Damp Squib

With the threat of Ernesto looming on the horizon, Charleston was pretty much gearing up to batten down the hatches and brace itself for lots of rain, wind and pretty much miserable weather all round today. At MUSC, classes were cancelled, people were advised to unplug computers and equipment, and cover any such things near windows with plastic lest there be leakages, or windows broken. A voluntary evacuation was called with shelters being set up in schools in North Charleston for anyone 'who felt uncomfortable' to hole up until things passed. The situation wasn't expected to be catastrophic, but everyone was expecting some nastiness for a few hours. Me, I came into work early to carry out a couple of minor tasks and then headed home around 9.30am (when the wind was to start building up) and pretty much stay there. The appointed hour came and.....

Well, i won't say nothing 'cause there was a good deal of wind and rain (although the wind only reached up to 35mph gusts rather than the 60mph predicted) but it was actually surprisingly uneventful. Sure, my street flooded (again) but it was actually less severe than last week (see photos from last Thursday). The reason for this was because Ernesto - on his way out to sea again from Florida, ended up taking a slightly wider swing out before coming back to land and so consequently, Charleston was skirted by the left hand side of the storm - usually the weakest side of the whole thing. This, combined with high tide again, meant flooding but by the time the storm had passed (around 6pm), the low tide was nearly on us and the water disappeared pretty rapidly. All in all, a rather lucky escape for Charleston. Let's hope that it stays that way.

Ernesto Approaching

With hurricane season well underway and, so far, significantly less when compared to last year's record season (the whole alphabet of names was gone through and storms were being denoted by greek letters), it was ultimately only going to be a matter of time before a storm/hurricane developed that was going to hit the US mainland (I believe predictions suggest that there will be three such storms this year compared to 7 last year). Anyhow, this week, the first of the season appeared on the horizon - Tropical Storm Ernesto. Whilst Ernesto was a hurricane earlier in the week, this was for a very brief time - a matter of hours, and was as it hovered around Cuba. However, as Ernesto passed across towards Florida, concerns that he may strengthen were not realised and he eventually made US landfall sometime last night down at the South of Florida.

Being here in Charleston, we're always on tenterhooks when a hurricane crosses Florida lest it swing back over across the panhandle and head our way, but this time is different. Predicted courses have Ernesto heading up Florida before swinging slightly bacak out to sea and then brushing past Charleston - predictions suggest the 'eye' will pass within 50 nautical miles and so it looks like it'll be a bit wet and windy from tomorrow evening onwards. However, fear not - it appears that Ernesto will likely not gain strength before he gets here. The general sense is that there will be some rain, probably some flooding of roads here and there but it won't be all that bad. However, to be safe, i'm following the standard procedure - making sure to have extra bottled water, lots of tinned food, making sure important documents are safe etc. I've also secured a ride further inland, should a mandatory evacuation be called (it's not likely). Rest assured, we're all going to ride this storm out.

Photos from A Small Island 2

The next installment in this 'mini-series' of posts.



Lucia, one of my Mum's two adorable Cats.



Oscar, the other one.



The South Bay of Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK



My Mum (she'll kill me for this!)



View round to the North Bay, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, UK



Whitby Abbey, North Yorkshire, UK

Watch this spacae for the next round of photos. Coming soon!

Netflix

What with having limited space when i first moved over here (and, indeed, when i returned from my recent UK sojourn), you can understand that i had to leave a lot of things behind (mainly stored at my Dad's house). This included my DVD player and, of course, all my DVDs. Not that just the DVDs would've been any good owing to the whole regional system. In short, DVDs in the US are Region 1 (they WOULD have to be number 1) and so will only play on US DVD players or unless you have a multi-region DVD player (which i believe are becoming more common). In contrast, the UK are region 2 DVDs (if you notice, most of them are Region 2,4 - meaning they can also be played in Hong Kong and out that way) and so the DVDs will not play over here (they will play on my laptop - apparently i'm allowed to switch Region up to 5 times). Anyway, although i've managed to get a small number of DVDs since i've been here, i haven't really had the time, energy or patience to join Blockbuster or anywhere like that - mainly as the nearest to me is a good walk away.

