So the Dodgess went out to the UK for about 10 days. The main point of her trip was to formally become a Dr. As loyal readers will know, it has been quite a long slog to get to this point, but I'm very proud of what she achieved. This morning, as she returned from a brief spell in hospital, I picked up a couple of copies of her thesis - definitely measured in either height or weight!
You may have noticed a little mention of a brief spell in hospital. Whilst still broadly jet lagged, a van went into the back of a taxi containing the Dodgess. The first I knew was she was worried about some glass in her hair. That evening she had a stiff neck, and when her arm felt a little numb the next day she thought that she better go to hospital.
A brief x-ray suggested all was fine - perhaps some whiplash. She left. Then later on a doctor called and said that she should go back - it appeared there was a very small chip to one of the bones in the neck. So she went back, and they decided to keep her in hospital.
The Dodgess and I are becoming quite expert in hospitals. Between us we have well over a dozen nights in various hospitals over the past 18 months, not to mention the various day trips that have come as a result . Anyway - they wanted to make sure the Dodgess didn't get worse before giving her an MRI...
Thankfully, the MRI showed no harm to her neck - it didn't even appear chipped. They believe that the diagnosis from a miscreant mark on the x-ray in an inopportune position. There were some slightly swollen lymph glands - so, should an ear nose and throat specialist say so - we may yet get to add another hospital to our growing list if the specialist finds it interesting.
So - it's been a distinctly strange couple of weeks. As for a return to normality - I'm sure that won't take all that long!! It's good to have Dr Dodgess back, both from the UK, and from TTS.
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Indonesia
In the UK the concept of a company trip is somewhat foreign. The closest they come to anything like that would be a trip to the cinema. Over here it seems commonplace enough for travel agencies to advertise for it, and, having worked 6 months without a day off I decided to go on my company's trip. This was to Solo and Jogjakarta in Indonesia.
So on a Saturday morning I turned up a Changi airport for Indonesia. The student who was sat next to me on the plane (not a colleague) boasted that Solo's airport had just been re-built and was 'fabulous'. I think that says more about the old airport that the new - the terminal was smaller than some of the houses I've been in, and the method of dealing with foriegners is not exemplary - it took an hour to process an A319. Mind you - the attitude is a touch refreshing - if you don't have the cash to pay for the visa on arrival, they simply let you in to Indonesia to extract the money from a hole in the wall, and then take you back.
We were whisked straight off to have a look at a Royal palace. I've been to several such buildings in Europe, and expected to be carted around a few show rooms far behind a set of ropes. Here, they don't have ropes - you want to sit at the King's dining table, then go ahead. There was a private wing - but otherwise everything was open.
Indonesia has been comparatively untouched by western attitudes. The family saloon is a moped, every evening impromptu stalls appear to serve food cooked on the sidewalks. The countryside is filled with people working in paddy fields. At times, being driven around was like being in a museum, at other times, I was more than aware that had I been abandoned there, I would have had absolutely no chance of survival. I don't think that I could have even ordered a Big Mac!
The highlight of the trip was probably a trip to the Borobudur Temple - the largest Bhuddist temple in the world, although it was spectacularly busy. Somewhat less busy, but also good was the Water Temple in Yogya.
Anyway - I came back with some good memories, a chest infection, and quite a few photos - here are the pick of them:
The entrance to the water temple
So on a Saturday morning I turned up a Changi airport for Indonesia. The student who was sat next to me on the plane (not a colleague) boasted that Solo's airport had just been re-built and was 'fabulous'. I think that says more about the old airport that the new - the terminal was smaller than some of the houses I've been in, and the method of dealing with foriegners is not exemplary - it took an hour to process an A319. Mind you - the attitude is a touch refreshing - if you don't have the cash to pay for the visa on arrival, they simply let you in to Indonesia to extract the money from a hole in the wall, and then take you back.
We were whisked straight off to have a look at a Royal palace. I've been to several such buildings in Europe, and expected to be carted around a few show rooms far behind a set of ropes. Here, they don't have ropes - you want to sit at the King's dining table, then go ahead. There was a private wing - but otherwise everything was open.
Indonesia has been comparatively untouched by western attitudes. The family saloon is a moped, every evening impromptu stalls appear to serve food cooked on the sidewalks. The countryside is filled with people working in paddy fields. At times, being driven around was like being in a museum, at other times, I was more than aware that had I been abandoned there, I would have had absolutely no chance of survival. I don't think that I could have even ordered a Big Mac!
The highlight of the trip was probably a trip to the Borobudur Temple - the largest Bhuddist temple in the world, although it was spectacularly busy. Somewhat less busy, but also good was the Water Temple in Yogya.
