Chattering (24 Jun 07)

Tuesday 19th June

Well it is Tuesday and I have started this letter. Yesterday was a busy but good day not least as my neck has just reminded me I learnt how to avoid neck ache. When it comes sore it is just a sign that I need to sit straighter in my seat. Simple really only that you need to have built up the muscles in your lower torso so you can remain erect. Its funny once you learn a trick like that it is easy to do but until you do it remains so very very difficult. Other things include getting Cliff into inspect the electrics in the cellar apart from the heating stuff. I wanted to be sure that anything apart from the heating stuff was safe. I was pretty sure the lights were as they looked as if they ran along the ceiling but if there was anything else down there I could not be certain. As things was there was only an electric fan heater, which I think Barry must have put down there to stop people using. Either that or the Dickson's had it down there to help dry the place out. Then I managed to transcribe three sections of the interviews. If I manage that again and on do some serious work on it I will be getting ahead. Unfortunately Stuart rang me just as I settled to sleep.


Today after getting into work pretty well on time, I did some work on SPSS 16. No do not go and look in the shops for it, its a beta and I only have the copy until August when I need to send it back to the US. Whoever has been distributing beta's is onto a hiding for nothing. They can only really be used by people who are not worried by oddities. SPSS opened and it looked so like the old Unix version which was very clunky that I was quite worried. However although it runs noticeably slower that SPSS 15 the clunkiness isn't too bad.


Then on this afternoon to a meeting of the local community, well at least part of it. I am going to have to see if I can get hold of other bits as some sectors that are normally well represented weren't there. The West One development for instance, Gell Street and the Glossop Road Baths. However there were also local people who do not usually come. The Somali community seems to be reluctant to come unless there are interpreters. The problem is persuading them that there will be interpreters. I have been to meetings where there have been interpreters and no Somali's. I wonder what we need to do to do that.

Sunday 24th June

Heck, I have not written anything since Tuesday and my brain has gone completely blank on the rest of the week. Wednesday was a fairly normal day I think. Saw Theodora for what was a fairly straightforward session as sessions go. Then came home and I think did some transcription. Maybe around 6 minutes. By the way Lynne some years ago you gave me a wheat filled bag that you heat in the microwave for two minutes and it becomes nice and warm. It is the most useful thing. I have used it for multiple aches and pains over the years, the latest being that I put my shoulders when I am doing transcription and it stops them becoming quite so tight.

Thursday was also a very very normal day. I cannot think of anything special happening unless you call the mundane like talking to my parents and such. Wrote some wording for the Website but there is still a lot to do. Finally the person at Insight got in touch and I was able to say that I did not have the ability to do give the go ahead she wanted.

Friday was my day off, so went to Breakfast at Hanover. Then I came back and sorted things out at home, before going to St. Andrews to help set up the boards. James and Jean were back, James had been waiting for the boiler men to come, who had come early and condemned the electrics due to flood damage. That means no heat in the Church, Elders Vestry and Ministers Vestry for several months as we need to sort out both the boilers and the causes of the flooding. Evidence seems to be stepping up for a blocked outlet but where? The water having been stationary since Saturday suddenly dropped on Thursday night! Where did it go? Anyway James, Ted, Sarah and myself got the display boards up in record time. Jean Dickson returned from shopping expecting to have to help and found we had finished. Then Ted Sarah and I retired to my place to do some Greek. Took us around an hour to do four verses but we are getting there. Sarah is now talking of getting us to do Hebrew in a couple of years time. I want to leave it until then. Then went into tow to shop, and not think. I came back and did more transcription.

Transcribing an interview is very slow process. I work at about 1:10 on the interview:transcription time ratio. I am not really sure I ought not to be keeping a diary on transcription decisions. I am well aware I am sometimes consistent and sometimes I am not. One thing I have learnt is that emotion can get in the way of transcription.

