Proving your right to be in the country

The transition period is over; every EU citizen living in the UK without having actively acquired the right to live here is now an illegal alien. It's not a comfortable thought! And I sorted my settlement status as soon as I could, but I don't feel quite secure. For one thing; the Home Office can give you your settlement status, but who says they can't also take it away if they so wish? If they can take away the passport of a British citizen, they can certainly do that with something as flimsy as settlement status. If they would take mine away, I will not be a stateless citizen, so no court would have a problem with it.

The other thing is that I am not confident I will be able to prove my status. If you have acquired it, you do not get something like an identity card or something that proves your right to live here. The only thing you get is the possibility to log into a Home Office website and retrieve your status. So if there is some bug in the system, you are toast!

I hope the system will sort of work, but I would feel a lot happier if it would be a Labour government looking after it! I suppose that is a pipe dream…

Screenshot from the site you need for proving your status

More rescue training

We had only just done a cave rescue training, but we already had another one coming up! This time we would be in the East. Initially, we were supposed to go underground, but because of the worsening Covid situation the organisation had decided against. We would just be training at the NEWSAR base. As it was quite far away I had decided to make it a whole day; first I would sleep in the hills, then I would explore the Clwydian range, after that I would go to the training, and I would then end the day by visiting my friends Guy and Kate who live in the East these days. And if I felt like it, I could add another night in the hills to that.

The night in the hills was beautiful but damp; the Clwydian range was slightly underwhelming, and then I found the training ground. I got out of my car and then things turned unexpected. One of the other cars held Ed, who had been a Thursdaynighter and an SOS PhD student until a few years ago, but after finishing his PhD had moved far south as he found a job there. What was he doing here? It turned out he had just moved back to North Wales, and had rejoined the team. So that explained him being there. The other strange thing was that he greeted me enthusiastically. When the Thursdaynighters called their boycott, he joined it, and stopped answering my emails. When I confronted him about that he said he did not remember behaving in such way. Needless to say that I do! And I have heard better justifications of people's actions, but well, we were here for training, and the briefing started.

The idea was that we would split into two groups; one group would practice dealing with a person who had been travelling up or down a rope, but had become incapacitated; as a situation like that comes with the risk of suspension trauma, we would have to be able to get them off that rope really quickly. For this exercise, we had a dummy, as we didn't want to risk suspension trauma in a real person. The other group would practice getting someone (another dummy) into a stretcher and then suspended vertically. We had a new stretcher and we needed to know what it did!

I was in the first group, so we picked up a lot of rigging kit then headed for a little cliff. There we first rigged our incapacitated person. Then we had to rig for ourselves! And then we practised abseiling down to the dummy, making the dummy safe, putting them into what was referred to as a nappy harness (I don't think that is the official term), and then being lowered to the ground together with them. Things we found out were, for instance, how exactly you should rig the two IDs that the two ropes go to (one to the dummy and one to the barrow boy).

When several of us had given it a go it was time to join the others and have some lunch. And we even had someone bringing us cups of tea! That's the advantage of training at someone's headquarters.

After lunch we swapped around. Ed said he had never actually been in the stretcher, so instead of a dummy, he became our casualty. He decided he had a leg injury, so we practised putting him into the spinal board, the casualty bag, and then the stretcher, while being very careful with his leg. He was fully wrapped up! And then we pulled him vertical. And it was good we suspended him from a big tree, as it started to rain quite heavily, but we were protected. And when we were done, we did another round of debriefing, but it started to rain again, so we kept it brief.

A few days later we would have the AGM. It looks like the team is operating at full speed now! I do keep hoping, though, that we are never needed…

After the training I went to see my friends. It was absolutely lovely to see them! But when I left I decided I didn't need another night in the hills. I just went home. And I slept well in my own bed! 

Looking up at the people working the rig

The meeting me have been lowered to the ground; I then got away…

Putting Ed in a stretcher

Ed gets a good talking to from Dewi

And lift!

Another night in the hills

 Only the week before I had spent a night in the hills in order that get the cat used to me sometimes not coming home for a night. But I was going to be away from home again, so I decided again to extend that day out a bit for that same purpose. I was going to have mine rescue training somewhere quite far east (not too far from Mold), and I figured I could attach one or two nights in a tent to that. I had a fair number of things to do on the Saturday, though, so I didn't leave until 8 PM. My initial plan had been to drive to the Clwydian range, sleep there, and explore that area bit in the morning before training. But with me leaving so late I decided against. I thought I should sleep closer to home. I decided to go drive up the old road to Ogwen cottage, park somewhere close to the end, and then find a nice place to sleep. Then I could just drive to the Clwydian range in the morning and still explore that environment.

It was supposed to be dry that night, but it wasn't really. I had already taken the precaution of bringing my big tent, which had been off to Scotland for repair. If the weather is bad you want a bigger tent! You can have breakfast in the vestibule, you can pack your bag inside the tent while sitting upright, and such things. My small tent is so small it can host me and just about my luggage, but that is it.

