I woke up this morning at 7.30, and was happily lying in bed when I realised that instead of the nice straightforward day I had anticipate, I was about to have a logistical nightmare. Directly after lectures, I had to proceed to the ICL to begin a practical which took from 11.30 to 5 pm. At 5 pm I had a class with Dr. Brouard to go over some quantum mechanics questions (which I hadn't done because I couldn't understand what they were on about). This class could be expected to finish at six, which was handy since at that point I had to be in a suit and at the Principal's Lodgings for drinks.   With this in mind, I packed my suit into it's bag along with a shirt, cufflinks, etc. whilst I also popped my shoes (cleaned, swiftly), labcoat, safety specs, lab book and quantum mechanics notes into my bag before dashing off to the lecture theatre. I had considered just wearing my suit all day, but then thought better of this since I could be guaranteed to get something molten and/or corrosive on myself.   The practical went well, since one of the furnaces was broken so we had to work in a group of four. Our only problem was reconciling 'many hands make light work' and 'too many cooks spoil the broth'. I was given the job of sorting out the main reaction, which involved grinding up two powders, putting them in a crucible, melting the two of them in a furnace at 850oC and then bunging a couple of electrodes in the melt for four hours. Simple. Probably.   I got away early and got to Dr. Brouard's room at 5 exactly, to be told that the class was cancelled since only Mark and Ed had actually handed any work in (they are the ones doing the supplementary quantum mechanics option). We were given our vacation work (which included doing the wretched quantum questions 'without fail') and then left. Jon was not present.   This gave me an unexpected hour to kill before getting togged up and going to visit Dr. Sir Peter North and Lady North. This was a civilised occasion with wine and cheesy nibbly things and polite conversation in small groups. I talked to the Principal for a while, and discovered that he is even more prone to picking up on slips of the tongue than I am. It was almost a refreshing change, except that all my swift and cutting retorts had to be kept locked away since they weren't the sort of swift and cutting retorts you use in the presence of a knight. Oh well.
			The characters and situations in this diary are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happenings. Any resemblance to such things is coincidental, or just for humourous effect. All names have been chosen to implicate the innocent.