It comes out tomorrow: will the customer sign the acceptance note?  I visited the customer today to show that yes, the system could do what we said it could.  It took a day, and I was able to show most things, with even a phase contrast image right under the wire despite awful drift from the system first standing in direct sunlight and then the evening cold coming in the open windows. 

It shouldn’t take this long; I shouldn’t be doing basic calibration checks.  But at least I got a nice lunch out of it: lovely tender Peking duck among other things.  In the morning I mostly worked with a student from Hainan (who seemed a bit surprised when I said I knew Hainan from the incident with the US plane in the early Bush days) who spoke more English than the others and even some French.  In the afternoon another student took over, who knew less English but was equally pleasant to work with.  I liked the students because they were knowledgeable and reasonable in their demands.  The professor who bought it surprised me by shaking hands in the morning and then retreating.  I hope the students give him a good report, because he’s the one who signs in the end… 

Ah, yes: the poison I swallowed yesterday is still doing its job.  I took a third of the recommended daily dose for adults, which is more than I ever have, and it’s practically pulling an imodium on me.  Imagine the full dose – and some people think herbal medicine is gentle stuff!  After flipping through those tox sheets yesterday I for one will be looking at herbal medicine through new eyes.