April 2004 Archives

Try-A-Tri

It's the Cardiff Triathletes' Try-a-Tri this Sunday!

Don't worry, I'm not competing. I'll be taking photos for the cardifftri.net website and/or marshalling. It's the busiest time of year for that website, as everyone gets their results and photos from it after the race, so I'll be busy with it all day on Sunday.

Let's check the weather forecast - looks pretty good for a triathlon: warm but not hot, with some rain in the air and almost no wind.

Train/Bike Hassle

Train/bike hassle today = high

I had a puncture on my way to catch the train this morning. I replaced the tube and that one deflated too. Great. So I missed the 7.54 train and had to catch the 9.02. Of course this train is one of the newer ones that you can't get access to the bike compartment without the train manager so he charged me an extra £3. I had the same problem last night and almost didn't get my bike off the train. It nearly disappeared off to London without me.

I swear that they're actively discouraging people from taking their bikes on trains. If so then they must realise that those people will just stop taking the train and go back to their cars. Considering that I spend over £2000 a year on rail travel, and that I am not alone in being a regular commuter with a bike, shouldn't they be making life easier for us, not harder?

Samurai Jack DVD

Oh my God! Samurai Jack is coming out on DVD at last! Season 1 is coming out on region 1 on May 4th. What about region 2?

http://www.playusa.com/playusa.asp?page=title&r=R1&title=164488

On The Job

I was already having a good day when 2 Sony Vaios, a Sony projector and a Wacom graphics tablet arrived in my office from Dabs. I'm not sure - am I allowed to enjoy my job this much?

Rainy Days

Traffic in Cardiff hasn't been too bad at 7.30 in the morning over the last 2 weeks that I've been cycling. So why after a bit of rain (and it IS only lightly drizzly, if that) does the amount of early morning traffic increase so much? Is it because people drive more slowly in poor conditions? (Fat chance round here). Is it because people have been walking and cycling instead and are now put off by the weather? If so you really would have thought the people of South Wales would have some decent waterproof kit as we're renowned for our rain.

I don't know. It's a regular phenomenon though. I'm glad I still cycle when it's wet. If I drove I'd be stuck in the same traffic as everyone else.

Open Day

Today was Open Day for the graduate entry medicine course that I'm teaching the anatomy for. We're holding three (April, June, July), and this was the first, and it was for people looking to apply for the academic year starting September 2005. It was also the first time we've used the brand new Anatomy Suite for real.

The Anatomy Suite held up well. We've received the best part of all our models, skeletons, bones, joints, posters, etc that we've ordered and it all looked pretty good. I demonstrated some 3D anatomical layered models running on my iBook and the layout of the online teaching aids, and switched (at the flick of a switch) to a DVD cued to a video of a rotating brain. We had a couple of groups talking, and neither interfered, which was part of the reason for the design of the layout of the room. We'll be teaching anatomy in small groups, so this should work fine.

The Suite is still not finished, and we've ordered some more technical kit (laptops, projectors) and have yet to order a bunch of PCs for the medical students' use within the Suite. We're getting there though, and it all works so far.

Curiously, one of the attendees was a friend from my first degree days - he was doing biochemistry while I was learning anatomy. Wierd, eh? He's planning to apply.

Oh, and I got my license from the Home Office today too. I am now a licensed anatomist!

Jellybaby

Someone's jellybaby's sat looking out of the train window.

Train Desk

My desk on the train in the morning.

Sunny Cycling

Now today is a day I'd rather be cycling. Probably. It is a glorious sunny morning.

The Cardiff side of my commute has been gradually modified to cut out as much road as possible, and I do consider myself to be lucky to be living in a city that has some lovely off road routes into the centre. I take the main road as far as the A48 (Western Ave) and then get off onto the wide tree lined terrace beside Pontcanna fields and cut across to the river behind Glamorgan's cricket ground (Sophia Gardens) and the Welsh Institute of Sport. This path goes through Bute Park and brings you out on the animal bridge beside Cardiff Castle and opposite the Millenium Stadium. Not bad, eh? I'll add to this the path between the stadium and the river when I've scoped it out. I'd have done it this morning but my train was already in the station before I was. Oops.

