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At the start of the previous entry, I mentioned that the past couple of days had been busy and fun... then promised I would update about them later. No time like the present! Yes, I am still in a Samhain state of mind... but there are also things to be joyful about. At times like this, I invoke my favourite Walt Whitman quote, from Song of Myself:
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then, I contradict myself.
I am large, I contain multitudes.
Thus, without further ado, here is what everybody's favourite Nomad has been up to for the past couple of days:
On Wednesday, I woke and drove myself to the Park & Ride. Got on the coach, sat down, set up laptop. Learned that there had been a "major accident" on the M40 -- the motorway between Oxford and London that comprises the bulk of my commute -- and that it was now closed. Promptly got off the coach, drove home, and e-mailed in to say that I would be working from home. As it turns out, two lorries had collided at about three in the morning. One was carrying lard, which ended up all over the six lanes of the M40. The London-bound side did not re-open until after 4pm; the Oxford-bound side was closed until after 11pm! Not a day to commute into London!
While in Oxford, I also took the opportunity to run a couple of local errands. One of these was to pick up a mobile broadband subscription for myself. When I decided to do the Oxford/London commute daily, it was with the assumption that I would have WiFi on the coach so that the bulk of the commute could be productive. Turns out that the Oxford Tube WiFi is horrendous and not at all conducive to productivity. Having my own independent and reliable net connection? Priceless![1]
Wednesday evening,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cheshcat and I went to the Oxford Playhouse to see a show called Liberty. I am very glad that they gave me Liberty, because I don't particularly care for the alternative[2]. The show is a new production, put together by the Lifeblood Theatre Company and Shakespeare's Globe. Written by an English playwright, the show is set in France, during the revolution[3]. The show was very good. Not brilliant, but definitely very good. Many parallels drawn to the United States in the post-9/11 world. It was poignant in several places, too. Definitely enjoyed -- kudos to cheshcat for choosing it! As an added bonus for the evening, I got to spend some time before bed chatting with the delighful perspicacious! Always a good thing! I am very much enjoying getting to know that woman better!
On Thursday, I got to skip the Oxford/London commute yet again. No, the lard was all gone from the M40. However, there was a small T2K meeting at Oxford. It was very technical, dealing with the data flow from the Multi-Pixel Photon Counters (MPPCs)[4], through the front end electronics, the back end electronics, the various stages of the data acquisition system, and then the "near-online" computing chain. There was a lot that I missed, due to the highly technical nature of the meeting, but I still found it to be very useful.
Thursday evening, I made up for not going to London during the day. I picked upcheshcat and wolfpeach, then drove us all into London to see Jonathan Coulton perform! Last time we saw him perform, back in March, it was at a small venue in Camden, and he went on alone. This time, the show was at a larger venue and he was accompanied by his frequent touring companions, Paul & Storm. I had not seen P&S perform before -- very glad that I have now! Generally speaking, their music does not have the same brilliance as JoCo's -- though I particularly liked the song Opening Band -- but their stage presence is incredible. One of the highlights of the evening was when somebody suggested Paul do a Cabaret routine. He replied, quite snarkily: "Twenty pounds!" I raised my hand, auction style, in the balcony. However, when he said he wanted it on the stage first, I balked. For one thing, I didn't actually have that much in my wallet! About to move on, some fan in the front run actually put twenty quid on stage. Go figure! So he did a Liza Minnelli routine! Very nice! I also got to make a jackass out of myself get some laughs from the crowd when people started shouting out requests. It started with one guy repeatedly requesting Shop Vac. He was so persistent that he eventually got his way. As a result, everyone started shouting out a request for JoCo -- all at once. Not one to sit idly by, I shouted out a request of my own... but not for a JoCo song. Spontaneously, I yelled out: "PLAY FREE BIRD!" JoCo heard me and laughed, then said "No, I'm not going to play Free Bird." Which made everyone else in the house -- who had not heard me over the din -- laugh. Well done, Nomad[5].
Today has been a fairly ordinary and mundane day. The highlight, so far, was that I got to make somebody special feel better. Tonight, of course, is our Samhain ritual. Heading home now to get ready and transition into HP mode...
[1] Okay, actually the price is fifteen quid a month. But that doesn't sound nearly as clever.
[2] Cake, please. Yes, I'm making these jokes on Samhain. I am not always known for being the brightest card in the deck. See next entry.
