It had been a while since I had been underground! And the last time was in the dig. After that night, work got a bit too much for a while. But I emerged on the other side and decided I could come out with the Thursdaynighters again! And even all the way. Not just a walk to the entrance and then bail out like the previous time. The last time I had actually been fully underground with the lot had been in September...
I hitched a ride with Phil. He hadn't been out on a Thursday night for a while either! And by teaming up we could just go home after the trip would be done; David, Paul and who not would go for a pizza afterwards. And the venue would be Wrysgan; the mine on the other side of the valley from Cwmorthin. We had an unfinished project there; we had managed to establish a through trip, but is was a sketchy one; it would need shoring up to make it a long-term feature. There is a bit too much potential for rocks falling through the crucial passage!
There were a fair few of us; Don, Chris, Edwyn and Jason were there too. Nice to see them all! They had assumed I had been digging the past weeks. If only! And it was a quite sultry, moonlit night; you can't have enough of these.
We walked to the entrance, got in, checked if the rope down from the 'wormhole' was in position (it was) and walked the long way to the top of the wormhole. We had a sandwich stop along the way. Always nice! And once we were there, we pondered how to make it safe, and took some measurements. Then we all dropped it and were ready to come out. What a nice quick trip! We were even out earlier than we usually are when we are digging.
I don't know when we'll actually do the shoring up; the project has been lasting for years and getting a bunch of cats like underground explorers to collaborate isn't easy. Oh well! No rush. But it's nice that for now, this through-trip is there!
18 November 2018
16 November 2018
Run the other way
The last time I wrote about running was in June! Except the write-up of the 10k I ran in July. I tended to run landwards, but a long time ago I decided to go the other way. In that direction, the bicycle path I run on goes to Felin Fawr; the mill where the Penrhyn slate was processed. Beyond the mill the railway hasn't either been maintained or turned into a bicycle path, so if you want to run or bike on you have to join the road. Quite some way further north the railroad has been turned into a bicycle path, but that is where the old passenger railroad curves west to head for the station, and the bicycle path jumps track and follows the slate railroad to the harbour. But the yard has a wall and that wall has an opening. And one day I decided to just see what was behind that. And there was a public footpath there! And it follows the river Galedffrwd, which early on has lots of interventions (artificial waterfalls and such) and later becomes very scenic and dreamy. It's a beautiful patch of woodland!
I had never run there before with a camera, but I figured it was time to document this route too. It's lovely! And as a bonus I bumped into a lady from Welsh class who, together with her (rather young) son, was walking the dog. And the autumn colours were lovely!
View over the village
The bicycle path going seaward
The gate to Felin Fawr
The hole in the wall
The artificial waterfall just behind the hole in the wall. I guess this is where one of the waterwheels was!
More riverine infrastructure
The big waterfall upstream
The mill pond that feeds the waterfall
A tributary with a dead-end (?) path next to it
Where the tributary joins the Galedffrwd
Scenic inclined trees along the path that goes to Mynydd Llandygai
I had never run there before with a camera, but I figured it was time to document this route too. It's lovely! And as a bonus I bumped into a lady from Welsh class who, together with her (rather young) son, was walking the dog. And the autumn colours were lovely!
15 November 2018
Last Open Day of autumn
I am supposed to be at every Open Day. If they are in spring or summer, I will now have to organise them as well. In autumn I only have to be there to sort out the Peer Guides. And that is getting increasingly easy. If you do it more often you can run on routine!
This autumn I was lucky; I got away with only doing two out of three. The one in the middle fell in the middle of the Swamphike and the organiser was OK with sorting out the peer guides himself! That was really nice of him. And the third, in November, was not very busy. It was easy to sort out with the limited number of peer guides I had.
Soon I will have to line up staff and demonstrators for the Open Days that will start in February! I hope these go well. I look forward to having organised enough of them to not be stressed about it. But when this one was sorted (and we managed to bring the venue back to its original state within ten minutes after the prospective students and their entourage left!) I was glad it was over for a while and I could go home and enjoy the weekend! I needed that...
This autumn I was lucky; I got away with only doing two out of three. The one in the middle fell in the middle of the Swamphike and the organiser was OK with sorting out the peer guides himself! That was really nice of him. And the third, in November, was not very busy. It was easy to sort out with the limited number of peer guides I had.
Soon I will have to line up staff and demonstrators for the Open Days that will start in February! I hope these go well. I look forward to having organised enough of them to not be stressed about it. But when this one was sorted (and we managed to bring the venue back to its original state within ten minutes after the prospective students and their entourage left!) I was glad it was over for a while and I could go home and enjoy the weekend! I needed that...
