In From The Cold

As the end of my first October in the US approaches (four months today, people!), the autumn weather begins to head towards winter and the cold has finally arrived in Charleston. Now, i'm not entirely sure that this is colder than the UK - it's possible that the contrast with the ridiculous heat of summer makes it feel colder than it really is - but it's certainly cool enough for me to bundle up in a jumper, and for me to turn the air conditioning up on an evening. Anyway, the approaching winter feels well and truly on the air - the days right now are that wonderful combination of glorious sunshine combined with just the right amount of chill on the air to make you feel awake and refreshed (and somewhat like a bucket of water has been thrown into your face!). To say that it reminds me of home is something of an understatement.

Anyway, all this would be well and good provided the aforementiond chill stayed outside and there is where we hit our first snag of the week. You see, the Thurmond Gazes building, where my lab is located, is having lots of work on the roof. Aside from this causing lots of annoying fire alarms (we all troop outside, stand about whilst somewhat overweight police and/or firemen stagger inside and come out ten minutes later to tell us there was nothing wrong in the first place!), has other disadvantages of having a large crane parked outside the window (very distracting when large bits of metal keep hovering a mere pane of glass away) and, like this week, where they decided that they would knock the heating system out. So, we're all rather bundled up in the labs these days. Thankfully, we can't quite see our breath just yet. Best finish here, my finger joints are freezing!