We have an interesting batch of neighbours and other helpful folk, including one cat, to become helpful cheering-up characters as our house sagas move forward. This week it's time to tackle some project around the house you have inherited. Make it something small-to-medium, that you can complete successfully. Tell us what it is, how it goes, and how triumphant you feel when it's done! Possibly your helper character assists, or takes you for a drink when it's over.
Also check in on last week's goals, listed below, and set some goals for the coming week.
Daisy
Read and edit last week’s AND this week’s new paper draft
Edit student abstracts
Survive meeting trip
Finish hideous report
Mark all the things
Set up sample processing
Finish data compilation so that someone else can take over
Dame Eleanor Hull
- work on both M and S projects this week
- 2 "write first" mornings, 3 "exercise first" mornings
- grade grad quizzes, prep for both classes
- finishing touches to syllabuses, load more stuff to the ViLE
- make 1 phone call to schedule a shot
- assorted stupid work admin things and an application to process
- get back to latest round of editing tasks, FFS
- spend an hour tidying my study (or somewhere!)
- find a good time for language work or resign myself to last-minute prep!
Heu mihi
1. Resume exercise
2. Write 2500 words
3. Sit twice
4. Begin narrowing external review focus
5. Start organizing department-wide event (just a coffee hour, nothing too
crazy)
JaneB
SELF CARE
3x20 minutes of movement
reading, 1-2 creative things, 1-2 social things
LIFE ADMIN
Schedule electrician visit
Look at possible sofas
Don’t get lots more stuff
Get through Shoutypants's tooth cleaning and need to get medication into him
after the event
TEACHING/WORK ADMIN
Sort out slides for third week lectures
Sort out all the lab handouts and email technical support team for third week
Finish thing about deadlines
Attempt to get responses from all my project students
RESEARCH
Process more model outputs
Make list of all the other ‘ongoing stuff’
Finish outline of paper I said I'd help redraft and circulate to co-authors
Submit abstract for conference
Julie
Finish two remaining module handbooks and ViLE sites by
tomorrow's new deadline, try not to lose patience with colleagues who have
still not filled in their bits.
Big Article - try to fit in one more day.
Meet with new first-year academic advisees, take biscuits.
Prep intro teaching sessions for next week.
House/life admin: more financial stuff, get haircut.
Self-care/fun: run x 4, read, journal, see one set of friends Friday night,
host cookbook dinner Saturday night
Susan (held over)
DRAFT THE DAMN PAPER.
PACK
Organize life
Well, I think I've managed to at least work out the scope of the task of this house. After several attempts I finally have a decent plan of the house. I have no idea why this was a difficult task, but I kept sitting down at the kitchen table, adding to my tidy copy of the plan, then going back into whatever room it was to find I'd misremembered the shape, or where the window was. I'm not usually THAT bad at note-taking)! EVERY room has bookcases, even the bathroom (where there is always hot water; which reminds me, I haven't found the boiler cupboard yet. Maybe in the loft? I've seen the hatch, but not been up there yet), and I keep finding delightful surprises - copies of old friends I remember from teenage library forays, extra parts of series (THREE new-to-me Mr Campion novels!), or titles I've never heard of which look right up my street. I've not so much started to inventory as started to divide the collection into "read sooner" and "read later". The house is bigger than I thought, and has everything I've ever wanted in a house - a small sun-room full of herbs and mediterranean plants, including a lemon tree and a fig vine, a north facing room with a large window, a skylight, a wooden floor, and several shelves of yarn, fabric and paint, and several deep cushioned windowseats perfect for reading. Although having one in the kitchen is maybe not ideal (my celebratory pizza did end up a bit crispy when I got distracted...).