I suppose I should blog some photos of the Cardiff leg of my cycle to work? Rain is promised later.

Four

These are the other four.

Black Mountain Roundabout

Today we went walking. I did a 20 odd mile challenge walk around the Black Mountains from Crickhowell.

I screwed up. Somehow I completely missed my alarm at 5.45am and ended up making everybody in the group start the walk half an hour late. We got down on the checkpoint times, which were pretty strict and fast, and we reached checkpoint 7 half an hour past the cut-off time. If we had started on time we should have made it, but we were forced to retire, missing the last hill (Table Mountain) and the last 5 miles. Sorry everybody! (Although some might have been relieved?) I had a nice day in the hills though, with superb weather. I've been up Table Mtn before, so it wasn't a peak I had to "bag" anyway. Will they invite me again?

Mover

See - I told you he won't stop moving! Now he has found his legs he's everywhere!

Haircut

Jack's first haircut! Sorry about the photo but he just won't stay still!

Fixed?

Yey! I fixed the Cardiff (Charlie's Angels) webcam. I wonder how long it will last this time?

MMR

Jack was a very good boy for his mum today.

He had his MMR jab this morning, which Kim was worried about, both because of the dodgy science over the last few years and because she hates needles. As it turned out she couldn't watch but Jack sat very quietly and watched the nurse put the needle into his arm and inject. No bother. Good boy. He never seems fussed about that sort of thing.

In the afternoon he went to have his first haircut, and again sat very still (mostly) while the barberess gave him a smart trim. Amazing! I'll post a photo of his new look this weekend. Considering that he's beginning his tantrum phase he was very good today. i suppose keeping him interested is half the battle, and both of these experiences are pretty different and new.

anatomy.tv

Check out the demo on anatomy.tv. We're thinking about using this stuff. It's superb!

Punktyred

Nice. I got a puncture on the way home too. That's 3 this week - 2 in the front and 1 in the back.

I reckon I'm in for a lightning bolt tomorrow.

Train Bike Hassle

Bike/train hassle today = high

Check this: I was sat on the 4.30 train from Swansea by 4.20. Announcement- "Apologies but this service has been cancelled because we're shit", or words to that effect. So I haul my arse, my crap and my bike off the train, back out into the rain and waste an hour in Starbucks waiting for the 5.30 (total cost 3.80ukp for a grande latte and a rocky roads).

Back at the 5.30 I kick my heels waiting for the train manager because you can't get into the bike storage bit of these crappy new Intercities without a key. Then the f#*king jobsworth charges me 3ukp for the privilege of having my bike hung from a rack for 50 minutes. It's the only one in there. I've been biking it for a week and he's the first train manager to make me pay. He won't let me off even though I complain that my 4.30 was cancelled. Save the planet my arse. His suggestion when I whinge about having to prebook twice a day at least an hour before each train for a pound a time (2ukp per day, right?) is to buy a weekly ticket at 15ukp (that's 3ukp per day). Total knob.

Oh, and they've increased the cost of a day ticket suddenly by 1ukp, which is an increase of 12 per cent and explains the confusion of last week.

Goldie Lookin Chain

Stick this into Kazaa and find the MP3: "half man half machine".

More local talent from South Wales (the 'Port). Alright Clart?

Ooooh

Now getting lifted out of the sea, blown over a fish and chip shop and dashed into a wall is a very unlucky, and quite bizarre, way to die. Oh dear.

Full article from BBC news.

Strict diets 'cut heart disease'

Sweet! This is exactly the sort of diet I've followed when training hard for climbing. In the past (pre-Jack) I cut my daily calorie intake to around 2000 calories to stay light, but still ate a balanced diet, just less quantity. Yeah, it's hard, and you generally need good motivation to do it. This new info should add to that motivation:

"For the first time, we've shown that calorie restriction is feasible and has a tremendous effect on the risk of atherosclerosis and diabetes."

"They were found to have the health of people decades younger, the study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences said....The group, whose average age was 50, had blood pressure readings similar to that of the average 10-year-old."

