Commute week of 18 Feb 2008

6 commutes in total; 0 potentially rainy commutes, 0 actually rainy commutes.

Total commute distance for the week: 82 km (51 mi).
Total commute distance for the year: 765 km (475 mi).

Potentially rainy commutes for the week: 0 out of 10 (0%).
Actually rainy commutes for the week: 0 out of 6 (0%).

Potentially rainy commutes for the year: 8 out of 70 (11%).
Actually rainy commutes for the year: 8 out of 56 (14%).

Had to rent a car Tuesday so didn't ride. Too lazy to go home and pick up the bike on Wed morning upon returning it - took the bus all the way...

Getting a driver license in WA - don't bring a gun!

First of all, that is how it is spelled here in the Pacific NW.  In Nova Scotia the same thing is called a driver's license. But anyway, once I had located the local licensing office it was a breeze to wait in line for 4 hours on a sunny Saturday morning before I got permission to take the theoretical test. (I had somewhat hoped that they could just swap my Danish license, but also knew from my Canadian experience that it was unlikely to happen).

Anyway, after passing the theoretical test my practical test was scheduled and I was given this folder with advice on how to pass, what to do and what not to do or bring!

Only in the US (I hope!)

Admin when moving abroad

Since 2002 I have lived and worked in Canada, UK and now the US.  Before that, 30 years in Denmark.  Whenever you move to a new country you need to go through a lot of administrative stuff in the beginning, in order to get entered into 'the system' to the same degree as everybody else living there.  But you have to do it in 1-3 weeks whereas the natives will have had a lifetime to get it all sorted out.  Once you've stepped off the plane you need to get, in quick succession:

1. a place to live
   
2. gas/electricity
3. furniture (or clear customs if you're shipping stuff from abroad)
4. phone/broad-band/cable
5. cell phone (US and Canada) or mobile phone (UK)
6. social security (US), social insurance (Canada) or national insurance (UK) number
7. bank account/credit cards
8. driver license
9. health insurances (US only)
10. various personal insurances (accident, tenant etc.)
11. transportation (and registration and insurance for it if it's got an engine)
12. find a new doctor/dentist

Probably lots more, but the above is generally what I've had to deal with over a 1-3 week period every time I've moved.  A lot of it obviously also applies to people moving internally in one of these countries but they at least have the advantage that they generally know what to expect and where to go to get it done.  

For example, when I moved to the UK in 2005 nobody, not even my employer (2000+ employees), could tell me where to go to get a national insurance number (hint: it's at the job centre).  This was despite the fact that my employer's HR department repeatedly bullied me via e-mail in order to get my NI-number for the payroll so I could get paid...  

The procedure for getting the NI number was particularly painful.  First I had to show up at the job centre (now Jobcentre Plus) in person and inform them about the dates approximately 3 weeks from now where I would be UN-available to come back for a personal interview.  Then I had to fill out a form with address, date of arrival in the UK, previous addresses, and phone number.  I then thought that they'd at least call in advance and check with me, 3 weeks down the road, if I was available on a particular date. But no, the just sent out a letter stating that I had to show up at a particular date and time and that I should call them immediately if I was no longer available on that date.  Due to the nature of my job as a sea-going scientist it turned out that my first appointment coincided with me going to sea.  

I then had to show up in person again and fill out the same form, and wait another 3-4 weeks for the letter to show up.  Not surprisingly, in the meantime my job had me scheduled in for another 'away-day', coinciding with the date the Jobcentre requested my appearance in their elegant facilities.  So, once again I had to call them and inform them that I was unavailable to meet with them on the date requested. 

Later on in the week I then had to walk down to their office for a 3rd time in order to fill out the form yet again. But when the 3rd letter came around, a month or so later my calendar was blank so I managed to get down there and get my NI-number eventually!

Chilly Hilly 2008

So, today was the annual Chilly Hilly bicycle ride on Bainbridge Island off Seattle in the beautiful NW. A colleague had told me that it was a big event but I hadn't anticipated seeing a few 1000 other cyclists at 7am in the morning queuing up for the first ferry to Bainbridge Island and the 33mi loop around it.


The ride didn't quite live up to it's name, I think. I wasn't too chilly and the hills were definitely manageable, even if it was the beginning of the season.

Regardless, it was a very nice day and an excellent outing. The views of Seattle across the bay are spectacular - I'll be back next year for the 2009 chilly hilly.











And here's the course:

Rock glaciers in Akugdlit (Mellemfjord), Disko Island, West Greenland

Rock glaciers in Akugdlit (Mellemfjord), Disko Island, West Greenland
Originally uploaded by TheGreatDane

Rock glaciers are somewhat like normal glaciers except that they consist of vast amounts of rock with an ice matrix. The ice can either be the remains of glacier ice, snow, or water that has entered the pore space between the rocks and subsequently frozen.

Rock glaciers form where the annual precipitation is too small for normal glaciation to occur, and where there is a large supply of rock debris from steep mountain sides. They are thus found in cold, high relief landscapes. Rock glaciers typically move with a speed of 0.05-1 m/year and thus transport vast amounts of talus away from the rock fall area at the bottom of the mountains. Consequently they are of high importance for landscape development and geomorphology in the areas where they exist.

The largest concentration of rock glaciers is found on Disko Island, West Greenland, where at least 200 rock glaciers have been identified, but they are found in other high relief areas such as the Alps, the mountains of Afghanistan, the US (e.g. Colorado, Alaska, Wyoming), Iceland, Khazakhstan and Svalbard.

For scale, in this picture the top of the mountains stand at approximately 800 meters above sea level. The picture is taken towards the south.

The picture was taken during a 4-week field trip to W-Greenland during the summer between my 3rd and 4th year at university, in 1995.