Tuesday, April 29, 2008
First Exam Done!
I just finished my first exam! I can't remember the last time I was this elated. That was my hardest class and now I have three weeks until the next exam. And as Matt said, a few days of having no obligations while I'm in Scotland! Tonight, we are celebrating with a drink 'down the local' i.e. at the nearest pub, which we have decided to consider our 'local'. Geez, after the last FOUR WEEKS of studying for this exam I NEED A DRINK!
Monday, April 28, 2008
What's Up?
All our free time is being eaten up. Grace has her first exam tomorrow! She has been studying pretty much night and day for a long time now. We don't go out on weekends. We don't go out at night (except to the grocery store or, once, to grab a pint for relaxation with some friends). Grace is at her desk, all the time, doing some studying.
And, very occasionally, watching the new BBC miniseries of "Jane Eyre." It's extremely good.
And also working out every morning. But otherwise, at her desk. Even as we speak.
My free time, on the other hand, has been completely eaten up by the forthcoming trip to Scotland with my brother and his friend Rob. Part of the free time goes to organizing the trip, which I really like. The rest of it goes to doing freelance work to pay for it, which is much less fun. I have my sights set for May 24th, the day Rob, Mike and me jump on a four hour train up to Edinburgh, Scotland. And I won't be coming back again until the first of June. For Grace, her sights are set for May 28th, the day her last exam finishes and when she hops on an eight hour train into the heart of the Scottish highlands, where we will meet her.
No pressure, but I'm really looking forward to this trip. We're renting a car and spending May 27-May 31 driving around the country, something I've yet to enjoy in Europe, except for the time Grace and I rented a car to drive all our suitcases up to Cambridge. I'm really looking forward to the freedom to be able to go where we choose, when we choose, to driving in the (I'm told) beautiful Scottish countryside, to getting out of the city for a week, and being in the wide open country. This is the first extended pleasure vacation Grace and I have taken to somewhere new in awhile. I think my brother is most looking forward to seeing the William Wallace monument - apparently there is a statue of Mel Gibson out front.
Still - I've got to wait out more than three weeks before we leave. I've booked most of that time full with work. I keep telling myself that, after this vacation, I'll cut back. I hope so!
And, very occasionally, watching the new BBC miniseries of "Jane Eyre." It's extremely good.
And also working out every morning. But otherwise, at her desk. Even as we speak.
My free time, on the other hand, has been completely eaten up by the forthcoming trip to Scotland with my brother and his friend Rob. Part of the free time goes to organizing the trip, which I really like. The rest of it goes to doing freelance work to pay for it, which is much less fun. I have my sights set for May 24th, the day Rob, Mike and me jump on a four hour train up to Edinburgh, Scotland. And I won't be coming back again until the first of June. For Grace, her sights are set for May 28th, the day her last exam finishes and when she hops on an eight hour train into the heart of the Scottish highlands, where we will meet her.
No pressure, but I'm really looking forward to this trip. We're renting a car and spending May 27-May 31 driving around the country, something I've yet to enjoy in Europe, except for the time Grace and I rented a car to drive all our suitcases up to Cambridge. I'm really looking forward to the freedom to be able to go where we choose, when we choose, to driving in the (I'm told) beautiful Scottish countryside, to getting out of the city for a week, and being in the wide open country. This is the first extended pleasure vacation Grace and I have taken to somewhere new in awhile. I think my brother is most looking forward to seeing the William Wallace monument - apparently there is a statue of Mel Gibson out front.
Still - I've got to wait out more than three weeks before we leave. I've booked most of that time full with work. I keep telling myself that, after this vacation, I'll cut back. I hope so!
Sunday, April 20, 2008
English plumbing
Our adventures with English housing standards continue!
On Friday night, I couldn't get to sleep because our sink was dripping (this is the problem with sleeping 6 feet from your kitchen sink!) and Matt got up to tighten the cold water knob. I had actually noticed it dripping incessantly all week. It required more and more tightening on the knob. Saturday morning it was dripping pretty constantly and big drips too. Then Matt did the dishes and after that it simply wouldn't turn off. It came out in a pretty steady stream and wouldn't turn off no matter how tightly we turned the knob. So we got the guy from the front desk to come up and look at it. His advice: clear the sink of obstructions because they weren't going to call anyone until Monday and we shouldn't let the sink overflow! So our sink has been pouring a steady stream since Saturday morning and they won't call a plumber until Monday morning! In order to decrease the noise, we've tied a rag directly under the drip so that the rag soaks the drip up and wicks it down to the drain quietly instead of having a steady loud droning noise to contend with! We have been prevented from going crazy by keeping our window open for traffic noise and keeping some kind of music on all day.
Sunday, April 06, 2008
A PR Disaster For The Olympics Torch Ceremony
Grace and I just got back from the passing of the Olympic torch ceremony and the Free Tibet protesters were extremely effective in sabotaging the event. From where I could see, the whole route was covered by protesters booing the Chinese and the British athletes. The procession had a massive police escort, and the torch bearer was barely visible, as he was flanked by so much security. It was not a cheerful event.
I have no reason to believe it wasn't like this the whole way through London, as there was nothing special about the place we were standing. Check out our video of the torch passing through and see if you can feel the Olympic spirit waft through the crowd... I couldn't.
I have no reason to believe it wasn't like this the whole way through London, as there was nothing special about the place we were standing. Check out our video of the torch passing through and see if you can feel the Olympic spirit waft through the crowd... I couldn't.
What the--!
We woke up rather late this morning and putzed around a bit. The curtain on our one window was closed because we were still getting dressed. Once dressed and ready we opened the curtain and were shocked to find this:
Snow! And it's sticking around, and it's coming down even harder now!
