross roads......... Perhaps climbing another mountain metaphorically and physically will answer these questions......... Kilimanjaro for my 30th birthday!

The Westray Story

The Question....

Cuba.........

They say at the end of every rainbow there is a pot of gold. Well this week in cuba I found the rainbow and the gold!

In many respects, and while we were unable to fully paint the town as it was already painted we made our mark on Cuba. 

My biggest worry for the holiday not being able to dance cuban style as my zumba classes in Orkney had not really got me into the full swing of things so to speak.......... This was ridiculous as we ended up in Club Marrocon on Saturday night in a dance off!!!  As Russell and I stood looking over Havana the only english people who found a local club beside the lighthouse shining at Habanas shores we both had a good smile and knew that being there was good for our souls. 

I didn’t really understand the concept of capitalism nor to I feel I understand it now, however in even just a week I was introduced to the philosophy of it and starting thinking about different way to live ones life. While it was frustrating not being able to read the papers because they do not exist as there is no propaganda, or to read my emails as there is no internet, I actually did wandered how I would feel if that was me. 

Doctors and teachers make the same as each other in a capitalistic society and I suddenly wandered which I would prefer to be and if money was not an issue which I would enjoy. Rationally I would in our society have chosen medicine however if I look in my soul I would have loved to teach. 

Following 3 days in The National 5 star hotel we decided slumbing it was the way forward but had absolutely no idea where to look or where to go! While walking the streets of Habana full of colour and vibrance I stumbled across an incredible restaurant minutes before wandering where to go for lunch. The place was amazing authenticity at its best and while I was slightly bereft to understand that it was actually  3 months old the furniture and pictures were from the 30s and 50s and ozzed regal style. While commenting to the chief on the wonderful food we asked where was good to stay in Trinidad; Knowing this was not too close and not too far and that 3 days adventuring there would satisfy our appetite for travel and exploring! Immediately the matrade and owner where making phone calls to their friends. Within minutes the following 4 days adventure and residence in peoples homes was organised...... We laughed thinking imagine in London asking somewhere to stay in Brighton and the owner of the restaurant calling their friends and technically organising our holiday!

At 8 the following morning we traversed through the Carribean countryside to Sancti Spiritus to a beautiful house where we would spend the next 3 days exploring Trinidad.

We spent the first 12 hours with some locals we met on the beach peninsular de Ancon where they invited us to join them for dinner and to say we laughed is an understatement! To be honest as well actually drinking my body weight while increasing it with Rum....... To make matters worse to sober one up they drink sugar water which is just the cardinal sin of drinking it tops kabab any day! Back in the game though  we made it home in our 1950s cadillac and I slept while the Doc partyed! 

The following day we decided to go into the mountains..... A 3km downward trek and we arrived at what they described in the guide as: “Drive to El Cubano natural park in sight of the Escambray chain of mounatins. Following what is known as “On the footprints of history” leading to the Javira waterfall surrounded by endemic flora and fauna take a swim in the mineral spring.” Well we scaled the mountains got to the bottom and skinny dipped in the waterfall once again I felt alive and content with the world and all its beauty! While swimming in the mountain cascade I wandered do I live in the present or in the future. A canadian I met said if you have one foot in the past and one in the future you are pissing on the present...... So I decided to get pissed on and swam under the waterfall into the middle with all my might and smiled and laughed out loud naked feeling amazing!

There are always many stories but blog writing, setting up a business and doing my finals are pulling me from writing them all down so to cut a very long, many ridiculous and happy stories later I arrived in London......

I had the funniest moment when on the tube I lumbered my bag on the train at Victoria squeezed into the carriage wandering why the hell I hadn’t just stayed in Cuba, well actually just wishing I was there still..... I looked up and saw a young guy reading The Alchemist I couldn’t believe my  eyes. We started to speak and ended up with 30 minutes before my final leg of the journey home and as irony cosmosis or chance would have it he is in the same field as me working in ports and harbours and looking to get more into the marine energy sector; So I smiled took his card and understood maybe just maybe he was and omen to continue to move forward in this direction.

Home is where the heart is, and you can travel the world and immerse yourelves in many different cultures and places but to find you true North is very hard. 

I got home tonight my little brothers cooked amazing spaghetti bolognaise we drank some red wine sitting around the dinning room table listening to music and singing; I realised for the first time that this is where I belong and I can bring all the influences from my travels including some rum and music and stories but the place where I wanted to be at that very moment was home.

My other true north is my impending finals, and I cant say revision week has stated as I intend to go on drinking rum on white beeches in Trinidad so over and out until the 28th when finals will be over and......... Dissertation will begin...... perhaps with another little adventure in between.

Credo First Project

Let us pray Father

WWW.CREDOGREEN.COM

Good Morning Mr President.....Thank you for The Sputnik moment and Oil funding reduction.

 

Energy for Energy

This afternoon I sat for a good couple of hours in The Stromness Cafe in the port watching fishing vessels coming in absorbed by The Sunday Times, which fortunately arrives after lunch so I allowed myself a long lie in.

In the energy and environment section there are 2 fascinating stories. The first regarding the fuel quotas which will need to be enforced in the very foreseeable future and the second regarding a smart city!

Both have electric car use at the fore of their discussion. Most pressing is the cross party group of MPs who last week published a 60-page report calling for the introduction of personal energy quotas as the best way to “radically and rapidly restructure our society” to deal “with the reality of diminishing access to energy.”

The parliamentary groups’ central argument is simple: It believes the global oil production has already passed its peak.

