Holiday pics and getting back to work

I hope you have had a great Christmas and New year.
No doubt, like me, you are getting back into the work routine!
It was a bit of a shock to the system, coming back from relatively warm Italy, with several days of blue sky's (great for taking pictures) and temperatures in low double figures.

I really enjoyed taking some walks up into the hills around the city of Perugia. I got high enough to get above some inversion mist layers to see white capped snow mountains. I really struggle to know what photograph to show, so as I have not done a blog for a while , I am showing a daytime shot of this beautiful city, a nightime shot (you can work out how good of bad the lighting is and one, of many shots across a tonal graduated  range of hills. Finally, I managed to play with my camera settings, to get the orb of the sun as it dropped over the hills. I guess most shots again show a recurring theme of how amazing sunlight really is.Enjoy




Perugia, seen above the inversion layer with mountains in the distance

 

 

 

 

 



Stuart Bulmer (ILP Professional Services Manager) and I met recently with the Lighting Liaison Group (LLG) to discuss what is going on in our various organisations.  I was interested to hear how the different groups are promoting lighting in many different ways - education, trade, research, publishing etc. I think the one key fact that we all agree on is - how to get the message of lighting,  its importance and effect -  out to the person in the street. As lighting professionals we know about each other and what the different parties are doing. Certainly the profile of lighting was raised when an issue becomes newsworthy. Often that can be because of something sad or negative. So switch off grabs the headlines and we respond. People take lighting for granted, and those of you like me who appreciate just how much effort goes into design, installation and maintenance of whatever type of scheme, wonder how we can get people to understand a little more about good lighting. So next time you have an opportunity to talk about lighting to somebody who is not a specialist, go for it and be proud of what you are involved in. Looking forward to visiting  the regions and seeing you at agms and other events. Have a good year. Pete

 

 

 

 

Christmas and Tunnel Lighting

It has finally warmed up a bit, and it has been nice to have a few milder days. Some folks like it cold, some like it hot. I guess it is down to you. One thing I do appreciate is a cool railway tunnel on a blistering hot sunny day. My last photograph of the year is the linear lighting inside a railway tunnel in the Peak District. The combination of coolness, water dripping from the roof and the amazing engineering of building this tunnel with it's brick lining. Incidently, I started off in civil engineering and my first job was working in a long sea outfall tunnel - 1.6 miles under the English Tunnel.  The lighting was simple fluorescent, but quietly effective as I hope you can see from the photograph.

A few blogs ago, I mentioned November 5th  night and how we enjoy the fireworks and forget that a certain Guy Fawkes wanted us to lose our parliament and what it stood for. I think we sometimes forget that Christmas is more than just a commercial opportunity for the shops and people getting stressed about presents and the like. I love giving and receiving gifts, but Christmas for me is about the most special gift ever given. So when you see the words CHRISTmas, the clue is in the first six letters!


Last week has been a busy one, with the last Executive Board meetingof 2012. I am pleased that we have appointed Elizabeth Thomas as Vice President Highways and Infrastructure and  I am sure that she will do an excellent job. This my last blog of 2012 as I am having a Christmas Holiday in Italy, and probably won't have an internet connection. I wish you a joyful Christmas and a happy new year.
Pete

Time Out!

It is only when you don't have something or it does not do what you expect that you notice it! I have already mentioned this in relating to lighting  - when it goes out that it is noticed and the users kick off!. While this week , the computer network at my work has been playing up. I have a fast machine, because I do computer aided design(CAD) and things got slower and slower. The IT team are trying to figure it out. I say all this because even emails are getting difficult. I hit the reply button and then wait a minute (yes 60 seconds)  before I can reply. I get a lot of emails, and the ILP hotline is pretty busy at the moment. There are lots of things that the Executive Board (EB) are working with at the moment. Next week is the last EB  meeting of this year, and as ususal a lot of business and items to work through.

As members, your EB does a huge amount of back office work, you don't always see it, but like the computer system, it has to work. So emails are one of our vital comminication devices and slow emails are a little frustrating!!

Sometimes though, it is good to not always just react. Sometimes just stopping and thinking about an issue can be the best way. So if you have a busy day and you have just taken a couple of minutes to stop  then here is a picture for you. Just stop and take in the view!
 I did when I took this picture -  I can still remember the warm sun, the smells and the view.

I love walking in the peak district when I have time. Next week I will be showing you some tunnel lighting pics along the one of the old railway lines. Have a good week.
Pete

Buzz Lightyear!

In the past I mentioned on this blog that I live in the country. This is relatively recent, as we moved in March 2012. One of the things that I did not fully appreciate, is that the country back roads and lanes are not grtted. So I am driving on roads, with no salt and areas where sheets of ice have formed from the water still flowing off the saturated fields. An interesting mix. I have a front wheel drive car, so not too bad, just allow more time and drive slower. My wife Trix, drives a skittish rear wheel drive mazda and she is having some interesting moments as the back end flicks out. We both are learning the rythms of country living. Glorious sunsets in the summer and  walks down leafy lanes, but in the winter, cold and dark. I miss the the street lights. I guess we all have to come to terms with where and how we live. Many of us take street lighting for granted, but we don't always appreciate how amazing it is to have something, until we don't have it. I am glad I am able to still be in a position to provide lighting were it is needed.

