Skip to main content

Taking an exit

It seemed as if my previous post was out-of-date five minutes after I'd written it. We pretty much immediately made the decision to stay in Texas for a few more years - most likely about two more, depending on Graham's job (which will have a definite end point at some time) and how long we can cope with the heat. Graham's company still haven't made a firm decision about how they'll arrange everything, but it was easier to go ahead and decide. We aren't likely to be worse off than we would be in England, either way.

That decision out of the way, I felt like I could move forward with career ideas. Believe it or not, I'm applying for chemistry jobs. Or at least I am when I'm not procrastinating by writing blog entries. (I did four applications yesterday; I'm sure being run over by a steamroller is a less draining experience.) Whether anyone wants to hire a not-so-recent chemistry graduate with a lot of cake decorating experience remains to be seen - I'm sure they don't see many! But there seem to be a fair number of jobs around so I'm reasonably confident of finding something.

So, now you know we're staying a little longer, come on and book your Texas vacation! Our rates are very reasonable... plus you can buy yourself some genuine cowboy boots, get up close and personal with a giant cactus, and eat all the meat you ever wanted to stuff your face with! Just to assure you this isn't the complete back of beyond, here's a nice photo of Fort Worth downtown from the Trinity River.


See those clouds moving in from the left? That, my friends, is a cold front. We set out for that particular walk in T-shirts and beautiful warm sunshine, and finished up keeping our body heat up by an act of the will, as the sky clouded over and the air temperature dropped like a stone. I think I mentioned the dramatic effects of a cold front before, but it's even worse when you forgot to bring a jumper.

Comments

Sally said…
Like this one we had last weekend?
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/3443374/Southerly-buster-hits-Wellington

Popular posts from this blog

Mr White Watson of Bakewell

Once upon a time, back in 1795 or so, lived a man who was always asking questions.  The kind of questions like, "Why is glass transparent?" or "Why do fruit trees grow better in that place than in this place?" or "What does the earth look like underneath the surface?"  This last question was one that he was particularly interested in, and he went so far as to work out what the rock layers looked like where he lived, and draw little pictures of them.  Now he was a marble sculptor by trade (as well as fossil hunter, mineral seller, and a few other things) so he thought it would be even better to make his little pictures in stone.  That way he could represent the layers using the actual rocks they were composed of.  Over the course of his lifetime he made almost 100 of these tablets, as he called them. Then he died.  And no one else was quite as interested in all those rocks and minerals as he was.  His collection was sold off, bit by bit, and the table...

Erewash Valley Trail: Strelley and Broxtowe

I'd had another four-week gap between walks (who invented half terms and inset days?), and was itching to get out on my explorations. The weather forecast optimistically predicted sunny spells. Unfortunately the weather hadn't got the memo; it was overcast for my entire walk, and then the sky cleared as I was driving home. Oh well. I arrived at the Nottingham Canal to find bulldozers buzzing up and down the towpath. The car park I'd intended to park in was closed for renovation, but there was a layby a little further up the road towards Cossall, so that was fine. The first part of the road had nice wide verges - easy walking - but after the canal bridge it was called Dead Lane, which felt descriptive. It was tightly hemmed in by hedges and I had to flatten myself against the hawthorn when cars passed. Cossall Road Dead Lane The bridleway to Strelley was mostly paved road, but blessedly traffic-free apart from a couple of bikes and a bin lorry performing manoeuvres. Tim Brin...

The Normal Christian Life: Spiritual Formation Book 1

"I have never met a soul who has set out to satisfy the Lord and has not been satisfied himself.  It is impossible."   The Normal Christian Life by Watchman Nee is the first of my four books for spiritual formation that I'm reading this year.  Watchman Nee was a Chinese Christian who was converted in 1920 and was able to spend many years in preaching and evangelism.  However, after the Communist revolution he was imprisoned, and died in jail 20 years later.  The Normal Christian Life is based on talks he gave in Europe in the 1930's. What are the main themes of this book? Nee starts by saying that it's possible that the normal Christian life has never been lived by anyone except Jesus - which is hardly an encouraging beginning!  He then goes on to outline his view of such a life, using the book of Romans as a guide.   He certainly sets a high bar: for Nee, the normal Christian life is based on a knowledge and experience of death to our old self...