I’ve just had a new visa issued from the Home Office. My previous visa was issued in Prague; the passport itself was issued in Miami. This visa is from—Vulcan. Place of Issue: Vulcan 2. That would seem to considerably extend the boundaries of my residential options!
For everyone wondering what I’m doing; I’m in the final stages of finishing my dissertation—trying to plough right on through and get a complete draft finished in the next few days so it can sit for a bit and I can revise before submitting it on 8 September. I’m slightly miffed with my supervisor as he is off in France somewhere and apparently won’t be able to read and comment on a draft before I turn in the final copy. Update: he returned and made comments; I’m now much less miffed.

As a complete aside; I just walked from town back in to the West End of Glasgow. On the way two fellows passed me, turned, looked about, and crossed the street. I noted how—Glaswegian they looked. There was a haggard leanness to them; both looked ill-nourished and pale. Their bodies had the look of men overwrought by too much drink and smoke and I could see the tension in their shoulders. They moved with a permanent stoop as if they are constantly crouched down waiting for a blow. Though, in many ways, this is a great city at ease with itself; there is a whole “segment of society” that desperately needs healing.