Category: Daily updates

Generally musings of the day, usually accompanied by a photograph

Precious MEC

Vancouver grafitti

The fact the Mountain Equipment Co-Op owns the web address mec.ca is perhaps a nod to the fanaticism with which the shop is viewed by admirers. Today, I picked up a new pair of trainers, some nice polarized sunglasses (to replace the awful ones I got in Morocco), and a small pair of inexpensive binoculars that nonetheless have surprisingly good optics. Peering around downtown Vancouver with them was a lot of fun; the lack of tall buildings in the UK is one of my least favourite things about the place.

All three items should be helpful for the Barrier Lake retreat, as well as for the hike next week.

Vancouver intro

Meaghan Beattie at Canada Place

The first day back has been especially eventful, though it is better to get some rest than to spend much time writing about. It was particularly good to see Jonathan and Meaghan, as well as the Bard on the Beach production of Julius Caesar that I saw with my family. Running into Astrid after the show was also a nice surprise, especially given how I didn’t manage to see her during my previous visit to Vancouver.

Every time I visit Vancouver, I am reminded of the fundamental mathematical difficulty of arranging a collection of gatherings with a large and busy group of friends. With a variable number of events, each of which could occur on any of several days and involve any of a moderately sized group of people, the number of permutations easily runs into the thousands. I shall do my utmost to see everyone at least once, with apologies to those who are inconvenienced by how things fall out.

With luck, I will be able to pick up a cell phone with an Ottawa number while I am here. If so, it will make coordination an easier task.

Repatriated

This has become one of those days that you really cannot believe has been one long period of wakefulness. I was woken at 7:30am by a St. Antony’s College scout who was quite astonished to find me there and quite insistent that I should leave immediately. Many thanks to Emily Paddon and Mark Cummins for helping me to do so effectively and expeditiously. Mark deserves particular praise for helping me lug 63 kg of baggage from north Oxford to the Gloucester Green coach station.

One nice thing about all the chaos and confusion is that it hasn’t left me with much time to feel sad about leaving so many things and people behind (temporarily, I hope). Concluding thanks to everyone who helped make my two years in Oxford so special and successful.

Abandon ship

One helpful fact to know is that if you lock your deadbolt and leave the key in the lock on the inside, it is probably impossible for anyone to come in and evict you. Technically, I was meant to move out this morning. In practice, I doubt anyone from the college is out enforcing rules on a Sunday. Alex and Kai are already gone, and I am trying to deal with the mass of food, random stuff, and dirty dishes that has been left behind.

Anyone in Oxford who wants some food, random stuff, kitchen supplies, office supplies, etc should come by 2 Church Walk ASAP. Anyone who takes a significant amount gets a free bottle of wine (while supplies last). This must be what headlong military retreats are like, when you abandon large amounts of equipment that you otherwise would not as a result of being propelled by larger circumstances.

PS. Happy Canada Day!

Refraction

Refraction

This has been an acutely unusual evening. It is hard to leave friends behind for an unknown period of time. Of course, it is best to do so when at a barbecue very well provided for with food and drink. Antonia deserves a commendation for putting so much effort into it.

My profound thanks go out to those who I met and befriended while in Oxford. That is especially true for Antonia, Claire, Alex, Kai, and Kelly. I am gladdened by the thought that we will probably see one another again, some time in the next few years.

PS. Price of shipping books and files to Ottawa: 0.77 iPhones. That does not include whatever Zoom Airlines will charge me for excess baggage, given that I have four bags instead of two and they are definitely over the weight limit.

Everything must go

If you are in Oxford and you are interested in some cheap (possibly free) office and kitchen supplies, consider dropping by 2 Church Walk at some point today or tomorrow. I have a three hole punch, large clear plastic box for hanging files, binders, a stapler, frying pans, an electric kettle, a clock radio, and various other things of that sort. More information is on this page.

I should be around for the next few hours. If you are interested, send me an email, give me a call, or leave a comment here.

Exodus

Claire Leigh

Our evacuation from this flat is beginning to feel like a desperate retreat: unplanned, sudden, and highly wasteful. It feels as though many of the physical products of the last two years are being burned away or abandoned. Of course, things tend to unwind to a state of maximum disorder, then begin to progress towards comprehensibility again.

It is quite startling to think that I will be in Vancouver in two days.

M.Phil results

This afternoon, after my final meeting with Dr. Hurrell, I got back one copy of my thesis and my grades for the M.Phil:

To put those in perspective, have a look at the scale of marks. The thesis grade is a bit of a disappointment, especially considering how I expended well over one hundred times more effort on the thesis than on the exams. I only began serious exam revision after getting back from the Lake District on June 3rd. Based on the very crude method of taking the mean of the five grades, I got 70.2 overall.

Since the thesis is now publicly available in the Bodleian, it seems appropriate to make it publicly available online as well: Expertise and Legitimacy: The Role of Science in Global Environmental Policy-Making.This version has about two dozen minor errors corrected. If you find more, please let me know and I will make the appropriate changes in the electronic version.