It Was Nice While It Lasted

I see that Summer has been and gone. It was an unusually good one this year - it lasted almost all of Friday!

Strange Days

I never thought I'd find myself having a barbecue in February, at least not in Scotland. And yet, as of this afternoon, I have now done so.

On the one hand, the recent warm weather has been really nice - Scots tend to suffer, near-universally, from Vitamin D deficiencies; and the bright sunlight and warm weather just cheers everyone up.

On the other hand, this time last year we were house-bound due to being snowed in pretty thoroughly. And while I'm hesitant to immediately jump from the weather (which is transient) to climate change - if for no other reason than doing so gives succour to those who ask "what about global warming?" every time there's a cold snap - it is the case that average temperatures seem to go up year by year, the climate is most definitely changing, and that's a bad thing.

(On the wider topic of climate change, I still find myself in one of my very few agreements with George W. Bush - the solution to this is going to end up being technological. Either because we develop energy sources that are both greener and cheaper than those we're currently using; or because someone develops technologies that can directly counter some of the damage. If we're hoping instead to fix the issue with global changes of behaviour, I'm afraid I have bad news... people are just the worst.)

Anyway... the barbecue went well. I managed to get the amount of food estimated almost exactly, everyone had a good time, and the sun shone down on us. So that's a win, at least in my book.

My Favourite Time of Year

On reflection, I think the six weeks in the latter part of April and early part of May are probably my favourite time of year, closely followed by the equivalent weeks as we go into early Autumn.

The reason for this is simple enough: we often get a spell of pretty decent weather, sunny but not overly hot, with all the bright colours of the change of season.

This contrasts with the supposed Summer, which all too often is disappointing (and where it is not, the alternative can be that it is then far too hot - especially onerous when stuck in an office all day). And Winter these days seems to amount to six months of wind, rain, cold, and general misery (occasionally broken up with just the wrong amount of snow).

So, yeah, I think this week has been just about as good as it gets.

Snow Day! Oh... wait...

As a consequence of the bad weather, my work closed the office yesterday afternoon and sent everyone home. Which is as it should be: nothing that we do is truly essential, so far better to get everyone to safety and take pressure off the roads and other support services. (And while we're encouraged to take work home with us as possible, if circumstances don't allow for it then so be it.)

Of course, this all falls into the period while I'm on paternity leave anyway, so it makes little difference to me. Though I did have to walk two miles to Asda today to avert a toilet paper shortage. Which wasn't too bad, but considerably more tiring than that would normally be.

#9: "Feersum Endjinn", by Iain M. Banks

Confused

Help! There's a big scary yellow thing in the sky. I don't know what it is, but I'm sure I don't like it!

Ragnarok!

A few years ago, I posted a fairly negative review of the Mayan Apocalypse, noting my disappointment in their efforts in the field of world-ending. Basically, I felt they had too many traffic jams and not enough lava. I also suggested that the baton for world-ending had now passed to the Vikings and their great end-of-the-world blow-out, Ragnarok.

At the time, I was joking, but I was reading on the subject this morning and was reminded that one of the early warning signs was that three years would pass with no sign of summer.

So that's one down, two to go, then.

#38: "Pathfinder: Shadow of the Storm Tyrant" by Tito Leati

Snowpocalypse? Naw!

Once again, there was a hint of snow about the weather, and so once again the weather forecasters and the news channels were predicting massive disruption, travel chaos, and all the attendant woes.

In the event, two inches of snow fell, the gritters were out in force, the roads got cleared, and it was all okay. That's not to say there was no disruption - of course there was some - but it most certainly was not the disaster that had been threatened.

I find myself wondering: is this all still a reaction to them getting thoroughly caught out by the freak snowfall of five years ago? Or is it instead a desperate attempt to turn "Snow! In January!" into news fit for a 24-hour news cycle? Because on the face of it, it's utterly mad - what people need is accurate information so that they can make wise decisions. False predictions of doom are every bit as problematic, and much more common, than us being caught out by freak weather events.

This Week's Mug: A somewhat delayed anecdote this week, but this week's mug is a simple white mug with a wraparound design showing Ashness Bridge and Keswick, as painted by Colin Williamson. As the design suggests, this was purchased while in Keswick some five years ago, on the event of LC and my first trip away together. A weekend away marked by some nice walks, an issue with some smelly cheese in the car, and, yes, snow.