Anyway, the problem of this is now solved for the time being owing to the recommendation of Netflix by a friend/workmate. Basically, it's an online version of a rental store except with a slight difference. You pay a set fee every month and get sent a DVD from a list that you input in on the site. You keep it as long as you want, and then send it back to them (you don't have to pay the postage). When they get it, they send you the next choice on your list, and so on. There are no late charges at all - cause basically if you hang on to the DVD, you don't get the next - so it's up to you to send them back and get the most out of your money (doubt that'll be a problem for me!!). I joined last weekend and my first DVD should be arriving today. Sorted. It got me to wondering if there was such a service in the UK - i'm sure there must be somewhere. Might be worth checking out for all you folks who don't have the time to make the trip to the local store. It sounds like a great idea to me.

Flooded. Again.

Of course, it's Sod's law that no sooner do i mention that the heat and humidity here has been taking some getting used to again, when compared to that of the UK, then the weather has to go and prove me wrong. Thus, having decided to come in early to work (so i could get experiments done before lab meeting), i then was somewhat dismayed to watch as it proceeded to absolutely chuck it down for a good stretch of time. That it was high tide at the time as well didn't really help. So, before you could say 'Knee-length Wellington boots', the water was collecting and the roads that i could see (and a good few i couldn't) were turned into rivers. Thankfully, the rain eventually stopped and by the time it got to hometime, low tide had been and gone, and taken some of the water with it. But then this didn't save me from having to hoist up my jeans and wade into my house that evening. And being the ever vigilant photographer, i got a couple of quick snaps for you all to peruse.



Look Right - a shot of my street.



Look Left - just outside my front steps. Notice the ripples caused by me.

Photos from A Small Island 1

With apologies to Bill Bryson for the blatant modification of his title. Anyway, this is going to be the first of a few posts showing some of the pictures taken on my recent sojourn back to the UK.



My Dad, looking rather surprised (he didn't know i was taking a picture)



The local pub - The Oak Tree. The most important place (naturally)



York Minster - looming above the city.



Richmond Castle - this dates from about 1070 AD, the keep from about the 12th Century.



Richmond Falls - looking very pretty, despite some flood water.

Feeling Sleepy

On my past excursions across the Atlantic and back again, i've always suffered to some degree from jet lag but this has nearly always affected me going only one way - primarily when flying East. The explanation for this seemed reasonable enough: when you fly west, you gain five or so hours and, to me, this was like being up late but still getting a full night's sleep. On the way back, the hours are lost so what should be a full night is actually cut short - so 8 hours sleep becomes three. This would nearly always catch up with me later the next day and i would probably fall asleep at the drop of a hat. Now this didn't happen to me this time, perhaps because i was somewhat excited about being back in the UK. Who knows??

Suffice to say, i wasn't expecting that much to worry about when i got back - especially as i'd managed to get an hour or so snooze on the plane. Thus, i was somewhat surprised to find myself feeling incredibly tired Monday morning when i woke up (even after two good night's sleep). Naturally, i had decided to go into work - had gifts to give and a few bits and bobs of work to do, and basically to try and get into routine again. To cut a long story short, i ended up leaving work at 3pm being tired, got home and went straight to bed, intending to wake up at 6pm or so. Instead, i slept right through to 10.45pm, got up and had a slice of toast, then went back to bed anad slept on through to about 7.30am. Thankfully, i felt a bit better today but am still feeling a little bit woozy. Guess i haven't shaken off the jet lag completely just yet - so am gonna be taking it easy in the meantime.

Getting Back

After the very long day yesterday (I got up at 6.15 AM British Time, 1.15AM Charleston Time and got to bed at 11PM Charleston Time, 4.00AM Charleston Time), today is devoted to recovering from the journey, and the jet lag, and generally getting used to being back in Charleston again. Fortunately, the nature of using cells means that it's going to be a couple of days before i can fully get into the swing of things at work (thankfully) which means that i can take it relatively easy for the time being. Of course, me being me, i nipped into the lab this morning to start those cells growing but it took all of half an hour to sort things out so i'm now back in my good ol' coffee shop waiting for a workmate to call so i can go food shopping.

Of course, getting used to Charleston again means getting used to the temperatures - within minutes of getting off the plane, i had been reminded of just how hot and humid it can be here and that was at 9.00pm (29C and pretty humid). Suffice to say it's back to shorts and t-shirts and my jackets have been retired (temporarily) to the wardrobe. Whilst i may have missed the real heat of the summer, you kind of forget just how long summer tends to go on for. Despite all that though, it's nice to be back (although, as i said, it was a wrench to leave the UK again) and, i have to admit, on the plane back from Philadelphia last night, there was a sense of coming home. This was helped by going to a friend's house for a party not long after landing (they lived close to the airport so it was nice to swing by for an hour or so). When i went in, everybody cheered and applauded. Felt like i should go away more often!!!

