Hello! Sorry this is late; I'm guessing JaneB had a bad reaction to her Covid booster, or something, so here we are on Monday morning with me slapping up a post before I go teach. See you in the comments!
Topic: triangles.
Daisy
Write
something for the grant EVERY day
Do
something for revisions only if grant is done
Pack
lunches for 5 campus days
Exercise
at least 4 times
Do
something fun with kid
Dame Eleanor Hull
-
Add 1000 words to essay
-
Notes on MET book and C&C read 2 weeks ago
-
Grade new set of undergrad papers
-
do stuff for online course
-
plug mouseholes
-
do stuff with visiting friends of Sir John's next weekend
Elizabeth Anne Mitchell
(held over)
-
Get flu shot.
-
Get son moved into his new apartment.
-
Outline very roughly one article.
heu mihi
1) Miscellaneous: Annual faculty report; comment on grad student's job materials; find out if I'm eligible to get a Covid booster and/or flu shot in France?
2) Emails: Research group leader re. presentation format; program chair re. next year's program chair; friendly colleague at distant university; prospective grad student
3) Journals: Read one new submission for each; reject one article; get second reviewer for last week's new submission
4) Research: Keep working on chapter 3: let's say, fill in remaining outline blanks with some notes (I'm going to borrow DEH's 1000-word goal) and attempt to straighten out the mess into some kind of rough draft; smother doubts about my Process
5) Fun: College friend is visiting this week, so honestly I don't know how much of #4 will get done; accompany child's class on a field trip
Humming42
(held over)
1
catch up on grading (already!)
2
write 1000 words for Food chapter
3
create module structure for online class
4
catch up on emails and organizing online files
JaneB
1)
do two days on campus without guilt at not being there more - especially
important to NOT GUILT about it.
2)
don't do more than 9 hours a day max.
3)
prepare teaching for the following week (too much to do ::pouts::)
4)
Rewrite assigned sections of draft paper I forgot, and put off whatever else I
can.
5)
do minimum house chores that keep getting lost. Prepack lunch-type food for the
two days on campus.
Julie
1.
Teaching prep for next week, but keep to minimum time and effort.
2.
Revise grant application, add in feedback from my mentor and estimated costs.
3.
Keep at least two days for research, ideally more.
4.
At least two exercise sessions.
5.
Life admin task - get either plumber or carpenter round, preferably both.
Many apologies! I did not have a great weekend, sorry, and I'm still trying to get tomorrow's teaching together... I'll do next week Dame Eleanor, thanks for catching me this time...
ReplyDeleteNo problem! I hope you're doing better now, at midweek (it's going so fast).
DeleteI should do the next two sessions, to catch up with the shapes!! :-)
DeleteThanks for the prompt. I don't really know what triangles mean to me - they are much less obvious than circles and squares when it comes to associations. I suppose mountains would be one idea - a hard slog up, but worth it for the view at the top. That fits with a lot in academia. I think the final weeks of term when the end is in sight feel like the descent from a mountain - you can tell yourself the hot shower/drink/log fire is almost there. I do a lot of walking, in case that isn't obvious!
ReplyDeleteLast week's goals:
1. Teaching prep for next week, but keep to minimum time and effort. - I think I did reasonably OK here. Decided that the lectures from last time still worked.
2. Revise grant application, add in feedback from my mentor and estimated costs. - Did as much as I could, waiting on other people to confirm expenses policies.
3. Keep at least two days for research, ideally more. - Sort of, more a day and a half adding up the bits. Too many meetings.
4. At least two exercise sessions. Done, but this is going to be harder to fit in some weeks than others, and I notice it when I don't get the exercise.
5. Life admin task - get either plumber or carpenter round, preferably both. - Plumber too busy, failed to email carpenter. But I did send a lot of outgrown clothes to charity and shift some cash into a savings account.
This week's goals:
1. Finish and submit the grant application.
2. Arrange meetings with PhD student and mentees.
3. Write report on research leave.
4. Spend at least an afternoon working on my article.
5. Keep teaching prep minimal again.
6. One life admin task.
That's a lot of things done! Good luck getting the grant finished, and do celebrate a little when it is sent off!
DeleteThat was me... Forgot the name...
DeleteWhen it's hard to fit things in, I think we need to acknowledge that time is finite and some weeks are just going to be short on exercise (or whatever), and other weeks will be better. I agree with Daisy that you did a lot, and the extras (charity shop run, savings) are important add-ons!
DeleteHmmmm… triangles… I thought of three-legged stools first – they tend to be pretty stable even if all the legs are not identical. A good metaphor for teams I think? They are also pretty satisfying forms to build up into complex patterns, especially in 3D. And combining those two thoughts… If you have a good stable shape/team, you can build some pretty impressive things! Which makes me really appreciate my amazing team of coworkers at my new place… So excuse me while I go make them a big pot of coffee and tell them I think they are awesome!
