![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
what I have been doing lately
Feb. 16th, 2020 10:31 pmI haven't posted here in a while, but I have been sending short notes via FB messenger to friends and to the Drachenwald Slack channel. To save time on catch up, I will copy paste a few of those:
Typed 8 February:
On the way home from a great time at Jokkmokks winter market. Looked at the market a bit, then fika, then look at more market them lunch then Herrskapsdans rehearsal, then performance. Then more market, dinner, and finally the folkmusic concert, which was the highlight of the day.
By the time we made it to the concert room it was pretty full, and my friend got us some chairs in the back row. By then my shoulders were aching from carrying the back pack all day (which was heavier by some fabric and a pair of boots than it was this morning), my feet and legs were tied from standing and walking all day.
I was sleepy from not enough sleep last night, and I was not looking forward to sitting in an uncomfortable chair for an hour or so. Then the guy doing the announcement at the beginning said that there was plenty of room on the floor in front. I didn't hesitate, but grabbed my coat and pack and hurried to the front of the room and made my self comfortable on the floor with the pack of teens who were sitting there.
I fluffed up my coat and lay down with it under my shoulders, and had every intention of sleeping through the concert if I could.
The bands were young people from the Folkmusik school in Piteå, and they were far too talented to sleep through. So I lay there on the floor, eyes closed, stretching and massaging sore body parts in time to the music, and having a great time. By the time they'd worked their easy through tunes and songs from all over Sweden, the US, Ireland, Scotland, Bulgaria, and had settled into some Balkan songs sung by three girls to lots of musical accompaniments, I was finally starting to relax enough to start to drift off to sleep. Then the band asked if we wanted to dance? We said yes, and they started into a very long tune with Middle Eastern Rhythms, and all of us who had been sitting on the floor got up and danced. It was perfect! Eventually, the band got up off the stage and led us in a Balkan line dance (singing the tune, along with every one on the audience willing top participate), and the dance circled the room a couple of times before the concert was over.
Which explains why I have energy to type so much instead of sleeping in the car!
Typed 9 February:
The fabric I bought at Jokkmokks Winter Market goes really well with some tablet weaving I had on hand!
However, I am thinking I may want to embroider over, or stick beads on, or something over the sun wheel motifs, I don't much care for them--I bought it for the nice interlace sections.
Typed 10 February:
Found another post doc job to apply for today, at the University of Oslo. They want someone to use LA-ICP-MS to determine the trace element composition of quarts in pegmatites. Including getting to do field work in the fjords just south of Lofoten. I am quite qualified for it. Pity that Oslo prices for housing isn't so appealing, nor being so far south. But it is only 3 years...
Typed 11 February:
I am feeling accomplished. The replacement transmitted light assembly for my laser arrived, so I opened up the machine, took out the old one, put in the new, and it works. That sentence does not begin to convey the awkwardness of working inside the cramped quarters of the machine and trying to figure out which angle to wriggle my hands between the wires to reach the bolts I needed to remove...
Typed 12 February:
I am really loving tbe DownDog Yoga app. Have started playing with the other settings than the "full practice", which I started with and love. Tbe "hatha" setting is also really good. Yesterday I did two 30 minute sessions. A hatha yoga before choir and a "gentle" before bed.
Today's email drama, a message this morning saying "I’ve received an application from you for PhD Archaeology and Durham Doctoral Studentship. Unfortunately as you’re already enrolled on a PhD you are not eligible for DDS consideration. Would you like me to cancel your application?" So I forwarded the message to my supervisor... Followed some hours later by "I have spoken with your supervisor, and she has explained the situation. I’ll proceed with processing your application for DDS consideration.
Apologies for any distress caused."
Then, surprising news arrives:
"We would hereby like to inform you that the Faculty of Science and Technology received four applications for the announced position as Associate Professor in Inorganic Chemistry focused on Inorganic Geochemistry at Umeå University. The applications have now proceeded for evaluation by experts in the field. The Employment Committee will deal with the matter at the earliest in April 2020."
