Applying for a new passport

The nearest place I could apply for a new passport was Birmingham, so that’s where I booked an appointment. They were only available in the morning, and Birmingham is still quite far away, so by 7:15 I was in the train. I had plenty of time and space to get some work done. And in Wolverhampton I found out I had been travelling with a man from the food co-op, and his dog. That was a nice surprise!

View from the train 

View in the train

I got to the venue, which is an Indian visa centre, without problems. And there was quite a queue! It was a cold day to loiter outside, but there was little choice. And I was let in at the time I had my appointment.

Being inside was warmer, but not more reassuring. I ended up in a queue for a desk where you could get a number. The queue was long! But after a while a desk lady called out of there was anyone for a Dutch document. Me! And she gave me my number, and told me to sit down in the waiting room dedicated for people wanting Dutch documents. 

It wasn’t a long wait. And the man who dealt with my request was friendly. He processed my request, and in not much time I was done. Great! 

In a few weeks’ time I’ll have to do it all again, to pick up the new one. I don’t want to be without passport altogether! But in spite of the unpromising start, it went smoothly. One more trip and I’m sorted again for ten years! 

Walk in the snow

It had been icy and snowy for days! I had made it to work on bike on Wednesday, but with difficulty. And on the Thursday I hitched a ride with Susan. And on Friday I worked from home. I wasn't keen on the slippery roads and paths. But all that snow and ice did mean that the mountains looked absolutely stunning. And I want to enjoy that! So I figured I should take the opportunity over the weekend seek out the snow. And I went for the Sunday, because on Saturday I first wanted to visit a shop that wouldn't be open on Sunday, and I was going to have a cup of tea with Charlotte. So the mountains would have to wait!

On Sunday I made packed lunch, and got my bag ready. I didn't expect to need them, but just to be on the safe side I did pack my crampons in the bottom of the bag. And I took my walking pole with me. And then I set off. I decided to bike to near where Charlotte lives, and then walk the rest. I always like being able to do the last kilometre or so in the village rapidly and effortlessly!

The snow had already retreated a bit of the hill. But after too much time I was in it anyway. And I seemed to be the only one! There was no one else in sight.

Sheep on melting snow

Snowy selfie

I had already been hungry when I set off, but I wanted to sit down for coffee and cake at a beautiful place. So I walked for a fair bit before I stopped. I chose Gyrn Wigau; it's a rocky outcrop on an otherwise very smooth and vegetated slope. The views were great! And I had my coffee and cake.

On Gyrn Wigau, looking away from town

Looking back toward town

Suddenly I jumped a bit. I heard heavy breathing! And then a runner appeared. It turned out that I knew him; he runs Thursday Night Hill sessions. He was doing a nice loop with a mate.

I figured I needed to put on my sunglasses because that sun was getting higher and the snow thicker. But when I tried to do that, I noticed the leg of my sunglasses had fallen off. And I didn't manage to put it back. And that meant I didn't really want to linger too long in the snow. A pity! The hills don't look like this very often.

Given that the sun still wasn't particularly high I did go on for a bit. I didn't think I was going to be snow blind too soon. I went to the path underneath the summit of y Drosgl, and even a bit beyond that. But then I turned around.

I also decided to not retrace my steps; I figured I could find my own way off the ridge into the valley, and walk back that way. That would avoid some slippery bits on the steep part of the ridge, and get me too low altitude, with less snow, a bit quicker. Nicer on the eyes! So that's what I did. And by now more people were enjoying the hill; I bumped into some six people before I left the path.

Given I wasn't on a path, and the wind seemed to have gathered the snow in places, I sank into it a bit deeper than I hoped quite a few times. I did get snow in my socks as I wasn't wearing gaiters. But I also wasn't far from home! So it was fine.

Where I reached the path I bumped into Huw, who also attends all the sustainability events in the area. I bump into him a lot! But from there I didn't meet anyone anymore. I did sit down for lunch before I got back. I like mountains as the backdrop for my meals!

Back down in the valley 

When I got home I immediately fixed my sunglasses. It had been a beautiful walk, but next time I want to have these with me again, in working order!

New fitness tracker watch

I was losing my patience with my Apple Watch. It has an incredibly short battery life, and it is getting increasingly unreliable. Ideally, you record activities with your smart watch, and they just upload. But with this thing it was getting rather hit and miss. And I like the metrics that come with exercising! So I want to be able to log what I do. Additionally; the battery time had got so short that it couldn't log a several hour activity (like the Marchlyn loop) anymore. It was probably time for a new watch.

Apple watches can do all sorts of things, but I basically use it only as a fitness tracker. So I figured I might as well get me a different brand, that recognises it is mainly a fitness tracker. So I had a little Google, and decided a Garmin might be a good idea. They seem to have a good battery life! And are compatible with Strava. And this time I didn't bother with anything refurbished; I just went for a new specimen.

