Schedule

Here's my official schedule for the next two months:

This weekend: Avebury and Brighton with friends

Next weekend: Packing, seeing friends

28-29 June: Moving my stuff to London, cleaning

5-6 July: Glasgow

12-13 July: Northern Ireland

19-20 July: London (Jayhawks concert on Friday, Folk by the Oak festival on Sunday, plus 3 weeks of laundry!)

26-27 July: Camping at a folk festival in Barnsley

2-3 August: York

9-10 August: Edinburgh Fringe

15 August: Flying to California (with three weeks of laundry, mom!)

Mostly this is stuff that has been on my to do list for 5 years; I've just been motivated to get it done!

Three month plan

I love a good plan. I don't care if it comes together, I just like knowing when it goes off piste.

To that end, I spent three days mapping out the next ten weeks.

June is pretty straightforward--work up north three days a week, home four days.  Of course I have to move out of my flat by the end of the month, so two weekends will be spent packing, one will be spent moving, and the other will be travelling--probably Bath, Brighton or the Cotswolds.  (I'm also going to two plays, a concert and a festival.) One friend has offered me her attic space in Bournemouth, and I'm hoping another friend will help me move it there, as I can't use my car.  (Speaking of which, I need to sell my car!)  Packing is particularly challenging because in the end I will have stuff in five places: Up north at work, in London at a hotel, in storage in Bournemouth, in my mom's garage, or with me on my travels!

July I'm officially homeless, so instead of three days a week at the office, I will spend five days there, and let the company pay my hotel bill.  Two weekends I will go travelling--Glasgow, Geneva, York and Northern Ireland are the finalists--and use my points at Holiday Inn.  The other two weekends I will stay with friends in London. (Actually, one weekend I only have one commitment in London, so I'm going to try and get out of it so I can spend that week travelling as well.)  I will be three weeks without access to a washing machine, so I have to organise this with military precision to ensure I have clean underwear! 

I'm also going to go back to Reading for one day to see my dentist and get my prescriptions refilled.  My phone contract is also finished in July, so I need to change it to pay-as-you-go and get the phone unlocked, so I can use local sim cards when I travel.

Mid-August I plan to leave, so you'd think I'd be ramping down, spending time with friends, but it's just the opposite: I'll be travelling both weekends, including Edinburgh for the fringe festival!  (Sadly, the Cambridge Folk Festival is completely sold out, or I'd be spending one weekend there, as well.)  My last day up north will be Thursday the 14th; on Friday the 15th I will go to the London office to drop off my laptop and take care of any final paperwork, and then I will get the train to the airport and go.

Of course I'll be back in mid-October, and will start looking for work then.  However, that will take a little time and I've already scoped out a couple of weekends to go to Canterbury and Cornwall, plus visit friends in Stroud, Gloucester, Oxford, Birmingham, Manchester, Reading and Bournemouth. (I may even visit Runcorn for old time's sake.)  In November I'm going to tour the Whitechapel Bell Foundry, where the Liberty Bell was cast, and go to Northumberland to watch the Leonid meteor shower (and also check out the Angel of the North and the Battle of Flodden battlefield, where the English crushed the Scotts 500 years ago).  In December I will attend Limmud in Coventry.

So basically what I'm saying is that I'm going on holiday to relax and get away from my regular life.

UK bucket list

In thinking about travelling outside the UK, I also realised there were still a lot of places I wanted to go inside the UK, as well. I don't know how many of these I can tick off by mid-August, but given my impending homelessness, I have nothing better to do.

• Dover cliffs
• West Scotland / Loch Ness
• Cheddar gorge, Somerset
• Dan yr ogof caves, Wales
• Giants Causeway, Northern Ireland
• Bath
• Angel of the North
• Canterbury
• Cornwall / Dartmoor / Exmoor
• Brighton Pavillion
• Brecon Beacons
• Canonteign Falls
• Chichester
• Hull, the UK city of culture for 2017

Just kidding about the last one. :-)

I also want to visit Highclere Castle and Mapledurham House, which are both within ten miles of my house, but I haven't managed to visit in the past three years.

And lastly, I would love to see York again--I love that city.

Just a bum

It's been a while since I was homeless.  There was a time in my life I was homeless almost every other week, it seemed.  Of course, I was "posh homeless," staying in hotels rather than sleeping on the streets, but still "of no fixed abode."

