Cabinet of Curiosities

My temporary colleagues (we are working together on a research project till May 31) showed me today a storage area in the physics building lovingly dubbed "the antique room". It is filled with objects of unknown purpose, some of them very, very old. Some sport red dots, painted many decades ago, and indicating being a part of the department's inventory. That means that once a year some poor soul must enter the antique room, and try to guess what's what to check it off their inventory list. i chuckle just thinking about it. Such duties belong usually to very young student workers who may or may not be from physics department. Good luck, lads and lasses, on your ID quest... :-)

No idea what the apparatus above measures, but it looks so cool, nested in its blue velvet-lined box.

Oh, and I found a great quote today:

"I have no right to say or do anything that diminishes a man in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him but what he thinks of himself. Hurting a man in his dignity is a crime."
? Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

It came to me on a good day, as I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. I think that some people, near and dear, think of me as a bit of a joke. This quote made me remember that it doesn't really matter what others think of me; it would be a supreme waste of time and energy to try to change a minsdet of another. What matters is what I think of others. And I will try my best to remember this quote, and look for what's good.

On the other hand, my two biggest fans will be back in town tomorrow, and I cannot wait for the house to be all messy and loud again. :-)