Leeds leads!

It has been a great start to my new temporary life in Leeds. Yesterday was my first full day in the archive but even before I got there things were looking good. I caught the bus just after 8.00 a.m. and it was standing room only but I wasn't too bothered as it is only a 10-15 minute drive to the centre. I was standing beside a spotty, hoodie wearing young man - the kind the Daily Mail gets all worked up about. Anyway, he tapped me on the elbow and tried to give me his seat. I thanked him but said I was ok. He was quite insistant! I have never had said spotty, hoodie types offer me a seat in Aberdeen, so Leeds 1-Aberdeen 0!
When I got off the bus I did manage to slip on the one small piece of ice on the Headrow but I succeeded in returning to a vertical position without too much difficulty and no damage done.
I am still working through the financial documents that I started in January and it is proving very time consuming. Yesterday I only managed to get through 2 files and today was even slower. Still, I hope to finish them tomorrow or Friday at the latest and move on to something more exciting. I think The League of Nations papers might be fun!
The excitement yesterday was a fire alarm just as I wanted to leave the library to go for lunch. I don't know where the supposed fire was but they closed the library doors and wouldn't let us leave! In fact they asked us to move back as we were blocking the fire doors!!!! Some people found an alternative exit but the staff didn't seem bothered that many of us were still there and there was no attempt to clear the library!
There was to be a strike tomorrow to protest staff cuts. I told Richard (archivist) that I wouldn't cross the picket line but it turns out that they called it off this afternoon. There are two more planned for next week so I will have to wait and see if they go ahead. I have plenty of translations to work through if I can't go in but it will eat into my time here.
I just missed a bus this evening and had to wait 40 minutes for the next one. Now that I know when they leave I can be more prepared to leave the archive on time.