As for our plans for the day, we're going to go see the Olympic Torch run through London. It passes by the British Museum, which is very nearby to us, at 12:30. What an unlucky time to have to run a fire-y torch through central London!
Yesterday, we went to a museum we had not gone to before called the Wallace Collection. The collection is the work of four generations of one family accumulating some of the most interesting pieces of art and craftsmanship in Europe. The building is their family mansion on Manchester Square just above Oxford Street. The last owner left the entire house and its contents to the people of Great Britain and it is a national museum now. Here are a few impressive shots of what was/is an extremely impressive townhouse:
It was very impressive indeed. But I was a little disappointed because I was hoping to see more personal spaces. Every room was taken up with art and furniture and as you see armoury. I'm more interested in seeing how people who lived in this house really lived. Such information was not to be had. It was simply a grand and richly furnished house filled with treasures. Interesting of course, but not exactly the history lesson I was hoping for!
Snow! And it's sticking around, and it's coming down even harder now!
As for our plans for the day, we're going to go see the Olympic Torch run through London. It passes by the British Museum, which is very nearby to us, at 12:30. What an unlucky time to have to run a fire-y torch through central London!
Yesterday, we went to a museum we had not gone to before called the Wallace Collection. The collection is the work of four generations of one family accumulating some of the most interesting pieces of art and craftsmanship in Europe. The building is their family mansion on Manchester Square just above Oxford Street. The last owner left the entire house and its contents to the people of Great Britain and it is a national museum now. Here are a few impressive shots of what was/is an extremely impressive townhouse:
It was very impressive indeed. But I was a little disappointed because I was hoping to see more personal spaces. Every room was taken up with art and furniture and as you see armoury. I'm more interested in seeing how people who lived in this house really lived. Such information was not to be had. It was simply a grand and richly furnished house filled with treasures. Interesting of course, but not exactly the history lesson I was hoping for!
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Chart Fever
Hey everyone, sorry we haven't posted for awhile. Our friend Keith was here, visiting for a week so we've been giving him all our freetime. He's gone, but I'm working a ton to try and save money up for when my brother comes to visit at the end of May. Three hours a night! Anyway, we haven't had a lot of time. This is our first weekend since he's left.
By the way, while he was here, what we did was walk all around town. Four to five miles per day. We saw tons of stuff, but paid for very little. We also took Keith up to Cambridge, and it was nice to pull out my old student ID and get access to all sorts of places.
Maybe we'll make a longer post someday about Keith's visit. Right now, I've got chart fever.
I really like charts - a picture really is worth a thousand words. Here are two interesting ones:
This one shows how different Americans and Britons are. They tend to be far left of us on every issue. Grace and I were talking about how, the longer we live abroad, the more we realise that America is not necessarily the norm. When you grow up in a place you just assume that's the way things are everywhere. Anyway, not the case. Americans are more religious and more patriotic than is common in other developed countries, for example.
Here's another good chart.
London is the third most expensive city to live, in the world! Ay! And look, the first American city is New York, but it comes in at number 39! Whoa! (if you care why the American cities are so low, its because the dollar is so weak)
I also read a lot of economics blogs - and economists love charts. Here are some of my faves.
This is how happy people say they are, versus GDP per capita for lots of different countries. Perhaps not surprisingly, richer countries are happier countries. But there are some strange anomalies. China is richer than India, but also more miserable. And Pakistan - which is even poorer and didn't even have a very strong democracy when the survey was taken - is happier than both!
Finally, here's a good one for the current economic troubles in America.
This is the average cost of a standard home, adjusted for inflation, over the last 120 years. You might need to click on it to see it bigger. You can see prices have really shot up, and not really for any good reason. A lot people think they're going to come all the way back down to where they usually are, over the next few years. Yikes!
I should say though, this is an average for America, and things are really different in different parts of the country. In New York and California, for instance, house prices went way up, but in Iowa, probably not so much.
Anyway, I like charts.
By the way, while he was here, what we did was walk all around town. Four to five miles per day. We saw tons of stuff, but paid for very little. We also took Keith up to Cambridge, and it was nice to pull out my old student ID and get access to all sorts of places.
Maybe we'll make a longer post someday about Keith's visit. Right now, I've got chart fever.
I really like charts - a picture really is worth a thousand words. Here are two interesting ones:
This one shows how different Americans and Britons are. They tend to be far left of us on every issue. Grace and I were talking about how, the longer we live abroad, the more we realise that America is not necessarily the norm. When you grow up in a place you just assume that's the way things are everywhere. Anyway, not the case. Americans are more religious and more patriotic than is common in other developed countries, for example.
Here's another good chart.
London is the third most expensive city to live, in the world! Ay! And look, the first American city is New York, but it comes in at number 39! Whoa! (if you care why the American cities are so low, its because the dollar is so weak)
I also read a lot of economics blogs - and economists love charts. Here are some of my faves.
This is how happy people say they are, versus GDP per capita for lots of different countries. Perhaps not surprisingly, richer countries are happier countries. But there are some strange anomalies. China is richer than India, but also more miserable. And Pakistan - which is even poorer and didn't even have a very strong democracy when the survey was taken - is happier than both!
Finally, here's a good one for the current economic troubles in America.
This is the average cost of a standard home, adjusted for inflation, over the last 120 years. You might need to click on it to see it bigger. You can see prices have really shot up, and not really for any good reason. A lot people think they're going to come all the way back down to where they usually are, over the next few years. Yikes!
I should say though, this is an average for America, and things are really different in different parts of the country. In New York and California, for instance, house prices went way up, but in Iowa, probably not so much.
Anyway, I like charts.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Visitor Map