Saturday was the day of the Mind, Body and Soul exhibition at St. Andrews. There were certainly lots of things on display and this time we did actually have several exhibitors who were not church members. Sarah certainly seems to be a lot better at getting us to go beyond our immediate community. There were fantastic painting in the hall and we had two gentlemen from the Muslim Welfare house doing scripts. Drinks and cakes were supplied by church ladies, Sarah having been let down at the last minute. Perhaps the hit this time was not Alan Sandland with his violins, impressive as that still is, but Elizabeth Cousley with her hats. She seems to have been going to Leeds to learn millinery and her hats were worthy of being worn to Ascot. Mrs Fotheringham was amongst the painters who displayed work. There also were a couple of taster sessions at the church, I went to the one by the local writers group which was probably 50% the normal group and 50% people trying it like me. This also included two Muslim women. There was a singing group held as well and a beading activity for children. Then there was stuff going on at the Broomhall Centre as well.

Today the activity of the last two days caught up with me and though I did make it to church I spent most of the afternoon in bed with a migraine. That meant that I did not help with the clearing away of the exhibition but then with a migraine I would have been a hindrance rather than a help.

Coming week

Well I am down to see Stephen Pattison on Wednesday, then have a reminder driving lesson on Thursday. I think I should be ok. Its a reminder less as I have my driving license but it is about ten years since I last drove and I will need something to get my confidence back up.

Chattering on 14th June 07

Thursday 14th June

So far not much written in this letter this week. Not that the week has been uneventful. Monday I was down in Birmingham to see my supervisor. I always aim to be at least half an hour before the actual meeting. This is very useful for me as I tend to go into the postgrad study and to check my emails on all accounts. Well on Monday I did just that only to find an email from my supervisor saying that as his mother had died the previous week and he was still sorting out things he could not make the meeting. I also for once had forgotten my student card, so I spent some time on the internet, had lunch and then wandered back along the canal to the University Train Stop (as opposed to Selly Oak which is where I usually go)

Tuesday ended up sorting things in work. Would not said I had done much but got some things straight. Finding it fascinating to be working with a Linguistics student and the way she deals with language. It seems as if every time she comes I end up sending her back for another bit of software. The latest is for SigmaPlot so she can draw proper graphs! The way her study works is that she asks people to supply synonyms for words. People are classed by age, gender and social class. What she is trying to find out is how the meanings of words differ across those groups. She then groups the supplied words according to meaning and then calculates what percentage that is of the words. Of course this relies on some words changing quicker than others. What she is trying to do is map the morphology of the language. However she has set my PhD mind working and I am beginning to think that we could talk of a community boundary where there is significant translation work to be done in talking across it. If a boundary exists if a person from one group talking to a person from another group has to do significant translation of ideas and thoughts in order to make themselves intelligible to each other. This using Wagner means that they are aware of cultural differences between them!

Wednesday it was over to Stockport to see my Uncle and Aunt who were staying with my Mum and Dad. I actually got going around time and things went relatively smoothly. Got the 11:10 train which meant I was over around 12 noon. Had to go to the department first to drop off a set of keys. Then caught a tram. Charles and Di seemed to have enjoyed their stay with my parents. My parents were saying they were tired tonight, and I would not be at all surprised if Charles and Di were feeling much the same. I got the train back and walked up to town and did little jobs there, mainly just small shopping ones.

In the evening went to a meeting at Hanover Methodist where the future of worship was being discussed. I do not know what will be the outcome but there needs to be something. I think there may be needs to widen a net. The building is not closed, in fact it is in use most days of the week, just not for worship.

Today I was in work, on time. Got and order from Amazon including a collection of poems selected by Neil Astley (who is really quite a brilliant selector) called "Soul Food". It is published by Bloodaxe and cost less than a tenner. I would suggest if you are looking for a present for anyone who has a liberal arts degree or just enjoys poetry, that it would be a brilliant gift.

Friday 15th June

Oh well nothing like a minor crisis for making you believe you are indispensable. So what has happened. The churches cellar has flooded. So an evening spent too and froing to the church to check depth (around a metre) and switch off the electrics. Calling the fire brigade (well actually Colin Anderson did that) and informing people about things. I think everything is done in correct order. Hopefully the fire brigade will only ring tomorrow and they will sort it fairly efficiently when they do come.