Day 23: Journey's End

So, the last three weeks (as you'd expect) has absolutely flown by and so i find myself once again at Philadelphia Airport waiting for my connecting flight back to Charleston. Typically, what with extra security and all that at Manchester, my flight wa sa couple of hours late taking off - but for once in the broad scheme of things this has left me better off. As i missed my connecting flight to Charleston via Charlotte (North Carolina), i've been rebooked onto another flight going direct to Charleston instead. Funny how things work out eh? The transatlantic flight itself was rather uneventful - the extra security checks were no real hassle at Manchester, just that they took a bit more time than usual (especially the ones at the gate - they search you and your bags when you're literally about to board the plane). In the long run, anyhow, i think that anyone who complains about it are just crazy anyway - i'd much rather have to take a bit of extra time out of my day if it meant that little bit more security.

Anyway, i've been reflecting on the past few weeks - it's been something of a whirlwind when i think about it - but I got to see virtually everyone that i wanted to see (there were a couple of exceptions). I also have to admit that it was quite a wrench leaving the UK again - particularly as i'm not going to be back there again for a little over a year now. Still, i think i'll be fine once i settle back down into routine again. And with that, i think my connection is going to be called in the next few minutes. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for a smattering of photos from my UK excursion. Just one thing left to say: Aunty Essie - loved the gin!!

Day 20-22: All Around Me Are Familiar Places....

With my final train journey over and done with, it's back to Manchester - my home for the past 8 years prior to moving to Charleston, so a place that i am both familiar and comfortable with. The feeling is somewhat strange - a number of places are the same, yet a number of places are different. A visit to my old lab yesterday meant going to a completely new (and very impressive) building - yet despite that, speaking to my old bosses was both familiar and like old times (i spoke with them both for a good three hours altogether). It was very nice to see them both, and i felt quite pleased with myself that they hadn't got a postdoc to replace me yet (albeit for various reasons beyond their control - but, hey, do i need an excuse to be pleased with myself??).

The remaining time in Manchester has been taken up spending time with some old friends - ones who i miss a great deal and who i enjoyed their company immensely. Of course, British tradition dictates that this will, naturally, involve alcoholic beverages of some kind. Suffice to say, my liver is going to be given a well-earned break when i get back to US shores - a prolonged detox indeed. With my last night ahead of me, i guess i should try and make the most of it whilst i can (indeed, i shall!) but there is now a small part of me that is looking forward to going back to Charleston and getting back to work (how sad does that sound?!). However, given that it will be a little over a year again till i'm back on UK soil again, it's going to be quite a wrench for me to leave all over again. However, with the prospect of visitors in the near future, i should get by. So this is likely my last post from England. From Manchester and until Charleston, i bid you farewell.

Day 19: Assistants

As you can imagine, being back in the UK means that i have been indulging in a spot of shopping - even if most of it is of the window kind. What with limited luggage space, i can't very well go crazy. And, besides, things are largely cheaper in the US all round. However, this has not stopped me going in - and putting up with (and i NEVER thought i'd say this) the very annoying assistants. Now, in the US, when you walk through the door, the staff usually say hello (if they're around) and more often than not will approach and ask if you want any help (depends on the kind of store naturally). Once they know you're just browsing they usually get the hint, and when you go to pay, they usually ask if you found everything okay, etc. etc. etc. Whilst these are general pleasantries, I find now that it's something i've become used to (aside from the odd occasion when the assistant's nail varnish obviously takes priority over anyone wanting to be served).

Thus, it was something of a reverse culture shock to be reminded how unfriendly the staff can be over here in the UK. Not just in shops, but in bars, garages (gas stations for the Americans), banks, tourist information (the woman at Leeds Station Information tutted loudly and made a big melodrama when i asked for her to help me). I was surprised as, having been in service industries before (a restuarant and a bar), I was always pleasant to customers, even if i was having a bad day. Yet evidently not everyone feels the same. Of course, there are exceptions as with everything (the lady in Pronuptia - a wedding garment store - was falling over herself to be helpful) but i feel quite annoyed that this isn't the norm. And of course, with the (oh-so) British refusal to complain (people tend to just not go back there), then standards aren't going to get any better. Maybe i may take a leaf out of our American cousin's books and make sure they know i'm upset!!

