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Dry ice

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3 dropping to -2°C, low Humidity. C=43 miles

Weather obsessed: I know this is getting repetitive, but we’ve had the same weather for over a week now, the forcast is for another week’s worth.
It’s unbelievably dry around now, the river levels are very low, lower than in the summer, and the cold nights aren’t creating much ice, apart from last Thursday; I drove in on that day.

Postal strike

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15°C heavy rain, clearing.

This Strike is great, we’ve not had the door blocked with junk post and our in-trays at work have far less in them.

Car park growth: there is an odd growth in the car-park at work. It’s right in the tarmac next to where I lock my bike. The tarmac had developed a pointy bulge last week and now it has erupted. There are several brownish finger-like growths poking up which clearly have forced through the hard surface. They are soft to the touch and very smooth. Likely suspects are fungus, budlea, or someone’s  hand who has managed to push his fingers through as part of his escape. I’m taking in my camera tomorrow to get a photo, but don’t be surprised if i get a picture of a great beanstalk.
Addendum: here it is below….

A north wind

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18 to 10 °C, cold fronts, stiff N wind.

Today has hinged on a change of season, it’s definitely an Autumn feel since yesterday. Last week saw a sea change of sorts too. The first 10 days back at work were plagued by tiredness, not just me- everyone. Wednesday night I turned in 1½ hours early, and that made a world of difference. Now it’s normal again.

Isle of Mull

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9 to 17°C, few days of rain, the rest was crystal clear sunshine.

The week started cold but bright. We were both wrapped up in thick layers of warm clothing, and waterproofs to rotect from wind-chill. After a day or so of rain, it got warmer.We couldn’t beleive the clear colourful light in this place, the sun set late- 10pm! The TV weather showed southern England in cold wet conditions. The photographs came out stunningly.

More later…

Head in the clouds- twice in one day.

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9-14°C, showers, v. windy

Two mountains in 12 hours: lots of walking, lots of rushing about and vast amounts of driving. 2 litres of water were drunk per mountain, but that was not nearly enough.
 
Firstly– Scafell Pike: very windy, fog & rain at the top but we found our way, no falls this time and no injury*. The climb was without problem, though retrospectively- we thought too many stops- but we had to be sure this time). We began at 06.05 ( after waking at 4.30am. There was a steady trail of people coming down at that time- some said they’s started at 03.00 am- that’s why they were wearing head-torches!
Visibility near the top was minimal, but cairns could be seen in the mist, normally two- so the route was marked out well enough. I was however, at that point- the highest man in England. I know that being the tallest in the group.
Coming down was far too slow- that added up to more than five hours in all. Still a lot of time was spent waiting for the stragglers- a tricky time because that’s when you can get cold.
 
Drive to Snowdon– at a furious pace until we were caught up in a traffic jam that took an hour to get through. that did give sufficient time for recovery (for me at least). The start of the journey was miserable- lack of sleep and physical exhaustion meant my body was crying out for rest, food, water and sleep. By the end, arriving in Wales- the sun was out and the possibilty of a dry summit seemed believable.
 
Snowdon– fully rested- the sun came out and got the adrenaline up. We set an exciting pace- reaching the summit in 1hr 50 mins. Excellent & very satisfying. There were a few breaks in the cloud on the summit- so we caught sight of some magnificent views. I was personally worried about the descent though. *A knee pain was distracting when I moved my right-knee in certain ways. So I dosed up on Ibuprofen for the drop down out of cloud. Inbetween sudden sharp pains and foul language from me, we kept up the pace. The last half is an excellent path that can be run on.
 
No photos today – I didn’t take a camera.

Scafel Pike- going back

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16°C, grey, some drizzle.

3~peaks: we’re going back this weekend to beat that mountain: as a bonus- we then drive straight to Snowdon to do the Miner’s track ascent on the same day. Plans are laid- Friday I get homefrom work as soon as I can, then start the drive up to Cumbria just before 17.00. Bags are half-packed and now need topping up with food & emergency supplies.
 
that pesky Zipper is fixed now- the runner came of the teeth so I couldn’t zip the fleece inside the raincoat properly.
 
New computer setup (Core 2 Duo etc) is working-up nicely- it needs some silencing modding asn well as the RAM replacing- still haven’t done that. A new case is onthe way- which will help hugely.

grey, or is it gray?

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7.5°C, grey overcast

Mixing it (BBC r3)is ending next week. Shame! My favourite radio show since it started in 1990. Tis bad news indeed; don’t know what I’ll do without them- they have been a majour source of ideas for new additions to my LP/CD collection.
 
Today’s mood is lead by the weather, it’s a black & white day, ideal for cycling – getting my normal speed back already which is surprising when I have been off the bike feeling ill as long as that. The roads are dry, grip on two wheels good and journeys to work light by some light from the clouds.

Form filling

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7°C, clear 7 rather windy.

Entrance Exams today: which was a time to examine human behaviour quite closely. The questions were in a booklet and answers written on omr sheets which need a simple pencil mark in the right place. A colleague and I were assigned to invigilate a group of 24 and in the last part noticed a common mistake. When the pupils turned the page for section three, they often began writing their answers in section four. Now these are not daft girls, they are all at least reasonably bright, very young, but with a bit of a sparkle nontheless.
Standing there quietly observing led me to think about the same error made so many times. fortunately for the girls- we spotted their mistakes without their losing any time- they were quick to transfer their answers into the right places ( costing no more than a minute or two).
 
there is somethign in human behaviour that is slewing the methods of this exam- something about reading intensly, using specialist skills in the mind and then making a physical movement to turn overleaf.
My solution- what about something like a scroll- or a convertina sheet where the answers are just written down and down the page, with the top folding up in a concertina fashion. that would also be easier to feed into the omr reader
OMR = optical mark reader, automated input of data to a computer.

Shuttleworth and the old Edwardians

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21°C, clear & light winds

The Shuttleworth Collection is based at the airbase RAF Old Warden. they have the oldest planes that can still fly, over 90 years some of them. Anyway, my step-father and another friend and I went there for the afternoon airshow today. It’s a very fine airshow with less of the macho atmosphere of the heavy metal Duxford shows. Commentators on the tannoys even waited as planes took off because they know a lot of people like to hear the roar of engines- which adds to the atmosphere.

Below are some photos of the "old Edwardians". Aircraft from the Edwardian era- in other words, the oldest planes still flying in the world. the picture quality is poor because light was really poor by the time they flew. They took off shortly after sunset because the wind is lighter then, just like hot-air balloons do. We didn’t know they would be able to until late, some spectators had already left but there was a strong atmosphere of tense expectation amongst us all, this could be really somethign special. these antique machines so rarely fly. the Origional Bleriot flew when it was almost dark, the photos are really blurred and grainey from then. Perhaps that helps the mood of them – this machine dates from 1909 and has to be treated with the greatest care, it can’t be taken out in winds above 5mph.

There was a real family atmosphere there, the show probably appeals to people who don’t normally go to airshows. The crowd was friendly and wellspoken if you know what I mean. I didn’t see any of the geeky spotter types you get at Duxford so this show comes highly recommended from me