The $10 million fire.

I woke up at 4am this morning, and couldn't get back to sleep. I guess it takes a while to settle into a time zone nearly the inverse of the one you're used to.

Walking into Uni for the first time was interesting! I didn't really have any idea where I was going. I was given the vague instruction of: "Head towards the tower on Black Mountain." - a big transmission tower looking over the city. Every time it left my line of site I panicked.

More admin stuff again! Our lab office was quite full already, so they've set me up in "overflow" - an old disused lab room. I like to think of it as my own office. With not much work to do I just had a bit of a read.

The textbook is one of the many charred remnants of the huge fire at the RSC last December! That's it after we polished the worst of the ash and soot off. Apparently, a rogue heat gun started a fire in a fume hood, which spread to other parts of the lab. Firemen refused to go in without a full chemical list, so everyone had to stand and watch in horror as the roof began to burn down too. All in all, around $10 million of damage was done. Annoyingly, most of this was because of electronics who's warranties became void due to exposure to acidic fumes. Repairs are still under way, and are due to finish in July.