Week Four Photos

Auchentoshan Single Malt (Scotch) Whisky Distillery (Lowlands) near Glasgow.

Wash Tank made from Oregon Pine. The container extends down another 20 feet or so below the platform. The tour group was allowed to sample the partially fermented barley drawn into a glass dipped into the tank...I found it a bit odd that everyone shared the same glass. Fortunately I drank first!

The Spirit Bank adjacent to a still at Auchentoshan Distillery

Week Four (Feb. 25 - March 2, 2007)

• I now understand 68.2% of Glaswegian speech in conversations the first time something is said to me (a decline from last week).
  
• On Saturday, Sarah, a co-worker from my office, invited me to go on the Auchentoshan Whisky distillery tour with her and her husband Ian. The distillery, one of the few in the Scottish lowlands, has been (legally) making whisky for 184 years. It was my first visit to a “hard alcohol” production facility and my first time trying single malt whisky. I liked the tour – especially when the guide said they import “very special wood” (Oregon Pine) from the states for the wash fermentation containers. The dram of whisky I tried was overpowering at first, but it was interesting trying to discern the different flavors that it generated. Later in the evening I was invited to dinner at Sarah and Ian’s, and we sampled four or five other Scottish single malts from their growing collection.
  
• After searching for flats (apartments) for the past couple of weeks, the pressure was on for me to quickly grab a place that was available. My most recent viewing late last week was of a flat currently under repair from major flooding caused by the penthouse unit above it. Apparently 40 other units were impacted as well. The rooms were dark, covered in dust and still had holes cut in the ceiling. Considering the complex was only a year old, I didn’t leave with a good feeling, and returned to the office rather dejected. Since my options were limited, I asked to view the flat again once the work was scheduled to be finished a couple days later. Meanwhile, I hoped something else would turn up.
  
• A couple of hours before my next scheduled viewing of the then-repaired water-damaged flat, I received the great news that “something turned up” with the tenant that originally bumped me from my top-choice Meadowside Quay flat on the River Clyde waterfront. The river-view flat is now mine! I’m scheduled to move in Thursday morning, and I’m hoping to post some pictures later in the week.
  
• Friday afternoon, I’ll be flying to Oslo, Norway, for the weekend. I’m a bit concerned because several Scots have told me that Oslo is “extremely expensive,” so I’m not exactly sure what to expect. Fortunately, the flight was cheap and I got a good rate at a local hostel, so most of my expenditures are covered. I’m hoping to get in some authentic Nordic skiing (cross-country) while I’m there.

Week Three Photos - Stirling Day Trip

A shot of the cannons atop Mote Hill from a different perspective. Stirling has long been a strategically important town due to its upsteam location on the River Firth (which flows to Edinburgh) and as a "gateway" to the Highlands. Its abundance of good look-out points must have served resident military forces well.

View from Mote Hill, near the base of Stirling Castle. The caged object in the foreground was marked "The Beheading Stone." Not sure of the historical significance, but despite the morbid implications I enjoyed my nap in the sun on the bench next to the cannons.

A shot of the cobbled streets of old-town Stirling.

Interesting memorial in one of the cemeteries surrounding Stirling Castle.

The residents of this neighboorhood enjoy a view of the Monument in the distance. Look closely on the left hand side, and you can see a local working on his chip shot in his front yard.

Eating - what else? A shortbread cookie at the Stirling Bridge over the River Forth, site of William Wallace's legendary upset of English Forces...a long time ago.

Looking east from atop the "Outer Defences" of Stirling Castle. Statue of Robert the Bruce in the foreground.

View of Stirling Castle in the distance from the base of the Wallace Monument.

The back end of the William Wallace ("Braveheart")Monument.

Week Three Photos

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to get a shot of this high-class Scottish single-wide. Looks like it's right out of Tuscany!

Monument in Glasgow's George Square dedicated to a famous Scotsman, Lord Gladstone, influential British Prime Minister of the late 19th Century and namesake for my hometown in Oregon.

Week Three (Feb. 18 - 24, 2007)

