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Big J

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Everything posted by Big J

  1. Plus 5c here and breezy. It's the first melt of the year.
  2. Big J

    HS2 Over

    Yes, I believe so. Construction started in 2021 and is due to complete in 2027 for a 2029 opening.
  3. Big J

    HS2 Over

    Even so. The engineering complexity is on a completely different level. Are you saying that the property purchases are where the extra £700 million per kilometre has gone? A million quid every 5ft, or so.....
  4. Big J

    HS2 Over

    I see what you're saying, but surely there must be fairly substantial environmental assessments for a seabed tunnel too?
  5. Big J

    HS2 Over

    Who'd have though it? Nordic Noir could get even darker. Though I'm sure they'll have lights 😄
  6. Big J

    HS2 Over

    I've just become aware of the Danes building a sub-sea tunnel from Rødbyhavn to Puttgarden (I'm a little slow - they've been planning it for over a decade). The projected cost for it (to be completed in 2029) is 6.1 billion euros, or 340 million per kilometer. HS2 will cost around £1 billion per kilometer, by the time it's finished. How on earth can building two train tracks across fairly flat English countryside cost more than three times as much as constructing a 4 lane motorway and 2 lane train tracks on the sea bed? And I bet the Danes finish the tunnel first too.
  7. Fairly aggresively studded tyres on that bike (Suomi Hile Reflex). I use that bike when I'm more unsure of the surface conditions, or where I know it'll be loose/insecure snow. On my commuting bike (where the road is 50% normally clear asphalt and 50% normally smooth compressed, plowed snow) I use Schwalbe Marathon Winter Plus, which have the same number of studs, but they're less aggresive and the tread pattern is smoother. The only thing you have to be conscious of is that on studs, you actually have more grip on good solid snow ice than on bare asphalt. They wouldn't be suitable for most UK winter weather.
  8. A lovely weekend if weather for us. Sunny, a couple of degrees below during the day and a bit cooler overnight. Met with friends on the lake for ice fishing (we only stopped for an hour or so for sausages, hot chocolate and muffins). 21cm ice there now. Today we went skiing. Great snow conditions after a fresh dusting overnight. I then cycled 32km up to the swimming pool and reconvened with the family. All change tomorrow though as we go back above freezing. A bit of a thaw is needed though. It's been almost two months now with only a few days snow free. Eternally glad (from a weather perspective) to no longer be in the UK, as I believe you'll all be bearing down for the 9th named storm of the season.
  9. Yep, though only when accompanied by sauna.
  10. It's been a chilly month so far. Average low: -10.6c Average high: -3.0c Highest: 3.0c Lowest: -22.0c It's about 4c colder than normal through the day, and 7-8c colder than normal at night. We've only had about a week without snow cover on the ground since the last week of November. A proper winter.
  11. Does anyone want me to look into importing firewood for them? It's really cheap here compared to the UK. I realise that Sweden isn't the most common country for it to be imported from, but there must be a market there. I did a ten second Marketplace search and this is listed in Oskarhamn (a harbour, 60km from us). Birch only, 600kr/cube (£45.60 at today's exchange rate). I'm pretty sure that it's impossible to produce it for that in the UK on a commercial scale at the moment, meaning there must be some margin in it for profit. Sweden (or at least our bit) is mostly spruce and pine, but even the minority area of hardwoods is still much more than the UK's hardwood stocks. And the population is minimal here, with most relying on heat pumps now. There is demand for firewood, but just not that much.
  12. Morning all. Off work today, so took advantage of the time off and went for a skate on the lake with the missus. Only 2.5km as we're neither of us much good at skating yet. 13cm of ice.
  13. Morning all. Minus 9c on my cycle commute to work this morning. Better than the minus 18c on Monday! 😄 Cold, snowy and clear skies here just now. Looking forward to skating and skiing later in the week with the kids.
  14. I am rather glad that I was no longer there to suffer that. Flipping hate the rain (well, honestly, it's the mud. The rain's fine). In other news, it's minus 21c outside just now. Might drop another degree or two.
  15. Even my 9 year old daughter stuck her legs in! 😄
  16. The temperature has been dropping steadily since the New Year. We've had a fair bit of snow too (about 17cm level outside now). Minus 9c outside just now. Should be minus 15c by morning. Quite possibly minus 20c over the weekend. Lovely
  17. Happy New Year folks. We have had a lovely day today, with 10cm of fresh snow. A long walk, sauna and lake dip and then some table tennis at the sports hall. Excellent.
  18. Morning all. Shaping up to be a cold and sunny morning here. About to head out for 80km on the bike. I had taken my bike up to Stockholm to meet up with a friend, but it was snowing like a mofo up there and we decided against it.
  19. Morning all. Up in Stockholm with the family. Had to pop to the German embassy to get the girls' passports renewed. Went to the Vasa Museum afterwards, which was brilliant. Rather snowy here. Minus 4c and about 10cm snow lying.
  20. I am super tempted to start with sourdough. I've been baking most of my own bread since moving to Sweden (the bread here is a bit inconsistent and quite expensive sometimes) but I'm bored of my own loaves. Half of the issue is that it's virtually impossible to get good, wholemeal flour. 25% wholemeal seems to be as much as you'll get. So perhaps before going down the sourdough route, I'll start milling my own flour. But if I'm going to go to all that effort, then sourdough doesn't seem like much more outlay. Great effort though - your loaves look outstanding!
  21. I will at the weekend Combined with the sauna, it's very pleasant.
  22. A couple of inches of snow today, falling on a wet base. So the roads are slushy and there is 5-6 inches of snow on the grass. A short, deep cold snap starting tomorrow. Wednesday night forecast minus 17c. We often get it a bit colder than forecast, so maybe minus 20c. That'll make the cycle to work on Thursday morning 'interesting'.
  23. Morning all. Grabbing a couple of rounds of breakfast before popping up to the ski slope to help dismantle the snow making rigs ahead of the slope being pisted.

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