It came partially charged. I charged it up to some 80%, and then took it with me on my runs. And it did the job marvellously! It does track your run, and it is reliable in uploading it onto Strava. And you don't have to charge it after every run. You don't have to charge it for days, even if you record at least one thing every day! So far so good. Next step: my commute.

The new watch

My commute is more complicated. I always want to recorded as one trip, even though of course it really is two, with many hours in between. One reason is that I think it would clutter up my Strava if I recorded the way to work separate from the way back home. Additionally; I always aim to have a picture on all my strava activities. And it is bad enough to find a nice picture every day if you're basically always biking the same route, and doing it twice would be worse! Is this important? No! But it would be nice if the Garmin could manage this. The Apple Watch initially was okay with it, even though I would probably have to charge it twice while at work. But it was getting increasingly common that I would get home and only the way to work had been recorded.

The first they didn't work out. I started my bike ride, but it seemed to give up recording anything when I was idle for hours. The second day wasn't a success either. I decided to just record the first half, but somehow nothing appeared on my Strava. At least I managed to record the way back.

I'm not quite sure if this is just me being clumsy with the new toy. One thing I did instigate was that it auto-pauses when I stop. Maybe that will help! That functionality wasn't toggled on by default. I'm sure that if I can't get it to record my entire commute in one go, then at least I will get enough routine to manage to record it in two separate journeys. Practically every day. Not ideal, but unacceptable sacrifice in return for a watch you don’t have to keep charging, and that can log an activity that takes several hours! 

Ankle progress

The physiotherapist told me to kick my peroneal tendon into submission. I am paraphrasing quite hard, but that's what it boils down to. Crank up the exercises and get it ready for some strong action again! I am even doing heel lifts on a step with a backpack on to make it harder. That's pretty hard work! But it pays off.

He also suggested interval training, so go either some 25 seconds slow and then 25 seconds fast, and then repeat that until you're done, or go 25 seconds uphill and then 25 seconds otherwise, be it on the flat, or walking. And again; you repeat that until you're done. I've been doing that!

I started out just running up the hill on the other side of the main road. And it was going okay! I can still feel my ankle, but it doesn't feel like I can't run on it. I'm not limping anymore.

Initially I would just run to the pub on the hill (which seems to be closing), but when it felt good I went a bit further. And after a few days I was all the way at the end of the road. Beyond that it becomes a path; that didn't attract me very much in this season, as it would on some days be a mud bath and on other days an icy mess. 

Beyond the pub

One day when it was icy I found a bit of steep road that was clear enough and did hill reps on it. And I did 160 m vertical! And soon after I decided to do the run to the end of the road, but run the top bit twice as I figured I could. And then I got roped into a search for a lost doggy. Altogether I had run a reasonable distance! And if I could do that, I could do it in general.

The day after I went, for the first time since the injury, for a normal size run. I did my bad weather loop through Mynydd Llandygai. It’s 5.5k, with 160m ascent. And then I did it two more times on the two days after. I’m back! 

View on one of the runs

Now I need to get myself back to 12k and 450m ascent. Then I would be ready to rejoin the Thursday Night Hill sessions! That would be fab…

Viking hand: getting symptomatic again

Some ten years ago I found out I have Viking hand, or, as it is more officially known, Dupuytren’s contracture. It’s a condition that pulls your fingers in, starting with the ring finger, so in the long run you can’t open your hand anymore. In my case, it starts with a lump on the tendon to my left ring finger. And it’s sore.

Two things made this condition worse: hard manual work and old age. I got symptomatic because I did multi-week research cruises, in which I would do 12-hour shifts 7 days a week lugging heavy sediment core sections around. But if I’m not on a research cruise, my job isn’t very manual, so after that initial flare-up, my symptoms vanished again. 

When manual work won’t get you, old age will. And it looks like I have reached the age now where even if you’re a bit of a pen-pusher, you get symptomatic. Bugger! 

Back in the days, I dealt with the issue using swing top bottle washers. I could place them over the lump on my tendon, and then it would be protected. I still have them. I even made a clever slip-on thing that was a lot more low-key than taping the washer to my hand. I haven’t found that yet! But if I won’t, I can make one again. 

I now also have to think about radiotherapy. It seems to be able to significantly slow down or even stop the progression of the disease, according to the British Dupuytren Society. But it looks like a difficult thing to get if you live in Wales! I’ll have to look into this a bit more. And in the meantime, I’ll just try to deal with the symptoms as they are. I suppose that this time, they’re here to stay! 

No visible symptoms yet, but for how long? 

Dealing with an appeal

I've been in this current job for some 10 years, but new things still happen. Recently, I had to deal with a student appeal for the first time. If students think that something was really wrong with an assignment, or with the grade they got, they can appeal. Maybe they think the grade wasn't correctly calculated from the constituent parts, or maybe they think the instructions were wrong, or any such thing. They can't appeal the academic judgement of the marker. But in practice, appeals never happen. Students might directly contact you if they're not happy,  or tell the course reps so the staff- student liaison officer tells you, and then you can talk about it. In the olden days, when exams were on paper, there would be special feedback sessions. I do remember that it had come up that a grade wasn't correctly calculated, but nowadays computers do all that, and they are very good at that sort of thing. And sometimes a student complains through the module evaluations, but what you can do with that is limited. But it had never happened that a student took the formal route. Until now! And the student appealed against their grades in three different assignments in one go, and one of them was mine.

