You would think by now that I would learn that I just don't do well with down days. Whenever we go on vacation, I always figure in some down days - days where there's nothing on the agenda and we're just going to hang out. They always seem like such a good idea. At home, Steve and I both do quite well with down days. Especially after a particularly hectic week. But once we're on vacation - no matter where - down days just make me restless. And it's happened again.
This weekend is a bank holiday weekend in the UK, so Monday is a day off from work and school for everyone. The archives are also closed. So I figured I would just wait until Tuesday to get to work, and give myself a few days to chill and acclimate. It'd be fun . . . WRONG!
My original plans for today included a stroll around the area, but it's been cold and rainy most of the day (Well, it IS England, after all), so that idea went kaput. I ran to Leyland with my in-laws to pick up some slippers, a replacement for my power converter, a notebook, and some food for lunch. But aside from that, I've been in the house all day. It's been me and my computer for hours on end - except for the hour or so that I actually fell asleep.
So to hell with down days! Tomorrow, I'm going to attempt to figure out the bus and get my butt into the city centre. I'm a bit anxious about that, though. Only because the route map doesn't actually show where the stops are and the names listed on the timetable aren't familiar to me. Once I suss it out, I'll be fine. But I know I'm going to be a bit nervous initially. I wish Steve were here to show me. I wish Steve were here, in general.
Anyway, if I can make it to the city centre, I'm going to pop by the Harris Library and pick up a couple of Preston history books. Going through them for ideas and bibliographies should carry me through the long weekend. Then come Tuesday, I can hit the ground running.
Fingers crossed the bus isn't the death of me!
30 April 2009
29 April 2009
Settling in
I have arrived in England. It was so tough leaving Steve yesterday. As he walked me to security, I broke down and cried. He just held me, and then helped me fish out a tissue so I could clean up my face. It took me several minutes to compose myself and part from him.
Of course, the TSA security people just HAVE to be little Napoleons, don't they? They have new rules regarding laptops. If you have the computer in its own sheath, you don't have to remove it from the bag. The sign said something like "if it's in the bag with nothing above or below it" you can keep it in the bag. I was pleased, because my new laptop is bigger than my old one and squeezing it into the little insert sleeve for my rolling laptop bag is very time consuming. So I happily removed the sheath, taking the time to remove the mousepad from its front pocket (nothing above or below) and plopped the sheath into a bin. I was carrying too much crap, so I then plunked my shoes on top of the computer.
Well, apparently the English on the sign isn't completely clear. Nothing is to be above or below the computer AT ALL. So my shoes got me into trouble. Well then the grumpy cow who brought this to my attention not only kept me waiting about five or six minutes for a rescan, she took my laptop OUT of its sheath! There was no reason to do that. She did it just to be spiteful. Bitch.
So I had to wrestle with my computer on top of everything else. Then my plane starts boarding EARLY whilst I was buying a bottle of water, so I had to hustle onboard. Of course, no bin near my seat was free and I have two carry-ons. Luckily, the flight attendant did some rearranging and my bag got stowed across the aisle from my seat. I was worried she was going to put it in the back and I'd have to wait for the plane to empty before I could get it. Not good when you have a connection in Atlanta to make!
So after them hustling us aboard early and making a big to do about pulling away from the gate a smidge early, we get stuck on the tarmac for about half an hour. It seems Atlanta's air traffic controllers wouldn't clear us to depart for some unknown to us reason. So we didn't take off until about 5:20 - our original departure was set at 4:42.
Fortunately, my connection was at 7:30, so even with the delay and the need to transfer from Concourse A to T Terminal (for international flights), I made it there in plenty of time.
The flight over was good. We had a brisk tailwind, the food was decent, and the girl seated next to me was very nice. I even slept! I got a good solid four hours of sleep, which is amazing. Upon arrival, though, we weren't parked at a ramp. Instead we had to schlep down a set of stairs (and the first step was easily a foot high) to a bus that then drove us around for about ten minutes before dumping us a a terminal door. It took over 20 minutes just to start deplaning. Then it was a good 15 minutes between the bus ride and the long walk to immigration. But immigration took less than 10 minutes!
