Cashiers, NC (Part 1)

Having managed to sort out my cells so they would be quite happy on their own for a couple of days, Wednesday saw me getting a ride with a couple of workmates to Cashiers, North Carolina for the South-Eastern Regional Lipid Conference (SERLC for short), an annual event that is generally regarded as one of the better ones - generally cause there is plenty of alcohol flowing. The drive took about 6 hours (including a half hour stop for lunch) - a ridiculously long time considering that this took us pretty much across South Carolina and barely into North Carolina and is equivalent to driving from London to, say, Newcastle - around 3/4 of the length of England. Anyway, the drive was pretty mundane - the Americans love to have walls of trees either side of the Interstate - and it wasn't until we began to get into the hills that we could actually see anything. The resort - the High Hampton Inn - was very pleasant indeed. Nicely rustic and set in the hills themselves. The peace and quiet was palpable - and it was wonderful, on an evening, to be able to see all the stars.

On arrival, there was tea in the afternoon - not bad, but certainly not British - and then the start of the conference proper with a reception downstairs. First big mistake of the organisers is to put a table laden with alcohol in the centre of the room (we're talking big bottles of jack Daniels, Gin, Smirnoff Vodka, Bacardi and Whisky), plenty of mixers and two big barrels of beer (well, Bud and Miller Light - beer in the loosest sense of the term). Needless to say, this was soon cracked open (we all politely waited for one of the bigger names to crack open the spirits before we all followed suit) and much chatter and gossip began. The major aim, for me, was to put faces to names - some of the more well-known in my particular area and this was largely successful. I had a good chat with a couple of such people, swapped a couple of recent results and made note that we would probably be in touch with the other asking for reagents and stuff in the future. After a lecture (more of a ramble), we all headed back to the alcohol for 'social time' - i.e. getting drunk even more - and a late time to bed. Who said these things had to be about science anyway?