Trying to install Dragon

It was March that I got a new computer. The old one ran on Windows 10, and the University didn't support that anymore. But with my old computer went my voice recognition software, that I rely so much on. 

I did keep working. My phone, after all, take dictation. So if I needed to write feedback for a student assignment, or a form related to academic integrity issues, or any of that sort of things, I would just dictate to my phone, and then email it to myself. Except, of course, if I had to write an email; I would do that straight from my phone. But it is a lot of faff! I wanted my software back.

It's not just efficiency. It's also health. If I, for instance, would have to fill out an academic integrity form, I would make sure to dictate the body of the text on my phone, and copy and paste that in. But you have to fill out smaller amounts of text as well; the name of the student, their student number, the name of their academic tutor, et cetera. You're not going to email these to yourself, so then it is tempting to just type it. So then I would be typing more than I should. And my RSI got worse again.

I did get permission to order a new license. The conditions of the old license were such that I couldn't install the software on any new machines. And I figured that would be straightforward. You just buy a new license, and then you get to download it straight from the company website, right? It's software; there is no shipping or manufacturing or any of that. Just a download.

It didn't work that way. It seemed to have worked that way before, the company had been brought up by some behemoth, and all procedures had changed. And not for the better. I kept chasing and chasing the IT people. 

Somewhere along the line I developed a golf elbow. By now I think it was just RSI. And I got stricter with myself. No typing of names or student numbers! Have discipline, and make sure to copy and paste everything. It's still mouse and keyboard work, but less than typing everything out. Some of these students have rather long names.

Finally, IT said it was sorted. I could download the software. I just had to fill out my details, and the license number. I thought that that would be the end of it. I loved watching that progress bar move slowly to the right.

A new dawn?

The download wouldn't work. My computer claimed network issues. The rest of the network seemed to work fine. I downloaded it for me, I put it in a folder they gave me access to. This time I could download it. Success! But then, of course, you have to install it. I ran the .exe file. That as well asks for the license number. I gave that. The software said it was wrong. How could it be wrong? It did allow me to download the software in the first place. How could it now be wrong? 

I didn't know how much longer this would take! I was glad something was happening, but I won't be fully happy until it is just running, and lets me talk through my computer once again…

Finally planting the vegetables out

I planted beans, kale and beetroot in late April. By early May, I had sizeable seedlings. And then life happened. 

The idea was to let them get so big that I figured they could survive in the garden. And then, obviously, put them in the garden. But I never found the time. And then I went to the Netherlands. Accidentally, that was during a heat wave. The catsitter did say she was watering my seedlings, but the conservatory in a heatwave is quite a hostile environment. When I got back, most of the beetroot plants were still alive, but fewer than half of the bean plants, and none of the kale. 

Now I finally have found the time put them outside! That's four bean plants and quite a lot of beetroot. I hope they will do well. There are many enemies; drought, a cat who thinks this vegetable patch is a cat toilet, and a squirrel who thinks it is a squirrel larder. And potentially slugs and caterpillars. I never had problems with these before when I grew beetroot, nor when I grew peas (and I assume that for a slug, pea plants and bean plants are quite similar). But you never know.

Finally outside! 

Veg enemy #1

I have planted a few more beans now. I don't think it's too late for that yet. And I think I have enough beetroot plants for a while. I might plant some potatoes.

So far the vegetable year has not been very productive, but it might still improve!

Bryn Celli Ddu Open Day

Sometimes, social media actually does something good. Keeping an eye on things I had seen that both GeoMôn and James Dilly, the experimental archaeologist, would attend an open day at Bryn Celli Ddu, arguably the most famous Neolithic monument in North Wales. That sounded fun! And Neil is borderline obsessed with the sort of work that James Dilly does, so he didn't need any encouragement to go there.

We arrived at the normal parking lot, to the west of the actual monument. We were early enough to be able to park there. When we got to location, we saw Dei getting his stall ready. Other people were already active. I could see James in the distance, and there were clearly more experimental people; next to Dei was a bloke making swirly decorations in stone, like what you could see on a standing just outside the actual burial mound. We could see that today, you could actually park on the other side. 

Dei with his GeoMôn stand

Swirly pattern man

We had a nice chat with Dei, and then had a look at the man with the swirly patterns. He had also brought several axes. Neil was mesmerised. 

Then we made our way to James’ setup. I let them chat away while I admired everything that was going on in the tent. Axes, spears, swords (he does both the Neolithic and the Bronze Age), jewellery, buckets, bellows, antlers, whatnot. I loved it! 

