Sunny day surface exploring

The lure of the dig is strong. I thought there would be some people going this weekend! I didn't know if I would join; I have stuff to do, and I figured the Saturday could end late. Weddings do that sometimes. But things went differently.

While the messages were flying around about who would be available when, Simon suddenly drew our attention to the amazing weather forecast. It would be a cloudless day! A bit of a pity to lurk in a big hole. So Simon suggested we go to the Gwydyr Forest, which is Swiss cheese, and check out a few adits and shafts of which we weren't exactly sure what their nature was. I was won over! The Gwydyr forest is a lot closer than our dig, we would only assemble at lunch time so I would have the morning for chores, and Phil had to be home by six so it couldn't get late either. So we would have good company, underground exploration, an opportunity to enjoy the weather, AND it wouldn't take too long! I was won over.

I biked to Phil, met his cat, ate half his lunch and got into his car. Off we were! We met up with Edwyn, who had a cold and sounded very sexy, and Mick. And no Simon! It had been his idea but he had bailed out. Oh well; Mick and Phil had a few holes they wanted to investigate.

We set off in the glorious sunshine. We first saw some capped or filled shafts. Later we found a stope that looked so promising we decided not to explore it; there were some people not with us who probably would want to be there if we did. We then found a small stope I dropped into on a rope, only to find out I could walk out on the side. Through knee deep water! I would be sloshing the rest of the day.

 The exciting stope

 By then I was getting hungry, and Phil too, so we shared my lunch as well. Then we were on our way again. We later found a few more shafts and adits that were all collapsed or filled in with rubbish. Such a waste! I dropped one more stope (Mick and Edwyn were in it for the walk, and Phil politely let me go first every time) but that turned out to be filled in with discarded fences and similar unpleasantness. But by then it was time to get back to the cars. Phil's dinner was waiting for him!

Three explorers in the blazing sunshine

When we got home and mailed our exploits around, Simon (of course) mailed back he had already explored the bit we had found exciting. The bugger! He should just have come with us. But at least we had had a nice night. And David, in the end, never made it to our dig. Oh well! Let's hope we get to the digs soon!

Wedding Martyn and Malen

Our old lab technician got married! It was a low-key wedding; the reception was in their back garden. But they live in a idyllic cottage (which is a converted stable) on a dreamy estate and it was lovely. The weather was collaborating too; it was the nicest autumn day one could wish. I biked to the venue (it wasn't far) and was warmly welcomed by groom, bride, relatives and who not. It was great! There was a pig on a spit (reared lovingly by another colleague) and witty best man speeches, and a welling-up groom. I think all went perfectly! I hope they'll have a spiffing and lasting marriage!

The newfangled spouses; pic by Alejandro

Mood shot of the garden

Finding the balance between self-reliance and social functioning

I wasn't always good at enjoying my own company. I remember hanging out with bullies in primary school, because it seemed better than being alone. I remember wandering the corridors of secondary school, looking purposeful, with the combined aim of hoping to bump into someone that would be willing to hang out with me, and looking like I was pursuing something worthy rather than being desperately looking for human contact.

I don't remember such scenes from university, maybe because I made actual friends then. Several of these will soon be visiting me! So it became easier to satisfy my desire for social interaction. The desire was still strong then, though.

When I moved to a different country things started to change. If you move to another place every few years, to somewhere you know nobody, and might even not speak the language, you learn to sort yourself out. And as I was moving to all these different places with lots to discover I started to shift from pursuing people to pursuing activities. If you move to a new place it offers new opportunities! And you don't have friends yet so you start to pursue them alone. Not all, of course; in Norway I did a lot of hiking, climbing, skiing, and sea kayaking with other people, but only after I'd made friends. In Plymouth I rather quickly joined the PCG (and later CMEC and DCRO), and in York the YCC. Here in Wales I have joined the Thursdaynighters and Clwb Mynydda Môn, and countless Welsh classes.

The thing is, once you start filling your life up with, say, mine exploring, running, climbing and learning Welsh, you get used to restricting yourself to that and nothing else. Another thing is that time runs out to do anything else. So a difference is that in the old days I spent a lot of time only socialising; these days I rarely ever do. If I see people now I am engaging in some activity with them, be it some outdoor pursuit of learning Welsh. Or walking the dog. If I now am in the pub, there is a ~0.95 chance that that is because I am having a private session with Jenny, my Welsh tutor. The only exception here is, I suppose, sometimes having dinner with Marjan and/or Jaco, or any consumption with Guy and/or Kate.