Saturday 16th June

The flooding in the church cellar is now down to reasonable levels i.e. wellie paddling level thanks to the fire brigade. Guess whose wellies are in Scotland! First time I have ever needed them properly and I hope never to need them again. There was a huge amount of water pumped out. We think between 30,000 and 40,000 litres or 76,000 gallons. This is presuming the fire-brigade pump was pumping at 1,000 litres per minute. Reasonable as the feeder pipe was 10 cm (2.5 inches) + across . The fire-brigade were happy for us to turn the electrics back on, and I got Ted Hunt out to switch off the boiler, so all safe for now. I just went to bed this afternoon and slept. Now I have a baking potato in the oven and will have tuna with lime chilli and tomato chutney with it.

Sunday 17th June

Well the flood was still Wellington boot level today. One new leek reported beside the elders vestry. I think I know where it is, but I do need a reply from Bill Armstrong on how to contact Roy Haigh, the builder. One good thing is the old dispute on whether the cellar is dry or not is over. So now all we have to do is decide how to solve the problem. Options seem three fold: reseal, fit a sump or move the heater boiler. Must tomorrow make a sign for the disabled loo! The rain is getting in via a route that runs right next to the main light filament. Anyway worship went ahead as usual and most of it will be in James' hands. I guess I have also made a small gain for women's equality in that the sorting of this should be a "man's role" but it is me who was trusted to do it.

Service went fine although the congregation was sparse due to Margaret Fall's holidays. Rather than having the gospel story read from the Bible, Sarah told it as a storyteller might. It was interesting how it brings different things to light. To tell the story Sarah either explained a lot of things and the one thing that struck me was how unusual today would be someone using a bottle of perfume as their savings for a rainy day. It also struck me that it was always women who had the expensive perfume.

Went to lunch with Sarah and then with her onto the Student Muslim Welfare House Open Day. This is the second time I had been shown around the premises and the guy showing us around was an eighteen year old local lad who was planning to be a doctor. The whole approach he gave was well nuanced in understanding of Islam and such was his confidence and demure I would have put him in his mid twenties. There was also a talk from an English woman who had converted to Islam about her own personal journey. She was from a devout but weak teaching Anglican background. For instance she was puzzled about how Jesus could be a Jew and the founder of Christianity. The Sunday School seems to have left the stories from the bible as just that stories and the relationship between faith and action had totally been left out of the equation. However her reasons for choosing Islam are just the reasons I would never choose it. To put it bluntly we both find with Christianity once I have run intellectually as hard as I can, there is still mystery and paradox. For her that was a reason to choose Islam, for me it is a reason to stick with Christianity.

Endings

This week I have to make sure I get fresh appointment with my supervisor, I will not trouble him until Tuesday, if he was only back at Birmingham at the end of last week then he will need a few days to get his bearings. Plus I also really do need to get a move on with transcribing the interview tapes.

Tuesday there is a meeting to talk about the petty crime in the area that has had one of its sporadic increases. The real reason being the the police have had some success against the local drug suppliers, so new suppliers are trying to move into the patch. Add that we look as if we might have a long hot summer and there are quite a few bored teenagers, who seem to think gang culture might enliven things up. the question is how do we nip it in the bud.

Next Saturday we have an exhibition at St. Andrew's called Body Mind and Spirit, Central has a model bus and train exhibition. David, I guess I should say if you are coming over for the bus and train exhibit I will take Sue to St. Andrew's instead.
Well with that and keeping an eye on water levels in the churches cellars, I do not think I will be bored.

Chattering (Sunday 10th Jun 07)

Wednesday 6th Jun

Not sure there is much to report today, finally got into work for this week having had a migraine at the start of the week. On the way to work noted that they have finally started work on Gell Street playing ground. There should be lots of new equipment for kids of all ages. The big worry is how to stop boredom vandalism from happening.

