Walking and finding old trees is still possible if you look around. If you’re attentive you can find trees that are hundreds of years old. They are massive compared to younger trees. Their trunk is broad and their branches are complex.
If you walk around the Mediterranean you will find thousand-year-old olive trees and if you walk around Switzerland it is also possible to find old trees. There are two or three parks in Geneva where you can find them. You can find them at the Chateau De Penthes and other places.
There was a branch growing out of the tree to the left that was growing sideways and almost touched the floor when we were younger. It was fun to stand on the branch and make it move. Since then that branch has grown and now touches the floor so the game is over. In the background you can see the Lac Léman, with the alps and the Mont Blanc in the distance.
Old trees are instantly recognisable because they are either tall and broad like the Sequoia that used to live at the Chateau De Penthes or the one by the lake in Nyon before it died and was cut down. Others, such as the one featured in this blog post are broad with a complex system of branches. Another one is near the sports centre in Crans. It is located here.
It’s easy to drive or cycle by this tree without noticing. When you stop and stand next to it you see that the trunk is broad and the branch system is interesting.
If you walk by the lakeside in Geneva you can see a few old trees. These sequoias are by the road that enters or leaves Geneva, depending on whether you live inside or outside of Geneva. If you’re ready to walk a few minutes you will find them easily.
Of course one of the advantages of old trees that are in the middle of fields is that you can get footage of them from various angles that would only be accessible with a crane camera or other tools. With video you will see the complex branch system, the width of the trunk and if you’re filming at the right time of year, the biome that lives within it. I flew around this tree in spring, when it was flowering. Enjoy the majesty of this tree.
Today during my walk I noticed a sticker on a sign for EuroVélo.com. I don’t know how new the project is but I had not paid attention to the URL before. I like the idea of a European Network of Cycling Routes. I don’t need to capitalise these words. I just did, for some reason.
During my walk I was listening to two podcast episodes of a single podcast about hiking the AT and other hikes in the US. It’s interesting and it makes us want to travel to the US to try these walks. The drawback is that A) It requires travelling to the US and getting a visa for long enough to complete the challenge and B) We have plenty of walking and cycling trips in Europe to enjoy, and best of all they should be quieter because fewer people think about using these routes, for now.
The Route EV 17 starts at the source of the Rhone and then heads through Switzerland through France and onto Nimes or Montpellier, whichever destination you prefer. It bifurcates around the Lac Léman so you can go either on the French or the Swiss side. The French side might be shorter and differently busy.
The beauty of cycling rather than walking is that you can cover bigger distances in less time. The drawback is that you may be on dangerous roads. I hope that the roads are chosen because they are safe. I want to try some of these projects.
For a size comparison. Switzerland has 65,000 kilometres of hiking paths, and EuroVélo, so far, has 90,000 kilometres. The cycling is growing every year, and with time it may become a normal way for people to spend their holidays. People will go on cycling road trips, rather than driven.
The documentary is split in to volumes and each volume is divided in to sections. At the beginning of each section you have footage showing the diversity of landscapes in which people live as well as the people themselves. You see images of a caravan on a dune, images of a river delta, a fishing boat being unloaded.
People are answering questions about love, abuse, work and more. You feel compassion for these people because they stare straight in to the camera and they are speaking to us, who are in the audience. We feel compassion for these people, we are moved to laughter by some and to tears by others. There are some beautiful images created by what the people say.
One person speaks about buying things. He says that we don’t buy things with money but that we buy them with time. That is a beautiful and more accurate image than we are used to. I love gadgets and sports so I often think of how long an investment will take to offset. I used to think “in a week” I will have covered the expense.
Another image painted by words that I like is that of wealth and comfort. When you are poor the river is empty and so every stone is a challenge. With wealth you do not need to worry about the stones because the river is full.
It brings us to the “All Seeing Eye” that Vertov discussed at the very birth of the documentary genre. His ideal was to have cameras that would film and document “life unawares” as they went about their daily lives. In so doing the cinema was an observer, without interacting. Of course these are just interviews so there is some interaction between the camera operator and the talent on screen. They are meant to speak from the heart, without censor. They were meant to give us an honest representation of who they are and how they feel. It gives us a serious glimpse in to the lives of others.
it makes me think of the interviews I have listened to, of the stories I have heard told when I was logging and transcribing footage for a video archive. Some of the things people speak about are timeless and others are contemporary. With this documentary record of people’s thoughts and emotions so a moment in time is preserved. I have yet to watch the next volumes and will do so in the evenings. I recommend you take the time to watch at least part of these documentaries.
We have all seen events covered by photographers and camera operators but how many events have we seen covered with 360 degree videos?
A few weeks ago I filmed the Escalade, wrestling and other events with 360 cameras and it was fun. In some cases it was the opportunity to play with a new format and in other cases it was the opportunity for proof of concept.
The thing to remember about 360 videos is that you’re placing the camera at a point in space and people can look around as if they were holding the camera. Of course rather than hold the camera with their hands they are holding it with their fingers or even on their heads.
