Fait Accompli – The Masters Degree is Done!

Amazing!  After a full year and a month we are finally complete with the job we came to do!

Last Friday a week ago, I turned in my thesis for the Master’s degree.  A whole bunch of work and it was fairly intense for the last month or so with the completion of testing and then much research as well as of course, the writing, oh yes, the writing.  The requirement was 10,000 words plus/minus 20%.  In the end I had 11,897 words and 71 pages.  Then there was the Appendices with another 3,868 words and another 98 pages.

Along with three copies of the paper we also had to turn in the evidence of practical work-in my case, it was all the mainsprings that I tested.

It is a great relief to be done and I am very glad to have done it–I might even say it was fun, certainly enjoyable and fulfilling work.  And the time in England has been glorious–such an amazing adjunct to the work of learning.  We visited many places, made good friends, enjoyed the incredible countryside, and even got used to driving on the left side of the road.  The day after turn in day we took a nice hike up what they call Kingley Vale–a nice hill with a view of the surrounding countryside and a large grove of ancient yew trees–some as old as 2000 years.

Old yew trees at Kingley Vale.

We then went up to Reading to see my sister for the last time and enjoyed a lovely rowing trip at Henley-on-Thames the site of the first Cambridge vs Oxford rowing race in 1829.  That race has since been moved to elsewhere on the Thames but they still have a huge regatta there every year- the place is steeped in the rowing tradition.  It was a typically English overcast day but we just missed the rain by an hour and had a lovely picnic lunch.

The beautiful river Thames.

Following Reading we went on a last trip to London.  We went to Greenwich observatory and the Royal Maritime Museum–yet another place full of history, in this case the history of timekeeping. Just in case you are wondering, the idea of going to Greenwich was Debbie’s not mine.  In the evening we attended the Michaelmas dinner of the Clockmakers’ Company–this is the guild of clockmakers that was established in London in 1631 to which I was invited last year at the same time.  Last year I had to attend without Debbie because she was still waiting for her visa to come through.  This year was so much better because she was able to enjoy it with me.

And now the task is packing up all our stuff and heading home.  Packing is never fun except for the anticipation of the end results–coming home!  Fortunately, we have found a direct flight from Gatwick to LAX making the trip to the airport from here much easier than leaving from Heathrow.  Just an hour’s ride on the train from Chichester and we are there.

The house is a mess but we are on our way soon.

As fun as it is to be coming home, we will miss this special place and the special friends that we have made.

see you in Santa Barbara,