One of my nicknames at work is Buzz. This came about because there were two Pete's in the office and as I was always buzzing about, I got called Buzz. We are talking 25 years ago. So when I got involved with lighting and Buzz Lightyear came along, it seemed quite appropriate. I say all this because when I was diving in a quarry near Leicester - called Stoney Cove, I came across this. These lighting guys get everywhere!!

It has been a busy week. The ILP hosted a technical discussion forum between Industry Partners and lighting professionals on S/P ratios. Those of you that went to the Brighton summit can read Steve Fotios paper on this subject. Steve was at the forum and we had a most intersting time. We need to do the science to confirm why we do what we do, but translating that into practical ways of designing, and the additional information that the manufacturers would have to provide is not quite so straight forward. You will be able to read about the forum in the lighting journal, when our new editor Jill Entwhistle, has written it up as an article.

I also met with all the other other Institution President's and CEO's at an event hosted by the Engineering Council. We are all keen to encourage "engineers" to go for professional registration. We need to encourage registration at all levels. I think the ILP is working hard on this and our Membership VP - Mark Cooper and his team are  providing the infrastructure to help our members to go for professional registration.

Next week is a little quieter, before Executive Board meeting in two weeks time.

Take care in your travels

Pete

Surviving the weather

Saturday 23rd November. In amongst the heavy rain and localised flooding, the sky cleared last night and this morning the fields and hedge rows are covered in frost. I know in about two hours time that there is heavy rain and 60mph gusts coming in from the south. We are certainly experiencing a huge diversity of weather. I watched the documentary on the recent hurricane/super storm Sandy and the devastation. All the precuations the infrastructure companies took and still the weather just overpowered them. I felt sorry for the folks who had to get the utilities back on and working. People were back to torches and the good old candle for light. I am very proud that whilst what we do in terms of lighting may be taken for granted, people miss it when it is not there. I know that good lighting can either be a statement or is so subtil it is not noticed until it goes out. Both are valid, and I go back to what I said some years ago - I am proud to be a lighting professional.
Talking about coping with difficult weather conditions, I am always amazed at how well some creatures cope with the weather.  The picture is a spiders web, has to deal with all stresses and strains, sometimes the web gets broken and the spider gets out there and fixes it. I took this picture on a coast walk in Corwall after a heavy night of rains, which the spider and web survived! Enjoy

 

It has been a busy week, I went to Seeing is Believing at Bruntingthorpe Airfield. I was particularly impressed with a trenching system, that cut a 100mm wide trench to required depth, and "sucked" all the material into the lorry hopper for re-use as recycled material. The speed of the machine was staggering. New technologies like this certainly help with the vital infrastructure our highway lighting needs. Met lots of people and learnt a bit more about lighting and highway signs. A good day.  Next week I am going to a technical discussion forum on SP ratios. Survive the weather. Pete

Cupola's and seeing is believing

It's is late friday evening, been a busy week and I have an early start, so I am doing my blog tonight. Definitely some rather sad dull days towards the end of this week, so I thought I might just give you a hot sunny picture I took in Mosta in Malta. Those of you who know St Paul's cathedral will have seen the magnificant dome. The curved dome section section is sometimes called a cupola. See cross section through showing the construction.

It was blistering hot 38 degrees C, and I had parked up about a mile from the town centre and managed to get lost in the maze of streets before finally arriving at the square where the chuch   Duomo di Mosta: St. Mary o la Rotunda with one of the biggest cupola's in europe. It is huge 39m in diameter. Fantastic sun drenched architecture sitting against a nice warm sky and some european lighting units sit in front of it. I 'll be showing some diving pics of Malta in later blogs

Next week I will be going to Seeing is believing. It is mentioned on the ILP website, and is an opportunity to let other people, with highway based lighting disciplines, know about the ILP. You also might want to check the ILP website out for the competency framework document. We are busy promoting the Institution and I am involved in some of forward planning. Have a good week. Pete

Autumn and Lux Live

A wet, dull autumnal saturday morning, but the promise of sunshine later. I do like the american phrase "the fall" when the leaves turn colour prior to falling. Some amazing stunning colours that you will only see at this time of year. I am sure many of you, like me, enjoy getting out for a walk, to take in the colours and the see the leaves on trees all changing. The photograph is of one leaf, with the sun light on it, so the colour and texture is there to see and enjoy. It might not show on the blog version, but there are flies and other small insects taking in the sun and using the leaf as a refuge. Yet sadly the colours fade and the leaf will fall and provide compost.

 

 

I spent two very useful days at Lux Live and met a lot of people. Those of you that went, I hope, were as pleased as I was with the whole diversity and range of the stands with all the products that were available to look at and discuss. I was particularly impressed with the ILP stand and the number of people that came and had discussions and took information packs. I think the message that we are about promting lighting from all areas and disciplines is slowly getting out there. I learnt so much from conversations with people that know about lighting and at the same time realise that so many people need to be able show to clients and third parties,  that they have knowledge and experience and can back that up with some sort of qualification. Our core values of education,training and being able to have members that can demostrate competency is our strength. Have a good week. Pete