Back at work

On the Friday of my first week of jury service, we were done in the early afternoon. And by 5 pm, there had been no email to say that we had to return on Monday. I was thankful of that. I had plenty of work to do!

That Monday I biked into the office again. And I had to try to tackle the backlog. Lots of students who were trying to have their proposals for their own dissertation projects approved, reminders that I needed to update this semester's exams so they could be scrutinised by internal and external reviewers, doing the preparation for the field trip… there was enough to do!

A dinoflagellate (pic by Tintinnidguy); there was plankton in one of the proposals

I also went to have an external coffee with Susan, as I was sad and she was providing some support. That was kind.

I didn't get as much done as I hoped I would, but at least a fair bit. And by the end of the day, I noticed I didn't have an email, again, to summon me back to court. I could work on Tuesday too! 

Goodbye Neil

It has happened. On this blog, it will look like it pretty much came out of the blue. In reality, it didn't. In reality, there were things going wrong quite early on. And we tried to make things work, but we have failed. So Neil and I have split up. 

I am sad. When we had good times, we had really good times. But if we had bad times, they were pretty bad. And in the end, there was just too much of that. But I will miss our adventures and the laughs we shared and all those things.

At least we split amicably. That matters. And we both understand what happened. 

I will just throw myself into running now. And work (not that I have a choice). And then in time, probably dust off my profile on the dating sites…

Having another try at the stove

I had left the repair of my stove unfinished months ago. But I was having another weekend without Neil (no things aren’t going well), and the fire season had started, so I figured this was a great opportunity to pick this work back up again. I had already, some weeks ago, taken the old and too-thin fire rope out, and chiselled the dried glue out of the groove. So basically, everything was set to start.

The first thing I needed to do was unclog the pot of glue. I suppose that it's just one of those things with glue. But then I could put a good ribbon of glue in the groove, put the next iteration of fire rope in it, and cut it to size.

New rope in position 

The size seems ok

You set the glue with heat, so I prepared a fire in the stove, hung the door back in (and put the other door back on the other stove) and lit the fire.

What is the verdict for now? I think this size of rope might do the job. You need to use a bit of force to close the door now, but I suppose that means that when you do, it does seal. Now let's hope it all stays put for a bit. I think the stove will be in regular use in the coming months. I will find out!

Fifth day in court

We all came to court with heavy hearts. We held the fate of several people in our hands. We knew we may have to come to a verdict that day. 

We went through security, and headed straight to the deliberation room. We handed in our phones (I had made sure not to wear my smart watch) and got settled. We had to go into the court room for the bailiff (so far referred to as the usher; I think they wear these separate hats depending on circumstance) to be sworn in, and then we could start in ernest. 

What we discussed there has to, obviously, stay private. I think I can say we didn’t find it an easy task. There even were tears. We needed some two hours to reach a verdict. And we found one of us willing to be the foreperson and tell the judge what the verdict was. 

The procedure is that you basically ring for the bailiff, and they then come to the room. Without asking what the verdict is, they go tell the judge. I had no idea in advance that the whole courtroom stays put, waiting for the verdict. I assumed everybody gets on with their business, and only when the jury has reached the verdict do they try to organise that everyone comes back to the courtroom, but no. They just sit there. It can take a long time! At least the judge and the barristers can have their laptops there. Maybe everyone except the defendant can have their laptop there. The defendant is probably forced to just be bored out of their skull.

We lined up again, now in altered order, as the foreperson has to sit in the position of juror number 1. And soon we walked into the courtroom, for the last time. We got a little speech from the judge; he acknowledged that it is a difficult task, and that jury duty always comes at an inconvenient time, but it might be an interesting experience. He thanked us. And then an official asked us if we had reached a verdict, and our foreperson said yes. She asked what the verdict was, and he said "not guilty”. And then the judge thanked us and we were off.

Back in the deliberation room, the bailiff started chucking all our paperwork into a bin for confidential paper material, and told us to keep an eye on our mailboxes; we were booked for another week, but it wasn't clear yet if there would be another case they could put us on. If they needed us, they would let us know by email. If you haven't been told by 5 pm that you're needed the next working day, you're not needed the next working day.

I hope this was the end of my jury service, but I won’t know until I either get another email to call me up, or until the next Thursday, 5 pm, if I don't. Fingers crossed. The judge was right that this isn't interesting experience, but that doesn't mean I want to repeat it…

Fire season has started

It has been autumnal for a while. I was starting to long for lighting a fire again. Fires are so snug! But there is little point in lighting a fire if you won't be in the room to enjoy it for long. 

During my fourth day in court I was looking forward to go running in the evening. I knew the weather forecast was a bit rubbish, but after all that sitting in court, listening to difficult testimonies, I wanted to run off all that stress. And I was glad I went. Yes it was wet, yes it was windy, but it was a nice group and I enjoyed the running. And this was a run with the option of pizza afterwards, so no time was wasted. We were done quite early. And quite many of us went to the pizza place, but I went home.

After my shower I decided there was still enough time left for a fire. It was great! Outside the weather was awful, but I was snug, now in my dry clothes, and with a cup of tea, by the fire. This season has been opened!

Fourth day in court

Coming to court is different if you have good reason to believe you will actually be expected to do something. And I also came in company this time. I picked my fellow juror up, and we arrived fairly early. I got me a coffee and did a little bit of work before we were called in. 

This day, the main thing was questioning the defendant. And going through some juror documents, prepared by the prosecution and the defence. That took us all the way to the lunch break. In spite of what the weather forecast had said, it was another sunny afternoon, and this time I found a little bench not too far away. It was nice to have lunch there. And then I did a little walk through town. Caernarfon is quite beautiful! 

My lunch spot

After lunch, the only things that were still scheduled for in the courtroom were closing statements of the two barristers, and juror instructions from the judge. These were case specific. It all took longer than I thought. I expected us to be sent home when all of that was done, but that was not how it went. We were sent into a deliberation room to start, well, the deliberation. The usher took our smart watches and telephones away, and any other communication devices. 

We weren't quite sure where to start. But we started somewhere. And made some progress until the usher came in to tell us it was time to stop, and go home.

