It seems a bit strange that to say that I will be away for a while so soon after joining; nevertheless, that's what's happening. I will be on holiday from Saturday 9th to Monday 18th inclusive, meandering around Germany and neighbouring countries by train. For some engineering quirkiness, there is a good chance that this will involve at least one, possibly two, train ferry crossings.
Also, I still need to do quite a lot of organising (route planning and hotel booking, mainly), so I probably won't be terribly active here for the next few days either.