ReplyDeleteLast week’s goals:
Write something for the grant EVERY day ALMOST
Do something for revisions only if grant is done NOPE
Pack lunches for 5 campus days DONE! Unapologetic crackers and fancy cheese for three days, and then a good pasta salad for the others
Exercise at least 4 times ONLY 2, disappointing…
Do something fun with kid SORT OF… need to think more… and schedule it in otherwise it is hit and miss…
Not a bad week, I did make progress on a few things, and the grant is shaping up. Did a bunch of stuff on house too so that was helpful. I’m going to keep my goals more or less the same, just to remind myself to actually check in on them occasionally!
My week started with chaos – one of the new kitties jumped in a paint tray… Yes, the other adult in the house poured paint in a tray to do touch-ups this morning, and did not close the door… So of course the cat came to investigate, and of course she jumped in the tray, and of course the shouting made her run around, and of course picking up the scared cat resulted in paint everywhere and the shredding of human who was dumb enough to do all of the above… So I washed the poor scared cat by wrapping her in a towel and getting in the bath with her… She was not happy and I’m still mad at the human and not feeling terribly sympathetic towards the moaning about being scratched... Fortunately latex paint washes out well when wet, and when dried on cat fur actually pulls out quite easily. She still has one blue whisker and a few blue spots on her toes, will leave that one for grooming to deal with… So she’s our blue-tipped tortie for the day.
This week’s goals:
FINISH grant and send to colleagues for reading
Do something for revisions only if grant is done
Get caught up on marking
Plan ahead for next set of midterms
Pack lunches for 4 campus days
Exercise at least 4 times
Do something fun with kid
I like the three-legged stool analogy. And I am loving the idea of a cat with blue whiskers and toes, though I can appreciate the cat may not agree. Plus fancy cheese and crackers is a really good lunch idea.
DeleteExercise can be so hard to fit in. I am trying to remember to at least get out for a walk at lunchtime, but it isn't always possible. Would your kid consider exercise fun? That might kill two birds with one stone.
Poor cat! She was just trying to help! Why don't you paint the floor blue?
DeletePoor cat! My sister's very fluffy (fluff-for-brains) ginger and white boy-cat sat on the front step WHILST she was blacking it. Blacking is very sticky... it took two adults, both wearing gardening gloves, and dish soap, to wash most of the black off the bum, tail and paws of the cat, and his footing was a bit slippery on hard floors for a week or so as the last of it worse off... he didn't actually learn though.
DeleteI'll do the topic first, because I'm posting from a meeting :( I just put down the first geometrical figure that occurred to me, and hoped people would get inspired! I think of love triangles, particularly the famous Arthurian ones that I teach all the time: Arthur-Guenevere-Lancelot, Mark-Isolde-Tristan, though the stability of the three-legged stool also came to mind. I like Julie's mountains.
ReplyDeleteTriangles - well, I went to a Renowned Ancient University where exams were called 'tripos', after the three-legged stool medieval students sat on to be examined... triangles and trinitarian imagery and triune spirals and symbology all speak to me. Also, more mundanely, they make me think of Toblerone (TM - other Swiss Mountain Chocolate available but that is the original and best, the giant sized triangle-section bars from the airport shop my Dad brought home when trying to use up foreign currency when we were little kids - he travelled a lot for work in Europe, making machinery work in specialist plants), and Green Triangles (one of the Top Tier choices in the mixed chocolates tin of Quality Street many British families get for Christmas nibbles), and certain distinctive objects I see a lot under my microscope.
ReplyDeleteAlso compasses (the circle drawing kind) and maths problems and some of the more fun bits of geometry. oh, and surveying, and the annual event of teaching students how to measure the height of a tree or building or cliff with a compass and tape measure (good ol' Pythagoras!).
Last week was a hard slog, and there was a mix up with my booster vaccine so I didn't get it (something in the computer system) and just had a bit of a temper tantrum melt down - I was generally just overwhelmed with prep and stress. Worked Monday on campus this week, and Tuesday I tried a new brand of vegetarian sausages, highly recommended. Turns out they did not agree with me... so Wednesday I was off entirely with Gastric Distress, and today I worked online rather feebly with breaks when my brain refused to play. Tomorrow I have my booster rebooked (and everything is TRIPLE CHECKED) so it better be going to happen. And I have a mountain of prep to do, and a thesis to write an external examiners report on (and it's a hard one because there is a mountain of data and a gaping hole in the literature which leads to some iiiiiiiinteresing interpretation of data and altogether I know I'm about to make a student very stressed and I don't want to. I also don't want to finish reading their project report because ugh, it's not good).
Goals from last week:
Delete1) do two days on campus without guilt at not being there more - especially important to NOT GUILT about it. did two days. Two days in a row is a bit too much at the moment, even if they are "short days" - I was just not functioning well for the next three days which did not help with item 2
2) don't do more than 9 hours a day max. yes. BUT I worked as much as I could all 7 days (and some days that was only like 1-2 hours, but... we do what we can
3) prepare teaching for the following week (too much to do ::pouts::) juuuuust made it
4) Rewrite assigned sections of draft paper I forgot, and put off whatever else I can. began to do that. Did not finish it, postponed the meeting, realised I'd forgotten the thesis I mentioned...
