My employer, Stichting voor Fundamenteel Onderzoek der Materie (FOM), has offered me a contract extension of one year. Several difficulties have arisen in completing my project to the previous schedule (current contract was due to expire the end of July) and they have asked me to stay on to finish these experiments and to help…

In the wake of popular demand I have decided two things with regards to this blog. Firstly, I solemnly promise to further harrass, cajole, poke and pout other family members into posting more frequently. It won’t be easy to increase my already virtually intolerable high output of these Encouragement MechanismsTM but it’s a sacrifice I…

For those that have not been watching their calendars recently, we have been in Germany now for one year! Though we said goodbye to some people before Christmas 2004 we didn’t arrive here until the 5th February 2005. To celebrate this small milestone we had a small party with a family who were very helpful…

So after 4 months and 6 days (goods were packed on 20 December, 2004), we have been reunited with the 3.5 cubic metres of household goods we decided we couldn’t part with and should have with us while we are here. Items include a few cooking items (Gaynor’s knives and ‘Le Creuset’ cookware), the custom-made…