shlep the shlep the shleps he shlepped

I returned from the UK yesterday. I'd have to say that Operation "Desperately Needed Vacation" was an unqualified success. I'll post a chronological report later, but for now....

Harpers: My trip to the UK, by the numbers.

Length of vacation, in days: 7
Total distance traveled by train, in miles: 1500
Hours spent on trains: 18
New accents absorbed: 1
Times I restrained myself from doing a "Fat Bastard" accent while in Edinburgh: many
Times I tweaked _nicolai_ by using said accent anyway, when no Scots were around: several
Nights that I actually got enough sleep: 2
Photos taken: 200
Of those, the number that were taken just because the word "Tron" figured prominently: 10
Large rocky hills ascended: 1
Houseboats boarded: 1
Bottles of single-malt scotch acquired: 3
Formerly top-secret (now declassified) documents viewed re: Britain's readiness for nuclear attack: 12
Cities Visited: 4
Pints consumed: 6
Parties attended: 1
Pubs attended: 4
Goth clubs attended: 1
Far-ranging discussions about linguistics, comparative religion, and the nature of forgiveness, had at said club: 1
Stompy boots lusted after, but not acquired, in pairs: 1
Space left in luggage after packing, in cubic inches: very, very few
Free upgrades to First Class seating: 1
Apparent jetlag effect, in hours: 2


All told, the trip emphatically failed to suck.
Go to strange new lands (or just familiar-but-foreign ones),
meet strange and interesting people (that have heard of you for a long time, but have never actually met you),
and add them to your friends list.

Not bad.
Not bad at all.