5) do minimum house chores that keep getting lost. Prepack lunch-type food for the two days on campus. yes on packing lunch, ish on chores as in I did more than none...
Goals for the (rest of) this week:
1) do three days on campus without guilt at not being there more - especially important to NOT GUILT about it. (I actually did 1 due to sausages...)
2) don't do more than 9 hours a day max. Aim for one day with NO WORK.
3) prepare teaching for the following week (too much to do ::pouts::)
4) Rewrite assigned sections of draft paper I forgot, and complete report on thesis.
5) do minimum house chores that keep getting lost. Prepack lunch-type food for the days on campus.
I think we went to the same Renowned Ancient University. I'd forgotten about tripos, though it had two parts, which was confusing. Sorry you had such a grim week and hope the booster happens.
DeleteIt's so tough when you have to examine a thesis that isn't that good, especially not knowing if it's the supervisor's fault for not spotting the problems or the student's for not engaging with feedback/actually showing the thesis to the supervisor. I have two PhD students who are wilfully going their own sweet way despite my best efforts to suggest that they maybe need to think about x/y/z, and I'm now getting to the point when I hope an examiner pulls them up, because they might then acknowledge my feedback. Ugh. So you may be doing people a favour if you point out the problems. But it's never nice to do.
Or sometimes three parts, 1A, 1B and Part II!
DeleteThat comment was really helpful in getting over the "aargh" of writing the report - I've had a very difficult student before (they sacked their first supervisor and I was the only remaining 'person with sufficient experience to lead supervise' on the committee so got voluntold - I THOUGHT I knew the story and had sympathy for the student's situation, but once I started working with them, well...). Graduate students who are doing their study properly do tend to go through a resistant/argumentative stage, like teenagers working out their new way of interacting with parents as they grow to independence - but since it's NOT a parental relationship, they need to remember they are adults interacting with future colleagues and mentors, not grumpy hormonal teens! I hope yours get through the stage effectively - mine did take the external's advice (to do what I told them to do) because they wouldn't pass the thesis otherwise, but they still insist that the external was wrong (and have not written a word of papers despite post-doctoral positions and promises. I'm writing increasingly neutral references for them as the problems continue...
Triangles make me think of some changes in life, which for me, seem to come out of the blue and affect me suddenly. Immediately I thought of the downturns–the 18-month period when 5 family members passed away, for example. But there are the upturns as well–everything from reconnecting with my remaining sister after a few years, to getting a dream job a few years ago. I have often thought that one has to learn resilience in all of these 45-degree turns, whether facing “good” or “bad” stress.
ReplyDeleteI’ve been ill this week, on top of all the changes in my work–luckily, I got an appointment with a doctor in NYC for next Tuesday; after local doctors’ offices failed to return my repeated calls for five days now, so–road trip!
Last week’s goals:
Get flu shot. No. Another crazy week.
Get son moved into his new apartment. Yes.
Outline very roughly one article. Yes.
Next week’s goals (or the few days left):
Flu shot and COVID booster.
Finish peer review.
Pick one subsection of outline and start to flesh it out.
I’m hoping to check in sooner next week–wish me luck! Float like mist, everyone.
Good luck, Elizabeth, and I hope this week is less crazy!
DeleteVery interesting to think of triangles as a path! My brain conjured up some image of triangular wheels I saw online somewhere but I couldn't think how to really explain that in a comment - it seems to fit nicely with this idea. And with the mountains! Up hurts one set of leg-connections, down hurts another...
DeleteHello all,
ReplyDeleteI'm checking in primarily so that no one has to do a "held over" post for me! I've been looking at a few manuscripts in Munich and Vienna; I'm currently on the last of three trains home, and I can't wait to get back.
Last week:
1) Miscellaneous: Annual faculty report; comment on grad student's job materials; find out if I'm eligible to get a Covid booster and/or flu shot in France?
-I am not eligible for Covid boosters here! But flu shots start next week and cost very little.
2) Emails: Research group leader re. presentation format; program chair re. next year's program chair; friendly colleague at distant university; prospective grad student
-Yes, although I'm not sure who the friendly colleague is--presumably I wrote back, since there's nothing in my inbox!
3) Journals: Read one new submission for each; reject one article; get second reviewer for last week's new submission
-Yes
4) Research: Keep working on chapter 3: let's say, fill in remaining outline blanks with some notes (I'm going to borrow DEH's 1000-word goal) and attempt to straighten out the mess into some kind of rough draft; smother doubts about my Process
-Writing yes, straightening no, smothering not really
5) Fun: College friend is visiting this week, so honestly I don't know how much of #4 will get done; accompany child's class on a field trip - BOTH DONE (wow that feels like a long time ago)
This week:
NOTHING, because it's Saturday afternoon! OK, what I did was work on manuscripts...travel too much....
That will do. See you soon, everyone!
(That was meant to post as heu mihi....)
Delete