h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Have you got a deadline soon or is it more flexible as a postgraduate project?

23rd of June... and it is a big report..

which will be why your presence here has been slightly less recently

no, that is due to chatting to a good Friend for hours on end and due to being away for Easter and due to Guiding taking the rest of my time. sleep? what's that?

I know that feeling, have done the same myself, with dancing taking the place of guiding

I dance occasionally too

Cool, what types of dance?

scottish country, highland and highland crossed swords.

At one stage years ago I quite fancied learning how to do that. Especially anything involving sharp swords. I stopped tinkingof doin git by about 10 though and forgot about it really.

it is great fun, though sword dancing is a bit lonely

That's why I like the ballroom, Partners

The great thing about Scottish Country is that you have a partner and most of the time have 6 other team mates too, to make up a four couple set.

Ballroom is definitely much more one on one. You really /need/ to get on well with your partner though. During the classes though they tend to move you around between people.

Unless you do the progressive dances in which case you move through a good thirty people during the song

You don't get the small teams with interaction between couples though

With country, there often needs to be a lot of trust between partners - some of the turns are quite fast and poussettes you need to be sure that you aren't going to trip the other up. I mostly do Country for fun... I used to compete, but it is a lot more enjoyable if you are with people who alike can dance well and don't care about mistakes and just laugh and help you catch up.

It's always good dancing with other people who know what they're doing. I've been almost spoiled in that most of the people who dance competitions (also being the people I practise most with) are very good at following my leads. When there is a social dance at the competitions though, I tend to end up with people who only know how to dance their own routines and are lost as soon as you move away from that.

I don't mind mistakes when it's just social, I generally just laugh it off. In competitions I usually get annoyed with myself but accept it and try to keep the routine going.

yes.

So does atmospheric physics become more or less interesting when the weather is as nice as it has been this weekend?

erm...
it depends on your point of view
the convection and dynamics isn't as interesting but the radiation and chemisty can get quite interesting

Chemistry? I would have thought not much in the way of chemical reactions went on in the atmosphere...

*chokes*
Considering that that is where most of the money is going...
or hadn't you heard about CFCs and other pollutants destroying ozone and so emphasising the greenhouse effect?