A Postman's Job.....

We have had a crazy time weather wise in the UK over the last week. All sorts of public transport services have broken down, but then its not surprising - how do you balance the risk of occasional severe weather disruption with the spend on machinery & services that other countries (for whom big winter weather is normal) invest in.

A friend works for the Royal Mail in one of the area offices. Yesterday, Christmas Eve, she got to her local sorting office at 6am to take a post bag and go delivering letters so people could get the cards that had made it through the transport system to their homes in time. Now that’s what I call service!

All the more impressive from a work force in unhappy circumstances.

Go To
www.cathyfoster.co.uk for more posts.

Cowes Week

Cowes week is here again. Amongst the changeable winds and weather of this year’s British Summer, this traditional week is going through one of those times of change as it flexes to meet the challenges of no title sponsor. This is definitely an opportunity to do a shake-out and gain efficiencies in areas previously thought untouchable.

Last year I was a guest of the Cowes Week organisation by dint of the RYA to look at the Race Officer functions, and I was impressed. The sheer size of the operation is incredible. In the past I worked as part of the back-room operations for the America’s Cup Jubilee, and was amazed then at the willingness of the administrators, especially Stuart Quarrie to embrace new technology. Nowadays with the use of mobile phone and SMS, the whole thing just flows - truly wicked.

For those stuck at work, home, elsewhere but Cowes - listen into Cowes Week Radio to stay up with the action.

(For the correct links visit the blog on my website www.cathyfoster.co.uk)

Buddies and Co-Coaching

I’ve just read the latest ‘Outside the lines’ newsletter which is on finding Buddies to be with and this has struck a chord with me, as I am enjoying working with seven other people in exactly this way. We have a company called ‘Resolve’, which provides relationship coaching, counselling and mediation to those with relationship problems and issues across the UK. Its all very exciting. Normally as a coach I work on my own, and now, with the values that we share, it is so much easier to work with others too.

Working with people to sort out their relationships has been a constant thread through my coaching career. In sailing and sport, its building teams and dealing with issues so that the performance of the team is not compromised. In life coaching, I often work with clients helping them to deal with their life partner relationships. The similarities and differences between sport and life help provide me with the insights needed to cut through to the basic issues in ways my clients then build on.

When dealing with two people, life or sport, its always been tricky to give each partner equal attention. So often, one person’s issues are more immediate, and resolving these will help move situations forward, which tends to be the expedient solution. However, finding time to listen to the concerns of the other partner is imperative to get a balanced resolution. Within Resolve we are promoting Co-Coaching as an optional service, where there are two coaches to two people, and boy, does this work well! A balanced outcome is so much more reliable at the end of a session, with the needs of both parties attended to by using of the complementary skills of the two coaches.

Its a real pleasure to be working with my Buddies.

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Good Work Done

I’ve just had an invitation to ‘sign’ the retirement card for one of my professors from University days - Brian Short. I was really glad to do so - a really enthusiastic lecturer, he helped open my eyes to the landscape in ways that continue to delight me.
On reading his profile, I discover he’s made a real name for himself in the 30 years since I knew him - I’m very glad.

Bookmark my new website

My new website, cathyfoster.co.uk, has been created using iWeb, the Mac website software. I have really enjoyed making the most of the software to produce the very visual effects, but there is one downside. The software is a ‘cut & paste’ type, and incredibly easy to use as I haven’t had to learn to write in code. I would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone creating a personal website. However, as each page gets published as a .jpeg picture onto the web, individual words cannot be identified and so the site content cannot be picked up by search engines searching for key identifiers. This means I will have difficulty getting my site to the first page of a Google search - unless you help me.

Please increase the traffic to this site by both bookmarking this site AND by using the links on the Bits and Bobs page. In return, if you have anything interesting you’d like me to comment on, I’ll do what I can to help you out. Also, pass on my website address to others if you find it interesting.

Please do this - the more traffic I can attract, the better it is for me. This new website has been created using iWeb, the Mac website software. I have really enjoyed making the most of the software to produce the very visual effects, but there is one downside. The software is a ‘cut & paste’ type, and incredibly easy to use as I haven’t had to learn to write in code. I would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone creating a personal website. However, as each page gets published as a .jpeg picture onto the web, individual words cannot be identified and so the site content cannot be picked up by search engines searching for key identifiers. This means I will have difficulty getting my site to the first page of a Google search - unless you help me.

Please increase the traffic to this site by both bookmarking this site AND by using the links on the Bits and Bobs page. In return, if you have anything interesting you’d like me to comment on, I’ll do what I can to help you out. Also, pass on my website address to others if you find it interesting.

