Karmic-Dragonfly

I've been working through Becky Chambers' Wayfarers series, actually available from Glasgow libraries. Next, I thought I'd try a bit of Bujold, starting out the Vorkosigan saga with Shards of Honor or Cordelia's Honor seemed a good idea. No luck, though, neither Glasgow nor Edinburgh has either! Well, at least Edinburgh finally laid their hands on Melvyn Bragg's Credo so I'll give that a try, though I fear it might be a bit bulky for comfort in commuting.

Late one evening back in July, I boarded a CrossCountry train at Edinburgh Waverley that then failed to proceed further. In the end, my journey was delayed by an hour so, under the Delay Repay scheme, I was supposed to be eligible for a refund.

CrossCountry's claim process wanted a QR code and and a ticket number. Unfortunately, I was using one of their flexi season tickets in their mobile app, which prevents screenshots, and the day's ticket wholly disappears once the day is done. So, I asked their customer service people how I can claim. I asked several times and got no useful response at all.

Eventually, I fell back to an effective last resort: post them a paper letter. This triggered a slow sequence of back and forth by e-mail but, last week, they finally paid me my refund. It's absurd that it took three months, and probably cost them as much to deal with me as the £7.55 they paid me, but I still don't have my answer as to how people with those tickets are supposed to claim.

I probably mentioned that working in life sciences for years underscored for me just how little we know of biology or, more optimistically, how very much more interesting and valuable research remains ahead of us. With my current state of learning, in having half a science background across a broad range, it's also true that I know just enough to know how much more there is to know in many spheres.

The above occurred to me in the bathtub this morning. Sure, I've taken college-level physics, thermodynamics, etc. but, looking at the condensation on the cold tap, I realized: I don't know why colder air can't hold as much moisture, I don't even have an intuitive model for that. Sure, warmer air means a higher fraction of the water will be gaseous but that feels rather insufficient to explain what I see. It's not specifically a matter of much concern, just an underlining of how very much I still don't know. Perhaps it's just a matter of cranking the numbers, maybe there's more condensation than I'd expect because I'm seeing moisture from a 3d volume accreting onto a 2d surface, but it's very likely that I just don't understand it anywhere near enough. I mean, a bit hotter, then the surface doesn't seem at all damp.

Topics like thermodynamics often come to my mind because, in experiencing day-to-day life around me, it is fun to indulge in imagining what is actually happening: heat transfer in my mug of coffee, etc. I enjoy trying to model my environment.