Job alternatives

When I looked out the window ealier today, this was the view I was greeted with.

As I had spent all day yesterday down on the Solent sailing a clipper ship and pondering that perhaps an outdoors-y kind of job might be just the thing for me, the idea of getting to dangle in mid-air on a harness, building what may be liberally described as giant Legos immediately struck me as a fantastic idea.

In other news, today is of course Ben's birthday (happy birthday, bro). I'm very excited by the prospect of having Ben, Jaime and the girls around! Haven't had a younger sibling (let alone an entire clan) in the UK since Anne Marie left St Andrews for St John's. Not to downplay the benefits of having Ben K & family to hand in Northern Ireland every now and then for a quick and treacherous game of Risk, it's nice to think that I'll be able to invite the Itens round for a proper Sunday lunch every now and then without the need for anyone to board a plane.

In order to be a proper doting uncle, I'm contemplating Christmas in the UK. But to that end, I would want to be sure to get a chance to see all (or almost all) of the siblings in Cape Hatteras August. Sadly, this is an either / or (either Cape Hatteras or Christmas in the US). Vote now.

On the topic of the Northern Irish branch of the family, Susie and I will be travelling to Bangor in June to meet Barry, Anne and the Mournes. I'm hoping to be able to get over in August, too, to meet Sophie.

I voted three times

Right, having implied in my last post that I don’t get obsessed with politics....

Today local elections are being held across England and Wales. Almost 5.5 million people are eligible to vote in London. Unlike the rest of England and Wales, London has since 2000 been able to elect a mayor (not to be confused with the Lord Mayor of London, who is, I believe, elected by the City guilds and presides over the Square Mile, i.e., the City of London). The Mayor of London is a very powerful executive position with access to an £11 billion budget, making decisions on education, transport, social services, policing and environmental issues.

Many people choose whether to vote based on the weather. Because of this, what would otherwise be a non sequitur flows quite naturally in this BBC report this morning: "Polls opened at 0700 BST and close at 2200 BST. A mixture of sunshine and showers is forecast in most areas." If it's sunny, I anticipate my three votes will be diluted.

We Londoners get three votes: one for Mayor of London, one for the London Assembly, and one for our local borough assembly. For complicated reasons (which would give away who I voted for if I explained them), I voted for three different parties.

Now we wait.

And while we’re waiting, an interesting fact (which I can verify). As you will all know, in AD 1215, a group of barons famously forced King John (of Robin Hood fame) to yield a number of royal prerogatives, and to grant certain civil liberties. The writ of habeas corpus and the right to trial by a jury of one’s peers were among these. The charter (“Magna Carta”) was confirmed by a number of subsequent monarchs, and the version now on the books dates from AD 1297. This excerpt is from the moiety of Magna Carta which still has the force of law in England and Wales:

“The city of London shall have all the old liberties and customs (which it hath been used to have). Moreover we will and grant that all other cities, boroughs, towns, and the barons of the five ports, and all other ports, shall have all their liberties and free customs” (Magna Carta 1297, chapter 9).

This provides the legal basis for the other London mayor, the Lord Mayor of London, who is also Chief Magistrate of the City of London, Admiral of the Port of London, Chancellor of City University and President or Patron of many other civic and charitable organisations. The Lord Mayor is elected each year. The first recorded Lord Mayor was Henry Fitz-Ailwyn (1189).