I haven't slept properly since Monday night (was less than sober on Tuesday and with snorers Wed and thurs).

Have caught a cold.

In Inverness.

15 secs left on internet cafe

I'm in an internet cafe, and have 40 mins for 2 quid, so here goes.

Left York about noon on Saturday. Surprisingly enough, I'm not all that sad to have left. I'm sure it will sink in at some point that I'm not going to be going back again (although I do hope to get to my graduation in March, we'll see...). Got to London about 2:30, and if you've ever done hiking/backpacking/camping, you'll know that carrying a backpack that's a ridiculous weight on your back when it's 20-odd degrees celsius (in the 70s fahrenheit) isn't all that much fun. Got to R's flat and was a sweaty gross mess. Way to make a first impression with someone you've only ever talked to online, eh? R is a fellow historian, and was absolutely fantastic about looking over my dissertation - she's also a Baptist minister, and so I was left to my own devices on Sunday, but more about that later.

Once I'd cleaned up we (being R, R's husband and myself), went for a walk and I got to see St Bart's hospital, the Old Bailey and the courts, and then we wnet over the Millennium Bridge - nope, hadn't been before. From there it's only a hop skip and a jump to the Globe, where we had tea and cake in the cafe, and mosied down to Blackfriars, over the bridge, and back to the flat (which is light, lovely, and full of Ikea furniture).

On Sunday, I decided to head out to Hampton Court. I went, got there about 11:30ish, and was there until about 5 p.m. The Tudor Kitchens are fantastic, and I picked up a facsimile of a "Working Class Cook Book" published in 1861. I was proud of myself. The rest of the palace was pretty nifty as well. Afterwards I met A.S. for dinner (some of you may remember her as Mrs. Ottewell from a couple of summers ago), which we had at a place called Busaba Eathai, which has great Thai food.

Monday again, left to my own devices. Decided that I hadn't been to the Globe Properly the Saturday night, so went there and took the tour and got to go inside and such. Unfortunately didn't get to see any plays - sold out until October - but was extremely intrigued about a new one they were staging this summer - "In Extremis" about Heloise and Abelard. Bought the t-shirt, 'cuz the t-shirt is damn cool.

Also went to St. Paul's. I'd never been in. Climbed all 500-odd stairs to the top of the dome, and hugged the dome as I made my way around. The view is probably well worth it on a clear day, but it was grey, misty and gross.

I left London Euston at about 20 after 5 p.m. and made my way up to Chester, where M and her husband greeted me at the station. Hers isn't far from the station at all, so last night we just sat in and watched Spooks! I was so happy to be watching Spooks (I missed the first two episodes of this series, but wasn't all that far off picking it back up).

Today M took me 'round Chester. She also has an MA in History, so she's been able to spout off all sorts of great historic facts as we've walked round the city walls (much more complete than York's, although I think York's are prettier) and the Cathedral (the cloister garden is lovely, but again, I think York wins) and through town. I've spent most of the afternoon in the Grosvenor museum, which has an astonishing collection of Roman tombstones that were preserved by being used face-in on the walls. Not much impressed with the rest of the collection, though.

Tomorrow it's off to Newcastle via Durham to meet another M who's here from the States. Will hopefully find someplace with Internet whilst there or whilst in Inverness. The next post may be a ways off, and I'm afraid that I've left my USB cable in the boxes I shipped or with my laptop in London, so no downloading any photos until I get back to my laptop and card reader/USB cable.

Take care, everyone.

In Chester, but hosts are on dial-up. More about my adventures in London and Chester when I hit somplace with broadband, I promise!

The whole point of coming to the UK to do an MA was to learn, right? To learn about history, to learn about another culture (YES, the English ARE another culture. Trust me.), to learn about myself.

I go offline tomorrow, and internet access will be sketchy until about Oct 20 as I wander around the UK, tracing the footsteps of my vaunted ancestors...blahblahblah... (honestly, my ancestors included silk weavers, silver maids, herring cannery workers, and 'agricultural labourers'. Not so vaunted, really). You can definitely expect a full report from me when I get home, if not some tidbits in between, and the fact that the year is over definitely doesn't mean that I'll stop blogging, although I have a feeling my life will get even MORE boring once I get home. I'll have to sign up for harp lessons or something equally entertaining to keep me amused. Maybe I'll take piano and voice again - it's been a while. The future holds many possibilities, mostly wrapped around how much money I'll be earning when I get back. The job market in Alberta at the mo is disgustingly in favour of the seeker of low-order service jobs - with Superstore paying $9.40 an hour to start, they're so desperate for staff, so I'll find something without too much difficulty. I was, however, hoping for something a little more illustrious than grocery store cashier.

So now that I've handed in my MA dissertation, and my bags (and boxes) are packed and waiting to be picked up tomorrow, I've got a bit of time to reflect on what the last year has taught me.

