The first email I got inviting me to a Fluid Dynamics Seminar seemed pretty legit - given that there are faculty who work in that field. Then I saw the time/place... :D

In the world of high school, we call it "staff development", and we earn "continuing education credits." It's especially educational when your former students wait on you!

By the way, Mike, I love the comics. I share the ones my students can understand in class...there are a few of those. More often, I share them with colleagues. Thanks for the laughs!

In my department, we call it "Choir Practice".

if we're talking between each other it's drinkonomics 101. if it's where someone might overhear us it's a field study where we observe the theory's of decreasing marginal benefits, tragedy of the commons, and diminishing marginal returns in action.

I teach high school as well. We have periods A - H every day, on Friday's a lot of teachers have period I; it's the best period of any week.

Or you can call it applied chemistry.

Back in the pre-dawn of history when I was an undergraduate, our fluid dynamics professor used to talk in lectures, longing in his eyes, of sitting in the pub "The Mill" next to the weir, watching the turbulent flow, comparing it to the laminar flow of gently, hand pulled, real ale poured carefully into the mouth...

Quite lyrical.

I have one suggestion: it should be "symposium". It literally means "drink together".

I have one suggestion: it should be "symposium". It literally means "drink together" in greek.

I just wrote my master's thesis on Fluid Dynamics so I thought this was particularly hysterical. I had to send it to my thesis advisor.

My continuum mechanics professor once told us to watch what we drank over the weekend. He meant watch the fluid flows as we stirred our tea, of course. :D

Another professor once said, 'we always need alcohol to do mathematics', referring to the alcohol to clean the whiteboard.