Stolzes Herz

On the way to Amsterdam

Been to Birmingham for a week to do some work. First no jet lag which is always welcome J . Went there to use a machine they (Bham University) had and we (Emac) didn’t and test some samples

Scheduling on the machine I was supposed to operate was lacking to say the least so I had to wait for other people, negotiate, talk to people in charge (professors) etc Talking to the professors got the PhD students off my back but the undergrads remained (undergrads working with guess what, other PhD students).  It’s always hard to explain to someone why your time is more important than theirs. Maybe I should check my Dale Carnegie books see what I was doing wrong. Well for one putting my needs before theirs, though in this case I think my lack of authority in front of them had more to do with the outcome. It’s really hard to sugar coat “I need the machine now so could you work on it later, please”. Also impolite answers on their part like “I’ll only use it for a few hours then it’s all yours” didn’t help communication either. So in order to get anything done I had to work some strange hours (like 4pm to 10:30pm).

Anyhow all in all it was a good experience, I got what I came for (almost), people who weren’t in competition with me for the machine have been very helpful and hospitable and I thank them for their collaboration. They know who they are but I doubt it they read my blog or even know or care that I have one.

Birmingham University Landmarks

So, onto the free time, didn’t have much of that since my schedule was so chaotic and the few pictures I took aren’t that great. You can get around Birmingham with either train or bus or plain walking. Unfortunately the University hotel refused to lodge me for the whole period as they said that for the last night I would have been their only guest and with too high operating costs in such difficult economic times they couldn’t afford to keep me. So instead of searching a hotel for just one night I chose another hotel for the duration, some 35 minutes away from the university (on foot or bus/train combo, time remained the same). Hotels name was the Edgbaston Palace on Hagley rd, it’s proper, room was double even though I asked for single, kind of cold in the room but as soon as you get under the blanket everything is nice and cozy. And since I only slept there room wasn’t really an issue. Small TV in the room, large one at the bar, wireless internet only near the bar not in the room, this didn’t put me off frankly, I might have a 17”, 8 pounds laptop but it also packs an 8 cell battery pack so for some evening browsing it was alright. However if I ever come back to Birmingham I hope they would have fixed this. Breakfast was big: cereals, yoghurt, croissants, full English breakfast (also had a vegetarian option), good coffee. Eating at 8 am kept me satisfied until 4-5 pm. This was quite a change from my usual “eat nothing in the morning & lunch at 11.30-12pm” but I survived.

I truly hate Marmite

As mentioned didn’t get to see much of Birmingham did some shopping in the malls around the central train stations and that’s about it, also I was close to the Botanical gardens but since I like walking alone in botanical gardens just as much as dining alone in restaurants I thought I’d pass on that. Also my main evening food supply was sandwiches.

Daily Train

I’m tired now more impressions and pix to follow.