This yodelling video is currently the number one trending video on youtube. I am unclear on whether it is for Switzerland or a bigger region. A small tractor is driving up a Swiss Alpine road with a group of yodelers sitting in a trailer. A car with Ma Cherie playing on the radio overtakes and the yodelers start to yodel the song. This video is on the Canton de Valais Youtube account.
Hydroelectric Power
Sixty percent of the of hydroelectric power produced in Switzerland comes from Valais with its 26 dams of which La Grande Dixence is one. They have French, English and German versions of this video.
From one side of the lake to the next by Pedalo
To keep the theme of renewable energy we have another project, to cross the lake in a solar powered Pedalo. It’s in French. I thought it was a project with an environmental goal at first.
Flying over Valais
Continuing with the theme of environmentally friendly activities Parapente is another. It’s a nice way to see such a pleasant landscape, especially if you find ascending air currents that prolong the flight.
Skydiving without the parachute
A few weeks ago after the Via Ferrata de la Farinetta near Saillon, I posted an image or two to Instagram and RealFly Sion liked the image. They’re the first indoor Sky diving simulator in Switzerland. It provides people with the opportunity to try skydiving without freefalling thousands of metres. This is an experience I would eventually like to try. I’m used to having the sensation of flying in a similar position underwater so trying it in a strong current of air would be fun.
Yesterday I tried playing with Migros SubitoGo and the experience was good. You scan the QR code for the shop as you enter and then you scan the products that you want to buy. I kept them in my hands until I got to the checkout counters.
Passabene
With Passabene you shop, you scan your products, and then you go to the cash machine, scan the shopping list to the device, and it charges you. It’s quite conventional and sometimes it asks for a double check from a cashier.
Subito Go
With the Subito Go app you can scan what you’re buying, put it in your bag and then choose to pay, and you can pay for what you bought, from anywhere in the store, if you are so inclined, via Twint and more.
A Strange Feeling
It feels strange to pick things up, scan them, pick up more things, scan them, and then to pay directly from your phone, without using any shop device. In future I can walk into a shop, scan what I want to buy, put it in my bag, pay for it and walk out without stopping, at the checkout, without a cashier seeing me motion that I am paying.
A System of Trust
This works for one simple reason. Societal trust. If and when a society behaves morally then people can be trusted to walk into a shop, pick things up, and pay for them, before leaving. I read about this type of shopping in Switzerland but I had not played with it in Switzerland yet. Now that I have, I like it.
Phone Batteries
The SubitoGo app is within the Migros app. It uses the phone’s camera to scan products. It works well but it’s better to use it with a well charged battery. It used about 8 percent for 27 minutes on my phone.
The Moral Side
People do not like self-checkout and other such tech because they feel that it removes jobs from shops. I don’t think that it does, because shelves still need to be stacked. Instead of being stuck in one place shop workers are constantly walking around and filling shelves.
I often see that the people standing by self-checkout machines are having conversations with friends. They interrupt the conversation, if someone needs assistance, but the rest of the time they chat, like bar staff in bars, on a quiet day.
Some jobs are fun. I think that sitting at a cash register, on a quiet day, without customers is boring. On such days I am sure that they prefer self-checkout, where they are there in case of a problem.
Time-lapse videos are fun because we can see something happen faster or slower than real time. By watching this content we gain a better understanding of the world and how it works. For years I have been filming time-lapses and the results can be fun. In some cases we record time-lapses with video cameras and at other times we set an interval timer to take pictures every so many seconds. In this post you will be watching clouds form as a 360 timelapse.
I have chosen to share both the flat image and the spherical image. The reason for sharing both versions is to give you an overview of how objects move in both.
Spherical Version
With this version look to your right and you will be able to watch the clouds move through space. As they move you will see them grow thicker and then cover the sun. At this point everything gets darker. If you watch this video a few times you can watch the landscape change.
The next step would be to get a 360 camera somewhere high during a total eclipse of the sun by the moon. During such events you will see a grey mask cross over the landscape, you will see birds fly away and then everything will be dark. You can then turn around and watch totality, the corona and then the reverse process. The time is right for eclipse chasers to be at the right place to capture such an event as a 360 video.
Flat Version
With the flat version you can imagine where you would aim a standard camera. Would you try to get the clouds that are forming over the mast or would you prefer to look out towards La Dôle and watch as the large clouds form and float to block off the sun? In this image you can see from Villeneuve and Lausanne to Geneva and the Salève.
