anarchist_nomad | Miscellanea

Just a bunch or random thoughts from inside my head:

Just after sunset tonight, look to the Western sky[*]. The two day old sliver of a crescent moon is hovering nearby Venus. Very pretty![**] Trust me, you'll like it! Clouds permitting, of course...
Yet another culinary advantage to living in the United Kingdom is Galaxy Minstrels. Picture M&Ms done right. Damn, but these things are good! Real Cadbury chocolate is another advantage on the chocolate front, and this is the time of year when their creme eggs are plentiful. Okay, ever since New Years is the time of year when their creme eggs are plentiful... but you get the idea. We have real cheese over here in Europe, too[***].
Latest reading material -- besides the stack of comic books that cheshcat brought back from the States! -- is The Nine Tailors, by Dorothy Sayers. It is a murder mystery with a large theme of campanology[****] permeating the story. I am glad that I waited to read this, as my increased knowledge of bell ringing gives me a greater appreciation for what is going on in the book. Still don't understand all the terms being used, but I get most of them. Next up on the reading list is a return to Shakespeare, with King Richard II kicking off the War of the Roses saga.
I get paid once per month, on the pen-ultimate working day of each month. When I received my February paycheck, I was surprised to see that it was slightly higher than I had expected. Apparently, I got a 1% raise, effective February 1^st. Not sure why -- annual raises are given in October and I'd imagine a cost-of-living adjustment would be more likely to happen with the start of the fiscal year on April 1^st, rather than in February. Still, with the ridiculously high cost of living in Oxford, I will take it. With that raise, the total increase in my salary during my first ten months on this job is 10²/₃%. Not too shabby. If one converts to dollars, thus factoring in the rise in value of the pound sterling versus the dollar, that raise jumps to 14.3% over what I was earning one year ago at Fermilab; however, that is mainly just a calculation for the sake of amusement. Whereas extra pounds in my pocket can actually help us get by...
Hilary Term ended two weeks ago, so my weeknights are much more open now. No OUSCR practices and maybe no board game club right now. I should review my long "to-do" list, as well as the list of goals for 2007. I should be able to find something productive to do with that extra evening time. Of course, my upcoming trip to Italy will eat up a couple of the out-of-term weeks, but I should still be able to scratch a few items off my lists before Trinity Term begins in late April.

And that's all the randomness we have time for tonight...

[*] No, you won't find me there. Sorry.
[**] Not quite as pretty as the one day old moon was last night, but I didn't post about it then. Sue me.
[***] Though, in the interest of fairness, I should say that I have not had good Chinese food -- or any Mexican food -- since leaving the States.
[****] That's fancy talk for English church bell ringing.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

nice job on the raise.

i'm sure smoking, eating cheese, and drinking coffee are more enjoyable in Europe than in the States. However, really, in AZ- it really is some of the best Mexican food ever. EVER.

nice job on the raise.

Thanks! Right now, we can really use it! Hopefully we won't be quite so tight in the not-too-distant future, though...

i'm sure smoking, eating cheese, and drinking coffee are more enjoyable in Europe than in the States. However, really, in AZ- it really is some of the best Mexican food ever. EVER.

Wouldn't know about smoking, though I could by Cuban cigars here if I were a smoker.

About the Mexican food? I'm not going to disagree with you! Hard to beat a place that used to be part of Mexico for Mexican food! Mmmmmm.... Makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Oh, and one more thing that is better in Arizona? The astronomy. I am lucky to be able to appreciate the moon and Venus beauty tonight. Usually we have clouds!

As a citizen of the great state of Wisconsin, I have to take offense to the suggestion that the cheese of my homeland is in any way inferior to the European variety.

Of course, as a cheese enthusiast without a country bias, I have to say that I'm quite envious of you being able to find good camembert, brie, and blue over there. Yummy!

Somehow I knew that a Wisconsonian[*] on my Friends list would object! *grin*

Tell you what -- you and the raccoon girl come on over for a visit and we'll taste test you on the cheeses, to see which you really think is better. The way I see it, no matter which we you choose, everybody wins... by getting y'all over here! ;-)

Did you lose a footnote?

Thanks! Slippery little buggers, always sneaking away! Found it now...

[*] Is that a word??

Just a ~~humble~~ pedantic soldier in the fight for good writing.

* I did see that, and it was indeed beautiful, but I didn't know it was Venus. Thanks for the info!

*Minstrels, oh yes. I've had good Chinese and Mexican food in the UK, but then come to think of it I've only ever eaten Chinese/Mexican here...so I'm left wondering if you're eating in the wrong places, or if I've just never had good Chinese/Mexican food.... ;-)

*Yay pay-rise, though the timing makes no sense to me either- I get mine in Sept and April....must be an Oxford thing. They have a term called Hilary, FFS, so there's no telling what weird customs they might have!

I didn't know it was Venus. Thanks for the info!

Always happy to oblige!

I've practiced some amateur astronomy from time to time, so I know a thing or two about what's up there. I've been toying with the idea of bringing my small telescope from the States... though a clear night in Oxford is so rare it may not be worth it!

I've had good Chinese and Mexican food in the UK, but then come to think of it I've only ever eaten Chinese/Mexican here.

Well, since it's unlikely that I will be bringing you to Arizona to try their Mexican food anytime soon, you will just have to show me what you consider to be good here! I can give you an adequate comparison and -- if it is indeed comparable -- then I will at long last know where to get that hit of Mexican food when the cravings come on me! ;-)

the timing makes no sense to me either- I get mine in Sept and April

Which makes more sense. I won't complain if they want to give me another rise in April, though!

must be an Oxford thing. They have a term called Hilary, FFS, so there's no telling what weird customs they might have!

Yeah, the names of the terms threw me when I first got here. Back in the States, the norm is to have two terms per year. We call them Fall and Spring. I shall leave working out the origin of these names as an exercise to the reader.

Meanwhile, in Oxford, the terms are Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity. Huh? Turns out that there are religious reasons for each and they actually came into the calendar through the legal system, via the courts. Hilary Term begins on the first Sunday after the feast day of St Hilary of Poitiers, which is the 14^th of January. Very intuitive, right?

Okay, I'll stop babbling trivia at you now...

I tried to send these to you privately, but your email is bouncing again. A little campanological humo(u)r:

http://devilspanties.keenspot.com/d/20070320.html
http://devilspanties.keenspot.com/d/20070321.html

And possibly tomorrow's as well.

That's quite odd, this bouncing you speak of. Hurm...

Anyway, thanks for the comics! Gives me something to look forward to for tonight's lesson and subsequent practice!

The bounce message is the same as it was the last time. Not "no such user", not "user's inbox is full" - it's a "malformed" something-or-other, from Stony Brook, which is odd, since I was using the Hampshire address. Something hiccupped somewhere in your chain of auto-forwards. (I've never had exactly that problem, but I also have various addresses set up to forward to my main one, and occasionally that causes difficulties too.)

Today's webcomic, alas, abandoned the topic of bell-ringing for the topic of cellulite :-(

The same thing has happened to me, too, which is why I'd asked if you'd gotten my email in a comment a few days back. (And I'm happy to hear that you had.)

Persephone

I did look, and it was indeed quite lovely. :)

Very good -- you picked the right icon for your comment! Congrats!

Oh, and you're welcome! :-)

We have real cheese over here in Europe, too

Yes -- and I'm quite jealous of you for that. You don't have to look high and low to get Wensleydale, double Gloucester, Stilton and white Cheshire now do you?

~~ is envious ~~

Persephone (who is in thrall to The Power of Cheese)

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