Quit complaining, it builds character!

So if you've read Amanda's blog, you know that we spent the first six nights camping in Ireland. Of these nights, it rained six nights (that's every night for the numerically challenged). It was not the best camping, but it was a very long way from the worst camping. The tent was (for the most part) dry. It dripped in during the absolutely heaviest rain, and even then, it was just an occasional drop. Mostly from a seam in the fly that doesn't seem to be quite water tight (have to hit it with seam sealer).

Regardless, I think the kids will fondly remember this for the rest of their lives. What with all memories seeming better over time. For example, I'll probably start a PhD after we return. The memory of my Master's Thesis doesn't seem so bad anymore.

My absolute favorite campsite was the Glen of Aherlow. It was more peaceful, more remote, better views, and free showers. That's a pretty good combination. Still not anything as good as a state park in The States. Camping here is all private and business, not the nature feel you get at a park in the US.

Ireland itself was beautiful. All the pictures are up now on Flickr (along with Scotland, London, and Roche Abbey). Take a look and see what we saw. Nothing is tagged, so aplogies for that. Maybe I'll get around to dividing them up into finer sets instead of simply "Ireland". The coast was fantastic. I really wanted to get out there and try surfing, but didn't have the time. I think in October we'll try to get over to Irish sea side of the UK and I'll do some surfing then. We saw some amazing ruins from several different centuries.

An anecdote from the trip. Amanda had bought this low res map of the stone circles between Cork and Kilarney. It's the highest concentration of stone-age ruins in Europe. She really wanted to find one. I pointed out that the map would be useless as it wasn't to scale, and only gave a vague indication of where they were. I would be like trying to find a particular stone in an entire farmer's field. Actually, exactly like trying to find a particular stone in a farmer's field since all the land is privately owned. But, because I love my wife, we stopped at a book store and bought a proper OS map with a scale of 1:50000 and all the topographic features and ruins marked.

After a nice lunch at a local cafe, and corelating the tourist map with the OS map, we set out to find a stone circle marked near a road (little hiking) and with a decent drawing on the tourist map. It took about a half an hour of backtracking to find the approximate location to park. The map was not waterproof, and it was raining, so while Amanda and the kids sat in the car I studied the map, jumped out of the car, hopped the farmers' fences and looked for the relic in the rain. Retreat to the car, relic still hidden. Study the map some more, try again. No luck. We were close. I should have been able to find it, but in the summer, the brush was grown in quite well hiding anything low to the ground. Without the map in hand, I had to go by memory, and there were builders nearby working on a new house and I didn't want to get kicked off the property. Anyway, it ended in no luck, muddy pants, and a tired Phil from running around trying not to get noticed.

There is a nice stone circle near our flat in England, and I know exactly where it is (theres a picture of it on Flickr with The Girl climbing on one of the stones). I'll take Amanda to that one this weekend if she's up for it.

I'm working on the Google Earth track of our trip. As soon as it's done, I'll post a link.

This weekend, I did some bike riding on Saturday. I rode up to the highest point in South Yorkshire. When I say I rode, what I mean is I rode, then pushed, then rode, then pushed, then tossed the bike to the side of the trail and walked. Beautiful views.

On Monday (holiday here) I did some bouldering with The Boy. I bought a bouldering guide for the peak district and found that there was some decent (read easy) boulders at Burbage South. The Boy kept mocking me for not taking the easy way up. I kept thinking I couldn't climb because the best I could do was a 4, equivalent to something between about a V0 and a V1! I think that not having a crash pad was making me too nervous to try anything harder. Also, my shoes suck for bouldering. Yeah, that's it, it's the shoe's fault.

Finally, in response to Mike's post on Flash games I want to point out one that a friend sent me. Bloxorz is a very clever puzzle game. Took me about 2:30 to finish all 33 levels, so you won't feel like your wasting your life if you do start it. You can finish it in one or two sittings.

NO MORE TRAVEL (sort of)

I haven't posted in a while because I've been traveling like mad lately. The first part of August I went with my parents and family to London. I'm glad I went and I had a great time. I've seen London, but I think others who knew it a decade ago are right, it is just another world city these days and the local charm of "London" is gone. I didn't ever feel like I was in a foreign country. It felt only slightly different than the few hours I spent in New York years ago. Anyway, I've been to London now.