[3] Who would ever have thought that a Brit would make a play about the French Revolution??
[4] A new piece of technology intended as an alternate for the well established photo-multiplier tubes (PMTs) when one needs to work in an environment with a magnetic field.
[5] I learned today that the wonderfultawneypup did very nearly the same thing at a Gaelic Storm concert quite recently. I knew that there was a reason I adore that woman!
Very well then, I contradict myself.
I am large, I contain multitudes.
Thus, without further ado, here is what everybody's favourite Nomad has been up to for the past couple of days:
On Wednesday, I woke and drove myself to the Park & Ride. Got on the coach, sat down, set up laptop. Learned that there had been a "major accident" on the M40 -- the motorway between Oxford and London that comprises the bulk of my commute -- and that it was now closed. Promptly got off the coach, drove home, and e-mailed in to say that I would be working from home. As it turns out, two lorries had collided at about three in the morning. One was carrying lard, which ended up all over the six lanes of the M40. The London-bound side did not re-open until after 4pm; the Oxford-bound side was closed until after 11pm! Not a day to commute into London!
While in Oxford, I also took the opportunity to run a couple of local errands. One of these was to pick up a mobile broadband subscription for myself. When I decided to do the Oxford/London commute daily, it was with the assumption that I would have WiFi on the coach so that the bulk of the commute could be productive. Turns out that the Oxford Tube WiFi is horrendous and not at all conducive to productivity. Having my own independent and reliable net connection? Priceless![1]
Wednesday evening,
cheshcat and I went to the Oxford Playhouse to see a show called Liberty. I am very glad that they gave me Liberty, because I don't particularly care for the alternative[2]. The show is a new production, put together by the Lifeblood Theatre Company and Shakespeare's Globe. Written by an English playwright, the show is set in France, during the revolution[3]. The show was very good. Not brilliant, but definitely very good. Many parallels drawn to the United States in the post-9/11 world. It was poignant in several places, too. Definitely enjoyed -- kudos to cheshcat for choosing it! As an added bonus for the evening, I got to spend some time before bed chatting with the delighful perspicacious! Always a good thing! I am very much enjoying getting to know that woman better!On Thursday, I got to skip the Oxford/London commute yet again. No, the lard was all gone from the M40. However, there was a small T2K meeting at Oxford. It was very technical, dealing with the data flow from the Multi-Pixel Photon Counters (MPPCs)[4], through the front end electronics, the back end electronics, the various stages of the data acquisition system, and then the "near-online" computing chain. There was a lot that I missed, due to the highly technical nature of the meeting, but I still found it to be very useful.
Thursday evening, I made up for not going to London during the day. I picked up
cheshcat and wolfpeach, then drove us all into London to see Jonathan Coulton perform! Last time we saw him perform, back in March, it was at a small venue in Camden, and he went on alone. This time, the show was at a larger venue and he was accompanied by his frequent touring companions, Paul & Storm. I had not seen P&S perform before -- very glad that I have now! Generally speaking, their music does not have the same brilliance as JoCo's -- though I particularly liked the song Opening Band -- but their stage presence is incredible. One of the highlights of the evening was when somebody suggested Paul do a Cabaret routine. He replied, quite snarkily: "Twenty pounds!" I raised my hand, auction style, in the balcony. However, when he said he wanted it on the stage first, I balked. For one thing, I didn't actually have that much in my wallet! About to move on, some fan in the front run actually put twenty quid on stage. Go figure! So he did a Liza Minnelli routine! Very nice! I also got to Today has been a fairly ordinary and mundane day. The highlight, so far, was that I got to make somebody special feel better. Tonight, of course, is our Samhain ritual. Heading home now to get ready and transition into HP mode...
[1] Okay, actually the price is fifteen quid a month. But that doesn't sound nearly as clever.
[2] Cake, please. Yes, I'm making these jokes on Samhain. I am not always known for being the brightest card in the deck. See next entry.
[3] Who would ever have thought that a Brit would make a play about the French Revolution??
[4] A new piece of technology intended as an alternate for the well established photo-multiplier tubes (PMTs) when one needs to work in an environment with a magnetic field.
[5] I learned today that the wonderful
tawneypup did very nearly the same thing at a Gaelic Storm concert quite recently. I knew that there was a reason I adore that woman!