My signature Brunel pose

I'm pretty sure that most students here know who I am. Not by name, but at night, in the residence halls, in a dozen languages, they're saying "who that white haired guy always squinting at his fist?"

The first day here I saw a couple of people who obviously were parents with their freshmen children (called "Freshers" here), who took an occasional photo of their kids, so they could remember them sober. But since that first weekend, after the parents went home, I haven't seen a single camera, video or otherwise.

Wake up Brunelers! You only get this opportunity once. OK, twice in my case, but the first time I just had a Super8 movie camera without sound. And no computer, digital editing software, or the Internet.

New ballgame now. Quiet on the set! Speed! Roll 'em! Action!

Superstring theory, HP printer, the missing chef, and Malt Shovel - Brilliant!

Everyday flies by so fast. I'm helping Robin with her book deadline by researching text for dozens of slide examples in a chapter that's being wrapped up. She needs content to put on example slides, so I'm putting together copy she can use to create slides that demonstrate certain design and communication concepts. My favorite so far are the slides for Superstring theory (quantum physics, not the stuff you spray with a squirt can). You know, N-point scattering amplitude and 10D space-time coordinates. Stuff like that. Brilliant!

Another SOHO (Small Office/Home Office) milestone reached today. We've got the new HP printer online and printing. We ran into a snag when we realized that the powered USB hub we bought didn't supply enough power to run Robin' external USB DVD drive, which we needed to install the HP software and configure the printer (her MacBook Air doesn't have an optical drive, CD or DVD). Fortunately, Bonjour was working (Mac's automatic local network detection and connection). Brilliant! And fortunately, I remembered that Macs can share another Mac's DVD drive over a local network. Brilliant!


Robin and her HP (Happy Printer).


The view from our window.

Entering or leaving the flat is a process that only campus security professionals could dream up. Entering the building's front door requires holding your electronic room key card up to a sensor until a light turns green and the door automatically opens. Then touch the electronic card to the sensor on the elevator door. When the elevator sensor light turns green, push the elevator door button to call the elevator. Get in the elevator and push the button for floor 4 (even though we're on the 5th floor). Exit the elevator and go to the locked door that goes to the flat 137 hallway. Touch the electronic card to the door sensor. When the light turns green, open the door. Walk down the hall to our door, touch the electronic card to the door sensor. When the sensor light turns green, turn the deadbolt on the door to unlock it. Go inside and turn the deadbolt to re-lock the door. Brilliant!

Our first day here, Robin's card didn't work properly and she got trapped between the elevator and the hallway door. Her card wouldn't open either one. She banged on the hallway door and yelled, but I didn't hear her. She finally realized she could take the stairs, and walked across campus to find someone who could re-program her card.


Brilliant!

After spending most of the day inside, we decided to go to the nearest pub, about a block away, and have dinner out. We walked to the Royal Crowne Pub. We were there several days ago, and the bartender said they don't serve food on Monday or Tuesday, just Wednesday thru Sunday. So we get there and the place is empty except for one or two people. I don't smell food. Robin says (cheerfully and optimistically) "Are you serving dinner?" in the tone of voice that expects an answer like "Of course!" The somewhat grumpy-demeanored bloke says "No." Robin says "You're kidding." "No." "But we've been waiting for two days!" He says "The chef's gone." Robin: "But he'll be back tomorrow?" in a tone of voice that fully expects an answer like "Of course!" He says "No." Robin: "Where did he go?" Grumpy: "He's gone! Disappeared!" Robin decided to take another approach, being a creative and adaptable girl. "Is there any other place nearby?" "The Malt Shovel. Two lights down, turn right, go 150 yards."


The chefless Royal Crowne Pub bartender.

The Royal Crowne still looks like a good place to have a beer, so we'll leave it on the list. The Malt Shovel was just a few minutes away, so we headed that way.


The Malt Shovel

Right away we could tell this was a lucky upgrade in pub choices. Bigger and nicer. Robin asked "What's a malt shovel?" "I'm not sure, but it's obviously the kind of shovel a duck uses" I said.

It was great. Good food with English pub atmosphere and adorable English accents. A fun dinner. I had fish and chips, Robin had Steak Mushroom Guinness Pie. She loved it.

After we order, the waitress says "Brilliant!" When we order coffee, she says "Brilliant." When we pay the tab, "Brilliant!" I guess it doesn't get much better than brilliant. Unless it's "Incandescent!" Or maybe "N-point Scattered Amplitude!"


Waitress and bartender at the Malt Shovel.


A Malt Shoveler rings up the tab.


The Malt Shovel logo. I think that might be malt in the duck's mouth.


Just so you get your money's worth, two more Malt Shovelers.