 An energy crisis is inevitable at some point in the future, and so we should get a system in place now so that; when it does hit, we are already well down the road of shifting away from fossil fuels towards low-carbon alternatives.

Why when there is already a cost efficient and effective alternative aren’t the MPs turning around and advocating electric cars? Electric cars not only provide us with a cost effective solution to the majority of our transport needs but also have the potential to play a valuable part in our electricity infrastructure.  Electric cars can crop peaks and fill troughs in renewable energy delivery by absorbing the oversupply on windy days for example and potentially act as storage contributing 10% of their capacity to the grid in peak demand scenarios.

Just as the world moved on from steam, we will move on from oil by necessity and design. 

The second article was regarding a green pioneering project called “Living Planit” this is the love child of Microsoft’s Steve Lewis and Malcolm Hutchinson a 10 billion euro construction project for 225,00people. Ambitious I thought at first until I read that they have already secured funding from some major powerhouses including Matrix property fund management and companies like Siemens, Accenture and Cisco are partnering the project. http://living-planit.com/default.htm

They are to develop a “smart home city” which aims at cutting property developers costs and producing energy efficient buildings. Old hat you may think? They have gone one step further..... The city will be run by an urban operating system – A software platform (hence the Microsoft part) that will manage different services from energy use to security. Sensors will be mixed into concrete used in the buildings. They will send information to the central operating system about the amount of heat, water and oxygen being absorbed. Like smartphone (hence smart city) buildings will be installed with applications that residence can access through the network and use to control their overall carbon footprint. Through a subsidiary company, Planit Utilities, the city will treat its own water, manage its waste and process biomass to extract fuels such as butanol, which can be used as car fuel!

The reality is that while still in their infancy and trail stages huge advances are being made in cost effective alternatives to petrol, gasoline, diesel whatever fossil fuel your car uses hopefully by the time time catches up with us we will all be driving in a different direction so to speak.

Following my espressos and shared cherry cake with Kevin I cycled home and prepared for my run. I am starting to track my runs there is a great app called mapmyrun.com which tracks your run and even has a platform to meet other runners. Sadly there is only one other running in the surrounding 20 miles and I have a sneaky feeling it is my lecturer Sandy Kerr!

I have started running to Billia Croo which is in Outerwaith and the round trip along the coast from my house is 10.5km. This is EMEC (European Marine Energy Centres) test site for marine devices.

When Paulo and I were in Geneva every time we walked past a bookstore he would stop say a short prayer and give “good vibrations” to the book store.

 I feel that by running to the wave test site that I can give my own energy to the energy so to speak and enjoy seeing the development change. As I was running down the track to the coast almost at the substation a huge 4x4 (ironically!)came towards me. The chap explained that it was a dead end..... Dead end I said this is the new world!

 I explained to him that I was studying Renewable Energy and I enjoyed watching the developments down there. He then explained to me he was the site manager and started telling me about the new substation and different pipes and grid structures which are coming in. We have agreed to have dinner later in the week........... So not only am I getting fit I am getting inside information aswell!




">

Tesla to Edinburgh in 1 day

The Great Wall of China 21st May 2011

So here I am back in my freezing but beautiful house with my 1 pound electricity meter and my view over the sea, the golf club to my left and yacht club to my right. And the only responsibility I have in the world which is to finish this degree. That said, I have set myself another challenge which after deliberating for the last 6km run I have endured in the rain I will share with you. Perhaps because I feel if I write it down it may actually happen and, to be honest I am ruled by external motivation and constantly seek approval from others therefore by blogging my madness I will perhaps I would like to say achieve a dream..... It is more of a nightmare...... But I have enrolled myself to run The Great Wall of China Marathon.  All 5162 steps..... I have roughly 100 days to train and therefore bought myself a very exciting new toy which tracks just about everything..... However today much to my disappointment while I ran 6km is a blizzard along to my horror I burnt 241 calories which doesn’t cover one of the double jack and cokes I consumed yesterday....... Fortunately I cannot remember how many I had!

Now that's what I'm talking about!

Dubstep Snowman

Green Lights

On reflection of the past year and the direction of the next, I posed myself the a question .....Am I really happy? The answer is I have absolutely no idea. But the not knowing of knowing is good enough.

This year I have certainly changed. Bridget Jones is no longer my idol and in a few months time I will have letters behind my name. I have traveled 37 countries and turned my life not just in a completely different direction I have also completely changed ship, its crew, the weather and the horizon!


This last 3 weeks I have either been drunk or driving but never the combination. I therefore designated myself the family driver, in a vacant attempt to stay sober this actually meant magnificent unexpected evenings waking up in strange beds most interestingly a bunk bed! As I inevitably got into the festive spirit so to speak.


My father gave me a book for Christmas "Speeches that changed the world" this includes Elizabeth I, Winston Churchill (of course) Nelson Mandela the list goes on.

Always more interesting to me is not the book but whatever my father has inscribed on the second page. This year was written Dearest Mill, Thoughts, Words, Actions! This immediately resonated with me.

In other words don't just talk about it, do it. Every knows if they truly focus on something they can achieve the impossible. Ordinary people doing extra-ordinary things.

So if I am to make a resolution it is to be part of a revolution to understand and deliver the matrix of wave energy, using my own energy to drive for change. Understanding the endless possibilities of renewable energy and to deliver the potential.

You can do anything you want in life, but you can't do everything.

Therefore for this year I will continue to put on hold growing up and the never ending questions which challenge me and focus on "actioning" the dream to harness not just the ship I am sailing, or the horizon in the distance but the waves I am traveling on.