It's been a week since the last blog-- lots of excuses, of course, none of them great. I really underestimated my writing requirement during the break-- I have effectively been working most days, partly because of the course planning as well. I can see that I have to do a better job managing my time and prioritize my activities.
As it is, Lynn's also been under the weather for almost 2 weeks as well, which means that the kids are having a relatively dull vacation. That's not necessarily a bad thing for Taran, who definitely has needed down time, but when the kids are together too much in the house, they settle into a simmering feud that explodes roughly every 90 minutes into screaming, pushing, or crying. Today they had seemed to be playing well in their room when apparently Kenna said something about one of Taran's stuffed animals being only her fourth favorite, so Taran hid under his covers while Kenna teased him and when she went in after him he bopped her on the nose.
At the moment Kenna is (thankfully) at Megan's house having tea, while Taran and I prepare for Hogmanay. We're planning to be in the torchlight procession and see the fireworks. Hopefully it will be fun and not too cold. Afterwards we'll pick up Andy and Tara from the train station-- Wisconsin friends currently living in London who'll be visiting for a couple days.
My own scheduling has been spiraling out of control. I'll be in London the 4th - 7th of January to do some work with Gerry and then collect data from a couple early stage companies. Then back here to finish up submissions to Academy of Management, which is sure to be exhausting. Then the term will start with a bang on the 11th, especially as I don't yet have all my lecture presentations ready. February will arrive and I'll go to the US to collect data from a couple more companies. In the meantime I'll be teaching and collecting data from a couple Edinburgh start-ups, and somehow working on the development of broader entrepreneurship courses for the University. Maybe.
The Hogmanay celebration here really is a bit crazy. I'll link to the website for the moment, and hopefully have time to blog over the next couple days about everything that's going on.
http://www.edinburghshogmanay.org/
Happy Hogmanay!
Thursday 30 December 2010
Thursday 23 December 2010
Oh, many, many things
To start, we signed a lease on a new property starting at the end of January. The street can be seen here (cut-and-paste, sorry, the blogger linking system won't accept a long URL):
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=101a+st.+stephens+street,+edinburgh&layer=c&sll=55.958777,-3.204313&cbp=13,71.54,,0,-1.49&cbll=55.958624,-3.204892&hl=en&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=101B/8+St.+Stephen+Street,+Edinburgh+EH3+5AB,+United+Kingdom&ll=55.958624,-3.204736&spn=0.003592,0.009055&z=17&panoid=vQl7JmUCLqBGEwUBBXyHkw
The most important characteristics of the new flat are that 1) it is newer, only 10 years old or so, and thus employs modern thingys like insulation and double-glazed windows, and 2) it is only 2 blocks from the kids' school along level roads, so no more treks up and down "big hill" (as we refer to Gloucester Lane).
The kids' received their follow-up Hanukkah and solstice gifts-- they were especially grateful for the legos and sylvanian toys.
Kenna's winter term holiday starts tomorrow, Taran has a half-day tomorrow. Then there is no school until 11-Jan. I've no idea what we are going to do with them...
I marked exams for one of our bigger entrepreneurship courses. It is fascinating to mark exams in the UK which are so dramatically different from exams, and marking processes, in the U.S.
We had planned to all go to London the first week in January as I need to be there for work, but our accommodations fell through and so it will just be me going from the 4th to the 7th. Lynn has had a thousand playdates for the kids, so I've no doubt that once Christmas is passed the extensive social calendar for the kids will resume. Lynn also managed to secure a sledge (sled) for the kids, which are in short supply this winter, so the kids' should have a chance to hit the local slopes in the next week or two, as there is no indication that the snow is going anywhere soon.
Speaking of which, the main thoroughfares across Edinburgh are incredible black slushy messes. There is a preference to use grit (which is, amazingly, not sand, but some sort of red small-diameter gravel) rather than salt whenever possible, presumably because of the risk of damaging the streets and historic facades. There is salt used in many areas where it's just impossible to clear the ice otherwise, but most of the streets and sidewalks in the city centre are about 1/2 to 2" deep in a sort of muddy mushy gravelly sludge that appears to have nowhere to go. The temperatures are hovering just around freezing, and the sunlight is so weak (and only around for a few hours, and even then rarely OVER the actual rooftops) that there is no melting action the way there would be in Wisconsin even on really cold days. So the slush is here to stay, for now.
Lynn was even able to arrange an evening at a pub for me with some of the dads from the neighborhood. It's fun to be able to talk politics when it doesn't really matter to the other people, other than as a source of fascination. It was good to be out for a pint.
If you've not been paying attention to college football, then you should know that Stanford - #4 in the country (?!) - is playing in the Orange Bowl, while UW-Madison - #5 in the country (?!) - is playing in the Rose Bowl. My dad and I went to the 2000 Rose Bowl in which Madison beat Stanford, and my guess is this the closest those two will ever come to competing in a bowl game again. If it weren't for the Rose Bowl's being the non-AQ team bowl this year, they would have played... though I'm a bit far this time to go.
I'm sure there's a lot more that I haven't covered, so I'll try to set aside a little time each evening to try to get caught up.
Oh-- we made it to our first solstice in Edinburgh! Though the weather won't be warmer for a while, yesterday was as dark as it gets. Yesterday the sun rose at 8:40am and set at 15:40 for a whopping 6 hours, 57 minutes and 31 seconds of total possible sunshine, but at a maximum altitude of 10.6 degrees :)
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=101a+st.+stephens+street,+edinburgh&layer=c&sll=55.958777,-3.204313&cbp=13,71.54,,0,-1.49&cbll=55.958624,-3.204892&hl=en&sspn=0.006295,0.006295&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=101B/8+St.+Stephen+Street,+Edinburgh+EH3+5AB,+United+Kingdom&ll=55.958624,-3.204736&spn=0.003592,0.009055&z=17&panoid=vQl7JmUCLqBGEwUBBXyHkw
The most important characteristics of the new flat are that 1) it is newer, only 10 years old or so, and thus employs modern thingys like insulation and double-glazed windows, and 2) it is only 2 blocks from the kids' school along level roads, so no more treks up and down "big hill" (as we refer to Gloucester Lane).