A bit later he would do a demonstration, but now we left him to it. There was more to see! Next door were two ladies in Neolithic outfits doing textile work. One was making a net. We talked about flax and nettles and how you make thread with that. One of them was wearing a nettle dress. Fascinating! 

We also went into the mound itself. Neil had never been! And then the demo started. This was all about making a stone hand axe. We had seen that before! But it was still impressive to see how he starts with a big lump of rock, and within 20 minutes has a usable axe. And he talked about why you would want to polish them. Not just for good looks! And gave a lot of background information. He knows his stuff.

Knapping

When he was done we looked at the other things going on; there was a potter there, and another textile lady who was working with wool. 

There would be another demo; this one about casting bronze. We make sure we had had some food and drink before that, and put our warmest clothes on, as it was windy. And we said hello to another James; this was one of our students who will graduate this summer. After summer he will start a Welsh language PhD in our school. It will be great to keep him for a few more years.

The bronze casting was exciting as well! Neil had seen it all before; he had even done it himself. But he was quite happy to see it again. 

Casting the bronze

When that demo was over we were almost Neolithically saturated. We admired a bloke we had seen at the Vikings talk blow a Bronze Age horn, said goodbye to Dei, and made our way back.

Bronze Age horn blowing

As we were on Anglesey anyway, we decided to tag on a little visit to Lleiniog beach, to see the amazing sediments we are dragging the students to every year. So we did! And it turned out that Neil had been before, but he had never really paid attention to the sediments. He agreed that they were spectacular. And then it was time for us to go home. It had been a good day all around!

First general UCET trip

I had been underground with the UCET ladies quite many times now. I had never done a conventional trip, which is open to all. But that was set to change when there was a western trip for everyone. It is a mine I like, and I thought it would be nice to show my face to the men of the club as well.

I showed up to a somewhat midge-infested meeting place. It was not a big trip; only eight of us would be there. And when we had all got kitted up we were keen to get in, leaving the midges behind.

The plan had been to split into two groups. There was a pitch down and, a bit further along, a pitch up. I was happy to be on the group that went up, with Gw.yneth, whom I know, and two of the blokes: Oggy and Greg. Never having been on a standard club trip I obviously didn't know them yet. And after going up we could later swap around and go down the other pitch.

It's a nice little pitch, and there is a bit of a level to explore when you get up it. Of our little group, I was the only one who had done it before. I'm glad everyone enjoyed it! And then we went down. Oggy went first. Me second. But then something unfortunate happened. I accidentally nudged a stemple with my shoulder. And  dislodged it.

Greg coming up 

Greg and Gwyneth on a traverse

You always try to leave a mine as you found it! It is industrial heritage, after all. I had a good go at wedging it back in, but I just couldn't make it work. And I was scared that if I would manage, it wouldn't be very secure, and it would come down a next time. Maybe with someone underneath it. I decided I had to send it down now, as I could control if there would be anyone underneath. I shouted really loud at Oggy to get out of the way, and then I dropped it down the pitch. I felt really bad about that. But I would have felt worse if later down the line, someone would have got hurt.

When we were all down, we had a look what the others were up to. It didn't look like they were imminently coming up, so we headed further into the level. We got to a beautiful stope with a lovely ladder in it. From there you can keep going, but it is quite wet. Nobody seemed to fancy it! So after some dawdling we went back. By then, the others were coming up. There had been a bit of a kit mishap and they hadn't got down all the way to the bottom.

Gwyneth in a high stope

Two ladies who had come up were keen on going even further up, so they headed for the pitch we had just vacated. Mary figured she had done enough SRT. Greg and Oggy went down. I wasn't all too. bothered about it; I had been there many times, and if people wanted to get out I didn't want to keep them. And when everyone had seen what they wanted to see we indeed went out again.

Outside we took a group picture, and then we went back to the cars. The midges and mosquitoes had beaten us to it! We thought they had been out in force before we went in. We hadn't seen nothing yet. I changed back into my civilian kit, and decided to then say goodbye and leave. The others were going to the pub afterwards, but their choice of pub was in the opposite direction of where I wanted to go, so I left them to it. 

Group picture

It had been a modest trip! But quite enjoyable. Very successful as my first trip with the general UCET crew! 

