At the desk opposite mine

[NickM]

...I heard from someone that I've (well, my MSc dissertation has) been referenced in an chapter in a book, by someone well known in the field, which is the first time that I'm aware of, and I'm stupidly chuffed about it.

Congratulations! My academic career never reached such dizzy heights

 

[Arch]

Congratulations! My academic career never reached such dizzy heights

Cheers,

Of course, it occurs to me now, not yet having read the chapter in question tha the quote may run something like "Archer (2002) shows a complete lack of understanding of the issue and a raft of patently false data...."

I'm going to have to read it to make sure...

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Senior Lecturer? Reader? surely not Professor?

They don't know about your forum habit, presumably?

Reader... but I might end up with an SL if they don't buy the argument I am making.

My forumming (as with my work and my mental state) goes in irregular and quite dramatically changing waves, as people may have noticed - I may not be here at all for weeks or months...

 

[Flying_Monkey]

Cheers,

Of course, it occurs to me now, not yet having read the chapter in question tha the quote may run something like "Archer (2002) shows a complete lack of understanding of the issue and a raft of patently false data...."

I'm going to have to read it to make sure...

Don't worry, with the new system of metrics being adopted for the next Research Assessment Exercise, citation numbers seem to be all that counts, so if you are going to be wrong, be very wrong and you'll get quoted and slammed by everyone and you're RAE rating shoots up....

 

[Chuffy]

good luck mister.

the two i've had so far have really stressed me... i've barely slept the night before and been very wired all day afterwards... even the relaxing surrounding of wetlands hasn't calmed me down.

as for V formation... if you fly behind wouldn't you get wake turbulence? i've also heard that the birds take it in turns to lead, like a team time trial, so it would suggest an aerodynamic advantage is to be had by those behind

Cheers laurence. I'm a bit of a freak in that I quite enjoy interviews. The stress kicks my brain into a higher gear and I usually do pretty well. If I nail this job it'll be the end of a three year reinvention process, going from appallingly stressed and badly paid van driver to reasonably well paid (by my standards) local govt officer. Still stressed but it's a good stress. Plus I would get to work in the office adjacent to Baggy's.
I'm just hoping no bastard nicks it off me...

 

[laurence]

extra best wishes then!

i find the stress is good in that it makes me think very fast - and that rush can be good at times (although, after years of working in that mental state, it's not always good), but i'm finding it really hard to come down afterwards... sure i wasn't like this before.

 

[Kirstie]

Reader... but I might end up with an SL if they don't buy the argument I am making.

not that there's anything wrong with SL...
And Arch, if your MSc is getting cited you're definitely doing something right, so keep at it. Very very few MSc dissertations are worth citing...

 

[NickM]

i find the stress is good in that it makes me think very fast - and that rush can be good at times (although, after years of working in that mental state, it's not always good), but i'm finding it really hard to come down afterwards... sure i wasn't like this before.

This rings a few bells. I had a very stressful period at "work" (I was a postgraduate student) which lasted three years. You sound as wound up as I was then, and I was a spring waiting to break. I suspect it's taken a couple of years off my lifespan. It took me a good three years to recover from it, and the process completely changed my attitudes towards ambition and the world of work.

You sound as though you need either a very low-pressure job for a couple of years in which to recover your equilibrium, or (better) a long holiday. Is cycling round the world a possibility?

 

[laurence]

cycling around the block is too much at times.

 

[Flying_Monkey]

not that there's anything wrong with SL...

No, but I'm trying to reduce the amount of teaching I'm doing! I can't justify that with an SL... anyway, you OU types wouldn't know what real teaching is (mutter, mutter...)

PS: where's your Christmas attire then???

 

[Kirstie]

OU types wouldn't know what real teaching is

You're on thin ice there, buddy...

My xmas attire? I'll wear my kinky santa-ette outfit for you any time

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

Cheers,

Of course, it occurs to me now, not yet having read the chapter in question tha the quote may run something like "Archer (2002) shows a complete lack of understanding of the issue and a raft of patently false data...."

I'm going to have to read it to make sure...

It's far more likely to be:

"My observations correspond with those of Archer, the leading authority in the field...................."

 

[Flying_Monkey]

My xmas attire? I'll wear my kinky santa-ette outfit for you any time

On your avatar... I hear the hats are going free elsewhere on the forum. I did mine myself, and he looks suitably grumpy and pretty much exactly like me in real life!

 

[Fnaar]

Back to Flying Vs

Next time I have to go shopping with the Mrs and kids, I shall amuse myself by getting them (we are 5 in all) to walk around the shopping centre in V-formation, and we should get it all over with more quickly (and have lower heart rates to boot!)

 

[Kirstie]

On your avatar... I hear the hats are going free elsewhere on the forum. I did mine myself, and he looks suitably grumpy and pretty much exactly like me in real life!

Yeah I'm on it - my web-hoster-cum-husbands computer has temporarily died so can't put anything new up at the moment...and in any case I made a new avatar, it's too big for this site, got no idea how to resize it, and I'm too busy!

UPDATE: Thanks to FM I have a new avatar...although it's slightly grubby looking??!!