The kids' received their follow-up Hanukkah and solstice gifts-- they were especially grateful for the legos and sylvanian toys.
Kenna's winter term holiday starts tomorrow, Taran has a half-day tomorrow. Then there is no school until 11-Jan. I've no idea what we are going to do with them...
I marked exams for one of our bigger entrepreneurship courses. It is fascinating to mark exams in the UK which are so dramatically different from exams, and marking processes, in the U.S.
We had planned to all go to London the first week in January as I need to be there for work, but our accommodations fell through and so it will just be me going from the 4th to the 7th. Lynn has had a thousand playdates for the kids, so I've no doubt that once Christmas is passed the extensive social calendar for the kids will resume. Lynn also managed to secure a sledge (sled) for the kids, which are in short supply this winter, so the kids' should have a chance to hit the local slopes in the next week or two, as there is no indication that the snow is going anywhere soon.
Speaking of which, the main thoroughfares across Edinburgh are incredible black slushy messes. There is a preference to use grit (which is, amazingly, not sand, but some sort of red small-diameter gravel) rather than salt whenever possible, presumably because of the risk of damaging the streets and historic facades. There is salt used in many areas where it's just impossible to clear the ice otherwise, but most of the streets and sidewalks in the city centre are about 1/2 to 2" deep in a sort of muddy mushy gravelly sludge that appears to have nowhere to go. The temperatures are hovering just around freezing, and the sunlight is so weak (and only around for a few hours, and even then rarely OVER the actual rooftops) that there is no melting action the way there would be in Wisconsin even on really cold days. So the slush is here to stay, for now.
Lynn was even able to arrange an evening at a pub for me with some of the dads from the neighborhood. It's fun to be able to talk politics when it doesn't really matter to the other people, other than as a source of fascination. It was good to be out for a pint.
If you've not been paying attention to college football, then you should know that Stanford - #4 in the country (?!) - is playing in the Orange Bowl, while UW-Madison - #5 in the country (?!) - is playing in the Rose Bowl. My dad and I went to the 2000 Rose Bowl in which Madison beat Stanford, and my guess is this the closest those two will ever come to competing in a bowl game again. If it weren't for the Rose Bowl's being the non-AQ team bowl this year, they would have played... though I'm a bit far this time to go.
I'm sure there's a lot more that I haven't covered, so I'll try to set aside a little time each evening to try to get caught up.
Oh-- we made it to our first solstice in Edinburgh! Though the weather won't be warmer for a while, yesterday was as dark as it gets. Yesterday the sun rose at 8:40am and set at 15:40 for a whopping 6 hours, 57 minutes and 31 seconds of total possible sunshine, but at a maximum altitude of 10.6 degrees :)
Sunday 19 December 2010
Long time no post
It was a busy week, even by our standards. I was in a professional training seminar for three days, went to Glasgow on Wednesday for an Advisory Board meeting, and attended the Business School's Holiday (Christmas) party on Friday. Didn't leave a lot of time left over for regular work, and I've managed to fall behind both my course planning and manuscript writing. In the meantime, I had the good news of getting two very small research grants approved for travel and transcription, but had a paper rejected from a conference.
Edinburgh got hit with more snow last week, which disrupted a lot of travel. The schools stayed open, however. There were somewhat confused predictions about heavy snow in the midweek, but the reality was mostly blue skies on Weds and Thurs. On the other hand, the predictions were dead on for snow starting last night (Saturday), and continuing through today. We've probably gotten another 2-4", and there is ongoing "monitoring" of the situation to see whether or not schools will be open tomorrow.
In other news, Taran hosted his first sleepover, and he and Sebastian ("Seb") generally had a good time, though Taran ran into difficulties this morning when he couldn't behavior reasonably after an hour or so of Wii time. That's an ongoing issue-- the transition away from Wii or any kind of video can be quite a challenge. He redeemed himself by cleaning his room, and this afternoon he was rewarded with a trip to the Christmas Fair and the opportunity to go on the bungee jump :) I didn't take photos or video this time because I was concerned it would be too much pressure (and that he might not enjoy it). He was a bit trepidatious at the start but soon trusted the cords and harness enough to let go and enjoy himself. He did tucks and straddles, but wasn't quite ready for a flip. But he wants to go again, and hopefully we'll find a nice day when we can also do the Ferris wheel.
We've been doing a lot of lego building... or I should say I've been doing a lot of lego building, I suppose. I'd forgotten how therapeutic it is, and I'm afraid I got caught up in it a bit with the darkness and the cold. So far I've made a yellow and black frogstar fighter, a blue and white police space cruiser, a red and white spacejet vaguely reminiscent of the SR-71, a blue and black stealth fighter, a red three-wheeled landcrawler because kenna asked for a car, and a more normal jet fighter. The kids have made various things as well, though Taran's focus and interest waned significantly after finishing the Falcon. Kenna tends to play with the lego people, and incorporates all her imaginative play toys together (littlest pet shop, sylvanian, lego, and stuffed toys).
We've been quite healthy, really, despite the cold and darkness. The one unexpected discomfort may actually be chillblains-- something I'd read about but never really heard of in "real" life-- as if it were something primarily out of Dickens. But Lynn's having some swelling and redness on her fingers and I've had some sore spots on my toes. I'd written it off to slightly small boots, but all the symptoms are consistent with chillblains, for which the cure is just waiting and warmth.
