The latest acquisition is slightly strange... Three of us have chipped in to buy a scanning tunnelling microscope, a.k.a. an atomic force microscope. Hopefully the main challenge will be working out what the interface to the computer is. At least there will be three sets of eyes on the problem.
So the next task is to to make the unpleasant long journey to a hell-hole of a holiday resort, and hopefully retrieve my leopard on the way back.
And news just in...
Since I didn't win my third luggable spectrum analyser, the auction house intermediary thoughtfully suggested things to assuage my sorrow: some "palisade gates" and "Starbay Shagreen and Acacia Walnut 2 door 3 drawer cabinet functional with boundless character". Thank god I haven't got enough money in the bank, otherwise I would have been sorely tempted. Not.
Having just had a report of one of the aforementioned holiday resorts, get tooled up
Having visited the seafront when I went, my next visit will be strictly to an industrial estate, and then out again. To keep me awake on the journey, I'll hve loadsa fun trying to guess what the martian-looking aggie vehicles in the fields do to take work opportunities away from migrant workers.
I doubt it is any worse than my local variant (which has the advantage of trees and contours). Looking at the news for my destination, I see the local paper sums it up well in its review: "The location of the Premier Inn is obviously perfect for guests. You are close to restaurants, pubs, bingo halls, arcades, the beach - you name it." But why on earth buld a new one
there?
I have seen a couple of electron microscopes on ebay but never an STM. Didn't think they were in the remotely affordable territory on the second hand market yet. I've seen a couple of attempts to build them though at home. From my bookmarks... http://www.angelfire.com/electronic2/spm/index.html . Either way, enjoy that as it will be a blast playing with it. I got to spend half a day as a muggle at Glaxo once in the distant past watching them play with one and an NMR machine used to test my illicit home brew drugs.
This has "Cranfield University" on the rear, and is probably 15/20 years old. Ob porn, and I suppose it is a form of TEA/GAS:
If the leopard is convincingly well stuffed it should live on the passenger seat. Then you can pretend you're a Saudi Prince
Too big and old for that, and the rest of the vehicle would belie that notion
Fortunately the leopard folds up arounds its snarl, like the Cheshire cat.
When taking it to be restored the almost retired taxidermist commented on its size, which adds credence to the familiy legend that it was shot (in the mid 30s) by my step-grandfather because it was old and had become a maneater.
Ob aside: my grown up daughter has recently admitted that it took her a long time and visits to many friends to realise that most grandparents houses weren't full of stuffed wildlife. But the leopard is mine and has been since 1961, when my grandparents died and I inherited it. The elephants' feet went to my aunt
I'm not sure whether to simply lay it in its traditional position, along the back of the sofa, or find a way of hanging it on the stairwell wall.