I had a bit of a wait for both my cases, but nothing too bad. What's weird is the free trolleys were gone. Not sure if they were simply all in use or they're no longer available. But I had to wrestle my bags through cutoms and to the meeting point.
I've had a nice, easy day today. We went to the grocery store (we being me and my in-laws, Tony and Jean), I got unpacked, and I took a nap (even sleeping on the plane did nothing for the jet lag). We had a nice meal and then a good chunk of Steve's brothers and sisters have come by. So yes, a nice day.
Tomorrow at some point, I'm going to take a bus into town. I need to learn the ropes with it, and I want to hit Harris Library for some of the old history books I managed to get through ILL. It's a bank holiday this weekend, so the archives are closed on Monday. I've decided to give myself time off from intensive work unti Tuesday. I may as well enjoy myself, right?
So not much history yet. But it's a start.
Of course, the TSA security people just HAVE to be little Napoleons, don't they? They have new rules regarding laptops. If you have the computer in its own sheath, you don't have to remove it from the bag. The sign said something like "if it's in the bag with nothing above or below it" you can keep it in the bag. I was pleased, because my new laptop is bigger than my old one and squeezing it into the little insert sleeve for my rolling laptop bag is very time consuming. So I happily removed the sheath, taking the time to remove the mousepad from its front pocket (nothing above or below) and plopped the sheath into a bin. I was carrying too much crap, so I then plunked my shoes on top of the computer.
Well, apparently the English on the sign isn't completely clear. Nothing is to be above or below the computer AT ALL. So my shoes got me into trouble. Well then the grumpy cow who brought this to my attention not only kept me waiting about five or six minutes for a rescan, she took my laptop OUT of its sheath! There was no reason to do that. She did it just to be spiteful. Bitch.
So I had to wrestle with my computer on top of everything else. Then my plane starts boarding EARLY whilst I was buying a bottle of water, so I had to hustle onboard. Of course, no bin near my seat was free and I have two carry-ons. Luckily, the flight attendant did some rearranging and my bag got stowed across the aisle from my seat. I was worried she was going to put it in the back and I'd have to wait for the plane to empty before I could get it. Not good when you have a connection in Atlanta to make!
So after them hustling us aboard early and making a big to do about pulling away from the gate a smidge early, we get stuck on the tarmac for about half an hour. It seems Atlanta's air traffic controllers wouldn't clear us to depart for some unknown to us reason. So we didn't take off until about 5:20 - our original departure was set at 4:42.
Fortunately, my connection was at 7:30, so even with the delay and the need to transfer from Concourse A to T Terminal (for international flights), I made it there in plenty of time.
The flight over was good. We had a brisk tailwind, the food was decent, and the girl seated next to me was very nice. I even slept! I got a good solid four hours of sleep, which is amazing. Upon arrival, though, we weren't parked at a ramp. Instead we had to schlep down a set of stairs (and the first step was easily a foot high) to a bus that then drove us around for about ten minutes before dumping us a a terminal door. It took over 20 minutes just to start deplaning. Then it was a good 15 minutes between the bus ride and the long walk to immigration. But immigration took less than 10 minutes!
I had a bit of a wait for both my cases, but nothing too bad. What's weird is the free trolleys were gone. Not sure if they were simply all in use or they're no longer available. But I had to wrestle my bags through cutoms and to the meeting point.
I've had a nice, easy day today. We went to the grocery store (we being me and my in-laws, Tony and Jean), I got unpacked, and I took a nap (even sleeping on the plane did nothing for the jet lag). We had a nice meal and then a good chunk of Steve's brothers and sisters have come by. So yes, a nice day.
Tomorrow at some point, I'm going to take a bus into town. I need to learn the ropes with it, and I want to hit Harris Library for some of the old history books I managed to get through ILL. It's a bank holiday this weekend, so the archives are closed on Monday. I've decided to give myself time off from intensive work unti Tuesday. I may as well enjoy myself, right?
