My last shift ever was brightened by speaking to a guy called Lu. I've forgotten his first name, and will probably never see him again, but we got on well. Lu has what I used to have: an excitement about all things physics.
My boss tried a few times in the last couple of years to interest me as to what happens to the spin of an electron if you make the electron go round in a circle, which is one of his favourite little topics. My unspoken response was to think "vacuum leak, broken magnet, radiation damage, it's an academic question as that electron aint never gonna get round a full circle anyway". As my boss was also here today, he started explaining this problem to Lu, who then spent the next hour working out this problem using the basic principles of physics. I'd like to think that there was a time when I'd have done this, and that one day I'll feel like that again about physics again.
As it was, I spent the last few hours finishing off the Guardian crossword. Today I learnt about the Crimean war, 19th century russian literature, and finally about the Sea of Azov (it's the light blue sea in the picture), which happens to be next to the Crimean peninsula, which happens to be under a whisp of cloud.
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