Beefy's Corner - The Off-Topic Chat Thread

I would say that's probably not true. The rest I can go with.

In truth, you can find something out the skip with more poke than a gaming console, so for me the cost would be reversed. You could say that the accumulated money that I have inadvertently paid out over the years to gain the technical knowledge I have makes the PC more expensive, but I've accumulated that knowledge for other reasons too, so for me a PC is way cheaper. PC game versions can be cheaper too.

I suspect the real advantage is that a PS4 is not nerdy.

 

Yes it's certainly an interesting area to work in, for me at least. A variety of beach in terms of material, morphology and defences. Unfortunately I don't go quite as far as Chesil, I think Plymouth Coastal Observatory cover up to Portland Bill. Yep there's a lot going on around the Isle or Wight and we are often asked by the council there to take on extra surveys, for example at Totland there has been a big landslide which has pushed out the sea wall, so we monitor that landslide. Barton-on-Sea is another interesting area in terms of cliff erosion and landslides. I'm in charge of the Christchurch bay region and organised a post storm survey down at Hurst spit which took a real battering by the recent storms. A lot of cutting back and over washing and a lot of material 'lost' or rather moved off shore. The high pressure following the storm pushes the tide up higher then it would usually have been and it was this that caused a lot of the damage rather then the storm itself.
The position varies from place to place but money is tight and so where possible the coastal system is left alone. There are obvious exceptions like Bournemouth beach, from Hengistbury Head down to Poole Harbour which is heavily defended with groynes and more so with beach recharge, without which there wouldn't be any beach left! There is also the need to maintain coastal areas that provide habitats, and an area that you might have heard in the local news is Medmerry beach down at Selsey. Rather then let nature do it's thing there the powers that be have decided managed realignment can kill two birds with one stone. They've cut through the gravel barrier and created a system of channels and pools for the sea to come through and encourage the development of mud flats and eventually saltmarshes. This should act as a natural barrier to the sea while also creating habitat that are lost elsewhere on the south coast to defended areas and areas where no active intervention is deemed necessary.

 

When I was at Uni back in the 1990's the idea for the east coast [my Uni was in Kent] was of measured retreat, so I'm assuming there is a bit of that with Selsey. It's got to happen with natural low lying coastal areas. You've got to let the sea in where you want it to go or eventually it'll find a way, probably where you don't want it to go, and that as we know is a disaster. And the years of sticking gabions in the way of anything are well and truly over. Are they still getting Bournemouth beach sand from Alum Bay, btw..?

 

http://news.sky.com/story/1179503/lenin-statue-toppled-by-protesters-in-kiev

Kiev protests getting crazy.

 

Yep there certainly is. It's a controlled retreat. They may be allowing the sea in, and further then that speeding up the process by breaching the barrier and digging channels in the low lying hinterland. But, there are massive gabion structures at each end of the site. The sea is only allowed where they want it to go. You simply cannot defend the whole coastline, and the idea of managed realignment and more so the 'do nothing' approach is increasingly common. Coastal defence schemes are extremely expensive! And unfortunately a lot of the hard defence schemes of years gone by have, as I'm sure you know having studied a similar science, negatively impacted the surrounding coastline.
I believe so yes, although I wouldn't take my word for it. I'll ask the chap who's in charge of Bournemouth.

 

Yeah been surprising that there's not much coverage. Maybe if they were anti-EU protestors...

 

A lot of crap doesn't get reported on TV. One of the reasons why I read my news on the net.

 

Cheers. That was interesting. Sometimes wish I'd pursued a career in environmental and ecological management whether in rivers or coastal areas.

 

I'm sorry to do this to you. But I'm lost for words after this. Warning: Contains 10 year olds swearing a lot. Also extremely cringey.

[video=youtube;i0D9qbRH8lU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0D9qbRH8lU[/video]

 

It must have been a 'Eureka' moment when someone decided to rap over the Rugrat's theme tune.

 

I suppose they think they're part of something significant. At least they were outside getting some fresh air. Depressing though isn't it.

 

It's nice to have a conversation with someone that is interested and has knowledge of what it's all about. Plenty of times when I'm out surveying the general public ask me what I'm up to (I stand out like a sore thumb with all the equipment I'm carrying and wearing) but when I'm explaining, even in simple terms you can see in their faces that they don't really get it. I really enjoy my job and consider myself extremely lucky to have landed it when I'm not really as qualified for it as I should be. 60% of my time on beaches, 40% processing and analysing the data in the office is a good mix. A higher percentage of time on the beach in the summer too.

 

Well...fresh air in between the puffs.

 

Why is that guy with little kids?

 

Have to say that one of the best ever times I had was doing a study into salination of fresh water aquifers in Malta with my Uni. Had to go there and spend my days prodding around testing soil samples and digging profiles. The Maltese kept coming up to to muggins [I was in a small team] asking what I was doing. Sometimes they spoke English. Sometimes they spoke Italian [of which I have about 10 words] and sometimes they were ex-pats, but each time their eyes glazed over after I got past the bit about the salt content in the groundwater and soil.

Did a lot of fieldwork. I liked it. Don't like the office bit.

 

I did think this. Imagine being their parents and seeing this. I'd be inconsolable.

 

That's just a growth spurt.

 

Didn't know a ten year old could grow a beard.

 

I take it you mean the tall chappie with the hat..? Consider that they are short 11 years olds and he's a pre-pubescent 12 year old and it begins to make some sense..?

 

This has happened to me: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/10862877._Burglary__was_householder_locked_out/?ref=mr

Years ago, during a long summer, I locked myself out of my own house and so climbed up the wall and into a bedroom window, which I'd luckily kept open a tad because it was so warm. A kindly neighbour from a few doors away came round after the Police had left and proudly told me that they'd informed them. I so wanted to wipe the smile off her face but what could I do..? In principle, she did exactly the right thing.