Undergraduate finalists board meeting

At the end of the academic year, there are many meetings taking place. We need to evaluate all modules. Did anything go awry? Do we need to moderate any marks? And we have to go through all students. Will they pass to the next year? Will they graduate? 

Some of these meetings are done with all staff present; for instance, meetings in which we decide if all the modules ran properly, and we can accept all the grades. But the meetings where we discuss the individual students always happened out of my sight.. 

You might imagine that as all grades are digitally recorded, the progression is processed automatically. It is not. We look at all students. And when I say “we”, I mean the Director of Teaching and Learning, the Senior Tutor, the Assessment Officer, and some members of Student Administration. Or rather; that’s what it used to be like. But this year, they asked me to be there too, as the Academic Integrity officer. 

I didn’t have much to do! The thing is; I had sent an overview of all the Academic Integrity cases. I also was up-to-date with the admin. So there wasn't really much need for me to be there. I suppose the only time I snapped into action is when I spotted that a student had been penalised, but the mark this meeting had access to had not been amended yet. (Student administration can sometimes take a while to respond to information.) So I mentioned that, and they amended it there and then.

I might raise that I was in a meeting between nine and three, and only was useful once. I might suggest that next year, we do this differently. Maybe a brief half hour pre-meeting of one administrator with me, where we check all changes have been implemented. And then the six hour meeting without me. And if needs be, I can just be in my office, one phone call away, in case they have any questions after all. 

It was interesting to see this process in action! But I think that once is enough. We'll see if the powers that be agree with me…

New bridge opened!

It is finished! The new foot- and bike bridge over the Ogwen has been opened. And with it, the bicycle paths around it. We can use the full route again. Great! 

It took a bit longer than I thought but it’s there now. And I have to admit; it looks good. And now I have faith there won’t be any work on this stretch of the bike route for a fair while! 

Opening (pic taken from social media)

The new bridge, with the approach to the old one festooned with a picnic table 

Welsh Castles Relay day 2

My alarm went off at 5:45. It was day two of the Welsh Castles Relay, and I would actually get to run. I put on some clothes and got my stove out. I wasn't going to start the day without coffee! And it turned out that the leisure centre next door had a coffee vending machine, but the coffee seemed to be quite rubbish. I was glad I had my own supply. And while the water was boiling I packed my stuff and took my tent down.

Early morning on the sports field 

I had my breakfast in the minibus, and then I was ready to roll. We cheered on our first runner, who had had to come from North Wales that morning. She must have had such an early start! But she looked cheerful.

Start of the first race. Notice Russell, one of the Track Tuesday trainers, with nr 24

Then the whole circus started again, dropping off runners, and occasionally seeing them finish. And sometimes supporting runners that were using their own transport. And I was in unfamiliar terrain now. We went to Llanbadarn Mynydd and Crossgates and Builth Wells. And Drovers Arms and Epynt. And by now, the permanent crew of the minibus was finally starting to run. Nia kicked it off in Crossgates. And we could even see her finish. She was looking quite fanatic!

Nia taking it seriously 

Two stages later it was my turn. I got to do leg 16 from Brecon to Torpantau (in the middle of the Bannau Brycheiniog). It would be 20 km; 10 of them quite flat, and then the second 10 up the hill. They dropped me off at the start, which was in a quite scenic location, and then tried to find a place to park. I registered, and found my track mate Elfyn. He had considered coming on the minibus, in spite of not being a Harrier, but had decided against. I thought it was great we were doing the same leg! 

Me at the scenic start location. Elfyn took the pic

Time flew to the start. The support crew had arrived on time to cheer me on. And then we set off along a canal. The route was beautiful! But at some point we left the canal. The marshal standing by the junction said "enjoy the hill". That surprised me a bit; the actual hill was much later. But it sure was a considerable hill if you compare it to these kilometres along the canal.

By the time we got to that point, the field had spread out a bit. I was aware of a bloke in blue behind me, and I could see a lady in black-and-white in front of me. And we plodded on. I was hoping to catch the lady. I'm sure the bloke is blue was hoping to catch me. But these chase scenes in long distance runs take forever. 

While we were on the road, some vehicles came past. Some of them cheered me on. The Buckley runners’ vehicle did, for instance! That was nice. But at some point, we took a turn and ran over the dam of the Tal-y-Bont reservoir, and at the end of that, we started the almost 10 km climb. 