Lynn found a new flat starting in late January. The Darnaway flat is wonderful for what it is: a large, classic Georgian property in the NewTown. But, pretty much by definition, that means both that it's grander than what we need, and impossible to heat. The new flat is closer to the kids' school and has a lift, which they are very excited about. More walking for me (and more uphill in the morning to work) but that's fine-- I'm thinking of signing up for the University's gym in the new year as I'm not getting any exercise other than walking and carrying groceries at this point. Here are photos of the living room which, along with the other common rooms is on the upper floor (the bedrooms are on the lower floor), and the view out the back of the property. It's a double-upper, so it should still be quiet, but it's smaller, much much newer and should be significantly warmer :)
That will have to be enough for now. Hopefully I'll be back on track to blog more consistently in the coming week and in the new year.
Edinburgh got hit with more snow last week, which disrupted a lot of travel. The schools stayed open, however. There were somewhat confused predictions about heavy snow in the midweek, but the reality was mostly blue skies on Weds and Thurs. On the other hand, the predictions were dead on for snow starting last night (Saturday), and continuing through today. We've probably gotten another 2-4", and there is ongoing "monitoring" of the situation to see whether or not schools will be open tomorrow.
In other news, Taran hosted his first sleepover, and he and Sebastian ("Seb") generally had a good time, though Taran ran into difficulties this morning when he couldn't behavior reasonably after an hour or so of Wii time. That's an ongoing issue-- the transition away from Wii or any kind of video can be quite a challenge. He redeemed himself by cleaning his room, and this afternoon he was rewarded with a trip to the Christmas Fair and the opportunity to go on the bungee jump :) I didn't take photos or video this time because I was concerned it would be too much pressure (and that he might not enjoy it). He was a bit trepidatious at the start but soon trusted the cords and harness enough to let go and enjoy himself. He did tucks and straddles, but wasn't quite ready for a flip. But he wants to go again, and hopefully we'll find a nice day when we can also do the Ferris wheel.
We've been doing a lot of lego building... or I should say I've been doing a lot of lego building, I suppose. I'd forgotten how therapeutic it is, and I'm afraid I got caught up in it a bit with the darkness and the cold. So far I've made a yellow and black frogstar fighter, a blue and white police space cruiser, a red and white spacejet vaguely reminiscent of the SR-71, a blue and black stealth fighter, a red three-wheeled landcrawler because kenna asked for a car, and a more normal jet fighter. The kids have made various things as well, though Taran's focus and interest waned significantly after finishing the Falcon. Kenna tends to play with the lego people, and incorporates all her imaginative play toys together (littlest pet shop, sylvanian, lego, and stuffed toys).
We've been quite healthy, really, despite the cold and darkness. The one unexpected discomfort may actually be chillblains-- something I'd read about but never really heard of in "real" life-- as if it were something primarily out of Dickens. But Lynn's having some swelling and redness on her fingers and I've had some sore spots on my toes. I'd written it off to slightly small boots, but all the symptoms are consistent with chillblains, for which the cure is just waiting and warmth.
Lynn found a new flat starting in late January. The Darnaway flat is wonderful for what it is: a large, classic Georgian property in the NewTown. But, pretty much by definition, that means both that it's grander than what we need, and impossible to heat. The new flat is closer to the kids' school and has a lift, which they are very excited about. More walking for me (and more uphill in the morning to work) but that's fine-- I'm thinking of signing up for the University's gym in the new year as I'm not getting any exercise other than walking and carrying groceries at this point. Here are photos of the living room which, along with the other common rooms is on the upper floor (the bedrooms are on the lower floor), and the view out the back of the property. It's a double-upper, so it should still be quiet, but it's smaller, much much newer and should be significantly warmer :)
That will have to be enough for now. Hopefully I'll be back on track to blog more consistently in the coming week and in the new year.
Monday 13 December 2010
Tutoring at Ulster...
I've just discovered that I'm tutoring at Ulster...
http://www.ulster.ac.uk/staffdev/Research_Training/controller.php?function=view_unit_details&id=279
---
Course Details
Title Entrepreneurship in the Research Context (1) : "Entrepreneurial Motivation" (PGcertPD Mod 1 required) - Online CODE: 1:279
Hrs: 6
Skill Statement Reference
Convenor
Target Audience
Level
Prerequisites Please register for this course in the usual way - you will be given instructions as to how to access this online course.
Aims Module 1 "Enhancing Research Practice" requires completion of 18 RTCs in Entrepreneurship. "Entrepreneurial Motivation (this course) counts for 6 of these RTCs.
Outcomes Entrepreneurship in the academic context
Entrepreneurial motivation
Characteristics of a successful entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship and you
Unit Description About the Tutors:
Author - Dr Shai Vyakarnam, Cambridge University
Dr Shailendra Vyakarnam is Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. He has extensive experience in business and in business education, most recently at Cambridge where he has initiated a number of courses designed for science, engineering and technology students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
He founded a consulting business, Transitions, through which he has invested in and initiated a number of start-ups, all of which are technology dependent. His other affiliations include a visiting professorship at the University of Reading and Nottingham Business School. He is on the advisory board of ArcLabs, a telecoms-oriented incubation centre in Ireland, and the Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship. He is a fellow of the RSA and trustee of a charity that works in rural India (GEN Initiative).
His present research interests focus on gaining a better understanding of how social networks operate in high-tech clusters. And for fun he runs a blog www.shaivyakarnam.blogspot.com on entrepreneurship education and related issues.
