the grid

the grid

Saturday 20 April 2019

Spring Intersession - week 4

Thanks DEH for posting last week when I was somewhat distracted by physical woes (which at least make a change from other kinds, I suppose)!  Nature has not yet "taken it's course" (I have a kidney stone and was sent home from the out of hours service with meds and instructions, of which that was the foremost) but as GEW promised it is not as unpleasant as it was.  I actually ate real solid food twice today and it stayed where it should be, which is clearly a bonus.  And concentrated enough to finish a nice cosy medieval mystery novel.  Which means I'm probably well enough that I should be feeling REALLY guilty about the all the marking I am now impossibly behind on... except it's a beautiful soft blossomy sunshine-and-breezes Easter weekend here in the UK, and I have annual leave in my diary for these few days... this job makes one insane!

One of the unfairnesses of the academic year cycle is that it's inhabitants don't get to properly relish spring.  The first shoots and milder airs bring midterms and final projects and last pushes to achieve grades and finish the year's projects, and it really does seem rather unfair to only see spring in glimpses around the edges!  I always enjoy the photos on Bev's blog here as she beings her readers along as the wildflowers appear each in turn (and feel kind of guilty for not getting out into the countryside here more often during these lovely months, but the pleasure of her stories and pictures far outweighs that).  Something else I promise future-retired-me... a spring of following stuff around with a camera, and an artist's eye.

"And take from seventy springs a score, it only leaves me fifty more" bemoaned the poet, who seems like a mere whippersnapper to me, as well as inconsiderate since the lines scan in such a way that swapping the fifty and score look like clumsy mis-recollection rather than intentional commentary!  If you have any energy for an on-topic comment, maybe share what signs of spring you've managed to see around the edges of the grading and the anxiety-soothing and the headless-chicken-running of the season...

One foot in front of the other!  We can do it!

Goals:

DEHFinish taking out that half-destroyed bridge, and blow up another one.
Continue mapping my retreat route and alternate routes.
Take out a nest of leathery-winged avians.
Try to keep the talking cats happy, and retrieve some heavier boots if I can remember which cache they're in.
 

heu mihi1. Weekly things TWICE instead of x5 is FINE. Exercise, language, sitting.
2. I do want to write x4, though (and I've already done it x3, so this is manageable).
3. Knit at least a couple of inches of sweater.
4. Orchestrate all the minutia and try not to fall too far behind on email.
5. Call stupid Verizon if the internet isn't fixed by the time that I get home today.


Humming42
1 Write total 500 words for Perform
2 Read 200 pages of next review book
3 Complete one batch of grading
4 Wrap up conference detritus 


JaneB (carried over)
1) self-care - focus on water, fruit & veg and doing something in the evening however crap I feel
2) draft the discussion for Problem Child 2 and send off to former PDF
3) ten rows of square
4) 1 small chore per evening, since my Decluttering Helper is coming on Saturday and I need to get back to where we left things...

Susan
1. Finish revisions to paper I am giving on Thursday
2. Grade papers
3. Read book
4. Walk twice

5 comments:

  1. Ooh, it appears that I'm not late to check-in, for a change!

    1. Weekly things TWICE instead of x5 is FINE. Exercise, language, sitting.
    Exercise x2, language x3, sitting x0. Oh well.
    2. I do want to write x4, though (and I've already done it x3, so this is manageable).
    Done
    3. Knit at least a couple of inches of sweater.
    Done.
    4. Orchestrate all the minutia and try not to fall too far behind on email.
    I don't remember what this was about, but I assume that I did it?
    5. Call stupid Verizon if the internet isn't fixed by the time that I get home today.
    Done, and we're back online.

    This week:

    Is madness. Madness! The last full week of classes. With grading. And special events to attend. And it's one of my every-committee-I'm-on-but-one-meets weeks.

    What I want for this week is to get through all the things, but *not* to feel that I'm sidelining my own projects/health/life to do so.

