July 8, 2004
three by two
From the ruins of Triple Bluff Canyon I salvaged a truck load of wood with which to build the prototype telescope.
As luck would have it this exercise in transportation coincided with a deluge unknown since the great flood (according to local traffic news on BBC Oxford). The city came to a stand still. Driving the last quarter mile to the depot to drop off my van took close to an hour. When I finally got there I nearly drowned in the ten yard dash to the office. Inside was chaos as the waters advanced under the door and towards their counter.
I went to the loo and on the way back managed to find some plastic bags with which to try and fashion some rain gear.
I walked the half hour journey back to the Astrophysics department in a matching bin bag turban and poncho two piece, through an Oxford transformed by freak meteorology, just one person in a parade of deranged, improvised outfits. Nobody complained, as if the extreme conditions acutually formed a bond between those caught out on the streets, normal concerns suspended.
Posted by Jem Finer at July 8, 2004 7:29 PM