Jumping the pond

Whew! Job interviews are over. Now the hard part begins--choosing among some incredible institutions. I consider myself lucky to have the opportunities that I have had this semester on the job market given the current economic situation.

Still, after seven journeys in six weeks, I'm glad to be done flying. Too bad all the domestic travel was just a warm-up for the international jaunt that I'd planned for a good long while. There is a conference on Monte Carlo Markov chain methods at the University of Warwick, and like most of the conferences organized there, this one looks to be top notch.

I am really looking forward to this, and to top it all off, the RDU to Heathrow route is now officially at fire sale prices. I don't know how long that will last, but for now taking a ten minute car ride (thanks Bianca!) to RDU and then jumping onto a seven and half hour flight to another continent seems the height of accessibility. The plane was half empty, which makes economy seem like first class. I've got a few days to play tourist in Scotland before heading to Warwick, and so I'm going to do my best to see as many ruined Highland castles as I can get a camera lens on.

I'll be keeping an eye out for Nessie, too. It's good to have high hopes!