Author - Adam J Bock, Imperial College London
Adam J Bock is a doctoral student in innovation and entrepreneurship studies at The Business School, Imperial College London. Adam has led, advised, and financed numerous technology ventures. He also has experience teaching and researching entrepreneurship topics.
Adam has co-founded two medical device companies spun out of university research programmes and served as chief executive of a third. He spent four years facilitating private funds into start-up technology companies on behalf of angel investors. He has consulted on more than a dozen early-stage ventures on technology transfer, recruitment, financing, business plan writing, product development and exit. He has taught entrepreneurship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business and served as a coach and mentor for DesignLondon and the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center.
He is the co-author (with Imperial College Professor Gerry George) of Inventing Entrepreneurs (Prentice-Hall, 2008), a book that describes the entrepreneurial journeys of academic entrepreneurs.
Adam lives in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin with his wife Lynn and his children, Taran and Kenna.
Session Process This is an online course. Please register in the usual way.
http://www.ulster.ac.uk/staffdev/Research_Training/controller.php?function=view_unit_details&id=279
---
Course Details
Title Entrepreneurship in the Research Context (1) : "Entrepreneurial Motivation" (PGcertPD Mod 1 required) - Online CODE: 1:279
Hrs: 6
Skill Statement Reference
Convenor
Target Audience
Level
Prerequisites Please register for this course in the usual way - you will be given instructions as to how to access this online course.
Aims Module 1 "Enhancing Research Practice" requires completion of 18 RTCs in Entrepreneurship. "Entrepreneurial Motivation (this course) counts for 6 of these RTCs.
Outcomes Entrepreneurship in the academic context
Entrepreneurial motivation
Characteristics of a successful entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship and you
Unit Description About the Tutors:
Author - Dr Shai Vyakarnam, Cambridge University
Dr Shailendra Vyakarnam is Director of the Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning at the Judge Business School, University of Cambridge. He has extensive experience in business and in business education, most recently at Cambridge where he has initiated a number of courses designed for science, engineering and technology students at both undergraduate and postgraduate level.
He founded a consulting business, Transitions, through which he has invested in and initiated a number of start-ups, all of which are technology dependent. His other affiliations include a visiting professorship at the University of Reading and Nottingham Business School. He is on the advisory board of ArcLabs, a telecoms-oriented incubation centre in Ireland, and the Australian Graduate School of Entrepreneurship. He is a fellow of the RSA and trustee of a charity that works in rural India (GEN Initiative).
His present research interests focus on gaining a better understanding of how social networks operate in high-tech clusters. And for fun he runs a blog www.shaivyakarnam.blogspot.com on entrepreneurship education and related issues.
Author - Adam J Bock, Imperial College London
Adam J Bock is a doctoral student in innovation and entrepreneurship studies at The Business School, Imperial College London. Adam has led, advised, and financed numerous technology ventures. He also has experience teaching and researching entrepreneurship topics.
Adam has co-founded two medical device companies spun out of university research programmes and served as chief executive of a third. He spent four years facilitating private funds into start-up technology companies on behalf of angel investors. He has consulted on more than a dozen early-stage ventures on technology transfer, recruitment, financing, business plan writing, product development and exit. He has taught entrepreneurship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Business and served as a coach and mentor for DesignLondon and the Wisconsin Small Business Development Center.
He is the co-author (with Imperial College Professor Gerry George) of Inventing Entrepreneurs (Prentice-Hall, 2008), a book that describes the entrepreneurial journeys of academic entrepreneurs.
Adam lives in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin with his wife Lynn and his children, Taran and Kenna.
Session Process This is an online course. Please register in the usual way.
Wisconsin strikes back...
To all the Dunediners complaining that we brought the Wisconsin weather with us... Wisconsin had an answer. 22" (56cm) of snow over the weekend, and now temperatures dropping to -8F (-22C) with windchill temperatures of -25F (-32C).
From wkow27.com
Posted: Dec 12, 2010 7:30 PM
MADISON (WKOW) -- The weekend's snow storm is expected to give way to dangerously cold temperatures Sunday evening and into Monday, leaving icy road conditions overnight.
The Governor declared a State of Emergency for all 72 counties across Wisconsin.
The National Weather Service is reporting a decrease in snowfall intensities across parts of the state. Much of the snowfall is expected to taper off late this evening.
Wind chills are expected to hit minus 15 statewide.
Highs on Monday should vary from the single digits in the west to the low teens elsewhere. Temperatures are expected to creep back up Tuesday and Wednesday.
The weekend's snowstorm dumped some 22 inches of snow in areas of the state Saturday night into Sunday.
Meteorologist Jessica Brooks says Jackson County in western Wisconsin had a two-day total of almost 22 inches as of early Saturday. She says areas in Adams, Monroe and Taylor counties got about 21 inches.
Sunday 12 December 2010
Images of snow
Some photos I took on 1-Dec during the first snowstorm. The winter fair in East Princes Street Gardens, a shot of the castle looking past the Art Museum on the Mound, a picture lookup up the Mound to the Playfair Steps (note the sign for the Biergarten on the right-- what would an Edinburgh Christmas Fair be without a biergarten?), and a picture of the high street-- if you look carefully you can see the sleet streaking down against the dark backdrop of the church and shops.
Saturday 11 December 2010
Wisconsin weather
Okay, the Scotland imitation of Edinburgh weather ends officially today. Here's the weather forecast for Madison, Wisconsin :)
Issued by The National Weather Service
Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI
3:47 pm CST, Sat., Dec. 11, 2010
... A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST SUNDAY. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING.
* TIMING... MIXED PRECIPITATION THIS AFTERNOON WILL TURN TO ALL SNOW BY EVENING... AND BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WITH WHITEOUT CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED LATER THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY... 8 TO 13 INCHES. HIGHEST AMOUNTS NORTH OF MADISON... LOWEST NEAR THE ILLINOIS BORDER.
