Chilly temperatures have descended over the Bay this week so I had to wrap up snuggly to venture into the city. The biggest Earth Sciences conference of the year has come once again to San Francisco so there’s lots of data to present, co-authors to meet up with, presentations to sit through and friends to catch up with (that’s the best part). Busy times ahead for the next few days…

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as Brrr…(day 217)

• The whole long-distance marriage thing.
• I’m missing my friends back in California more and more every day, and missing the lifestyle too.
• The fact that I’m getting frustratingly little writing done as it’s too distracting to work from home with so many other people around, plus the fact that my non-academic IP address restricts my access to resources online.
• I can’t decide whether to knit or crochet.
• I have a horrid feeling that a jacket I’m crocheting is too small.
• My sewing machine is still broken.

However feeling down in the dumps and sorry for myself has lately got a bit too boring and has been doing nothing overall to aid these niggley stresses that are still niggling away at the back of my mind. So out of fear of falling further into a chasm of self pity, I thought I’d better be proactive and do something to haul myself back out- I’m naturally an optimistic soul and don’t really thrive in a pit of negativity. The forward movement of my immigration in the last couple of days has certainly helped, and it’s no coindence that my mood has ameliorated as that’s right up there at the top of  my little stress list right now. That all got FedEx-ed off this morning, so that’s one less thing to be moody about, hurrah.

Obviously there still remains the issue of missing my friends, but there’s not much I can do about the first right now except be patient. It’s natural to feel so near yet so far, especially that I’m just a matter of weeks away from having been home in England for an entire year now. Patience, patience, that’s what I need and in the meantime there’s always email and the phone.

Work however is something that I’ve been rapidly losing patience with lately. BUT the big thing that I’m happy about is that I’m now officially allowed access to the Bodleian Library at Oxford! This is a source of great excitement as I’ve been getting frustratingly little research/writing done at home as it’s too distracting with so many other people around, plus the fact that my non-academic IP address restricts my access to resources online. It’s a bit of a commute to get there, but I think the effort will be worthwhile. I’m hoping to be able to go once or twice a week which should allow me to get something done yet still allow me to maximise family time. EEEPS I’m excited!!

Getting access to the libary was quite an adventure in itself- I had to fill in an application form, write a short personal statement about why I needed to have access, PROVIDE REFERENCES to support my application and then sit down and have a ‘chat‘ with one of the library registrars. It was a bit like having a job interview! They’re basically screening people to make sure that they’re not tourists wanting to look around inside, and as the lady ‘interviewing’ me put it, they want to “stop people who are just after a quiet place to sit with a book or a newspaper.” Anyway, thankfully I passed their screening, and now have a six month pass. I can’t wait to spend time walking past all the tourists and through the magic doors with the big NO VISITORS signs

By the time I’d been granted access, and had located and poked around inside the Science Libary (which was disappointingly unspectacular which is why I’m going to work in the main libary next time which is the famous one) much of the day had gone and I didn’t really have time to take any photos of Oxford- just the one above, and a very quick photoshoot with the special girl who had come with me. This was Ava’s first big outing since she arrived in her super cool car.

So the work stuff, *sorted*. Now for the hobby stuff….

After humming and haahing for about two or three months, I *finally* decided tonight to frog the crocheted jacket that I had started to make earlier this year. Deep down I wasn’t happy with how the sizing was turning out and for that reason had put the project onto a hiatus. There’s nothing worse than pursuing a major crafting project when your heart’s just not in it.

So my crochet is now no more- all unraveled and now just balls of yarn. But this single action has also killed another bird as with this project now temporarily shelved, I’m free to get back on with my knitting and not have the difficult decision to make between the two yarn projects. YAY!

Now there’s just the small matter of getting my sewing machine fixed, but I can do that next week

Fingers crossed other things will continue to improve at the same rate as the past few days… here’s hoping!

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as Proactive and productive!

For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been gradually getting myself back into (semi) full-time research-paper-writing mode. I say ‘semi’ as a psychological precaution as that way I can justify taking a day off every now and again to spend time with friends and family before I emigrate and not beat myself up about it afterwards. I knew that getting back into my old work frame would not be an instant transition (lots of past information to recall for example!) but what I forgot to account for was quite how tiring it would be.

