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I spent a lot of the first half of the month travelling, and the second half of the month recovering from the travelling while also working. I feel this video reflects those two halves pretty accurately.
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I spent a lot of the first half of the month travelling, and the second half of the month recovering from the travelling while also working. I feel this video reflects those two halves pretty accurately.
Last weekend, we stayed in a Landmark Trust property a mere half-hour journey to Bletchley Park. We were surprised by nice weather on the Saturday, so we made the trip. Below is an assortment of photos from the selection of buildings we managed to visit over the course of five hours. I don’t think we saw more than a third of it, so we’ll definitely take advantage of the year-long entry that the steep admission price gets you to see the rest.
The dingy basement has had a lick of paint and yet somehow doggedly retains its character.
Listening stations.
Keiki does some Morse code-breaking.
Humuhumu does some Enigma encoding.
A surprisingly dry and sunny day after all the rain we’ve been having.
Daffodils were not quite ready.
The Mansion seemed like it was a bit of all right.
Not so sure the Intelligence Factory needs this.
Humuhumu and I spent quite a while on this interactive exhibit, plotting the locations of various maritime assets and enemies.
Many of the personal testimonials in the exhibition mention how boring and repetitive some of the intelligence work was.
You can see why they resorted to putting frogs in the pneumatic tube system to liven up the day.
The Park is beautifully maintained and the interactive exhibits are well designed and engaging - I’d say from the age of about 10 on up - so well worth a visit. I restrained myself to one book in the gift shop (The Walls Have Ears by Helen Fry) but could easily have brought home a stack.
The dingy basement has had a lick of paint and yet somehow doggedly retains its character.
Listening stations.
Keiki does some Morse code-breaking.
Humuhumu does some Enigma encoding.
A surprisingly dry and sunny day after all the rain we’ve been having.
Daffodils were not quite ready.
The Mansion seemed like it was a bit of all right.
Not so sure the Intelligence Factory needs this.
Humuhumu and I spent quite a while on this interactive exhibit, plotting the locations of various maritime assets and enemies.
Many of the personal testimonials in the exhibition mention how boring and repetitive some of the intelligence work was.
You can see why they resorted to putting frogs in the pneumatic tube system to liven up the day.
The Park is beautifully maintained and the interactive exhibits are well designed and engaging - I’d say from the age of about 10 on up - so well worth a visit. I restrained myself to one book in the gift shop (The Walls Have Ears by Helen Fry) but could easily have brought home a stack.
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When did you last…
- Scrounge for change (couch, ashtray, etc.) to make a purchase?
I honestly can't remember. So many places are cashless now that I often don't carry any. It must have been pre-Covid. - Visit a dentist?
Five months ago. My next clean is in March. - Make a needed change to your life?
The most significant recent change was changing to a gym I actually want to use, at the start of the year. I really needed that. I feel so much healthier. - Decide on a complete menu well in advance of the evening meal?
Most nights, tonight included. We have to plan because of the kids. Most days we eat breakfast and supper at home as a family because we have the luxury of schedules that allow us to do so. - Spend part of the day (other than daily hygiene) totally/mostly naked?
No idea. I hardly ever do this. It's flippin’ cold here most of the time. For those who say the UK temperatures are mild, okay, maybe to you, but I spent most of my life in the tropics before I moved here and I wasn't wandering around naked there either.
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[phone rings in my hotel room]
Me: “Hello?”
Concierge, sounding very uncertain and slightly bemused: “Um, hello, is that Nanila, who just checked in with us today?”
Me: “Yes, that’s correct.”
Concierge: “Um…I have a gentleman on the line who would like to speak to you. I…I think he’s your father? I’m so sorry, I’m really not sure.”
Me, chuckling: “That sounds like him. Did he say his name was [Firstname Lastname]?”
Concierge: “I couldn’t understand him when he said his name. I think it’s my phone line.”
Me, drily: “Please don’t be sorry. That will be one of two things: his accent, or he hasn’t got his teeth in.”
Concierge, now relaxing a bit and giggling: “Would you like me to put him through?”
Me: “Please do, thank you.”
*pause*
Me: “Hi Dad, how are you doing?”
Dad: “I tried to call you but I kept getting the prison! Where are you? Are you in XX hotel?!”
Me, patiently: “Yes, Dad, I’m in the hotel.”
Dad: “What room are you in? I need to write it down. Are you sure? Are you okay?”
Me: “Dad. I’m in Room NN. I am fine. And if this is the prison then it’s had a tremendous facilities upgrade.”
Dad: “Oh, okay. Was the traffic awful? Are you very tired? When do you want to meet for dinner? Should we go to the sushi place? Do you remember the sushi place? I need to put my teeth in!”
Me: “Yes, yes, whenever you want to eat, yes, yes, and yes, you do.”