• My first entry after I arrived speaks about how bare my room is and how I'll need to accumulate stuff to make it look more like home. I now know that I accumulate way too much stuff in a year and need to figure out how not to be so pack-rat-y.
• I don't deal well with boredom. I think I knew that already, but this year has definitely confirmed that I need my life to be overscheduled and I need to be run off my feet to be comfortable and happy.
• I'm definitely not entirely over the depression I thought I'd battled. The tone of most of my personal postings here over the year has been tinged with definite shades of grey, made more intense by periods of homesickness, bad weather, loneliness, etc. I may need to try counselling again when I get home.
• I've learned that NOT having a definite plan for the future isn't the end of the world. I think I'd LIKE to have a plan, but NOT having one isn't the end of the world, and that's what matters.
  
• I've learned that the pressures of Academic History aren't for me. Not now. Maybe not ever. But I need some time out. I've been a student for 20 years now without a break and it's time to quit for a bit.
• Tiny differences add up when you're away from home. I would kill to see a Terry's Chocolate Orange that says "Whack and Unwrap" rather than "Tap and Unwrap" at this point. Honestly. And I would love to see a good old north americal electric socket. I want to use the $ sign rather than the £ again. I want to see a kid sledding on my 5 note. I want 25 cent coins.
• I don't make friends easily. I still don't have anyone on this side of the ocean that I'd consider a very close friend. There's the odd person who's just so damn nice that I think I could make an exception, such as A, the assistant librarian at the Minster, but I've only known her since the end of June, and unfortunately the out-of-work friendship has only really developed over the last month. I have a secret hope that her computer science PhD husband will come work at the U of A. I doubt it'll happen, though. But hopefully we'll keep in touch. Other than that, though, there's not really anyone on this side of the ocean that I 'connected' with on a really good, 'we have stuff in common that doesn't involve history' level.
• Some prejudices just don't go away. In Canada, I'm "in". Here, I'm a foreigner. And a North American foreigner at that. Not even a respectable European. I haven't gotten the vibe from a lot of people, but it's happened just enough that I can tell the Old World vs. New World prejudices aren't entirely gone from the world. Neither are class prejudices. Around here, your accent can make or break you if it comes down to that. And that makes me sad.
• I have learned to take initiative. Because I've been on my own so much here, I've had to do things myself and keep myself amused. The one thing that I regret NOT doing was heading to Pickering at some point after I heard about it to see the church there. That was laziness, though, as I couldn't be bothered getting up early in the day to catch the bus there and make a day of it, and I only heard about the church two weeks ago. Otherwise, I've done more things on my own than I ever would have thought possible. It _IS_ all right to do things by yourself.
• Not getting a particular job is not the end of the world. I would still like to get a good job, but as mentioned above, I'll have too many problems finding something to tide me over until I earn the £9500 required for the book conservation course I want to take.
• I care more about football than I ever thought I would.
• Things never turn out the way you expect.
• Crying and wallowing in emotions can actually help in the long run
• Happiness is at least partly an illusion, and ignorance is, in fact, bliss
• American Senior Citizen Tourists will always be the most inconvenient people possible, especially when in enclosed spaces or when told unequivocally to "stick together".
• Intra-linguistic differences can be funny. If not embarrassing.
• I need space. A one-bedroom apartment all to myself is about right. One bedroom in a crowded college hall of residence is not enough.
• Goodbyes aren't any easier than they were a year ago.
  

I ran out of paper. Bugger. So I went and got more this morning. Then I printed the rest of my dissertation. THen the guy who was buying my printer came and got the printer. Then I handed my dissertation into the binder's. Then I discovered that "The Brotherhood of the Wolf" is actually "Le Pacte des Loups" and made the agonizing decision to watch it for the first time with English voice-over. Oops. Then I ate pizza for dinner and now I am bored. I have packed most of what can be packed until the last minute. I have watched all my un-packed DVDs several times ("Quills" for the fifth time this evening, perhaps?). So I knit and blog surf. Tomorrow I pick up the dissertation and hand it in.

I think I've gone mad with the giddiness of being done the damn thing.

Only minimal changes required! I should be able to print my dissert and take it to the binder's tomorrow!

Is gorgeous.

This photo is taken by my friend A's dad from the hotel they stayed at last month. (I added the Copyright bit, sorry - I know it detracts from the photo, but it's a GOOD photo and I don't want randoms stealing it). The bridge is Lendal Bridge, and the building on the river bank is the Guildhall.

Of my life at the mo:

Supervisor still hasn't read my draft of my dissertation. I get it back on Monday at 3 p.m. which leaves me Monday night and Tuesday to get any corrections done. Needs to be in for binding on Wednesday. Hope there aren't any major corrections that need to be done! Head hurts just contemplating it.

Am packing. Suitcases and boxes litter what little floor space I have. Not pretty. US Customs forms ('cuz for some reason my shipment to Canada clears Customs in the states) impossible to figure out. Head hurts.

Overwhelmed by caulking fumes. The contractors just re-did the sealant around my window. My head really bloody hurts now.

Off to find some pain-killers.

