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Well helloooooooooo, March!
Daylight lasts eleven hours, the Spring Equinox is right around the corner, and the ever-excellent![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tawneypup will be here in eighteen days! Huzzah!
What else? Well, today is St. David's Day, the feast day in honour of the patron saint of Wales. Any Welsh people on my f-list? Happy St. Davidness to you!
In honour of St. David's Day -- or, perhaps, just by coincidence -- I launched an effort to remain indefinitely in the country that subjugated Wales nearly eight centuries ago. This morning, I mailed off the forms needed for my belovedcheshcat and I to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom.[*] Fingers crossed now![**]
What else what else? I am on Ye Olde Oxford Tube right now, heading to meet the lovelymiss_amaranth for a date. It's been just over a week since I last saw her, but it is always wonderful when we can share a little along time together!
What else what else what else?? Let's see... I have been working closely with a new PhD student who is a very quick learner and off to a nice start. Despite the fact that he only began last week, he is already close to producing interesting work. We should have him presenting for the T2K-SK analysis group and the Neutrino Interaction Working Group (NIWG, pronounced neewg) soon!
What else else else else??? Ringing at St. Aldate's last night gave me lots of good practice! I had a couple of gos at ringing the #2 bell in Cambridge Surprise Minor. Still needs work, but it is coming along! I also rang a touch, albeit unaffected, of Stedman Doubles, which went very well, indeed! Stedman is such a beautiful method and my practice on it is really progressing well. The highlight of the practice for me, though, was ringing several methods, spliced together, for the first time. We rang Cambridge Minor spliced with Little Bob and Plain Bob. What fun!
Actually, my bell ringing has been making much progress of late, despite the fact that I have been toolazy busy to bore you write about it here. In recent weeks, I rang Little Bob Minor for the first time, conducted plain courses of Grandsire Triples and Plain Hunt, and more! Very exciting! I also hit a personal record last week by ringing seven days in a row, for a total of eight ringing sessions. Huzzah!
What else else ELSE else else???! Well,cheshcat had an excellent day out on Saturday, where we visited Windsor Castle and the surrounding areas, including a walk down what is officially the shortest street in Britain. That was loads of fun... and ticks off the fourteenth box on the "Top Fifteen Most Popular Destinations in England" list. Hard to believe that one of the places closest to me was visited second-to-last on the list! Methinks that only the Cotswolds are nearer! Still, fourteen down and one to go! That trip was much fun and really deserves a proper entry of its own. So that is precisely what it will get. Stay tuned, gentle readers!
[*] And it is a bloody good thing that I did this now, too! The applications get continually more expensive. Last year, when I applied for my current Tier 1 visa, the cost was £870. Now, it is £1150. In five weeks, it goes up to £1458. To think, fifteen years ago, the application cost nothing at all!
[**] Hopefully, our application will be approved -- and soon! Making the application involved sending the UK Border Agency both of our passports. Thus, we are effectively grounded until the application is processed. This could take as little as two weeks. It could also take six months or more. All their website says is that they aim to decide 95% of applications within six months. Hurm. As the name implies, the Nomad is not a fan of being grounded.cheshcat and I have plans for an eleven day road trip to the continent to avoid celebrate the Royal Wedding next month, and I have a trip to Japan for a T2K meeting and SK shift in May. Knock on wood that the Home Office is faster than they let on...
Daylight lasts eleven hours, the Spring Equinox is right around the corner, and the ever-excellent
tawneypup will be here in eighteen days! Huzzah!What else? Well, today is St. David's Day, the feast day in honour of the patron saint of Wales. Any Welsh people on my f-list? Happy St. Davidness to you!
In honour of St. David's Day -- or, perhaps, just by coincidence -- I launched an effort to remain indefinitely in the country that subjugated Wales nearly eight centuries ago. This morning, I mailed off the forms needed for my beloved
cheshcat and I to apply for indefinite leave to remain in the United Kingdom.[*] Fingers crossed now![**]What else what else? I am on Ye Olde Oxford Tube right now, heading to meet the lovely
miss_amaranth for a date. It's been just over a week since I last saw her, but it is always wonderful when we can share a little along time together!What else what else what else?? Let's see... I have been working closely with a new PhD student who is a very quick learner and off to a nice start. Despite the fact that he only began last week, he is already close to producing interesting work. We should have him presenting for the T2K-SK analysis group and the Neutrino Interaction Working Group (NIWG, pronounced neewg) soon!
What else else else else??? Ringing at St. Aldate's last night gave me lots of good practice! I had a couple of gos at ringing the #2 bell in Cambridge Surprise Minor. Still needs work, but it is coming along! I also rang a touch, albeit unaffected, of Stedman Doubles, which went very well, indeed! Stedman is such a beautiful method and my practice on it is really progressing well. The highlight of the practice for me, though, was ringing several methods, spliced together, for the first time. We rang Cambridge Minor spliced with Little Bob and Plain Bob. What fun!
Actually, my bell ringing has been making much progress of late, despite the fact that I have been too
What else else ELSE else else???! Well,
cheshcat had an excellent day out on Saturday, where we visited Windsor Castle and the surrounding areas, including a walk down what is officially the shortest street in Britain. That was loads of fun... and ticks off the fourteenth box on the "Top Fifteen Most Popular Destinations in England" list. Hard to believe that one of the places closest to me was visited second-to-last on the list! Methinks that only the Cotswolds are nearer! Still, fourteen down and one to go! That trip was much fun and really deserves a proper entry of its own. So that is precisely what it will get. Stay tuned, gentle readers![*] And it is a bloody good thing that I did this now, too! The applications get continually more expensive. Last year, when I applied for my current Tier 1 visa, the cost was £870. Now, it is £1150. In five weeks, it goes up to £1458. To think, fifteen years ago, the application cost nothing at all!
[**] Hopefully, our application will be approved -- and soon! Making the application involved sending the UK Border Agency both of our passports. Thus, we are effectively grounded until the application is processed. This could take as little as two weeks. It could also take six months or more. All their website says is that they aim to decide 95% of applications within six months. Hurm. As the name implies, the Nomad is not a fan of being grounded.
cheshcat and I have plans for an eleven day road trip to the continent to 