After quitting my job last week, I've been (obviously) stressed about finding another job when a friend told me I should get rid of my apartment and go travelling for a couple of months.  At first I thought that was crazy, but the more I thought about it, the more it made sense--when am I going to get another chunk of time like this?  And even though my last day with the company is not until mid-August, I'm at hotels more than I'm home nowadays, so it wouldn't actually be a big hardship to give up my apartment now and save some money. Actually the money I would save would practically cover the cost of my travels!

So the logistics make sense; now I just have to find the courage to commit.  I better move quickly; I have to tell the landlord by the end of this month if I will vacate end of next month.  Then I need to figure out where I'm going to store my stuff--and find someone with a car to help me move it!

Fortunately the flat came furnished so I don't need to move any furniture. I sold my fish tank recently, and my book collection is very small.  I bought my crockery when I was 19 and, while it does have sentimental value, it may be time to let it go.  I will give away my houseplants, sell my bicycle and put some stuff back in my mom's garage. Actually the only thing I'm worried about is the painting I bought last year, but I'm sure I can find someone to babysit it.

Of course my first stop will be California to see friends and family. My last visit in November was far too short, so I'm looking forward to a leisurely couple of weeks.

Then I'm footloose and fancy free. I will return to the UK when they approve my citizenship application, which could be any time between now and the end of November. Then I will have to start acting like a responsible adult again.

Quitting

I used to joke that "I accidentally quit my job."  I joked about it because nobody would believe I was stupid enough to quit without having another job to go to.

And they certainly wouldn't believe I've done it six times.

The first time I was 18 and working for minimum wage, so I didn't have much to lose when my boss said something stupid and I responded that I quit.  I went to college and got a "real" job and stayed for four years, then changed jobs and was there four years before I was in a meeting and senior management announced some stupid policy and I responded that I quit.

I was 28, had just bought and fixed up my first house, as well as a new car, so it was not the best time for me to interrupt my cash flow.  Bizarrely, the company let me stay until I actually found another job, so it turned out to be a non-issue.

After 18 months in the new job, I'd just been promoted and given responsibility for a major project at Honda, which was 4 miles from my house.  It was practically my dream job, except my new boss was a nightmare.  Other people on the team were also complaining so I took it upon myself to meet the division head and air our grievances.  He looked at me and out of the blue asked if I was going to quit.  I had no idea where that question came from, but fearing that if I said "no" he would not take the issue seriously, I said "yes."  Thus, I accidentally quit my job.

I thought about recanting, but it was the height of the "dot com" bubble and there was so much money being thrown around, I decided to go ahead and become an "independent contractor."  I started looking around and ended up getting a contract at Honda, doing pretty much the exact same thing I was doing before, except for a lot more money.  And my old boss got fired.

The only problem was, I was making too much money.  After seven years at Honda, I had saved enough to restore the property in Pennsylvania.  In hindsight, I probably would have skipped that step, but instead I quit Honda to open a bed and breakfast.

I didn't quit the B&B so much as got divorced, but the net result was the same.  I decided to move to the UK, but to get a work permit I needed 12 months of payslips, and of course being an independent contractor and hotel owner didn't count.  So I got a job and stayed there exactly 12 months, then quit and boarded a flight to London. Again this was during the economic bubble, which burst just as I touched down in Heathrow.

Despite having a work permit, it took me 11 months to find a job, and I hated it from day one.  However, in order to renew my work permit I again needed 12 months of payslips, and I was seriously considering giving up and moving back to the States. On a whim I sent my CV to the company handling IT for the London Olympics, and they brought me in for an interview and made me an offer.  I changed jobs and stayed in the UK.  (If you're paying attention, that was only the second time I quit with another job offer in hand.)

I didn't get to work on the Olympics, and honestly didn't get to work on much else -- in four years, every project and bid I worked on was cancelled bar one. I don't believe I was the cause--but that could just be ego--but after two years I was pretty forlorn, and I stayed out of apathy as much as anything else.  The past 18 months have been the worst because not only were we not accomplishing anything, but I was having to travel 60% of the time to boot.  (I should add that I loved my immediate team, it was just senior management that were leading us down an empty road, and refused to listen or change direction.)

So it was a long time coming, but I still hadn't done any job hunting.  Then on Wednesday I had a meeting with one of the senior managers and he said something stupid and I responded that I quit. It was the same situation as 16 years ago, and apparently I haven't grown up at all.

Whereas in the States a two-week notice period is the norm, in the UK a three month notice is not unusual, so even though I quit mid-May, my final day will be August 15.  Fortunately, that gives me plenty of time to find another job, provided I focus on that instead of updating my blog...