Wolves Forecast

It's been a strange winter, weather-wise. See, it hasn't actually been at all bad, and yet we've been constantly bombarded with warnings. Particularly annoying are those roadside signs, declaring "Snow Forecast" - if they have a genuine concern for the environment then unless they have something worthwhile to communicate now they should be switching those off.

But it's not just those signs. We've been bombarded with weather warnings at the first hint of a breeze, and the forecasts have been positively apocalyptic. And all for... pretty much nothing.

Until last weekend, that is, when it actually snowed, and the snow actually lay where it fell. And, somehow, amazingly, the powers-that-be were somehow taken entirely by surprise, and so weren't ready to clear and then grit the roads. And so, despite the snow falling on and off on Sunday, traffic chaos ensued on Monday.

I was rather glad I had the day off. I picked that one well.

Anyway, the motorway signs are back to it - "Snow Forecast" once again wasted energy across the land. Huzzah!

I can't think why, but when I put together the near-apocalyptic forecasts, the general lack of bad weather, and the failed response when we actually had snow, somehow I'm reminded of the tale of the boy who cried "Wolf!" Maybe, just maybe, our councils recognised that the forecasters were routinely exaggerating, so that when there actually was a chance of snow, they just didn't believe them.

Maybe our weather forecasters could tone down their fervour for the end of the world just a tad, and just give us their best appraisal of what they expect to actually happen? And while they're at it, it would be quite good if our TV stations could perhaps stop treating the News and the Weather as entertainment, and instead go back to actually informing us? Or is that just a crazy thought?

My Favourite Weather

I'm much more a winter person than a summer. Simply put, I don't like being too hot. But I do actually like the sunshine.

So, my favourite days are the ones you sometimes get in winter, when the air is freezing cold but the sun is bright in a cloudless sky. When it's pleasant to go out for a walk, albeit bundled up warm, but when your breath fogs in the air, and your footsteps lighty crunch through the light frost.

Conversely, you get days like today, when it is hot and sticky, but the sky is horribly overcast and it's miserable and wet. Those are probably the days I like least, being the worst of all possible worlds.

Three Facts

1) We have a 'moat' at work. Actually, it's a little stream, over which there are two small bridges.

2) Due to extremely heavy rains, the moat flooded today. My shoes are utterly soaked, and I've had to wash both my socks and shoes.

3) I can't post the picture that proves this, for important legal reasons.

On the other hand...

Turns out that almost immediately after I published my last post, the road opened up again and I was able to go. I promptly left the office and had a really quick ride home. I'm now 36 minutes short of where I 'should' be for the week, but that's okay. I'll make up the time tomorrow.

With the extra time I have been given, I was able to finish up the most recent novel, which was the twelve volume of the Wheel of Time. And, having said that, I can almost hear Chris bracing himself for the big rant...

Well, it turned out that the book did indeed live up to expectations, being a big turgid mess of words with nothing actually happening. For the first twenty-seven chapters, anyway. After that, suddenly, the plot sprang to life, and it was actually quite exciting. Almost reminded me of why I got so far into the series in the first place.

Apparently, Robert Jordan had the book partially written before he died. It's probably unkind, but I think I can pinpoint just where he got to.

#35: "The Gathering Storm", by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson

There's no place like home...

Today, Scotland is being battered by high winds. This is not the usual run-of-the-mill winds we sometimes get, nor indeed is it the absurdly anti-climactic non-winds I expected when I heard they'd put out a Red Alert about the winds. (I mean, honestly, what was I supposed to expect? They declare extreme weather warnings at the first hint of weather these days.)

So, I developed a cunning plan. My plan was to stick around in the office for the minimum possible amount of time, attend the meeting I had booked, then copy some stuff onto a disk (so I could work at home), and then, well, go home.

This was an excellent and inventive plan, which proved to have only one small flaw.

About one hour before I was able to leave the office, a lorry overturned on the motorway, right where I needed to join it. And, consequently, the entire road system near the office has ground to a halt for the foreseeable future. In a cruel reversal of last year's Snow Days, this year I have become trapped in the office.

Snow Day 3?

Dammit, I really want to get to work! I'm going crazy here.

I'm going to try to get the car out again in half an hour or so, but if I can't then I guess I'm stuck here.

Snow Day 2

Yesterday was an awesome day. After my initial guilt at not getting to work, I spent the day painting, reading, cleaning, and generally getting caught up on things. I also took a wander up to the doctor's to put in a repeat prescription (nothing serious - mostly just stocking up just in case). En route, I helped a couple of people get their cars out.