• I celebrated the end of my second week in Glasgow by quaffing a pint of hard cider with Mel and his girlfriend, Muire, at the longest bar in Scotland – the Horseshoe. The place felt like an authentic dive, and I was told that for the longest time, the two restrooms in the pub both had urinals.
• I now understand 71.6% of Glaswegian speech in conversations the first time something is said to me.
• I’m scheduled to stay at the Spires in the downtown core for 3 weeks. I’ve been continuing to scope out potential flats around the city to make home for the rest of my assignment. I viewed some really nice places early on, but neither I nor the office staff assisting me realized how hot the Glasgow rental market is. All the places I went to see were snatched up within a day or two of going on the market. The city has undergone a major transformation for the better in recent years, and I think word has gotten around to rest of the European Union that the Mitchell Library will hand out library cards to anybody.
• I’ve centered my efforts at finding housing around the West End, which isn’t far from my office and the city core, and has lots of transportation links. The area is known by its bohemian mixture of restaurants, pubs, museums and theatres, and its anchor resident, the University of Glasgow.
• My favorite place was a flat on the sixth floor of a brand-new development at Meadowside Quay, on the banks of the River Clyde. The flat had a huge floor-to-ceiling window overlooking the Clyde, waterfront promenade, and historic shipyards and port on the opposite side of the river. The Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth ships were built nearby at Clydebank along with many other historic vessels. I expressed interest in the place right away, but got bumped because another prospective tenant was willing to sign a longer lease. My search continues…
• On Saturday morning (OK, it was the previous week, but who cares?) I went for a walk around Downtown and stopped by Queen Street Station. There was a train for Aberdeen (via Stirling) leaving in two minutes, and I thought, “why not?” I crammed my credit card in the ticket machine and ran to the platform and jumped on the train as the doors were shutting. About a half-hour later I was getting off at Stirling Station with nowhere in particular to go and a day to kill. I figured I walked at least 15-20 miles that day between and around the William Wallace Monument, Stirling Bridge and Stirling Castle and the surrounding cemeteries. Mel Gibson would have been proud. After hiking down from the hill which hosts the Wallace Monument, I bought a pack of chocolate chip shortbread cookies at a market and walked across town to sit on the park bench I could see unoccupied atop Mote Hill, near the castle. The sun suddenly popped out, and full of cookies, I dozed off on the bench and enjoyed one of the best naps of my life. When I woke up, the sun was still shining, and I sat and watched a rugby match off in the distance, framed by the Highlands.

Week Two Photos

Unique artwork at the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in the West End of Glasgow.

Apartment hunting down at the Clyde Waterfront. This pedestrian/bicycle promenade is at Meadowside Quay, former site of an historic granary - now a large-scale residential condo development. A portion of the famous Clyde shipyards are in the background.

The Mitchell Library in Glasgow, site of Europe's largest reference library, and my frequent destination for free wireless internet access. Unfortunately the library's hours don't extend much farther beyond my work hours...and the place is closed Sundays.

Week Two (Feb. 11 - 17, 2007)

• I celebrated the end of my first week in Glasgow with a good part of the Bridge Group down at a local bar. Mel and David Slater, my other manager, bought drinks for all. They’ve been treating me really well here!
• I feel more and more comfortable in the city…one night I actually gave out directions to some local skateboarding street punks (NED’s as they’re called locally – Non-educated Delinquents). At first I thought about faking a Scottish accent when they approached, but I’ve been told my contrived accent sounds more like “posh English.” I thought better against the accent…the guys thanked me for the directions and ambled on their way.
• I now understand 62.3% of Glaswegian speech in conversations the first time something is said to me.
• There’s a huge rivalry in the city between the Rangers Football Club and the Celtic Football Club (aka soccer clubs). Both are local teams (the “Old Firm”), but they’ve historically been supported along sectarian lines – Protestants generally with the Rangers, and Catholics with Celtic. I’ve been advised to say I root for Partick Thistle if anybody asks – nobody hates Thistle, who play in a lower division and don’t seem to be a threat on either the soccer field or to anyone’s path to salvation.
• After gritting through some particularly mind-numbingly tedious sections of the British Standards for structural steel bridge design late in the week, I finally made my way down to Starbucks to try the local version. It was surprisingly good – but that might have just been in comparison to what is normally choked down in the office: coffee reconstituted from freeze-dried crystals and made with water from the office faucet labeled, “not drinking water.” Seriously.
• I haven’t started driving in Scotland yet, but I went to the bookstore to get the Highway Code to study. It’s mostly the road signs that I need to familiarize myself with. I still have moments walking around Downtown where I’m startled to see kids or people sleeping in the driver’s seat of passing cars…then I realize they’re in the passenger seat.
• Occasionally I see these “wee” (Scottish for little) cars are so small they can legally be parked perpendicular to the “kerb” without sticking out in traffic. They’re so tiny the passenger seats double as Starbucks cup-holders.
• I finally found a place with free wireless internet access: the Mitchell Library. This fantastic place supposedly houses the largest reference library in Europe. Fortunately it’s only about 10 blocks from my current downtown flat and they have low standards: They gave me a library card after only a couple days in the country.
• This weekend I rode the Underground to visit two popular (and free!) museums in Glasgow – the Kelvingrove Art Gallery and the Museum of Transport. Both are world-class and packed with loads of treasures. The Kelvingrove even had an early Picasso mounted low to the floor so “kids could better enjoy the artwork.” I liked how many of the paintings had short descriptions next to them (for the benefit of engineers?) which clearly explained some of the subtle symbolism. It helped made the artwork more interesting and engaging.