I'm sure I will post at least once again between now and Sept 22 when I unplug my laptop and go cavorting about the UK. But just so that I don't forget, here's what I'll be up to:

Sept 23: to London
Sept 24: Visiting Hampton Court/Windsor Castle (likely the latter, with Ms. A.S. our dear FEPper who lives in London, I hope).
Sept 25: more London, then up to Chester.
Sept 26: Chester
Sept 27: to Durham for a quick stop at the Cathedral, then up to Newcastle
Sept 28: day trip to Hadrian's Wall
Sept 29: day trip to York to show an American friend around
Sept 30: to Inverness
Oct 1: Tour of Skye
Oct 2: to Isle of Lewis
Oct 3: wander around Lewis
Oct 4: more wandering around Lewis
Oct 5: to Inverness
Oct 6: To Edinburgh
Oct 7: Edinburgh
Oct 8: Head to Glasgow
Oct 9: Glasgow
Oct 10: Glasgow
Oct 11: to Barnstaple (Devon)
Oct 12: Hanging out in the North Devon Records office doing family history research
Oct 13: Exploring the Barnstaple area
Oct 14: To Bournemouth
Oct 15: Bournemouth
Oct 16: To Cambridge to see T and Crispy
Oct 17: Cambridge
Oct 18: To London
Oct 19: Fly home.

There's a legend in Greek mythology that's particularly interesting. It's a set of legends, actually, about what happens to people who are particularly nasty in life when they die and how they're punished in hell.

From the "Encyclopedia Mythica":

Sisyphus is the son of Aeolus the king of Thessaly) and Enarete, and founder of Corinth. He instituted, among others, the Isthmian Games. According to tradition he was sly and evil and used to way-lay travelers and murder them. He betrayed the secrets of the gods and chained the god of death, Thanatos so the deceased could not reach the underworld. Hades himself intervened and Sisyphus was severely punished.

In the realm of the dead, he is forced to roll a block of stone against a steep hill, which tumbles back down when he reaches the top. Then the whole process starts again, lasting all eternity. His punishment was depicted on many Greek vases. He is represented as a naked man, or wearing a fur over his shoulders, pushing a boulder.

Watching the folks at the Minster library these days is a bit like watching Sisyphus. They labour putting out plate after plate of silica gel, fans, dehumidifiers. They finally got the Upper Hall down to a decent humidity level - under 60%. But the Anteroom has spiked now, and it's getting up towards 70% again. I imagine if they begin to focus on the Anteroom, and ignore the Upper Hall for a bit again, then the same will happen - the Anteroom will be under control, but the Upper Hall will spike again. Especially since it was ominously humid outdoors today.

I don't for an instant envy them having to deal with this Sisyphean task (is there such a word as Sisyphean? If not, there is now). A, the assistant librarian there, is looking a bit haggard, in fact, especially frustrated by her coworkers' inability to seem to recognize the problem and do anything about it - the librarian himself if somewhat hopeless, and the other two individuals that know what to do are only part time and not in to monitor the situation every day.

I'm going in again on Friday to play in the Conservation Studio, and will hopefully not spend the entire day baking silica again. Not that I minded - someone's got to do it, right?

It's such a shame that such a beautiful building is so completely inadequate for the function its meant to serve. Apparently they weren't thinking about book conservation 900 years ago or whenever the building was built. Go figure. Nevertheless, I hope that something can be managed whereby the historical setting for the books can be preserved as well as the books themselves.

Yay!

New keyboard and everything! Woohoo!

Spent the day at York Minster library - I was meant to be going in just for the morning, to check out the Conservation Studio there where Mary works on all her stuff... but spent a fair chunk of the day helping them deal with a humidity problem. We were setting out plates of silica gel (you know that stuff that comes in those little packets in with your shoes that says "Do Not Eat"? Yup, that stuff) to absorb the moisture from the air. Interestingly enough, it changes colour and becomes lighter as it absorbs moisture, so every so often we'd take the old crap down, throw it in the oven to dry and become bright orange again, and replace. Unfortunately the efforts to date don't necessarily seem to have gone all that well - there were a couple of books that got mould on them anyway. Fortunately, the Minster seems to be willing to put a coating on the stone wall that will help keep moisture out. Hoepfully it won't rain this weekend... *knock wood*.

It's probably fake - you'll notice how all the pandas have exactly the same physical pose... but this is just too damn cute:

http://my.opera.com/bcdc/blog/show.dml/298579

From the "News" article:

SICHUAN, China -- One zoo in southwest China has its hands full with 16 baby pandas. The Sichuan Wolong Panda Protection and Breed Center is dealing with the results of a breeding boom -- 16 pandas have been born since July, 2005. The brood includes five sets of twins. The cubs are weighed and measured every five days by a special panda nurse.The heaviest tips the scale at just over 24 pounds, while the lightest weighs about 11 pounds. The pandas are due to stop being suckled by their mothers in February, 2006 just about the time they'll start learning to walk. Once weaned, the panda cubs will attend panda kindergarten. In the meantime, more little ones are expected at the center, since 38 giant pandas were artificially impregnated.

"This is to advise you that all candidate assessments related to this process have now been completed. Unfortunately, the selection board found that you did not meet all of the qualifications for this position."

I feel like an absolute failure.