Due to the Covid 19 pendamic I work from home since about march 2020 at my computer and this will likely not change very soon in the current situation. This is clearly noticeable in the power consumption which is around 1000 kWh more per year.

Concrete figures:

The billing for the past year is still pending, but it will probably not be much less than 2600 kWh. The monthly payments were already adjusted at the beginning of 2021, which amounts to over 300 EUR more per year. However, I assume that due to rising electricity prices this will not be enough.

After all, it is positive that the consumption for our two-person household without working from home is well below 2000 kWh per year despite a refrigerator, dishwasher and washing machine – the value that energy suppliers normally assume for a household of this size in an apartment. The fact that the entire apartment is equipped with LED lighting (usually lamps with a power consumption of 7 to 10 watts) certainly also contributes to this.

Just seen at BBC News:

COP26: Wheelchair-using minister unable to attend summitCOP26: Wheelchair-using minister unable to attend summit

On September 16, 2021 Clive Sinclair died at the age of 81.

Sinclair was known for computers like the ZX80, ZX81, ZX Spectrum und QL (“quantum leap”). Especially the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum were very successful systems. In adition in 1972 he also launched the pocket calculator “Sinclair Executive” which was much smaller than other calculators at that time. In 1983 the “TV80” was launced – a very compact television using a picture tube which displayed the picture to the side whereby the device could be built very flat overall for the conditions at the time.

One invention which was not that successful was the electric vehicle “C5” from 1985 where only 17000 copies got produced for 8 months. Also the digital wrist watch “Black Watch” from 1975 was mostly a disaster – much too short battery life, the danger of destroying the electronics with static charge and inaccurate time which was depending on the current temperature.

Despite the failures, Clive Sinclair’s impact on creating affordable computers for end users should not be underestimated. The ZX81 was revolutionary back then – a personal computer at a price virtually anyone could afford. The ZX Spectrum later became a fixture in the home computer market of that time, alongside the devices from Commodore and Atari.

Two days ago I received my first Covid-19 vaccination in a vaccination center in Berlin. I got Comirnaty from BioNTech as a vaccine. The whole process was organized very professionally – I came straight to the admission without queuing and it took a total of maybe 20 minutes until the actual vaccination. After that I had to stay in the waiting area for 15 minutes so one can react immediately to any severe vaccination reactions – which I didn’t have.

During the first few hours after the vaccination, I got a slight headache that lasted until the next day. I was also quite exhausted so I went to bed in the afternoon. The the left arm where I got the injection was a bit painful until the next day, but only when touched directly. Overall, however, the side effects were quite bearable and today, on the third day, the headache is completely gone and I can feel the pain on my left arm only very slightly and expect this to go away completely tomorrow as well.

The spanisch comedian Juan Joya Borja, who is also known as “Risitas” or “El Risitas” – “the giggling”, has died at the age of 65 in a hospital in it’s hometown Sevilla according to a report in the spanish media.

Juan Joya Borja became famous by a video meme which was used in many variations with different subtitles: