Rothamsted!
So, I've just got hold of some internets of my own (via wireless network in my hall- currently waiting on ICT to set me up, so our post-doc is logging me on with his account in the office which is fine for useful stuff but probably not great to make loads of non-work sites appear on his browsing history even if I would only be using them at lunchtime).
anyhoo...
I arrived last Sunday, after being brave with M25 (but not as brave as I'll have to be to go home, without Dad directing me round the big nasty junctions). Spent time mainly unpacking, shopping, fighting flat-pack shelving, etc, and exploring the immediate area a bit. St Albans is useful for stuff (Argos, Homebase, supermarkets, twon centre things), but Saturday is a bad day to go as the market simultaneously brings in loads more traffic and closes off half the high street to pedestrians and closes off an entire multi-storey carpark for market traders to park. Wheathampsted is a very pretty little village, with a nice big free car park where you can walk along the Lea Valley and a nice tea room back in the village for afterwards.
Went back to London for Wednesday and Thursday nights to see John as he packed up everything from the flat to go to Cambridge for his masters. He went on friday, and seems to be enjoying Cambridge whilst taking all the pretention with a suitable snigger.
Then back here for the weekend, when a few more people arrived and more of my exploring was done... and the Monday morning, my first day at School/Work/Thing.
It's a nice walk across the common to get there, the place is shiney with lots of big new toys (mainly whizzy molecular biology machines that I noticed), the people are nice- heads down and get on with it during the day, followed by the pub to unwind and talk a bit afterwards- suits me just fine, far better than feeling I ought to be making conversation all day during work.
By Tuesday, I was already in the lab, making agar plates (that evening I felt the need to make jelly for dinner- if a nasty pathogenic fungus gets given whatever flavour jelly it likes, i.e. malt extract/ mycological peptone/ v8 juice, then I should have whatever I like, i.e. green with tinned pineapple). Tomorrow I'll see how non-aseptic my technique was by how many evil-world-domination bacterial colonies have sprung up on my plates.
Today I went to Reading to meet my supervisor- he seemed really nice too, we got on as well as needed, although I think I gave him a rather excessively evil glance when I said I was from the Isle of Sheppey and he said "Oh, well I don't know Essex all that well..." Also got my security card there, went to talks, got handbooks, got Freshers' Fair freebies (and didn't join Lock-Picking Soc...) then back here.
Back to the lab tomorrow, hopefully to try to revive some fungus that's been in a -80 freezer since the last person working on it left.
finally, as a taster before I type up my Galapagos diary, I'll throw in a picture.
anyhoo...
I arrived last Sunday, after being brave with M25 (but not as brave as I'll have to be to go home, without Dad directing me round the big nasty junctions). Spent time mainly unpacking, shopping, fighting flat-pack shelving, etc, and exploring the immediate area a bit. St Albans is useful for stuff (Argos, Homebase, supermarkets, twon centre things), but Saturday is a bad day to go as the market simultaneously brings in loads more traffic and closes off half the high street to pedestrians and closes off an entire multi-storey carpark for market traders to park. Wheathampsted is a very pretty little village, with a nice big free car park where you can walk along the Lea Valley and a nice tea room back in the village for afterwards.
Went back to London for Wednesday and Thursday nights to see John as he packed up everything from the flat to go to Cambridge for his masters. He went on friday, and seems to be enjoying Cambridge whilst taking all the pretention with a suitable snigger.
Then back here for the weekend, when a few more people arrived and more of my exploring was done... and the Monday morning, my first day at School/Work/Thing.
It's a nice walk across the common to get there, the place is shiney with lots of big new toys (mainly whizzy molecular biology machines that I noticed), the people are nice- heads down and get on with it during the day, followed by the pub to unwind and talk a bit afterwards- suits me just fine, far better than feeling I ought to be making conversation all day during work.
By Tuesday, I was already in the lab, making agar plates (that evening I felt the need to make jelly for dinner- if a nasty pathogenic fungus gets given whatever flavour jelly it likes, i.e. malt extract/ mycological peptone/ v8 juice, then I should have whatever I like, i.e. green with tinned pineapple). Tomorrow I'll see how non-aseptic my technique was by how many evil-world-domination bacterial colonies have sprung up on my plates.
Today I went to Reading to meet my supervisor- he seemed really nice too, we got on as well as needed, although I think I gave him a rather excessively evil glance when I said I was from the Isle of Sheppey and he said "Oh, well I don't know Essex all that well..." Also got my security card there, went to talks, got handbooks, got Freshers' Fair freebies (and didn't join Lock-Picking Soc...) then back here.
Back to the lab tomorrow, hopefully to try to revive some fungus that's been in a -80 freezer since the last person working on it left.
finally, as a taster before I type up my Galapagos diary, I'll throw in a picture.