Please do this - the more traffic I can attract, the better it is for me.

The Galaxy Zoo

I came across an extraordinary endeavour the other day - the Galaxy Zoo is the biggest citizen-science experiment on the web, dedicated to helping scientists classify 1,000,000 photographs collected from various telescopes (on earth and in space) for the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS).

The project was started in July 2007 by Dr. Chris Lintott, a science researcher from the University of Oxford, as a solution to this huge task. By asking the public to help, the manpower resources increased enormously. The participation rate is measured by ‘clicks’ on the website, and has now topped 70 million clicks. Initially people were asked to identify galaxies as being spiral, elliptical or merging categories, and the success is such that Lintott says “ You can have confidence, as we say, ‘100% of people think that that’s a spiral galaxy, so its really, really spirally’.”

Such is the success of the operation, participants have now been asked to apply a far more extensive range of criteria for classifying the galaxies they see in the photos in a new project - Galaxy Zoo 2.

Stories abound. Try out the ‘The Voorwerp’ for a discovery in the making.

For a fully linked up version of this article, go to cathyFoster.co.uk and sign up for the Blog RSS feed.

Spiral Dynamics

I’ve just been to a fascinating presentation on Spiral Dynamics at the NLP Wessex Practice Group. A fascinating presentation on world viewpoints, it was particularly well presented by Roger Terry of Evolution Training. Not just the personal and corporate viewpoints but the stage of world politics as well. My thoughts keep turning to what I have learnt, testing it out. Roger was right - it has changed my view of the world.

For a fully linked up version of this article, go to cathyfoster.co.uk and sign up for my Blog.

New Blog and website

My blog now forms a part of my new website, www.cathyfoster.co.uk. I will continue to keep this cathy-coach blogspot going for a while, but if you want to stay completely up to date, then visit and bookmark new my website blog.

Eden Project

I’ve just been (yet again) to see the Eden Project in Cornwall. For those that don’t know, this is a very professionally presented educational charity.

Their vision is:
“Overall we believe the world we live in is facing radical change – and our aim is to help find positive futures in the face of that change. To get in shape for the challenges of the future we need a culture that knows how to sustain the things that sustain us and at the same time nurtures creativity, imagination and adaptability.

We are an organisation that believes in "learning by doing" and we try to run our operations in ways that help address some big questions. Questions like: How do we ensure the economic benefits of our work go back into the local economy? How do we manage food supply and waste? Or how do we construct buildings in a way that reflect the needs of the 21st Century?”

They welcome a million visitors a year to their award-winning site in a disused china clay pit. Its a great place to visit at any time of the year. The joy of multiple visits over the years is that you see real change. This is NOT a static stuck-in-a-time-warp site.

I think what impressed me most this time was how happy the kids were. It was half term, and there were many families with children of all ages. Yet I never heard a child cry without a real reason - like falling down. It was a pleasure to visit an major public exhibit without hearing whine and screeches of boredom and attention seeking. My congratulations to the Eden Project for both what they have set out to do and for making the facilities so child-friendly.

Sam Davies coming home......

The Vendee Globe is coming to an end. Michel Desjoyeau has won in record breaking time, and in style. The remaining fleet have now all rounded Cape Horn. Months of sailing are coming to an end.

I have found it really entertaining, not in the least because I too have been racing around in the Virtual Race. I’m west of the Canaries at the moment. The Vendee Globe website www.vendeeglobe.org/en/ for the real race has been particularly well serviced, and the interviews and e-mail comments from the skippers have been well worth following.

I have so much enjoyed Sam Davies’ comments. She did a great commentary on ‘types of waves’ the other day www.vendeeglobe.org/en/newswire/8721/sam-on-waves.html - so true. For unadulterated commentary from Sam, have a look at Sam’s very pink website www.samdavies.com/gb_les_news.asp- (its a bilingual site, so if it comes up french, click on the Union Jack top right).

Watching the British Legal system at work

I live near a County Court House, and today, out of sheer curiousity, popped in to see the legal system working. The receptionists told me I was lucky - there were some big cases on today.

I saw the judgement and sentencing of a murderer and heard some of the evidence in a child rape case. On one level it was really interesting, on another - oh! the human pain of it all!