Europe

Hard to believe there are 50 countries in Europe, the same number of states in the US (unless you include the de facto state, Puerto Rico).  It's also interesting to note that Europe is 3.931 million square miles, while the US is 3.794 million square miles -- a difference of less than 4%.  In 2013, the US GDP was $16.7 trillion while the EU (which only accounts for 28 of the 51 countries) was $15.8 trillion.  (In fact, the EU had outperformed the US every year from 2007-2012.)

So the question is, how many European countries can you name?  (Write them down now and then check them off as you go.)

I'm sure you can get the "Big 5."

 Germany
 United Kingdom
 France
 Italy
 Spain

Hopefully you can get the rest of what I'll call "Western Europe."

Netherlands
Belgium
Greece
Portugal
Sweden
Switzerland
Denmark
Finland
Norway
Ireland
Austria
Luxembourg
Iceland

You'd be forgiven if you missed any of the "microstates."

 San Marino
 Andorra
 Malta
 Liechtenstein
 Monaco
 Vatican City (842 citizens in 0.2 square miles!)

"Eastern Europe" gets politically dicey, as I discovered when I visited Prague, which considers itself very much part of "Western Europe."  However, I'll go with the "Cold War" definition of European countries under Soviet influence, either as part of the USSR or a member of the Warsaw Pact. Of course, back then there were only 8 countries; now there are 24!

 Russia
 Ukraine (USSR)
 Poland (Warsaw Pact)
 Romania (Warsaw Pact)
 Czech Republic (Warsaw Pact, as part of Czechoslovakia)
 Hungary (Warsaw Pact)
 Belarus (USSR)
 Bulgaria (Warsaw Pact)
 Slovakia (Warsaw Pact, as part of Czechoslovakia)
 Georgia (USSR)
 Moldova (USSR)
 Lithuania (USSR)
 Latvia (USSR)
 Estonia (USSR)
 Albania (Warsaw Pact)
 Armenia (USSR)
 Azerbaijan (USSR)
 Serbia (part of Yugoslavia)
 Croatia (part of Yugoslavia)
 Slovenia (part of Yugoslavia)
 Macedonia (part of Yugoslavia)
 Montenegro (part of Yugoslavia)
 Bosnia and Herzegovina (part of Yugoslavia)
 Kosovo (part of Yugoslavia) -- not all countries recognise Kosovo, and Serbia claims it

You might not think of Russia as part of Europe, and in fact only a quarter of Russia is in Europe (if you define Europe as "west of the Ural mountains").  However, 77% of its population live in Western Russia (that is, Europe).  Turkey, on the other hand, is only 3% in Europe, and Cyprus isn't in Europe at all, but they are considered European as well!  (A portion of Kazakhstan is west of the Ural river, but is not considered European.)

The odd thing is that no matter how you define Europe, Israel is definitely not in it.  Why then, are they invited to Eurovision every year?  The answer is slightly odd: In 1950, the European Broadcasting Union was created by "public service broadcasters" and they defined the "European Broadcasting Area" to include northern Africa and the Middle East.  As any member can participate, Israel chose to do so, starting in 1973.  However, since Israel participated, the other eligible countries -- Algeria,  Egypt,  Jordan,  Lebanon,  Libya,  Morocco and  Tunisia -- have refused to participate. Their loss...

Eurovision 2014

It's May so that can only mean one thing: Eurovision. Denmark won last year, so it's in Copenhagen this year. The pageant of the bizarre may be topping itself this year

Here's a great American country song...from the Netherlands.



Russia took a break from invading other countries to submit conjoined twins who are joined at the...hair. (Seriously, 45 seconds in.)



Iceland has submitted a song about tolerance, which is interesting given that the country is so homogeneous, they have an app to help you avoid sleeping with a close relative!



And...well, I don't know what to make of this, other than it's Eurovision.



Of course, if I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Ireland.  Not because their song is catchy (it's not) or the singer is attractive (she's not) but simply because Ireland has won Eurovision more than any other country.



And I'd also bet the UK comes away with nil points again because, well, we suck.  We really suck.


The Eurovision contest is enough to make you despair of the international music scene until you realise the international music scene is flourishing...and Eurovision has always sucked.

On a personal note, a friend just introduced me to some African music: "Talking Timbuktu" by Ry Cooder & Ali Farka Touré, "Mouneïssa" by Rokia Traoré and "New Ancient Strings" by Toumani Diabaté & Ballake Sissoko.  All amazing albums, well worth a listen.

Old traditions

The children have all grown, had kids, moved too far away to visit.
The same friends call at Christmas, as they have for 25 years.
A little slower, a little frailer, a little more sallow
But everyone pretends not to notice.

