Life on the Other Side -- the other side of 
the chunnel

by Nancy Halverson

Living in England may no longer be an adventure, but life continues to be nothing but adventurous. Spring arrives in February in this part of the world, crocuses and daffodils are poking up through the grass, and blossoms are appearing on some trees. And thankfully, it's light now when I leave for work some mornings, and light still when I go home. It may not be sunshine, but it's still amazing to see in the morning!

The Heat

We've managed to get heat in the house again -- after two months without central heating. Now, I know that Canadians are spoiled when it comes to heated houses, but I've suddenly found a new appreciation for what is called 'central heating' here. English houses are heated with hot-water radiators, and the water is heated by a central gas-fired boiler. Ours died in mid-December, too old to be repaired, and there's a national shortage of plumbers. So, we lived with three little electric heaters -- we toughened. It's a relief to get our central heating back, but it's incredible how well we survived.

The Job

At work, it's very busy as well. We have major deadlines every month it seems -- I don't know if this is the norm, but there's constant pressure to get our developments out the door. The business is somewhat unique, since the financial industry is heavily regulated and the banks who buy our software have a strong say in what gets developed. Our 'user group' often directs the path of development, and when they don't, one or another of our customers makes a request, and often pays for the development time. Unfortunately, just because things are directed by users, doesn't mean that we have any kind of close relationship with users. The closest I get to any user's opinion is an advertisement. We write from the specifications written by some developers (somewhere -- we often don't even get to talk to them) and sometimes we even get the software to play with.

This may not be any different from any other large software organization, but to me it just seems less than ideal -- well, a lot less than ideal. We're constantly trying to get our docs out with the software release, but because of the difficulties interpreting the specifications, and lack of contact with the developers, it's quite difficult to keep up. I keep up the pursuit, and our small team is making a difference, although not a highly visible one, as always.

The Cold and the Snow

You'll be happy to hear that although there are flowers starting to bloom, it's still a bit cold. Well, you must remember that here, minus two is called 'bitter', and a 15 minute white-out of snow is called a blizzard. We had snow a few weeks ago -- very funny really. It had been predicted like a week before, but it still shocked everyone. The school even sent home reminder that in case of bad weather, they would not release our kids until we could pick them up. Yes, we laughed.

The temperature started dropping midday, and the snow began to fall while we were all at work and school. I left work about 4:30, and it took me about 45 minutes to get home -- not much difference. I even dared to take the 'Hagg Hill' -- a very steep, long hill -- usually taken only in first gear. It was barely icy, and naturally, I had it all to myself. No one else dared! Because of the heavy snow (two inches at its deepest), the buses were stopped mid-afternoon. My husband uses the bus to travel to the university and home each day, so this was a little frustrating. It's a four mile walk for him, which is do-able, but I offered to drive into town and get him. He walked for 20 minutes, I stood in traffic for 30 minutes -- some drivers only daring a few miles per hour - and we met halfway. Someone, toddering along the icy sidewalk, slipping and sliding, actually asked Ryan how he could walk so fast on the ice. "I'm Canadian" was all he said, to his credit.

There were cars stuck along some roads in the city centre for three hours or more, creeping a few feet at a time. The sanding trucks (gritting-lorries) were stuck in traffic as well, since the streets are too narrow to get by even one abandoned car. It was all very amusing for those of us who've driven through feet of snow and real ice.

The Look Ahead

We've moved on past winter and we're looking forward to spring. Our kids were off this week (half-term break) and will get another two-week break at Easter -- work doesn't stop for these holidays, but there are a few day camp type things available for them.

Our travel plans include Scotland and a July trip back to Waterloo (I can't wait!!) but I'll update you before then.