We're flying out to Boston very shortly, before driving on to Auburn, NH, which is near a town called Manchester. You lot don't half lack imagination when it comes to naming things sometimes. We have a new case, which looks fun.

I think the lady in Smiths in this terminal recognised me because she winked and gave me a free chocolate bar (which I am saving for me and Rose to share on the flight). I suppose we do spend quite a lot of time here and I am quite memorable.

One of the high ups from the university called me today, presumably about the potential job offer that I'm not supposed to know about. I told him I was flying to the USA and hung up. Technically this was true, but I was actually in the flat at the time I got the call, so it wasn't as though I had to have my mobile off. All the same, I assume eventually they'll give up and stop calling, which will be easier for all involved. It might become a problem if I still want to do the odd lecture, of course, but I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

*Yawns* Is it time to go yet, I wonder?

I think my mother-in-law may have just talked me and Rose into being shampoo models.

IT SEEMED THE SAFEST WAY OUT OF THE CONVERSATION.

I am torn between being impressed at how she does it and rather afraid for my safety.

I do have very good hair, though.

It's late for humans, but I just got off the phone with Julian from the university. (Professors apparently keep similar hours to half-Time-Lord-half-humans.)

We were just talking about the n-body problem because he's writing a book and he wants to include a chapter or so (and he asked me to write a forward for it!) so we were just chatting about solutions and the history of it and all that sort of thing. Not the most ground breaking thing ever, of course, but it was a difficult problem for a while.

Anyway, he sort of let slip (he's deputy head of... something within the physics department, I think. I don't really pay attention) that they're talking about offering me a job.

Not the odd lecture, which I've got, but a full on course of my own to teach. And... and students! And homework to mark! And exams to invent! And... lectures. Every week.

Blimey.

I mean, it's all unofficial and Julian told me to pretend he hadn't told me but I don't know what to think. I don't want a job. It would only be part time, but still. But maybe I should? I mean, if I did a horribly difficult course it would only be a small group of students? And then I'd have money to buy stuff and pay off the mortgage.

Blech.

I think I want to go for a walk. I wonder if Rose is still up. :-\

Today was a day of birthday cake!

Amongst other things, but I feel my chief achievement is eating so much cake I don't actually want any more. I wasn't aware there was a limit to the amount of cake my body can tolerate. I wasn't even paying attention to how much I ate, so I won't be able to predict it next time I eat cake.

Urgh. Next time. That's not a good thought. I am never eating cake again.

We even took a break from cake eating to go on a long trek with one of the neighbour's dogs (Annie has broken her leg and can't really give Henry the appropriately long walk that he deserves). Henry is probably the sort of dog you want around in an alien invasion, by the way. Two people weighted down by large quantities of cake and holding on to his lead did not slow him down. When we got back, Rose said something about a shower and I haven't seen her since. (But since it was clear she was going to take a while, I jumped into the swimming pool in a t shirt and boxers and that seemed to work all right. Fluffy glared at me for dripping.)

Teaching Bolt how to make crumpets (which I've been doing since we got back) probably didn't help with the whole food thing, either. I thought it seemed sensible to get her aware of how not to cause a fire as early as possible, so we had a competition to see who could toast the best quarter-crumpets. I think she won. The toast-stuff setting on the sonic screwdriver clearly needs fixing. Still, I consider it a success because we didn't set anything on fire. Although she did do a victory dance in the crumpets which, while entertaining, left a fair amount of mess on the kitchen counter. Wall-E gave me a dirty look when he found us.

It's a good thing I'm never eating again, really.

I might go and look for Rose. It has been a while. And I'm sure the walk to the bathroom will give me time to think of a decent excuse for poking my nose in.

Have I told you today that I think you're amazing?

It seemed like I've spent longer today fussing over your mother than you, which feels a bit odd.

You're not so bad, Jackie! :D

And I will politely decline to give the specifics, since I get the impression that would be the preferred option. XD

I'm beginning to feel like I spend half my life these days in airports.