* WINDS... STRONG NORTHWEST TO NORTH WINDS OF 30 MPH... WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH... WILL DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT... AND LAST THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT.
* IMPACTS... MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW... AND BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW... WILL MAKE FOR DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AND SNOW COVERED... DRIFTED ROADS ARE EXPECTED. MANY ROADS MAY BECOME IMPASSABLE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS... MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL... HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED... STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.
Issued by The National Weather Service
Milwaukee/Sullivan, WI
3:47 pm CST, Sat., Dec. 11, 2010
... A BLIZZARD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST SUNDAY. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM CST THIS EVENING.
* TIMING... MIXED PRECIPITATION THIS AFTERNOON WILL TURN TO ALL SNOW BY EVENING... AND BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW WITH WHITEOUT CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED LATER THIS EVENING THROUGH SUNDAY.
* SNOW ACCUMULATIONS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY... 8 TO 13 INCHES. HIGHEST AMOUNTS NORTH OF MADISON... LOWEST NEAR THE ILLINOIS BORDER.
* WINDS... STRONG NORTHWEST TO NORTH WINDS OF 30 MPH... WITH GUSTS TO 40 MPH... WILL DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT... AND LAST THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT.
* IMPACTS... MODERATE TO HEAVY SNOW... AND BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW... WILL MAKE FOR DANGEROUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AND SNOW COVERED... DRIFTED ROADS ARE EXPECTED. MANY ROADS MAY BECOME IMPASSABLE.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
A BLIZZARD WARNING MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. FALLING AND BLOWING SNOW WITH STRONG WINDS AND POOR VISIBILITIES ARE LIKELY. THIS WILL LEAD TO WHITEOUT CONDITIONS... MAKING TRAVEL EXTREMELY DANGEROUS. DO NOT TRAVEL. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL... HAVE A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT WITH YOU. IF YOU GET STRANDED... STAY WITH YOUR VEHICLE.
Legos and malapropisms
Taran received a mid-scale Millenium Falcon lego set for Hanukkah from Grandma Maris and Grandpa Harvey, and he's spent the last couple days putting it together, with only a little help from yours truly. But arguably the best moment of the entire process was when Kenna wandered over and asked me how Taran was doing with the "lemonade vulcan."
Kenna and I also did lots of lego play, in between Sylvannian family playtime. Kenna received the Toy Shop as well as a new family of brown rabbits (7 total: Mom, Dad, 2 boy and three girl rabbits including a baby girl rabbit). It turned out the brown rabbits were from Scotland and had moved to America and will be living with the American Labrador family in the windmill.
Kenna was full of something this morning. We were playing with the legos and she picked up the helicopter and started flying it around saying, "Alert! Alert! Alert!" So I said, "My goodness, an alert. That sounds bad." And she responded: "No, it's not a problem. There's an alien over here but the guys picked him up and are taking him to another planet." I was game for that, so I said, "Oh, good. What planet are they taking him to?" And she answered, "They're taking him to planet couch. It's over here in the living room."
Yesterday's bon mot was well-intentioned: "Daddy, I love you every day. But I love Mommy more."
Taran's one-liner this morning was:
"All I need is Luke's hair and then Mozart will come."
This requires some real explaining. Taran got a "Celebration Luke Skywalker" lego minifigure when he bought his Star Wars Lego Collector Encyclopedia. Luke has long blond hair and is wearing the outfit from the end of "Star Wars." Taran claimed, initially, that it wasn't Luke Skywalker at all (though I've forgotten who he said it was). But then a while back Taran announced that Luke looked like Mozart (?) because of the hair. So now Taran takes the hair off Luke's head and puts it on one of the pirate figures and calls it Mozart. I suppose that's one better than, say Bon Jovi.
Kenna and I also did lots of lego play, in between Sylvannian family playtime. Kenna received the Toy Shop as well as a new family of brown rabbits (7 total: Mom, Dad, 2 boy and three girl rabbits including a baby girl rabbit). It turned out the brown rabbits were from Scotland and had moved to America and will be living with the American Labrador family in the windmill.
Kenna was full of something this morning. We were playing with the legos and she picked up the helicopter and started flying it around saying, "Alert! Alert! Alert!" So I said, "My goodness, an alert. That sounds bad." And she responded: "No, it's not a problem. There's an alien over here but the guys picked him up and are taking him to another planet." I was game for that, so I said, "Oh, good. What planet are they taking him to?" And she answered, "They're taking him to planet couch. It's over here in the living room."
Yesterday's bon mot was well-intentioned: "Daddy, I love you every day. But I love Mommy more."
Taran's one-liner this morning was:
"All I need is Luke's hair and then Mozart will come."
This requires some real explaining. Taran got a "Celebration Luke Skywalker" lego minifigure when he bought his Star Wars Lego Collector Encyclopedia. Luke has long blond hair and is wearing the outfit from the end of "Star Wars." Taran claimed, initially, that it wasn't Luke Skywalker at all (though I've forgotten who he said it was). But then a while back Taran announced that Luke looked like Mozart (?) because of the hair. So now Taran takes the hair off Luke's head and puts it on one of the pirate figures and calls it Mozart. I suppose that's one better than, say Bon Jovi.
Thursday 9 December 2010
The slow thaw
The weather improved dramatically-- mostly clear skies and temperatures close to 40F. The photo to the right is from our kitchen. If you look carefully, you can actually see a couple drops of water descending in midair... I wish I could take credit for spectacular photography but it's much more an indication of the rapidity of the melt and the volume of water coming down.