Days 15-18: Hopping

So, after the two relatively relaxing weeks with my parents, came the week of mad travelling about the place. From Scarborough, it was first to Leeds and a (rather) fun night out with a couple of PhD friends (Danielle and Steve) and some friends from back home (Andy and Rob - he of the Robstock). Was I hungover the next morning? Is the Pope Catholic?

From there, it was over to Rawenstall, Lancashire (just north of Bury) and to the wedding of a college friend Emma - and, even better for me, a reunion with all my college friends. Suffice to say a fantastic time was had - we ate and drank, and gossiped, and reminisced and country danced, and boogied. I may have unintentionally caused a stir by dancing to 'It's Raining Men' but i just couldn't resist. It was really nice to see the college gang again - when i think about it i've known them all for at least 10 years now and in a couple of cases even longer. That's the sort of friendship that you can't buy!

From Bury it was back to West Yorkshire and Huddersfield - for a roast dinner and an evening with Danielle and Steve (great food and great company) - we gossiped, watched Dr Who, laughed, watched 'Love, Actually' (I'd resisted for a long time on the understanding that it was rather too sickly) and enjoyed it quite a bit. And today it's from Huddersfield to Hemel Hempstead - and my brother's house - where my Dad and he are currently attempting to put up a new fence. I say attempting - it's actually quite entertaining. Of course, i could offer to help but i do rather enjoy watching them work instead. So with one more hop to make - back to Manchester for three nights on Wednesday, my UK sojourn is approaching the home straight.

Day 14: Alert Levels Raised

The world is not a safe place anymore - this is what we're told now, day in and day out (perhaps a bit less over here in the UK than in the US). Not that it ever really was that safe a palce to begin with, as let's face it, wars seem to erupt at the drop of a hat these days. This was all somewhat bought home a bit today with the news that a 'significant terrorist plot' (this should be trademarked) was foiled by British police and intelligence services with a number of arrests in the London area occurring in the London area. It seems that there were plans to smuggle liquid explosives aboard commercial flights from US to UK in hand luggage and then detonate them somewhere over the Atlantic ocean. Kudos, i guess, has to go to the security services for disrupting these plans.

Of course, this means that the UK airports are somewhat chaotic right now - flights from UK to US (from Heathrow at least, poossibly other airports) have been cancelled and all incoming flights (from US) have been cancelled - save for those already in the air. A number of domestic flights and european airline's flights into the UK have also been cancelled or delayed indefinitely. From my point of view, i'm not too worried - stiff upper lip and all that - but also because i'm not flying out until next week and hopefully this will all be cleared up by then. My mother is somewhat more perturbed than i am, quite understandably i guess, but as i pointed out to her, this is also what some aim of the terrorists will be - merely to cause panic and raise alarm. If a plot has been foiled, then great - but then you sometime have to wonder if there was a 'plot' to begin with - either on behalf of the terrorists or the services. Maybe i'm just too cyncial. Come what may, i'll still be in the check-in queue in a week and a bit.

Day 8: Over the Hills

Apologies, constant reader, for making it seem like i've dropped off the face of the earth for the past week. I guess this is what happens when you head over the Dales to the more remote parts of the country. Not that Scarborough is really that remote, just that this is what tends to happen when you go to stay with the parent who has the least technological sense of the two. Anyway, having been reassured by my mother that the Internet was up and working at her house, you can imagine that I was somewhat perturbed/miffed/annoyed/upset/uncaring (delete as appropriate) that the aforementioned connection was slow to say the least. And by slow i mean sloooooowwwwwww. You know how they've taken to calling the old-fashioned postal service 'snail mail' (at least over here in the UK). Well, this was slower still - like an asthmatic snail with heavy shopping, and no inhaler. Y'see where i'm going with this?

Anyway, i suppose i should refer back to what i was thinking on the day in question i had planned to write this. Mainly, i was looking forward to having a week with my Mum and doing not much of anything apart from, perhaps, browsing round the town and maybe doing a little bit of work on the way (the curse of having e-mail - your boss can get in touch with you anywhere you are). Of course, the week here is now nearly over - and with it, i'll hopefully be returning to the land of the 'technological'. At least for the next few days anyhow. Fingers crossed. Until then, it's back to the internet blackspot that is Seamer. Well, at least after i've typed the next post.