Anyway, we didn't sleep much yesterday night, because we were busy exploring this universe's (Earth version of) Barcelona.

Shopping was done. Cocktails were drunk. I don't actually remember the last time I slept and Rose has downed more coffee that I'd have thought possible. It's been a bit of a whirlwind day after all the bizarreness with Pepe and his family.

And now we're waiting for a plane to head back to London so we get there on time. We should get back with enough time to have a good night's sleep tonight, which is definitely needed.

I did my second lecture today and it was rather good, if I do say so myself.

So, Rose, how about that hitch hiking to Italy? :D

(Why do I get the feeling there will be some unreasonably reasonable reason why we can't...?)

Rose and I are heading back to England with Torchwood's latest acquisition in tow. I think Pete offered our good friend Mr Mitchell some more control over his work than Van Statten would ever have permitted just to get him to come with us.

He seems to almost... look up to me, as well. At first I was just some bloke but then I solved one of the problems with one of his projects and now I'm the genius and he wants to talk about his work and know all about what I do and why don't I work for Torchwood.

Haha.

I'm trying hard to be nice. The Adam Mitchell that sold us out to the Jagrafess is not this bloke. And since this Adam isn't going anywhere near the year 200,000 (or for that matter, anywhere near my lab) and will have people at Torchwood keeping an eye on him. Still, his experiments were directly responsible for the gravity pool and the problems in Yellowstone and who knows what else.

So back to England we go. Where I get to deliver a lecture on quasars, and write a paper for some geological journal on those earthquakes (which will basically give the details of Adam's work... whoops!). Isn't this fun?

Sometimes I think I should just chuck it all in, sell the secrets of FTL travel or nuclear storm drives to someone and use the money to actually give Rose the life I used to be able to.

Getting on the plane soon. Hope Adam is not sitting near us.

editrx pointed us in the direction of an unexpectedly high number of earthquakes so we're heading out to go and nose around Yellowstone and see what's going on. This should be fun!

As for the gravity problems yesterday: the Earth is safe etc etc. That said, we still don't know who did it. I think Pete's making a few enquiries through official channels and Susan's keeping an eye on things. I also believe Rose has asked her friends to poke their noses in where possible. It'd be nice to know who's behind it so we can have a word about things.

Still, first: Yellowstone! :D

What's the weather like at this time of year? I'm not sure what to pack!

Is the gravity meant to be that strong in the middle of the Atlantic?

Being sensible isn't half boring.

I've been doing a lot of research and some rather dull, repetitive work in my lab these last couple of days. Not only have I had to research for my lectures, I've also been along to Torchwood to collect some of their papers and books (mostly not officially published, of course) so I could try and both work out some more on the gamma strike the other day and make some more headway on the ship we're trying to build.

The university have actually given me a tiny little office to work in as well. I think it used to be a cupboard or something, but still! I actually have an office. *Wrinkles nose*

It's actually quite handy, though, for when I don't want Bolt (cute as she is) circling my ankles and occasionally pausing to head-butt (er... toaster-butt?) my trainers because she wants to play. So I've deadlock sealed the filing cabinet to store Torchwood bits and pieces.

Results of my work so far:

♦ Lectures mostly prepared.
♦ Gamma strike almost definitely natural, but still odd.
♦ Progress made on method of travel for ship.

Could be worse.

Still... while doing all of this is obviously a sensible and responsible thing to do, particularly since we have no cases at the moment, HOW DO YOU PEOPLE DO THIS?

Bad enough that I'm bored out of my skull, I've also got a headache from squinting at a screen and back ache from sitting in a ridiculously uncomfortable desk chair. Rose, do you want to... go rock climbing, or something? Anything? Please?

Well, that was the gamma strike over and done with.

We weakened its power and deflected some of it away. Anyone who wasn't in some sort of bunker or underground train system should probably get a check up from their doctor, but that's nothing major, all things considered.

Still a few unanswered questions, but that's for tomorrow.

