brief ramble of a headless chicken

The last few days have been a flurry of activity whilst I batten down the proverbial hatches to prepare for my incipient departure; the stress seems almost to undermine the whole point of going away, but I have to face the fact that taking a break from work, in science particularly, is such a nightmare. Especially when your experiments are living; so much to see to, so many people to depend upon, and what is worse than having to depend on others?

Today I learned that my Aussie labmate has been to the very place I'm headed before - small Universe - and I gather it's very beautiful. That's really reassuring; I just hope it's half as hot as he says it is; I'm a bit of a heat monkey. Warning: catharsis: fUUUUuuUUUUUUuuuuuuuuck! So much to do - grrr! And I miss most of the Cambridge film festival, so no Goodbye Lenin!, Petites Coupures or Veronica Guerin for me (and Cate Blanchett will be there tonight - in fact, right now! @*!&±%). At least I saw Être et Avoir; so very touching. Sigh.

Greetings, planet earth.