By now I had gained on the black-and-white lady, who turned out to be in the Pontypridd Roadents ladies team, and right at the start of the ascent I overtook her. Excellent! And that gave me a new target; another runner had come to view. In the meantime, the blue runner, from TROTs (St Clears), was approaching. I figured he was going to get me. And he did. 

He was too fast for me, but I did manage to overtake a runner from the Cheshire Dragons and one from Caerphilly. I was quite chuffed with that. I figured I was doing well! Maybe not by the standard of this race, but certainly by my own standards, and these are the important ones. And my IT bands were holding up. 

Then I could hear the faint sounds of a finish. And then the path got steeper. That was tiring, but knowing I was close gave me energy. And when I approached the actual finish I saw Lesley. I knew she was going to be the one to pick me up. She was cheering me on and taking pictures. I was really glad to see her. I gave it a last push, and then I was in.

At the finish

I had done it in 1:36:16. And that was 20.1 km and 350m ascent. I was perfectly happy with that! But now I was tired. When the timekeeper scanned the barcode on my race number I had to hold onto his jacket. And I could see I had come 54th of 65. Good enough for me!

I had been handed a bottle of water, and I quite needed that by now. I drank it while Lesley and I walked back to the car. I knew Iolo, one of the lads from the minibus, was still running. We would have no time to get to his finish. They had started his leg only 45 minutes after mine. We would head directly for the finish of the runner after that: Ian, also a minibus person. 

As we are now in the middle of nowhere the runners could take a much more direct route than cars. It would take us a while to get there! And then we finally did, it turned out Ian had almost jumped into the vehicle of another team, but now he came with us. He had done really well! I might have been 54th, but he had been 8th. That is impressive.

There was no point in going to the next finish, so we headed straight to the final one, in Cardiff. Our other young lad, Huw, would take that leg. We got there before the first runner was even approaching, so we could catch up a bit. The runner of the previous leg, Mike, joined us there, as did Tony and Nia and Iolo. Ian got me some more water as all I had with me was what I had carried during my race. And a jumper I had given to Lesley to put in the car, waiting for me. That wasn't much!

Then the announcer said the first one was not far. And he came storming in. He was so fast! He barely managed to make the bend into the field. And then some other, slightly less inhumanly speedy, runners followed. Quite soon, our own Huw appeared. When he had finished I went to look for him. He had come 14th! I thought that was massively impressive, but he didn't think so. It was sad he wasn't happy with his achievement.

By the finish: Ian Mike Huw Iolo Tony Lesley me Nia

The organisation hoped that everyone would stay until the very end, but we didn't. We were hungry. I hadn't had a meal since 6:30, and it was now about 16:00. We also had to drive all the way back to North Wales after the food.

Nia, who is our chair, bought us all a drink. And we ordered food. I really really appreciated it. I must admit I didn't care much what it was! It really hit the spot. And then we set off to go home. We first dropped off Mike at his car, and then we could go back to Caernarfon. 

In the pub

It is a long drive! But we managed to spend quite some time just gossiping about the race and how everyone had done. Our star runner has clearly been Mike! I have never met him before, but he is clearly impressive. In this tremendously competitive field, he had managed to come 7th. He is 63. Not many others had managed to stay in the top 10. Only Ian. 

Three of our runners ended up 63th. It was clear we weren't in with a chance of winning. We had prioritised having a good time. And I think these three runners did. I myself had a negative influence on our results. I dropped us by two places. But nobody minded. And the last three runners: Mike, Ian and Huw, had really done miracles to our ranking. We had started well, with Tony and Jen, but then we had a bit of a fallow period that lasted 15 legs. I think on day at some point we were 55th. After my run, we were 50th. And then Iolo started running! And Ian and Mike and Huw. When they were done, we were 37th. That was quite amazing! Oh and Salford had won. 

We also wondered about next year. Should we try to have more than one team? Maybe a ladies team? Or veterans team? In addition to the open team? Or a competitive team and leisurely team? We will have to see. How much interest would there be?

In the meantime, time went by. Garfield chose to drive over the A5. That meant that I would be the first to be dropped off. He would come to Bethesda, and a few kilometres beyond would get to my car, on the way to Caernarfon. But when we were approaching, it was already past 11 pm. I wanted to go to bed. I suggested he just drop me off at home. I could get my car the next day. And that's what he did. I just shoved my bags into a corner, fed the cat, brushed my teeth, had a shower (I really needed that!), and went to bed. I got in before midnight. Success! And the next day I would still be buzzing with Welsh Castles Relay adrenaline…