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VB is fun, commuting is not, plus books
Mar. 5th, 2008 01:18 pmI'm on a training course most of this week, in Holborn. Visual Basic .Net - should bring my web skills up to date, we hope. .Net is the new way ahead....
( geeky bit )
The 7:55 Biggleswade to Kings Cross (no stops) is good. The 20 min walk to the course is good. But last night I got back to the station to find that the power lines were down just south of Biggleswade and no trains were going north for at least an hour. Buses, yes.... I'd been hoping to get back in time to hit the house, bounce, and take my new sword backswording. I was already pushing it - now, not a hope. So I looked at the queues, left the station, and followed my early childhood training. If stuck in town with nothing to do, go to the library.
The British Library, a few hundred yards past St Pancras, is a fascinating and dangerous place: and Tuesday is late night opening. I didn't fancy the special exhibitions or lectures, but found a wonderful virtual book to play with: you touch the pages to turn them, you can zoom, you get commentary on whatever you're looking at.... and all this on C13 and C15 illuminated manuscripts. You are not allowed to squeal excitedly in the British Library.... The shop is the dangerous bit. I'd promised myself some Betjeman since we went through St Pancras on the way to Switzerland. Choice of four collections. A glossed version of Beowulf: yes, in theory one can have "too many" versions of Beowulf, but it's not much of a theory. The cash desk had some tiny books that concentrate on one small area: the one that acquired me was the Magna Carta. Reproduction, translation, and commentary. All fascinating stuff, maybe it'll get its own post some time. I read it in the library cafe - prices as bad as a service station, but nicer surroundings. You're encouraged to sit there and read for hours, no need to stretch the coffee (or Diet Coke).
And home, gently, on a very slow train, reading Betjeman.
Tonight I get to meet Rob and Nick in a pub and catch up on gossip. And I'm learning about inheritance, overriding properties, and shadowing. Life is good.
( geeky bit )
The 7:55 Biggleswade to Kings Cross (no stops) is good. The 20 min walk to the course is good. But last night I got back to the station to find that the power lines were down just south of Biggleswade and no trains were going north for at least an hour. Buses, yes.... I'd been hoping to get back in time to hit the house, bounce, and take my new sword backswording. I was already pushing it - now, not a hope. So I looked at the queues, left the station, and followed my early childhood training. If stuck in town with nothing to do, go to the library.
The British Library, a few hundred yards past St Pancras, is a fascinating and dangerous place: and Tuesday is late night opening. I didn't fancy the special exhibitions or lectures, but found a wonderful virtual book to play with: you touch the pages to turn them, you can zoom, you get commentary on whatever you're looking at.... and all this on C13 and C15 illuminated manuscripts. You are not allowed to squeal excitedly in the British Library.... The shop is the dangerous bit. I'd promised myself some Betjeman since we went through St Pancras on the way to Switzerland. Choice of four collections. A glossed version of Beowulf: yes, in theory one can have "too many" versions of Beowulf, but it's not much of a theory. The cash desk had some tiny books that concentrate on one small area: the one that acquired me was the Magna Carta. Reproduction, translation, and commentary. All fascinating stuff, maybe it'll get its own post some time. I read it in the library cafe - prices as bad as a service station, but nicer surroundings. You're encouraged to sit there and read for hours, no need to stretch the coffee (or Diet Coke).
And home, gently, on a very slow train, reading Betjeman.
Tonight I get to meet Rob and Nick in a pub and catch up on gossip. And I'm learning about inheritance, overriding properties, and shadowing. Life is good.
