Yesterday I had a job interview - my first one, for an academic post (a teaching assistantship). I'm very, very excited to say I got the job, and start next month!
Two hours after receiving the call offering me that job, my Father phoned to tell me the arrangements for my Nan's funeral on Monday.
My joy over the new job too is mixed with a tinge of sadness. Little Dog and I will have to move away from the City I love, that has been home for me for nine years. Away from my friends, whom I will leave here with a great deal of reluctance. We will keep in touch, but it won't be the same.
My new job, though, is much closer to my family. It will be easier to see them, much more often, which has to be a good thing! I miss them, whilst I'm here.
Joy and sadness in a balance. Strange how the world works.
Wednesday, 19 September 2007
Tuesday, 11 September 2007
Size matters
That's size matters, rather than size matters - I don't want to comment on the latter.
I went to visit my family this weekend, and while I was there my jeans split. Not in a 'I have finally put on so much weight that I split the seams' way, more in a 'I spend so much time sitting down that I have worn through the bottom' sort of way. All my jeans when they split do it in the same place. I must do a lot of sitting / wriggling on that side! Well, that's my excuse. And I'm sticking to it.
So, in a state of emergency, we went jeans shopping at the outlet village, where the jeans shop happened to have a buy two get a third pair free offer on. Fabulous. Even better - my mum offered to treat me to them, so I got three pairs of jeans for the price of none. Hurrah! (and thank you, mum!)
I got two pairs the same, and a pair that I really liked. In fact, I liked them so much that I didn't even say no, I won't try on a size bigger than I would usually go to (I was already on the bigger size than I like to think I am and they wouldn't fit). Bought the bigger pair.
Then we went to another shop, and bought a fourth pair. By this point, I was really fed up of trying on, so we just got them in my usual size, and decided to return them if they wouldn't fit. I got them home and put them on, and they fitted perfectly.
So, within a matter of 2hours, maybe less, I got 4 pairs of jeans: one size 10, two size 12 and a size 14 (which is a little tight). Maybe this is to do with the jeans' country of origin? Perhaps. But if I can comfortably wear three different sizes within 2 hours, then does the size on the label really matter? If you wear what's comfortable, and what you look good in, then the rest is just numbers, isn't it?
And as an aside - I'd like to reiterate what I said in a comment on ThePhDLitChick's site - men, if I can see your boxers over the top of your jeans, then your jeans are too big. If the crotch of your trousers is tying your knees together, then your trousers are too big. (Not trendy. Not cool. Too big). And to the man I followed up the stairs from the bus stop on campus this morning: you need to sort this out quickly; the view from behind is not pleasant.
I went to visit my family this weekend, and while I was there my jeans split. Not in a 'I have finally put on so much weight that I split the seams' way, more in a 'I spend so much time sitting down that I have worn through the bottom' sort of way. All my jeans when they split do it in the same place. I must do a lot of sitting / wriggling on that side! Well, that's my excuse. And I'm sticking to it.
So, in a state of emergency, we went jeans shopping at the outlet village, where the jeans shop happened to have a buy two get a third pair free offer on. Fabulous. Even better - my mum offered to treat me to them, so I got three pairs of jeans for the price of none. Hurrah! (and thank you, mum!)
I got two pairs the same, and a pair that I really liked. In fact, I liked them so much that I didn't even say no, I won't try on a size bigger than I would usually go to (I was already on the bigger size than I like to think I am and they wouldn't fit). Bought the bigger pair.
Then we went to another shop, and bought a fourth pair. By this point, I was really fed up of trying on, so we just got them in my usual size, and decided to return them if they wouldn't fit. I got them home and put them on, and they fitted perfectly.
So, within a matter of 2hours, maybe less, I got 4 pairs of jeans: one size 10, two size 12 and a size 14 (which is a little tight). Maybe this is to do with the jeans' country of origin? Perhaps. But if I can comfortably wear three different sizes within 2 hours, then does the size on the label really matter? If you wear what's comfortable, and what you look good in, then the rest is just numbers, isn't it?
And as an aside - I'd like to reiterate what I said in a comment on ThePhDLitChick's site - men, if I can see your boxers over the top of your jeans, then your jeans are too big. If the crotch of your trousers is tying your knees together, then your trousers are too big. (Not trendy. Not cool. Too big). And to the man I followed up the stairs from the bus stop on campus this morning: you need to sort this out quickly; the view from behind is not pleasant.
Tuesday, 4 September 2007
relaxing...?
Well, the thesis is in. Submitted. Possibly winging its way to the examiners. Possibly sitting on a shelf at student registry waiting for someone to remember to post it. Either way, it's in. It's too late now. There's nothing I can do about it.
Despite this, my mind keeps drifting onto things I could and should have done about it before I submitted it. Things missing from the bibliography; things I should have introduced / concluded more coherently; ways to go about things that would have made it more interesting, clearer, better. But it's too late now.
I am going away for a for days at the end of the week. A few days with my family during which I don't have to feel guilty about being there and working. Or being there and not working. I am looking forward to that. And, I have to change trains in the city where ThePhDLitChick lives, so we're going to catch up over coffee and brunch too, which will be lovely.
Also, I've started reading a novel. For fun. It's not a high brow literary novel. But it is by a modern author whose writing I enjoy a great deal. A real page turner. And I can read it without guilt. Wow. What a feeling.
This freedom, I fear, will not last long. The university semester is about to begin and I am teaching two different classes. There is much preparation to do. But maybe not today. Not quite yet...
Despite this, my mind keeps drifting onto things I could and should have done about it before I submitted it. Things missing from the bibliography; things I should have introduced / concluded more coherently; ways to go about things that would have made it more interesting, clearer, better. But it's too late now.
I am going away for a for days at the end of the week. A few days with my family during which I don't have to feel guilty about being there and working. Or being there and not working. I am looking forward to that. And, I have to change trains in the city where ThePhDLitChick lives, so we're going to catch up over coffee and brunch too, which will be lovely.
Also, I've started reading a novel. For fun. It's not a high brow literary novel. But it is by a modern author whose writing I enjoy a great deal. A real page turner. And I can read it without guilt. Wow. What a feeling.
This freedom, I fear, will not last long. The university semester is about to begin and I am teaching two different classes. There is much preparation to do. But maybe not today. Not quite yet...
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