He told us to really really not forget to bring a packed lunch the next day. We would go straight into the deliberation room, and were basically not supposed to come out until we had our verdict. Mind that these deliberation rooms do come with toilets, and coffee/tea facilities.

We all went home. I figured we all felt the responsibility on our shoulders to come to a sound judgement the next day. Stay tuned to hear how this will  end!

Third day in court: getting started

I had faith that on the Wednesday, we would actually start the court case we were assigned. But before we got to that, I noticed a significant change. The stuffy room wasn’t stuffy anymore! The air conditioner was clearly working again. This really made a difference. 

And I was right. We, that is to say, 19 of us, had to be there at ten, and at about 10:30, 12 of us had our names called out. They basically made a new jury, but there was quite an overlap between the old one and the new one, including me. 

Soon we went into the courtroom, and were sworn in again. And then everything went into higher gear. We heard a more detailed description of the charge, and soon we were watching the police interview of the claimant on video. (I don't think "claimant" is the proper term, but I mean the person who had gone to the police to report a crime against themselves.) The alleged offence had taken place years earlier. 

After the interview we had a little convenience break. When we got back, the actual claimant was called in, to be questioned by the defence. I didn’t like that process at all. Their job is to tear chunks out of the other side. And they do. And the prosecution would tear chunks out of the defendant. I suppose that just is how this works, but it hurts to see it. 

We had lunch in the middle of the process. It was gorgeous weather, and I found a bit of grass with a low wall to sit in the sun and eat my sandwiches. I was contemplating a little walk too, but I was aware I would have to get through security again, which takes time, so I didn’t. 

After lunch, the process continued. When both sides had asked the claimant all they wanted to ask, we quite rapidly went through a whole lot more witnesses. One showed up in person, and of the other ones, the statements they had provided were read out. And then, suddenly, we were done for the day. Free to go! Things had really sped up. I figured the day after would probably equally speedy. 

I had found out another juror lived in my town, and was coming in by bus, which takes hours, so I gave her a lift home. And the next morning I would pick her up to do it all again…

Sorting out dissertation proposals in between court business

I tell the students in spring they can propose their own dissertation topic, and I add that it is a bit of work. I recommend them to start early if they want to take up this offer. Once term starts, they get busy with other things.

I never have much uptake before term starts. But as soon as it does start, the tidal wave comes crashing down. I got the first one in August this year, and a few more came in before the fieldwork started. I had five students giving it a go; two of them of students on the field trip. 

On the first day of term, I deliver an introductory lecture to the dissertation students, and then it really kicks off. I am getting so many proposals now. Twenty two students have added themselves to the initial five. And that is a big burden! Especially if you have to be in court all the time.

I try to get through some of them before I set off in the morning, and I brought a stack of proposals to my first court days. I often send some emails out in the lunch break, or even the short coffee breaks. And then I do a bit more after I get home. And I also have to deal with other work. Write a lecture I have to deliver Monday morning 9AM on the morning after my jury period. Get the exams ready. Prepare tutorials. And more stuff like that. 

A thresher shark (pic by Pierre Pericard), which features in one of the proposals 

I do like seeing what the students come up with, and seeing several projects making their way to approval is satisfying, but given the circumstances (what with the jury duty) I wish this option was less popular. And the students still have a week to come up with new proposals, and an additional week to get them over the line. I will be glad when that threshold is reached! 

Second day in court

Surely, something would happen? Probably after three hours of waiting in a stuffy room, and then an hour of lunch break, but after that, surely we would actually be reviewing some evidence in the case we were assigned to?

Caernarfon city scape, near where I parked

I appeared at 10AM, glad to see not much of a queue for security. I was through quite quickly, and could take my place in the stuffy room. I was mentally ready for being there for a few hours. I had some work I could do off-line, and got started. And I had a coffee.

The stuffy room was just as stuffy as the day before. I really don't like it. But at least the usher had mercy on us, and after a while he asked if anyone wanted to come with him to get some fresh air on the courtyard. I didn't need much encouragement! It was lovely to just pootle around for a bit.

I got into a routine. More work, more coffee, and then a second opportunity to go outside with the usher. And around 12:30, we were told we were to go into a court room again. Only for a brief while.

We found a different judge. He explained that the judge of the day before seemed to not quite have finished off a case she was expected to have finished off fine now, so she couldn't take this one on. This new judge had hoped to be available now, because there was a defendant who was expected to change their plea to guilt. That would cut their case short considerably! And free up this judge. But it hadn't quite happened yet.

Again; the defendant was present. This is very frustrating for us, but it must be a lot more frustrating for them. I know that they are accused of a crime, and that they might be guilty, and that being guilty of a crime is supposed to come with discomfort, but this seemed pointless and unnecessary. I am starting to think it might not be an exception to be dragged to a courtroom multiple times, only for precisely nothing to happen. And think as well of the victims of crime. They don’t like this hokey-kokey either.

We were marched back to the stuffy room, and after about half an hour we were let go. We were told to be back the next day at 10am again. Hopefully, something would finally happen! 

I gave a fellow juror a lift to the railway station, and then I went back to the office. I could get a bit more work done, but this time in comfort!

First day at Caernarfon Crown Court

Well! My first day at court has come and gone. It was a bit trying (pun intended).

I had to be there at 9:30, and when I got there a few minutes beforehand, there already was a queue. It was standing outside. I was glad it wasn't raining. That's not something you can take for granted in Caernarfon. There was a whole line of jurors, they all had to go through the security check which was right behind the front door. Couldn't they have organised that a bit better? At least have a little roof or something. While we were there, it actually did start raining.

After the extensive security check (they don't seem to have x-ray, so they have to do it all by hand) we were told to go up the stairs where an usher asked to see our identity document and summons letter. And then we were told to sit in a little room. It was packed. There were windows, albeit seeing into another room and not directly outside, but all the chairs facing them were already taken, so I had to take one that only looked out on walls. There were no tables or anything. It was a bit like international travel; a waiting area by a gate or something.

The usher then made us watch a little video, in English, about the process and our responsibilities and suchlike. When the Welsh version that came after was halfway, he asked if anyone actually wanted to see this. Nobody did, so he switched it off. Good. 