14 November 2018
Apple season effectively over
It's mid-November! I didn't really think the apple season would last this long. But it did. This morning I went to the garden to get some apples and I saw this would be the last time. I picked the last (not too eaten) apples off the ground, and picked the last intact ones from the tree. It can now go and hibernate! And I will have to go back to buying my fruit. But it's been great! And I look forward to the same thing next year!
12 November 2018
Nyrsys
Anglophones might call them nurses! I was dragged to Pontio again, to see a play. It was a Welsh play, and our Welsh teacher had suggested we go see it instead of having one of our course nights. Most of the course agreed!
The play, Nyrsys, was a mixture of paying attention to the NHS's 70th birthday, and celebrating Welsh women. It was a Verbatim play, meaning that the maker had interviewed lots of nurses and assembled the whole play from the direct words of the interviewees. I had never seen a play like that before. It was also in a way a musical; there was much singing.
I was completely knackered after a trying day, but I was glad to just relax and think of other things for a bit. Upon walking into Pontio I immediately found the others from the class. And soon we went into the room where the pre-show talk for Welsh learners was held. The lady who had written the play was interviewed by one of the Welsh tutors. And questions from the audience were encouraged. It was quite nice!
When it was done there was some time left, so I went to have a drink with two of the men. Then we went into the actual room.
It went the usual way! I enjoyed it, but couldn't quite follow everything. That happened before with Brecshit, the Father, and the Huw Edwards talk. Oh well! It was important I enjoyed it. And I liked the verbatim aspect. It wasn't a play with a plot as such, but it gave a good idea of being a nurse in this day and age, and the fact that everything was a quote made it extra poignant. And even though it was heavy at times; a cancer ward is not a place where you can avoid tragedy, there was plenty of humour in it too.
The five characters were distillates from the countless people interviewed, but became credible characters. They spanned the ranks in the ward. And they were all passionate about nursing, and all regretted the relentless financial cuts that had lead to them not being able to provide the care needed. They all wanted to sometimes just be able to sit down with a patient and talk. At the end of the play, some announce they are leaving to work in the private sector. I can imagine! And that was the saddest; that the government gives so little priority to healthcare that patients suffer and dedicated staff get pushed out. I hope one day that stops being true!
We all enjoyed the show, but when it was done, and there was an after-show chat available too, we all decided it had been enough. We went home. And I already have my next Welsh language public event lined up! A discussion about the Welsh government's aim to have 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050...
The play, Nyrsys, was a mixture of paying attention to the NHS's 70th birthday, and celebrating Welsh women. It was a Verbatim play, meaning that the maker had interviewed lots of nurses and assembled the whole play from the direct words of the interviewees. I had never seen a play like that before. It was also in a way a musical; there was much singing.
I was completely knackered after a trying day, but I was glad to just relax and think of other things for a bit. Upon walking into Pontio I immediately found the others from the class. And soon we went into the room where the pre-show talk for Welsh learners was held. The lady who had written the play was interviewed by one of the Welsh tutors. And questions from the audience were encouraged. It was quite nice!
When it was done there was some time left, so I went to have a drink with two of the men. Then we went into the actual room.
It went the usual way! I enjoyed it, but couldn't quite follow everything. That happened before with Brecshit, the Father, and the Huw Edwards talk. Oh well! It was important I enjoyed it. And I liked the verbatim aspect. It wasn't a play with a plot as such, but it gave a good idea of being a nurse in this day and age, and the fact that everything was a quote made it extra poignant. And even though it was heavy at times; a cancer ward is not a place where you can avoid tragedy, there was plenty of humour in it too.
The five characters were distillates from the countless people interviewed, but became credible characters. They spanned the ranks in the ward. And they were all passionate about nursing, and all regretted the relentless financial cuts that had lead to them not being able to provide the care needed. They all wanted to sometimes just be able to sit down with a patient and talk. At the end of the play, some announce they are leaving to work in the private sector. I can imagine! And that was the saddest; that the government gives so little priority to healthcare that patients suffer and dedicated staff get pushed out. I hope one day that stops being true!
We all enjoyed the show, but when it was done, and there was an after-show chat available too, we all decided it had been enough. We went home. And I already have my next Welsh language public event lined up! A discussion about the Welsh government's aim to have 1 million Welsh speakers by 2050...
11 November 2018
Wing mirror debacle
In Britain, it is allowed in many places to park on one side of the road, even if that means the road effectively becomes a one lane road. I suppose there is little choice; the cars are there, the old towns are not designed to hold so many, so there is no other space to put them than on the road. But it doesn't make for pleasant driving.
