Above, you will see a map of Bexleyheath town centre which I have stolen from Google (don't worry, they can afford it). Down the middle of the picture is Albion Road. This is currently being dug up, apparently with the intention of installing a cycle lane down the middle.

I'm all in favour of cycle lanes but I'm a bit worried about this one. At present, Albion Road is a dual carriageway and once the changes have been completed, it will become single lane only.

I wonder if the people who thought this idea up have really considered the consequences of what they have done. 

Just after the Townley Road/Albion Road roundabout there is the entrance to the shopping centre car park. It's not at all uncommon at busy times for the access ramp to become completely blocked with cars waiting to get into the car park which results in them queueing into the road. Not a problem as anyone wanting to get past can just move into the outside lane. 

Not any more. When this does happen next (and it will happen) it's going to result in traffic backing up all the way to the Albion Road/Broadway magic roundabout causing complete gridlock. I bet they never thought of that. 

If anyone does manage to get past, they will only get as far as the next major junction at Hyland Road where traffic waiting to turn left is backing up behind the traffic lights at the Broadway/Arnsberg Way junction where the same thing will happen. In fact, this is already happening at relatively quiet times during the day. Just wait till Christmas.

Talking of insane traffic management systems. Coming home from Woolwich on the bus the other day, once the bus managed it's curious dog-leg right turn out of Woolwich New Road and onto the High Street, we were stopped straight away by a large traffic jam.

I've noticed this before, it always seems to be a problem on this bit of the road and is caused by another one of  Greenwich Council's curious tendency to put bus lanes where they will be least effective. (See previous blogs ad-nauseam)

There is always a tailback of traffic from the Arsenal gate to the junction with Burrage Road; sometimes it tails back even further. It's caused by the fact that after the Burrage Road traffic lights, the dual carriageway is reduced to one lane in order to accommodate a bus lane. 

While this is intended to make life easier for the buses, it actually has the opposite effect because although the buses have a clear lane after the junction, it takes three times as long to reach it because of the traffic jam caused by the bus lane being there in the first place. If Greenwich Council were to remove it, it would speed up the traffic no end.

BREXIT QUESTION

There must be at least a few pro-Brexit loonies who read this blog, perhaps one of them can explain something to me.

During the referendum campaign, apart from the usual chanting of OUT OUT OUT and ranting on about immigrants, my understanding is that one of the main reason you wanted us to leave the EU was so that constitutional decisions affecting the British people would be made by the British Parliament and not the European one. "Take back control" I heard more than once.

Why then, was there such a fuss when the House of Lords forced the government to refer the terms of our leaving to Parliament, rather than just a few ministers and civil servants? I thought that was the whole point but it seems that most of the protests seem to be coming from exactly those people who wanted the British Parliament to decide such issues in the first place.

I can understand the hysterical ranting of the tabloid press. It publishes what it's bosses tell it and as it's all owned by foreign based tax dodging billionaires, I can understand why they are nervous about the idea of a democratic system getting the upper hand. But why the Brexit loonies, surely that's exactly what they wanted?

The latest is that Theresa May has said that "she will take the UK out of the EU even if Parliament votes against the deal" (BBC).

This means that you, the British public will have absolutely no say whatsoever about the terms of our exit from the EU. It will all be decided by the Prime Minister personally with no reference to anybody. Well done everyone.

I do go on about this from time to time but here is a BBC news article about it. There is a small app you can download onto your android smartphone and it will work in the background helping scientists researching diseases such as Cancer, Ebola, Zika, TB, AIDS, etc.

It costs nothing to run and you could be helping to cure some of the most deadly threats to mankind. 

If you have an Android phone, you have no excuse not to be running this. You can find it here.

And last but not least:-

Here are some more London stories according to the BBC

Wrestling With the Technology

I'm starting to get to grips with the idiosyncrasies of Blogger and the nightmare called 'page layout'. On the right of the page, you will now see some new features including the most flattering portrait of myself I can find.