All in all, I was really happy with my day, went to bed nice and early, ready to get back to work today.

Six inches of snow fell overnight, and I had exactly two chances of getting my car out: fat chance and nae chance. It's especially annoying, since the next street over was cleared for the buses, and my car is about fifteen feet from it, but is completely stuck.

And lots more snow is falling. I don't know when I'll be able to get back, and until then the work just keeps piling up.

Today is not going to be such a good day, I fear.

#91: "Smoke and Mirrors", by Neil Gaiman

Snow Day!

The view outside my window right now is absolutely amazing. Falkirk is a veritable winter wonderland.

On the other hand, I missed half a day of work yesterday, didn't make it in at all today, and am looking doubtful for tomorrow. Far from the overtime I had expected to clock up, it looks like this week I'm barely going to do half my normal hours. Fortunately, the company are reasonable about such things - they understand that if I could be there, I would. Unfortunately, the work doesn't get itself done, but rather just stacks up waiting for when I get back.

#87: "Eberron: Dragonmarked", by Keith Baker, Michelle Lyons, and C.A. Suleiman
#88: "Pathfinder: City of Seven Spears", by James Jacobs, Kevin Kulp, and Rob McCreary
#89: "Into a Dark Realm", by Raymond E. Feist
#90: "Eberron: Secrets of Sarlona", by Keith Baker, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, Glenn McDonald, and Chris Sims

Too Darn Hot

Yesterday, my office was flooded because of all the rain. (No, really.) Consequently, today the whole building has been filled with drying machines, which are basically giant hair dryers, that have been running on full power for hours.

It is therefore rather warm.

In order to counter this excessive heat somewhat, I would normally go and stand outside to get some air. However, the sun is beating down extremely brightly at the moment, as it has all day. So, no help there.

(Yes, I'm aware that I've just complained about both bad weather and good. I had been feeling insufficiently British.)

No Snow Day for Steph/ven

It started snowing just after 3 yesterday afternoon, and got progressively heavier as the night went on. After "Lost", I looked out the window and saw it was still snowing, which led me to think that maybe, just maybe, I might be snowed in.

Snow Day!

Except that I looked out the window again at 11:30, just before heading to bed, and the snow had stopped. And, when I woke up this morning it appeared that it had not snowed further, and so the roads were passable with care. (In fact, only my own street even particularly required the "with care" part. The rest were all clear.

No Snow Day! Boo!

Which is a shame, really, since I had it all planned out. See, the thing about Snow Days is that you can't schedule them, which means you have to arrange you time as though they aren't coming. So, if you do get one, it's bonus time.

Naturally, therefore, Snow Days must always only be used in the most frivolous of pursuits. To spend the day doing laundry, or marking textbooks, or preparing for a test would be to make a mockery of this most precious gift.

And so, the plan was to spend the morning catching up on the latest TV, followed by a couple of hours of light reading. Lunch would have been toasted cheese, for no other reason than I could. Then, in the afternoon, I would have sought out a snowball fight somewhere in the region. And, as the opportunity allowed, I would have built a snow fort, complete with ramparts and crenelations. Afterwards, I would have retired to my apartment for a dinner consisting of pizza and Irn Bru, followed by an evening of "Stargate: Atlantis", assuming band was cancelled.

Instead, here I am at work. Which is fun too.

#7: "Diamonds Are Forever" by Ian Fleming

In pursuit of spectacular mediocrity

We entered our second competition of the season on Sunday. It would be an understatement to say it was a somewhat disappointing day.

The seeds for the disaster to come were sown last week, when I switched on the TV to watch something (possibly "Pushing Daisies", or perhaps "Blade Runner") to find "The One Show" doing a feature on sublock, and how it just wasn't as effective as the bottles claimed. Of particular note was their assertion that a person was supposed to put on a full sixth of a bottle every two hours. This came as something of a surprise.

Now, I loathe sunblock. Truly, it is just awful. It's slimy, and sticky, and unpleasant, and if I wear it with my contact lenses in, I have to wash my hands immediately after putting it on, or else be blinded by my own sunblock. And, of course, it's waterproof, so the washing of the hands is something of an ordeal in itself when on a beach with plenty of water but no soap around.

