Terradyme: Trials and Tribulations

Saturday, April 24, 2004
Tow Path

I went for a walk along the River today.
6:00:00 PM

Wednesday, April 21, 2004
C-ya.

Yep, it's been real. Real something, but I don't know what.
9:09:00 PM

Sunday, April 18, 2004
Well, there it is

Thank you for your booking. We hope you enjoy the performance. Venue: Sheldonian Theatre, Oxford Production: Christ Church Cathedral Choir & Oxford Philomusica - BERNSTEIN Chichester Psalms & MOZART Requiem Date: Wed, 28 April 2004 - 08:00 PM Area: Lower Gallery Quantity is 1 Price for the item(s): �24.00 Collect from Sheldonian Theatre on Evening of Performance
4:12:00 PM

Thursday, April 15, 2004
Good v. Bad

The good news is the Royal Mail strike is over. Only 16 days and 5 million items piled up, waiting to be delivered. The bad news is that because of my cold and an "open house" at work this Saturday (which I have to attend), I have had a rotten week & not accomplished much. Sleep and work, work and sleep. I was in London Monday to visit a friend of mine and help him with his computer, have lunch & chat. I left my current reading material at his house, Stephen Fry's The Liar which isn't so bad because, unusually, I'm reading several books in parallel. Regarding books, I also wanted to mention a website I'd stumbled across a few months ago, BookCrossing.com. Basically:

The "3 Rs" of BookCrossing...
Read a good book
Register it on the site, and label the book
Release it for someone else to read (give it to a friend, leave it on a park bench, donate it to charity, "forget" it in a coffee shop, etc.), and get notified by email each time someone accesses the site and records journal entries for that book.

10:40:00 PM

Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Sniff

I'd like to thank each of you for your kind Easter greetings and cards, but I can't as I've no idea whether anyone has sent me any mail; Oxford has been under a postal strike since March 30, and although the first week I was receiving dribs and drabs, I haven't seen anything since last weekend. I had to mail some US tax forms and took them to Banbury to send on Saturday, but the clerk there reminded me that all Banbury's mail goes through Oxford to get sorted, so no luck there. I had to take a trip in to London yesterday just to get it out and on its way. Businesses are starting to get very very angry, but there's no end to the strike in sight. I've a rotten cold, so I didn't get to enjoy my four days off as I would have like too. In fact, I'm going to dose up and get an early night tonight.
7:17:00 PM

Saturday, April 10, 2004
V� partner v Praze

News flash: I'm heading to Prague for a holiday in June, a month after the Czech Republic joins the EU. More details soon.
11:08:00 PM

Friday, April 09, 2004
R.I.P. J.R.R.

I -- along with most of the rest of the UK -- had today off, the start of a four day weekend for Easter which sort of makes up for not getting a Thanksgiving break. My colleague CG invited CM and me over to her house for lunch and a chat, and we took a walk after to the cemetery at the back of her house, Wolvercote cemetery, where JRR Tolkien (the guy who wrote The Lord of the Rings) is buried. I found the grave a bit odd, not because it's fairly nondescript, but because people have placed tokens which don't seem appropriate: a small stuffed lamb, a beaded necklace, several cracker-jack rings, etc. Maybe I just don't get it.

(Not my photo) It was a nice warm spring day-- a very pleasant change from the cold rain we've had lately. I went home and took a nap.
11:19:00 PM

Thursday, April 08, 2004
Novocaine is for girls

I had my first experience with an NHS dentist on Monday. I'd turned in my paperwork last December to join the practice nearest work, and they called last month to say they had an appointment available for 4:30. I was of course a bit nervous as British dentistry has such an awful rep in the States. It went OK, if a bit perfunctorily. I arrived at 4:20; was seen by the dentist at 4:30 sharp; had my examination, cleaning and scaling; had three x-rays; and was done at 4:50. All for �21. See you in six months.
1:34:00 PM

Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Dear Dan,

Hello. How are you? I am fine. It is not raining very hard here. How is your dog? I hope it is fine. I miss the cats I used to have. Elsie and Kitty Kate. I am going to visit my Gran on Saturday. I am going to get on the train. I like the train. It is fast. I was wondering, how can we judge whether an action is moral or immoral? I mean, are moral judgments a matter of opinion or of cultural/societal bias? Are there any basic, universal moral principles which hold true of all groups at all times? Oops, I've spilt my milk. OK bye.
8:25:00 PM

Tuesday, April 06, 2004
Hip hip

It's my Mom's birthday today. Everyone wish her a Happy 39th!
11:22:00 PM