When we left, the romantic lights of speeding cars on small streets cast our shadow on the pubs walls - as we dove for safety.

Brilliant!

Fis and Chips, and other sights

This place is on my list. I'll let you know how it fares. I'm optimistic - they've been in business for 43 years - but is it a red flag that they don't know what a fish looks like? This picture is too small for you to see very well, but the cartoon creature looks more like a duck than a fish.

Today, while Robin worked on her book deadline, I hiked back into Uxbridge to grab some more missing items: towels, cups, cutting board, bathmat, 4-port USB hub, USB printer cable. The usual stuff.


Another shot of the guys I mentioned in an earlier posting.


Also in an earlier post, I mentioned that no one was dancing to the band. These two guys were dancing, but this was before the band started playing.


Just to belabor the point, this is the non-dancing audience after the band started playing. Man, I miss the Beatles.

Here are some other places in Uxbridge I hope to check out soon. All of them are within a block of the Uxbridge town center.








Hmmm. Maybe I'll just ask about this one.


There's something for everyone, from Spongebob to old St. Andrews church. St. Andrews was built in 1865 (brand spanking new by English standards) and cost 12,000 pounds. The spire is 180 feet tall.

Spongebob (1997) is a sea sponge, but he resembles a kitchen sponge. He's a fry cook at the Krusty Krab restaurant, at which he has won employee of the month many times. He attends Mrs. Puff's Boating School, analogous to a driving school, but cannot pass the boating test. SpongeBob lives with his pet snail Gary in a large "pineapple-house" on 124 Conch Street in Bikini Bottom, which is located beneath the tropical isle of Bikini Atoll. His neighbors are Squidward, who is a squid, and SpongeBob's co-worker at the Krusty Krab, and Patrick, a star fish and SpongeBob's best friend.

Some Wednesday morning notes

Wednesday morning. We worked in the flat until just before noon as Robin had a noon appointment at the on-campus bank, to set up a bank account. Of course, a piece of paper work was missing when she got there (a letter from the student union to the bank, verifying that she is a student). Of course, that process took a couple of hours. Of course, I wondered around the campus looking for photo-ops.

Of course, when you use the phrase "of course" three or more times, it sounds weird and meaningless.

The main concourse in the center of the campus is where most everything happens. Students with signs about some event or organization are everywhere. Two girls screeching a song in unison are wearing signs that say "Pay me to shut up." A "living statue" guy is posing motionless, painted copper color from head to foot.


Posters in the student union help me plan my activities. I definitely want to go to Barmy Bingo. I can also try out for the Cricket team, the Rugby team, the SkyDiving club, The Hindu Society, The Islamic Center, and more. I can be multi-sport, multi-cultural, and multi-sexual. Blimey!


There's also a Tambourelli league. It's like badminton, only you use a tamborine instead of a racquet.


Lots of Hindus here. Love 'em. Just sayin'


A band was setting up on the quad, so I waited around to get some video of a cool English band, that looked like Johnny Rotten and the Sex Pistols, or some other punk band wannabe. I don't remember their name, but after shooting about one minute of video, I could suggest some names for them: The Untalenteds, Audio Garbage, Sensless Screamers. I really shouldn't be too critical because I couldn't really hear the screamers - I mean singers - due to the excessive screeching and electronic non-musical noise coming from the guitars and keyboard. And it wasn't just me. If this was good stuff, the students sitting around the quad would have been rocking like some primitive jungle tribe. Instead, they were looking on in disbelief. Like they were waiting for the music to start. Maybe I should have stayed to see what the second song was like, but I started losing self respect subjecting myself to that kind of aural abuse.


This poster says it's for Rugby, but anyone can see it's the Gay Get It On Club. Can't fool me.


These guys are holding a banner advertising a trip into London. Whenever pretty girls approach, they reposition themselves so the girls have to walk under the banner.


Robin at the front of the line in the Student Union, to pick up her official letter for the bank stating she really is a student.


Rosetta cut her foot and had to go to the vet a couple of days before we left home. Here we are in the vet's office. She's doing fine.

Bonus photos

Bonus is what merchandisers call the stuff they can't sell, so it should work for photos that I haven't posted yet. So here are a few Bonus shots until I get out and about with the camera today.


Brunel's main concourse at night.


Our residence building, Shoreditch Hall. Love that name.


View of the main concourse from the balcony of The Hub sports bar.

Jack's Fish & Chips

I haven't tried them yet, but today, from the bus, I saw a place not far from the University that might be be a good fish and chips destination. Jack's Fish & Chips. I'll report on that later, hopefully tomorrow.