The judgement was very like sailing protest committees, in that procedures and rules had to be followed, so there was a familiarity about it. Yet the judge able to express his feelings against the murder within this, and this, along with the measured clarity of his speech and expression, gave me a sense that he really was speaking on behalf of decent society. Incidentally, the murderer got a life sentence, with a minimum of 16 years to be served before being eligible for consideration for parole. This, given the defendant is 65 years old, could well be a remainder of ‘life’ sentence in incarceration, which reflect the severity of the crime. His teenage partner was strangled and stabbed to death in what was accepted to be an little provoked but unpre-meditated act, and then after smoking a cigarette, he then killed their 4 year old little boy. UGH.

The other case ( an accusation of incest child rape between Father and children) was mid-process of being heard. They were going through the transcripts of police interviews. What was interesting was that the Policewoman ( Inspector?) was reading out what she said, while what seemed to be a barrister read out the defendant’s answers. They did it very well, and bought reems of paperwork alive. I never knew they did this and it was very effective in the process. The process felt transparent, and encouraged a fair trial.

This evening I’ve been reading in the paper an article about systematic gang rape as a deliberate act of war in the Congo. The contrast between our judicial system, alive and well, compared to the total lack of justice in the Congo for a such widespread violation of fellow human beings is awful to think about. “No man is an island...” said the poet John Donne.

Obama week

What an extraordinary week! All the news flooding out of America as Barack Obama hits the track sprinting. He certainly used the days between election and taking over office to good effect.

I heard a interview (BBC Radio4) which surprised both the interviewer and me,and has kept me thinking. One black person felt that with the Inauguration, he felt like he now belonged to America, and that now it was more his country, he would make more effort to get involved in solving its problems. Yet this man was born in America, and had been ‘american’ for all his life. Before this week, he did not really believe this was ‘his country’. If this hope and energy can be harnessed, maybe America will turn around in many new ways in the upcoming years.

Certainly I take hope from a new willingness to interact with world affairs, and the recruitment of experienced people whatever their creed.

Frost icicles

I took this picture on Sunday. I can’t remember having seen frost like this in the UK. It was was all so beautiful in the countryside - cold though!

Filling empty lorries & Wood to burn...

I've just been listening to a programme on Radio 4 on 'You and Yours' (www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours) which had two interesting items:
(You can listen again to these by going to
www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/youandyours/listenagain/wednesday.shtml)

The first was a neat website aimed at filling lorries with loads on return journeys. People can negotiate/bid for space for otherwise empty space. What a great idea. I wonder if they transport boats and boat bits.....

The second was an article on Firewood to use in wood-burning stoves. This poem was read out:

LOGS TO BURN

Logs to burn, logs to burn,
Logs to save the coal a turn
Here's a word to make you wise,
When you hear the woodman's cries.
Never heed his usual tale,
That he has good logs for sale,
But read these lines and really learn,
the proper kind of logs to burn.

OAK logs will warm you well,
If they're old and dry.
LARCH logs of pine wood smell,
But the sparks will fly.
BEECH logs for Christmas time,
YEW logs heat well.
SCOTCH logs it is a crime,
For anyone to sell.

BIRCH logs will burn too fast,
CHESTNUT scarce at all
HAWTHORN logs are good to last,
If you cut them in the fall
HOLLY logs will burn like wax
You should burn them green
ELM logs like smouldering flax
No flame to be seen

PEAR logs and APPLE logs,
they will scent your room.
CHERRY logs across the dogs,
Smell like flowers in bloom
But ASH logs, all smooth and grey,
burn them green or old;
Buy up all that come your way,
They're worth their weight in gold.

(I can't find an Author to attribute this to - sorry. It can be found in E. M. Hull’s Poem Book of the Gael:)


Note that all woods burn better when seasoned and some burn better when split rather than as whole logs. In general the better woods for burning that you are most likely to come by (including non-native species) are:

Apple and pear – burning slowly and steadily with little flame but good heat. The scent is also pleasing.

Ash – the best burning wood providing plenty of heat (will also burn green but you should not need to do this!)

Beech and hornbeam – good when well seasoned

Birch – good heat and a bright flame – burns quickly.

Blackthorn and hawthorn – very good – burn slowly but with good heat

Cherry – also burns slowly with good heat and a pleasant scent.

Cypress – burns well but fast when seasoned, and may spit

Hazel – good, but hazel has so many other uses hopefully you won’t have to burn it!

Holly – good when well seasoned

Horse Chestnut – good flame and heating power but spits a lot.

Larch – fairly good for heat but crackles and spits

Maple – good.

Oak – very old dry seasoned oak is excellent, burning slowly with a good heat

Pine – burns well with a bright flame but crackles and spits

Poplar – avoid all poplar wood – it burns very slowly with little heat – which is why poplar is used to make matchsticks.

Willow – very good – in fact there is growing interest in biomass production of coppiced willow as a fuel.

