Guest Squirrel

A couple of days ago some kids passing our house found this friendly squirrel running all over the road. The kids caught him (or maybe the squirrel just wouldn't get off them) and they gave him to me since I was outside at the time. He really is very friendly. Climbs all over you. Doesn't bite. Not skittish and quite docile. Also pretty clumsy and not very well balanced. I figure he must be about three months old.

We thought he might have suffered a fall so we kept him inside in a box and fed him for a couple of days but he hasn't changed. That's just his nature. He loves bread and cucumber (cucumber sandwiches?). Oats and seeds are welcome. Not too keen on carrots and green beans. Generally squirrels eat whatever they can get their paws on.

The law says you can't keep squirrels. There's also a law which says you can't release them into the wild. Catch-22! There's also a law about abandoning animals that can't survive by themselves.The advice from wildlife rescue societies was "if he's not hurt, let him go where you found him". Basically, he's cute vermin.

So I built him a little box which he easily took to and today put him out in our backyard on the picnic table so I can watch out for him. I've tried to make it hard for predators to get him in his box but I think the odds are against his survival. There's already another grey squirrel that owns our neighbourhood and there are a few cats about. He's also perfect owl bait. I'm going to feel dreadful if something gets him.

No Man's Land (Danis Tanovic, 2001)

A simple and biting film about two soldiers, one Serb and one Bosnian, trapped together in a trench between each other's lines. The situation gets complicated and the UN and media are soon drawn into it. Some may view it as a farce and a comedy but any laughter is pretty subdued when you know the violence, cruelty and bureaucratic games ring true. Intense and well recommended.

Oil Leak

Jenny and I arrived at a pub this afternoon for a nice quiet lunch only to discover smoke billowing from the engine of my car. My first reaction was "engine fire!" but it eventually turned out to be on oil leak. The oil was burning when it dripped on the muffler. In fact with the engine running, oil would gush out and a 993 has a lot of oil!  I'm sorry to say it got all over the pub car park. Luckily the breakdown service didn't take long to come but they quickly gave up and called for a recovery truck.

I spent the rest of the day at a garage while they tried to diagnose it. It's not the oil filter or any of the sensors. The current theory is that an engine seal has blown which is quite unusual. It's still at the garage and chances are it's gong to be a non-trivial repair. Groan!

Berkshire College of Agriculture Open Weekend

Each year we drop by the British Agricultural College Open Weekend. It's always a good day out with the kids. It's the typical country affair with animals, various demonstrations, stalls, tractor and horse rides and that kind of low key country stuff. Jenny sold her baked goods at the WI stall so she was up there both Saturday and Sunday. The kids even had a chance to try brick laying.  My favourite attraction is the pen where you can see ewes giving birth to lambs. Then you can be sure it really is Spring. The alpacas were very cute.

Jenny and I sometimes chew over owning our very hobby farm but we both soon sober up knowing how much work that would be! Maybe just some chickens and an orchard would be nice. And a dog and a bunch of cats. Maybe a pig and a goat. A couple of ducks on a pond...

The Subtle Knife (Philip Pullman, 1997)

Finished reading the second book of His Dark Materials while off sailing. It suffers from the typical problem of being the middle book of a triology. It elaborates and progresses the main plot but doesn't stand well on it's own. However, it serves its purpose as I can't wait to read the third book. First I need to check a few things in the Genesis chapter of the Bible.

Away In Gibraltar

I'm away next week sailing out of Gibraltar doing my RYA Day Skipper Practical with Allabroad Sailing. I'll be on a 46' yacht with four other students. Check out the one week itinerary. I'm a little worried about the weather but the forecasts seem to be either sunny or partly cloudy. Temperatures should be 20C during the day dropping to 10C at night. I expect it could get very windy; one forecast I found predicted a force 7 in the Alboran on Monday. Gulp. Glad I don't get sea sick...

Northern Lights (Philip Pullman, 1996)

Northern Lights is the first book of the His Dark Materials trilogy. After this trilogy came third in The Big Read last year I knew I would have to read it at some point so I finally finished this first book over this last holiday. Only took me two days because I became thoroughly engrossed in the storyline.

I'm not yet convinced it deserves to come in third place (beating Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy no less) but I'll reserve judging too much until I've finished the other two books. On it's own, it's a well written fantasy set in a parallel universe. The other books takes the parallel universes theme further; I'm looking forward to how it develops.

As an aside, I remember seeing the northen lights on just a few occasions while living in Victoria, Canada. It's one of the most beautiful phenomena I've ever seen and it's something I'd really like to show Jenny and the kids one day. When and where is the best place to see it?

Fossils In Dorset

On short noticed, Jenny planned a holiday for us down in Dorset for four nights over the Easter break (2005). The primary attraction was to take the kids and explore the Jurrasic Coast.

Day 1

It was an easy 2 1/2 hours drive to get down to Dorchester. The hard part was the packing beforehand. Nevertheless, we soon found ourselve pouring into Flintcombe cottage at Greenwood Grange Farm Cottages. It was a lovely big clean cottage that easily accommodated us. Again, this was another successful choice from the Premier Cottages catalogue.