I found a small parking spot near the top of the valley. I had a fair amount of water with me, so by exception I did not need to camp by a stream. I just trundled up the hill, through the wet grass, looking for a flat and soft space. And I soon found one! It had amazing views over the valley, and it had a backdrop of dramatic cliffs. When I had pitched it I went for a small stroll. I walked over the crest behind the tent and ended up looking out over Cwm Idwal. It was menacing weather, and it was getting dark, and the valley looked decidedly grim. It was quite special. There were midges around, but not too many.

I went to bed. In the morning I woke up to some light rain. I did indeed have my breakfast in the vestibule, and then I packed up and went back to the car. By the time I parked it, the sun had come out. I grabbed the bare necessities and decided to go walk to what was on the map as Jubilee Tower. It was a stuffy day, and soon I changed into shorts and a tank top. The area was nice and not spectacular. The paths were broad and busy, and the views mainly of the surrounding lowlands. It looked a bit like an area where families go for a Sunday walk! And it was good to have seen it, but it is not an area I think I need to spend an awful lot of time on in the future. Although there were two Iron Age hillforts there, so if I ever am in the area again, I might explore these. Now I didn't have the time. I looped back to my car, had a quick coffee, and then headed for the site of the rescue training. I was glad with how things had panned out so far; I had had a beautiful night in the hills, and turned the annoying drive to a faraway training into a day out! So far so good…

Evening view of Nant Ffrancon

My home for the night

Imposing cliffs

Breakfast views

Morning walk in the Clwydian range

Jubilee Tower

Organising a fieldtrip under sub-optimal circumstances

 When I inherited the fieldwork from my colleague who was off work for family reasons, I wasn't quite sure where to start. But I was aware of the fact that it was important we would get permission from Natural Resources Wales, who manage the land we want to do fieldwork on, to do what we needed to do. So I set out to find out how such permission is obtained. And I was then referred to an extensive request form you have to fill out. And there were two problems with that. The first is: the documentation says NRW will answer within 12 weeks. When I read that, the fieldwork was 11 weeks away. Oh dear. My colleague had been off work for weeks already; why had the school wasted precious weeks in deciding who was going to take over which of his tasks? The second problem was that if you ask for permission, you need to know what you are asking permission for. And I had no idea. As this was the first year we were doing the fieldtrip in this location, we were back to square one in organising how we would do what and where! So I needed to find out really quickly what we wanted to do, and then really quickly apply for permission to do it. And finding out what you wanted to do was not easy either; we were only a team of five, and one of us was off, two others were scheduled to go off on the scientific cruise at some point, and one was about to do fieldwork in south Wales. I had to make a few executive decisions on behalf of people who were not in the position to make decisions themselves! And I had to do some herding of cats of the people who were around for discussions. And lastly, on a fieldtrip location matters a lot, so one is at risk of looking at sites like Google Maps, Digimap, and Zoom Earth. And as I pointed out before; I don't know how to work these without my hands. I did make sure I asked for a volunteer to make a location map for NRW. I really shouldn't be hurting myself.

I think it is coming together now, in spite of the difficulties. Once that application has been sent in and approved I will feel better about the whole thing!

Second jab!

 I had calculated that I could expect my second jab in early July, assuming 12 weeks in between the first and second dose. And I was initially patiently waiting for getting contacted again to book that. But when the time approached, and people left and right were getting their second jabs but my phone just failed to ring, I got a bit impatient. And at some point I decided to just phone up. People who had been getting their second jab had informed me that the vaccination centre was not busy at all. And when I rang the NHS and gave my name, they figured what my query was about. "You're phoning about your second jab?" I was indeed. And they booked me in, for the very end of June. I was chuffed! And I wasn't afraid that shaving one week off the time in between the two jabs would really compromise their effectiveness. Anything over eight weeks seems to be fine!

When the day came I ended up in a bit of a hurry; I had in mind I was expected ten to ten, but when I checked it was ten to nine. Oh dear! I had intended to go on bicycle, but that plan was now  out  of the window. I jumped into the car.

I wasn't even out of the village yet when I realised I had forgotten my vaccination card. Another oh dear! But I didn't think it was vital so I kept driving. And when I got to the site, I noticed that indeed the parking lot was a lot less busy than the previous time. I parked up and walked to the entrance, where again I encountered my retired colleague. He gave me some shit for forgetting my card, but he would, wouldn't he. He said these academics needed technicians to look after them! And he said it in jest, but I knew his retirement had caused problems within the school; he had not been replaced, and there now were not enough technicians to do the work, which indeed includes looking after us academics, and our research and teaching…

I got in, and there barely were queues. In no time a young man called Callum stuck a syringe into my left shoulder. Sorted! All vaccinated! Now I only had to wait two weeks to be fully protected.

