Reflective Geometry

My mobile phone currently thinks I am in Germany... interesting.

I'm not sure if I've shared information on my method of transport to work. I live in a tiny village, Villigen, about a 20 minute walk from PSI. By velo the commute is a happy 5 minutes. PSI have a "user office" where they loan bicycles for a maximum of two weeks, so I was delighted when my boss and his wife offered me the use of his wife's bike for the duration of my stay. They have a brand new baby so she's not going to be doing much cycling... Anyway, I was certain upon receiving said bike that it was a kamikaze bike: One brake, on the front wheel. Now I don't know about you, but I was not aware that some bicycles had a braking method operated by cycling backwards. One snapped (and repaired, thank you Bennie) front brake and more practice at this new method of braking later, and I am doing quite well. Cycling is a very popular passtime in Switzerand. My means to an end is quite enjoyable, although I do miss my own bike which has gears and all things nice... if I had my own bike I'd be more inclined to cycle beyond work and the supermarket.

I am quite pleased with my achievements at work this week. I have changed the laser set-up to fit the new "reflective" test-mode. Which essentially means that instead of all the components being in a straight line ("transmission mode"), they are layed out in a triangular formation, so the laser beam can hit the sample at an angle then reflect onto the course of the CCD (camera/detector which captures the diffraction patterns - ie. the sample images). If I hadn't been on my own all week I'd have achieved more, but since it's just been me and it's all new to me, I am quite pleased. I am slightly worried by the fact that I've only a few weeks left in which to make some major discovery and write a report about it.. and the exam looms ever closer. The website is a pain in the backside because I wanted to finish it three weeks ago and I still haven't. Readers, I will force you to follow the link to the website when I finally put it up.

Photos are now organised, hallelujah.. no more scrolling through the previous month to get to new pictures!

Long working weeks and active weekends!

There are a few reasons for the lack of updation! The primary one is that I've had no internet at my flat for the past few days and thus haven't been able to upload photos etc. Sitting in front of a computer all day at work also doesn't help me want to boot up the old laptop when I get home...

Well, last weekend was spent in Bern with IAESTE. It was really good, the weather not so much but it didn't mar the experience. I'm glad to have seen the capital city (so small and quiet!) without a sea of football fans all over it. We began the weekend with a 30-odd km rafting expedition from Thun to Bern, which was hard work but good fun. We all got soaked to the skin, mainly because it poured down on us! Following this hunger-inducing trip we had a meal of Raclette and the rest of the weekend was taken up with sightseeing. I took a photo of a park that had more bins in it than I've ever seen in my life... maybe it was art??

Work through the week was slightly unsatisfying in that all the scans and reconstructions I carried out did not work. That's the thing about research though I suppose. It doesn't always work. I went to a couple of interesting talks on Friday and was much surprised that one of the guest speakers got his undergraduate degree at Aberdeen. He then went on the Cambridge and now is a boss type at Argonne National Laboratories, Chicago... I have different aspirations, but I still was really surprised that he went to little old Aberdeen!

I took a much needed shopping trip to Baden last week. I'm not a fan of shopping but I am pleased to report that I had a very successful trip and got everything I needed: I majorly needed flip flops and a rainjacket.

This week I am all on my own at work, left pretty much to my own devices while my entire team attend a conference in Zurich. Ah, by the way, you should check out - Super-Resolution X-ray Microscopy unveils the buried secrets of the nanoworld - This is what the team I am working with have recently had some success in. But yes, this week I am left to tweak the laser setup (tricky) and just work away generally. I think I should definitely get the website finished this week! I hope someone out there appreciates it...

PSI doesn't seem so busy at the moment - many people must be on holiday. I tend to forget that the majority of people go on holiday in the summer, because uni finishes quite early and after a week's break or so, I am working for the summer. Not that I mind though, not when work's like my current job and in an area where I can really live life to the full in the evenings and at weekends!

