Chris Thompson   Chris Thompson on the internet

I have just read this article, and first and foremost, I was surprised and compelled by the headline.

Mostly, I think this is because, if ever a discussion was held on the various ways to die, death by noise would be quite high up there on the list of Most Horrible. Every time I picture it, the scene contains a lot of blood, and a lot of squirming, like something out of a budget horror movie. So reading reports that 400 goats have been killed by noise was intriguing to say the least.

It sounds messy, and it sounds horrific. 400 is a lot of goat-heads exploding all over the countryside. But in fact it is sleep deprivation that they are suspected of dying of, which is apparently caused by the noise of the big machines. After all: “If noise at night can keep people awake, then it could also keep the goats awake.” Insightful stuff.

Compensation will be available for the farmer in question, should the wind turbines be proved to be at fault. So somewhere out there are people whose job it is to investigate whether or not wind turbine noise can prevent goats from sleeping, and kill them through sleep deprivation.

Just an interesting thought.

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Presently, my partner has just got back from a weekend away. She has been spending time with her girl friends, and over just a few days, she seems to have fallen in love with bathrooms and whirlpool baths.
Harmless, you might think. Not so. These whirlpool baths, which I suppose is just another name for a Jacuzzi, have been a source of a very relaxing weekend, yes; but now, the pestering has begun. And the pestering has developed, skilfully and relentlessly.

First of all, she played on the comfort angle. Now it’s become a question of how healthy they are. Indeed, it seems they are even used as treatments. It’s a battle of willpower. And up until now, I have been offering polite and non-committal grunts and murmurings.