History and so on

Saturday morning, another sunny day. The flat is really light and airy, a significant contrast from the dark rooms we had in Vienna. We even have a TV, but it does not get ESPN or the Phillies games so there are hardships. We are beginning to think that all of this talk about the foul English weather is an exaggeration. Of course, we lived in Seattle long enough to know that four days in June is not long enough to make judgments about the climate.

I went to work yesterday in Jonathan Hodgkin's lab, and actually began some experiments. Well, OK, I took some strains out of the freezer to grow up over this weekend to begin some experiments on Monday, but at least I got started. I will have an Oxford faculty ID card-- don't laugh-- so all of the signs that say, "closed to visitors" will not apply to us. I don't know if I will be required to wear a gown or say things like, "right" and "jolly well". The humor behind Oxford University allowing me to pose as a faculty member is not lost on us. I feel like a live version of a Monty Python skit (although I think that they actually came from Cambridge).

The history here is a bit intimating. I work in the Hans Krebs building. (Begin obscure humor section here.) I felt like I should have cycled to work but I walked instead. The walk takes about 35 minutes, but I can pass the Roger Bannister athletic fields in less than four minutes. I also pass the house where Robert Boyle worked. It is not ideal, but I do feel the pressure on me from working in such a place. One of our walks took us by the house where Robert Hooke lived-- a tiny place, almost like a cell. (End obscure humor.)

We went to our local pub last night and will be headed to the Covered Market in a few minutes when the laundry finishes. (We have a washing machine in the flat so we don't have to haul laundry across town on the strassenbahn as we did inVienna. Which is good because they don't have strassenbahns here.)

In case you could not tell, Philip wrote this one.