We already knew that calorie restriction reduces the risk of cancer and prolongs life in lab animals (reduced free radicals knackering up your cells, dontcha know?). This is another load of very welcome research. Eat less you fatties!

Read the full article on BBC news.

Coastal Cyclepath

Wow, 2 punctures this afternoon! Impressive. One front, one back. So I had a bit of time to kill between fixing a puncture and getting the later train. I pootled east on the coastal cycle path in the sun, and followed it around to the marina. Quite lovely. It almost cheered me up. And just as I got to the train station I had my second puncture. Nice.

This is photo from the cyclepath back the way I had come, of (I think) the Tawe almost reaching the sea.

Everybody's Back

The station car parks are full, lots more people are on the trains, and we have students milling around the campus. Easter holidays must be over then.

HL2 Stats

Geek out with the hardware stats collected by Valve from people using Steam for the future HalfLife 2 game:

http://www.steampowered.com/status/survey.html

Wow, Nvidia are really leading the graphics card show.

Jack's First Bike Ride

Jack had his first time out on the bike today, up, down and around the Taff Trail. He enjoyed himself, and we had no mishaps! It's fine at speed, but you really have to pay attention when you're moving slowly. Bags of fun.

Fire!

I just read this email:

"Could all staff in the Abbey evacuate the building immediately. The fire alarm has been activated but the sounders are not all working."

ROFL. This is terrible. I read this 20 minutes after it was sent, so I guess it was a good job I wasn't in the Abbey building, eh? Toast.

Beach

Hassle cycling/training to work today = zero.

Commuterboy Rides Again

Yeah. Started cycling to and from the train stations and dumping the bike on the intercity to Swansea and back today. S'alright. At least it's not raining.

Alan Hinkes Off To Dhaulagiri

"British mountaineer Alan Hinkes has announced that his next “Challenge 8000” expedition will be to climb Dhaulagiri (8,167m), the seventh highest mountain in the world. Alan will be flying out to the Himalaya at the end of March and hopes to reach the summit during May."

The best of British to ya, Alan! I particularly like his words, "I climb to live, not to die - the summit is always optional but returning is mandatory". To have climbed 12 out of the 14 8000m plus peaks of the world, his mountaineering philosophies shold be listened to.

Full article from Berghaus here.

iPod

Jack has taken a liking to my iPod. Bugger - I'm going to have to buy a mini iPod for mini me.

Jack's Cut

Here's that photo of Jack's head. The damage is a few days old, and the scab actually came off after this photo. He's a ruffty tuffty!

Daft Rail

This is dumb. Get this: if I buy a ticket on the train from Cardiff to Swansea it costs me 8.60 ukp.

8.60 x 5 = 43

If I buy a weekly season ticket for the same route it costs me 44.40 ukp. That's a non-discount of + 1.40. What the crap is that all about? Talk about dumbass railway operators.

What's worse is that if I add the local train journey from beside my house to Cardiff Central the weekly ticket only costs 47.60 ukp. Daily this is

5 x 10.60 ukp = 53

and therefore a decent weekly saving of 5.40 ukp. What the hell is going on?

Add to this the costs of taking your bike on the train: book in advance + it costs 1 ukp. Don't book and it costs maybe costs 3 ukp if the train manager wants to charge you (most don't). Buy a weekly ticket and they charge you 15ukp! What the hell?

Answers on a postcard to National Rail.

Morning

Blimey, it's hard getting up early when Jack has already woken you up a couple of times in the night. Ug.

Black Swan

Me and the black swan at the Crippetts are stalling while we sort that photo of Jack we promised.

Driving Miss Daisy

Today the boys were karting in Newport, but I was driving miss Daisy instead (private joke: I was playing chauffeur for the evening for a 90 year old lady called Daisy). Funny how things work out, eh?

I want to blog a photo of Jack, but I'm in Cheltenham for the weekend & limited to my PDA & GPRS connection for the minute. Jack has been trying to knock down two storey, red brick houses with his head. He's got a great big bruised cut on his forehead. Little bruiser! The blood scared his mum more than him, although he had a good cry. It's hard, this learning to walk malarkey! I'll try & post it tomorrow.