For anyone who has met me in person and has thought to themselves, “This woman has no idea how to hold a conversation like a normal human being,” this is 100% where I got it from. Thanks, Dad.
Me: “Hello?”
Concierge, sounding very uncertain and slightly bemused: “Um, hello, is that Nanila, who just checked in with us today?”
Me: “Yes, that’s correct.”
Concierge: “Um…I have a gentleman on the line who would like to speak to you. I…I think he’s your father? I’m so sorry, I’m really not sure.”
Me, chuckling: “That sounds like him. Did he say his name was [Firstname Lastname]?”
Concierge: “I couldn’t understand him when he said his name. I think it’s my phone line.”
Me, drily: “Please don’t be sorry. That will be one of two things: his accent, or he hasn’t got his teeth in.”
Concierge, now relaxing a bit and giggling: “Would you like me to put him through?”
Me: “Please do, thank you.”
*pause*
Me: “Hi Dad, how are you doing?”
Dad: “I tried to call you but I kept getting the prison! Where are you? Are you in XX hotel?!”
Me, patiently: “Yes, Dad, I’m in the hotel.”
Dad: “What room are you in? I need to write it down. Are you sure? Are you okay?”
Me: “Dad. I’m in Room NN. I am fine. And if this is the prison then it’s had a tremendous facilities upgrade.”
Dad: “Oh, okay. Was the traffic awful? Are you very tired? When do you want to meet for dinner? Should we go to the sushi place? Do you remember the sushi place? I need to put my teeth in!”
Me: “Yes, yes, whenever you want to eat, yes, yes, and yes, you do.”
For anyone who has met me in person and has thought to themselves, “This woman has no idea how to hold a conversation like a normal human being,” this is 100% where I got it from. Thanks, Dad.
- How far back can you trace your family tree?
That depends on which side of the family (maternal or paternal) we’re talking about. I have distant relatives who have done a lot of work tracing back the ancestry of various people from my grandparents’ generation to the late 1700s / early 1800s. However, there are also substantial gaps, particularly on the paternal side. I couldn’t tell you the names of my great-grandparents on that side. - What is the most interesting (or strange) thing you've heard about one of your relatives?
I knew that one of my great-grandparents had been a chemist at Eastman Kodak, but until recently I hadn’t gone and looked up the various patents he filed in the mid-20th century. - How do you feel about legacy names like John Henry Smith IV or naming children after other relatives?
I think whatever other people choose to do about naming their children is their business, although if you name your child something like “SanDeE*” I may have to fight the urge to judge you for overcomplicating the administrative burden they’ll endure for the rest of their lives. - Would you consider yourself and/or your family to be traditional?
Not really. I think the absence of religion in our lives probably affects this. We do like traditions that involve food, though, like Pancake Day (Shrove Tuesday) and Easter. - What is one tradition you have passed on to your children and/or plan to pass on to them?
I have passed on the following to them:- It is OK to put shoyu (soy sauce) on anything.
- Rather than have the argument over pumpkin pie v pecan pie for Thanksgiving dinner, it is best to make both. Also, it is OK to celebrate Thanksgiving at the weekend, since it is not a thing in the UK.
- There is no such thing as “quickly” popping into the bookshop. Or the library.
- It is OK to put shoyu (soy sauce) on anything.
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- If you could go back and relive one moment or day from your life, without changing anything, what would you re-experience?
- If you could witness a moment in history, again without changing anything, what would you want to see?
- f you could talk to a younger version of yourself, what age would you visit and what message would you give?
- If you could choose one moment that would be guaranteed to happen in your future, what would it be and when would it happen?
- Pretend you left a time capsule for yourself 5, 10, 15, 20 or more years ago. You just opened it. What three things from your past are you now holding and what age were you when you buried them?
I’m probably supposed to say something about kids here, but if I’m being honest it would be the day Sputnik and Telstar arrived in our lives as tiny kittens. It was such a joyous afternoon (and also I wasn't in pain and exhausted).
Just a random day in the time when there were dinosaurs and giant insects. I'd want to be in a protective bubble though, so I'd be safe whilst wandering around gawping at stuff.
I'd visit me while my maternal grandparents were alive and I lived with them, and tell me to write in my diary every day. I have strong individual memories of that period in my life but Older!Me wishes I had a more complete record.
Becoming a full professor. I’d be happy if it happened any time now, although obviously I have to have enough evidence to make it plausible and then write my promotion case. I won't be too happy if it takes more than five years, though.
As a child I'm likely to have buried a pretty shell or a shark's tooth that I found on the beach. As a young adult, probably a graduation photo. As a middle-aged adult, something both my kids wore, like the NASA astronaut costume I brought Humuhumu from the Smithsonian when she was about three.
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1. Are you and your birth family close?
Yes (but also, it’s complicated).
