Ang's Journal

I donated platelets at Bonfils Blood Center again today, with no side effects or dizziness. So the trouble I had last time was hopefully a one-off. My BP was higher this time when I arrived, so that might have been the issue.

When I got home, I took Shadeaux for a walk & she pulled her 21st disc golf frisbee out of Lakewood Gulch Creek. Between donating blood & rescuing another disc, my karma account is looking good today.

1. Do you enjoy the cold weather and snow for the holidays?

I love snow. I love cold weather. But honestly, I have neither at the moment. Apparently, it rarely snows in Edinburgh - winter features more slush & sleet & cold, cold rain. Boo.

2. What is your ideal holiday celebration? How, where, with whom would you celebrate to make things perfect?

Ideal Christmas celebration ... well, Stacy tells me she's never missed a Christmas at home, so I guess we'd spend Christmas with her family. But an ideal holiday celebration would involve seeing my family, too. Trying to mentally work out the logistics of making that happen makes my head hurt. Of course, any ideal celebration would wrap up with a trip up to Ithaca for Hive New Year. So this year is going to be pretty darn far from ideal, but it will be fun nonetheless.

3. Do you do have any holiday traditions?

No unusual ones. Church on Christmas Eve, then come home & open one present. Christmas morning, get up, eat breakfast while opening presents. Sing lots of Christmas carols (with my sister-in-law playing the piano & my brother playing the guitar). Eat a big meal. Watch lots of football on TV.

4. Do you do anything to help the needy?

Not particularly at Christmas, but throughout the year I'm involved in charity work (MANNA) & I donate money.

5. What one gift would you like for yourself?

This year? Clothes. Bought for me by someone with style.

After a fit of anger that almost ended with my POS laptop being launched out my bedroom window, I reformatted the hard drive & installed Windows 2000. Now, my machine is a little short on RAM, so W2K is a bit slow, but by God it's worth it to have gotten rid of all the crapulous little freeware programs my dad had installed on that poor machine over the years. Anyway, I need one more small piece of hardware (a Ethernet -> USB cable dongle - anyone know a good place to buy one in Edinburgh?) (hey, that's a good question for edinburgers), then I'll be all set up to do email from my room, & to upload my digital photos.

[NOTE: this entry edited on 10/22/03, photos added, text modified.] I took some really fine photos this weekend. The photo to the left is from Saturday. Cousin Kate came up for a visit, & we met up with her friend Abby & a bunch of Abby's friends. We took a ferry to Inchcolm, a small island in the Firth of Forth. On the island is Inchcolm Abbey, founded in 1192 by King Alexander I of Scotland, as well as some anti-aircraft emplacements dating from World War II. There was a wedding party on board the ferry with us, & it was mighty traditional - all the men were wearing kilts, sporrans, etc., & there was a bagpiper in full regalia. The poor bride & bridesmaids were wearing sleeveless gowns that looked entirely inadequate considering how cold it was out on the water. I have to say, sailing across the Forth to a 12th century ruin while hearing "Scotland the Brave" being played ... well, it definitely sounded a chord in my soul. On the other hand, I think that there is something about the experience of living on this island as a monk that cannot be recaptured today. How much more isolated would the isle have felt if only windpower or rowers were available to get to the mainland? And there would be very little river traffic, as opposed to today, when at all times at least three or four vessels were visible. Just a random thought.

To the right is a photo of two children who were part of the wedding party. Even I, noted disliker of children, thought these two were pretty cute. The elder brother had to do a quick bit of persuasion to convince the younger to pose for me to take this piciture. Awww, cute widdle kilts ...

The final photo was taken onboard the ferry boat. You have to read the sign to understand what happened. You see, it's a photo of Abbey & Shirley right before Kate & I sold them into slavery to finance another couple rounds at the pub.

So today, Abby, Kate & I drove into Fife, where Abby's parents live. Abby is heavily involved in social work with refugees, & her mom's church had organised a collection to benefit the Karen people of Burma. So we attended services at St. Peter's Episcopal Church in Kirkcaldy so Abby could speak about the Karen, & to collect the money. Halfway there, Abby suddenly remembers that it's Harvest Day, a British church holiday that focuses on getting tinned food donations for the poor. So we stop into a petrol station & buy three tins of the only tinned food available - Spaghetti Hoops. We each stuff one tin in our coat pockets & head on into church. Only to learn there that the tinned food donation was suspended this year - in favor of a money collection for the Karen! This story ends with me eating Spaghetti Hoops for dinner tonight (I don't recommend them; the sauce is pretty bad).

Anyhoo ... first day of real classes tomorrow. We're starting at 10:00 AM with "Software Engineering and Geographical Algorithms". Heeeerrre we go!