The procedure is that the student fills out a form in which they set out their complaint, and send it to the Quality Enhancement Unit. They send it on to the School involved. Then the person(s) responsible for the assignment(s) in question write(s) a response. I had to look up what happens next! Luckily, the procedure is explained on the University website. The whole pile of documents goes, via the Head of School, back to the Quality Enhancement Unit, and they report back to the student.

I wrote my response. It took a fair amount of time. The student had listed a whole array of things they said were wrong with my assignment, and how I had dealt with it. My response boiled down to that there wasn't anything actually wrong with any of that. I have seen one more response; the third one might take a bit longer, as the lecturing staff in question has since retired, so the response will have to be written by someone who was not directly involved in the assignment.

We were given 10 days to respond, so I suppose the documentation will go to main campus, and from there to the student, soon. If they don't agree with our response they can request a review, and they have to do that within 10 days as well. So I suppose by the end of the month we will know how this panned out.

I think it's good that there is an appeal procedure, but I do hope that it doesn't become all too popular. We really genuinely do our best to do a good job! And literally every assignment we set is also scrutinised by the external examiners. And student satisfaction is deemed very important, so messing up instructions is quite bad for your career. So the chance a bad grade is not due to the student, but to the assignment itself, is not high. And it can be a lot of work to respond to these appeals. But we'll see! Let's first find out if this student is successful.  Stay tuned!

Gluteus maximus getting in the way of sleep

For the last four years, I have had to stretch my gluteus maximus every day, in order to make it not get in the way of my daily life. And it has been working all right. I sometimes have to do an emergency bum stretch, but not very often. And sometimes I am lying in bed and am a bit uncomfortable in the buttock, and that tends to be difficult to deal with, as I am soft in the heart, and doing anything to relieve that would disturb the cat, which I actively avoid doing. But given that I can't remember ever having had that issue for a long time, I assume I normally just fall asleep in spite of it.

Sometimes, my exercise regime gets disrupted, for instance when I travel, or am ill. And maybe some activities make it worse, such as sitting on your bum in a train all day. And recently, I did all of these in quite short succession. I don't know if that was the reason for that things escalated a bit, but it could well be. 

Discomfort in the buttocks to such extent it made it hard to sleep became a thing in January. And I am not enjoying that at all! And unfortunately, both buttocks were involved in this. And the left one I could stretch as usual, and I had been doing industrial amount of stretching, but the right one really protested against stretching. It hurt! I couldn’t do it without making a plethora of unelegant sounds.

A bum stretch

I also took the yoga roller I have out of the cupboard. It had been gathering dust there for a while. But now it was all hands on deck. I also did industrial amounts of rolling. Anything to get my comfort back. I really need my sleep!

After a night in which I saw it get to 4am (which was the night I got the message from Nick) I contacted the physio. He suggested exercises to increase mobility of the lumbar spine. I googled a bunch. The one that seemed to do the most was the ‘sphinx stretch’ so I now do that too. 

Luckily, after that one night I at least could sleep. I’m still not back to normal, but that’s a start. And I just keep stretching, hoping I will get my full comfort back sooner or later…

Exit Nick

I suppose was too good to be true! In early October, Nick asked if we could go from the dating stage to the relationship stage. And although it was going a bit fast I said yes. And then we had three months in which I greatly enjoyed having a man by my side. Someone to go on adventures with! Someone to wake up next to! Someone with whom to do mundane things such as food shopping, but together. And he claimed to enjoy it too. The only gripe he had was that he said I was being overly kind to him, if I for instance bought him a bara brith, because I know he likes them.

But then he wasn't keen on seeing me on New Year's Eve. That didn't ring the alarm; he must have had his reasons. If something was wrong he would have brought it up, right? But then a few days later he didn't text me at all, the entire day. When I couldn't sleep I just thought I'd see if he might have texted me since I had gone to bed. And he had. And in that message he basically broke up with me because he said it wasn't working out for him. And that was it! One message of a few lines, and the whole relationship was null and void.

It was a punch in the face. What sort of bollocks is this? If he doesn't want to be with me he shouldn't be with me, but at his age he should have the maturity to flag up with me in person if things are not going the way he wants to. I suppose he doesn't like to bring people bad news, but I was really disappointed that he dealt with that by maximising the pain for me and minimising it for himself. I thought he was a better man. But I'm clearly a bad judge of character. 

