Nitrates, fluorides, and siloxanes, oh my!

I have one more lecture to give, and then, it will all be play. The talk, covering the miscellaneous elements Si, P, S, F, Cl, and N=O groups, is first thing tomorrow morning, and I am really nervous because it is my first time giving it. In real life, I have never really needed to look at the vibrational spectra of things like nitrates (BOOM!), sulfones, and siloxanes (on purpose. This is not counting ground glass joint grease.) Jim half-jokingly told me that no one likes to give the "miscellaneous elements" lecture, so it has always gone to the rookie. Great....

The good news is that once I am done, I can sit back, help the students with their interpretation exercises, and anticipate the weekend. I have booked a few tours to keep me busy. Here's the itinerary:

Saturday: Double-decker bus tour of Glasgow

Sunday: Standing stones, Inveraray, Kilchurn and highland tour

Monday: Day trip by train to Edinburgh. I'm not sure what I will do besides see the castle and whatever old cemeteries I can find. Any suggestions? Maybe I should go to Edinburgh on Saturday instead of the double-decker tour...then, if I decide I haven't had enough time in Edinburgh, I could return on Monday.

Tuesday: Stirling castle tour and Loch Lomond boat ride.

I feel really grateful to be here. The truth is, Jim and John are getting up there in age, and this course takes a lot of work, especially on Jim's part. Because the student's reviews of the accommodations at Bowdoin were so poor last year (the dorms are not air conditioned, and it was miserably hot), we tried to move the U.S. course to Boston in September. Jim had booked the facilities at Cambridge College, but then, on June 20, Cambridge sent him this email:

...writing to let you know that, unfortunately, the College will be exercising its cancellation option pursuant to Section 22 of the Space Rental Agreement.

The College has recently been acquired by another institution and is substantially altering its footprint. Due to the fact that we will no longer occupy the spaces you were interested in, and our new space will not be able to accommodate your event needs, we will not be able to move forward with your rental...

So much for the fall course. Jim refunded all the registrants and suspended registration (we already had about 15 students signed up with several months to go). We're going to talk on Friday afternoon about what to do in 2025, but I wonder how many more years Jim and John can do this. It's a lot of work, especially for Jim. He takes care of scheduling, logistics, communications... I know it's a labor of love, but I sense that he and John are tired. 

For me, it may be like Cliff'sNotes, which was fun while it lasted, and then it led to better things. Again, we'll see.