Wednesday

Time for a mid-week update. The first day back at work was better than expected, and it took until today for the usual pattern of last minute requests and agenda-less meetings to recur. Our floors are being stripped and polished on the weekend, which requires all the lab furniture to be moved. Dust and experiments don't mix well, so it's mostly a week for reading and catching up on paperwork. The biggest achievement has been completing some work I had left from Cornell - it feels mighty fine to have that off my back.

We're back at French classes too. I was rather rusty at first, but it started to come back, and our new teacher is putting an emphasis on listening, which is my weakest area. I have also resolved to try and speak French at work with my colleague from Paris - it would be silly to miss the opportunity, but it's still scary to open my mouth and speak.