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Contains the usual round of cats, kids, a little bit more work than usual because I spent a lot of time in the lab, and a quick trip to Cornwall.
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Contains the usual round of cats, kids, a little bit more work than usual because I spent a lot of time in the lab, and a quick trip to Cornwall.
A short but busy month, with trips to Wales and the USA. My face makes an appearance in there.
Trips to Nottinghamshire, Germany, and London feature here, along with time spent at the bouldering gym, on culinary experiments, and serving our lords and masters, the cats.
This week so far, I've been in Germany for a workshop. On attempting to get a regional train from Darmstadt to Frankfurt, I learned two things:
1) If you observe everyone standing on the main concourse rather than waiting on the platforms for trains, there's probably a good reason.
2) The reason is that the train to the destination you want is likely to appear on a platform for which it is not advertised on any display boards, and at a departure time that is not listed.
Conclusion: There is a German train controller somewhere cackling satanically whilst stroking a long-haired white cat and watching the commuter lemmings scurry down several flights of stairs, via the security cameras.
1) If you observe everyone standing on the main concourse rather than waiting on the platforms for trains, there's probably a good reason.
2) The reason is that the train to the destination you want is likely to appear on a platform for which it is not advertised on any display boards, and at a departure time that is not listed.
Conclusion: There is a German train controller somewhere cackling satanically whilst stroking a long-haired white cat and watching the commuter lemmings scurry down several flights of stairs, via the security cameras.
1. If you could live in any city in the world, where would you live and why?
London would still probably be the top of my list. While I was living there, I loved not having to drive and being able to access so many remarkable things for the price of a £1.50 bus journey. I’m also too consistently tired and too completely absorbed in my job and my family to learn another language, so selecting places where English isn’t the lingua franca and introducing a greater level of difficulty into daily communications, isn’t feasible. On the other hand, London is horribly expensive to live in, the Tube is disgusting, and it is exhausting being smashed up against all those people all the time. I'm not sure city life is for me at this stage of my existence.
2. If you could speak any language fluently, what would it be?
Tagalog, because I'm still upset I was deliberately not taught it as a child.
3. When was the last time you rode a ferry and where did you go?
The last one I can remember, which may not be the most recent, was the ferry to Staten Island when I went to New York in 2008.
4. What was the longest plane ride you've ever taken?
Probably the LHR to LAX flights - 11ish hours. I have done a fair few of those.
5. If you discovered a country, what would you name it?
I’m going to interpret this literally and assume that this is about Earth. Given that the land masses on Earth have been populated by humans already, and my belief that the world has had enough of colonists, I'd call it whatever the people who already live there do.
London would still probably be the top of my list. While I was living there, I loved not having to drive and being able to access so many remarkable things for the price of a £1.50 bus journey. I’m also too consistently tired and too completely absorbed in my job and my family to learn another language, so selecting places where English isn’t the lingua franca and introducing a greater level of difficulty into daily communications, isn’t feasible. On the other hand, London is horribly expensive to live in, the Tube is disgusting, and it is exhausting being smashed up against all those people all the time. I'm not sure city life is for me at this stage of my existence.
2. If you could speak any language fluently, what would it be?
Tagalog, because I'm still upset I was deliberately not taught it as a child.
3. When was the last time you rode a ferry and where did you go?
The last one I can remember, which may not be the most recent, was the ferry to Staten Island when I went to New York in 2008.
4. What was the longest plane ride you've ever taken?
Probably the LHR to LAX flights - 11ish hours. I have done a fair few of those.
5. If you discovered a country, what would you name it?
I’m going to interpret this literally and assume that this is about Earth. Given that the land masses on Earth have been populated by humans already, and my belief that the world has had enough of colonists, I'd call it whatever the people who already live there do.
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This 1SE starts off in California, then goes back home (and to work), has a jaunt to Wales for some surfing and paddle-boarding, and ends up back home again. Also, spot the new Birkenstocks!
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I don't entirely understand how this year is passing so quickly, but it's time for the monthly 1SE video again already. We're on holiday now until 10th August.
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Following on from my last post, here is Google's mapping of my travel itinerary last month.
Four countries might not sound like many from a European perspective, but the fact that the trip to "Spain" was to the Canaries (off the coast of Africa) and the other two are not in Europe gives a better feeling for the amount of ground (air?) covered.
Here are the modes of transport Google thinks I used. That is Too Many Miles of Flying, for a lot of reasons, not least of which is the size of my carbon footprint. My favourite misattribution is the ferry. I did not use a ferry, or indeed any other waterbourne vehicle, at any point last month.
Four countries might not sound like many from a European perspective, but the fact that the trip to "Spain" was to the Canaries (off the coast of Africa) and the other two are not in Europe gives a better feeling for the amount of ground (air?) covered.
Here are the modes of transport Google thinks I used. That is Too Many Miles of Flying, for a lot of reasons, not least of which is the size of my carbon footprint. My favourite misattribution is the ferry. I did not use a ferry, or indeed any other waterbourne vehicle, at any point last month.
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