Working and socializing

The last four weekdays, I've worked really well on the paper I've been working on. I'd wanted to have it done a week and a half ago, but that does sort of take the pressure off enough to get some good work done! Finally. It feels good.

Plus, the weather is starting to be nice enough that I when I go to work in cafés the doors and windows are open and the sun is out. I can't actually sit at an outside table as a general rule, because it's usually too bright for the computer screen. But even indoors, it's VERY nice. And as I said, I've been getting lots of work done.

This afternoon I went to my colleague B's place to work with her (and, it turned out, with P, who was also there, one of my officemates). Afterwards B and I went out for Japanese food (and I got to celebrate finally getting my April tickets restaurants by paying with them). It was good to see her; she's very nice, and she's the one in the lab who's work is closest to what I do, but she's on sabbatical lately so she hasn't been around much.

As I was walking home, I realized I had gotten a call from A, so I called him back, and we had a drink outside at one of the brasseries on rue St. Antoine. He just got back from a trip to Malaga (Spain) and a trip to Berlin in quick succession. He really seems to like taking full advantage of the breaks he gets from teaching. He was in Malaga during Holy Week, and said there were crowded processions with floats, several each day, the whole week. He said there were so many fat candles in the processions, dripping on the streets, that after the processions went by and the cars came back all you could hear was the car wheels squeaking on the wax when they turned.

He brought me olive oil from a place where he saw them actuallly crushing the olives. :)