The temps are supposed to stay warmish for the weekend, which probably means a lot of wet shoes and dirty cuffs :)
The kids' Hanukkah presents finally arrived (well, some of them), having been delayed well over a week in the Edinburgh depot (hurrah for sophisticated tracking systems that can tell you exactly where and for how long your packages have been delayed). But they're here, and you can probably tell from their expressions how excited they are-- they are thanking their Grandma Maris via iChat, which is why they are managing to stare fixedly at the iMac while tightly holding their presents.
On the down side, Taran's drama class and play were cancelled, though we're not sure if that was weather related or not. The Stockbridge Christmas Fair was cancelled, apparently because the city wasn't sure it would be safe or warm enough-- again, we're not clear on the details.
I was very excited this week to get a small travel grant that will help pay the costs of flying back and forth to the US to collect some of the data I need. The journal resubmission is in, and there's nothing to do on that but wait and see. In the meantime, I'm grinding away on possible submissions to AoM, which I now appreciate as both a deadline to work towards and an opportunity for free feedback that I definitely need.
The ramp up to teaching has been relatively jerky-- stops and starts and lots of uncertainty. If I can get through next week's training sessions, I'll have relative calm and quiet to sort it all out. Perhaps I'll even be able to set up the project management system I keep envisioning but somehow don't have time for.
The kids are asleep-- Lynn's gone over to a friend's flat for a chat, and I'm going to call it a night soon. Cheers!
Wednesday 8 December 2010
The perfect snowstorm-- Most snow in in Scotland in 50 years...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/dec/08/transport-secretary-scotland-perfect-storm
Transport secretary says sorry after chaos of Scotland's 'perfect storm'
M8 has reopened, and thaw forecasted across much of UK, but snow and freezing continue continue in north
Kirsty Scott and Helen Carter
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 December 2010 19.42 GMT
Scotland had faced a "perfect storm" of snow and freezing conditions, the country's transport minister said, as the main motorway, the M8, finally reopened after two days of gridlock across much of the central belt.
Despite forecasts of a thaw across much of the UK before the weekend, the big freeze is continuing to cause chaos – hundreds of motorists spent a second night in their cars on snowbound roads as temperatures north of the border again fell to -20C (4F). And more than 100 vehicles were trapped on an exposed route in North Yorkshire after a sudden heavy snow shower on Tuesday night.
In an emergency statement to the Scottish parliament, the transport secretary, Stewart Stevenson, said he was ultimately responsible for the chaotic situation, and apologised to commuters for the closures and delays on many of the country's key routes. Efforts will be made to ensure that authorities to react more quickly and more robustly to extreme conditions.
"On Monday morning we faced a perfect storm," he said Mr Stevenson. "A highly unusual weather system came in and this hit our transport system exceptionally hard."
Drivers across central Scotland had been forced to abandon their vehicles after the worst winter weather for decades. A 20-mile section of the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh reopened only this afternoon, and police were still urging motorists not to travel.
Councillors in Edinburgh have asked the army to clear thick ice and snow from side streets and pavements after days of sub-zero temperatures left many routes treacherous. The city has seen its heaviest snowfall in nearly 50 years over the past 11 days, up to 30in (76cm). Many streets and pavements were too heavily iced over to be cleared by snowploughs or grit. The council hopes soldiers at the city's Redford barracks will be deployed within the next few days.
The army, along with mountain rescue teams in central Scotland, has already sent out 4x4 vehicles to help ambulances and police to ferry the sick to hospital across the central belt.
More snow was expected across north-east Scotland, Northern Ireland, Yorkshire and Humberside, with icy roads expected around the country. Overnight temperatures were expected to drop to -20C in parts of Scotland, and to -15C in Yorkshire and parts of Cumbria. London was just below freezing.
The A171 between Whitby and Scarborough had to be closed temporarily on Tuesday night when snow fell on ice, making driving extremely hazardous. North Yorkshire police said all cars were released overnight using snowploughs. At least nine people have died during the freeze, including an elderly man found dead in snow at a Lincolnshire caravan park.
Insurers say there has been a huge jump in the number of household and motor claims across the UK because of the freezing weather. Axa said it had seen an 85% jump in single-vehicle claims as motorists slid off the road in icy conditions.
Sub-zero conditions are forecast to abate at the end of the week then return. Tomorrow will be much milder, with lows of 2C for most of England. All parts of the UK will stay above zero on Friday, and the south-west and parts of western Scotland will see temperatures peak at 9C.Lindsay Dovey, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "Nowhere will have freezing temperatures on Friday, and just a few places in Scotland will be below zero on Saturday.The wind is changing to a westerly direction, which will bring some much milder weather. But colder temperatures are returning from Sunday and into next week."
Transport secretary says sorry after chaos of Scotland's 'perfect storm'
M8 has reopened, and thaw forecasted across much of UK, but snow and freezing continue continue in north
Kirsty Scott and Helen Carter
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 8 December 2010 19.42 GMT
Scotland had faced a "perfect storm" of snow and freezing conditions, the country's transport minister said, as the main motorway, the M8, finally reopened after two days of gridlock across much of the central belt.
Despite forecasts of a thaw across much of the UK before the weekend, the big freeze is continuing to cause chaos – hundreds of motorists spent a second night in their cars on snowbound roads as temperatures north of the border again fell to -20C (4F). And more than 100 vehicles were trapped on an exposed route in North Yorkshire after a sudden heavy snow shower on Tuesday night.
In an emergency statement to the Scottish parliament, the transport secretary, Stewart Stevenson, said he was ultimately responsible for the chaotic situation, and apologised to commuters for the closures and delays on many of the country's key routes. Efforts will be made to ensure that authorities to react more quickly and more robustly to extreme conditions.