Another poem:

Logs to burn
Oaken logs if dry and old
Keep away the winter cold;
Poplar gives a bitter smoke
Fills your eyes and makes you choke;
Elm wood burns like graveyard mould,
Even the very flames are cold;
Apple wood will scent the room
Pear wood smells as flowers in bloom;
But Ash wood wet and Ash wood dry
A King to warm his slippers by.

Beech wood fires burn bright and clear
If the logs are kept for a year;
Chestnut's only good, they say,
If for years, 'tis stored away.
Birch and firwoods burn too fast
Blaze too bright, and do not last;
But Ash wood green and Ash wood brown
Are fit for a Queen with a golden crown.

Printed in the Emmerdale Farm book of Country Lore (Hamlyn, out of print)


Season's Greetings to all!

Bits and pieces

Its been a busy time.

I have just retired from doing committee work. My choice - its simply the right time for me to move on. Leaving the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) had some poignant moments - I've been a committee member for 22 years. No doubt next November will feel very strange when I would normally be getting revved up for my meetings. My fellow committee members were lovely to me, so I leave with a full and warm heart.

One of my life-coaching clients, who came to me suffering from a fear of flying phobia, has just successfully completed her first return flight for many years, so that's great cause for celebration!

I've been working on a new website, so that has taken up many of my spare computer moments. This blog will be transferred to that, so be prepared to change your bookmarks soon.

I've been meeting with some colleagues about forming an association of relationship counsellors - a kind of one stop shop for those whose relationships could do with a boost, or in the case of breakdown, those who need to sort out the end of the relationship (for themselves and maybe their children) and then move on. We've all found that people's needs can be so various at such a tough time. We are all professionals who, if we think we cannot meet our clients needs will refer them onto other specialists. Yet we only pass on people to those we trust. By forming a professional association and setting ourselves standards to meet, we think we can provide a broader service by learning and trusting those whose standards match our own, but in slightly different specialities - facilitation, counseling, life coaching, mediation, psychotherapy, child support, bereavement. Watch this space!

Voices and accents

It is amazing what you find on the internet.

Try this site for some fascinating minutes:
www.bbc.co.uk/voices/recordings

ROXY interior - Vendee Globe

I'm going to be actively supporting Sam Davis on 'Roxy' in the Vendee Globe solo round-the-world race because I used to sail with Sam. We were on the Mumm 36 team 'Bradamante' together for two years. I was tactician and Sam became the bowperson.

The Race starts next Saturday November 9th, and there is LOTS of activity going on. Go to www.vendeeglobe.org

There's also going to be virtual games running for this one, so if you fancy signing up go to www.virtualregatta.com Its a lot shorter race than the Volvo ( which will last around 8 months I think) as there won't be any stops. The Vendee Globe will be around 3 months long, but you must join within 15 days of the real race start. With the Volvo you can join anytime as the race has stop-overs - although I'm not sure yet what happens if you haven't got into port by the time the real race starts out again.

In the meantime, I just came across an amazing shot of the navigation station of 'Roxy'. Go to www.360ouest.com/panoramas and then click on page 2, and look for ID.631 ROXY. This where Sam is likely to spend nearly all her time down below, including sleeping I believe.

Volvo Ocean Race Virtual Game

I haven't had so much fun on a computer for long time!

The Volvo Ocean Race started over 2 weeks ago from southern Spain with eight boats. The Virtual Race started at the same time, and now has 43,408 boats. We're all in a battle (real and virtual) to get across the southern Atlantic. Its fascinating!

With windshifts every 12 hours in in the Virtual Race, there is a considerable amount of logging on at 11am and 11pm (UK time) to check short term tactics against long term strategy. I'm partnering my real life sailing partner, and we're finding it really helpful to improve communications between us when making decisions. This will definitely benefit our double-handed racing results offshore.

There is no doubt that, for some, this activity has taken over their lives. Go to
www.volvooceanracegame.org/news.php?id=54
to read a very amusing little story and response.

Wessex NLP Practice Group

My local NLP practice group has been re-launched as Wessex NLP. The website is at www.wessexnlp.btik.com/ Anybody who has done an NLP course with any provider is welcome. We meet in central Winchester ever 4th Wednesday most months. Its a fun group - be welcome!

Carbon Footprints

For a number of reasons - often convenience - I'm train much more nowadays.

I'm just off to Weymouth by train and am feeling very virtuous after having compared the journey by car or train on this website: www.transportdirect.info
I'm using only 9.7 kg of CO2 emissions rather than 20.5 kgs.

Have a look for yourself.