Tired but fluffy

[shermarama]

I am very tired. I'm still not completely recovered, which shows in situations like this week. We went to Glasgow for a conference and as well as the bossman there were two postdocs and five postgrads including me, which made a big group of us to get anything done with. I got up early on Tuesday and then sat on a train for six hours, which was at least scenic what with all the ice and snow outside London, but somewhat stressful as I was trying to rejig my presentation after trying it and finding it to be rubbish on Monday night. We got straight off the train and over to Strathclyde Uni for a meeting, and then over to the Travelodge with its dodgy lifts and plumbing, and then we had to find somewhere that seven hungry people could agree on for eating with the price limit set at a maximum of a fiver, and then we did actually have a bit of a rest, sitting around and chinwagging, apart from one of the postdocs who was presenting the next day and practically having kittens over it. Next day we got up early and took Glasgow's cute little tube train, known as the Clockwork Orange, to the University of Glasgow, where eight people dithered over where to eat breakfast and eventually settled for Gregg's, where we seemed to greatly annoy the woman behind the counter, and then we sat through a day of talks about semiconductor photocatalysis of which some were quite interesting actually and some were difficult to follow and boring, and then we started looking for food for under the five pounds budget again but since last night's had been somewhat ropy we decided to take the five pounds each as a sort of baseline and top the rest up ourselves in an Italian restaurant and that was a great idea, especially the Limoncello thing I had for pudding which had lemon-flavoured crushed meringue stuck to the outside of it like sweet breadcrumbs, but then the three of us who were talking the next day went and sat in the hotel lobby and practised presenting which was useful but still kind of stressful, and then I didn't get to bed til late due to being too awake still. So the next day we got up and ended up at McDonald's for breakfast because it was the only idea anyone could think of and we sat through another day of talks about semiconductor photocatalysis, this time punctuated by three of us doing talks, and they all went well enough and there were many Tunnock's products available in the breaktimes because the University of Strathclyde know how visiting southerners are suckers for a Tunnock's Teacake. Then there was a couple of hours to kill before the train and then five hours to kill on the train and though that was convivial, everyone sitting around and talking, it wasn't really relaxing and I was dog-tired when I got in but in the grim, got-to-get-stuff-done-anyway way because there was no Chris because he's in Switzerland ice diving. And everyone got up early today to get into work on time to try and mollify the bossman after a flare-up about time-keeping on Monday and I've never heard the office so quiet as it was this morning as we all grimly got on with it through the blear. But conferences are useful for stirring up your thinking about what you're doing and why, and giving you new ideas and connections to chase up, so the day was still interesting and productive despite the fatigue and I'm going to see someone on Monday morning to learn how to screen-print our powders as a result.

I think I like Glasgow. It was weird having it still pitch-dark at 8am, but the tube was endearingly domestic and the streets are grand and the people are chatty and the beer is cheap. I can see how Glasgow has its cardiac trouble, though, when gloopy processed macaroni cheese served with chips makes a meal. Why are these nice places I keep visiting always cold, though?

Comments

[noondaydemon.livejournal.com]

Chris because he's in Switzerland ice diving.

I'll be very curious as to how he enjoyed the experience.... underwater photos would help too:)

[shermarama]

I got a call from him this evening; so far it's not going well, unfortunately, because of equipment problems. He's going in again tomorrow, though.

[noondaydemon.livejournal.com]

Shame - but still, best to know now about faulty gear than later on;)

[shermarama]

*grins* I think it's only being faulty because he's trying to dive in sub-zero air temperatures - apparently everything defrosts and works again once you're properly under the water, but the transition between the two can be a bit hairy. It's gone a lot better today, anyway, he says.

[yiskah.livejournal.com]

Glasgow is indeed lovely, I concur.