All the people that I see doing stuff might very well vanish from my life as soon as I stop doing that stuff. Not all, I hope! But the vast majority, I suspect. This sort of means I spend more time with acquaintances and less with friends. And it's fine! I am quite happy spending my weekends alone, doing chores, going for a run, or going for a hike. I also don't mind going to things like movies or weddings on my own. But not needing other people very much anymore does have its downside: as I am cramming my leisure time full of what pretty much is investment in myself (improving my health and fitness, improving my skills) there is little time left for other people. I'm turning into a growling loner! And that would be pushing things too far. Liaising with people is important. I now sometimes look back on the last few days and realise I should have been more social at several occasions. Oh dear. It is very, very good to be able to depend largely on yourself, but if you turn into some antisocial sod you've let it go too far! I need some recalibration I think.

Typical case of me being on a scamper on my own

Another personal record: Bangor 10k

Last year I had registered for a Bangor race; I don't remember it that was the half marathon or the 10k, but either way; I ended up hiking with the Dutch bunch that day so I never showed up at the start. This year I got another chance! And I registered for the 10k; I would have a wedding later on and I know I am generally a bit extinguished after a half marathon. The newlyweds would have dibs on some of my energy!

I biked to downtown Bangor, and made my way to race HQ. I got my race number and decided to go look for a toilet. That was a bit of a shambles; the shopping centre that was race HQ seemed to have toilets upstairs, but there are no stairs going there, and the lift didn't work. Scores of runners made their way into the Debenhams, which seemed to be the only shop with toilets of its own. Then I sat down somewhere and read the paper for a while (never leave the home with something to read). Then it was time to take off my jacket, leave my bag at race HQ, and linger at the start until we could go.

 Gathering at the start, at the clock tower

Soon we were off. I had good hopes for a good time; I had run one the previous month, and this course was flatter, and I had been feeling good during my morning runs recently. And the weather was good; all was fine.

We ran from the clock tower (which had been the finish of my first marathon training run - I'd been so glad to see it!) to the Pier. I had always wanted to visit that, but I had never got around to it. Until now! It was very nice. And after that we headed in the direction of Penrhyn Castle, where the Parkrun is. From there we ran along the cycle path that follows the old tramway to Bethesda. I had never been on it, but I should; it's nice! A quiet path through the woods along a pretty stream, with lots of scenic bridges underfoot, on the side and looming overhead. (No pics though; I didn't want to break my stride for taking some. In the bright light of the pier you can get away with snapping pics while running but in the darker woods you don't). And I was enjoying the running.

 Two streams of runners on the pier

I missed the 8 km marker but I knew the surroundings and I knew when er weren't very far off. And then I saw the 9 km marker; that tends to be my cue to accelerate. I did; soon I was panting like a distressed dog. But I was doing well and I might indeed run a personal best! And perhaps overtake some relevant people. The most relevant ones are women my age; that does not only improve your overall ranking, but also your gender ranking and your category ranking. There weren't any to overtake. I saw a woman in the distance but whether I could overtake her was the question.

I came close; I saw that indeed I was on course for a PB. I saw the clock tick towards 46:30; I thought that meant I would break my PB with some 20 or 30 seconds. But I am notoriously bad at remembering my own times; so this time.

I finished a few seconds after the woman I had been pursuing. She had earned it! And after receiving my finisher pack I headed to HQ; no need to hang around, I could just get my bag and go home.

 Still looking fresh at the finish, but that's appearance only.

In HQ a woman had set up a sort of a massage table and offered "Bowen treatment". I didn't know what it was but the table suggested it was something massage-like. I went for it! And it was really pleasant. After running your legs off it's nice to just lie on a table while friendly lady performs some sort of massage. My mind drifted off into oblivion. I had the impression the table was shaking; that probably was just my heartbeat.

After a few minutes (I think) she was done. I felt great! So I got my bag and went home. And the next day the results came in. I had run 46:35; pretty good! And a look at my older results reminded me my previous PB had been 47:57 (not 46:57) so I had shaved off a massive 1:22. Not bad at all! No surprise I was out of breath at the end. I had also come second in my category (of 28). And my overall ranking was 43th of 320. I'm happy with that!

Cyclical vomiting

Some twenty years ago, I suffered from something strange. Once every three months, I would start getting a bit nauseous on an evening at the end of the week. Soon I would be bent over the toilet bowl. And my stomach would keep trying to empty itself until at least the next day, in spite of there not being anything to empty out. In addition, I would have debilitating stomach cramps. It would be very unpleasant nights. I went to my GP a few times as it really felt there was something seriously wrong, but the cause was never found. After about a year it spontaneously stopped. I never knew what it was.