I probably still don't have that much of a chance, given that one of them is an internal applicant (which I know because he told me he was applying), but those are way better odds than I had expected when I wrote the application.
Typed 13 February:
Wow Sweden is serious about taking care of their employees. Since I have been given notice on my long time, permanent, position at LTU, I have been registered with "Trygghetsstiftelsen", who will help me look for a new job (never mind that I have been applying for stuff for a while already). Today my personal advisor called me, and invited me to our first planning meeting. Because she currently has no other clients in Luleå she suggested that they could fly me to Stockholm, and while there I could attend a seminar. So I looked at their list of upcoming seminars, and signed up for next week's "Job hunting for academics" workshop (taught in English, because of course it is), and filled in their travel agent's form. They will book me a flight, I will go to the workshop, meet my advisor, and then fly home. All it costs me is the time I am gone. I will bring a sewing project to work on while travelling.
She also gave me a code to upload my CV, personal letter, linked in profile, and a url for a job I am interested in to get feedback at no cost (the company normally charges more than 300 SEK for each of those services, with a slight discount if you ask for the package deal). The documents can be in either Swedish or English, and one can specify which language one wants the feedback (and it doesn't have to be the same language as the documents), and one can even specify specific questions for the feedback person. Since I have a local job to apply for that needs a Swedish application, I am so using this service!
typed 14 February (Friday):
Feeling accomplished. On Wednesday I had a skype meeting with one of my thesis supervisors to brainstorm possible approaches for an application for the Mineralogical society of America's student grant for research in mineralogy and petrology. I promised him I would have a first draft to him "before Monday". I just sent it. I think that this year's attempt has a much better chance at a "yes" than last year's (which got a no, despite being a proposal that my supervisors and I all thought was good).
and typed today, 16 February:
I have spent a big chunk of the day cleaning the piles of sewing projects, UFOs and mending to do, sorting it, organising it, and making trello cards for everything, each card in a list for where the project is, and detailing what needs doing.
It will take ages to finish all of them, but I think the odds of my doing so have now gone up...
some of them need so little work...
Typed 8 February:
On the way home from a great time at Jokkmokks winter market. Looked at the market a bit, then fika, then look at more market them lunch then Herrskapsdans rehearsal, then performance. Then more market, dinner, and finally the folkmusic concert, which was the highlight of the day.
By the time we made it to the concert room it was pretty full, and my friend got us some chairs in the back row. By then my shoulders were aching from carrying the back pack all day (which was heavier by some fabric and a pair of boots than it was this morning), my feet and legs were tied from standing and walking all day.
I was sleepy from not enough sleep last night, and I was not looking forward to sitting in an uncomfortable chair for an hour or so. Then the guy doing the announcement at the beginning said that there was plenty of room on the floor in front. I didn't hesitate, but grabbed my coat and pack and hurried to the front of the room and made my self comfortable on the floor with the pack of teens who were sitting there.
I fluffed up my coat and lay down with it under my shoulders, and had every intention of sleeping through the concert if I could.
The bands were young people from the Folkmusik school in Piteå, and they were far too talented to sleep through. So I lay there on the floor, eyes closed, stretching and massaging sore body parts in time to the music, and having a great time. By the time they'd worked their easy through tunes and songs from all over Sweden, the US, Ireland, Scotland, Bulgaria, and had settled into some Balkan songs sung by three girls to lots of musical accompaniments, I was finally starting to relax enough to start to drift off to sleep. Then the band asked if we wanted to dance? We said yes, and they started into a very long tune with Middle Eastern Rhythms, and all of us who had been sitting on the floor got up and danced. It was perfect! Eventually, the band got up off the stage and led us in a Balkan line dance (singing the tune, along with every one on the audience willing top participate), and the dance circled the room a couple of times before the concert was over.
Which explains why I have energy to type so much instead of sleeping in the car!
Typed 9 February:
The fabric I bought at Jokkmokks Winter Market goes really well with some tablet weaving I had on hand!