I suppose this isn't a repeat of what happened with Dave; Dave turned cold after two lovely months, but then spent two further months stone cold denying that anything was wrong, even though he knew damn well it was. Only when he couldn't run away anymore on the Llŷn peninsula did he admit to the scale of the problem. I suppose that was even worse. (Time has also revealed that when he claimed he would be interested in any sort of friendship, he wasn't entirely honest.) So Nick might not have been quite that bad, but still, well below par.

So what now? Well, I have a life to get on with. I'm getting on with it. I sent Nick back his now useless birthday present. And I have reinstated my dating profiles. Has online dating brought me anything good? No. But could it potentially do so in the future? Well yes, I suppose it could. I know I have something to lose; I could have done without these two chaps stomping into and out of my life. And by continuing with it, I run the risk that it will happen again. But it is still possible to gain something. So I’m persevering. 

Pre-emptively changing a difficult battery

When I realised, upon my return from the Netherlands, what a deeply annoying sound my smoke/heat alarms make when they are running low on battery, I got worried about the alarm on the top floor. The electrician places right above the stairs, which makes it really difficult to get to. Stairs are not good places to put ladders, then putting a ladder on the landing would mean you would have to reach out sideways so far it looks risky. So how would I solve that? I would be in a hurry! Anything to make the sound stop. I figured I needed to be prepared. I wanted to find some solution or other before it would become urgent. And I used a rainy Sunday for it. 

I tried the ladders that are part of my working platform. I couldn't make that work. Then I tried my extendable ladder. I couldn't make that work either. And I was keeping my friends updated. They were worried about my antics! And Sue and Dean were so worried that they decided to come down with the working platform they have; it is different from mine, and probably a bit more manoeuvrable.

Trying the extendable ladder

Their platform is easier to put into position than mine. And they plonked it on the stairs with a short leg on the landing and a short leg on the stairs. That worked! With that, Dean could reach. So he sorted it. 

Dean sorting it

I don’t know how much charge that battery still had! But it now has a fresh one. When the easier-to-reach alarm on the ground floor runs out it can use up the tail end of this battery. And then get an entirely new one after it has done that. 

I should be sorted for years now! That’s a good feeling. 

Marshalling at a XC race

At the AGM of the running club, various committee members stressed the importance of volunteering for your club. And I fully intended to do that. I really enjoy the various things running clubs do for me, and they can't offer it without some input. And if not from me, from whom? And the first opportunity of the year presented itself in a race within the framework of the Welsh cross country (XC) championships. I wasn't going to run myself, so I would be available for other chores, such as registration or marshalling.

The lady who organised the event, Helen, let me know she wanted me for the 2 pm race (the various categories would start at different times). And there would be a briefing at 12:30. And she casually mentioned to bring a cake for the pop-up café. I hadn't quite noticed there would be a pop-up café, but yes I can deliver cake! So the night before I baked a ginger cake, and on the day itself I decided the weather warning for snow and ice was a bit exaggerated, and got on my bike to get to the athletics track at Treborth, which is close to the Menai Bridge. 

Cake

Once there are parked up, delivered my cake to the pop-up café, and found Helen. She asked if I was racing myself at all, and when I said no, she asked if I was okay to marshal the 1 pm race as well. Of course I was! So she gave me a printout of the route, with the positions of the marshals indicated, and off I was.

Arriving on site

The juniors were still racing. And it looked like a tricky one! Quite a lot of it was over playing fields, which get incredibly muddy if you have enough people stomping through them in January. I met my marshal neighbour Garfield, and got in position. I was a bit early. That was okay; I could daydream a bit, and read the newspaper I had brought, and chat to pass by. There was even a spaniel puppy who took quite a shining to me. So cute! So I wasn't bored.

What the runners would see just before reaching me

How muddy the track was just beyond me (in full screen you can see the cone, arrow and bag that mark my station in the distance)

Then the first runners appeared. It was blatantly obvious where they had to go, but I waved an arrow at them anyway. And yelled encouragement to every single one. I always get a bit carried away!

A strange sensation was that this race, while not actually going over the athletic track, had the athletic track as its venue. And there were quite a lot of people who were doing this race in spikes. My part of the route, though, went over a little bit of concrete. That creates quite an interesting sound! And some people were loudly questioning their choice of footwear. But even though everyone ran past with very muddy legs, I didn't spot anyone with clear signs of having wiped out entirely, so they must have been coping well!

When it looked like the last runner of the 1 pm race had passed I decided to have lunch. I had come prepared, of course. And then it fairly soon was 2 pm, and I could start waiting for the first runners of that race.

In this race, there is even one person I knew a bit: Michael, a fellow Eryri Harrier, who I had go to chatting to after the Pwllheli race. But as is my habit, I shouted encouragement at everyone including the last runner. And then it was done.

I walked back with Garfield, taking down some of the route marking along the way. And then my task was done! I went to the loo and then accepted the route home. I knew there was bad weather on the way!