Some say they can't drink, they're driving,
An excuse that would have never been heard 25 years ago.
A few still light cigarettes, but are now quickly chased outside.

The host still dresses as the naked crossword puzzle,
shimmying and dancing,
The clues have long been lost but everyone remembers the answers,
Or at least most of them do. 

As she fills in the letters, and the crossword dress slowly comes off,
Not as many eyes are sparkling,
Not as many tongues are wet.

Dinner is served with the same flair,
On 25 year old china, from a 25 year old hostess,
But now it is made with skim milk and margarine and salt replacement
Trying to make up for the excesses of the past.

The wine makes up for it,
A vintage they could have never afforded in their youth,
Which they pay dearly for today,
For someone else to cellar it for all these years.

After dinner Dad brings out his cherished vinyl collection.
An unused ipod sits nearby,
a gift from a child several Christmases ago.
Nobody knows how to use it.

The records are dusted and the stylus is delicately placed in the groove.
No one would have done that 25 years ago.
The strains of Sinatra pour out, no longer the freedom and excitement of youth,
Now laden heavy with time and memories and auld lang syne.

Yet people still dance under the mistletoe
And around the tree, and sit in front of the fire
To listen to stories, both old and new. 

People start to leave, much earlier than they did before.

These are the traditions people need
To remind themselves they are still here
And that there is more to come.
Even if they are completely changed, somehow they remain exactly the same.

Dreamliner

In the late 1990s, Boeing was working on a faster jumbo jet (the "Sonic Cruiser") to replace the ageing 747, which had been in service for almost 30 years.  However, following September 11 Boeing decided airlines were more interested in efficiency than speed, and so cancelled that project and started working on a new version of its mid-size 767 airplane.  In 2003 they announced the 787 and held an online public naming competition which resulted in "Dreamliner." It was unveiled in 2007 and expected to deliver in May 2008; however, significant delays meant its maiden flight did not occur until December 2009, and the first commercial flight in October 2011, and I rode on one for the first time in April 2014.

Boeing introduced several new technologies, including an all-composite body, but probably its biggest innovation was to introduce an "automobile" style manufacturing model, whereby subcontractors were responsible for delivering completed components, and Boeing engineers were responsible for final assembly.  (This is also what contributed to the significant delivery delays.)  35% of the airplane is actually built in Japan, and its wings are delivered in modified 747 cargo planes.

Using composite material instead of aluminum allows the internal cabin pressure to the equivalent of 6,000 feet altitude (compared to 8,000 feet on other aircraft) and maintain 15% humidity, which would rust a normal airplane.  (The air-conditioning system is also supposed to remove ozone, odors, viruses, bacteria, and allergens.)  The composite material also allows much larger windows, which are higher-up on the plane, theoretically allowing for a better view.  However, instead of window shades they used "electrochromism" glass, which means it can be darkened by applying electricity. I first read about this years ago in office buildings, but had never seen it before.  On the bright side (so pun intended) it meant flight attendants could control the brightness, so you weren't awakened (or your movie was washed out) because someone decided to open the window shade.  However, on my flight the windows were dark the entire time, you couldn't tell if it was day or night, and you couldn't see much outside.  That was a real disappointment.

The other disappointment was that, although Boeing had clearly thought about what airlines wanted, they hadn't really thought about what passengers want.  Don't get me wrong, I don't expect a fold-down seat in economy, but you still had tiny aisles with people constantly scurrying up and down, banging every seat.  You still had children screaming, and no place for to take them.  Loading and unloading are stuck painfully slow.  I'm not sure they could do anything about the loud snorers, but I can say that, despite the claims, the air con did nothing to help the smell of bad breath that pervaded the cabin by the end of the flight.  (Would it be too much to distribute mints half-way through the flight?)

We also had our fair share of turbulence, which was a direct result of Boeing's decision to attach the wings directly to the fuselage,  This is the equivalent of taking the suspension system out of your car, so that you feel every bump on the road.  In 1993 a company was developing "freewing" technology which would have meant the long wings could be buffeted by gusts while the fuselage remained stable, but unfortunately none of the large manufacturers were interested, and now the company is focused on unmanned vehicles where the payload (presumably a camera or a gun) could remain steady in any weather.  Nice to know a gun will have a more comfortable ride than you will.

(That is an industry shame equivalent to the Foveon sensor for digital cameras.)

