NorthDownMuse

Pity the refugee

Before and after work this week I have been editing a 150-page guide for refugees and asylum seekers. It covers everything from accessing health care, education, and food pantries to Northern Ireland’s political and cultural history. Many chapters cover the tortuous process of trying to gain refugee status.

Utility Week

This week my main accomplishment was writing a blog for Utility Week, a British trade publication, about a conference Preventable Surprises co-hosted with PwC on 5 May in London. Here I am (on the left) studiously taking notes: On my right is a credit analyst from S&P

Bank Holiday

Today is a bank holiday, just a few weeks after another bank holiday. Not sure what the origin of the bank holidays is, but the atmosphere is festive. Everyone’s pretty chill. David and I went for a bike ride to Daft Eddie’s on the Ards Peninsula. You sit

Photo finish

At some point months ago, I documented the transformation of the hall from an icky beige to a bright yellow. To complete the look, I wanted to have a gallery of photos all in black frames. I got off to a good start in February when my mom gave me

Nails

They never tell you that your nails are the first to go. I’ve had a split nail for many years on one of my middle fingers. As in there’s a permanent split that requires me to keep the nail trimmed down very low. Now I have two more

Continental Market

While I should have been off today, I spent a lot of time trying to get interviews with two utility executives. I managed one, but I never reached the other one, despite an agreed-on time. Whatever. I didn’t understand much of the interview, so we’ll see whether

Low tide

Missing Maysie messed with my head all day today. And things aren’t going well at work. And my estranged sister and I have been having an e-mail fight. So I’m just going to put up a photo I took a while ago in the Glens of Antrim:

$SO AGM

I was kind of lucky in that Southern Company’s AGM was today. Southern is the second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the U.S. and a high priority for us during AGM season. The good nuns of New Jersey placed a resolution on Southern’s ballot requesting that

Grimness

This is what I put on Facebook: If I had a terminal illness and were wasting away, with the quality of my life slowly declining, I’d want to be put out of my misery. What a blessing. Yet when I do that for my dog, I feel like a

Updates

In no particular order. I didn’t get the job with the European Climate Fund, but they want me to do articles for them on a freelance basis. I’ve been sending letters and e-mails, tweeting, and blogging--calling out BlackRock and Vanguard on their past voting records on

Lady Nicholson

During the spring and summer, different private gardens are open on some weekends as a fundraiser for the National Trust. Yesterday we went to one such garden, an estate with 60 acres owned by Lord and Lady Nicholson. The gardens from the house: And the house from the gardens, down

Girls

Today I took a golf lesson at Belvoir Golf Club, where one of my choir mates was Lady Captain last year. The pro was probably in his late 30s. The students were all women in their 50s and 60s. He called us all “girls.” That really annoys me. I mentioned

Tully Castle

After lunch we visited Tully Castle, site of a horrendous atrocity. The Maguire clan ruled Fermanagh prior to 1600, while the O’Neils and O’Donnells ruled other parts of Ulster. King Henry VIII and Queen Elizabeth the First were determined to gain control of Ireland and, through numerous battles

St. Mary's

“Rather unusually, Devenish was shared by a very ascetic group of secular clergy, the Culdees, and by Augustinian canons who founded their own priory here in the twelfth century and built St. Mary’s church near the top of the hill." My photos look fine when I open them

Devenish

So today I toured County Fermanagh on a bus with 50 people from the Women’s Common Room Club at Queen’s--members are Queen’s graduates, faculty, or faculty spouses. It was organised by Carol Bardon, whose husband, Jonathan, is a published historian. From Wiki: "Bardon is best

David & Stuart

So here are my friends David and Stuart. At church yesterday, I eavesdropped on a conversation they were having with Carol, who’s in my book club at church. She was organising a trip to Lough Erne in County Fermanagh, an area I want to explore. I asked if I

Kilbroney 2

I’ve been organising photos and I found this one I took the last time I hiked at Kilbroney: Today is Mother’s Day in the US. My mom is at my sister’s in Virginia for my niece’s and nephew’s graduations. My sister and I don’t

Kilbroney

Today I went for a hike with the Dynamos, a Meet Up hiking group, at Kilbroney Forest. I took my camera but forgot to put a card in the camera, so I didn’t get anything. Here’s an internet photo of an erratic you see about a third the

Bite the hand

After 15 years at Vanguard, I have a lot of swag. A nice briefcase that I’ve been carrying for years. A black Vanguard International jacket that I wear a lot. A lovely glass bowl. Lots of T-shirts. A healthy 401(k). You’d think I’d be a

Hooleys

Recent news items: More than a third of the Belfast bikes--bikes locked in racks that can be rented around the city--have been vandalised. A large number have been tossed in the River Lagan. That’s 220 bikes that have been wrecked by vandals. Police responded to more than

The Park

Our street, Cherryvalley Park, is referred to as the park because it is lined on either side by mature lime trees, so the length of it is a tall canopy of green. But in addition, every front garden has a lovely tree. We have a Chilean fire tree. When you

Dry spell

Northern Ireland has had a run of sunny, hot, dry days. I’ve been filling my water can and watering two small flower beds out front and potted plants in back. In Chester Springs, I would have filled many 5-gallon paint buckets, coolers, and any other container I could

Service

One of the drawbacks of living in Northern Ireland is generally a poor level of service. Particularly in restaurants. The gorgeous tableau of food in London and prompt service offers a contrast to NI, where you have to seek someone out if you want to be served, or to pay,

V&A

In between some editing in the morning and web maintenance in the evening, I took the C2 bus from Kentish Town into the city and enjoyed being a tourist. I first walked through Hyde Park (hence yesterday’s photos), then had lunch in the most amazing restaurant--L’eto. Your

PwC

I spent the first half of the day on the 10th floor of a PwC tower in South London with a great view of the Tower Bridge (sadly no photos). I was at a conference where utility executives, securities analysts, sustainability officers, and so on discussed how utilities will make