During the past nine months when I spent eight hours a day standing on my feet serving coffee to angry shoppers, I think large portions of my previously heavily-utilised memory function might have gone into hibernation. The coffee work was concentration-heavy as there was non-stop multitasking and lots of quick-fire instruction to take onboard, but it really only focused on what was happening in the next 90 seconds. As a result I’m now extremely efficient at listening and quick in conversation, not to mention far more conversationally articulate than I have felt for years, but when it comes to sitting down with a journal article, zoom-focussing in on what I’m reading and attempting to synthesise how it might relate to something else that I’ve read previously…. that’s what I’m struggling with right now. My short-term memory is needlepoint-sharp and I can recall a recent conversation practically word-for-word, but my longer-term recollection is like a blunt, rusty knife. And going through the whole process of sharpening the blade again is quite mentally exhausting.

Nevertheless I’m enjoying it. The end of day feeling of a tired, throbbing head from thinking too hard is far more satisfying than a feeling of tired throbbing feet from having been standing on them all day. And I’m sure with a little bit more practice I’ll get back up to speed.

PS Scarlett got to wear her new dungarees today

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as Among the fields of barley

My latest blog crush has been on Tracy Cupcakes x of Cupcakes At Home x. As the snow came down on Sunday and I found myself with an empty morning owing to a cancelled walk, I settled on the couch with a cup of tea in my hand and my computer on my lap and became completely lost in her bloggy life. Not only does she have a LOVELY family of animals that expands at about the same rate as my growing plastic brood, but she’s a pretty magnificent crafter to boot. It was probably for this that I came over all creative myself on that cold Sunday afternoon.

Eagle-eyed (and crafty) visitors to PH may have noticed something exciting in one of the photos I posted a couple of weeks ago…. See in this photo? There’s a piece of luggage with bright red writing on it…

That word says *PFAFF*. Yes, dearest husband of mine flew all the way from California with my beautiful shiny sewing machine in tow Here she is…

Hello Darling!

So with freshly inspired creative blood flowing through my blogged out veins and time on my hands, it was the perfect opportunity to break her out of her luggage straps and put her to use. Remember the patchwork charm quilt that I mentioned a while ago and never mentioned again? That was my project (I’ve actually banned myself from starting new projects before others are finished as it makes me feel like I have completion issues which makes me feel guilty and then the guilt stops me feeling crafty, so nothing ever gets finished which takes me back to square one).

But anyway that quilt was progressing, but it was rather laborious and sluggish as I was working on my grandmother’s old antique hand crank. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a beautiful old machine, but it’s just rather slow and you’ve only got one hand to feed the fabric and so lining up seams and corner was about ten times more work. With my lovely Pfaff however, I made excellent progress. This is how it stood at the end of the afternoon (hard to imagine, but there was 4″ of snow just a couple of hours previously). This morning it had just been scrappy looking pieced strips.

And then in the evening, I worked on adding a border. I had excellent help of course. I wouldn’t have been able to have done this without such excellent advice and tuition. Clearly I was putting the tape measure in the wrong place each time, but he soon sorted that out for me, never seeming to mind at all. Thankyou Barn!

By the end of the night I’d put the border on too. I tried to get a picture of it this afternoon but it was so windy that it took about half an hour! Anyway, this is how it all looks now, all ready for backing and binding.

The border seemed to take almost as long as assembling all the strips. I tried to be a bit creative with the corners, partly because I wanted to make them a feature, and partly because I didn’t have the patience to sit down and mitre them properly which would have been a nightmare given the pattern of the fabric.

Proper methodological patchworkers who are old and dead would probably have completely turned in their graves at my technique as I practically bent every single rule when it came to the border- I didn’t measure, neither did I cut along a flat edge, I just looked, lined up then cut and sewed freehand, but it seems to have turned out ok. I’m pretty pleased with how the points in the corners all matched up (i.e. the points of the diagonal square are still points where they meet the seams), so I must have done something right. I’m sure they just ad-libbed and improvised in the old days.

So there it is. My almost finished patchwork. Now all I have to do is decide how I’m going to quilt it. I’m looking forward to doing that

Thankyou Tracy for inspiring me to get this finished x

But aside from an afternoon of homely domesticity there was something else that I got from reading Tracy’s blog too. Within the past year she and her boyfriend have moved their life from the near coastal parts of southeastern England to the rural wilds of northeast Scotland…..effectively an emigration, like me. Following the details of packing up their life in Kent, saying goodbye to everything in life they’d known and leaving all their friends and family, it suddenly hit me that I would be doing this myself in a few short months from now. And it’s a pretty big thing. When I’m in California, I won’t just be able to jump in a car and drive down the road to see my family, I’ll have to take time off work and fly there. This is the last time in my life that I am going to be living under the same roof as my family and I should be making the absolute most of it and spending every single second of my waking hours with them if I can help it. With this realisation, my tiring, badly-paid, unsociable-houred part time job suddenly became very unimportant to me, so before I went to bed last night I typed out my resignation letter, and this morning I gave it in. I will be leaving there on 1st May. To spend precious time with my Mummy, my Daddy, my sisters and my cat. I feel happy xxx