Today... well, Jackie doesn't appear to have destroyed anything in our place, which is good. And an immense relief. Tony and Bolt got on rather well (although Tony is now in bed and Bolt is recharging in a basket and blanket arrangement set up for her). Fluffy sorted out a guest room for Jackie (and Pete, since he came back with us).

So that's that, then. Time for hot chocolate and bed, I think.

Gamma Strike in...

On the plus side, it looks like it's natural and not a deliberate attempt to cause harm. Probably. It's still odd.

On the negative side, cutting it a bit fine with the deflection pulse...

(Or, you know, Pete, but you might be asleep because a lot of humans are.) You've got top Torchwood security clearance, right?

They don't have the technology for cross-temporal CBR scanners yet, do they? I've got some curious readings on some of my equipment - some sort of high energy (extremely high energy, beyond what humans expect from EMR) gamma radiation from outside the solar system is coming, due to arrive in about 24 hours.

Can you think of anything useful Torchwood has in its inventory that we could use to find out a bit more about this?

It's probably just natural, but I can't be certain, and regardless we may want to deflect it just to be on the safe side.

Thinking of it, I might pop down to Torchwood anyway.

Not sure if Rose is awake or asleep. I don't want to disturb her and this probably won't be very exciting, but if she wants to come... maybe I should leave a note?

I just went into my lab/work room/whatever we're calling it because it's rather larger than planned and functions as a home base for all of my non-culinary projects.

Something scuttled out through the door between my legs.

Something small, metal and not made by me.

Something that looked suspiciously like a miniature toaster (you could just about fit half a crumpet in there) with legs that were suspiciously similar in design to Wall-E's.

I did not give them the desire to propagate. Or at least, I think I didn't.

Wall-E? Toaster (and don't you have a name by now?)? Just for the record: I am not getting involved in custody disputes if there is a problem.

I've been in touch with the university today because they missed me. (I am a very good lecturer, after all.)

Long story short, I'm doing two guest lectures in the next few weeks for the physics lot. One the week after next about teleportation that I've been thinking about for a while anyway, and another the week after that on quasars. I did a bit of reading today to make sure I don't end up lecturing on things you lot haven't discovered yet.

Twenty first century astronomy is just so... so... cute. There's no other word for it.

Don't worry, though, you'll all get better eventually.

Hmm... wonder where Rose is. I need to start thinking about cooking soon, so I should probably find out if she has any ideas.

♥ Rose! :D

Isn't she brilliant? *CUDDLES HER*

It's been a busy few days!

I would like to say I am now an expert on the slopes.

Perhaps a more truthful statement would be that I can ski well enough to flee monsters and aliens (although there haven't been any) provided there are no trees in the way (bumping into them is not fun), icy patches (ouch!) or unexpected rocks (I have a bruise the exact shape of the Drentallion Cluster on my right thigh).

It's all good fun, though! Rose has been a little bit bumped around (although not quite as impressively) and lots of hugging is a marvellous cure.

Tony, despite Jackie, managed to get on a snowboard the other day and he's something of a natural. It's a bit embarrassing really. Rose and I both pretended he'd had lots and lots of lessons and we hadn't when someone asked.

Although I appear to have left my dignity somewhere in the massage room...

Still, I have escaped unscathed, apart from a faint smell of apricots and a mental note to ensure I am specific about personal boundaries if I ever do anything like that again. Rose is all pink and clean and relaxed (and still giggling at me every so often, but I don't really mind :) ), which is good.

Tony, who thinks everything I do is brilliant (sensible lad), said he wanted to go to the spa tomorrow. I think they have a minimum age (plus he'd be bored even quicker than Susan was) but I told him I'll see what I could do (Jackie, expect some super-bubbly bubble bath and some non-toxic, non-staining and entirely useless goop to come your way when I get my hands on some of the ingredients and the equipment).

Anyway, have we any plans for tonight? Albert (yes, this Albert) recommended a restaurant that's not too far down the mountain.