The Bridge and the Beard of St Patrick
One of the things I learnt during my sabbatical in Barcelona a couple of years ago is that un Puente (a Bridge) is a term used to describe a day in between a weekend and a public holiday. In Spain, it is quite normal to take such a day off work so as to create a long weekend. A sequence of such days is called un Aqueducte, the ideal version of which involves public holidays on Tuesday and Thursday leading to a whole week off!
Tomorrow being St Patrick’s Day (Tuesday 17th March), it is a public holiday in Ireland so I have decided to adopt Spanish practices and declared today La Puente de San Patricio. I am not going to campus (though I will be doing some work, including participating in a Euclid telecon). Officially this week is a Study Break, not a holiday (apart from tomorrow), but there are no lectures or labs or tutorials.
This reminds me to mention that I have made it to the final round of the annual St Patrick’s Day Beard of Ireland competition, which I actually won way back in 2020. The poll has been conducted mainly on Xitter in recent years, and I’ve hardly registered because I have had no presence there since 2023. This year, however, voting is possible via Bluesky (though I don’t think you have to be registered on Bluesky to vote). Last time I looked I was in the lead, but that’s by no means guaranteed to last. Here is a picture of me and my beard:
Anyway, if you feel like voting for me (or indeed any of the other candidates) you can do so here.
In the Dark 
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