However, I am thinking I may want to embroider over, or stick beads on, or something over the sun wheel motifs, I don't much care for them--I bought it for the nice interlace sections.
Typed 10 February:
Found another post doc job to apply for today, at the University of Oslo. They want someone to use LA-ICP-MS to determine the trace element composition of quarts in pegmatites. Including getting to do field work in the fjords just south of Lofoten. I am quite qualified for it. Pity that Oslo prices for housing isn't so appealing, nor being so far south. But it is only 3 years...
Typed 11 February:
I am feeling accomplished. The replacement transmitted light assembly for my laser arrived, so I opened up the machine, took out the old one, put in the new, and it works. That sentence does not begin to convey the awkwardness of working inside the cramped quarters of the machine and trying to figure out which angle to wriggle my hands between the wires to reach the bolts I needed to remove...
Typed 12 February:
I am really loving tbe DownDog Yoga app. Have started playing with the other settings than the "full practice", which I started with and love. Tbe "hatha" setting is also really good. Yesterday I did two 30 minute sessions. A hatha yoga before choir and a "gentle" before bed.
Today's email drama, a message this morning saying "I’ve received an application from you for PhD Archaeology and Durham Doctoral Studentship. Unfortunately as you’re already enrolled on a PhD you are not eligible for DDS consideration. Would you like me to cancel your application?" So I forwarded the message to my supervisor... Followed some hours later by "I have spoken with your supervisor, and she has explained the situation. I’ll proceed with processing your application for DDS consideration.
Apologies for any distress caused."
Then, surprising news arrives:
"We would hereby like to inform you that the Faculty of Science and Technology received four applications for the announced position as Associate Professor in Inorganic Chemistry focused on Inorganic Geochemistry at Umeå University. The applications have now proceeded for evaluation by experts in the field. The Employment Committee will deal with the matter at the earliest in April 2020."
I probably still don't have that much of a chance, given that one of them is an internal applicant (which I know because he told me he was applying), but those are way better odds than I had expected when I wrote the application.
Typed 13 February:
Wow Sweden is serious about taking care of their employees. Since I have been given notice on my long time, permanent, position at LTU, I have been registered with "Trygghetsstiftelsen", who will help me look for a new job (never mind that I have been applying for stuff for a while already). Today my personal advisor called me, and invited me to our first planning meeting. Because she currently has no other clients in Luleå she suggested that they could fly me to Stockholm, and while there I could attend a seminar. So I looked at their list of upcoming seminars, and signed up for next week's "Job hunting for academics" workshop (taught in English, because of course it is), and filled in their travel agent's form. They will book me a flight, I will go to the workshop, meet my advisor, and then fly home. All it costs me is the time I am gone. I will bring a sewing project to work on while travelling.
She also gave me a code to upload my CV, personal letter, linked in profile, and a url for a job I am interested in to get feedback at no cost (the company normally charges more than 300 SEK for each of those services, with a slight discount if you ask for the package deal). The documents can be in either Swedish or English, and one can specify which language one wants the feedback (and it doesn't have to be the same language as the documents), and one can even specify specific questions for the feedback person. Since I have a local job to apply for that needs a Swedish application, I am so using this service!
typed 14 February (Friday):
Feeling accomplished. On Wednesday I had a skype meeting with one of my thesis supervisors to brainstorm possible approaches for an application for the Mineralogical society of America's student grant for research in mineralogy and petrology. I promised him I would have a first draft to him "before Monday". I just sent it. I think that this year's attempt has a much better chance at a "yes" than last year's (which got a no, despite being a proposal that my supervisors and I all thought was good).
and typed today, 16 February:
I have spent a big chunk of the day cleaning the piles of sewing projects, UFOs and mending to do, sorting it, organising it, and making trello cards for everything, each card in a list for where the project is, and detailing what needs doing.
It will take ages to finish all of them, but I think the odds of my doing so have now gone up...
some of them need so little work...