Anyway - I came back with some good memories, a chest infection, and quite a few photos - here are the pick of them:
The mountains of Central Java
Where royalty have their tea when in Solo
A series of hill-side shops - most sell corn
The Borobudur Temple
Somehow the tmple can be quite bleak and imposing
The entrance to the water temple Two swimming pools within the temple
Another country where "I'm too long"
Bikes are everywhere in Indo
Being somewhat arty-farty with soft focus
And again
The typical family saloon.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Six Months
So this time six months ago I had just about reached the Dodgess' house. When I arrived it was about as large a weather difference as you can get. I left the UK and it was completely white. I arrived into bright sunshine and a temperature in excess of 30C.
When I arrived I had my suitcase and my cello, and that is it. So, I had a reasonably clean slate to start with when building my life over here. There are some obvious differences between life here and in the UK. Firstly I am rarely cold. Occasionally the air con is a little too cold. Although I have a horrible feeling that I have become soft. Very soft. June was somewhat grey, and, dare I say it, cool. I felt a chill one rainy evening on the way home, but when I reached back the temp displayed on the weather gadget reported it was 25C...
Work is perhaps surprisingly similar in many ways - the design codes, the thought processes etc. Throughout the six months I have only really worked on 1 project - design of an MRT viaduct. This is different from the UK, where I would only work on a project for a week at a time. The work has been enormously varied. I have a slightly flexible role, and have worked on fire, vibration, and cost studies, as well as more hard core structural engineering report such as constructability and structural design.
I have been working towards my chartership. I'm likely to sit the exams in September in Hong Kong. This has involved me trooping into work on Saturday mornings in order to complete the reports and presentation - when I try to do this at home, I completely fail. I still have quite a bit of preparation to do for the exam so I guess I'll be going back on several more Saturdays.
I also do more music over here. I am involved with The Philharmonic Orchestra which seems to do concerts every couple of months. I almost certainly do more music over here than in the UK - something for which the Dodgess certainly deserves the credit - the range of her contacts is quite staggering!
Meanwhile the Dodgess has been busy establishing herself a niche within the music world here. Perhaps most notable is a link up between Raffles Academy where she teaches, and Birmingham University. She has also completed her PhD, and is currently on an A380 on her way to the UK to collect the certificate.
And all the while we've been arranging our wedding and receptions. I've heard a few nightmares from friends about arranging weddings, but ours seems ok I think. I mean, I have no real frame of reference - I've not organised any before. But it is nice to be able to choose what we want for our day.
So that's the past 6 months. What of the next 6? Well, in these coming months I get married, have a honeymoon and wedding reception in the UK. I also chartership exams to sit, the project I'm working on at the moment finishes the design and moves into the tender stage. All in all, I think that it's safe to say 2010 will have been a distinctly busy year.
When I arrived I had my suitcase and my cello, and that is it. So, I had a reasonably clean slate to start with when building my life over here. There are some obvious differences between life here and in the UK. Firstly I am rarely cold. Occasionally the air con is a little too cold. Although I have a horrible feeling that I have become soft. Very soft. June was somewhat grey, and, dare I say it, cool. I felt a chill one rainy evening on the way home, but when I reached back the temp displayed on the weather gadget reported it was 25C...
Work is perhaps surprisingly similar in many ways - the design codes, the thought processes etc. Throughout the six months I have only really worked on 1 project - design of an MRT viaduct. This is different from the UK, where I would only work on a project for a week at a time. The work has been enormously varied. I have a slightly flexible role, and have worked on fire, vibration, and cost studies, as well as more hard core structural engineering report such as constructability and structural design.
I have been working towards my chartership. I'm likely to sit the exams in September in Hong Kong. This has involved me trooping into work on Saturday mornings in order to complete the reports and presentation - when I try to do this at home, I completely fail. I still have quite a bit of preparation to do for the exam so I guess I'll be going back on several more Saturdays.
I also do more music over here. I am involved with The Philharmonic Orchestra which seems to do concerts every couple of months. I almost certainly do more music over here than in the UK - something for which the Dodgess certainly deserves the credit - the range of her contacts is quite staggering!
Meanwhile the Dodgess has been busy establishing herself a niche within the music world here. Perhaps most notable is a link up between Raffles Academy where she teaches, and Birmingham University. She has also completed her PhD, and is currently on an A380 on her way to the UK to collect the certificate.
And all the while we've been arranging our wedding and receptions. I've heard a few nightmares from friends about arranging weddings, but ours seems ok I think. I mean, I have no real frame of reference - I've not organised any before. But it is nice to be able to choose what we want for our day.
So that's the past 6 months. What of the next 6? Well, in these coming months I get married, have a honeymoon and wedding reception in the UK. I also chartership exams to sit, the project I'm working on at the moment finishes the design and moves into the tender stage. All in all, I think that it's safe to say 2010 will have been a distinctly busy year.
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