ReplyDeleteLAST WEEK: felt like very hard work, although it was actually quite a light week workwise. Mr Shoutypants had one tooth out and a thorough cleaning, and catching him for his 48 hours after surgery check up was an experience, but he forgave me quickly and everything went as well as it could. I didn't realise how stressed I was about it until it was all done! He's still on soft food only (and I may have been rather stupid to buy some of those tiny tins of cat pate with a very posh pedigree on the front - they were on special offer, so I thought oh well just for now, but he is now refusing to eat any of his normal wet food, just those and tube treats!), but he's also caught and eaten two moths, had the zoomies a couple of times, disembowelled the catnip pouch from his kicker toy again (I sew it back in, he rips it out, it's just one of those recurring chores), and in general is back to his normal cheeky self apart from a couple of shaved patches, and a slightly deeper mew (the vet nurse says he just had a sore throat from the breathing tube, and it is a little less each day). We also got a couple of urgent demands for data from central teams, the new first years are nothing like as good as last year's at attending their classes (or a lot of them have already decided to drop out - I hope it's the former!), and there was another completely uninformative "town hall" meeting - I am trying to resist the interpretation that the central leadership have no idea what they are going to do, but it's hard not to read the evidence we have that way.
The voluntary exit applications ended on Friday and we'll find out over the next few weeks who applied and if their application was accepted - but our Head of School is clear that we should expect further cuts in the next few months. It's very hard not to want to just run away from it all! But Mr Shoutypants still needs food (especially if he has decided he needs the stuff with a snooty pedigree on the front) and there are bills...
SELF CARE
Delete3x20 minutes of movement one
reading, 1-2 creative things, 1-2 social things yes, yes (Inktober doodles), yes
LIFE ADMIN
Schedule electrician visit yes - getting multiple long delayed necessities done over several short visits on Fridays in the next couple of months - she likes a half day Friday and it's my non-working day
Look at possible sofas no
Don’t get lots more stuff did not get stuff
Get through Shoutypants's tooth cleaning and need to get medication into him after the event fortunately he didn't need antibiotics, and will take the painkillers on his own if mixed into tube treat (gross stinky squirty meat stuff). we survived!
TEACHING/WORK ADMIN
Sort out slides for third week lectures yes
Sort out all the lab handouts and email technical support team for third week yes, technicians haven't replied (one is on annual leave! not the best timing!), but I've done what I can for now
Finish thing about deadlines no, still chasing Certain Colleagues, but have handed it off and now waiting for advice on how to actually sort the scheduling problems officially
Attempt to get responses from all my project students have had emails from three of them, and seen one of them... out of four
RESEARCH
Process more model outputs yes, very slowly
Make list of all the other ‘ongoing stuff’ no, still feeling too daunted for this
Finish outline of paper I said I'd help redraft and circulate to co-authors yes. Now I have to arrange a meeting...
Submit abstract for conference yes! That went very smoothly - some collaborators are just easier than others to work with.
This comment has been removed by the author.
DeleteTHE COMING WEEK:
DeleteHas meetings in it :-( and bad timetabling for me (I'm supposed to have a work from home day between two work on campus days, but this week and next that "wasn't possible"). But at least I don't have anything extra like cat teef-games or appointments at the weekend...
SELF CARE
3x20 minutes of movement
reading, 1-2 creative things in addition to Inktober doodling, 1-2 social things (online D&D, anything larger feels Too Much)
LIFE ADMIN
Look at possible sofas
Don’t get lots more stuff
Do something with financial papers project (many things need attention or filing or just to not be ignored)
TEACHING/WORK ADMIN
Sort out slides for fourth week lectures
Attempt to get responses from all my project students
Meet with recently graduated PhD student about papers
Survive this week's classes
Do "risk assessment" for all modules offered by School (depressing!) and contribute to strategic planning (trying to anticipate what the centre might do and what will be least painful to cut. YUCK).
RESEARCH
Process more model outputs
Make list of all the other ‘ongoing stuff’
Do one hour on Systematic Review (very boring task of going through a large download from a literature data base scoring papers based on title and abstract as yes/maybe/no for relevance to two questions. The final product will be interesting, the process is NOT).
Arrange meeting for paper I'm helping redraft
Complete and submit ethics application for pedagogic research project
Your house sounds completely delightful! Congratulations to Mr Shoutypants on coming through his ordeal so well and on convincing you to feed him properly ;) Commiserations on the uni-shrinkage and all the game-playing there. I hope this week goes all right despite not having a break day between campus days.
DeleteRe the town hall: their consultants have one tool, and they keep wielding it expecting the right response. And it turns out that cuts don't work.
DeleteLoving all the descriptions of the house! Poor Mr Shoutypants, though it sounds as if he's making the most of it.