This week I listened to the "Inside Health" programme on BBC radio 4. They covered several topics, including "cyclical vomiting syndrome". When they announced that, I pricked up my ears. That sounded just like what I had back then! And when they went into detail it all matched up. No discernible cause, periodicity, stomach cramps and lots of vomiting, it all clearing up after a while. So that must have been it! The silly thing is, though, that after all that I still knew nothing. The "no discernible cause" gives it away; if someone shows the symptoms described above and you can't explain them otherwise you slap the diagnosis "cyclical vomiting syndrome" on it. But at least I now know I am not the only person who had that! Not sure why that is a good thing (on second thought it simply isn't) but still I am glad I heard that programme. Maybe in twenty more years someone will have found the cause!

Alone in the dig

Every week the question pops up where we'll go underground. These days, our digs are exerting a strong pull. Two other suggestions were mentioned but again, we ended up deciding for the digs. Surprise!

I was keen to go on with Miles' dig. David had made me a shepherd's crook; these are good for pulling out rocks from a safe-ish distance, so if you would dislodge something it would not comedown on your head. When we got to the floor where both digs are I retrieved the crook and went in. Quite soon I realised the crook was way too long for me to be able to wield it in there! I brought it to the other dig, hoping I'd find something shorter there. I didn't! But when I was there David needed a piece of equipment from another room, and I went to get it. With that equipment I found an old metal hook of some 20cm long (quite different from the ~150 cm of David's hook). That would do!

I delivered the requested item to David and returned to the other dig, armed with the short hook and a nice rod-shaped piece of slate. I crawled in and gently started to feel the rock in front of me. Some were loose! I started to pull those out very carefully. If you are alone in a dig you are extra cautious! I am, anyway.  The rocks I pulled out I either stacked them somewhere out of the way, or pushed them down the passage first with my hands and then with my feet. Sometimes I crawled back to make sure I properly got rid of them and did not block my own passage.

With the loose ones gone the other rocks became looser too. Soon I found out that there wasn't a big pile of them; they were just filling a space below another very big slab. Good! Big slabs is what you need. Soon I had all of them out of the way. I took some pictures. That's not so easy in such a confined space but I tried. Then I saw a bit of a space went on, forwards and a bit down, and only loose stuff was in the way. I tried to get rid of some of that. Then I took some more pics. The way on was obvious! And easy, as it involved loose stuff! The only issues were: to get rid of the stuff, and to move. I hoped I would manage to make the space I had largely emptied so big I could turn around in it. That would make it easier to come out again! Not unimportant.

By then I wanted a cup of tea. Tea is boring on one's own so I went to the other dig. There great progress was made too. I had my tea, sandwiches and apples and hoped the others would be willing to come out. David was having none of it; he was keeping pulling one big rock after the other out of the dig. I was a bit stuck in limbo: go back to the other dig and do something useful until the others were ready to come out, but then not encouraging thewm to do so, or staying, not doing much but having the opportunity to advertise an early exit? I stayed, but  not sure if that was the right decision. Either way, finally we all made our way up again. At the entrance Simon was wondering at a pile of H-beam cut-offs Miles had left there; he wondered if we could use these as supports. They are very strong! As we had to wait for the others anyway we demonstrated we could both crawl underneath their height. That's promising! But then the others appeared and we could head down and home. More digging some other day!

The big assignment challenge has started

It's up to the students now! I gave my introductory lecture on the assignment they have to do. I think it went well! I used the "audience response system" and it worked, they were kept involved. But, of course, they have to stay involved until they've finished the assignment.

James was in the audience, just to see how it went, and he too thought it went well. The students have had to think about some of the caveats of the assignment. And not enough of them had done that in advance; I mailed the students twice to tell them they should read the assignment before going into the lecture, and two thirds hadn't (you can track who accesses a document on the university website). How to get the students to come prepared? Answers on the back of a postcard.

I also recorded this lecture; that was the first time I did this. We are encouraged to record everything so any students that can't come, or have concentration issues or something, can just listen to and watch the recording as often as they want. And for me it is useful too; no students can wrongly claim I haven't explained something this way without being easily found out. It's not good the likes of me (I'm not the only one) feel the need to pre-empt unjustified student complaints but it's the way it is.

On Monday we get the same students over to have them describe the core that was taken during the field trip; on the day itself the weather was atrocious. And then the week after there is a MATLAB drop-in session; if the students struggle with the software bit of the assignment they can come and ask. And after that they should be ready to write up! I hope all goes well. I want lots of A-worthy assignments this year!