Antipenultimate post?

For those keeping count, there was another fire alarm and evacuation and I heard that there was yet another, but it must have been during my night in Bath, so I missed it. Boohoo.

I think this may well be close to the last post here before I return home; possibly the second or third last, simply because I've been busy and haven't been taking many photos.

To remedy this, here's an exciting one of a letterbox.

And some sciencey cushions


Well, I like them anyway - they're in the university chapel, which itself looks really old, but isn't, and which contains a not particularly impressive looking pipe organ, that is (impressive sounding that is). Here's a snapshot of some of the people in the optics group. This was a going-away lunch for me, Ken and Lesley - they both having been in the group for some years. I felt a bit guilty that I was also sharing in their going-away lunch, myself having only been there a short time.

My research activities here haven't been all that successful and may still end up going nowhere, but I've learned a lot and benefited from being in another group, and having some opportunities to talk at a couple of other universities, so I'm judging the trip worthwhile. This week will be a bit weird because most of the group will be off at the Photon08 conference at Heriot-Watt uni. I'll be one of a handful left and my disappearance from the group will likely be surprise to some.

I think all my accommodation and flight organising is almost complete - just a few more things to book and I can say goodbye to that stress. The sun is out today for about the fourth day in a row - the longest stretch since I've been here, but I've been stuck inside again - I needed to pack and weigh my stuff because my flights to Ireland have stricter allowances. I may still run over-weight. I guess that's all for now.