After a while he brought us case questionnaires. He said there were four trials planned for that day, which seems to be a lot, and he needed to check if any of us was unsuitable to be in any particular one. There basically are two ways of being unsuitable: one is, knowing anyone involved in it. So we got a list of names we needed to check for the first case. As this is Wales, and people have notoriously few names, there were instructions on what to do if the list contains a familiar but common name, like John Williams or something. You then indicate the age of the person by that name that you know, and how you know them. That way they can check if you know this particular one. I knew no one. 

The other way of being unsuitable is if the trial is longer than you can sacrifice your time. The first case was expected to last 4 to 5 weeks. I can't stay that long! They would have to cancel my teaching. The students would probably not be amused. They also gave us a questionnaire for a trial that they thought would last three or four days. Again; I didn't know any of the people on the list.

Then nothing happened for a long time. Within 10 minutes, it felt like we had used up all the oxygen in the room. It was really stuffy. The usher said that the room technically had air conditioning, but it was currently broken. That wasn't helping.

I expected questionnaires for the other two cases as well, but they never came.. I had brought an article to read, and a book, and the newspaper, and my phone. More than enough to keep me busy. But I was struggling with the oppressive atmosphere in the room. I felt a headache come up. 

After what seemed like an eternity, a whole bunch of people had their name called out, and they were lead away. After a while, a handful came back. It turned out that the people who hadn't come back were now the jury for the very long trial. I had escaped that fate! 

In the meantime, the rest of us were watching the clock move closer and closer to 1 pm, which we had been told would be when the whole court breaks up for lunch. There wouldn't be any time to do any meaningful legal work before that time. But just before we got to lunchtime, they read out 12 more names. That would be the jury for the shorter trial. This time they didn't do that ‘selecting more than 12 and sending some back’ thing. Maybe this was a less complicated case? Maybe the other case had complications that didn't feature in the questionnaire? Maybe something with gruesome evidence or something, and they wanted to check individual people how they felt about that? I have no idea. But this was just 12 people and they would be the jury; full stop. I was nr 12.

We were taken to a courtroom, where the judge was very apologetic about the delay. A court official told us what the charge was against the defendant, who was present, and then we were sworn in. I noticed that quite many jurors were swearing the oath on the Bible. And most took the oath in English. Immediately afterwards, we were dismissed. The judge told us to be back the next day, at 2 pm.

I was desperate for fresh air and hoped we could just leave, but we were brought back to the room we had been waiting in. We were not kept waiting long, but long enough for the usher to tell us we shouldn't be back the next day at 2 pm, but at 10 am. The judge had really clearly said the case wouldn't start until 2 pm, so that would mean sitting for three hours in the same terribly stuffy room. Everyone was really disappointed about that. No one had enjoyed it! But if that's what the usher says, then that is what you need to do.

At least then we could pack up our stuff and walk out of the building. That was such a relief! I hoped the next day would be less unpleasant. One way to find out…

 

Pic from the BBC website

 

Bangor 10k 2026

It was the day of the Bangor 10k and I figured a PB was not going to happen. But a category win very well might. I tend to do well in this race! Hence that I have been doing it so long. But maybe I should swap it for the half marathon. But more on that later. 

I decided to drive. I am not keen on my bike commute during a weekend. I did park on a University car park. I was a bit disappointed it had the barrier down; how badly does a university need its car park on a Sunday? My Corsa stood in seas of space with on the other side of the bollards, people struggling to find a spot. 

I went to get my number, and did a little warm-up on the hill. Maybe not the most efficient choice given my road shoes, but it’s beautiful there. 

Forested warm-up

By the start I saw some running friends. Katie was there; she was going to try to run a PB on the Half Marathon with a pacer. Richie was there, and I figured he could finally beat me again, after a string of injuries. Soon we lined up. Batala, the local drum band that festoons more races, was there too. They are fab! 

Batala in action

I didn’t want to strain as much as I had done in Pwllheli and Trentham, and even Caernarfon. I started at a fairly relaxed pace. We got to the pier, and then back off it, and to the bicycle track. I tend to feel it doesn’t really start until you reach the part of the bike track you also run in the opposite direction, but in reality, by then you have already done some 4k. And I was feeling good. First I overtook Richie. He clearly needs to come back from his injuries a bit more! And there were two young ladies ahead of me, and I managed to overtake them. One was in the uni club. 

After the first 1k or so

I knew the interesting bit would be when the first runners would come the other way; then you can see how many women there are ahead of you in the 10k. Some women in front of you will be running the half marathon, but these don’t turn around until much later, obviously. First came several men. Then one woman, closely followed by another. And then only some more men. I was in third position! And I could see the two young ladies were a bit of a distance behind me by now. I was confident I could take bronze. 

I ran on, now myself running against the oncoming traffic. I got a lot of cheers! Until the route split again. We came off the bike path. I knew the ladies wouldn't catch me anymore. I trundled the second last km, and then knew I could throw it all out in the last. And because of my relaxed approach, there really still was something in the bag. I stormed over the finish! Done. Bronze. 

Done it

 

I chatted a bit with volunteers behind the finish line (I knew three out of four), and got my medal and T-shirt. I also got my bag, and drank my recovery shake. Then I found Rick (from track) and together we went back to the course to cheer others on. Initially only 10k runners, but only some 1:15 after the start, the first half marathon finisher came flying past. And then they kept coming. 

I also saw one of our recently graduated students, and our new PhD James, who is her partner. It was good to see them! And I saw the female winner of the half marathon; she said she had seen me running and decided she could use me as a pacer. That obviously hadn’t worked. But she still had had a great race! And I was flattered. 

We then had the presentation. It looked like it would clash with Katie coming in. A pity! But I indeed had bronze, with a time of 43:50. Only just in my top 10 of 10k times. But that is fine. Still 50 seconds faster than 4th woman. And some five minutes faster than the next F50 along (but frankly, there weren’t many in this race).  The first two ladies had come in really close together, some 2.5 minutes before me. A great time for two superfast youngsters! One was under 20 and the other one didn’t look an awful lot older. 

