If 600+ scientists follow current government advice, they should drink about 3000  litres of water over a five day period. Accordingly, roughly that amount was delivered yesterday by our partner Viva con Agua, leaving me slightly worried about the structural integrity of the floor, which is more attuned to support mildly obese academics. It’s really not easy being green.

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Other deliveries include 300 metres of power cord and several and hundreds of kilos of books. While I always knew that running this show involves a lot of stuff, actually seeing all of it squeezed into one room is disconcerting and strangely exhilarating at the same time.

After a final briefing session for the many student helpers we have hired, we are as ready as we will ever be. In a little role playing exercise, I tried to simulate the behaviour of the average academic sociopath. While I quite enjoyed that part, I’m hoping that they will still turn up for work on Monday, and that you will treat them a little kinder than I did today (should not be too difficult).

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In other news, we found a gallery of rather good panoramic pictures of Mainz on the local newspaper’s site. My favourite is the one of the weather vane on the cathedral. The fact that no one could be bothered to put the camera above the scaffolding adds a touch of charming amateurism.