I should know by now that if Elder's play stroppy I pay for it with a migraine. Ironic in some ways as I needed to be in work to cover for someone who has had a persistent headache for four weeks. Got to reading through the stuff for them today, but will have to sort it tomorrow.

Went to Somerfield's on the way home basically to restock my fridge as stuff was getting very, very low. Nothing fancy just basics. Came back and caught sight of one of my neighbours called Sandra. So looked in her direction and noticed that there was a police van parked on Gell Street. Sandra assured me it was a publicity stunt. So I went to have a look. Not much doing but we had a neighbour hood meeting there and then. They were trying to get us to sign up for a neighbour watch at a meeting in a fortnights time. It will be interesting to see what comes of it.

Saturday 9th Jun

Not bad I actually get to write a second installment before Sunday. Lets see, not much gone on because I was second week recovering from tablet drop. I am just dopey/likely to crash this week, not totally out for the count. Was fairly busy at work. Saw Justyna twice and Sylvie twice. Sylvie came to see me with a couple of queries and then said "this light is doing my head in". My office is dark and coolish this time of year. So I sent her home to go to bed. Diagnosis, one migraine. She will be back next week to ask exactly the same questions. Reasons 1) because she nearly always is 2)I never take in anything with a migraine either.

I submitted the paper for next Monday's supervision, and generally have been trying to get into transcription. That is genuine. Its going slow with the latest interview I have not even managed to divide it up into stories yet. Maybe I will do some on the train down on Monday. Needless to say this is the part of the transcription that is going to be emotionally hard. Mum and Dad sent through an advert for a free driving check-up. I was able to use the internet to check why. It seems a pretty genuine offer, aimed partly at traffic safety and partly at getting people to have further lessons. Well as I intend to have further lessons anyway I am happy to take it up.

We also now have the rubber covers for the wires at church. Of course when we get the wires suddenly the organ wire is stored tidily under the organs so we cannot fit that one. It is at the back of church and I will talk with our Organist, Douglas tomorrow.

Finally I have have found this really super way to do Celtic Knot work. Its a font and you need to pay for it but you can do so much with it. Have a look at what the people at Clanbadge have done with it.

The park is still dug up which means local birds are displaced somewhat. There has therefore been a run on the bird seed in my feeder. Well today I was not quite with it, as I intended getting a second bird feeder but got to the shop to late, but did manage to get to the lock smith next door who sold me the ideal chain for securing it to the pole and a padlock for all of £2.50. The thing with the old one technique was that the ring that I had to thread and rethread was steadily getting more and more rusty.

Sunday 10th June

Today's news. Well David Hill had a nice tan today at worship having returned from Cyprus. Elizabeth Draper was ordained an elder and things went through very smoothly. Barry and Pat Thomas are leaving this coming week for Reading and planning to worship at St. Andrews Reading. Afterwards I came home and slept for a couple of hours before getting up and having something to eat. Dad rang, they seem to have had a good time so far. The weather has been mixed especially when they were by St. Andrews but things have gone to plan and yesterday on the boat trip Dad got sunburnt. The bird life has been good, they have seen puffins, guillemots and such. Today they worshipped in Iona Abbey.

Talking of birds I have had a couple of feathered visitors. I have had my lounge door open to allow air to circulate. The first was a pigeon who was a really cool customer and decided he would investigate this place that was the other side of the railings. He did not fly in, he just walked and I had to shoo him back out. The second was an accident by a greenfinch who was not nearly as calm and collected. I do not know who was the more panicky me or the finch. I have this thing about not touching wild animals, birds or fish. I just feel totally out of my depth. Anyway it knocked itself out in my kitchen where I did not see it. Came around and I heard the noise, managed to open the window somewhat wider and it escaped. Very relieved bird and very relieved me!

Other than that spent most of the afternoon tidying up bits and pieces on my website. Well that and putting a celtic knot tile in as a header. Some little things irritate me enormously, like how do I get the Title text centred correctly against its box. Mutter, Mutter, Mutter.

Any way off to Birmingham tomorrow and need to print out things I have submitted.