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An earful
Today was an earful. I tried to speak to my son this morning about his beligerant and direspectful attitude. What he told me was that he wasn’t accountable to me. I went to work and heard our new chancellor speak about how we need to keep student focused and that our success will depend on new ideas and focused direction. What he told us was that there are going to be budget cuts and they are going to hurt. I called my sister to discuss travel arrangements for our uncles funeral next week. What I heard was the story of my grandmother in the final phases of her life, and…
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Semester end
The semester just ended and only noticed at five pm today when non one was at the circ desk. This marker evaded me despite that we had a “party” for one of our students on Tuesday because she was graduating on saturday, and depite that I knew my pharmacy students were studying outside my office door, and despite that my daughter is moving back for the summer even as I type this. For as much as I have an excellent navigational compass, it must come at the expense of being able to measure time. I sat for part of my train ride home and added things to my planning list…
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Writing itch
I’ve been doing a lot or reading recently. I love to read, but after a while, I feel a bit out of balance because all I do is work and read. I get like that when I am tired, overwhelmed, and need something entertaining that doesn’t add to my task list or tax my capacity. I can always tell when I am working my way out of that environment because I find the itch to write again. I admit, it is also due to better weather and longer days. I feel like I have more time to pursue these things. For a while now, I have been struggling with my…
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Week 49
This Monday I wrote week forty-nine on the top of my schedule. It took me a minute to understand the significance of that, but I am three weeks out from my first year at this job. I will be completing my annual review paperwork soon; I have the form already. I accomplished most of the goals that I had in mind for the first year. Some of them are somewhat out fo my control as they depend on the rate of integration with my departments. As a whole, I am pleased. A short list: established orientation for first year basic science students embedded instruction for two classes about a dozen…
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Conference season
It the end of April and I feel that I have been running since March, mainly because I have been running since March. I’ve taken to calling this conference season because of all the associations and groups that are holding theirs between the months of March and June. It feel like everyone got spring fever at the same time and started scheduling. My last conference is tomorrow, a one day symposium locally that discusses the current environment of scholarly communication. A week ago I was in Minneapolis at a two day conference talking about research data preservation. That one was fabulous and I can’t wait to go next year. It…
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Site environment and stress
Friday I spent the day in one of our regional locations. I had planned on this to make sure that my site students had the same in-person availability that my home students did. I went to site and students didn’t come. I brought other work in case that happened, but the majority of it didn’t get done. I got work done, it just wasn’t that work. What I did get done was an initial scouting for workshops we have internal funding for. Made impromptu appointments and discussed opportunities. I was warmly received and felt that I got a lot accomplished in a few conversations. For this particular project, this was…
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Month nine
I am currently in month nine of my new job. I appear to have integrated myself well enough into the organization that I get the comment that it feels like it has been longer. In the next month I have to turn in my performance review on the work that I have done so far, as well as outline what I want to accomplish in the next year. This morning I have a meeting with a department head in Pharmacy. I still have department heads to meet in both my colleges. I am embedded in three classes and have plans for at three more. I need to get a curriculum…
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The Dust dream
I had a dream last night that I still haven’t gotten out of. I was walking along a road and the world was a dust storm. People were walking along to some destination but I couldn’t tell you where that was. The dust was peculiar, a fluffy white like ash, but sterile like snow. There was so much of it that nothing could be seen. The distance was obscured in dust clouds. I could see about one hundred yards. No one was desperate, but we were all migrating, alone or in small groups. There were trucks that went along the road, following tracks. The only color was the skin of…
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Carrots
So it looks like I am good at giving people carrots. Not the orange, vegetable kind, the intriguing idea kind. I had a meeting with a colleague today where we were supposed to practice a data management interview. The idea behind it was to get us fmailiar with the question bank and be able to facilitate this kind of conversation. We did eventually get to that, but what was more interesting was the conversation we were having around data management. We discussed the differences in our respective liaisonships and the types of people we were getting traction with. I shared with him the kinds of targets I was going after in…
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Back to work
March has been erratic. I only spent 11 days in office. Five were in Maryland, and five more were on vacation. Now I’m at the end of March and I am getting ready for the end of the semester and preparing for more classes and workshops. I had hoped to come back from vacation and all of this concentrated training with a sense of purpose and calm. I partially achieved each. I am more calm because I didn’t have endless work emails and things to try and get done. I have part of a sense of purpose in that I see work ahead of me. But I will set aside…