INTRODUCTION
Hi.
I guess you could say that I'm a journeyman scientist, since I've travelled about the northern hemisphere,
though mostly on the UK/Europe side,
pursuing various employment opportunities in the fields of cellular immunology, monoclonal antibody technology, immuno-parasitology, and clinical biochemistry.
And now, although my head is sometimes in the clouds, I'm firmly grounded here in the wonderful North of England!
W'aye, there's nae better place, man.
Currently, I work at the Royal Victoria Infirmary/University of Newcastle Medical School (185 kb aerial view).
Yes, it's your standard tall building in the metropolis, and the lab here in Clinical Biochemistry is just like standard labs the world over. Mind, it's a first class facility, and we're creating incredible diagnostic assays: see Professional Activities. We, that is, John Dessi and I, have been working on these assays for the past four years, and we're quite proud of them.
On the other hand, I live (!) out in the wild North Pennines, often referred to as England's last wilderness (95 kb view towards the Cheviots). Just up from SpartyLea, you can find our enchanted Pennine Longhouse. In fact, because we're right on the C2C cycle-touring route, we're thinking of setting up a B&B; with services laid on for exhausted family cyclists. Check out the concept and tell us what you think!
Surprisingly, perhaps, the whole family is happy up here in
Northumberland, where there are more sheep than people, although the
winters are quite harsh, and the summers are cool-ish. Our main
problem, as in all rural areas, is dependable, 4WD transport. Now if
we just had a nice
Frontera!
We have several
Icelandic sheep
(Thor, of the Icelandic Wild Tourist Agency, kindly suggests the
Icelandic Fisheries www site, as an
interesting jumping off point into Iceland), a few (of our own!)
goats some lovely
Angora
rabbits, (of
whom Lindi, sadly, is now deceased), about 14
hens and 5 cockerels (no, I don't know how they sort themselves out),
a cat and a dog, and intermittent pet rats. More than enough of a
menagerie to look after. (Did I forget the partridge in the pear
tree? Well, the grouses (grice?) around here seem to like roosting in
the hawthorn trees.)
Our neighbour (who is the only farmer I've ever heard of who has a
sheep with three legs and a prosthesis) also has a pea cock and hen,
so I sometimes feel like Flannery O'Connor when I hear their
strangely human cry (Yes, I have literary
aspirations too, although I don't have SLE like she did, and
besides, I'm of Anabaptist
extraction, as opposed to Southern Baptist.) Often, too, the garden
is overrun with small children, up to 15 of various derivations at
any one time! Like everyone, we are a complex family bunch. See
Avocational Activities for more details.
Now that the world is accessible by Internet, we don't feel so isolated on our remote little small-holding. Indeed, we welcome communication, and enjoy striking up electronic friendships, as well as the more face-to-face kind of neighbourliness we've found in the country, where you depend on each other.
As it should be, in the global village.