 So in the end, I wasn't particularly impressed.  In all likelihood, I probably wouldn't have cared except for all the industry hype around the Dreamliner, and in fact I didn't even realise I was on a 787 until I disembarked and saw it painted on the airplane!

As for the Sonic Cruiser, Boeing arch-nemesis Airbus unveiled the A380 in October 2007.  Originally proposed in 1988, it had taken nearly 20 years to bring to fruition.  Similar in size, the 747 only has an upper deck along part of the fuselage, while the A380 has a double-decker configuration along the entire fuselage, meaning it I can carry 40% more passengers, and Airbus claims it is 15% more efficient than the 747.  As of 2014, Airbus has 324 orders and delivered 128 A380s, whereas Boeing has 1,031 orders and delivered 132 787s, despite entering the market 4 years later!  I have to say, I think Boeing made the right call on this one. 

North Wales, 23 Mar 2014

49 photos in this album

I haven't stayed up north lately because, frankly, I'd run out of things to do. Plus the UK shuts down for winter.

However, there was a concert--Tom Paxton and Janis Ian--in Liverpool on Saturday, so I decided to stay up.  (There was also an incredibly complicated back-story about the ridiculous lengths I'd gone to qualify for a bunch of extra Holiday Inn points, but I won't bore you with that.)

I've been to Liverpool a few times now and I quite like it, but I didn't want to spend the whole weekend there, so I started looking around and then I made the mistake of asking one of my co-worker -- who is Welsh -- for suggestions. After 3 hours, I felt like I knew all of north Wales, and with him showing me everything on Google Streetview, I wasn't sure I actually needed to visit, but I agreed to go primarily to shut him up.

So it was I woke on Saturday at the crack of noon and drove into Liverpool. It was not an auspicious start--the hail was so heavy I couldn't see out the windshield.  The wind was blowing straight off the ocean and it was absolutely freezing.  The first two restaurants I went to were closed.  I spent the entire day trying to stay indoors -- when the museum* closed at 5, I went to the local mall.  (Turned out to be an outdoor mall.)  When the shops closed, I went and sat in my car.  Nevertheless, the concert was great and it was well worth it.

On Sunday I drove an hour into Wales, past the sea and into Conwy, a walled town with a spectacular 13th century castle.  Of course, the Welsh probably didn't appreciate it--it was built by Edward I after he conquered Wales in 1283.  (Scotland would not join the party until 1603.) 

After touring Conwy I drove to Llanwrst, which is pronounced something like "Klanrust" but completely defeated my sat nav, which just spelled it out instead.  Llanwrst is a tiny little village outside of  Bedws-y-Coed, but my destination was the cutest little cottage you can imagine, but it was on the opposite side of the scariest bridge imaginable! It was only one lane wide, with two-way traffic, with a steep centre arch so you can't see the opposite side!! I sat on the shoulder trying to figure out if the sat nav had gone suicidal, but I watched two cars pass so I steeled up my nerves and went for it. Just as I approached the center, another car came from the opposite direction, so I had to reverse off. Tried again, same issue. Third time I finally made it.

Lunch (Welsh rarebit, naturally!) was delicious, but then I had to rush to my next destination, Llangollen ("Klangocklen") ,to catch a steam train at 3pm.  I literally made it by the skin of my teeth--they actually held the train while I bought my ticket!  However, it was an idyllic 2-hour journey along the River Dee, watching newborn lambs frollicking in the grass.  Normally there is snow on the ground at this time of year!

To end the day I went to the Pontcysyllte ("pont kuh suth te") Aqueduct, which is an amazing bit of engineering built in 1805 by Thomas Telford, who built most of the engineering marvels in the north of England.  (His counterpart, Isembard Kingdom Brunel, focused on the south of England.)  The aqueduct is over 1000 feet long and soars 126 feet over the River Dee, with only a small footpath alongside!  You can actually take a canal boat along this stretch, but there are no railings on the "water" side, so I think I would be in a blind panic the entire way.  As it was, I couldn't make it the whole way on the footpath (with a railing!) -- I had to turn back half-way.

The day could not have been more perfect.  Although it was cold, the sun was out and everything was shiny.  And there is still plenty more to do in north Wales: Bangor Cathedral, Menai straights, Beaumaris Castle in Anglesey, Beddgelert in Caernarfon, Abersoch beach.  There's also Chirk castle, Powis castle, and even Ruthin Castle, which is now a luxury B&B!  I could also take the ferry from Holyhead to Dublin, just two hours away.

My next free weekend is May 10-11, so I better start planning!

* I learned what a "connie onnie butty" is, and it is revolting.