After that, I had a trip back to the States briefly for the second interview in my job/career track thing. I thought it went well, and I will find out the end result on September 5th. I'm anxious, but confident that I passed. While in St. Louis, I did a ton of work. The hours were long and I was basically eating, sleeping, or working. I did get to have dinner one night with some friends and that was special. Thanks to Merl for a fantastic spread!

Then, when I got back to the UK, I rested on Sunday, worked on Monday, and then headed off for my actual family vacation to Ireland! Nine days and eight nights, six of which we were camping. Amanda brought her computer, and wrote blog entries every night. She will be posting them shortly. I will write my impressions of the trip this weekend. Basically, Ireland has rain. Rain is wet, but it makes things green. Green is very pretty.

So between London, Amanda's trip to Scotland, and Ireland we've got over 500 photos to go through and put up on Flickr. It will take me a while to get them all up and organized. Just to give you all an idea, about 1/2- 2/3 of the photos get put up on Flickr, the others are poorly exposed or crap or whatnot. Most of them are duplicates from exposure bracketing or playing with aperture and shutter and I judiciously try to pick the best one to put on Flickr. I haven't even looked to see what is on The Girl's camera lately.

So, except for a probable trip to Maryland in the near future, I'm done with travel for a while. Back to work in the UK!

+5 Informative?!

I rarely comment on Slashdot, because for the most part it's a waste of time and my non-IT brain doesn't communicate well with the mostly IT crowd. However, every now and then I feel I have some wisdom to impart. Usually the Slash-herd disagrees, and I get modded to about 2. Today, I just saw that a comment I posted on Sunday made it to +5 Informative! Woot, it is like my happiest Slashdot moment until I realized ... I wasn't even on topic anymore. The topic was about schools asking parents to shell out for MS Office, and my post was a reply to a person about fitting data in Excel. And I got +5? Slashdot really is broken these days.

Either way, here is my highly informative comment. For those not in the know, +5 is the most you can get your comment elevated to. Comments are ranked from -1 (really bad, probably intentionally trying to offend someone or pick a fight) to +5 (worth reading by everyone reading comments).

Nothing is really going on these days. The rain really and truly stopped for a few days! Last night the sky was cloudless. Actually cloudless. I stood on the balcony for about half an hour and just looked at the stars and moon. The moon was full, and it caught me by surprise. I think I was surprised because I normally have some inkling of the phase because I see the moon every now and again. I hadn't see it in so long, I'd lost track. Today was sunny and warm (mid to upper 60's). Everyone said this is what an English summer is supposed to be like. I hope this sticks because it's fantastic.

I am planning on going climbing tomorrow evening, which I'm looking forward to.

Amanda is home again which is great. The kids and I really missed her. I'm glad she got the chance to go home and see her family.

Wednesday the family is off to London to meet my parents. I head back to the US on the 8th returning on the 11th. Then the family goes on our Irish vacation for a week.

Travel and Sir Walter

I'm in Atlanta. It's 6:30. My flight home is at 8:30. I've been here Since 1:30. This layover is too long.

This week I was in Reno, NV. It didn't rain at all, which was a nice change of pace. The hills were on fire, which was impressive to see. The fire burned the whole time I was there. It didn't seem that big, but I think the forest service now has a policy of "managing" forest fires to allow old growth to die off. Anyway, when I flew in you could see the flames flicking against the horizon line. It was an awesome sight.

My paper went over well, and the organizers for a conference on the same topic in Liverpool have asked me to present there. Liverpool is just past Manchester, so easy to get to from Sheffield. I'll probably go.

I went bouldering twice while in Reno at the local gym. I went Tuesday night because I figured it would be the only night I could go. Then I went again on Thursday night because I had this gift card and time on my hands. As a "thank you" for speaking, the conference gave me a $25 gift card. Except it was in US dollars and could only be used in the US (per long leagal sheet that came with the card). I should point out that this was an international conference and many of the speakers came in from outside the US. Still, free money. So, I spent it at the gym.