Turn your head instinctively and you see what you’d expect. Look up, look down, look behind you. You are there in full control. You will see a group of runners run towards you and when they pass you can follow them with your gaze.
It’s not just that you follow them with your gaze. In some cases you’re right by the action. When I filmed wrestling I got the camera right by the action rather than on the pilon holding up the ropes. You can look up as one wrestler jumps from the ropes into the opponent below.
Of course I still need to watch this footage and see how effective my experiment was. I suspect it worked well. When I get back to the edit suite I will be able to experiment.
Before the pandemic I liked to track sports, whether walking, indoor climbing, cycling, walking or more. I have tracked sports activities for two to three years at this point. I think I have almost 3000 tracked activities. That’s tracking my walks and more almost every day for at least ten years.
Recently the English, Swiss, Danish and other governments decided that they would declare the pandemic over, with no concern about the reality on the ground, or the warnings by the WHO not to assume that the pandemic is over. I also keep reading about how serious long Covid is, so despite the billions spent on propaganda to tell us that the pandemic is over, I am not convinced.
This does come with a psychological cost. While others can return to normal life, and either ignore the risk because they have already fallen sick, or ignore the risk because they don’t read hard news like some of us do, there is a social divide. On one side there are people who want to be careful and reach covid zero before resuming normal life, and on the other the people who don’t worry or pay attention to the details.
This summer we have a choice to make. Do we self isolate, to stay safe, and continue to wear masks, or do we give up and give in, and play Covid roulette? The data shows that solitude and masks are much better than long Covid but others are not careful. It is within this context that I am tempted to give up on fitness watches, and smart watches. What value is there in tracking our every move, our every breath and our every heart beat if we’re going to dine alone, walk alone, and ride alone?
I hardly look at Strava, Garmin Connect or the Apple Fitness app. I was excited that I walked five and a half million steps in a single year, but at the same time where is the end of this pandemic? Where is the safe social event? Where is the guarantee that a state or country is covid free.
The shift from pandemic mode, to no pandemic mode, in Switzerland was from one evening to the next morning. Within 10 hours we went from masks and being cautious to no covid passes, no masks, no social distancing, no event restrictions or anything else. In other words we went from being able to do things without danger. Now that there are no safety measures it is better to shop online, and not to do anything social in meat space.
I don’t expect any summer waves. What I am frustrated by is that we could profit from the summer virus lull to get to Covid Zero and eradicate the problem. Instead society is going to do everything it can to leave the pilot light burning for the virus, so that, when Christmas and New Year comes, we will have another tragic winter.
It is within this context that I am tempted to wear dumb watches again, to downgrade from the iPhone 8 plus to the iPhone SE and more. It is hard not to lose hope for the future. I haven’t lost hope. I study two to three hours a day now, four if you consider podcasts as studying. I am working towards a future, because I see no short term possibilities, during this pandemic. I am not depressed. I am despondent. I am going through the motions, whilst waiting for hope to reappear.
I know that driving to the house where I charge the electric vehicle will take about 20 percent. I also know that driving to the shops will take less than one percent per drive. This means that if I had an electric car, and I had a plug at home, rather than a climb up the Jura, I would need to charge every week or two, rather than almost every time I drive the car.
I Could Deplete the Battery
I could let the battery deplete to 30 percent, before charging but if I do this then I face two issues. The first of these is that you should always have a third in case of emergencies, or unexpected situations. The second reason is that to charge 20 percent to full takes four hours. To charge 30 percent takes six hours. To charge 40 percent takes eight hours. To charge 70 percent will take fourteen hours. Fourteen hours is a long time to sit around waiting for a car to charge.
The Hidden Beauty
Although it sounds as if I do not like that electric cars take so long to charge I really like that on the same socket that you charge your iphone you can recharge a car. This might not sound like much but this is liberating. If you charge overnight, you don’t need to spend thousands of francs on the charging port, upgrading the electrical circuit and more. You can simply add a normal plug, and charge overnight.
Future buildings could easily include a plug per property, for slow charging electric cars. This also means that there is no surge in demand, since a normal plug is being used.
0.35 Centimes Per Kilowatt/Hour
If you go to charge at Migros shopping centre it will cost 35 centimes per kilowatt hour. The Fiat 500 has a 42 KW/h battery so it will cost 14.7 CHF for a full charge. In theory you will only to top up the charge, rather than charge fully.
No Range Anxiety
Someone asked if I suffered from range anxiety with the electric car and the short answer is “nope”. That’s why I let it get to 30 percent and then thought “oh fork”, when I saw that it would take 14 hours to charge fully a few weeks ago. I’m not worried about range. I’m more concerned with charge time. I know that if I use the car to go to the shops I’m fine. I know that if I drive to the village on the plateau at 600m in altitude I should charge every time.
Consistent behaviour
The car’s battery is consistent. I know that it takes 23+ percent to drive from A to B, and that it takes four to five hours to charge. That’s why, if I use the car, I give myself plenty of time to charge the car to 100 percent. This consistency allows us to anticipate the car’s charging needs, and, therefore not get caught out.