Having such a wide angle of view allows you to see everything that is going on in front of and behind the camera. The timelapse is a sequence of pictures rather than video so in future I hope to export the video in a higher resolution.
A few days ago the Rio Paralympics “We’re The Superhumans” video popped in to my newsfeed on Facebook and I eventually watched it. The moment that most impressed me is the olympic athlete climbing 2 minutes 20 in. He is dynamic in his climbing technique despite not having any hands. As a climber those two or three shots impressed me and it encouraged me to look for more such climbing videos. They are interesting. It is nice to see climbers take their passion to the next level.
I often think that climbing is a mental game. Most of us have to overcome our fear of heights and we need to learn to read the climbing wall, hand holds and foot holds to climb up as elegantly as possible and without getting tired. Overcoming that fear of heights takes exposure. The more you climb the more you get to grips with the feeling of being high off the ground. You also learn to trust yourself and your equipment. That trust allows you to see opportunities and use them. David Bowes was injured in a road traffic accident while commuting one day. In the clip below he says that despite not always enjoying the moments when he is climbing he always feels better when he gets home and that this is why he climbs.
In the third video we see that climbing is not limited to people who want to become world class athletes. We see that climbing is for people who simply want to work on their self confidence. They overcome their disabilities, feel pride and build their confidence. Every one of us gains by climbing.
We see that some people climb with prosthetics and that others are climbing using just their arms. In other cases people are using artificial limbs to get up the wall. We see that some people with one arm lever their body in to a stable position that lasts just long enough to let go of one hand hold and grab on to the next one. It is enjoyable to see how much ingenuity goes in to climbing.
As we see in the final video some groups want to provide people with the opportunity to climb at least once and to reach the top of the wall. Whether they become passionate about the sport or not is not what matters. What matters is that they get a sense of accomplishment, of setting and reaching that goal. These videos are empowering as we see that anyone with
Today I went for one of my walks, but rather than turning East as I normally do, on that route, I went West, and as a result I went for a longer walk than usual. I too this route because I wanted to look at the books in a new phone box that was turned into a lending library.
I often say that I have too many book already, and that I don’t need to get more, and yet every single time I feel the compulsion to look at the choice, and usually want to pick up a book or two. Today was no different. I picked up quite a few books, and we will see if I get around to reading them. I think I might.
We are in the middle of a pandemic. Although my interest in books, and in drinking vessels may seem eccentric, and it is, there is rationality nonetheless. I pick up a lot of books, but I also start reading many books at a time, and leave some unfinished for weeks or months. I think that I may find the books interesting, even if I do not read them instantly. I also don’t spend money when I find free books. I only spend time and energy, and those are both used up by the walks anyway.
For drininking vessels it is absurd, in winter, when we do not get thirsty during walks, and when walks last for shorter periods of time. At the same time I suspect that if I did not have a choice of water bottles then I would quickly grow bored of drinking water and revert to Coke and Rivella.
Another thing that is not discussed, is the habit of buying bottles of coke, water and other recipients. There is also the habit of drinking hot chocolate from a machine and always using a new cup. One recent purchase is to ensure that when I am in an office again I will be able to have hot chocolate in the same recipient over and over, without filling a bin with empty paper cups.
In my experience of hiking, especially in summer, you often want at least two bottles of water, of differing sizes depending on the duration of the walk, effort, and temperature. I have one 500ml for my daily walks, one 600ml, one 750ml and two one thousand ml bottles. Those are for walking. For cycling I now have two new 500ml bottles. I have one 300ml vacuum travel mug for take away drinks and one 500ml cup. I boil water before my walk, and drink it when I need to warm up again.
When I get my 0.47ml travel mug with a screw on lid then I will have what is required for road trips. If I used the 300 or 500ml cups I would spill the liquid either on myself or in the car. With the one I just ordered I have a good option for road trips.
I did buy a lot of water bottles recently but they last for years. It is only because my 1L and 0.5l aluminium sigg bottles seem to have suffered from not being used during the pandemic, after years of loyal service before the pandemic, and because my camelbak forge was damaged by overuse that I replaced it. With the cycling water bottles I am replacing them because they always get black mould and I’d prefer not to risk my health. This time Almost everything I bought is machine washable. I will find an excuse to get new toys eventually, but for the forseeable future I should no longer have any excuse.
And in summary. This year I have spent 388 hours hiking 1929 kilometres, burning about 142,987 kcals. In total I have spent 486 hours doing sports, covering a distance of 3248 kilometres and ascended 25,708 meters. Not too lazy after all.
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