Today was tiring

I had to get up early today to work at the observatory. The two visits went well, although I had to modify the second one because the telescope was taking delivery of a new scientific instrument called EMIR. EMIR is huge and it weighs 5 tonnes, and I was quite excited to see it. I was also pleased to see the project manager briefly, because I’ve known her for 25…

May 20, 2016
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Time for a rest

I’ve been rather overdoing it, just for a change. On Sunday afternoon I took delivery of a hire car so I could meet an English travel agent at the airport on Sunday evening. She was really nice, and interested in organising a spring nature holiday for UK clients. I had a very long day with her on Monday, from 9 am to 8:20 pm. We went to Astrolapalmna (not planned,…

March 18, 2016
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Busy is good

My feet have hardly touched the ground lately, between guiding at the Roque, cruise ship excursions, translations and an article for Turismo Canarias. (Yes, I’ll let you know when it’s published.) Today I’m showing an English Travel agent around for the local tourist board, which should be fun. Tomorrow morning it’s the observatory again, and on Wednesday I have an appointment in Tenerife. I’m rather looking forward to Thursdsay when…

March 14, 2016
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Hamster Wheel

Lately I seem to be busy all the time and achieving not a lot. But when I stop and think about it, I am making progress. The huge backlog of laundry from my bout of flu has finally been conquered. I got my friends’ car through its ITV (the Spanish equivalent of the MOT)  when they couldn’t do it themselves. The house is very slowly getting tidier. Once a week…

March 4, 2016
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A Canarian Snowman

A foot-high snowman
February 26, 2016

I slept badly on Wednesday night, so I wasn’t in the mood for a long excursion on Thursday, but I really enjoyed it. As we ate our picnic lunch we could see the snow on the peaks. Sure enough, there was pletny of snow still up there, although it was really warm, about 15 ºC. We stopped first beside the MAGIC telescope for a photo opportunity, and I couldn’t resist…

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Time for some fun.

It’s been freakishly warm for months, but winter suddenly arrived on Thursday. I pretty much spent the day hibernating, apart form German class. Yesterday morning I went into town. It was raining but that usually means very short queues everywhere. I didn’t take an umbrella because of the gusty wind, just a cagoule. I got everything done, with gaps of waiting around in shops for the heavy showers, then headed…

February 20, 2016
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