Conservative Or Aggressive Driving
Today I set the drive assist to get me to 120 kilometres per hour, to keep me within my lane, but also to keep the radar tracking the cars ahead of me and adjust the speed accordingly. I did push the car to 120 for a bit, and then resumed driving on the right lane at a more reasonable speed. By driving more aggressively I depleted 20 percent or so, rather than 12. That’s why the charge time went from four and a half hours to six hours. The time that I save by driving at 120 km/h is wasted by a longer charge time when I reach my destination.
Setting a Timer
I have started to set a timer when I put the car to charge. I set it to the time the car says it has until it is fully charged and then I leave it to charge. I have found that the time it says it will take to charge is half an hour or an hour longer than it actually takes, which is nice. I don’t have to hang around for as long, as a result.
And Finally
With a petrol/diesel car you wait until you’re at 25 percent before you refuel and it takes a few minutes. With an electric car, if you can’t charge overnight, it makes sense to charge when you can. If I had a power socket at home I would charge once a week or less, especially if I am driving to the shops and back.
If I had not been asked for a favour that required the 20+ percent drive I would have gone for a week or two without charging. The car’s range is good, especially on the flat.
2020 – The Golden Opportunity to be a Recluse. If you’ve ever wanted a reason not to be social then open society’s behaviour, in regards to the COVID-19 virus, has provided us with a fantastic opportunity to enjoy being reclusive.
During a normal Spring and Summer I would be driving to the mountains to hike, climb and enjoy via ferrata with people but this year those plans have been destroyed. This year we can’t share the same room as others to sleep. We can’t even eat within two meters of other people.
There are no handshakes, no hugs and no “bises”. This year if you live alone you’re without physical contact. This year, the more solitary you like to be, the stronger the appeal of such a year.
In a normal year if you were single or below a certain age you’d be pressured to go out and be social, rather than staying at home to work on projects, read books or otherwise be solitary. This year there is no pressure to go out on Thursday and Friday night, and there is no pressure to go out to do group activities during the weekend.
With its single minded desire to reopen too early society has destroyed any chance of a normal summer being possible. Until the 21st of June it looked as if Switzerland was three or four weeks away from the pandemic being over, or at least wonderfully under control. There was a brief window with just 10-20 infections a day.
Speaking as an idealist I believe that we were so close to Switzerland getting to tens of new cases a day but recently the seven-day average is back to 100 cases a day.
Silver Linings
One of the silver linings is that the number of ventilated people declined to zero for several days, the number of intensive hospital cases is staying low and finally, that the number of regular COVID-19 patients was in decline, until two days ago.
At its maxium number of active infections Switzerland was at 98 percent of ICU capacity. Two more percent and triage would have been required.
Depending on whether you work for the airport or think as an environmentalist Geneva airport expects to be at 19 percent of capacity this summer, due to so few people travelling at the moment. It’s great for the environment, but a shame for jobs.
Societal Self Harm
Speaking from a strictly theoretical point of view we have centuries of pandemics to look back on. We have books such as La Peste by Camus, to turn back to. In theory, we know what to do in the case of pandemics, and how to avoid them. We also know how to control them.
We know that in Medieval times villages would shut down to the outside world for weeks or months at a time. We know that ships were quarantined offshore. In some cases, places of infection were marked.
As we watch the current pandemic we get the impression that lessons were never learned. We get the impression that people never studied plagues and other epidemics and pandemics. We get the impression that people are flying blind. This is a shame.
It’s a shame because we are in the 21st century. We live in an age where we have thousands of hours of documentaries about plagues, disease and epidemics. We live in an age where people can get advice and information straight from medical health professionals. We live in an age where everything can be ordered online. We live in an age where being trapped at home does not mean having conversations has to stop. We live in an age where many of us are information workers.
In light of all of this it seems illogical that we would live through the worst pandemic in human history.
I have seen a lot of discussion about rights but responsibilities have been skirted. The responsibility to wear a mask, the responsibility to keep human to human interactions to a minimum, the responsibility to avoid people rather than expect them to make the effort to be safe.
The self-sacrifice of not going on holiday, the self-sacrifice of not going to sit in a park half a meter from others…
With everything that society, as a whole knows, it is a shame that the pandemic coalesced into such a serious problem because we had the tools and knowledge to ensure that it would be dealt with as swiftly as the epidemics we have already lived through, in our own lifetimes.
At its core Switzerland, until the 21st of June Switzerland was doing everything right, and to a serious degree it is still doing the right thing, with the number of ventilated people being at zero and the number of serious cases also dropping.
At it’s core my only issue is with having a third summer with limited opportunities to meet new people. As long as the pandemic is around it seems more logical to give in, and use dating apps, to meet new people, instead.
The Up-Skilling opportunity.
A few weeks ago I sad that I would try to create my own WordPress theme, but I overshot that goal by learning CSS and redesigning my entire website. I have learned to create a CMS from scratch using PHP and MySQL. Now I’m learning Ruby On Rails and it’s going well. Ruby on Rails looks like an intuitive framework to work with. I’m working on changing my career path.
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