I think this race could have easily done without me; as I said, the route was blatantly obvious. It was clearly indicated with tape. But I also know from experience that an enthusiastic marshal can give you a bit of an energy boost. So I hope that in that way I was still useful! And, I suppose, if something or someone would have damaged the tape, I would have been immediately on it sort the situation out. So I guess I did make a meaningful contribution to the race, and there by the club, and thereby Welsh running. A good way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Annual tree pruning session

Every winter my trees get a haircut! It’s not a chore I enjoy, but it has to be done. And when the weather got grey again after the beautiful Thursday I got it out of the way. Ready for spring! 

Before

After

Early 2025 walk around Marchlyn Mawr

I had seen that the weather forecast for January 2 was beautiful. And I figured I was going to be healthy enough to do something with that forecast. But why do it alone? I announced my intentions on whatsApp, and Sue and Dean liked the idea. Martin was in the South. And I suggested we do the Marchlyn loop; it is, in my view, a route that combines unusual spectacle with a rather low threshold. It is only some 5 miles, but it has one of the best viewpoints in Eryri. But because you spend the greatest part of the walk above 700 m (highest point: 923 m), you need good weather for it, otherwise you don't get these views. And you are quite exposed in places. So this might be one of those days when it can be done! And I knew Sue and Dean had never done it. They needed to know about this gem!

They agreed, and came to pick me up. I had my cake with me. They weren't even familiar with where you park for this trip. They were learning useful things! And we started, as you do, on the asphalt road to the reservoir. But by the junction where I often peel off to head for the surge pond, we left the road, and the walk really started.

Start of the walk. Pic by Dean

Ascending Elidir Fach. Pic by Dean

It doesn't start spectacular, but you gradually walk to lovely views. And we got more spectacular hoarfrost when we got higher. And the sun came out! The forecast had been that it would be out all the time, but it wasn't playing ball.

Pretty hoarfrost. Pic by Dean

The top of Elidir Fach was already beautiful, but it's nothing compared to the views you get from Elidir Fawr. It's a bit of a slog to walk up, and there were  light slipperiness issues, but we made it. Time for some pictures! And from there there was one stretch Dean wasn't very keen on, for reasons of fear of heights, but he negotiated that successfully. And by then we had walked for a fair while, so somewhere beyond the peak, but still with the good views, we sat down for some cake (and other foodstuffs). I even managed to give some to a random passer-by. There was enough! 

Selfie on the ridge of Elidir Fawr

When you get past the Bwlch y Brecan the landscape becomes a lot less spectacular, but still beautiful. We also came past some really charming dogs. And we saw that Anglesey was experiencing some rather unpleasant-looking weather. And it was coming our way! We were glad that we were coming towards the end of our walk.

The amazing view

Not long before we’d make the descent 

We came down the path back to the asphalt road, and basically as soon as we hit it, we were battered by hail. The atmosphere changed completely! From blue skies and sun on the ridge, we were now in a grey cloud with the hail stinging our faces. Luckily it didn't last too long. And we were safely on an asphalt road anyway. We were wondering about the people we had passed who were going up while we were coming down! They might not be so comfortable now.

Snowy selfie

Hail GIF by Dean

Before we were back at the car, the hail had moved on. We were back under blue skies. And then we saw two figures appear. It was our friend Sophie, from work, with her partner, who wanted to do the same thing as what we had done. We hoped the ridge would be out of the clouds again by the time they would get there!

I'm glad I could introduce them to this walk! And it was nice get such a nice hike in before the Christmas holidays were over. In North Wales in winter, it is really nice if you can take advantage of a period of good weather. They don't come around excessively often. And there are so many amazing views to be enjoyed when they occasionally do!

Finally: saw session

My firewood stock was getting low! So after my car repair session, it was paramount I would go and create some more really quickly. And I did. I spent a few hours sawing wood, crowbarring bits of wood apart, crowbarring metal bits off wood, and chopping kindling. It was a fruitful session! And now I feel ready for the near future. That's a good feeling! And I still have a fair amount of uncut firewood left. That will last me until spring. But my stocks are a lot lower than they have traditionally been. I remember having to keep finding new places for firewood, and that is now absolutely not a problem! But at least there is also a fair amount of wood from the garden slowly drying out in the garage. In about a year and a half that will be fine for burning as well!

All the firewood I had left! Mind that the ‘natural’ wood on the right is not yet ready to be burned…

Chopping kindling (notice the new basket)

The result! 

Air fryer

I’m on that bandwagon! I had thought about it for a while. Something that gives you food rather quickly and in an energy-efficient way is always likely to get my attention. I have an oven, and I like dishes that involve an oven, but I am often a bit hesitant to use it. I am only a one-person household, and heating the entire oven to cook dinner for one seems wasteful. And obviously, I often cook for several days, which would be similar to cooking for several people, but still. So when the air fryer became popular I was paying attention.

As it so happened, there is a program on the radio called "sliced bread" where a reporter evaluates a particular hype suggested by a listener. Air fryers featured, of course. I listened to that episode, and came away still thinking it was a good idea.

