Yorkshire Dales - Hanlith Horse

Baggage

At the end of the month I'm going to visit my family in Germany. When I booked the flight many months ago with EasyJet I got a really good deal. I booked flights with carry-on luggage only as I thought I could add on checked-in luggage later if I had to. Now, as I really want to go skiing this year in Scotland, I'm thinking of bringing my skiing gear from Germany. So I checked the EasyJet website today, and to my dismay I found out that besides the 22 pounds for one checked item I would also have to pay an additional 35 pounds for changing my booking from travelling without luggage to travelling with luggage. That's ridiculous. Redunculous even. DHL charges 30 € for a parcel up to 20 kg sent to the UK, and I won't have to carry it myself.

Walking with Friends

Still Young

A few weeks ago I experimented with a dry shampoo substitute (*link*), and I continued experiments today.

Sourdough Explosion

It happens. I fed the sourdough and put it back in a closed jam jar in the fridge before it had completely "digested" the flour. The jar didn't burst, but the pressure was high enough to unscrew the lid a little bit and for the dough to squeeze out into the fridge. The actual explosion happened, when I opened the jar, but no one got hurt. Even the sourdough losses were bearable.

It's strangely satisfying to take care of a living being and watch it prosper. And no, I'm not feeling broody.

Choir Rehearsal

I joined a choir, and so far it has been very enjoyable. I like to sing, and singing a great arrangement in different parts sounds so nice. I'm actually surprised how well we sound, I expected much less. As we were founded only three weeks ago, there is no established culture yet, most people don't know each other, the repertoire is very open, and so is the purpose. We have been about 30 people each week, enough sopranos, many altos, a couple of tenors and basses. Since people are allowed to drop in anytime, numbers and proportions are dynamic.

Bad Karma

I keep killing rats when I cycle home along the canal at night. They get scared and jump into the water. Or can they swim?

Cliques in Swing Dancing

For a change from all the walking posts, this one is about swing dancing and the swing dancing communities.

After five months in Edinburgh in which I went to most swing dancing events and classes that were available, joined all the Edinburgh swing dance Facebook groups, added many, many fellow dancers as fb friends, went for after-dance drinks, brought cake, and joined as many socials as possible, the hard work is finally paying off and people here are getting used to my face and warming up to my presence. Many know my name and some even pronounce it correctly, they seem genuinely interested in what I am doing - beyond British politeness and small talk - and I even get invited to birthday parties.

Pentlands Again

Today, I assessed a couple of friends' walking abilities in the Pentlands. They passed, because they did everything right. No complains when I lost my way and we got really close to the military shooting area with the red flags up, they didn't walk faster than me, they brought plenty of food and first aid stuff and shared it, and they were happy to go to a pub afterwards. I'm not asking too much of my walking company, or am I?

Glencorse Reservoir

Me Doing Stand-Up Comedy (For Real)

Hmm, Blogger doesn't let me upload my video, so until it does you can find proof of the start (and end) of my stand-up comedy career in my dropbox: *click*

Another First

I don't really know how to tell this story in the best way so I just tell you how it is. I did stand-up comedy tonight. As in I was the person on stage in The Stand (*link*), a comedy club, and people paid money to see and listen to me. I was filmed and if I don't look fat in it I'll post the video here once I get it.

Here's a preview: It was a Bright Club night (*link*), academics talking about their science and being funny at the same time - and I must have been funny, people laughed!

Bucket List

A bucket list is the best kind of to-do list as it lists the fun things you want to do in your life. I don't have an actual list, but there are some things I've always wanted to do, and if I was to start writing them down I would probably add more items every week. One of the newer items would be to learn how to play the violin. My flatmate owns one, and she and Kat were witnesses to my first trial, and what can I say: I'm a natural!

But one thing that has been on my bucket list for a few years now is to join a choir because I love choral music and I'd like to train my voice - the next karaoke night won't be long. So today I did and I loved it!

Canal Grande

This year, the end of Edinburgh's festival season coincided with the end of summer. Suddenly, I'm wearing gloves and hats again! And that is why I'm pretty sure that the guy who fell into the canal today didn't enjoy it as much as I did in summer (*link*). Unfortunately, it took me too long to make the connection - between a dripping cyclist wringing out his clothes and the big puddle of water at pretty much the same position where I fell in - to express my schadenfreude.

Cards

Alex brought them over today. Alex is my DPD guy, and the printers that I ordered the cards from had given me up-to-date information about where my parcel was at any time, and eventually, that Alex would call between 1.08 and 2.13 pm today which he did. Just to make sure, I asked him if his name was Alex and he confirmed and wasn't freaked out, hehe.

They are 350 gsm (grams per square meter), which was the cheapest option, and feel thicker than most business cards I have been given by other people. If you like them, comment away, if you hate them, shush!

Microadventures

Not sure if I have shared this here before, but I'm feeling adventurous :) I found some inspiration here: *link*.

Entitled

I had a really nice chat with the technical director of the small engineering company that sadly didn't hire me (*link*), and he confirmed what I already knew but needed to be told again: Most jobs are not advertised. Which means I need to get out there, network, apply speculatively, etc. He also thought it a good idea to have business cards, and as designing a business card seems something worthwhile to do (although it is just concealed procrastination really) I set out and did so. But I came across one question (and then some more) regarding my title and hope to hear some opinions from my dear readers.

Feeling Poetic

The one poem that I had to learn by heart in school and still remember in its entirety is this:

Der Logarithmus
von A zur Basis B
ist die Zahl,
mit der man B
potenzieren muss,
um A zu erhalten.

(The logarithm
of a number A
to base B
is the exponent
to which B
must be raised
to produce A.)

Turning your current job into a job you like

I experienced a crisis of faith the other day after receiving another rejection for a job. For a period which fortunately only lasted half a day I became insecure and doubtful about my approach to finding a job I love in a place I love. Which was moving to that place without knowing anyone there, and then socialising, networking, volunteering, and applying for jobs like crazy. But you'll be glad to hear that I'm now back to being happily deluded optimistic.

Manifesto

Some people (*link*) put this together and I liked it. So much common sense.

You bet

I feel like I should put it in writing and make it official that Kat and I have a bet going on. She recently deactivated her facebook account and I challenged her that she will miss it so much and will be back to using it in less than a year.

So, if Kat reactivates her facebook account before August 2014 she will have to buy me a bottle of Scotch whisky. If she doesn't the whisky will be on me.

And here's some support for anyone else who is inspired: How to Quit Facebook (*link*). Among other advice they mention Cold Turkey (*link*), an app which lets you (temporarily) block websites and programs - useful for people like me with no self-restraint who have to write job applications instead of checking facebook all the time.