Working days are lengthening

Ouse flood of 2012

Another run this morning enabled me to find a slightly shorter route compared to Sunday, at the price of a wet shoe when I stepped into a surprisingly deep puddle hidden among the weeds. Despite it having been dry here for my entire stay so far (a situation that I have no illusions will continue much longer) it's still very wet down by the Ouse, the river that flows though York and is indeed famous for flooding regularly. The Kings Arms keeps a scale on the wall showing flood heights during the last decades.

The shortening days will soon make it difficult to run regularly, so I plan to resort to indoor sports facilities. Close to the university there is the so-called Sport Village, built for (and with money from) the 2012 Olympics though apparently never used for that occasion. (The story goes that it was intended as training grounds for the team of an African nation, which pulled out of the deal at the last minute. I yet have to get this confirmed though.) As University associate I am entitled to a reduced membership fee - which nevertheless still amounts to a staggering 36 GBP/month. I have no doubt that the facilities are above par, but so are those at the U Twente, which as a staff member I can use for exactly 0 Euro. We don't realise how good we have it!

The bike is indeed the ideal mode of transportation around here. No more waiting for and in buses! I do have to remind myself to drive on the wrong side of the road though. When you're underway it is no problem, but it's something you have to think of at the start of each trip.

Today I finally got some real work done, though it was essentially an action point left over from Twente (taking care of some of the teaching material of the second BSc module, Software Systems). Not the kind of thing I'm here for, but belofte maakt schuld (a promise made is a debt unpaid). I also met some more PhD students over lunch - sandwiches in the cafetaria - as well as a number of other staff members during the biweekly cake (home baked!): among others, Mike Dodds, for whom I acted as external PhD examiner and is now a research lecturer, and Colin Runciman, who was the internal examiner at that occasion.

I stupidly left my laptop charger in the apartment, and though this allowed me to observe that the laptop can run for about 5 hours on its battery (using an external screen), which is quite reasonable, still it was a short day. I decided to use the last few hours of daylight to take the "Orbital Route", a well-signposted cycling route around York - also because I was warned that this sunny & warm weather won't hold: cold is expected later this week.

I dined on mushroom soup, after which my "landlord" dropped by (by arrangement) to show how the laundry is to be used. It's handy and nearby, though not cheap I think at 3,50 GBP for 1 load of washing and drying. The apartment has an ironing machine. I now also know where to leave the garbage. All is clearing up.

For those of my readers who like a puzzle: what is the full message on the sign in the picture, which I encountered next to a kissing gate while running? Answer to follow in a next post!