I also don't like overconsumption. The thing with a hype is that lots of people get one, and quite a lot of these will then see the novelty wear off, and not use their toy anymore. Or otherwise; maybe people get gifted them for Christmas, when they don't want them. So why buy a new one? Maybe better to wait until after Christmas and striking then. Less consumer protection, but more warm fuzzy feeling about basically reducing waste and maximising the resources that had gone into making this unwanted appliance in the first place.

Being unable to do particularly exciting things for reasons of health, I had a scroll on Facebook marketplace between Christmas and New Year. And there was one for sale in the village. That sounded ideal! And the lady who was selling it was happy to meet up on New Year's Day. So I biked there, had a nice chat, bought the air fryer, loaded it on the back of the bike, and went back home. And there I made space for it in the cupboard.

My main aim was to roast vegetables! I love roast potatoes, and roast beetroot, carrot, parsnip, onion, aubergine; you name it. But I had leftovers in the fridge that needed eating first. So it wasn't immediately able to use it for that.

On the 2nd of January, though, the weather would be great, so I had proposed a walk to my friends. They had accepted. But I have a reputation too keep up! I bring cake on a walk. And I didn't have any. I had better make something quick! And I had just bought an appliance that can make things quick. So I had a look at the documentation that came with the appliance, which didn't speak of baking, and just had a Google. You can clearly not just put the cake batter into the pan of an air fryer; the idea is that the air can get around the food stuff in the pan. So you need to have a container in the pan if you bake. That's okay; I have very small cake tins. And this was not quite what I had in mind when I bought the thing, but it was worth an experiment. I googled some vegan chocolate cake, and tried it out. It works! In half an hour you have cake. Enough for the hike.

Air fried chocolate cake

While I was doing that, I also noticed that the cat was a fan. When the air fryer is switched on, it has a display area with moving lights (like a timer counting down). She found that fascinating! And she was even interested in sitting in the box. Normally she doesn't care about boxes! But for this one, she made an exception.

Cat mesmerised by air fryer

Cat in air fryer box

So I have an air fryer now! I look forward to roasting my first vegetables. But it has already proven its worth. I hope I will get a lot of miles out of this.

First job of 2025: car repair

When I woke up on New Year's Day I was feeling a lot better than I had been doing the two days previous. So I geared up for some action! And the first thing I did was to repair my car.

The struts that are supposed to work the boot of my car had worn out. Initially I had to be careful that when I opened the boot, it wouldn't smack me on the head, but later the problem got so bad that I had to manually lift that door up, and it's surprisingly heavy. And then I had to keep it up while putting things into, and taking things out of, the boot. That is not very practical. But I had encountered that problem before; almost exactly 10 years ago, I had dealt with an identical problem with my Ford Fiesta. So I knew it was easy to solve!

When I had got back home I had started the phone car scrapping yards, but that didn't result in anything. So I then just phoned a car parts dealer nearby. And they had struts available by the 31st, and I had had time to come collect them. So now it was time to put them to use. I used a pole that I think officially is a curtain rod to keep the boot up, and replaced the struts. I was done in minutes! First chore of the year successfully completed! I'm not sure how much longer this car is going to last me, but now it will at least sit out its old age with a prim third door…

Before

After

Dutch pension

It had been nagging at me for many years. I had a working history in three different countries, and I had absolutely no clue what that meant for my pension. And I really should find out. So many months ago, I had finally managed to get myself some sort of digital identity, with which I could sort out my official business in the Netherlands.

When I got back from my Christmas trip in that country, I figured I might as well see if I could indeed use that to access my pension. So I did. And I could! It was easier than I thought. And well worth the effort. 

This means I have now solved the problem. The other problem is still there: my Norwegian pension. I think I will need to get a similar digital identity, but I suspect that will be difficult. The only thing I have is my "birth number" (a bit like a UK national insurance number) and I imagine that won't be enough for a smooth processing. 

I remember that when I got into the country, I wanted to get my drivers license, and the problem was that in order to apply for one, you needed to show an identity document that has both your picture and your birth number on. The only identity document with picture that I had was Dutch, so that didn't have my Norwegian birth number on. I needed to ask help from an Norwegian colleague; she trawled through the legalese involved, and told me to point out to whoever didn't want to accept my separate passport and birth number that in section 6 paragraph 5C (or something) it is stated that picture and birth number do not necessarily have to be on the same document. And then it worked out. And then I got my drivers license. And that then was a document that has both my picture and my birth number on. I could imagine something similar will happen this time! Stay tuned…

Looking back on 2024

2023 was a year of working too hard, and dating and running. And hanging out with my hill-based friends. How different was 2024? 

Not an awful lot different, to be honest! And I suppose that is mainly a good thing. Only the working too hard is a bit of a bummer.

January started with just that; I had a lot more marking leftover from the first term then I did this year. So I was still frantically marking coursework until the very moment the exams came in. Not an ideal way to start the year.