"On Monday morning we faced a perfect storm," he said Mr Stevenson. "A highly unusual weather system came in and this hit our transport system exceptionally hard."
Drivers across central Scotland had been forced to abandon their vehicles after the worst winter weather for decades. A 20-mile section of the M8 between Glasgow and Edinburgh reopened only this afternoon, and police were still urging motorists not to travel.
Councillors in Edinburgh have asked the army to clear thick ice and snow from side streets and pavements after days of sub-zero temperatures left many routes treacherous. The city has seen its heaviest snowfall in nearly 50 years over the past 11 days, up to 30in (76cm). Many streets and pavements were too heavily iced over to be cleared by snowploughs or grit. The council hopes soldiers at the city's Redford barracks will be deployed within the next few days.
The army, along with mountain rescue teams in central Scotland, has already sent out 4x4 vehicles to help ambulances and police to ferry the sick to hospital across the central belt.
More snow was expected across north-east Scotland, Northern Ireland, Yorkshire and Humberside, with icy roads expected around the country. Overnight temperatures were expected to drop to -20C in parts of Scotland, and to -15C in Yorkshire and parts of Cumbria. London was just below freezing.
The A171 between Whitby and Scarborough had to be closed temporarily on Tuesday night when snow fell on ice, making driving extremely hazardous. North Yorkshire police said all cars were released overnight using snowploughs. At least nine people have died during the freeze, including an elderly man found dead in snow at a Lincolnshire caravan park.
Insurers say there has been a huge jump in the number of household and motor claims across the UK because of the freezing weather. Axa said it had seen an 85% jump in single-vehicle claims as motorists slid off the road in icy conditions.
Sub-zero conditions are forecast to abate at the end of the week then return. Tomorrow will be much milder, with lows of 2C for most of England. All parts of the UK will stay above zero on Friday, and the south-west and parts of western Scotland will see temperatures peak at 9C.Lindsay Dovey, a forecaster with MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association, said: "Nowhere will have freezing temperatures on Friday, and just a few places in Scotland will be below zero on Saturday.The wind is changing to a westerly direction, which will bring some much milder weather. But colder temperatures are returning from Sunday and into next week."
Monday 6 December 2010
Edinburgh Christmas Fair
Here are some photos from our short evening visit to the Edinburgh Christmas Fair. The first shot is the kids in the flying car ride. The second is the Ice Maze-- you can just see Taran in the maze at the far right. The third shot is Kenna on the reindeer ride. At the bottom is a link to the YouTube video of our ride on the rollercoaster :)
Roller coaster ride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAwwHoanvd8
Roller coaster ride
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAwwHoanvd8
Photos from Hanukkah
Here are some photos from celebrating Hanukkah with Sukkat Shalom on Saturday evening. It was a very nice, informal get-together. Rabbi Mark did Havdalah first, and then the 4th night of Hanukkah. There was some food, including latkes with sour cream, and even a game of dreidel and a game of "pass the parcel" for which Gillian Raab prepared a parcel that included multiple gifts under various parcel layers. We had fun, and the kids were demanding to come again next year.
Lynn's special powers...
This past year held one major disappointment for Lynn. For 20 years she's been involved with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Hoofers Sailing Club. She was one of the founders of the short skirt party, and the socials coordinator when the club began doing Friday night socials. Lynn wasn't just the life of the Sailing Club party, she actually started the party.
And another of some members of the club arriving at the Cohen's house by windsurfboard. All this is, of course, totally normal. But the photos below are something else altogether.
Unbeknownst to myself or our hosts at the Gala, Lynn somehow found a way to attend both parties. I'm not aware of a twin sister (though it does run in her family), or magical powers specifically associated with this (although she is a good baker, and spellbindingly good with the kids), so I'm afraid I have no explanation for this, other than the power of Hoofers...
Here's Lynn with one of our great friends and long-time Hoofer, Barry Widera...
And here's Lynn with a selection of some of her close girlfriends from the Club...
It's just eerie, I tell you...
And, of course, the BIG party each year is Commodore's Cup, and the BIG party at Commodore's Cup, especially for someone like Lynn who likes dressing up and dancing, is the Commodore's Ball. But this summer we were invited by some very good friends to the Discovery World Gala in Milwaukee on the same night-- a fancy black tie event at Milwaukee's waterfront, complete with alcohol-infused limo ride to and from Madison, a gourmet dinner, drinks, a professional band, and the company of friends (Paul and Ellen, Neil and Jess, Dan and Tiffany) that we don't see nearly enough.
So, despite misgivings, Lynn told me she had decided NOT to go to Commodore's Ball. Little did I know...
Here's a shot from the Cohen's house of the preparty before the ball.
And another of some members of the club arriving at the Cohen's house by windsurfboard. All this is, of course, totally normal. But the photos below are something else altogether.
Unbeknownst to myself or our hosts at the Gala, Lynn somehow found a way to attend both parties. I'm not aware of a twin sister (though it does run in her family), or magical powers specifically associated with this (although she is a good baker, and spellbindingly good with the kids), so I'm afraid I have no explanation for this, other than the power of Hoofers...
Here's Lynn with one of our great friends and long-time Hoofer, Barry Widera...
And here's Lynn with a selection of some of her close girlfriends from the Club...
It's just eerie, I tell you...
The snowy castle
Two quick photos (from my own hand, for once) to give a sense of the wintry scene that is Edinburgh...
Sunday 5 December 2010
Priorities
Just pointing out that the Scotsman (Scotland's national newspaper, though circulation may be below 50,000), has a well-marked Whisky section but, as far as I can tell, no weather section.
Here's the Scotsman's "flavour map," which is actually surprisingly useful, I think.