Pictures from Week One

The view outside the stairwell of my flat at the Spires.

Queen Street Station - One of two major train stations in the center of Glasgow. This station primarily serves destinations outside the city (e.g. Edinburgh/Aberdeen/Inverness). Commuter trains are the primary mode of transport into work for most of my co-workers.

Jacobs Glasgow office, across the street from my city center flat at the Spires. I think the building is at least 150 years old.

Week 1 (Feb. 4-10, 2007)

After living as a Glaswegian for 3 weeks (with 23 more to go), I figure it’s about time to take some notes of my adventures in Scotland and abroad. (I don't see an easy way off the bat to put captions with my photos...Photo 1: The kitchen of my apartment in Glasgow. Photo 2: My apartment building is on the left, on the corner of St. Vincent St. and Pitt Street.

• Arrived at Glasgow International Airport around 7:00 AM local time on Sunday, Feb. 4. I expected to have to chase down a taxi, but Mel Sime, one of my Glasgow managers from Jacobs, surprised me at the terminal with a personal appearance to drive me to my temporary apartment in the city. Very classy, and set a nice tone for the beginning of my time in Scotland.
  
• I’ve been staying the first month in a serviced one-bedroom apartment right in the heart of the city, next door to Jacobs’ office. For my assignment, my company provides accommodation and local transport to work. The place is small at about 510 sq. ft, but it’s got just about everything I need to get by. Somebody even comes in around noontime to clean it everyday (they must have gotten the memo from Karma). The kitchen even has a dishwasher and combined washer/dryer squeezed into a couple cupboards under the counter. The downside of this place is that they charge an equivalent of $6/hour for internet access (or $50/day), and it costs me around $4/minute to call the US from the phone, which is metered just like a payphone except that it only takes credit cards – no coins.
  
• There are somewhere between 400-600 people in the company’s office across the street from my apartment. The people in my performance unit are friendly and helpful, and seem a bit curious that an American is working in the office. Scots are known as extensive travelers, and apparently it’s traditionally been much more common for them to work abroad rather than having visitors work here. Yes, I occasionally do have trouble understanding the dialect, but fortunately my hosts are patient with this slow American. No, there are no bagpipes playing in the office, and I’ve yet to see anyone wearing a kilt at work. I understand both are typically reserved for more formal occasions, like a wedding, funeral, or soccer match. The males wear suits and ties to work everyday, which is a change from the more casual style I’ve experienced in the states.
  
• I’ve been assigned to the Bridge Group, and am currently designing a relatively small, single-span half-through steel truss pedestrian footbridge/cycleway over the Airdrie-Bathgate railway. The current single-track railway has been abandoned for about 50 years, but Scottish Parliament has indicated that reconstructing an electrified double-track line is a high priority for establishing a quicker and more efficient train route between Glasgow and Edinburgh. The fundamentals of physics for analyzing a bridge obviously don’t change between countries, but I’ve found that there are a lot of differences in the design codes and standards which dictate how the detailed design is to be done.
  
• I’ve found that Glasgow is compact and accessible, with many places and neighborhoods within an easy walk. Within a fifteen-minute walking radius from my apartment in the city, I can reach two major train stations, two rivers, a handful of (free!) world-class museums, several shopping centers and pedestrian malls, and over half of the subway stations on the Underground loop. Every day after work I make it a point to walk around somewhere new.
  
• Glasgow is really expensive for an American (even a Seattleite). I knew that the $ / £ (dollar/pound) exchange rate was around 2 / 1, but I naively figured that with the global trade network, the actual prices of things would even out somewhat. No, things really cost about twice as much as what I’d expect to pay in the states. On the morning of my first day of work, I realized I didn’t have shaving cream. I scrambled outside to find a store, knowing that I’d have to probably pay a bit of a premium for buying at a “convenience” store in the downtown core. After passing up the first store selling the can for equiv. $9.00, I got a bargain at the second store, which sold me the can for equiv. $7.50. Even hamburgers at normal sit-down restaurants (McD’s and BK excluded) run between equiv. $8 and $22. I can’t help but convert all prices in my mind to dollars, since I still receive my US salary in dollars without a per diem stipend.
  
• Back home I look at internet access like a bathroom…available in about all private locations, and although not always available in public locations, if you look hard enough you can find a free one. That doesn’t seem to be the case here in Glasgow. Although the number of coffee shops seem to rival Seattle or Portland, I haven’t found a single one with free wi-fi. T-Mobile appears to have a monopoly on those systems, and they charge about $45-$60/month to access their network from the shops.