I worked on a V-? bouldering problem. It was unrated, and by the end of the night I could do all but the last move. There were three of us working it. Nobody could do the last move. I'd say up to the last move, it was probably a V-2 or just barely a 3. With the last move, a V-inf. We even asked the gym worker if there was a trick. Nope, just a suicidal dynamic off of a single foot hold and a crimppy almost sloper on one hand. Bollucs. I declare the problem solved.

I like that I get to travel. I like that I get to see so many places and I like that I'm only gone about once a month. I'm better at it now than I was a few years ago. I know more what to expect, and I get more out of my trips. The upshot of this is that I had over 100,000 frequent flyer miles in my account.

We found out this week that Sir Walter isn't going to make it. He has cancer and it is spread through his body. I'm sure Amanda will write more on her blog. This is only slightly non-sequiter because Amanda will travel to St. Louis next weekend and put her cat to sleep. I now have about 2,000 frequent flyer miles. Totally worth it.

It was like Prom (except there was beer)

Last night, Amanda and I went on our first date since we came to the UK. A coworker and his wife came over and watched the kids while we went to a formal black-tie ball put on by the kids' school. The girl took the picture here of Mom and Dad looking sharp. I think the flash might not have gone off, which is why its so grainy.

Amanda and I had a great time with dinner, dancing, and conversation. Dinner was Duck breast, which was quite good. There was a band of geriatrics who were just not the right people for this party. They played one set of awful renditions of various types of music, and then the DJ started. Hardly anyone was dancing to the band, but as soon as the DJ started, the dance floor became packed. The band took a hint, and packed it in. I got to meet a lot of the parents that Amanda had already met through school and (since I don't dance) had a great time talking with the other dads (who also don't dance). One of them told me to just tell my company to "Sod off" and move to the UK permanently. Quite honestly, its just a bit tempting.

The event started at 7:30 and we didn't get home until 1:30! The time flew by, plus the weather was unbeatable. It had been sunny and warm (about 65) all day (finally, no rain!). The ball was held in a large reception tent out on the athletic field. Since it stays light until after 10, I didn't even realize that it was getting late until I looked down at my watch and saw that it was already 11:30. Amanda and I didn't feel like leaving in the slightest. It really was a great time.

Last Wednesday I went gym climbing. I did a few bouldering problems and then did routes. I was crap. Not climbing for three weeks really screws up your skills and your grip. I'm thinking I'll get a squeeze ball or something for the times that I can't get to the gym. I also need to go in early next time and show the staff that I know how to lead. The gym is about 70% lead only routes, so I've started to get bored with the limited top rope routes.

Sheffield has two large climbing gyms, The Foundry and The Edge. (There is also a large bouldering-only gym.) I have climbed both places and The Foundry is better, but The Edge is closer and has the climbing club thing where they will pair me up with other climbers. Anyway, the Edge was absolutely packed on Wednesday. I figured it was just all the rain had driven the area climbers indoors, but I found out it was also that The Foundry was flooded and had not yet reopened. It really is awful how many homes and businesses were lost or damaged. June was the wettest on record (over 100 years), and the locals all agree that it has never rained like this in their memory. Here's hoping July is better.

Next weekend my parents are coming to visit! The whole family is very excited and looking forward to seeing them. Then I'm off to Reno to present at a metrology conference. Back in the UK for a couple of weeks. A short trip to London with my parents. Then back to St. Louis for my second and final interview. Finally, the family is planning a trip to Ireland for mid August.

Oh, we also bought Amanda a car today. It needs its MOT inspection, and so the owner is going to do that and we will get it on Tuesday or Wednesday. It's a Peugeot five-door hatchback. Automatic transmission (an essential for Amanda). Seems to be a fairly decent car. It is always a gamble, but I think we'll come out O.K. on this one.

On the Train To Cardiff, Finally.

[I wrote this on Tuesday. While in Cardiff, the hotel didn't have Internet access, so the only net connection I had was my breakfast at Starbucks. Because of how much it sucks over here that Starbucks won't open until 8am and then closes at 7pm (the same hours as the conference), I spent my precious few minutes of net access doing work. I'm now home and can sit down and post this, which I wrote three days ago.]

