Many thanks for all the replies to this problem which I thought was 
unique to this building as I never experienced this before in my 
previous position.
 I often pre cool slides when picking up serial sections of very small 
tissues as I find that warm slides create air bubbles, invariably over 
the tissue. It may be that when using "warm" slides I get this 
problem so I will try cooling them when it happens again.
I will also try all the other suggestions including looking at the girlie 
magazine (I have my doubts about this one, but being a true 
professional I feel I must give it a go).
Terry
Terry Hacker,
Medical Research Council,
Harwell,
Didcot,
Oxfordshire, OX11 ORD
01235 834393 x360