Day 7: Cooling Down

As you can imagine, a hop from Charleston to the North-East of England will result in a significant change in climate - one that i was prepared for and, to be perfectly frank, was looking forward to. Whilst i love Charleston and, indeed, the climate, it can occasionally get to be a little too much. I'm tired of walking down the road and 5 minutes later being covered in sweat with shorts and t-shirt sticking to me. I was, perhaps, a bit wary of the news i'd had from the folks before i came saying that the past three weeks had been considerably warmer on these shores (indeed, July turned out to be the hottest one since records began properly at the start of the 20th century) but, fortunately for me, it began to cool down a bit as of Monday. Having said that, walking down the street in Manchester with 30C temperatures was fantastic - not least because the humidity was virtually non-existent.

Crossing over the Penines and the weather has cooled a bit as well (although the ridiculously full train up to York was rather toasty). And, of course, Britain wouldn't be Britain without some good ol' wind and rain. A drive up to Leyburn (into Wensleydale) and it wasn't long before there was something of a torrential downpour (not tropical style like Charleston but impressive none-the-less). I was very tempted to jump out of the car and start dancing around - now i know exactly what Gene Kelly was on about in 'Singin' in the Rain'. Nothing makes you feel more homely than good ol' British weather. I think it's going to be even more of a shock for me going back to Charleston after three weeks - i hope it's cooled down a little there as well.

Day 6: Familiar Faces

With being back in Catterick Village - the place that i spent most of my childhood (the first few years were spent just up the road in a town called Colburn), there is nearly always a sense of nostalgia when i get back here. This will last for maybe a day or two and then is usually gone. However, one advantage (for me, anyhow) of being back in the area that i grew up and also went to school in, is the chance for me to see familiar faces from my school days. It might be a little known fact that i used to be bullied at school - partly cause i was tall, partly cause i was one of the smarter kids in the class (is it ever 'cool' to be intelligent?). Anyway, i just used to ride the storm - i told myself that i would do better than any of the kids bullying me and in returning home, it's often a delight to myself that i was proved right.

Y'see, as i wander about the area visiting people, i see a large number of those familiar faces - often with a pushchair or pram in tow. Now, whilst having children and settling down is an aim of, i'm sure, a good many people (and why not?), a lot of these people also have some ambition to see a bit of the world before they do so. Instead, most of the people i went to school with are still in the same area and, when you look on Friendsreunited or other such websites, they always have been and, probably, always will be. It seems their lives consist of mainly working a job they don't really like so they can save up enough money to go out at the weekend. That may sound ideal to some people (each to their own) but it wouldn't have done for me. Now that i'm living a good few thousand miles away, in a job that i love, in a place that i like that and a different country entirely, can you blame me for feeling pleased with myself??

Day 5: Down to the Local

Of course, no trip back home to the North-East would be complete without a visit (or two) to the local pub - purveyors of Sam Smiths, a local brewery from Tadcaster, Yorkshire whose beer i can actually get for a pretty reasonable price in Charleston (albeit in a bottle rather than draught). Anyway, sure enough my Dad and I went for a wander down there for a pint or two this evening to the Oak Tree - one of four Pubs in the village (okay, there are only two real pubs, but there is a hotel with bar and the village social club with bar so i count them as pubs in their own right). The first thing that struck me was just how nice it was to be back in a real pub - something that Charleston certainly lacks (hell, even Manchester has very few real pubs - they have mostly bars). And when the beer is £1.25 a pint (that's $2.25 in American), you can't go wrong.

Suffice to say, it went down smoothly. Not only was in great to have a pint of Sam Smiths on draught for a change, but it was also nice to have a pint of beer with a head - one thing that the US seems to be renowned for is giving you flat pints (not even real pints at that!) with a head on it that can barely stand up for a second before fizzling out. This was the good stuff indeed. On top of that, there is the friendly atmosphere where everyone in the room is familiar - and even if you don't know them that well, it doesn't matter 'cause you're all from the same village. That's the sort of thing i miss sometimes. Anyway, suffice to say, i think i'll be paying another visit before i hop over to my Mum's place in Scarborough. Long live the pub!!