Author Archives: Cath@VWXYNot?

About Cath@VWXYNot?

"one of the sillier science bloggers [...] I thought I should give a warning to the more staid members of the community." - Bob O'Hara, December 2010

12 step programme

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Did anyone else browse the current issue of Nature, spot this article’s title, and think it was going to be a self-help piece for addicts? Just me? Carry on.

Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments

Dear Morgan,

Posted on July 8, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

It was an absolute pleasure to meet you last night. Your Mum told me she’d try to hold on until I got back from my trip, but you came out to join the world while I was still away. That’s … Continue reading →

Posted in personal, photos, the 2009 baby boom | 18 Comments

Where in the world is Cath this weekend?

Posted on July 6, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Guesses in the comments please! I’ll add more photos later if you’re stumped. Second photo now added – people already have the right answer, but I wanted to show you what the rest of the fence looks like!

Posted in competition, photos, travel | 14 Comments

The best Gregor since Mendel?

Posted on July 3, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

Vancouver is a fantastic place to be a cyclist. Designated bike routes everywhere (I attended the opening celebrations for the newest one last weekend), and more considerate drivers than in Glasgow (although everything’s relative, and some of my fellow cyclists … Continue reading →

Posted in cycling, embarrassing fan girl, environment, photos, politics, Vancouver | 6 Comments

Pros and cons of an itinerant lifestyle

Posted on July 2, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

ON TUESDAY I went for farewell drinks with a grad student friend who’s leaving Vancouver for an overseas postdoc position. It’s been a bad year for friends leaving town. This aspect of the academic lifestyle affects me more now that … Continue reading →

Posted in career, science, travel | 10 Comments

Resistance is futile

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

During the last few months of my postdoc, I found myself writing three papers simultaneously. One of the papers contained results contributed by two students I’d supervised, so I decided that this would be the perfect time to let the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 31 Comments

On her Majesty’s secret service

Posted on June 27, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

So you know how, in many spy movies, James Bond or Jason Bourne or some other suave and sophisticated guy will open up a folder or a safe and reveal a selection of different identity documents, from different countries, and … Continue reading →

Posted in personal, photos, travel | 6 Comments

Don’t stop till you get enough (bandwidth)

Posted on June 26, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

This explains a lot! I had four applications going into the same competition yesterday, with a 4pm deadline. The funding agency’s website, and my internet access in general, slowed to a crawl and I barely got the last one submitted. … Continue reading →

Posted in grant wrangling, music, technology | Comments Off on Don’t stop till you get enough (bandwidth)

Mortgouge payments

Posted on June 26, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

My husband and I bought our first house just over three years ago. We were complete newbies at this “proper grown-up” thing, and set up the mortgage in a way that makes our biweekly payments 100% predictable. We knew at … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 21 Comments

Michael Jackson may be dead…?

Posted on June 25, 2009 by Cath@VWXYNot?

The BBC is citing “unconfirmed reports” Not what I expected when my home page opened up… For people my age (32), he was The Guy when we were first getting into music. And Madonna was The Gal. Despite subsequent shenanigans … Continue reading →

Posted in music | 13 Comments