Advogato blog for ringbark

Just what I needed

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 08:05:33 GMT

A fire alarm and subsequent evacuation of the hotel at half past two
in the morning.
Thankfully, we weren't out for long: I think I was back in bed a
couple of minutes after three.
As I walked determinedly to the fire exit, a lady wandering along the
corridor asked me "should we go?" and without stopping I replied "of
course!"
There were no casualties. And this time, not even nutters who had
stopped to pack and were dragging large and heavy suitcases down the
stairs with them. What could you possibly have with you worth enough
to risk that?

Live fron Manchester Airport

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 08:03:27 GMT

Network Rail have once again driven me away from the station to the
airport. I hope they are very proud of themselves.
For a Friday night before a holiday, the journey home wasn't bad. I
got a space in Coach G from Rugby and Viv met me at Chester. Blood on
the Tracks supplied the soundtrack for the journey.
A quiet Saturday, except for some tidying up and some forms for David,
now returned from Canada but preparing for the exciting world of
Chemical Physics at Sheffield University.
Sunday, a service I was leading in the morning. Then lunch, a relaxed
afternoon, an evening service and a relaxed evening.
Monday: the man from Virgin came and replaced our cable box. Thank
goodness we didn't want to watch anything over the last couple of
weeks. Such as the Olympics.
Then off to Alder Hey. Nobody is sure why a blood test for Christopher
was scheduled for a public holiday, but we got there and he had it.
The rest of Monday was quiet. Perhaps we did do what the public
advisers had warned about: nothing. But I think it was what we needed.
And now, thanks to Network Rail, I'm waiting for my flight to be
called. That is all.

Last thoughts from a small island

Thu, 21 Aug 2008 04:05:54 GMT

All together on a beach almost completely covered in seaweed. The
clip-clopping of the horse-tram in the distance, but getting closer.
It has been a reasonably good break for the most part. The sky is
bluish with only a few clouds. Soon, it will be lunchtime, though we
have already been to the Sea Terminal for hot chocolate and to
Thornton's for ice-cream. Mmmmm. Ice-cream. Now, where was I? Oh yes,
on the beach. Coming soon: the flight home.

Douglas again

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:03:57 GMT

Today we went on the electric railway to Ramsey and from there to a
wildlife park. All the areas were swamps: European swamp, Asian swap,
African swamp etc. There were some very interesting animals there. The
crab-eating macaques, for example. They were eating oranges.
Afterwards, we looked at the swing bridge and walked along the
promenade at Ramsey before returning to Douglas.

Port Erin

Tue, 19 Aug 2008 10:14:48 GMT

Won another £40 last night. This morning, up quite early again and
after breakfast we took a horse tram to the other end of Douglas
before finding the steam train south to Castletown. The train was
pretty packed as we went through the rain. Castletown had the castle,
Castle Rushen, to offer. So we explored the castle quite thoroughly in
the rain, taking the advantage of the stairs to go up to the highest
point, looking also at all the rooms of the medieval castle and
reading what the rooms were used for. But it was very wet.
Then off to Port Erin on a later train. It was still raining. So we
went for a lunch at the Falcons Hotel before having a look at the
beach and out at Bradda Head. I remember it from my extreme youth when
my mum wouldn't walk up to Bradda Head because it was too far, thiugh
her step-father quite cheerfully did walk there. Today, we might have
walked up there if the weather had been fit, but it wasn't. So instead
we walked a little bit on the beach before taking refuge in a little
coffee shop. The coffee shop owner gave us a lift back to the station
in the rain...
Now, we're on the train back north which has just started. Next stop:
Port St Mary. Current music: Christopher playing CdeB's Crusader on
his phone.

Snaefell

Sun, 17 Aug 2008 13:03:49 GMT

Breakfast as usual for a Hilton this morning, and then we went for a
walk along the promenade towards the Electric Railway. From there, we
went on the noisy and slow railway at speeds of up to 20mph on our way
to Laxey.
Laxey has what is possibly Man's most famous landmark: Laxey Wheel.
Forty years after my mum stopped me climbing it because I would surely
fall and kill myself, I made it to the top. It offers splendid views
of the surrounding area, as well as being of itself a triumph of early
Victorian engineering. No doubt you can later zip over to vivh's LJ to see some pictures of this big red wheel. A short
trip on a mine railway took us to the local pub where we had a drink
and some hot chips before catching the Snaefell Mountain Railway. This
is another slow and antique railway, but takes us to the island's
highest point. Reasonable views, but as soon as we reached the top,
the clouds closed in. Rather than the promised six kingdoms supposedly
visible: Man, England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Heaven, we could
scarcely even see one! The cloud lifted slightly, so Matthew and I
caught a glimpse of the Scots coast. We didn't hang around: the top of
the radio masts were not visible from the bottom of them. But I'm very
glad we came. Now, after just catching it, we're on the way down the
mountain, back to Laxey. From there, perhaps another trip somewhere,
or perhaps just back to Douglas for a snooze. Tonight I might try my
hand at the roulette at the casino again: after all, I won £10 there
last night. Everyone seems to be in good shape. We are taking it very
easy here compared with Viv's usual "let's do six impossible things
before breakfast" approach to holidays.

Three legs

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 17:03:16 GMT

After an early start, a taxi to Speke and breakfast in the lounge, we
took the flight here. It was a very short flight, as expected. A taxi
took us to the IOM Hilton, where we put our bags in one room that was
ready and set off down the sea-front towards town. Some of it was on
the road, some on the beach. It is quite wild, and I'm glad we didn't
take the boat to here. Once in town, we had some lunch and then caught
a horse-drawn tram back to the hotel. Matthew is appalled that we came
to a place still using such obsolete technology. I explained that it
is partly for the tourists.
Then we went to see The Mummy movie, partly because the weather really
isn't so good. The weather is better than the movie. It is a while
since I have seen such thin plotted tripe. As for the battles, Peter
Jackson did them first and better.
We're now back in the hotel. Viv is downloading photos, I'm typing
this and the boys are in their room, probably watching television.
Later on, something else. We will certainly do something for the
evening meal, but the hotel's steak prices exceed what Viv is prepared
to pay. In fact, they even exceed what I am prepared to pay!

Liverpool Airport

Sat, 16 Aug 2008 07:03:17 GMT

Good morning from Speke. We're at the gate, waiting to board the short
flight. Looking out of the window at a plane with real propellors
(sp?) and almsot ready to go. We are sitting quietly waiting while
nearly everyone has joined a queue. With allocated seats, what's the
big deal?

Forthcoming flights

Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:03:19 GMT

Sat 16 Aug 2008
BE602 Liverpool to Isle of Man dep 08:10 arr 08:45

Wed 20 Aug 2008
BE607 Isle of Man to Liverpool dep 16:45 arr 17:20

Tue 26 Aug 2008
BD585 Manchester to Heathrow dep 08:55 arr 10:00

The lounge

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 20:04:46 GMT

Good evening. After Monday, I made my way across to Holland Park to
spend most of the evening in the lounge looking at websites and
catching up with the news. Tuesday and with no data to process, it
wasn't hard to get to the Toastmasters meeting I was chairing.
By Wednesday afternoon, the data was available and had started to be
chopped up and reassembled in a different order, but there is still
more to do.
Tonight has been more relaxing. I have deliberately not brought my
computer to the lounge. Instead, I've been snacking, crosswording,
reading, sudokuing and chilling.
Tomorrow: the end of Block One of chemo for Christopher, A Level
results for David and AS results for Matthew.