The Incredible Future Boy Versus Malevolent Gutter Punk

Amid warnings of getting mugged for wearing white iPod headphones we have this blogger's tale of the mini iPod's self defence uses:

"So this guy lunged out and grabbed my shoulder as I was changing songs and, with my bag stolen just last week, I was in no mood to make any concessions of my property to appease him. I immediately took a panicked swipe and made solid contact between the base of my mini and his forehead"

Read the rest.

Surgeons Who Play Video Games Err Less

See! I keep telling you people, but you don't listen!

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=7&u=/ap/20040407/ap_on_he_me/video_game_surgery

Commuterboy

Is this my train?

Lights out

Another example of Sod's Law: the electricity was off to my building at work for maintenance today. It was promised to come back on at 1pm, but of course, I was sat there at 1, laptop out of juice, waiting. Nothing. I had a few non-electrical jobs to do, so got on with those (the Anatomy Suite is coming on nicely, thank you). So when did the power come back on? Yep, just as I had packed everything up to go & catch my train.

Oh well. This isn't a rant, BTW, just an example. Anyway, it's Easter so I'm off to enjoy a long weekend with the missus & the boy. And maybe a spot of fishing...

P.S. Ele + Lee in Oz: send us an email!

Models

We had our first two deliveries of our anatomical models today. Jo & I have been unpacking them all afternoon, tossing paper & boxes all over the place like Christmas morning. I won't tell you how expensive this equipment is, suffice to say that they are incredibly valuable teaching tools. They are all so detailed & beautifully made.

As you can maybe imagine (?), they comprise parts of the body in various states of dissection. Made of plastic, they have removable sections so you can find underlying, associated structures. One of the most difficult aspects of teaching anatomy is visualising structures in 3D, seeing how they are inter-related, and how they all fit together. Models like these help this, although many would say there is no substitute for learning by dissection. But this is a very time consuming process.

I can see how we're going to be unpacking & cataloguing these models for a couple of weeks. The anatomy suite is really starting to look the part. What a great job.

CV

I see you. Searching for my CV. Want it?

Webcam

Talking of changing webcam pics, do you like my new car? I got it for my birthday. It scares Jack, even when he's driving it.

Shiny New Kit

I love my job. We have a new Nikon Coolsnap 5400 camera, a 200GB Lacie external hard drive and an external Lacie DVD burner. We'll be using this lot for creating a lot of multimedia content for the anatomy part of the post-grad medicine course (i.e. videos).

iBook webcam

Sorry for leaving that webcam pic of Jo up all week. I'm back now! ;)

Emails!

Remember I wasn't going to check my emails while away on holiday? I checked them today. 184! And that doesn't include the 400 spam emails filtered out by the (wonderful) Apple email client's spam filter. It took me a while to get through that lot. Yes, they were mostly work emails and tech newsletters. I deleted most of them. How did email become such a pain in the ass?

Home

Home again. I haven't travelled much for a year or so - since Jack was born I guess, and well before this blog was born. This was Jack's first trip abroad. Fun, but it's always good to be home.

We had to drive back from Cheltenham via Bristol airport - we left our cameras on the plane and had to pick them up from lost property. Oops.

Time to prepare myself for the week ahead. See you soon.

Home (Almost)

We're back in England; overnight in Cheltenham and back to Cardiff tomorrow (Sunday). Although the weather might have been variable the week in Spain's Costa del Sol was a nice break. The best part was getting to spend a week with Jack, of course. The group are talking about going back in September, but I'll be teaching by then. If we can work out a date I fancy disappearing off into the neighbouring moutains that I saw. Some were snowcapped, which you might have seen from the photos. I'm going to have to do some research on the web.

Back to work on Monday. I'm actually looking forward to getting back to it (sicko!)

Nerja Caves

There are some huge caves near Nerja. Underground caverns, really. Very impressive. Jack liked the place, surprisingly.

Strolling

Jack's out strolling along a Mediterranean promenade. His Spanish is better than mine.

Cove

I was walking between beaches at sea level and found this cove.