Yesterday, the rain came down in buckets. In 24 hours South Yorkshire received as much rain as they normally do in all of June, about 50mm (2") in most places and 75mm (3") in some. The train I was on made it half way to Derby, a small city about a one hour drive south of Sheffield, and then had to reverse due to flooding on the track. It's spelled D-e-r-b-y, but it's pronounced "Darby". At least the way my ears hear it.

I spent most of the rest of the day trying to figure out how to get to Cardiff. The train station provided buss es to Derby where you could make your way south from there, but they strongly advised you to simply not travel if you didn't have to. I spent part of the afternoon standing in the rain with an umbrella that was beginning to lose its battle with the wind and a water resistant coat that had resisted as much as it possibly could. I was asking around, trying to figure out if there was a bus headed to Derby soon and what my chances were from there. No, and not good.

By early afternoon, routes north and east were also cancelled due to flooding. At that point, the only place you could get to from Sheffield was Manchester, but you apparently couldn't get south from there either. By evening the train station was evacuated and closed when the river burst its banks and flooded the station (I was back at the apartment by then). It is expected to stay closed until later this afternoon.

So I decided to spend the night in Sheffield, wake up early and drive to Derby, which was as far north as any trains were going. I awoke at about 3:30 (morning twilight) and was out the door at about 4:15 (just before sunrise, this is still weird to me). Even getting to the train station was a bit of an adventure. I had to divert around some flooded roads in Chesterfield, and ram my car across a flooded interchange when I got to Derby. Scared that despite the highway cone in the puddle to judge by, it was deeper than it looked and I would get stuck. First gear and I was across, barely. It was stupid to try, and I should have found a way around. Little 100Hp cars and big puddles don't go together. My Focus hatchback is not my Murano, that's for sure.

I got to the station about 5:30 and found a train that was headed straight to Cardiff at 6:35. I went over to the Best Western across the street, had a cup of coffee, and then got on the train. Since Derby was the starting point for the train, I got my pick of seats and I have a nice single seat with a small table.

Today the sky is crystal blue with only a few clouds on the horizon and the train is speeding across the English country side. It's fast and comfortable. Much better than driving the distance. I should get to Cardiff in time for presentations.

Ugh.

Two weeks! I haven't put up a post in two weeks. It's been a fairly laid back two weeks, and a wet two weeks.

Of course, during that time I was back in St. Louis. My interview went well enough (I haven't heard anything official, but I'm not worried). The interview was "round one" so to speak, and presuming I passed will make another trip back to St. Louis in August or September for the final interview. I think I had beef for nearly every meal while I was in town. It was fantastic. I very much enjoyed seeing family and friends. While we are having a great time in the UK, being home reminded me of how much we really do miss America.

The only down side to the trip was Sir Walter, as some of you have read on Amanda's blog. He is on antibiotics now, but not responding as well as the vet would like to see. Hopefully, he will get better soon. He seems to still be losing weight.

Last weekend I went rock climbing at Stanage with a mate from work. Some photos are up on Flickr. There were just the two of us, so no free hands for taking photos of either of us actually climbing. One of the photos is a composition of two photographs so that I could get a decent sky (under-exposed) and a decent rock face (over-exposed). It's been a long time since I did any real photo-editing beyond a bit of histogram tweaking and unsharp masking. I really had fun doing it, and I like the results. It took me way too long though. I killed most of an afternoon playing in Gimp.

Other than that, we did a bit of car shopping for Amanda and not much more. It has been raining fairly steadily since I came back from America which has put a damper on planing outdoor activities. The Monday that I was back South Yorkshire was more or less under water. Flooding in most of the low lying areas. It was a lot of rain even for the UK.

Tomorrow I leave for a conference in Cardiff, Wales. I'm really looking forward to it since its on one of my main areas of research. I'm not presenting, so that makes it double-plus-good because I don't have to worry about my own paper, I can just go and see others.

Anyway, Amanda and I are watching 28 Days Later right now, and I'm going to get back to all the blood and gore. I'll probably write a bit more on the train tomorrow.