Big Blue Bulb
Member
I've not been active here but if you visit the orange and blue forum you'll have seen the blue bulb around there quite a bit. That's for the sole reason that I deliberately limited myself to one electrical forum to avoid spending even more time online. But things have changed and I have more leisure now and might relax that rule and start hanging out here too if time permits.
What has changed is that I now have oesophageal cancer that requires chemotherapy so about half of my time I am away from work pursuing more armchair-based interests. In fact I have not really been able to work for some months but the treatment is delivering rapid benefits and I expect to be back on the tools from time to time now.
Some of the projects like the big electrical technology museum that was under development (MEET- the Museum of Electrical and Electronic Technology) have been given a surprise boost as a result of the disease. A filmmaker picked up on the fact that we had a potential major leap forward with MEET just 3 days before my cancer diagnosis which was then rather gloomy. The original prognosis was for a swift exit as it was deemed untreatable and remarkably widely spread and advanced, considering that I had not had any symptoms until a few weeks earlier. As things have turned out, the prognosis is improving as the treatment is working, but my limited expected lifespan spurred many things into action that are now in full swing, with the added benefit that I might have more time to enjoy them.
One of these was a fundraising drive for MEET phase 1, which has raised over 50k so far. That enables us to take steps to raising the kind of money needed to buy our own site, to curtail the £20k we spend annually on rent, and allow us to develop the exhibitions in their permanent home. There's a lot to do and all donations are very welcome. This video explains the background and concept. It was made when I was struggling with the disease, had just had the meeting with three consultants who asked 'do you know what the survival rates are?' rather than telling me directly. I was preparing to be tube-fed for the rest of my life and not sure quite how much of the MEET startup I would be able to do myself. Thankfully that is not how things have played out!
https://www.gofundme.com/f/what-would-you-do-with-just-250-days?qid=755a9b7c11ebde905876933bf21fa1f1
I'll start a news thread about MEET because things will happen much more quickly from now on and some of them will be of general electrical interest.
What has changed is that I now have oesophageal cancer that requires chemotherapy so about half of my time I am away from work pursuing more armchair-based interests. In fact I have not really been able to work for some months but the treatment is delivering rapid benefits and I expect to be back on the tools from time to time now.
Some of the projects like the big electrical technology museum that was under development (MEET- the Museum of Electrical and Electronic Technology) have been given a surprise boost as a result of the disease. A filmmaker picked up on the fact that we had a potential major leap forward with MEET just 3 days before my cancer diagnosis which was then rather gloomy. The original prognosis was for a swift exit as it was deemed untreatable and remarkably widely spread and advanced, considering that I had not had any symptoms until a few weeks earlier. As things have turned out, the prognosis is improving as the treatment is working, but my limited expected lifespan spurred many things into action that are now in full swing, with the added benefit that I might have more time to enjoy them.
One of these was a fundraising drive for MEET phase 1, which has raised over 50k so far. That enables us to take steps to raising the kind of money needed to buy our own site, to curtail the £20k we spend annually on rent, and allow us to develop the exhibitions in their permanent home. There's a lot to do and all donations are very welcome. This video explains the background and concept. It was made when I was struggling with the disease, had just had the meeting with three consultants who asked 'do you know what the survival rates are?' rather than telling me directly. I was preparing to be tube-fed for the rest of my life and not sure quite how much of the MEET startup I would be able to do myself. Thankfully that is not how things have played out!
https://www.gofundme.com/f/what-would-you-do-with-just-250-days?qid=755a9b7c11ebde905876933bf21fa1f1
I'll start a news thread about MEET because things will happen much more quickly from now on and some of them will be of general electrical interest.
