Cranky

The best word to describe my mood the last couple of days is Cranky! In no particular order:

1. I hate being cold and it's really cold in England right now.
2. I found out my YOUNGER cousin Jodie, who is getting married in December, chose purple for her wedding colors even though I picked purple before she was even born (yes I am 15 years older than her)!
3. I have some major deadlines coming up with school.
4. I have done a bunch of work since August and have not been paid for any of it and now I have bills to pay!
5. Make sure Dave buys a nice shirt before we take pictures on Saturday.
6. It's my turn to teach the lesson on Sunday.
7. The librarian at school was twitchy today.
8. Find out if I will be working in January when I go home to Utah.
9. I have a lesson to plan and teach on Thursday in London.
10. The Bishop wanted to give me a second calling.
11. I am the grad student rep for my department and the university wants to have the grad student meeting in a hallway! (Yeah, I'm serious.)
12. Schedule appointments for when I go home in December/January; dress, reception, hair, invitations, and flowers all done.
13. Make sure the photographer does not go overboard with wanting to take tons of Christmas pictures for the engagement pictures. Yeah, I know it's a SPRING wedding.

Just a tiny bit stressed.

COLD

It's gotten really cold here in Walsall, it was 36° yesterday. Another thing I have learned about English people: they turn off the heat at night. Does that even make sense? Why would someone do that? Don't they know that if the temperature is lower then you have a higher risk of getting sick (I got that from my biology class in high school)? My roommate rationalized that if your duvet is a certain tog then you should be ok at night. So now I think, what is a tog? The first website I went to said this: "The tog rating is a human-friendly system used to indicate the warmth of duvets, sleeping bags, etc. It is mainly used in the UK." Don't they realize you can die from hypothermia? So according to my roommate if the Donner party would have had a higher tog number they would have survived? I've already warned Dave that we will not be continuing this bizarre practice. Our rule will be, when we are in the house the heat is on.

p.s. Happy Thanksgiving!

You know you are a nerd…

… when all you want to do is spend time in the library.

I was suppose to teach a biomechanics class at Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London today, but it got switched to December and since I already had the train tickets I decided to head to the British Library because I have wanted to go there for a while. To get a Reader Card (not Library Card), you have to have proof of an address and signature, I was lucky I had a bank statement on me because all the other bills are in my roommates names.

I have been doing research for my literature review for a while now, but not much writing. It is just too hard to write at home or school, too many distractions. I was glad I had a whole day with no interruptions to write. It reminds me of the BYU library, quiet in some areas and social in others. The whole vibe is conducive to productivity. It may not seem like much, but I got four pages done. I still have about three to five more to write, depending on how much detail I go into. Alright, I did take a break to watch Glee on an illegal website, but there is no way I have the patience to wait until January to watch all the new episodes.


One problem: my camera isn’t working, so I couldn’t take pictures. (I stole these off Google Images.) But in the middle of the library is like an old manuscript room, called the King’s Library. It’s surrounded by glass so you can look in and see the old books. Very cool! I headed up to the 2nd floor (which is really 3rd floor in America) Science room. The chairs are so comfy! It was a good day.


BONUS: Starbucks’ is across the street so I can get a Caramel Hot Chocolate. Yep, it’s cold here.

this weekend

This weekend I had the privilege of speaking at the British Association of Sport Rehabilitators and Trainers (BASRaT) Conference. I did a Introduction to Performing Arts Medicine presentation. It was at the University of Salford near Manchester. It was fun getting to know more people here in England who are British version of the NATA. I also put my poster up (see the picture on the right) of my Master's research. It was a busy weekend, but I was glad to get home and see Dave.

Side Note: My Mom sent my winter clothes and they finally arrived. I had her send some clothes that I haven't worn in a while. One of the capri pants use to be my favorite to exercise in, but I haven't been able to wear them in 4 1/2 years. The best part about not having a car is walking everywhere, which means I burn more calories, which means I have lost weight. I don't know how much, but it is enough to fit into some old favorites. Yippee!!!

today's adventure

I had forgotten to get the super glue from Dave last night to fix the wheel on my luggage. He did a drive by to give me it. I went outside in my pj's, grabbed the super glue, then turned around to notice the door had locked behind me. Dave had driven off, so I stand there staring at the door wondering what am I gonna do to get in.
It takes about 20 minutes to get into the back yard (don't ask, it's just another weird English thing). The back door is locked, and so is the door into Rachel's room. I figured I could get into my bedroom window because I know it is not locked, just shut tight. We have no ladder, so I put the garbage cans together to try to climb up onto the roof of the kitchen. No luck, too short.
Next dumb idea, break a kitchen window. Here's the logic behind which window to break, which one is the smallest. The door window. Not a good idea because the kitchen door is not locked using the handle, it's locked from the top and bottom of the door on the inside.
Next idea, ask a neighbor for a ladder. It was too short, but I did get to see the roof was made of slate. This means, even if I was getting on the roof I was going to slide off.
Next smart idea, call a locksmith. The neighbor was nice enough to call a locksmith he had on speed dial, I think he has done this before. I went to wait for the locksmith at the front of the house. I don't know how long I had been there, my watch was upstairs, because I got the idea to send a message to my roommates on facebook about being locked out. I knocked on some doors, and no one answered. Bummer...more waiting. The mailman walked by, I asked him what time it was, 1:30pm.
A while later, I honestly don't know how long I was out there waiting for the locksmith, I saw my roommate Rachel walking down the road! Yippee!!! I was so glad to see her.

netball?

I went to watch my roommate play in a netball game. Yes, she is on the University of Wolverhampton's team. But from the pictures you can tell I was the only fan there.

From this picture you can compare a netball basket and a basketball basket.

The referee didn't even have on a uniform.

And yes they wear skirts to play in. After watching for a few minutes it just made me cringe because it looked like someone invented the game during the Victorian Era as a wanna be basketball sport. Like they didn't want women to exert themselves. I went to wikipedia to check out the history of netball, and sure enough I was right. The original rules were "designed to accommodate the social norms regarding appropriate conduct and attire for women, and contemporary notions on their limited physical capacity." I had seen netball when I was in South Africa and knew I didn't like it immediately because of how limiting it was. Of course I will continue to go to support my roommate.

Halloween weekend

I didn't celebrate Halloween because the IADMS conference was here this year. And on Sunday I went to Coventry for the Biomechanics Day.

The clock on the big tower, next to the Coventry City Hall.

This is the Coventry City Hall. Apparently Coventry was bombed like crazy during WWII because this is where they built the airplanes. Coventry is like the Detroit of England because this is where they use to make cars, but not anymore. I only got to see a little bit because campus is close to the train station.

This way to the biomechanics lab! It was really good to go because I learned tons for projects #3&4.