Monday... again

... and all weekend the sun has been shining - no blazing - down on us poor sun-deprived Scots and it will be so hard to get up in the morning and work! But I have to!
The conference is fast approaching and although I know I can write a good paper I just need to get on with it! The dry run at forum the other week went ok - though it does need a rewrite!

Ok so it has been a while - but I now BLIP and I am also a Mass Observation Contributor so my t'internet life is getting crowded!

The annual review went well, which considering I had been labouring under the impression that I failed the upgrade last year when in fact I had passed it, isn't surprising! The supervision was successful if a little intense. The writing is coming on! I am in a relatively good position!

One bug bear - I am still refused permission to teach. The reason given is that there is a question over my ability to mark! However I do think it is more a question of whether or not teaching will interrupt my flow and the dept get penalised for late submissions! I raised this as an issue at my review and got a satisfactory reply!

I seem to be a fortunate soul that when I do actually write I  produce decent stuff - yes it needs some editing and work but it is almost there. This can't be a bad thing!

I've dislocated myself for the summer as well. I spent a morning moving books (not quite the chain gang above but close!) I couldn't bear the tension in the office house; there were spies operating to see who was and wasn't using their desks! I felt like I had been cast as an extra in 1984! The director of postgraduate studies, a woman who has yet to even show her face at Forum, or even reply to my email regarding a PG journal, felt the locks on office doors should be removed to allow more flexibility of space! Given we house our books and personal belongings in there it was utterly inappropriate!  As a compromise two house committee members agreed to act as grasses, informants, desk nazis  monitors of the situation. Plus my office mate yacked! And yacked, and yacked! She is in love! I adore her but I wasn't getting any work done!  Also the petrol to commute was a sting in the financial tail, added to the guilt I felt when my homelife prevented me getting into the office, and the lack of productivity when i was stuck at home because all my books were ... in the office! Enough said I feel!

So I decamped to my own study - no more commute, no more dodging the evangelists, no more feeling like an intruder when I dare to venture out of my office to make a coffee! A weight has been lifted! Just peace, my iMac and my books!

Let's hope this is a recipe for success and not for disaster!