Speaking of food, I walked to Uxbridge again today (while Robin worked on her looming book deadline) with two canvas bags to do some minimal grocery shopping. This time, I studied a Google map of Uxbridge to make sure I didn't get lost. Of course, the best way to not get lost here is to not ask locals for directions to any place more than 100 feet from where you're standing. Even if they know how to get there, you probably won't know what the hell they're saying because some of the accents sound like Hollywood casting planted a bunch of actors in the shops and a movie director told them to really ham it up and over-do the accent thing. One of my next projects is to go back into a certain kitchen goods store and secretly record the voice of a woman who works there.


The Chimes, a nice modern mall in the center of Uxbridge and next door to the tube station. Another big mall, The Pavillions, is across the street and a block away.

In The Pavillions, is Tesco, the Uxbridge grocery store that's always filled with University students. I filled my two eco-friendly shopping bags and was a little worried about how heavy they'd get before I got back to the campus. Happily, a bus going straight to Brunel stops just outside the Tesco entrance, and drops you off in the middle of the campus. It costs two pounds, and I found out that you can use your Oyster card to ride the bus (the prepaid tube card). These UKers have got some things figured out that we're still struggling with in the USA. Or at least in New Mexico. Like public transportation. I wonder if anyone from England ever tried to take a Greyhound bus somewhere in America, expecting WiFi service, and maybe some small degree of comfort.

Here are some random photos from the previous couple of days:


My trip to the Apple Store was fun. But then, I'm from New Mexico where there's not a subway within several thousand miles. To get this far underground, I'd have to go to Carlsbad Caverns.


Change from the Metropolitan line to the Bakerloo line, then exit at Oxford Circus to get to the Regent Street Apple Shrine - I mean Store.


I think I hear angels. I must be close.


The Enlightened Ones gather here every day. The faithful are expected to make a pilgrimage at least once in their life to either the Regent Street Apple Store or the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in New York.


When we arrived at Brunel, volunteers were everywhere. They delivered us and our bags to our room in the Isambard Complex.


Robin gets a phone call from Jimbo (friend/house-and-dog-sitter) who found some desperately needed passwords for getting online that we left at home. Our residence building is in the background.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel

When Robin and I arrived at Brunel University and checked into our flat in the Isambard complex, I wondered what the origin of the names Brunel and Isambard could possibly be. Then we walked past the statue on the campus main concourse. Of course! It's named after a famous British engineer, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. I should have guessed.



Our first day here was very busy. Robin is wrapping up the last details of a book deadline. I've just finished and uploaded an article for the Peachpit.com blogs site (about Geo-tagging photos).

When we tried to connect our computers to the University network, we realized we'd left a couple of critical items in Santa Fe: the power cable for my laptop, and Robin's USB-to-Ethernet cable for her MacBook Air. We hiked the mile into Uxbridge (a very cool place) in hopes of finding those items, but of course, no luck. So after looking around the town center for a bit, Robin and I went to the Uxbridge Underground station and bought an Oyster card (prepaid underground tube tickets on a plastic card). You tap the card on special yellow pads as you enter and leave Underground train stations. Very convenient, especially since I haven't gotten used to the English coins.

Robin walked back to Uxbridge to work on her book deadline, and I took the tube train into London to go to the Apple Store and buy replacements for our missing cables. And a printer. I had to change trains once, so I arrived successfully (I was pretty sure I'd get lost) at the Oxford Circus train station about 45 minutes later and half a block from the landmark Apple Store, somewhat of a holy shrine to some of us. There were tons of worshippers - I mean customers - in the store. But success! I managed to get back to Uxbridge on the tube without getting lost. However, once in Uxbridge, and just a mile from Brunel, I did get semi-lost, carrying a printer around in a big Apple bag. Fortunately, friendly locals eventually steered me the right way. I noticed something that Robin and I had noticed on our last trips to England. When you ask a local Brit for directions, they don't have a clue where anything is.


This pub, in Uxbridge, is across the street from a huge, modern shopping mall, Starbucks, etc.


Robin sets up the computers to work with the University network. She's in the office/living room/dining room area of the flat. Another residence building can be seen out the window. We're on the fifth floor, which, in England, is the fourth floor, because the ground floor here is zero, not one.


The main concourse on campus contains bars, nightclubs, a bank, a pharmacy, university store, Pronto fast food, small grocery store, etc. The upstairs is a balcony of a sports bar. Which reminds me, there are a lot of young whippersnappers on campus. From all over the world. Very multi-cultural. Even more so than my alma-mater, a private Southern Baptist college where multi-cultural meant a Methodist was spotted on campus.


Robin waits to get inducted. I think that means she was handed a packet of information.


The main concourse takes you past the Lecture Center, state-of-the-art computer facilities they claim in the brochure.


I'll post more photos later today, after I hike into Uxbridge again for groceries and other items.