The two roads that lead to work both have parking on one side. The one is quite narrow so you really can't pass each other; the other one is funnel-shaped so on one side you can pass an oncoming car, but somewhere along the way you can't do that anymore. Depending on exactly where the cars are parked you have to make a call on where to pull in. Generally that works fine. You have to wait sometimes, but in general, it works out with the people technically having priority just periodically letting a blob of cars coming from the other side pass. Sometimes someone demands their priority when that is quite against the unwritten rules of the road (probably people who live elsewhere) and then some angry gesturing follows. Sometimes someone is not quite certain if there is enough space, which can lead to either unnecessary waiting or close calls. And sometimes it goes wrong.
I don't know if it had anything to do with me having had a bit of a hard few days behind me, but the day after I was told I had to re-do the unpleasant job of allocating dissertation titles to students, I misjudged the situation myself. I thought I could just squeeze between a passed car and an oncoming one. I couldn't! That was two wing mirrors damaged. Shit. I was already quite frayed but this didn't improve anything. If I want to be careless with my car that's my problem but now I had damaged someone else's.
The lady whose car it was was a bit upset, but luckily, she kept her cool. I apologised and admitted it was my fault. She just took my contact details. I suggested we sort this without insurance companies involved; I suspect both our premiums would go up if we would involve them. And she trusted me. I think! She did take my car registration so maybe she did want to be able to sort it out officially if I proved untrustworthy. I can't blame her.
I went to work and phoned the garage. Did they by any chance have a spare wing mirror lying around? I didn't expect so but one never knows. They said they wanted to see the car. I brought it in, and they agreed I needed a new mirror, but they didn't have one. They recommended two scrap yards that might. So I went back to the office. One of these was not open yet; the other one only scrapped cars, they didn't dismantle them to sell the bits on. My idea of a scrap yard has to be revised now! What do they do with them then?
I decided I didn't have time for this and phoned a shop selling new parts. Did they have a wing mirror? Not yet they said, but they would order one. Could I come pick it up at one? I could really do without that as I was still trying to get the bloody dissertation allocations done. But I also wanted to get this over with. So I said I would. I then locked myself in the office for a bit. I had to get my composure back! I was a bit shaken by it all. Luckily I have practiced so after a while I got me a coffee and cracked on with work.
After lunch I picked up the new mirror, and delivered car and mirror back to the garage. I have practiced replacing wing mirrors, but this wasn't the week for it. I hoped it would be done before I had a lecture in Bangor! I didn't get a phone call so I wasn't confident. But it was done! I have a lovely new mirror.
The next day the lady contacted me to say she had too, and told me how much it had been. I refunded her and that was it. That was a rather expensive split second but well, nobody was hurt! We both have working cars again. And I will now be more careful at these funny parking-on-the-street traffic situations!
The two roads that lead to work both have parking on one side. The one is quite narrow so you really can't pass each other; the other one is funnel-shaped so on one side you can pass an oncoming car, but somewhere along the way you can't do that anymore. Depending on exactly where the cars are parked you have to make a call on where to pull in. Generally that works fine. You have to wait sometimes, but in general, it works out with the people technically having priority just periodically letting a blob of cars coming from the other side pass. Sometimes someone demands their priority when that is quite against the unwritten rules of the road (probably people who live elsewhere) and then some angry gesturing follows. Sometimes someone is not quite certain if there is enough space, which can lead to either unnecessary waiting or close calls. And sometimes it goes wrong.
I don't know if it had anything to do with me having had a bit of a hard few days behind me, but the day after I was told I had to re-do the unpleasant job of allocating dissertation titles to students, I misjudged the situation myself. I thought I could just squeeze between a passed car and an oncoming one. I couldn't! That was two wing mirrors damaged. Shit. I was already quite frayed but this didn't improve anything. If I want to be careless with my car that's my problem but now I had damaged someone else's.
The lady whose car it was was a bit upset, but luckily, she kept her cool. I apologised and admitted it was my fault. She just took my contact details. I suggested we sort this without insurance companies involved; I suspect both our premiums would go up if we would involve them. And she trusted me. I think! She did take my car registration so maybe she did want to be able to sort it out officially if I proved untrustworthy. I can't blame her.
I went to work and phoned the garage. Did they by any chance have a spare wing mirror lying around? I didn't expect so but one never knows. They said they wanted to see the car. I brought it in, and they agreed I needed a new mirror, but they didn't have one. They recommended two scrap yards that might. So I went back to the office. One of these was not open yet; the other one only scrapped cars, they didn't dismantle them to sell the bits on. My idea of a scrap yard has to be revised now! What do they do with them then?