It was only about three o'clock so we went and checked out the games room, gym, swimming pool and tennis courts before heading out for a walk in the nearby woods. We walked by the remains of an old Roman road, let the kids climb some tree's and threw handfuls of dead leaves at each other. The path also led us past the cottage where Thomas Hardy was born and raised.

Dinner at a local pub was a bit of a disappointment. The pub was nice but the food rated a 5 out of 10.

Day 2

We got out of the house by 9 in order to make it to Charmouth to catch a 10 o'clock guided fossil walk. It started with a talk about what we could find and our guide showed us lots of examples of fossils that had been found. Our chief prey was ammonites. The large group of us marched up to the west end of the beach where there was little danger of a cliff collapsing on us and spent the next two hours combing the beach.

We were all succesful in finding ammonites and belamintes.

We ate our picnic out of the back of the car trying to shelter out of the cold wind before driving back towards Dorchester. In Dorchester, we stopped at Maiden Castle. R* had been learning all about it and proved to be a fine guide. Maiden Castle was the biggest iron age earthworks in it's time and reined supreme until the Roman finally overran it.

Back at the cottage, we enjoyed the Romanesque swimming pool before having our dinner in that night.

Day 3

Woke up to a windy, rainy day. Jenny and her brother John went to visit the market while I stayed back with the kids. I tucked myself into a book and the kids got very, very bored.

It cleared up in the middle of the afternoon but there wasn't much of the day left. We drove down to Lulworth cove where we had heard there was a Jurassic forest. Unfortunately, to reach it you had to cross a firing range and it was open that day. The kids were thrilled just to muck about on the beach.

John bought a kite and he and the kids attempted to fly it with not a lot of luck.

Day 4

Again it was a rather dreary day but that didn't stop us heading over to Lyme Regis to have a bout of poking around rock pools. There was actually a guided walk we had originally intended on joining but decide it didn't offer much value for the money.

We had another car picnic with us and attempted to drive around to find somewhere a bit scenic to have it. Wound up on the sea front of Seaton huddled around a bench shivering in the wind eating our sandwiches. Ok, so April isn't a great time of year to attempt having picnics!

Back at the cottage, we enjoyed a last dip in the pool.

Day 5

Cleared out of the cottage by 10 o'clock and drove off to find something to visit before heading home.

We first stopped at Monkey World since that was the children's first choice. However, all the adults agreed they had no desire to spend £30 to see monkeys and vetoed going in. We went to the Tank Museum instead since it was very close by. I really think the Tank Museum was well done.

Then it was onto the A31 and a quick drive home.

Away In Dorset

We're away in Dorset for five days exploring the Jurrasic Coast. Hoping to find some fossils with the kids.

Heyford Academy Track Day

A few weeks ago, I went to a track day put on by put on by Motorsport Events Limited. Rather than use the big race circuits, these guys primarily use airfields. This particular one was at RAF Upper Heyford near Bicester. It was called the Heyford Academy Day since it was structured as a series of exercises that concentrated on car control and balance rather than just buzzing around a circuit.

There was a good cross-section of cars. Lots of Caterhams and Elises but also Porsches, TVR's, Impreza's, BMW M3's and others. I have a neighbour down the road who also drives a 993 so he came along with me to the event. At the event, I ran into a fellow I had first met at a drifting day - Nigel in a fabulous old M3. Nice to have company but petrolheads are a friendly bunch anyway.

These particular events are especially good for Caterhams. They're fabulous at tight cornering. The Mojo (above) looked like a nice little kit and moved really well. You can read about it at MyMojo including a write-up of this event. The kit is from Sylva.

 My favourite exercise was simply a high speed left and right-hand corner where the goal was to see just how fast you could take it. I span out a couple of times trying to find that sweet spot where there car is drifting but you're still in control. A progressive slalom exercise was also really good for getting to know how the car reacts. The bottom line is that you really need to do a lot of this kind of practising to develop any consistent skill.

Unfortunately, the day was very hard on the tyres. I had to later buy a new set for the rear. My clutch was also on its last legs at the event; it would slip quite a bit on hard accelleration. The good news is I now have a brand new clutch and a set of Michelin Pilot Sports (no more Pirelli's). Ready for another track day!

Ski Pyrenees

Spent four days skiing in the Pyrenees.

 

Egypt

A place holder for now. Gotta write this one up.

Robots (Chris Wedge, 2005)

It's a clever animation with lots of style. I'll give it that. Visually delightful and it's got many funny bits. A laugh for the kids. But the story is the bland "follow your dream and be true to yourself" variety. The dialogue is nothing better than a Saturday morning cartoon. It's also very, very American. I also saw "Shark Tale" a few weeks ago and it was similiar. Lots of style and in-jokes but lacking substance.

This got me wondering. Wouldn't it be fantastic to see this kind of clever computer animation done by an all-Indian or all-Chinese production company? I want to see their mythology and culture brought to life in the same way. Has it been done? Why not? It's great seeing how different the Japanese approach animated movies (e.g. Spirited Away). I'd like to see how other cultures would too.

A New Pope

While I'm not religious, I still have a lot of respect for the office of the Pope. The Pope still has a huge and unique role to assert moral authourity in the West. No other institution can stake that claim. It's more than just leading Catholics. It's promoting humanity. I don't agree with all papal social policies but I do hope the new Pope engages the political community and provides a loud voice for global justice.