In February, racing started again with the Nick Beer 10k. And I got busy with my Athena Swan application. And my application for promotion. We also hired a maternity cover; we had already been hiring people in 2023, but these would not start until the New Year. This lady would start pretty much immediately! I also got busy with a big time saving device: my new mitre saw. Important for someone who does a lot of house heating with wood.

In March we appointed the last new member of academic staff. And at the end of the month, I submitted both my application for promotion to senior lecturer, and for an Athena Swan bronze award renewal. I was a bit wild-eyed by the time I sent off both but then there was a big weight of my shoulders!

In April, the dissertation module came to an end. That is always a busy time for me. And I started fell racing. I am still rubbish at that! But it was fun. And I had some visitors: the Cornish were back.

May brought a lot of marking, again. And an eventful race! I ran the Snowdonia half marathon, and limped over the finish. That turned out to be an IT band problem. I still don't know if I can run half marathons without them complaining. And I found myself cat sitter, so I could go travelling in summer. And at the end of the month, I heard that my Athena Swan application had been a success! That was excellent.

June was for travelling. First to the Netherlands, for our annual family reunion. That's the family on my dad's side; excitingly, I also met up with a cousin from my mother's side. And then to Finland, to celebrate my sister's birthday in Lapland. That was a fab holiday. In spite of the mosquitoes!

In July there was more travelling, but this time by other people; firstly my dad who came to visit. And then my old friend Frank. And my running looked up; I managed to run a silver medal in a 10k trail race, and joined the Eryri Harriers. And I met up with a guy I had got chatting with on a dating site. 

In August I really enjoyed the Eryri-related Thursday runs. And I saw more people: my cousin popped by again, with her family, Kate who had moved to England popped by again, and I joined Jitske for a few days hiking Shropshire, after which I saw the dating guy bloke again. And Lydia came over from London. I also managed to run my first gold medal. That was exciting! And then I went to the Netherlands again. 

In September, I tried a half marathon again. That didn’t go well! And I had my last visitor for a while: Rick, my old mine exploration friend from the southwest. And almost immediately afterwards, term started, with our annual field trip. The fun was over! And I ran Moel Eilio with the Thursday Night Hill group, and came away with an ankle injury I still have. And I saw the bloke from the dating site, Nick, a bit more. And I reconnected with an old school firend: Koen.

In October, Nick and I decided to be a couple. A big step! And I ran me another silver medal to celebrate. My ankle didn’t enjoy that! And term got into high gear, which all lecturing starting, and a lot of work on facilitating students designing their own dissertation topics. Luckily, by then we had a whole lot of new(ish) colleagues, with whom I also socialised. 

November was still stupidly busy with work. And no running to speak of! December started like that too, but then the pressure dropped. And I could celebrate my birthday without stress, and later go to the Netherlands. And that was the year pretty much done!

So yes, 2024 was another year of working too much, dating and running. And hanging out with my hill-based friends, although when we see each other, we often just meet up for dinner, and that rarely ends up on the blog (but not never). It doesn't mean it doesn't happen, and it doesn't mean it's not important to me! I hope to see a lot more of them in 2025.

Regarding the working, the good news of course was that the two big projects going on both came to fruition: my promotion application, and my application for the Athena Swan accreditation. These were the big things! And 2025? I intend to apply for senior fellowship of the higher education Academy in summer (I've been procrastinating). Wish me luck! Otherwise, I don't expect huge changes or spectacular events. But you never know. There is also this tiny matter of the University being in dire straits again! Who knows how that pans out in 2025.

The dating went better than it had been in living memory. I really hope Nick and I can make 2025 a glorious year for the two of us!

And the running! This was such a successful year, until it wasn't. I never ran gold before, and I had several silvers. I was on such a roll! But I am clearly of the age now that I can't take any of that for granted. I start the year only capable of doing very short careful runs, because of my ankle. But I am religiously doing my physiotherapy exercise exercises. I really hope I will be back in fighting form very soon!

Was there anything else? Last year I mentioned ChatGPT. I figured that might have changed my work a lot by the end of the year. And I suppose it has, but it went so gradual I barely noticed. We for instance make sure to run all our exam questions through AI to see how it fares. If it can do a good job, it's not a good exam question! But so far there is still so much it can't do we can always think of other exam questions. And the University wants to phase out exams anyway. Coursework is much less AI-vulnerable, although of course not entirely invulnerable.

I also mentioned I was going to do a duathlon. And I did! But I don't think the competitive cycling is for me, and the running on that day also wasn't, because it was too soon after my IT band issue had reared its ugly head.

And I was right to worry about politics! What on Earth will happen when Trump assumes power again? And how will the situation in Syria develop? How long will the rickety coalition in the Netherlands last? How will the elections in Germany go?

And I had a last new Year's resolution: reading more books. And did I? Yes! I barely read anything in 2023, and I read seven books (almost 8) in 2024. Still a disappointing number to be honest! But better than it was. May this continue in 2025! 