DeleteI took down the hideous curtains and the house seemed so much brighter and calmer that next I attacked the carpeting. Fortunately the tacks were spaced more widely than they should be and it came up more readily than I expected. I have managed to roll it up but can't move the rolls, so I'll have to either cut it into strips or get someone to take it away for me. Unfortunately, it's just subfloor underneath, not hardwood. However, that gives me a chance to install underfloor heating, which has been the dream of my life since I discovered it existed. I'll have to get estimates.
ReplyDeleteHow I did:
- work on both M and S projects this week: YES
- 2 "write first" mornings, 3 "exercise first" mornings: YES
- grade grad quizzes, prep for both classes: YES (and I did this week's quizzes already, yay!)
- finishing touches to syllabuses, load more stuff to the ViLE: IN PROGRESS
- make 1 phone call to schedule a shot: NO
- assorted stupid work admin things and an application to process: can't remember! Definitely not the application, but maybe some other admin.
- get back to latest round of editing tasks, FFS: NO
- spend an hour tidying my study (or somewhere!): 20 minutes outside
- find a good time for language work or resign myself to last-minute prep! I think I'm resigning myself to last-minute prep, though I did spend a happy stretch on the deck doing Latin while the cleaners were here yesterday.
ALSO: Had a really good teaching day, great discussions in both classes, on a day when I felt under-prepared, so that was very nice. Took part in financial phone call.
New goals:
- work on both M and S projects this week
- 2 "write first" mornings, 3 "exercise first" mornings
- grade papers for both classes
- finishing touches to syllabuses, load more stuff to the ViLE
- make 1 phone call to schedule a shot
- process application, do one annual training
- get back to latest round of editing tasks, FFS
- spend an hour tidying my study (or somewhere!)
Really good teaching days are so great when they happen! A lot of yes there.
DeleteSorry for the silence. But my place has some odd decisions, and I'm trying to decide the easiest solutions. I missed out telling you about the issues with the house, which I think are mostly cosmetic. But cosmetic can be annoying. The big thing is storage - there's no cabinet in the bathroom, which is where I generally keep things like band aids and over the counter medicines/ first aid. So I need to figure this out. And in the kitchen, there's no place to hang a dishtowel, and they fall off the drawer pulls. So this week I'll get some of those pull off hooks and attach them to the cabinet by the sink. If I'm really organized, I'll figure out the bathroom storage problem too!
ReplyDeleteHOW I DID
DRAFT THE DAMN PAPER. DONE, given
PACK Done
Organize life Hah!
It's been three weeks, so I'm now home, continuing to settle in to my real new home (which has these minor cosmetic problems I'm talking about!). I've completely unpacked the kitchen and dining room, though I feel as if one box is missing with minor odds and ends. I've reached the point where I can imagine how to set up my living room, so now I have to go shop for sofas. What's left are books and papers, and I probably kept too many books.
Later this week I'm heading to my old home to see friends, and do some minor stuff. (I have to return a monitor and computer that belong to the campus.)
Next week I have to start working on the next paper I'm giving - I'm not sure why I thought 5 papers in 3 months was a good idea. And even though they are all related, they are all different.
Goals for this week:
1. Finish minor edits on index to large collaboration
2. Unpack enough books so that I can walk through the office without tripping
3. Fix mat for under desk
4. Shop for sofas
5. Schedule handyman for multiple minor tasks
6. Keep up with exercise
7. Have fun on my trip
I wondered if the cosmetic problems were with your real new place! Our bathroom also lacks a medicine cabinet. Instead, there is a large floor-to-ceiling cupboard with fairly deep shelves, where it's easy to lose things & wind up with 3 bottles of ibuprofen because someone didn't see the first one.
DeleteI am convinced that if I give away books within two months I will have a need for whatever I thought I'd never use again.
Enjoy the sofa shopping! And the trip!
Good luck with it all! Some kind of free-standing shelves/storage unit in the bathroom? Is there room (maybe in the fictional house)?
Delete
ReplyDeleteI've made a start on sorting the attic, just a couple of boxes. There's quite a lot of furniture up there, some broken, some just in need of paint or varnish. Luckily my knowledgeable pub landlady knows of someone in the village who does carpentry work, including restoration. I'm hoping she can come and advise on what can be fixed. There's an old bureau with little drawers and cubby holes that would be great to restore, provided it doesn't have woodworm.
