The Morning After

Wednesday morning in Nottinghamshire, grey skies and streets wet from rain. Somehow very symbolic for how many of us have come to see this year, like waking up a bit heavy-headed only to realize that the nightmare was in fact real. Trump won the presidency. A majority voted for the United Kingdom to leave the EU. And Matteo Renzi lost in Italy. It says something about the times that we are celebrating when only 46.2% of the electorate in a country vote for neo-fascists (but yes, I am indeed happy that van der Bellen won in the end).

As for my own presentation yesterday, I think it went alright even if it was a bit rambling at times. At least I got some really good questions afterwards, accompanied by a few pints at the faculty club. Yet, as a parent of two young boys, it suffices to say that my tolerance for alcohol is not what it used to be :-)

In any case, it was really great to see Matthew again and engage in long discussions about Russia under Nicholas I, Cold War nuclear doctrine and whether or not it would be possible to set up a hedge fund for climate change denialists (to check if they are really willing to put their money where their mouth is).