When the presentation was over, Katie found me. She had indeed broken her PB, and by several minutes! Amazing result. She said it had been hard. I think she'll be very satisfied with how it has gone. 

Then it was time to go home and have lunch. And a shower! 

Attempt at autumn beetroot crop

The seed package says you should sow beetroot between April and July. And I did. But in late September I figured I had nothing to lose by sowing some more, and seeing where it would lead. I had little to lose!

The seedlings came up soon, and grew as normal. So far so good. I have now put them in their individual pots. I suppose the dangerous stage will be after I plant them out. It may be too cold for them to thrive. But well, this summer it was too hot and dry for them to thrive. I got a a few meals out of them anyway! So who knows, I may eat some homegrown roast beetroot in November…

Autumn beetroot seedlings

Getting ready for the jury service

I had one week of term to get everything as ready for my potential two week absence as I could. I should have mainly been teaching on two modules in that period; for one of them, I basically got all my lecturing out of the way in that first week. I don't have a heavy teaching load in it. 

For my other module, I had to do some crisis management. This is a module of which we have changed the title, as its content had moved more into a climate direction, so we added that to the title. An innocent-looking email from a student lead me to finding out that student administration had accidentally assigned 2/3 of the students to the old version of the module, which we obviously don't run anymore. Oops. 

I will be quite busy on that module after my jury service, as a fair amount of work has been postponed, but I made sure that at least the students are ready for the upcoming field trip. It really depends on how long the court needs me, whether I can actually join myself or not. I hope I can! But I need to be ready to accept it if I can't.

I was also quite busy with student proposals for their own dissertation topics. I will have to keep that going in the evening, I suppose, is the deadline for proposals hasn't been reached yet.

Another thing I did was mark the student notebooks of the field trip we did a few weeks before. We don't do much marking of actual physical paper these days, and it provides complications. There are four members of staff who have to mark these (sometimes it's five, but not this year), and we have four weeks to do it all. You think that that means we all get a week, but that's not how it tends to work. Martin tends to keep them at least for a week unseen in his office. When I got them, more than 1.5 weeks had already passed. I hope the others will manage to do their part of the marking in the remaining two weeks!

Altogether a busy week. But I am satisfied with it. And then on Monday, I will get a better idea of how my next two weeks look…

Needing glute stretches twice daily now

It has been a long time that I need to stretch my glutes every day in order to minimise the chance I have to do emergency stretches when I am trying to walk or run or something. More than five years! 

A pose that works as a glute stretch. Pic by Christy Collins

This morning stretch session largely does the job of keep me going. There once was a time when the glute situation went out of hand; after a long international train ride, my glute became completely uncomfortable, day and night, and I struggled to sleep. Luckily, that situation sorted itself out.

By now I am facing a sort of a combination of the two issues. It is fairly common now for me to be a bit uncomfortable in the glutes when I am trying to sleep. That is quite annoying! It won't go away unless I do an emergency stretch. And there are obviously worse things in the world, but it is still annoying. Especially when the cat is lying next to me, because she won't tolerate such shenanigans. 

Altogether, it just seems like my glutes are slowly getting worse and worse. What is this? I have never heard anybody else talk about this. And it is clearly a slow process, and so far I can solve it with some simple stretches. But if this keeps going on like that, I will have to do these stretches several times during the day! I hope not. Maybe I should ask my physiotherapist if he has any idea. But for now, I will just do these stretches every morning and every night. Age comes with some unexpected issues…

Loot from Tom

My colleague Tom is retiring. He is in his last weeks, and he has started tidying up his office. He has a lot of books that he doesn't want to take home. He is now going around the corridor encouraging everyone to come into his office and raid his book cupboards. And I was included in that.

I got some good loot! A combination of things I find interesting such as the life of Fridtjof Nansen, but also a lot of text books for dummies about physics applied to climate, the ocean and the atmosphere. Tom is actually a physicist by training; he probably never needed those books, but might have reviewed them, and therefore ended up owning them. I (quite unlike him) would actually learn something if I read them. I'm not quite sure when I will do that, but well, for now I can just put them in my office. I made so much shelf space when I was getting ready for my foraminifera encyclopaedia I can afford to adopt a few books, even if I'm not sure I would do something useful with them!

Term starts

The academic year 2026/27 has now officially started. On the Monday morning, at 9 am, I started lecturing. And it will be a very busy term. It is always busy, but now I might lose two weeks without losing the work. That will be trying! But it might not be so bad. Maybe the court won't need me for the full two weeks. 

Either way, it will be all systems go until Christmas. And the Christmas holiday is always so short that it feels like it is all systems go until the academic year is at its end again. Wish me strength!

My bike back on main campus (not by the prettiest of buildings)

Making running and biking safer

In spring I used a voucher I had won in a race; I got all sorts like a new flask, a dry bag, and some miniature lights. I figured I should have tail lights when I run in the dark. My current headlight doesn’t have anything to make it conspicuous from behind. And I have my bike lights, but I prefer to keep these with my bike gear. 

It was spring when I bought all that, so while the flask was taken into immediate use, the miniature lights were just gathering dust. But now it is autumn, and I expect to put them to use soon. 

I went for an evening run and wondered if I could attach one to my running vest. The lights have a sort of bracket you could, in theory, slide over a strap. This has to be a perfectly sized strap though, and what are the chances that you have one of those? I couldn’t attach it to my vest without it falling off, and I managed to put it onto the head band of the torch, but I decided I needed to improve on the fixing mechanism. And I went basic; I just drilled holes in the brackets so I could add something that would prevent the lights from falling off. I was thinking of twist ties as a quick fix. 

I will try them out at the next Thursday Night Hill. I hope it works! And then I will be safer than before. Great! 

The mini lights

With adjusted fixings

Pre-academic year rush

It being the week before the start of term, the mad rush was on to get everything ready. I had done quite some work on my module websites, but they weren’t finished. And I had to update one of our student guides; the one on academic integrity, as it so far didn’t have artificial intelligence in it. The person who had the editable file had been on unpaid leave for a year, so we could only really finish it after she came back. But either way; I had to finish that and published it. And I still had things to organise for when I am off on my jury service. And I had to prepare the first batch of lectures I would give. And get all the dissertation topics ready for the students (who don’t create their own), with a corresponding form in which they list their preferences.