So not much history yet. But it's a start.
28 April 2009
Adventures of a History Geek
In about fourteen hours, I will be on a plane to Atlanta. From there, I fly to Manchester, England, where I'm spending ten weeks doing research for my master's thesis in European history. I am looking at how the Industrial Revolution changed Steve's hometown of Preston. I want to know how a small medieval market town described by author Daniel Defoe in 1724 as a town full of attorneys was, about one hundred years later, a bustling textile hub. That's what my thesis prospectus says, anyway (albeit in a lot more scholarly words). Who knows what I'll find or where it will take me? That's half of fun of doing something like this. Or so I assume. I've never done anything like this before. In fact, this research trip makes me a real, live historian. I'm not a history major. I'm not a history grad student. I'm an historian! Makes me feel important.
But I don't really feel like a historian at the moment. Right now, I'm mostly tired. I'm staying up late and getting up early hoping that if I'm sleepy later tonight, I'll get some sleep on the airplane. The fully-booked airplane. More than likely, I'll just be a very sleep passenger on a fully-booked airplane and a sound-asleep guest shortly after I arrive at Mum and Dad Ashton's.
At the moment, I'm also a bit stressed. Steve and I spent all day running errands for the trip, and yet my To Do list has less than half its entries scratched off. Not good. That's going to make for a stressful day. I need to try and stay relaxed and just get everything done.
At the moment, I'm mostly just . . . sad. I'm excited about doing this research. I'm excited about being in England for such a long time and getting to know the family better. I'm excited about my friend, Alicia, coming over for a week when I'm in London. But the thought of leaving Steve - of being apart from him for 2.5 months - rips a hole in my heart. The closer I get to leaving, the harder it is not to totally freak out about it. Just thinking about saying good-bye brings me near tears these last couple of days.
You'd think we'd be old hats at this. Ninety percent of our courtship was spent with him in England and me in the states. But for nearly ten years, he's been with me. It was horrible being apart from him back then. It's going to be even more miserable being apart from him now. I'm used to having him around. I like having him around. This is just so . . . wrong.
What in the bloody hell was I thinking when I concocted this research trip?!
I'm sure once I'm in England and into a research routine, I'll be fine. And hopefully Skype and webcams will make the ten weeks tolerable. And when I get home on July 8, Steve and I can celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary (a month late) and I'm never leaving him for this long again.
But I don't really feel like a historian at the moment. Right now, I'm mostly tired. I'm staying up late and getting up early hoping that if I'm sleepy later tonight, I'll get some sleep on the airplane. The fully-booked airplane. More than likely, I'll just be a very sleep passenger on a fully-booked airplane and a sound-asleep guest shortly after I arrive at Mum and Dad Ashton's.
At the moment, I'm also a bit stressed. Steve and I spent all day running errands for the trip, and yet my To Do list has less than half its entries scratched off. Not good. That's going to make for a stressful day. I need to try and stay relaxed and just get everything done.
At the moment, I'm mostly just . . . sad. I'm excited about doing this research. I'm excited about being in England for such a long time and getting to know the family better. I'm excited about my friend, Alicia, coming over for a week when I'm in London. But the thought of leaving Steve - of being apart from him for 2.5 months - rips a hole in my heart. The closer I get to leaving, the harder it is not to totally freak out about it. Just thinking about saying good-bye brings me near tears these last couple of days.
You'd think we'd be old hats at this. Ninety percent of our courtship was spent with him in England and me in the states. But for nearly ten years, he's been with me. It was horrible being apart from him back then. It's going to be even more miserable being apart from him now. I'm used to having him around. I like having him around. This is just so . . . wrong.
What in the bloody hell was I thinking when I concocted this research trip?!
I'm sure once I'm in England and into a research routine, I'll be fine. And hopefully Skype and webcams will make the ten weeks tolerable. And when I get home on July 8, Steve and I can celebrate our tenth wedding anniversary (a month late) and I'm never leaving him for this long again.
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