Keele Diary #15

Well, I got about half of a nice day. By nice I mean blue skies and about 60 degrees or so. But the clouds are increasingly streaked with smudges of gray and the wind is shifting from breezy to blustery. That means the rains are coming. And the skies just opened. Glorious. Rain is one of those abiding English cliches, but this May has been absurd. I think it may well have rained more in the nearly three weeks that I have been here than it did in an entire summer in Oxford in 2005. Well, maybe not quite. But the larger point stands -- it's raining an absurd amount.

As my checking account begins to get sorted -- it usually takes a day or two for charges from here to register, more for the inevitable fees that accompany some transactions, including the multiple fees attached to an ATM withdrawal -- it seems clear that I probably should not risk a big trip this weekend. I have a ton of traveling still ahead this summer, am a short-timer with at least one trip in England next week before heading to London and the trip home. And I would like to maximize my Keele time. So all of that indicates that the sensible thing to do would be to stay home. Of course I am not exactly renowned for always doing the sensible thing, so do not be shocked if the next time you hear from me I am bound for Oslo or Vienna or something.

Got the new glasses. They are expensive but fine. For those who know me, they are a bit chunkier than my old pair, a slightly more Buddy Holly or Elvis Costello look. Mrs. dcat probably won't be too thrilled -- she prefers a slightly more understated look. Methinks she'll be happy enough to have me back, however fleetingly, that she'll overlook my brazen eyewear-related fashion choice.