None of this was helped by being quite under the weather. I had felt a bit iffy on Saturday night, and had gone racing on Sunday anyway. Before and during the race I felt amazing! But at night I was quite knackered, and the next morning I woke up with quite some extensive need for handkerchiefs. I did go to work, as I was still in denial about this actually being a medical condition and a contagious one at that, but one of my colleagues on the same corridor was not fooled. So I went home, and stayed there for the next two days. That helped! But I had a lot of cotton wool in my head these days.

Did I get any work done on my application? No! The next deadline is mid December. Will I make that? Questionable! But not impossible. But let's get through that first week first. And then see how the jury service pans out. And then I'll know a bit more…

Retail optimism

The touristy places around here have thriving high streets: Beaumaris, Llanberis, Betws y Coed. The other towns around here follow the general UK (or even global) trend, and have rather sad high streets. And last year, the Bethesda high street got worse. We had a big charity shop at the beginning of the town, but it wasn't viable anymore, and it closed. Yet another empty shopfront!

Soon I heard rumours that it wasn't going to stay empty for very long, though. I heard that one half was going to be a beauty salon, and the other half a florist. That surprised me a bit. I could imagine the beauty salon; if you walk around town you see lots of women who clearly have things done to them, such as fancy nails. But a florist? How often do you see people around here with flowers? I thought that sounded tricky. But I wish them the best.

The new shops

While work on these two new shops was ongoing here in Bethesda, something else washappening in the neighbouring town of Tregarth, that I come through on my commute. Suddenly, a house was festooned with a form that said there was a planning application for turning it into an off-licence. And then, predictably, it turned into an off-licence. While the work was going on I wasn't biking there much, so basically, I suddenly saw it finished and open. Tregarth now has a shop! And it being the only shop in town, I think it has a good future ahead of it.

Siop Tregarth

I know I have been hopeful about new ventures before. Five years ago, there were two changes: one retail unit became residential, and I think that will last, and another one was taken up by a new deli, but unfortunately that didn't live long. That's the risk with new initiatives on high streets.

I really wish our beauty salon and florist all the best! But I don't think I will offer much financial support. I have no intention at all to let people fiddle with me in the name of beauty. And I am quite aware of the environmental impact of cut flowers. And I have too many indoor plants already. So I will offer no more than just wishes. Let's hope it is enough…

Bailed out of another Welsh class

On the night of the start of my new Welsh class I was all keen, sitting in my home office with pen and paper ready. I was hoping it would be a good course. Three years earlier I had bailed out of a course that didn't teach me anything. Two years ago, I had accidentally landed on a course that was perfect for me. Last year the course was OK but not anywhere as good as that one. I knew any of these options was possible for this year! 

I had tried to engineer the situation: I had sent an email to the very good Welsh tutor to ask if she would teach any courses this year. She said that at the time of writing, these decision hadn't been made. She didn't say, though, that by the time she would know, she would let me know, which sounded to me as a hint that she wasn't going to facilitate me making a beeline straight to her, and landing in her class again. So I picked a course on the basis of the limited information they give. And then you have to just wait and see how it pans out. 

From the title of this post, it is quite obvious: I'm afraid it was the first option of the class not being worth my time. After two nights I bailed! A bit soon, but it just wasn't for me. So many people that it slows the course down. And the homework he gave was so basic I wasn't learning anything. I decided to just pull the plug. Two and a half hours of being bored and frustrated is too much!

I did gather my courage and sent another email to that very good Welsh tutor. Just on the off-chance that she teaches a course on the Monday evening and it isn't full yet. I had little to lose! But she wasn't doing a course like that this year, so I might have to just go through her old course material to keep my Welsh levels up...

 

 

Sbrint ‘Stiniog 2026

I had really enjoyed the 2025 Sbrint Stiniog! And I was hoping there would be a 2026 edition. I didn’t see any announcements. Until I did. And by then I saw it was on a date i already was double booked. So no Sbrint for me then. Until I saw it had been cancelled for reasons of bad weather. That matched with the rubbish weather I heard about that runners of the Anglesey 10k/HM had to put up with. I had been comfortable in sunny Birkenhead. 

I hoped it would get rescheduled. And then it was: on September 20. Again, on a day with more going on. Not only was the RNLI 5k on in Llandudno; it was also the day after Neil’s Welsh 3000s. But I figured he would be asleep at thd time of the race, as I expected him to finish in the early morning. I told him I had registered, but if he wanted me around that morning, I would just not show up.

He was happy with me racing so I got my kit ready. I was feeling a bit under the weather but I couldn’t resist the race. And in sunny weather I drove to Tanygrisiau.  I was cutting it quite sharp! I got to registration only a few minutes before it would officially close. I didn't think they really would close at that time, but still. I pinned my number on, did a little warmup, and had a last sip of drink. I was ready! And I spotted some people I knew: Alice, a former colleague, and Russell, the Tuesday Track trainer. He wasn’t running it himself; he was there to support his children who were.

Then we started. Like last year, I was at the front. A lot of people came past, but most of them were male. There was one young lady coming past, but my gut feeling was that she wouldn't manage to keep that up. I was right; after 200 m I had overtaken her.

I was quite happily trundling along. I had the feeling I had found a good balance between keeping a good speed up but not wearing myself out too soon. And quite soon I came past Nina, Russell’s wife; she cheered me on with all her might. And later, our former student Amy, who had been there last year too, did the same. 

Looking uncharacteristically worried on the way up

After a while I came to the turnaround point and could start making my way back down. That was an opportunity to see how far behind me the next woman was. And the answer was: quite far. I was confident I was going to win this. I know I am relatively slow on the downhill, but this just looked like a gap that was too big to close. 

On the steep bits I just went as fast as I dared, and on the not so steep bits I tried to keep my speed up, to not let anyone behind me come close too easily. Even if it is downhill, you can still push it! And I was sort of using a young lad in black as a pacer. And I came past Amy and Nina again, which was great fun.

