I am overseas again and although I am working with some great people and the work is interesting, from a personal point of view this is one trip too many. Beautiful Boston MA does not compare with my home and my family. Heading home tommorow for Easter, cannot wait......
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
Sunday, April 01, 2007
Friday afternoon and evening
Friday afternoon I played in the garden with Helen and Angus. Angus wanted me to make him a river to ride through on his bike so I flooded the path with the water butt. Helen played on the swing and the slide (would you believe it is about a year since she first stood up) and then we walked to pick up Matt from school - and latterly played penalties at football. For some reaosn they enjoy being goalie, I think they lke wearing the gloves. Then we played hide and seek in doors. After tea we walked as a family on the moor and had a quick drink in the Taw River. Piccies.
Chris Pollock CBE
After 30 odd years in science and 13 years as a most excellent Director of IGER, Chris Pollock retired on Thursday. This marks a junction point for UK Agricultural Research. Best wishes for the future Chris. You can see him here dressed as an 'old rocker' the theme of his leaving do, which I attended last week via a meeting a Bangor University and a lovely drive through north Wales, which included a cheeky bike ride!
Saturday, March 31, 2007
Sunrise
Matthew recently did this at Art club and I think it is great - I think we will get it framed. Seems he likes images of the rise and set of the sun just like his Dad. Well done Matt!
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Snowbound in New York
“Snow bound in NY. Not funny. Airport closed. Spent the night it a sleezy hotel. No clothes or toothbrush. MAY depart tonight - if I am lucky!” “1000s of passengers fighting over few hotel spaces. Last night slept in a honeymoon suite (alone!) in a sleezy part of New Jersey. I am lucky to have got the last seat on tonight's departure......... Now just hoping it departs! Dressed in light tropical clothes and sandals doesn't help! I will laugh at this one day but currently not laughing. Reviewing a book and doing some writing........”
Those are extracts from emails sent home last weekend as my return to Devon from Panama was did not go entirely as planned. During what should have been a routine four hour stop over on Friday evening in Newark Liberty Airport became a 24 hour adventure, as they closed the airport because of a snow and ice storm. When the decision was announced it was chaos, as 1000s of travellers battled to the airline desks to try to rebook onto the next available flight. I got lucky, as with some quick thinking found an alternative desk to make my new booking and managed to get the next seat booked the following evening. The next challenge was to find a place to sleep, and as
I did not fancy a night in the airport I was determined to find somewhere. All the courtesy ‘phones to the hotels were either jammed or registering that the rooms were all booked, but I took my chances by walking ca ½ mile from the terminal to the Radison Hotel, across the snowscape in my light clothes I had originally donned early that morning in tropics! My toes froze. As expected, Radison said ‘no room at the Inn’ but they offered to bus a load of opportunistic business travellers out to wider New Jersey where they reckoned there was a greater chance of accommodation. Having nothing to lose I piled in. After about 45 minutes I was lucky to be amongst the first group to be dropped off at a rather forminable looking place called The Loop Inn. The receptionist was sited behind a glass screen and we were asked whether we wanted to book the room for an hour, 2 hours or more. Also, did I want to share with my travel mates? Hmm. Having cleared up that I was not after a gay session, my companions and I eventually managed to pay $125.00 to secure our separate rooms for the night and dispersed into the night. As I opened my door all became clear. The room was about as big as a small gym, with mirrors on the ceiling and walls, a giant jacuzzi in the middle of the room and a bed so large I burned calories simply climbing into it. And I won’t say what was ‘free’ on the telly, but I am sure you get the idea. I must s
ay that the place did seem to be remarkably clean (there is nothing worse than climbing into a bed with hairs in it is there?) but the only downer was that it did not do any food, let alone tea or coffee. Having forgot to eat dinner that day, my diet was water. Next morning I slipped my sandles on and stepped out into the snow. Having befriended the receptionist, I booked a taxi back to the airport and spent 13 hours working on my laptop and hanging around hoping for my flight to depart. Eventually it did, 26 hours later than I had originally intended and I eventually got home to the comfort of my Devon home and family on Sunday morning, just in time for a Mothers day lunch at the Tors Inn. Now there is a contrast an a half!
Those are extracts from emails sent home last weekend as my return to Devon from Panama was did not go entirely as planned. During what should have been a routine four hour stop over on Friday evening in Newark Liberty Airport became a 24 hour adventure, as they closed the airport because of a snow and ice storm. When the decision was announced it was chaos, as 1000s of travellers battled to the airline desks to try to rebook onto the next available flight. I got lucky, as with some quick thinking found an alternative desk to make my new booking and managed to get the next seat booked the following evening. The next challenge was to find a place to sleep, and as
I did not fancy a night in the airport I was determined to find somewhere. All the courtesy ‘phones to the hotels were either jammed or registering that the rooms were all booked, but I took my chances by walking ca ½ mile from the terminal to the Radison Hotel, across the snowscape in my light clothes I had originally donned early that morning in tropics! My toes froze. As expected, Radison said ‘no room at the Inn’ but they offered to bus a load of opportunistic business travellers out to wider New Jersey where they reckoned there was a greater chance of accommodation. Having nothing to lose I piled in. After about 45 minutes I was lucky to be amongst the first group to be dropped off at a rather forminable looking place called The Loop Inn. The receptionist was sited behind a glass screen and we were asked whether we wanted to book the room for an hour, 2 hours or more. Also, did I want to share with my travel mates? Hmm. Having cleared up that I was not after a gay session, my companions and I eventually managed to pay $125.00 to secure our separate rooms for the night and dispersed into the night. As I opened my door all became clear. The room was about as big as a small gym, with mirrors on the ceiling and walls, a giant jacuzzi in the middle of the room and a bed so large I burned calories simply climbing into it. And I won’t say what was ‘free’ on the telly, but I am sure you get the idea. I must say that the place did seem to be remarkably clean (there is nothing worse than climbing into a bed with hairs in it is there?) but the only downer was that it did not do any food, let alone tea or coffee. Having forgot to eat dinner that day, my diet was water. Next morning I slipped my sandles on and stepped out into the snow. Having befriended the receptionist, I booked a taxi back to the airport and spent 13 hours working on my laptop and hanging around hoping for my flight to depart. Eventually it did, 26 hours later than I had originally intended and I eventually got home to the comfort of my Devon home and family on Sunday morning, just in time for a Mothers day lunch at the Tors Inn. Now there is a contrast an a half!Thursday, March 22, 2007
Barro Colorado Island
My final couple of days in Panama were spent on the magical BC Island, a tropical research island in a the middle of the Panama canal. Ben and I spent c 36 hours there and stayed in a visitors lodge, used the time to do some writing and walked around the tropical forest to get some photos. I also delivered a lecture on the last night before I departed back to the mainland and onwards next morning for the flight home (or so I thought.....)
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