2. How far away do you live from your various family members?
At least a few thousand miles from nearly all of my blood relatives. Much closer to my out-laws.
3. When was the last time you visited with relatives?
Only about a month ago, but it already feels like ages. :(
4. Do your relatives travel to visit you?
Hahahaha no. My parents are in their eighties and have been to the UK exactly twice since I moved here. My other family don’t have passports or don’t have enough money to travel to the UK or both.
This has, weirdly, become harder on me emotionally the longer I’ve lived here. The twentieth anniversary of me moving to the UK passed quietly a couple of weeks back: ironically, whilst I was in the USA, sitting on the beach in Los Angeles.
5. How do you stay in touch with family: phone calls, email, snail mail, texts, other?
All of the above, although snail mail has dropped off in the past four or five years, since I have most relatives either on WhatsApp or Messenger so that I can send them photos easily.
Yes (but also, it’s complicated).
2. How far away do you live from your various family members?
At least a few thousand miles from nearly all of my blood relatives. Much closer to my out-laws.
3. When was the last time you visited with relatives?
Only about a month ago, but it already feels like ages. :(
4. Do your relatives travel to visit you?
Hahahaha no. My parents are in their eighties and have been to the UK exactly twice since I moved here. My other family don’t have passports or don’t have enough money to travel to the UK or both.
This has, weirdly, become harder on me emotionally the longer I’ve lived here. The twentieth anniversary of me moving to the UK passed quietly a couple of weeks back: ironically, whilst I was in the USA, sitting on the beach in Los Angeles.
5. How do you stay in touch with family: phone calls, email, snail mail, texts, other?
All of the above, although snail mail has dropped off in the past four or five years, since I have most relatives either on WhatsApp or Messenger so that I can send them photos easily.
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It's now been over a month since I last posted on Dreamwidth, longer on LiveJournal since cross posting stopped being automatic.
I debated over our recent holiday whether to simply continue not posting or to make some kind of formal statement about how I plan to use this journal in future. Personally I prefer it when people don't just disappear. I know that 99% of the time they've just got bored or busy or distracted by a different platform and don't find the journal rewarding enough to continue, and nothing terrible has happened to them. But it's nice to have the reassurance that this is the case, rather than that they've been hit by a bus or something.
So I guess this is me obliquely sidling up to the realisation that despite 21 years of journalling (as of this July), I have neither the time nor the inclination to keep up my commitment to writing and interacting here as intensively as I once did. I can see the signs of this in my recent posting patterns: more short entries, far fewer public posts, failure to post photos because it's just too much effort to muster after a 15 hour day, failure to reply to comments or to other people's posts.
There are external factors too. I got promoted at work. I have a huge workload now that I have a senior administrative role in my department, plus teaching and grant management. I'm co-supervising my first PhD student. The children will be going to different schools in a week's time, effectively doubling our life admin complications. Because of this we've had to acquire a second car after 10 years of getting away with having only one.
I'm sure no one apart from me is surprised, but I hope I'm not the only one who's sad about this. I loved being (what felt to me like) a stalwart part of this community. It's painful to have to let it go. I will post now and again but I won't be reading regularly so if this is important to you and you need to say goodbye because of it, please do. On the other hand, if you're okay with sporadic updates and patchy, enthusiastic interaction then please stay. I'm always happy to pick up with friends and acquaintances after long silences.
I'll keep my Wed-Sat shifts on the daily "Just One Thing" achievement posts for Awesomeers.dreamwidth.org. Do join there if you want a low key way of recording stuff you've done and getting a little cheer for it. That's how I use it.
If you'd like to connect elsewhere, I'm on the following, but don't post much: Instagram (magnetometrist) and Twitter (nanila). I'm most active on and 150+ days into a Duolingo streak so happy to be added there as well: nanila2, the one with a Neko Atsume cat as my userpic.
TL;DR version: Nanila angsts about not journalling regularly, isn't leaving completely, loves you all, stay or go as you like, please add on Duolingo. ❤️
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We went for a walk in Mortimer Forest and followed the green arrows for Vinnalls Loop, which was allegedly just under five kilometres, but due to dubious signage in a few places, ended up being more like six. It’s not the longest walk we’ve ever done with the children, but it was certainly the steepest, and in some places, the soggiest. Keiki lost his wellies twice. The second time was the last straw as he already had wet socks, and he ended up on his daddy’s shoulders, where he cheered up immediately.
Small boy, big trees.
There was evidence of storm damage everywhere, and though the forestry commission had obviously been through clearing the paths when they could, they hadn’t been able to keep up.
Under or over?
Moody skies.
Spectacular views.
Small boy, big trees.
There was evidence of storm damage everywhere, and though the forestry commission had obviously been through clearing the paths when they could, they hadn’t been able to keep up.
Under or over?
Moody skies.
Spectacular views.
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.