Storming down behind the bloke in black

Then I got to the finish. I had done it! Second gold medal of the year! I was proud. And I went to get my bag, as I wanted a drink and my phone. A lady from the organisation congratulated me, and gave me a medal and my prize: a lovely water bottle. I went back to the finish the cheer on the next women. And whoever else was finishing.

The charming finish

I didn't stay long. I wanted to get Neil, and hear all about his adventures. He had told me about them the night before, but he had come in quite close to bedtime, and now there would be a bit more time. So I scarpered. I did notice Garmin said my heart rate had been unusually high: up to 207 bpm. I hadn't pushed it unusually hard. Maybe that was the being a bit under the weather? I had felt totally healthy while running but maybe I had fooled myself... 

When I left I didn't know my official time (I don't think it's far off last year's time) and I still don't know it at the time of writing this. There had been no updates from the organisation. I hope that will come soon but even if not; it has been a cracking race!

Neil’s Welsh 3000s

The day was finally there! The day Neil would attempt to summit all Welsh peaks over 300 ft within 24 hours. With a small group, lead by the mountain guide I had done Crib Lem with. He would do it after spending months training, and wondering how it would go. He could control himself, but he could not control the other people in the group. Would they be so slow he would get frustrated? Would they be so fast he wouldn't be able to keep up? Impossible to know, until they would be on their way!

He would set off Fron Pen y Pass at 7 in the morning. And it was a wet morning. That must have been a trying start! But he knows North Welsh weather. He would have been both mentally and physically prepared. 

At 8 I got my first update. They weren’t doing Crib Goch! Too dangerous in that wind. Disappointing in a way, but it is clearly more important to survive than to do the original route. Even though the Crib is one of the over-3000 peaks. 

While he was out there, I could see the weather improve during my marshalling duties. I was glad! That must've made a big difference.

The next time I heard something it was lunchtime. They had reached Nant Peris. They had done the first mountain ridge! Now they would go to the Glyderau ridge. And at about 3, they were at y Garn; about halfway along that ridge. That meant they had done that in 1.5 hours. Maybe only 1.5 hours to polish off the whole ridge? But no. It was over four hours later, and therefore evening, when I got the next message that they had to come down that second ridge as well.

I figured they would do it. If they wanted to do the whole route in 24 hours, they still had almost half that time for the Carneddau. And you have done most of the climbing by then. When it comes to horizontal walking you are only about halfway, but the sting is probably more in the climbs.

I was just having a cup of tea on my sofa when I heard a car pull up, and then a knock on the door. It was Neil! That must mean they had abandoned the attempt. But he looked quite happy. I was confused.

It turned out that the whole rest of the group wasn't up for continuing. Neil still felt he had the energy, even though of course by that time he was a bit worn down. But he figured that going on with only Jacob the mountain guide wasn't quite the same as doing it with the group. He said he would've pushed on if they would have done Crib Goch, but they hadn't. It wouldn't have been a full Welsh 3000s anyway! So he figured he might as well bail as well. But he said he did have an amazing day. And that is important! 

Armed with the experience of this day, he could try again next year, hoping to catch a day when Crib Goch would be possible. There were several things he said he would do differently if he had another chance. So he might be more comfortable next time.

He had also had some strong coffee to get himself ready for the last push, before the decision was made to not make that push. He was a bit hyper! And the day after he told me it had affected his sleep. Oh dear.

I was glad he had had a lovely day, and that he was fine with how it had panned out. And I was proud that he had been the last one to hold out. All the others were about 20 years younger than him! And they seem to have been suitably impressed. 

Hearing all his stories confirmed me in my decision to not consider that sort of shenanigans myself. My feet would have been killing me. And it would've been difficult to drink enough. You can't bring too much water on a hike like that as it would tire you out, and there is little water on the ridges. Filling up your bottles takes time they don't want to lose. Next time I will be just keeping an eye on my WhatsApp again!

Ad hoc marshal

The Pedol Peris race would coincide with Neil’s Welsh 3000s, and I wanted to be standby, so not stand on a mountain all day. But the night before, a call came for more volunteers. And I figured there wouldn’t be much need for me in the morning. The chances of anything happening that would improve from my input in the first hours of his hike would be vanishingly small. So I said I could do some early stage volunteering. And Suzie, the race organiser, put me on marshalling duties in Dinorwic. 

I drove south on the rain, and walked to my station in the mist. Then the sun came out. And Dinorwic is so beautiful! I also bumped into Helen, who works for the power station there, but now was in function as another marshal. She had brought her dog.

Dinorwic when I walked up

Soon after Helen had left to go to her own station, I could see the first runner in the far distance. And then two more. They would get to me soon!

There is a runner in this picture, honest

Not much later the first runner indeed appeared. I could see him for quite a while. For a distance, he looked like Rhys from Hebog. When he came closer, it turned out that he was. But I had a bit of a brain fart, and I shouted something along the lines of “Great running, Siôn!” Oh dear. At least I could show him where he should go, as I was standing somewhere where the route onwards was a bit ambiguous. And he would go on to win the race. 

Soon afterwards, a lady and a gentleman ran up together. I know it was only about half an hour into many hours worth of race, but still; a lady in shared second position is quite something!

I shouted at everyone! As usual. Even though I was wearing glasses, I only noticed I actually knew runners (if I did) if they were really close to me. There were quite some Eryri Harriers running. Great! But this is a race our own club organises, and it is right up its street, so that was not unexpected.

There were a few more runners who were not certain where to go. I actually had use! Helen had been worried about runners going places that were sensitive to the power plant, but nobody seemed that way inclined. They just might have gone the wrong way. 

When I saw a guy who had nobody in sight behind him I asked if there was anyone else; he said he was the last. So I let Suzie know that was the case, and took off my hi viz and cowbell. I decided to walk a different way down. I like Dinorwic! 

When I got to the mill, the goats were there in force. I could get quite close and take some nice pictures. And then I was off home, for lunch. It had been nice, and I had made a small difference to the club. And I still had the rest of the day. So all good. A LOT better than last year! And on another note: how would Neil be doing? 

