Geotechnical 101 -- converting a tunnel

Reference

This is a great picture, you can click on it for more detail.  The article has two estimates to turn it into a bicycle tunnel:  3 or 30 million pounds.  I would go for the higher, since I think it is almost as much as to get old musky over and dig a new one.

The bricks are weathered and the tunnel leaks.  This is okay for an old steam train, but falling bricks make for a bad day, for cyclists.  This tunnel has to be relined with a waterproof liner, steel mesh and shotcrete.  Then steel linings for the ventilation shafts, fans, pumps etc.  Now that I think of it, even the high estimate is low, since we must have power and wifi.  :)

Replacing the Nexus 6P Battery

For some reason, every phone of this generation (2 years old) has had horrendous battery problems.  The replacement battery for the 6p is only $18 on ammie, shipping from Canada.  There's a reason for the cheap price.

Look at about 5 videos on how to do it.  Each one leaves something out.  Why do they do this?  Because they want to sell you stuff.  This is a difficult job because they use super glue in this phone.  Next year, the phones will be solid glue, and try changing that battery!  Applenose started this whole glue the battery thing, and I'm glad they are in big doo-doo with it.

I only had trouble with the glass thing at the top.  When they say, apply sufficient heat, they mean lots of heat.  I used a paint-scraper razor for separating things and that worked.  Expect to crack that glass and start from the unimportant end.  You can practice on that end.  They are really vague on separating the case, use the razor, and go deep in a vertical direction.  Keep your glass protector on.

And in other news, I was finally warm on my dog walk.  My brown fat has finally kicked in and that only happens by freezing a lot.

Storm for UK gathers strength

This is fine physics for those who don't believe in it.  While the rest of us are freezing, Europe is relatively warm in a back-eddy up from the Mediterranean.  However, a strong storm is gathering strength over the last warm spot in the Northern Atlantic.

This shows the surface winds.  Note that they are different from the plot showing moist winds, or winds with all the heat energy.  This storm is not enough to fully circle the moist winds.

A storm vortex is perfect for sucking out the last heat from the cut-off Gulf Stream.  I expect that the last remnant past the cold Arctic current will be gone soon. 

With the sea temperature plot, you can see the last protrusion of warmth sticking out in the yellow of colder water.  I'm watching the yellow and it is slowly sinking.  This is the mechanism of a cold decade.  In North America, we have lost the North Pacific current, and Europe will lose the Gulf Stream.  All those Alpine glaciers will come back.