Research Tuesday

I like research. Every second Tuesday of the month is Research Tuesday at the University of Adelaide, and we always try to go to the lecture.

GETTING READY.
The lecture usually starts at 5.30pm. This is exactly one hour before our dinner time. Research and trial and error have taught me to avoid the embarrassment of my tummy rumbling by eating a piece of jam and bread as close to 5pm as possible. Yesterday we had brown bread and fig jam.

GOING.
We usually drive to Kent Town and if it is summer we look for a park in the shade. This does not mean we park under a tree, for that is to invite bird poo. We look for shade that will be falling just beyond the tree, by 6.45pm. In the winter it doesn't matter about the shade because it will be dark by then.

WALKING TO THE UNIVERSITY.
Then we have to walk up North Terrace facing into the low sun. North Terrace at this time is crowded with people waiting at bus stops, and sometimes the only way to get past the bus stop is to step into the road which is dangerous especially when we can't see that the bus is coming, because of the sun.

GOING IN.
We always think that nobody else will come. It is always surprising to see the lecture theatre filling up with people somewhat like ourselves.

ACKNOWLEDGING THE KUARNA PEOPLE.
The Vice Chancellor nearly always remembers to begin by acknowledging that we are on Kuarna land. The Kuarna people would probably laugh if they knew this.

THE LECTURE.
The lectures are always different, They are about some aspect of research that someone at the university is doing. Yesterday the topic was Cellular Movement and the use of Chemokines for something. There was a sad moment when the lecturing professor put up a chart that looked very simple and said that it represented 15 years of work.

EATING PIZZA.
Because it is Tuesday, and large pizzas are especially cheap at Domino's on Tuesdays, we usually get a pizza on the way home. Research and trial and error have taught us that the Godfather is the nicest one.