Last week was full-on getting stuff ready for teaching, especially as I ended up working all five days because of timetabling complications. I've shifted my non-working day from Monday to Friday, but forgot that at some point there would have to be an awkward transition with either a five or a three-day week. Three was sadly not an option. Anyway, this week I work Monday-Thursday and Friday will be non-working, or at least, non-email or contact with students.
How I did:
Finish two remaining module handbooks and ViLE sites by tomorrow's new deadline, try not to lose patience with colleagues who have still not filled in their bits. - CLOSE ENOUGH, ONE SNARKY EMAIL
Big Article - try to fit in one more day. - MOST OF A DAY
Meet with new first-year academic advisees, take biscuits. - YES
Prep intro teaching sessions for next week. - YES
House/life admin: more financial stuff, get haircut. - NO, YES
Self-care/fun: run x 4, read, journal, see one set of friends Friday night, host cookbook dinner Saturday night - YES, RE-READ, NOT ENOUGH, YES (two lovely evenings)
This week:
1. Teaching: give introductory sessions, start writing new lecture.
2. Admin: read papers for department meeting, go to meeting, stay calm in face of more proposed ill-thought-through changes, send reminder emails to new first years.
3. Research and writing: start on conference paper, revise introduction for a French special issue that we have been given two weeks to produce.
4. House/life admin: sort out the damn finances, go to farm shop, make dentist appointment.
5. Self-care/fun: read, journal, run, video call with friends, book festival event.
That's a lot of YES, and it's especially good to hear of the day on Big Article and the fun evenings with friends! The haircut will make the financial & dental things more bearable, I'm sure (speaking as someone who took an hour this morning to chop off a lot of hair that was making me crazy).
DeleteHiiiiiii
ReplyDeleteSo, I'm officially drowning, at least in this early part of the week. Chairing is crazy! Especially in such a big department. Today I was navigating issues as diverse as hoarders (two faculty are on notice from the fire department because of the state of their offices), finding a new director for an online program (and strategizing to make the case to our administration that this program NEEDS a director), an instructor who may not be teaching her full load, and a complaint from a parent about a graduate student instructor. I also went to a staff meeting and a faculty meeting from which I was kicked out for 10 minutes while they discussed a union-related issue. I run around all day feeling over-caffeinated and aggressively efficient, talking too fast and watching the emails pile up in my queue.
And yet, weirdly, I kind of like it.
Anyway! I decided to wait until this week to tell you about my visitor, because if I'd done so on Saturday it probably would have gotten lost. But I'm going to be kind of brief, because I'm tired.
My neighbor is a nun, well actually a former nun because her convent was disbanded, but she still wears a habit and keeps her practice, with a few other sisters who decided to stick it out in the same town. She's an older woman, energetic and emphatic, who marched right in and started telling me all about what the house needs--most of all a good *cleaning*, and that the former owner never cleared out the gutters and just look at all the weeds growing up in there. How anyone would get up to the third-story gutters to clean them in the first place is beyond me, but clearly she sees no obstacles here.
As for my household task.... Um.... OK! I'll be inspired by my hoarder colleagues. I can't tackle the hideous back room or the basement yet--they're just too scary--but the overstuffed kitchen cabinets could use, and did get, a good emptying-out. Now all my stuff is safely housed in there, along with a few interesting pieces that were left behind, and I can cook and eat in peace!
How I did:
1. Resume exercise - Yes
2. Write 2500 words - Actually about 2000, but this goal was a mistake; I meant to put in 1500. So this is still a win!
3. Sit twice - NO, not even once
4. Begin narrowing external review focus - Yes, last night
5. Start organizing department-wide event (just a coffee hour, nothing too crazy) - Yes, coffee hour is scheduled, now we need a poster
This week:
1. A poster for the coffee hour (complicated because it's for three departments and like 12 language programs)
2. Draft external review strategy
3. Contact dean about check-in
4. Begin writing external review for department that I visited
5. Write 3000 words
6. Exercise
7. SIT TWICE
OMG. Suddenly I feel much better about my office! But I'm sorry you have to deal with such craziness on top of the usual zillion tasks of a chair. Yay 2000 words! And I think I want your nun and Daisy's Bailey's-drinking friend to get together!
Delete