johnadams.org.uk

Credit to Claire Thomson.

We had some spectacular thunderstorms in Glasgow last night. Usually when there is a thunderstorm you can see it coming, experience it for 20 minutes, and then watch it leave. Last night’s was much larger - it lasted between 8pm and midnight, and covered the entire sky over Glasgow. There was both forked and sheet lightning, and some torrential rain. I was speaking to a taxi driver today who saw manhole covers being lifted above the road level by the force of the water.

Some very spectacular pictures in Flickr and on the BBC website.

Anyway, this leads me to the main topic of this post:

As we were out during the storm I had left all my kit plugged in and turned on. When we returned my broadband was down, although the ADSL router seemed to be working fine, it was just not connecting. I thought I’d leave it, maybe BT were out fixing it, so I turned off the router and the PC. This morning, still no connection, and none when I got home from work either.

So I call BT Broadband Technical Support (0845 600 7030) and I get through to a guy in India. After confirming all my details, he asked me to:

1. Turn off my router
2. Unplug all the cables (power, telephone, ethernet, USB)
3. Wait 30 seconds
4. Plug in all the cables and turn on the router

And it worked!. Immediately!

I asked the guy why this might make a difference. He said that turning the router off and unplugging all the cables discharges all the static electricity that may have built up during the thunderstorm - particularly in the cable that connects to the telephone line.

I found the engineer really helpful - and it’s not often I say that!

Woke up this morning to 6 inches (15 cm) of snow outside, dumped overnight. It’s all white and quiet outside. The roads are all blocked and public transport is off. Time for porridge and then walk round to Pollok Park to see the Highland Cattle.

Update 14:00. A nice 2 hour walk round to Pollok Park, crunching our way through fresh snow. Saw two small deer, one chasing the other through the Park, but they moved too fast to get pictures. Very pretty with the snow on all the trees and buildings, and the White Cart Water flowing through the middle of the Park.

On the way back, we passed by several of Pollok’s herd of Highland cattle, all in their element in the snow.

More pictures on Flickr.

After all the wind and snow we’ve been having, it was a real pleasure to have several days of beautiful blue skies, low winds and continuous sunshine.

To take advantage of this, we went for a nice walk yesterday around the Neilston Pad. (Coincidentally, Neilston is the site of the most boring webcam on the planet).

It was crisp, frosty, and sunny. We could see the tops of the mountains in the distance. Not bad for somewhere 15 minutes from home.

We woke up this morning to find 6-7 cm of snow outside, forming a blanket over everything, and creating that unusual silence that happens with snow in the city - a deadening of sound.

Both Jacqueline and I decided to strap on the walking boots and tramp to work, and it was fun to crunch through the fresh snow on the way to the station. The photograph was of Giffnock Station at 08:10 this morning (OK, OK, not the most exciting, but as atmospheric as I could make it..).

In East Kilbride, the snow was still on the ground when I left work, but was an icy, slushy mess back in Glasgow. Very glad of the boots!

A very windy night in Glasgow. J and I moved into the back bedroom and slept with earplugs in, ‘cos the front bedroom was being battered by very strong SW winds. The chimneys were howling with a deep rumbling noise. Luckily, no damage done.

All Scotrail trains are off this morning, so I had to drive to work - although the roads were clear.

It seems to have been stormy since Christmas. It does worry me that we are to expect more of this type of weather as a consequence of global warming.