Last week, I arrived in Toronto during a snow storm and the limousine which was supposed to pick me up was late. When it finally arrived, it turned out there was another person waiting for the same company. Since he was already growing icicles on his nose, the driver took pity on him and I ended up sharing the backseat with a stranger called Chris.
My friends know that my smalltalk abilities aren't worth mentioning, but over the years I've learned to cope with what Joerg calls 'aggressive friendliness'. It's quite easy actually. If you want somebody to stop talking, talk yourself. So, when Chris asked me what I do for a living, the poor guy got an one hour lecture about particle physics and the LHC.
When I was done, I asked what he does. 'Nothing that cool' he said, and fell asleep. It's in moments like this that I realize how far off parts of my job are from other people's every day experience. Most of my day-to-day work is completely mind-numbingly boring stuff, but yes, the remaining part is absolutely fascinating.
I'm telling you that because I'm still wondering how scientific blogging is going to change how the broader public perceives the profession of experimental and theoretical physicists. I hope that at some point even my mum will understand that my job isn't done with lying under a tree and waiting for the apple to fall on my head.
I'm not entirely sure how - and how often - I will have time to write this column. I've been told it's okay if I recycle posts from my own blog, and I guess, that's what I'll do. If you want to read more frequently what goes on in my life, please visit my blog Backreaction. For more info about me, my research interests, CV, publications etc, look up my personal homepage Prime-Spot.