On the way out I took the opportunity to catch up a bit more with big Gwynne, and then I went home. My arm was already getting stiff! And I was wondering how I would feel the next day. A lot of people I know got knocked off their feet by the second dose of Pfizer. But I woke up and felt fine. Fully vaccinated, and no side-effects other than a stiff arm! This was all going well. And I am not sure if this will change my life any time soon; due to the Delta variant, travel is still not straightforward. But I am protected now and I feel better for it. My grandmother got tuberculosis before there was a vaccine; my mother got polio before there was a vaccine; and I have a cousin who got Covid before there was a vaccine. I do not resent breaking with this family tradition…

Conservatory taken over by plants

The conservatory can be a lovely place to sit in! You are protected from the elements and, potentially, insects, but you have a lovely view over the garden. I have a comfortable chair and a side table there. When I am phoning my mum, I often sit there. But this spring I decided to use it to grow some vegetables that had been unsuccessful the year before when I tried growing them outdoors. I just failed the keep the slugs off!

So far my attempt have been mildly successful. I have already eaten one home-grown courgette! My pumpkin plant has already produced lots of mini pumpkins; time will tell if they will grow to an adult size. And I have two tomato plants; one of them has now produced two green tomatoes. I hope more will follow; both plants have had lots of flowers.

The drawback of all that growing is that the plants involved are becoming huge. The courgette plants are roughly spherical and are not getting in the way all too much. The pumpkin plant has long trailing arms, but I have been leading these roughly in circles so that plant also mainly stays in its corner. The butternut squash plant, however, is quite linear in shape, and it was planted at the back of the conservatory. It has now grown pretty much all the way to the front. And that means there is less and less space for me! So the situation now is that one of the courgette plants is making access to my chair difficult, while the butternut squash has taken over the side table. I have stopped using the chair altogether! Especially that butternut squash plant had better produce some butternut squashes, as it now has to earn its keep. And if it doesn't, there will be no butternut squash in the conservatory next year. And I will maintain use of my chair. Stay tuned!

Mini pumpkins

Inaccessible chair

Away from the cat part II

I have a holiday planned! And I will be away from home for days. The idea is that the cat will not mind too much. I hope to get her accustomed to that by then! I had already spent a night in the hills before, but then I had only been away from home for some 16 hours. I still have some way to go. So when I realised I was going on a walk, I figured I should add a night to that. That way I would be gone for significantly longer than the previous time! And I thought my friend Kate would be joining me on that walk, so I suggested we go to her place afterwards for dinner, and then after that I would just vanish into the hills. Kate turned out to not have registered, but we kept the dinner in position. So after the walk I jumped into my car and went to her place. I had brought a bottle of wine, so while there was food in the oven we just sat at her garden table and caught up with a glass of wine! It was really nice. And it even got better when the food was done. It was delicious! I sometimes have excellent plans. But when we had eaten dinner, Kate suggested I go off as I still had to find a space to sleep. And she offered me some strawberries, as she had bought quite a lot for just one person. I had an empty lunchbox! They could go in there. And I filled my flasks.

I said my goodbyes and left. I had decided I wanted to sleep in or near a slate quarry I hadn't ever been to. It is on the opposite side of the road from Foel Gron, but on the OS map it does not have a name. I drove there in not too much time, parked up, rearranged my bag so I had everything I needed, and walked into the quarry. I knew it had a stream running past it, so I know there was water. Not many spaces immediately presented themselves, but at least there was no sign of midges. I stayed close to the river. Where it entered the quarry perimeter I saw a bit of a gully. It wouldn't rain that night, so pitching in a low space wasn't a problem. And that would keep me out of the wind! It was a bit breezy. And I decided to go for it. It was lined with soft moss.

following the  river upstream into the quarry

I didn't do an awful lot other than pitch the tent, have a quick bath in the river (which was rather peaty brown; I wasn't sure about drinking that), brush my teeth, and go to bed, as it was already getting a bit late. I would have time to explore the next day! And I slept well. I did have to go out for a leak, but that just meant I got to see the beautiful moonshine over the landscape. Then in the morning I woke up into an unexpectedly cloudy day. But that was fine with me!

I decided to sit right by the river for my breakfast. I really enjoyed my outdoor breakfasts! And this one even had strawberries. And after breakfast I brushed my teeth, and zipped my tent closed. I wanted to leave my luggage behind while I would be exploring the quarry!

breakfast!

I first had a look at some holes in the wall. The ceilings looked very spectacularly crumbly, so I left them for what they were. I then looped around the water in the main pit. It was not a big quarry, but it was nice to see new ground! And from a distance, you could see my tent like this tiny little green blob in a huge landscape. I enjoyed that. But I looped back to it, and packed everything up. I started making my way back to the car, but I wanted to sit down somewhere and drink my last coffee and eat a slice of cake. I found a lovely waterfall which provided the backdrop! And then I finally did go back to the car and drove home. I drove through Ysbyty Ifan, as I had never been there before, and I imagined the landscape on the way there being gorgeous. And it was!

the pit

 impressive borehole 

Quarry selfie

There is a tent in this picture, honest!

Looking back upstream to where I had been camping

When I got home the cat was waiting for me behind the front door. But she didn't seem particularly upset! She still had quite a lot of food. So I think this mission was a success. I had had a great time, I got her used to me being away for some 26 hours, and she was fine! Exactly how I hoped this would be. And I had even caught up with a friend along the way. An excellent weekend.