The cold continues. We went to dinner at friends' house, and we towed the kids in a plastic sled most of the way. It was quite fun, really, despite how cold it was. Anyway-- just spent 45 minutes helping Lynn with the endless photo quest... time for bed.
Here's the Scotsman's "flavour map," which is actually surprisingly useful, I think.
The cold continues. We went to dinner at friends' house, and we towed the kids in a plastic sled most of the way. It was quite fun, really, despite how cold it was. Anyway-- just spent 45 minutes helping Lynn with the endless photo quest... time for bed.
Friday 3 December 2010
Taran's treasure hunt 7
My Body: From Head to Foot
Which organs remove waste from the body by producing urine (pee)?
People and Places: Asia
What are kibbutzim, and what country do you find them?
The Sea: World of Water
Why is water near South America less salty than the rest of the Atlantic Ocean?
Which organs remove waste from the body by producing urine (pee)?
People and Places: Asia
What are kibbutzim, and what country do you find them?
The Sea: World of Water
Why is water near South America less salty than the rest of the Atlantic Ocean?
more snow, more cold, and more
The Wisconsin imitation continues unabated! I'm pretty sure whatever weather service she was checking was wrong, but Lynn said the temperature was 9F this morning. My guess is that it was closer to 25F. Still cold-ish, anyway. The funny thing (not to Dunediners, of course) is that the temperature has been so constant, both during the day and at night, that the incredible amount of SLUSH sitting around has remained almost perfectly constant: where there was a half-foot of grey slush on the pavement Monday is exactly what there was today. Slippery, somewhat ugly, annoying, pants-cuff-wetting, and often deep-puddle-hiding.
To the right is a news photo of the Holyrood Monster.
It's been a long week, really. The kids had no school Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and with only a half day today (Edinburgh state schools only do half-day on Fridays, for some reason, presumably to allow the general population to start drinking a bit earlier), she's pretty much had it with being a stay-at-home mom for the week. Not that she'll get much of a break for the weekend, but we'll figure it out.
Kenna did her first sleepover in Edinburgh (2nd in her life, I think) on Wednesday night. She stayed at Grace's house, and apparently had so much fun that she went right back there after school Thursday. Gracie is an only, so both she and her mom like having Kenna over. My understanding is that Gracie's had some health problems, and being in-and-out of hospital has limited her time making friends in school, so Kenna has been a very welcome presence for both Gracie and her mom.
Hannukah has had a bit of a slow start-- Taran's enjoyed the candle lighting but we've gone easy on the presents, mostly because the presents from Grandma Maris and Grandpa Harvey haven't arrive yet (again, weather issues-- normally stuff ordered from AmazonUK arrives in 2-3 days. The kids gave each other small presents last night, but tonight ran late.
Thursday was Lynn's birthday, and I'm afraid my intended plans for finding a present or even a card fell by the wayside because of scheduling, a manuscript resubmission, and the whole weather/school thing. I actually didn't leave the house between Sunday and Wednesday. I had a miserable day on Thursday, frankly, because I spent something like 6 hours accomplishing perhaps 30 minutes of actual work for the manuscript resubmission. I was not exactly in a good mood when Lynn and I went out for her birthday dinner, but we really hit bottom (no pun intended) when Lynn slipped and fell in the snow, bumping her head in the process. I was pretty sure we should've just gone home, but Lynn persevered and we had a nice dinner at Bon Vivant after all.
Tomorrow will be a bit busy-- tea with a colleague will require that Taran and I go pick up fruits at the store (and perhaps other necessities) in the morning. Then we'll try to go to the fair before the Hanukkah party with Sukkat Shalom. Sunday will be quieter. Happy Hanukkah!
To the right is a news photo of the Holyrood Monster.
It's been a long week, really. The kids had no school Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and with only a half day today (Edinburgh state schools only do half-day on Fridays, for some reason, presumably to allow the general population to start drinking a bit earlier), she's pretty much had it with being a stay-at-home mom for the week. Not that she'll get much of a break for the weekend, but we'll figure it out.
Kenna did her first sleepover in Edinburgh (2nd in her life, I think) on Wednesday night. She stayed at Grace's house, and apparently had so much fun that she went right back there after school Thursday. Gracie is an only, so both she and her mom like having Kenna over. My understanding is that Gracie's had some health problems, and being in-and-out of hospital has limited her time making friends in school, so Kenna has been a very welcome presence for both Gracie and her mom.
Hannukah has had a bit of a slow start-- Taran's enjoyed the candle lighting but we've gone easy on the presents, mostly because the presents from Grandma Maris and Grandpa Harvey haven't arrive yet (again, weather issues-- normally stuff ordered from AmazonUK arrives in 2-3 days. The kids gave each other small presents last night, but tonight ran late.
Thursday was Lynn's birthday, and I'm afraid my intended plans for finding a present or even a card fell by the wayside because of scheduling, a manuscript resubmission, and the whole weather/school thing. I actually didn't leave the house between Sunday and Wednesday. I had a miserable day on Thursday, frankly, because I spent something like 6 hours accomplishing perhaps 30 minutes of actual work for the manuscript resubmission. I was not exactly in a good mood when Lynn and I went out for her birthday dinner, but we really hit bottom (no pun intended) when Lynn slipped and fell in the snow, bumping her head in the process. I was pretty sure we should've just gone home, but Lynn persevered and we had a nice dinner at Bon Vivant after all.
Tomorrow will be a bit busy-- tea with a colleague will require that Taran and I go pick up fruits at the store (and perhaps other necessities) in the morning. Then we'll try to go to the fair before the Hanukkah party with Sukkat Shalom. Sunday will be quieter. Happy Hanukkah!
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