I decided I didn't have time for this and phoned a shop selling new parts. Did they have a wing mirror? Not yet they said, but they would order one. Could I come pick it up at one? I could really do without that as I was still trying to get the bloody dissertation allocations done. But I also wanted to get this over with. So I said I would. I then locked myself in the office for a bit. I had to get my composure back! I was a bit shaken by it all. Luckily I have practiced so after a while I got me a coffee and cracked on with work.
After lunch I picked up the new mirror, and delivered car and mirror back to the garage. I have practiced replacing wing mirrors, but this wasn't the week for it. I hoped it would be done before I had a lecture in Bangor! I didn't get a phone call so I wasn't confident. But it was done! I have a lovely new mirror.
The next day the lady contacted me to say she had too, and told me how much it had been. I refunded her and that was it. That was a rather expensive split second but well, nobody was hurt! We both have working cars again. And I will now be more careful at these funny parking-on-the-street traffic situations!
10 November 2018
Dissertation topic debacle
I ended my blog post on allocating dissertation topics to the students with the hope there would not be any further fall-out. But there was.
I got to the office, still a bit worse for wear after a hard week and a weekend of work, and was very soon accosted by one of my colleagues. He was very polite about the whole situation, but he was very explicitly not happy about the number of students he had. A few others had the same high number. And with these high numbers, you also get people with low numbers. It's a zero sum game! He said it wasn't fair. And it isn't, but then again, that just seemed to be the name of the game. I had looked at last year's numbers and it was a similarly uneven distribution. Apparently, that was fine! But this chap asked if I was fine with it if he went to get a second opinion. And sure, get as many opinions as you like.
Soon afterwards the phone rang. It was the Head of School. I had to change these allocations. He evidently had been the second opinion and put his foot down. This had to change. I wasn't happy about that but I could see his point. But I couldn't quite do that (it's a heck of a job) as I had a lot of teaching that day.
The next day I put my head down and set to work. I had another chat with the Head of School and all was clear. I would later have a chat with the Director of Teaching and Learning about the situation. I hoped to be ready to show him the new distribution. And on the clock, I got it done. I was exhausted.
Then he walked in. And told me he had had a chat with the Head of School as well. And they had changed their minds. It had to be done differently again. That was NOT what I wanted to hear! But I could see the rationale. So I got back to my computer and started again.
It wasn't even that much time to sort it out again; I was an old hand at it now. But I really didn't want any more shit so I had to make sure everyone was on board. So I ran it past the original complainant, past the Director of Teaching and Learning, and past all staff who had to take on new students. That was a lot of cat herding! People didn't pick up the phone, didn't respond to email, weren't sure, wanted more information from the person from which they would take a student but didn't want to make contact with them themselves, etc etc. I was hoping to have stuff sorted by Friday but there was still one unresolved case. It will have to be finalised the week after...
I got to the office, still a bit worse for wear after a hard week and a weekend of work, and was very soon accosted by one of my colleagues. He was very polite about the whole situation, but he was very explicitly not happy about the number of students he had. A few others had the same high number. And with these high numbers, you also get people with low numbers. It's a zero sum game! He said it wasn't fair. And it isn't, but then again, that just seemed to be the name of the game. I had looked at last year's numbers and it was a similarly uneven distribution. Apparently, that was fine! But this chap asked if I was fine with it if he went to get a second opinion. And sure, get as many opinions as you like.
Soon afterwards the phone rang. It was the Head of School. I had to change these allocations. He evidently had been the second opinion and put his foot down. This had to change. I wasn't happy about that but I could see his point. But I couldn't quite do that (it's a heck of a job) as I had a lot of teaching that day.
The next day I put my head down and set to work. I had another chat with the Head of School and all was clear. I would later have a chat with the Director of Teaching and Learning about the situation. I hoped to be ready to show him the new distribution. And on the clock, I got it done. I was exhausted.
Then he walked in. And told me he had had a chat with the Head of School as well. And they had changed their minds. It had to be done differently again. That was NOT what I wanted to hear! But I could see the rationale. So I got back to my computer and started again.
It wasn't even that much time to sort it out again; I was an old hand at it now. But I really didn't want any more shit so I had to make sure everyone was on board. So I ran it past the original complainant, past the Director of Teaching and Learning, and past all staff who had to take on new students. That was a lot of cat herding! People didn't pick up the phone, didn't respond to email, weren't sure, wanted more information from the person from which they would take a student but didn't want to make contact with them themselves, etc etc. I was hoping to have stuff sorted by Friday but there was still one unresolved case. It will have to be finalised the week after...
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