And the cat? No mention of her so far! But she is not a very time-specific aspect of my life. She started the year thinking a very good use of her time is snoozing in a comfortable chair. She ended the year thinking snoozing in a comfortable chair is a very good use of her time. And she is still the little spoon every night, and she still loves playing with the fishing rod toy. Just like last year. And probably next year…

A much simpler solution to phone issues

I might not have been very healthy on the last days of the year, but one thing I managed to sort. When my old phone initially did not want to charge, I bought a new charging cable. That sorted me out for a month or two. When the problem came back, I just bought an entirely new phone. We are so dependent on these things, and if you can't charge them, they are useless! But when I was having a cup of tea with Miles he said you can just buy wireless chargers. And they are very cheap. I wish I would have realised that when I was in the Netherlands! That would have saved me quite a lot of money. But hey ho.

On the day of New Year's Eve I bought one. And it worked! My phone is modern enough to be compatible with that. So now I can be downright contemptuous of any charging port issues. It is fab!

Charging wirelessly 

I am now having two pretty much identical phones, so how is that panning out? Well! It's actually quite handy. Only one of them has a SIM, but that's OK; most communications don't go over the SIM card anyway. So sometimes I'm multi-screening with two phones. Handy for instance when I want to blog on one phone, and look up the blog posts I want to refer to on the other one. Or if one of them needs charging, I just use the other one. So it wasn't money wasted! But it does show me that sometimes my ignorance is an expensive thing. Not that I didn't know that; imagine how much money I might have spent unnecessarily on the house. Because I know nothing! But life goes on, and this is the second time Miles guides me to a very simple solution to a problem you can also tackle the difficult way. The first one was the heated pad for the cat. Which she absolutely loves! And which is a very efficient way of keeping her warm through the winter. Hooray for simple solutions!

Somewhat miserable betwixtmas

I came home on a Saturday evening. And all was well! I had managed Christmas without falling ill, I had got home without problems, and it was still so early in the Christmas holidays I could afford to spend some time with Nick. And did all go on like that? Well, no!

On the Sunday, I first sorted out my alarm, and I did one of my interval runs, that the physiotherapist had recommended. And I made sure to have quality time with the cat. I also had to hit the kitchen; Miles was coming over. It was good to see him! It had been a while. So a good day. 

Pic taken during my run

The next morning I woke up with a stinking headache (no we didn’t drink any alcohol). I was also feeling lethargic, and with an overabundance of slimy substances in my system. Dammit! I thought I had dodged that bullet! But clearly not. So the second last day of the year I did very little. Would I be healthy enough to go and see Nick on New Year's Eve? That didn't even become the question! Nick encountered some challenges of his own that made it a bad idea for me to come over. So on the day of New Year's Eve I first did some chores I suddenly had time for; I had to buy some car parts, and when I was in town anyway I also bought an electronic gadget. And some firewood baskets. And otherwise I just made myself comfortable. I lit a fire, did some blogging, read a book, and had more quality time with the cat. I made sure to eat nice food, and at 8 pm I was pretty much ripe for bed. Not quite how I had imagined things! But it was not a bad day at all. And I clearly wasn't entirely well again, what with barely lasting beyond 8 pm.

The cat looking daft and cross-eyed on NYE

So that was how my year ended! I will do a separate blog post with an evaluation of the year that thus ended in comfort but not spectacle. Stay tuned!

Welcome home by the heat alarm

Travelling home from the Netherlands by train is a long slog! I was glad I got home. I could already hear the cat inside when I approached the door. And then I got in and things were a bit less welcoming. 

My house smelled a bit strange. And I heard a strange beep. What was going on? Had I left something on?

I snuggled and fed the cat. And did a little round to see if everything was ok. All seemed fine! Except that the heat alarm in the kitchen seemed to run low on battery. Hence the beeping. Some of these alarms might be quite demure in their communications of diminishing battery charge, but not this one. The sound was decidedly unpleasant! But I really didn't want to deal with that right now. I had the strong suspicion I didn't have the required battery, and I had only just got home. I really didn't want to leave again. So I just checked how loud the sound was if I just closed the kitchen door. And it was bearable!

I made sure in the cat's food and water were outside the kitchen as well. And the smell? I never found out what that was about. Maybe that was placebo effect. Maybe your house always smells a bit strange if you have been away, and maybe you place too much emphasis on that when you also hear disconcerting sounds. But I stopped worrying about it. And I went to bed fairly early. And I did manage to sleep through the sound, that I could still hear. I couldn't really close more doors, as that would impede the cat.

As the sound was so unpleasant, it was pretty much the first task in the morning to sort that out. I shut down the electricity to the alarm, took it down, removed the battery, and went to the local shop to buy a new one. I decided to buy two. If this alarm is running out, it is quite possible the other alarms are not far behind. If the next one goes, I can sort that out without having to go to the shop.

I put the new battery in, and put everything back in place. Such a small job really, but just a bit too much after a 12 hour train journey. I hope that's me sorted for years now!