Long-overdue update

Greetings all. My apologies for not writing for some time; I'd love to claim a legitimate excuse, but sadly procrastination and laziness are the sole reasons I can come up with. Anyway, some major changes have gone on since my last update.

In late May and early June, my parents and brother came over to visit me in in Jolly Old England. They stayed in Manchester for a few days, then went to York, Edinburgh, Inverness, other parts of Scotland and finally back to Manchester. I joined them for the York and Edinburgh portions of the trip.

York was very nice, albeit pretty touristy. It's a fairly small town dominated by one of the largest cathedrals I have ever seen. Truly a monument to the wealth and prosperity of medieval Christianity, York's Cathedral was, for a long time, the centre of British Christianity. And it shows-the cathedral is nothing if not massive and ostentatious. Including the excavated foundations, the cathedral takes several hours to tour and absorb. Stained glass adorns every wall, gold leaf, carved stone and wood and rich velvet abound, and the message is made abundantly clear: "God is good, so come worship or he'll smite your ass!" (I'm paraphrasing here, but that's the gist of the message.

As for the town itself, York smacks of tourism. Because it is a comparatively small town, whose primary source of revenue is the steady stream of tourists flocking to see the towers, cathedral and classical architecture, each street is lined with the archetypal mark of any tourist town: kick-knack shops, restaurants and trendy pubs, and street vendors galore. That being said, I should not that we did constrain ourselves largely to the centre of town; I have subsequently spoken to people who either grew up in York, or studied there. If they are to be believed (and I see no reason to doubt their statements), there is a real city outside the tourist centre, which is both quaint and pleasant.

Edinburgh was the next stop, and this was a city I truly enjoyed. Though the tourist industry is omnipresent in certain areas here (notably the landmark castle and its surrounding environs), the city is both large and diverse enough that the effect is less noticeable. Furthermore, the city maintains a nice air of being busy and modern, yet friendly and historic. Unlike York, it feels like a city in which people live and go about their daily lives, despite the presence of centuries of history.

While in the city, we toured the castle (under British Law, I'm fairly certain it's illegal to visit Edinburgh and NOT go to the castle at least once). While I cannot claim an intimate knowledge of castles and their relative merits, I must say that this one is truly a spectacle to behold, and a shining specimen of what a castle should be. It ranks high on my personal list, bested perhaps by only Chambord on the banks of the Loire river in France. The castle, it's inner chambers, cannons (including the apparently famous Mons Meg super-cannon) and high walls give it a daunting presence. The intricacy of the masonry shows an amazing attention to detail and it's easy to see how the castle was able to serve as both a symbol of power, and a defensive structure, securing the might of its occupants (give or take a few invasions and infiltrations here and there.

In addition, we hiked up to Arthur's Seat, the highest point in Edinburgh. We had previously attempted the climb, but had picked the wrong path up the hill on which Arthur's Seat rests and had ended up at the base of a precipice below the summit itself. So, it was not until a few days later that my dad, brother and I climbed all the way to the top. From here, the view is breathtaking, as one can see for miles surrounding the peak. It was also very windy and a little vertigo-inducing (especially given the uneven footing). Also, while we were up there, we got to see Prince Charles' private helicopter land at Holyrood Palace (where His Royal Highness was staying during our time in Edinburgh), pick him up and depart-isn't that exciting?

At this point, my family and I split ways. They continued on to Inverness and tours of the north-east of Scotland, while I returned to Manchester for some tours of my office, and the exciting world of academic papers. It was a heady experience, let me tell you. Upon my family's return, we spent a few more days in Manchester, I gave them a tour of the building in which I work and some of the facilities I use. My parents and I also met with Prof. Peaker, my supervisor. After all of this, they were off, bound for Canada once more.

It was great to be able to see my family again, and to give them a sense of both the work I'm doing and the city in which I live. It was great to see all the various sights, and to catch up with them to an extent which is difficult to achieve without physical presence (even videoconferencing fails to attain the same effect). I'm not sure when I'll be home next-possibly Christmas, likely no sooner-so it was great to be able to connect up with them again.

The second big thing is a slight shift in the focus of my research, and the rapidly-looming deadline for my first-year report. The research shift is minor but very significant. It's difficult to explain without getting too technical, but basically I will be looking at the same phenomenon I was before, but manifested in a different material. I am studying Quantum Dots, and had previously been looking at those based on "3-5" semiconductors such as Gallium-Arsenide and Indium-Arsenide. Instead, I will be looking at single-atomic semiconductor crystals such as Silicon and Germanium. This allows for some interesting potential areas of research, including possibly using the university's focussed ion-beam apparatus (FIB) to create quantum dots of fixed size. So, I'm optimistic about where this can lead my Ph.D. in the coming years.

The scary facet of my research is the first-year report, which is menacing on the horizon. Basically, in most British Ph.D.s, you are technically accepted into a Masters program (a M.Phil). After one year, you present a lengthy report (about 100 pages) and often a verbal interview, of the work conducted so far, the literature studied and the proposed direction for future work. For me, this report is due in early September. I have no real results (due to both procrastination and time wasting and a range of errors I will not elucidate at the moment). So, I have my work cut out for me for the next few weeks. I believe I can succeed at this, but I need to be exponentially more focussed than I have been thus far. My report will be without quantifiable results, which means I will need a thorough literature review and proposal for future endeavours. Which means I have to get off my ass and start writing.

Finally, the last biggest change has been my living arrangements. I have finally, after much searching, and a truly Murphy's Law-esque series of events, found a satisfactory place to reside for the coming year (assuming I don't fail out and get deported). There is an overlap of about a month between when I took possession of this new place (about a week ago) and the end of my current lease. Therefore, I will be moving in progressively, a backpack-load at a time. I have already started, and have moved many of my possessions there already, but will likely not move in for a few more weeks, at least. It's a nice place, and reasonably well-located, although it's a bit more expensive than I'd hoped for. Still, months of searching wore down my resolve, and my willingness to compromise skyrocketed. And, to be honest, I really like the place in which I'll be living, so all's well that ends well.

So, that about brings you up-to date. It's been unusually nice here (we had a good two solid weeks of hot sunshine, which was great), I'm continuing with my gym program (now down 50 pounds from my heaviest weight!), a lot of my friends are gone for the summer, so it's a bit quiet, but still nice. I will try to be better at keeping everyone up-to-date going forward (if for other reason than to avoid really long updates like this one), but I make no guarantees over the next two months. When my first-year report and oral defense are done, I'll be much better at updating, I hope. Until then, I hope all is well with all of you and as always, I'm perpetually happy to receive updates as to your status.