Handsome billy

Are they flirting? 

Last day of the field trip: coring

We got to do the coring at the end of the field trip this year. The previous few years, we had done it early on. I quite like doing it last. And we always do it at the same time as the geophysics. We were scheduled to pick up the students on the Friday quite late: 11 o’clock, and then be out in the field until quite late to have all students do both activities. 

On Thursday I bumped into Dei and Katrien, who run the geophysical exercise. Since we have moved the field location to Anglesey, they are working with electrical resistance. The problem with that is that it is weather-dependent. If you soak everything in rainwater, everything has the electrical resistivity of rainwater! And they had looked at the weather forecast; on the Friday afternoon, everything really would get soaked in rainwater. What to do?

It wouldn't be raining in the morning, but they figured they couldn't fit all the students in in that short time. So their suggestion was: just don't do the geophysics, and just all team up so all students could do the coring before the rain would hit. That sounded fine to me. It would mean an earlier start, but earlier than 11 o'clock is perfectly acceptable. We barged into Jaco's office to suggest the change, and he was fine with it as well. We would pick up the students at 8:30. And then all go coring, and get it done by noon.

With the entire cohort of students coring at the same time, we would need a bit more equipment, but Dei and Katrien could magic something out of their obscure lab. Success!

The next morning the forecast had changed a bit; it would now start raining at about 10. Oh dear! We had better get our skates on. We drove to the field, dragged all our materials to the field site, and had a go at it. We had augers and gouges. Gouges are difficult to use in sand, but they provide a beautiful continuous record. Augers are totally fine in sand but provide a much messier record. We tried both. And we had a spade too; two students just dug a trench. You can’t get very deep that way, but the view on the sediments is unsurpassed. 

Throwing the kitchen sink at it like that made things a bit chaotic, but I think in the end, we got what we came for. All students had a core log, and I had taken samples from the trench. Jaco took some more from a gouge. And then we felt droplets. Time to scarper! 

I never even took a picture; that’s how busy it all felt. But that’s ok! And it was an abrupt end of the field trip, but so be it. Soon we will get to mark the students’ field notebooks, and then we will get an additional source of information on how well it all went! 

Last Thursday Night Hill session off-road of the season

It had felt like autumn for a while already. Pretty much since I came back from the Netherlands. And when we entered September it meteorologically became official. And now there is something else to mark it. On the online invitation to the weekly Thursday Night Hill run, it was specified that this would be the last time this year we would be in the hills before we would get back to our winter route on asphalt. That made me slightly sad! Even though I also like our winter runs. 

We ended the season with subtlety. No crazy ascents of Moel Eilio or Elidir Fawr or any of that. Just a bit of running around in a general vicinity of Llanberis. Only some 400 m of ascent. But it was a gorgeous evening for it! Even though I, and several other people, got cold arms, as we were in short sleeves, and that might not have been ideal. I had a jacket in my running vest but it stayed there.

There was also a bit of slapstick when the group fell apart into two subgroups; I was in the slower one. We got to a junction and couldn't see the fast group. Rhian, sort of is in charge of the slower group, was certain the front runners had gone right. Until she suddenly shouted "STOP!" as she had decided that they had gone left. But after we went left the situation repeated. And again when we went right. I wasn't entirely sure if she was genuinely confused, or just wondering how long she could string that along. But by then, the front group had sent a messenger to indicate where they had actually gone.

It was a nice night! Big turnout, with both regulars and newbies. And when we will hit the roads, at least the people won't change. And then we will all still be fit when we get back into spring!

Surveying

After all the surface sampling was done, there were two days scheduled for surveying beach transects. We survey the same lines each year to see if the beaches have lost or gained sand, and by approximately how much. On the first day, I was needed for this. And low tide wasn’t so frightfully early anymore, so Stef (the technician) and me picked up the students at 7:00. We drove them to HQ, where Martin divided the students into three groups (we would do three transects) and we loaded up the kit. 

Once parked we each headed to our transects. I thought I knew where the start of ours was, marked by a wooden post. Without problems we walked to where I thought it was. I didn't see a post. I must have been mistaken. We kept walking, but it soon looked like we had overshot it. We then looked at the GPS; we knew its coordinates. We found the GPS a bit clunky to work with. While we were struggling, I sent one student north and one south, to see if they could just spot it by eye. No success! But then we managed to get the GPS to do what we wanted, and could, with its help, just walk towards it. And it brought us straight back to where I thought it would be in the first place. And then I suddenly saw it. It was the most obvious wooden post in the world! How could we all have missed that? And some of us several times?

We had lost some time this way, so now we needed to get moving. The beginning of a transect like that is always slow, because the temporary benchmark is placed out of reach of the incoming waves, so in the dunes, quite high up. That means you have to move your tripod a few times to get it into a position from where you can survey large parts of the beach. 

Even though all the students had been complaining they had learned to survey a million times, the start was a bit slow. The students were trying to get their head around what exactly it was they needed to note down, and where. But in the end they got it, and then I figured we would speed up. And we did.

Surveying on a sunny and windy beach

With the students being more confident we got to the waterline; here we obviously had to turn around. With big steps we headed back to our benchmark. From WhatsApp I found out that the other groups were already done.

We made big strides back. Soon we were close to the benchmark again. I eyeballed it and figured it was about a meter above instrument height. Our documentation suggested otherwise. Hmm. Had something gone wrong? We looked back at all the numbers that had been written down. Was something miscalculated? 

By then we were tired and windswept and brains were not firing at full speed. When the students were certain they had all the necessary numbers to be able to recalculate we packed up and went back to the vehicle. 

Once back at HQ the students could bring the paperwork in order in comfort. I had a drink and a sandwich. After a while the other students got impatient as they had finished well before my group. And we were in several vehicles so they left. My group got it sorted, and then we could leave as well. Another part of the field trip done and dusted! 

Digital access issue

The university has to deal with the changing world. One thing that changes is the increase in cyberattacks. Back in them days, you just logged in. Then, two-step verification came in. Initially, you didn’t have to confirm that often. Now you do. And I always had a code sent to my mobile phone. The other option was to use my mobile Outlook app. It should let you enter a code, but mine never did. But that was not a problem, as there was an alternative. Until there wasn’t.

