This really was the view from my place of work this morning, with my University of Tromsø colleagues having installed us in a cabin on the coast of Ringvassøy for a couple of days. Call it luck if you like, but I’m not a complete idiot — I have generally managed to set up my life in certain ways so I do end up spending time in places like this. Mind you, the guy shown here gets to work here every day. To me, he’s the lucky one.
I was supposed to be flying to St Malo in France today, for the ECIL conference (which in past years has been responsible for the appearance of Dubrovnik, Tallinn and Prague on the blog). However, what you see here is the aftermath of the reason why I have only thus far made it as far as Guernsey in the Channel Islands. There I was meant to change planes, but we ended up departing five hours late from Manchester as, when the first plane began pushing back away from gate 21, its wingtip managed to spear the catering van you see here in the centre. So off we passengers all toddled and returned to the terminal, while (count ’em) eighteen people, including a whole slew of hi-vis and two fully armed coppers stood around doing not very much that could be seen as productive. Nice to see so many people gainfully employed by such a cockup. So that’s me in France 24 hours later than scheduled then — just as well I wasn’t down to do my keynote speech on Monday morning.
There must be bus stops something like this one in Hell. It’s the blanket that gets me, too. What was I doing here at 5.45 on a Monday? Well, there could be many reasons.
I am sure that by all possible definitions, this photograph is very boring. But then again, so is being driven on an Interstate (I-74) through the US corn belt. Taken while we were still just about in Illinois — but the last few days of my stay here will be spent in Indiana.
It’s actually not a bad place to catch forty winks, the train home — I manage it frequently. Like these two gentlemen, I am tired…. but have now just three days left before my summer break.
Another trip to London…. but just for the day. Platform 8, Leeds station, to which I returned approximately ten hours later. The first precisely timed shot for a while.
I have been excessively mobile during June. The trips to and from Siberia and Norway had already taken 11 flights and eight different airports, and on the last day of June I added one more flight and two airports — Aberdeen to London City. Too much… I need to reconnect with home over the next seven weeks (the next major trip being the last two weeks of August to the USA). How is Aberdeen airport? Same as other airports, except that it doesn’t seem to have been refurbished since about 1980.
It’s over four years since this blog featured a proper visit to the Netherlands (Maastricht, April 2012) but I seem fated to visit Schiphol airport on a regular basis. My flight to Russia saw me positioned in a seat right above the entrance to the hold, so I got to watch these guys do their jobs while settling in for the second of three flights in one day….
First trip into Manchester for nearly two weeks. Last week I stayed at home and worked, which was the easier option due to the closure of Victoria station. Half-above the station stands Manchester Arena, scene of what we could refer to as ‘The Events’ of Monday 22nd May but which one might also reasonably call ‘the slaughter of 22 people by a psychopath’. *Sigh*. And I had decided to try not to mention it.
Well, here we are again. And as usual – just for a quick visit. Things to do, then I’m off home again. This is how London has become the fourth most-depicted place on this blog. A place to come to and depart from…
Being 42 