World Of Winfield

Category: Uncategorized

Ibiza Blues

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blue sky

 I was convinced that I would not get post-Ibiza blues.  There was a point during my holiday that I was quite looking forward to coming home – too much laying around and I was getting restless. Even a soaking downpour from the aeroplane to the terminal did not dampen my spirits, I remained in a good mood for the remainder of the weekend back in Reading. Arriving at work on Monday morning to 358 unread e-mails was a relief as that is not too high a figure, and I was happily working my way through them.  I was convinced that … Continued

Daily Express Weather Headlines

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Little is more perturbing to the amateur weather forecaster, and certainly will be to those professionally qualified, then the spurious sensationalist weather headlines in the Daily Express. Weather forecasting is actually rather important, not only to the individual but to many businesses across the country – people will make decisions based on such sensationalist drivel that will cost businesses up and down the country, especially but not only in terms of the impact on tourism. The latest came on Saturday: The usual suspects have contributed to the article, notably Jonathan Powell of Vantage Weather Services, and James Madden of Exacta … Continued

James & Kathryn in London

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Firstly I would like to thank the European Union for granting me as a proud European citizen a minimum holiday allowance. Every year I allocate some of these days to actual holidays (in other words, Ibiza), some to travelling to and from Hull, some to recovering from nights out at fabric, some to just random chilling out days and a handful are very special unique days. I missed my sister’s birthday party due to my superstar DJ career (well, she didn’t turn up to mine – what kind of excuse is snow???) so I promised a day out in London … Continued

Socialism & Energy Prices

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woman in yellow shirt while filling up her car with gasoline

So Ed Miliband has confirmed that he does want a return to socialism. He intends on bringing in price controls for energy bills, to freeze prices for the first 20 months of a Labour re-election. This is not very clever, except in terms of populist politics in which case it is very clever.  Let me explain both parts. Overall consumers are very unlikely to notice any difference to their total energy bills from now to 2020 whatever government is in charge and whatever policy they may or may not threaten/implement.  If this policy of price controls is implemented (or it … Continued

Putin’s Words

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pexels-photo-20179535.jpeg

Vladimir Putin has made an appeal to the America people, against possible military action. Before I start, I appreciate that this awful civil war has more than one side, but this blog post is about Putin and his relationship with Assad. Let’s remember a few facts. After huge political changes in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, an uprising began in Syria with mass protests, sparked by the torture of children that had written anti-Assad graffiti. 2 years later – 100,000 people have been killed.  1,500,000 are refugees in nearby countries.  4,000,000 are internally displaced.  I do not have figures on the … Continued

My Hot Office

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close up shot of an erupting volcano

Those of you lucky enough to be my friend or have met me once and accepted my offer of Facebook friendship will know that I work in a rather hot office.  31’C kind of hot, on sunny days.  26’C kind of hot on cloudy, wet days. Albeit during the depths of winter we are all sat here with coats, gloves and scarves on. I have moaned enough about it so time came to write to my MP to request legislation about maximum working temperatures.  Time at the bar, that was. **************************************** Dear Alok Sharma, I work in an office which … Continued

RIP Gary Tweddle

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scenic view of an ocean during golden hour

Gary was not one of my closest friends but his enthusiasm, spirit of adventure and positive attitude left quite a lasting impression on me. I was saddened to hear the conclusion to the heart-breaking story, and my thoughts go out to his family and loved ones. Far, far too short a life, but one that will be remembered by so many others for far, far longer.  That so many people have followed the story to conclusion, with compassion and positive thoughts proves the impact that my friend had.  Having read some very moving tributes from some very close friends, it … Continued

Thoughts On Syria

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syrian flag on damaged building in damascus

2 years ago I wrote to my MP to question why we hadn’t intervened in Syria, like we did in Libya, when Assad started to slaughter and torture his own people. We did nothing, mostly because of Russia and China who are afraid of similarly authoritarian regimes being challenged and overthrown.  Yet this man is vile and evil. So as a humanitarian, I had my answer as to how many people it is ok to kill – over 100,000.  Include over 1 million refugees, the minor use of chemical weapons and countless injured and that apparently until this weekend just … Continued

Secretsundaze Go Bang Review

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the sun is shining brightly in the blue sky

A night out in London used to be amazing, guaranteed.  I have had about 6 nights out in London this year, none of them have been amazing, all have been slightly or significantly spoiled by crowds, and sometimes even disappointing music. So I took affirmative action and booked a ticket for the daytime Secretsundaze party the day I found out about it, taking no notice of which DJs were playing – I had only been to one Secretsundaze party before and the crowd there seemed really nice.  Decisive. I arrived early on, it was very quiet to start – but … Continued

London Part 1 – Egg Chasing

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 So for the first part of an un-missable double-headed weekend in London. Saturday was the 7th or 8th time my rugby league team, Hull FC, had got to the Challenge Cup final at Wembley.  For those not familiar with rugby league, which I guess is all my friends and readers not from oop north, this is the rugby league equivalent of the FA Cup.  Except it is arguably the most important trophy in rugby league because if you win the league (sorry, Super League) then you haven’t actually won the league – all you have done is finished top.  The … Continued