    Goals:
    1. Daily things x5: Exercise, language, writing, sitting (it's an aspiration). Continue to make progress on Amy.
    2. Grad student support: Read prospectus & diss chapter.
    3. Undergrad support: Return papers on Thursday, attend/help with Thursday evening event, read/watch and prep All The Things.
    4. Service: Various curricular reviews, update majors sheet, email reminders about various things, check in about Spring 2020 schedule.
    5. Knit 5 inches or so of sweater.

    ReplyDelete
  2. How I did:
    Finish taking out that half-destroyed bridge, and blow up another one. YES, NO.
    Continue mapping my retreat route and alternate routes. YES.
    Take out a nest of leathery-winged avians. YES/NO: not the whole nest, but I got a big one!
    Try to keep the talking cats happy, and retrieve some heavier boots if I can remember which cache they're in. YES.

    This week:
    Blow up two bridges.
    Continue mapping main route and alternate route.
    Keep fending off leathery-winged avians.
    Tend to the needs of the talking cats.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sorry about the kidney stone. Not fun. And end of semester, one foot in front of the other indeed. Three more weeks of classes, including this, and my exam is the first day, so by May 13 I'll be done.

    How I did:
    1. Finish revisions to paper I am giving on Thursday DONE, paper given.
    2. Grade papers No, read books on the plane instead. FOR FUN
    3. Read book (I think this was a work book, not fun) so a little
    4. Walk twice Sort of (lots of walking in NYC, but not all "walks"

    The trip to the big city (my home town,too) was great, and I saw family and friends, and Hamilton. So all good. Left the bag with my computer & keys in the car taking me to the airport, so it was a little difficult when I got home. But it's over.

    Goals for the week ahead (family visit this weekend, so limited)
    1. Grade the papers (get it done Thursday)
    2. Go to show my colleague is doing in the national park
    3. Finish book for paper
    4. Walk three times (it makes a big difference!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I have a terrific case of anticipating the end of the semester. I can hardly believe there are only two and a half weeks of class remaining. I also have a tremendous amount of grading to do, but that’s largely because I have neglected to keep up with it. I do feel a bit of the rush of spring, especially when there’s a nice cool breeze, but we tend to have a short spring ‘round here with a long, hot summer on its tail. I will be devoted to looking for and admiring signs of spring.

    I don’t know what led me to look for it, but I found an R&R that was published, in 2018. And while that’s nice to put on my CV, I’ve already submitted my faculty activity report for 2018 so it counts in perpetuity but not in the moment.

    Last week:
    1 Write total 500 words for Perform: nope
    2 Read 200 pages of next review book: yep
    3 Complete one batch of grading: yep
    4 Wrap up conference detritus: yep

    This week:
    1 Really, write 500 words for Perform
    2 Finish and submit book review
    3 Another batch of grading
    4 Do 2 paperwork batches for summer or fall

    ReplyDelete
  5. carried over goals:
    1) self-care - focus on water, fruit & veg and doing something in the evening however crap I feel well there has been a lot of water drinking... and peeing... I did OK on this the week before last, then last week was properly poorly and did drink a LOT
    2) draft the discussion for Problem Child 2 and send off to former PDF yes, did this before I got sick
    3) ten rows of square three, I think? Fluffball got interested in it again so it was frustrating...
    4) 1 small chore per evening, since my Decluttering Helper is coming on Saturday and I need to get back to where we left things... didn't do too badly. Had a great decluttering session on the Saturday! Got sick on the Sunday morning...

    Ah, I'm BORED OF BEING ME. Which probably means I feel better. Which DOES mean I'm feeling a bit better, I couldn't think coherently for the first couple of days and I didn't care about it either! But now I care enough to know I'm behind with a lot of things but don't feel well enough to work all day to catch up, so there's that. Boring!

    1) self-care - continue to drink a great deal of water. Be kind to self. Make Drs appt for early next week
    2) check LikesMaths final version of paper for resubmission
    3) review one article
    4) ten rows of square
    5) mark a little bit a day

    ReplyDelete