This past weekend I had another amazing camping experience. We had originally intended to travel towards the Italian-speaking part of the country, towards Pontresina, but with the weather forecast less than we hoped for, we didn't venture so far. Instead we went back to the mountains around Lucerne, this time staying at a campsite right on the edge of Lake Lucerne. I found the views breathtaking. I love the green of the mountains against the blue of the sky. We took a really nice, relatively demanding 5 hour hike up to an altitude of 1800m. Following that, some kayaking in the lake ensued! It is not the easiest sport, but it felt great and I marvelled at swimming in a beautiful valley after a hard day of activity. Jason, who is like the kayaking master, taught us the basics. It was a thoroughly good weekend. For this coming weekend there is nothing too much planned - perhaps a day trip to hike, and maybe a visit to Basel. We don't want to spend too much money because the following weekend Bennie and I will take a 4-day weekend and go camping, maybe even into France or Italy. I'm looking forward to it :)

I shall upload photos - from the barbecue that has been, from gatherings, Bern and camping. I'm considering making them all a bit more organised.. but I guess you'll see if they are or not when you get there ;)

I will leave you with the sights and sounds of the Swiss mountains. I moved a bit fast towards the end of the film, but it should give you some sort of idea as to the atmosphere!

Microscopy, Camping, Driving!

Dear readers, I haven't forgotten about you. Needless to say, things have been busy and I've not had an opportunity for proper updation until now.

Last weekend was happily spent camping in the Vierwaldstättersee region, near Lucerne. I have uploaded many photos of the incredible views, although none of the pictures really do the experience justice. We hiked to Rigi, not the tallest point but a nice hike nonetheless. Almost 5,500 ft. It was a very hot day, so much sweating ensued. Also, I sunburnt the backs of my legs for the first time ever. It would appear that I am not invincible. Camping was a lot of fun, and it was my first ever actual camping site experience! I really enjoyed it, the atmosphere was fantastic. I have been camping before, but it's been a while. I look forward to the next time.

Since we were so near to Lucerne (or Luzern as it is in German), we took a trip there to see the city, and completely unexpectedly we arrived in the midst of the Jodlefest!! I totally forgot yodeling was a Swiss thing. There were hundreds of people dressed in their special traditional clothes and walking through the city we came across Alp Horn players and table-fulls of people breaking into song. I'll upload a video of said song-breaking to Flickr. I'm afraid you'll just have to scroll through the pages of photos to see the new ones.

Upon returning to Villigen, work this week began slowly. I felt I had no knowledge of the new stuff I have been learning about and was truly bummed out. This lasted just two or three days though, and I am now back on form and definitely know more than I did! Every day as I ask more questions and learn more I get more and more excited about the work. It's fantastic, and the website I mentioned is well underway. This week I took pictures of mystery cells with a light microscope, and said cells were undergoing x-ray diffraction scanning when I left work on Friday. Also, I learned about magnetosomes...! We tried to take some light microscope pictures of them too, but they are pretty small. These bacteria have magnetic crystals inside them and align themselves with the magnetic poles. Cool creatures, I thought. The idea behind taking light microscope pictures by the way, is to see if we can find the cells and if the specimens are good enough candidates for x-ray microscopy.

I have now been to an IAESTE meeting in Zurich.. almost! On Thursday I went with two friends to meet some fellow IAESTE students, and together we would go to the main meeting - but it didn't appear to be on as the meeting bar was closed for a private function. Still, the small group that we had went elsewhere for a beer (Miller... I think I dislike American beer), and it was great to meet some more people. I have signed myself up for the IAESTE weekend away to Bern next weekend, and on Thursday there's a barbecue in Zurich.

Friday evening (yesterday) was actually spent in Zurich too. This last picture was taken in Zurich. Bennie and I went to have some dinner and to see if we could find the Caliente festival. We decided not to find it after all, but enjoyed the cool evening by the river nonetheless. Today has been relaxing, much needed. We planned a "quick morning trip" to Germany to do some food shopping, but didn't actually go until lunchtime. After that I had a spontaneous driving lesson around the carpark of PSI :-D I am not so bad... but still not roadworthy. Unlike Marie who has passed her driving test!! :)

I haven't many fun anecdotes to share, but now at least you have updation. Oh, by accident I discovered that I can upload videos to Flickr (where all my photos are) so you can find some of the sights and sounds in the album now too! I am still in the process of uploading so check back soon.