Ten days in Tennessee

1) Me in front of a large guitar

So, I'm about to head back from Tennessee after what feels like a lot more than 10 days.  Following my last post, I spent about a week in Nashville, visiting a collaborator (a word that was synonymous with quisling to me before I stared upon scientific collaborations, and still retains the ability to cause me to doubt its appropriateness) to make use of the fact that I was nearby for other reasons.

My host, Sait, and his wife Melinda looked after me brilliantly, taking me to many of Nashville's sites, including the Grand Old Opry (first picture) and to many of the famous music venues downtown.  

I was impressed to find my name, along with a promotion in title, on the door of an office when I got to Vanderbilt (second picture).  Of course, I shouldn't necessarily be impressed by a piece of paper tucked into the display holder on a door, but it was a nice touch!  

2) My name, with an elevated title

I worked on an old paper that I have let sit around for far too long, based on the work of one of my brilliant PhD students, who went off to greater things working on climate science.  This meant that it was for me to turn parts of her thesis into publications, if it was going to happen at all.  It hasn't yet, but I made much progress last week in following that up, though I spent more time re-acquainting myself with her code and the maths and physics behind it than I would have had to had I got on with it when she left. 

3) Stevenson Center

Not only was my name of the door to my office, but Vanderbilt University seem to have named the whole building complex in which much of the science faculty is based after me (photo #3).  A cursory exploration of Vanderbilt's Wikipedia page sheds no light on who the real Stevenson is, so if anyone knows, do comment below.

For various complicated reasons, my trip to Oak Ridge and that from Oak Ridge to Nashville took place on totally separate flight bookings, so my journey home is in two stages;  a two-flight trip from Nashville to Knoxville, a night in Knoxville, and a two-flight trip from Knoxville to London.  I'm at Knoxville airport waiting ready for the last stage to take place.