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

Well, I never thought I'd say this any time soon, but I'm now with a job.

After a tip-off from my doctorate supervisor, I applied for a job as a Computational Scientist at Daresbury Laboratory (near Warrington) and got interviewed near the end of March. I didn't feel particularly confident about my chances afterwards, even after being told I was more than qualified for the job and considered as a reserve candidate. However, about 6 weeks ago I got a phone call from the guy who led my interview saying their first choice had declined and would I be interested? No prizes for guessing what I said.

Anyway, it's not *quite* a 9 till 5 ... add an extra half hour a day and that's more accurate. However, it's still pretty good ... I'm responsible for writing program code to model things at scales between the sizes of clumps of atoms and visible blobs of fluid (i.e. the mesoscale), which isn't too far removed from what I did for my doctorate. I have had to do a bit of reading up on the modelling method they're particularly interested in, but it sounds rather interesting as it seems to be able to model lots of complicated behaviour with some fairly simple rules.

Anyway, most importantly I'm now earning proper money ... which is a relief to me, as I spotted that my bank account had as little as £60 in it last month (before I got my first salary payment). It should also benefit a couple of charities I'm involved with (including the Esperanto Association of Britain - who I need to contact ASAP - and a symphony orchestra I play for) as I am now eligible for Gift Aid since I now pay income tax. It also means I can now afford to go on dates, should the opportunity arise.