Late update

Very delayed update, with no excuse except that of getting to grips with my new job!

By the way, here are my next events:

A theatre play based on climate change

A discussion on how much the government should influence public health

Testing the physiological responses of playing computer games

The threat of genetic disease

Fear, phobias and panic

Work is going fine:

Pros: - it's challenging and expanding my creativity a lot - for the first weeks, even my dreams were more creative
- events are definitely still the area of science communication for me, with all the combination of tasks and skills they entail
- it's very interesting, and sometimes exciting (witness the James Watson incident last week) working for the Science Museum
- the reputation also helps, all the speakers I invite accept straight away
-South Ken is a nice area to work in, near Imperial College, so lots of nice lunches with friends, shops,parks, plus the great incentive of being able to either walk or take a bus to work - no tube!

Cons: - working for a 100-year old public institution is like what I have heard working for the civil service in Portugal is like. Several managerial levels, with a strict hierarchy to be followed, initiative discouraged and a lot of unwritten rules which you are still in trouble if you break.
- Salary is low, as I knew when I joined, however it is made even lower by default contributions to a civil service pension. Other options available which I'm trying to sort out, but a lot extra admin to wade through.
- Have to work evenings, usually two a week. Get paid overtime (normal hourly rate though) but it is still very disruptive not to have evenings free.