One day the SMS option just seemed to vanish. And without it, I can’t log in. I tried to check something for the fieldwork and failed; when I told Martin about that, he seemed to know what was going on. He said I must have missed some emails about this; he said they hadn’t been particularly obvious. But they said that we now all needed to use an Authenticator app. That would explain things.

I found the right app in the App Store and downloaded it. Then I tried to link it to my work account. Guess what? You need two step authentication for that. How would I get that? 

When I got to campus after a morning in the field, I went to my office and first had a look for the emails I seemed to have missed. To my embarrassment, the earliest mention of it was from years ago. But there were only two, over the last six years or so. Possible to miss. But reading them didn’t help me. I phoned the helpdesk. 

To my relief, the person answering said he could sort this. He did a remote log-in on my computer, and that way managed to link the app to the account. And it works now! That was a big relief. I might be up to date-adjacent now. The times will inevitably catch up with me again, but maybe not for a bit of a while now! 

It works! 

New bits for bread machine

Over three years ago, I bought my current bread machine. And since then, it has baked a loaf for me almost every second day. That is over 500 loaves. That must show. And it does.

One thing that happened is that the anti-stick layer of the bread pan deteriorates over time. It gets harder to get the bread out. Another thing is that the bread pan is made of fairly thin aluminium, and when the machine is kneading dough, the dough is pushed strongly in one direction, which inevitably means that something is applying force the other direction. And by the looks of it, this slowly distorts the pan. Mine started out rectangular, but is now more a parallelogram. And I am sure this contributes to that it is getting increasingly difficult to get the bread out.

I didn't automatically assume you could buy them separate; I didn't even expect it. But it was worth having a little google to check. Lo and behold; you can! So I ordered a new bread pan and it soon arrived. It is a bit higher than the other one, but it does fit my machine. And it works! It is lovely and easy to get the bread out. I'll just have to adjust the settings; with identical settings, you get lighter bread with new pan.

The old and the new

Another issue is that the shaft that drives the kneading paddle is more or less the shape of a half circle. The pedal has a similarly shaped cut-out. Initially. But the shaft is clearly made of harder metal, and it is on a mission to erode the material of the paddle away until in the end, the half circle has turned into a circle. And then the whole machine doesn't work anymore.

The paddle with the hole for the shaft; the red line indicates the approximate initial bottom of said hole

I should have ordered them at the same time, but I wasn't quite switched on enough to do that. I ordered a new paddle separately. And a message it had been delivered arrived soon. But there was no sign of it! A bit like my initial cabinet door handles. What a nuisance. 

I don't know how this will pan out; I hope they will send me a replacement. But I think the paddle will last long enough to allow me to keep baking while this situation is being resolved; let's hope at least that will be the outcome. At least I have my pan!

I also hope is that the actual machine keeps functioning for a while. It would be sad if I had a new pan and a new paddle, and then the actual bread machine gives up the ghost! Let's hope not…

 

PS the paddle is found! It had been chucked through the window of the kitchen extension. I hadn't checked that. And now my bread machine is as good as new again!

Surface sampling

Low tide was at 7:17. I need low tide for my sampling, This would be an early start! And I would have to pick the students up from Bangor. That meant: getting up at 5:00, leaving the house at 5:30, load up the hired vehicle at 5:45, picking up the students at 6:15. We could then be at HQ at 6:45, and in the field by 7:15. Perfect timing! Jaco would pick up his students (basically, all those not coming with me) at the same time. And because of the student members, we needed a third vehicle, with some of his students, and some of mine.

It didn't quite work that way. One student had overslept and was only there at 6:30. I had picked up my gear, not Jaco’s; I figured he would do that himself. That was a misinterpretation. Our technician, driving the third vehicle, didn't pick it up either so someone had to get back for it. We didn't have the key for HQ, so we got there for no reason. It was a bit complicated!

In the end we all got to where we need to be, and the tide was still fine. I had discussed with the students where we would take a transact of sediment samples. And that had been conveniently close to parking.

It was a bit misty, but it was dry, and the temperature was pleasant. Perfectly fine fieldwork weather. On the way into the estuary we looked at the environment we came through, and chose which ones we wanted to sample. And when we decided we had been as far as we wanted to be, we tried to survey in the location I took the first sample. I couldn't make the GPS reach its normal accuracy, but it would have to do. At least the sampling went well. We made sure that only take as many samples as we have sieve stacks. That is novel; normally, I make every student take a sample. But this is quite a big class, and that seemed excessive. Fewer samples means less work for everyone.

The estuary 

When we were done, I was quite keen to get to HQ. We could; Martin was there by now. And a few students were keen on a coffee. I would take my student to the lab afterwards, and of course, in the lab, you can't eat or drink. So this was our chance. I also wanted to ask Martin a few things. Jaco and his students were done for the day, so they were more keen to go back to campus. So two vehicles went straight back to campus and mine went past HQ. 

It was about ten o'clock when we reached HQ, and I had had breakfast at five. I was quite desperate to consume something. One of the students handed me a coffee and I was very grateful. And I had half my lunch. I also go to ask Martin everything I needed to ask, so after that we could go.

In the lab, all went well (except one mishap with the handle of an oven.) With only seven samples to sieve, and the students really being quite executive about it, we were done quite soon. And then Stef, our technician for the day, offered to bring all the students back to main campus. That was great! That saved me driving there and back. Why use two vehicles when you can use one.

In the office I could do all these other things need doing, and when I was done, I could take the rental vehicle home. Nobody else needed it the rest of the day. And that meant I could drive straight from home to where the students are picked up the next day. That would save me at least half an hour!

The day after had the same schedule. And mostly similar weather, although this time we caught a little shower. The students were quite responsive again. And this time, I got the GPS to work well. 

The work in the lab was quick, like the day before. And again, Gareth took all the students back to Bangor so I didn't have to do that. And I processed the samples of the day before. Well before lunchtime I was done! So that was pretty much it for the surface sampling. Popping back into the lab process the second batch of samples will not take long. Onwards to the coring!