davidfrank’s posterous

Not sure of the cause, but looks like one of the Victorian Shelters has been set alight!

Over here at the Crown Spa Hotel we are presently fitting 22 solar panels to the roof and hopefully they will save around 9 standard UK households of CO2 per year. This is the final stage of our progress to reduce our carbon footprint from our 2005 levels.

Since 2005 we have reduced our CO2 from fossil fuels by 25% from 1,005,000 KG to 761,662KG CO2 in 2009. This reduction has mainly been down to behavioural changes like turning off lights, turning off unnecessary heating, computers etc...and factoring in power usage into the cost of equipment we buy.

The recent much publicised changes at the Crown Spa like wood burning boilers and solar panels have as yet to really kick in and affect the CO2 figures, these are what I call "quick fixes" as they instantly reduce CO2 emissions without the need to change behaviour.

Changing behaviour will reduce your power usage the greatest amount, 3 simple things we put into place which worked for us;

·         Using cheap monitoring systems like "energy monitoring devices" (Google it!), which monitor local Phase 1 to 3 electrical feeds and give instant feedback as to usage and you can even pre-program an audible alarm when a pre-set KW limit is reach, they are relatively cheap at £25 - £50. These monitors can be located at sub power panels not just the mains feed meter. These units allow you to see what is using power when you “shut up shop”, I was amazed that a PC used 20Watts when turned off, £10 per year per PC, when not switched off at the mains! We also lent these "energy monitoring devices" to managers to try at home, many have reduced their electricity costs per quarter by £30 and hence usage by turning lights off in unused rooms, TV off at mains at night, these habits are then replicated at work..

·         Assess heating and drafts, just like at home close the door or window to prevent drafts which suck energy out of the building, the main pain of my life in the hotel is the air conditioning being on when it is not needed! Or doors wide open and heating on! Yes you need fresh air but not too much, just encourage clients to close the door behind them or team members to be more aware of closing doors and windows

·         Factor in power usage in your purchase decisions, many websites allow you to calculate running costs (in power usage and £’s) for comparable electrical items. For example the GU10 LED bulbs from China cost around £8 and use around 2.5W each lasting around 50,000 hours (and can now give the equivalent of a 50W halogen light), the equivalent GU10 Halogen light uses 50W of power and lasts around 5,000 hours for £1.20 per bulb. So which choice is the best financially? Well the halogen is much cheaper to buy especially if you are buying in quantity. However, if you assume that each light is lit for 8 hours per day then in 1 year the total cost to power the Halogen light is £16 and the LED £9, effectively the LED has paid for itself in 7 months! Plus it last 10 times as long.

So reducing your CO2 footprint from fossil fuel derived power is not an expensive exercise, it does not require lots of knowhow, just changing habits, behaviours' and most importantly it can be justified financially even in a recession.

Custard Creams have been banded by the Crown Spa Hotel, Scarborough Health and safety Team, due to recent survey. On hearing of the survey (results below) this David Frank a Director at the Crown Spa Hotel immediately removed all Bourbons, Wafers and Custard Creams from the staff vending machine stating that the Risk is just too great! He was seen wandering away muttering something about taking the items into safe custody, I couldn’t personally verify this as he mouth was full!

An astounding 25 million Brits have been injured whilst enjoying a biscuit, according to a survey commissioned by the makers of the very addictive Rocky Biscuit.

500 required hospital treatment, the research company MindLab International who carried out the through research determined that almost 30% of adults have been scalded by hot beverages while dunking, 10% have broken a tooth or filling, while 26% had chocked on crumbs.

Biscuit tins did not escape analysis either, 7% of our fellow nationals have dropped a biscuit tin on their foot and another 7% were bitten feeding biscuits to a domestic pet or “wild animal”, 3% poked themselves in the eye with a biscuit (What?) and 3% fell of a chair reaching for a biscuit.

Thankfully MindLab also carried out a "Biscuit Injury Threat Evaluation" (BITE) to determine which was Britain’s deadliest tasty morsel. Dr David Lewis a Mindlab director explained: “We tested the physical properties of 15 popular types of biscuits, along with aspects of their consumption such as ‘dunkability’ and crumb dispersal. “Then one of our mathematicians correlated these findings with research data and responses from a nationwide survey of 1,000 adults.”

Top of the BITE danger list is the Custard Cream with a BITE rating of 5.63 it is nigh on twice as dangerous as a Ginger Nut!

Those of you who like sucking a Ginger Nut can relax they are reasonably safe!

The safest biscuit is the Jaffa Cake with a BITE rating of 1.16. The BITE ratings have been graphed for clarity of safety.

A recent survey of 3,000 teachers by Bounty.com revealed that as the teacher eyed the register in September, they'll be nervously keeping a sharp look-out for certain names which "strike fear into the nation's blackboard bother’s".

The list of those likely to make mischief includes young 'uns dubbed Aliesha, Brooke, Brooklyn, Casey, Chelsea, Connor, Crystal, Demi, Jack, Jake, Jessica, Kyle, and Liam.

Doubtless there are those among you who have a lad called Jack who's an absolute angel (Yeah! Right!), however the teacher has already got him marked down as a “wrong 'un” as soon as they clock his name.

Indeed, 49 per cent of those polled admitted they "make assumptions about a child when they take their first look at the register in September".

Bounty’s Faye Mingo diplomatically offered: “Teachers are only human and make assumptions like the rest of us. Rightly or wrongly, most of us make assumptions based on something as simple as a person’s name and we base these on our previous experiences."

There is, however, some good news for Jessica or Demi's mum and dad: 57 percent of those polled said "the naughtiest children at school are also the most popular and often make friends easier than well behaved children".

Furthermore, over a third "claimed that the naughtiest children are often the brightest - and the most sensitive". (Not in my experience though!)

So there you have it. For the record, the poll also gleaned the names least likely to provoke a panic attack, so if you want your kids well disciplined but insensitive and friendless, you'd better stick with Alexander, Alice, Benjamin, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Emma, Harry and William.

There again you could you could stick to naming your kid after the latest popular “dumbo-celeb chaff”, though the little ‘un might pay for it latter!