There is also an opportunity to contribute to the World Community Grid. If you have a look here you can see what it's all about. The idea is that you download a small program that enables you to donate your unused computer processing power to a global network creating what is effectively a supercomputer of immense power; this can then be used to carry out research for a number of useful projects. The research organisation sends a work unit to your computer which then processes it and sends it back. It only uses the computer processing power that you are not using yourself and can be configured to run in any way you want, for instance, you can set it to run all the time or like a screen saver.

World Community Grid uses a program called the Berkley Open Infastructure for Network Computing or BOINC for short, which was designed by the University of California, Berkley for the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project. The program was designed in such a way that any research establishment can run it's own projects on it without the need to create their own program first.

If you do download the BOINC program, there are a huge number of projects you can run if you don't fancy any of the WCG ones. They range from the really useful to the totally insane. 

I have been running World Community Grid for a number of years. In the early days I would encounter the odd problem or two but it's bug free now as far as I can tell. Having said that, the BBC sponsored a climate model project a few years ago and encouraged everyone to install and run it but, as far as I understand, absolutely forbade anyone at the BBC from loading it onto their work computer. Government agencies also have this somewhat contradictory attitude to cloud computing in that none of the tens of thousands of computers run in government or council offices have it installed. I recall that when I was working for the DWP, we were under strict instructions not to install it and were threatened with dismissal if we did.

World Community Grid can be run on Windows, Linux and Apple (not iPad or iPhone) and includes an app for Android which can be set up to work only when the device is being charged. Setting it up on Linux though can be a bit of a pain if you want to get it to run at startup. I still have to work it out.

The Alternative World of ALDI

It's a funny old world and one of the funniest parts of it has to be the inside of an ALDI store.

If you have read any of my earlier posts, you will know that I have started doing more of my shopping in there. The place is something of a cross between an old Cold War East European shop and the strangest bazaar on Earth. Go on a weekly shop and I guarantee that you will only leave with half the things on your list but you may leave with something you would never have imagined buying. I mean, try and find any other supermarket where there isn't any flour (none that I could find anyway) but stocks cut price astronomical telescopes next to the pickled onions; no sultanas but a good range of children's wellington boots. A real fairy land of possibilities.

A Stroll Along the River.

This week's cover photo features a view of the Crossness Nature Reserve, seen in the 

light of the setting Sun.

You can see the new two-storey bird hide overlooking a small lake and 

described as one of the finest in the country, 

De-grumping for beginners

One of my favourite ways to de-grump (is that a real word?) is to take a stroll along the river front and admire the views and the wildlife.

I'm very fortunate in that respect and find it's one of Thamesmead's most redeeming features. Me and Mrs Grump will travel miles to visit nature reserves around the country and find, as often as not, there is more to see just looking over the garden fence.

The Crossness Nature Reserve is one particular place I have in mind. Managed by Thames Water, it covers 20 hectares of grazing marsh and reed bed. Most of the site is open to the public but the area shown it the photograph is available only to members. You can find out more about becoming a member by visiting this site and also here on the Bexley Wildlife site.

Unfortunately, part of the hide has been vandalised. I suppose little boys have been throwing stones at windows ever since there have been windows for little boys to throw stones at. A shame none the less as this window looks out over the West Paddock and was put there for that purpose.

This is another view of the hide with the wind pump in the foreground.

The Dipping Pond. Lots of fun for the children (and the adults too).
The Dragonflies quite like the pond and many of them can be seen hovering in the Autumn sunshine.

Another view of the pond with the hide and the incinerator in the background

The start of the walkway leading through the reed beds

Here are some recent visitors 

seen along the river lately.

Black Tailed Godwit flying along the river.
These congregate on the mud flats in their hundreds during the Winter months.

Curlews are quite shy and you will be lucky to see one

At this time of year, you will see hundreds of lapwings flying in great flocks along the
river before settling on the mud to feed.

I saw this Kingfisher sitting on a perch in front of the Crossness Nature Reserve hide.

Common Seal sitting on the mud by the Golf Course.
These and the Grey Seal are an increasingly common sight on the River Thames.