The conference was in Dresden, and as it happens I’ve been to a conference there before, way back in 1997. Last time, the conference delegates were taken on a walking tour of the Old Town by some of the graduate students from Dresden University, so we got a good introduction to the city. This time, […]
As a research scientist, technical conferences have been part of my work life for the last twenty-something years. To start with, as a very junior researcher, I was really keen and eager to attend conferences, and it was always something of a surprise when my supervisor encouraged me to attend to present the research papers […]
I didn’t quite finish the story of my trip to Bristol to go glassblowing. The course was just one day, from 10:30 to 16:00 with an hour for lunch. I could get home to Malvern on the train relatively easily afterwards, but if I’d tried to do a return trip on the day, it would […]
The Director of the business stream I work for wanted to thank his staff for the efforts we’ve put in over the past year, so invited his entire extended team, and their partners and children, to a “Mediaeval Family Fun Day” at Warwick Castle. All in all, several hundred of us took him up on […]
A number of people have commented to me that the glass blowing looks downright dangerous, with no Personal Protective Equipment, and the tutor wearing shorts! In fact, I think the danger lies more in the perception and the potential than in reality. Yes, of course, if things went horribly wrong then it could get very […]
I got home from work today to find a parcel waiting for me. It was the glasses I’d blown on Saturday, all very well wrapped up in bubble-wrap and packed in newspaper. They’d done a very good job of parcelling them up. And here they are! Proof that I’ve got years of training and apprenticeship […]
I mentioned a few months ago that I thought it might be interesting to have a go at making hand-made glasses. Glass blowing is something I’ve wanted to do, at the back of my mind, for several years now, but Chris wasn’t particularly interested so I didn’t take it any further. But for the last […]
Eastnor Castle held its annual fireworks competition last night. I realised during the late afternoon that something was up at the castle, as there was more traffic than usual crawling down the hill past my house. It wasn’t too bad during the evening, as I had music on quite loud which drowned out any noise […]