So, I try hard to avoid situations where I might have to wear it, either by hiding indoors when the sun is about, or by wearing black from head to foot, thus not having to wear it. But, as we know, at the last competition I got badly sunburnt.

(Keen readers of this blog will have noted a comment in an earlier post about a "The One Show"/sunblock rant. That was it there.)

Anyway, Saturday was a gloriously sunny day, which I therefore spent indoors, venturing out only twice, to wash the car and to mow the lawn. (I would have been meeting friends for WFRP, but that got cancelled.)

Sunday downed bright and sunny, and I woke early to get ready for the competition. After my morning shower, I proceeded to apply a sixth of a bottle of suncream to face, neck, shoulders, arms and knees. Then I thoroughly washed my hands (on account of having contacts in), and put my uniform on. I packed a bag for the day, and left the house (cunningly leaving my wallet behind, but in the event I didn't need any money, so that was okay).

En route to the bus, I met a guy who lives across the road, who commented that it was a nice day for it. Anyone care to guess what happened next?

Anyway, the trip to Markinch was okay but rather uncomfortable. Bus trips are never nice when it's too hot. We got there, hung around for a while, and then left the bus to go to the tuning area.

At this point, it started to rain, lightly at first and then heavily. Oh, yes, having gone to the trouble of applying sunblock, I proceeded to get rained on.

But the story gets even more amusing. See, rain not being an unknown phenomenon in Scotland, we have invested in long waterproof capes. These are highly effective at keeping the rain off. And, having had it drilled into me quite thoroughly when I was ten, I take the cape with me whenever I'm out at the band, even if the sun is blazing. So, I had packed the cape in my bag in the morning. Huzzah!

It was back in the bus.

We took cover under a passing tree, and completed tuning up. We were ready.

The band went on to perform really badly, rather worse than the previous competition in Dunbar. Basically, we started far too quickly, and although the rest of the tune was then played correctly, it was just far too fast, and there was nothing we could do to fix that. There was additionally the 'bad blowing' problem that has been our bane for years, which occurs when people don't keep sufficient pressure on the bag, causing notes to drift up and down.

So, we came off the park, and the pipe major gathered the band, livid at the performance. He proceeded to enquire just what we were playing at (not in quite those words, right enough). We then returned to the bus, and an uncomfortable wait for the march-past, and the results ceremony. (We came last of course. That's not really a factor in the rest of the story.)

A couple of hours later, the rain having ceased, I went for a wander. On returning to the bus, I found the pipe major standing just outside the bus talking to the mother of one of our pipers. I found this most curious, since said mother had not actually travelled with us. Something was going on.

Still, not wanting to be nosy, I proceeded into the bus, to hear the speculations.

In the event, it turned out that my first instinct was correct. The girl in question (or perhaps her brother) had taken exception to the pipe major's comments, and called her mother. Said parent proceeded to drive up to Markinch to collect her children, and to tell the pipe major just what she thought of him. At this time, it seems likely that the girl will be leaving the band as a consequence of this. (There is some speculation that the mother wanted her to leave anyway, in order to move her to a bigger/more successful band. This may be true, but begs the question: why not just go? It's not like we have any hold on her.)

So, thoughts...

1. I'm still not sure whether it is better to play your very best, and still come last, or whether it's better to play far worse than you'd hoped, and thus let yourself down.
   
2. I still really hate pipe band politics. They're killing this band.
   
3. I agree with what the pipe major said, and the terms in which he said it. I perhaps would have waited until tonight, however. I'm also not sure how much longer he's going to be able to continue in the role - things just don't seem to be going right.
   
4. Spare me psycho mothers.
   

The next competition isn't for six weeks. I don't think I care.

Hardly seems fair

On Friday I left the office to find that it was gloriously sunny outside. "Fantastic," I thought. "The weekend starts here!"

Unfortunately, as I drove West the weather gradually got worse, and worse, and worse... The weekend varied between weather that was okay and weather that was not bad. However, it would not be accurate to say it was pleasant.

This morning, of course, I woke up to find it once again gloriously sunny, just in time for me to return to work. (Because, oh yes, I am at work today. It's not that I mind being at work when everyone else is not - on the contrary, it makes the commute significantly easier, which is nice. But it's a bit galling to think that the universe has actually gone out of it's way to annoy me, specifically.)

Still, I have had a productive morning. I changed a '<' to a '>'.

And now I am back in my box, for an afternoon of further fun and frolics.