I will no doubt miss the little bit of income that I have been bringing in each week, but time with my loved ones is worth more than all the money I have ever earned in that job put together. And besides, the tax man should be giving me a nice little refund that I can sustain myself from for the next few months

So thankyou again Tracy Cupcakes, this weekend you gave me a nice new quilt, and some nice new priorities xxx

PS Mr Afterburn’s site is also a recent blog indulgence, and is the most touching, heartbreaking and heartwarming writing that I have ever read. But take a hanky if you go there. He also happens to be a good friend of Tracy Cupcakes.

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as Blog love and sewing progress

I actually feel a lot happier today. I called SirMrNin last night and he took a rather pragmatic approach to the whole situation. He encouraged me to think twice about quitting, reminding me that it provides a good change of scene and gives me a time-filler and a valuable sense of purpose and fulfillment which is good for my psyche whilst I’m waiting things out over here. He also pointed out that where he is more than willing and able to support me financially through this stage, the little bit of money that I earn allows me to do some guilt-free spending, and very importantly gives me a small sense of independence in an otherwise totally dependent situation that I find myself in during immigration limbo. Again, very good for my psyche. And very good for my craft projects too- these things require a fairly steady source of funding In these respects I can only agree with him– the opposite extreme to what I’m doing right now can be equally stressful, just in a different way. It’s kind of scary to think that someone else can know me so well, but it’s kind of comforting at the same time. I guess this is what having a special someone is all about. We also decided that four months is TOO LONG to spend apart, so we’re going to rectify that next time. I think that’s what a lot of my unhappiness was about too. It’s all the time apart, and the not knowing when we can get on with business as usual again. But I can’t do much about that unfortunately.

I think I was also panicking as I didn’t yet know my schedule for the week that he was coming over, and was worried that we wouldn’t have any time together after he’d flown all this way. I already feel awful that I won’t be able to meet him at the airport, and I was getting very anxious indeed that I wouldn’t be able to see him off either, but my questions were answered today and I now know my schedule up until the New Year. Much to my joy I have five whole days off in a row over Christmas and I also get New Year’s EVE off as well as New Year’s Day, so yes, I will be able to take him to the airport and wave him off, HURRAH! Actually I’m not looking forward to that day at all, but the fact that I can actually be there means a lot.

ALSO, as from NEXT WEEK I will be going down to a four-day week consisting of 20-23 hours with only an occasional 5.30am start. I’m so thrilled about this, and I feel back to my normal happy self again as a result! It’s amazing how just one little thing like this could have tipped me off kilter, and one little change could have got me right back on track. Like I said, for me it’s all about getting the right balance. Hopefully I have that now. My first extra day off is next Wednesday and I’ve already decided that I might go up to London to celebrate, YAY!

The other good thing about today was that it gave me the chance to write in my beautiful new Moleskine 2008 diary that I’ve been dribbling over and looking forward to using since I bought it AUGUST (I was worried they might sell out )

So today turned out to be rather nice in the end. Much, much better than yesterday when I think I hit rock bottom. The only way is up now. Thankyou again for all your lovely support, I’m really very touched by all your kindness. You’re all very special *HUGS*

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as You’re all so sweet and kind!

We walked there this afternoon after lunch which took place after I’d slept in until half past midday. And then when we got back from the walk, I plonked myself down on the couch and within 20 minutes I was asleep again. Next thing I knew, it was approaching 8pm (too late to start playing with all the photos I took) and my only one day off in two weeks had slipped past my consciousness, and the beginning of the next week was approaching the horizon.

I sit here writing this still feeling utterly exhausted, living the consequences of having worked a week with each day starting with a 5.30am alarm call, and then walking through the front door again at the end of the day at 7pm. I’m tired, I’m not eating properly, I feel icky, and I’ve been a complete whingebag for the last seven days. This isn’t the person I want to be and it makes me sad that I am.

Tonight I read an email from schoolfriends about a Christmas get-together on the 27th. These days we only manage to get together a couple of times a year at the most (usually at weddings and hoidays), and it’s something I look forward to each time. Originally this was planned for the evening, but now it has been shifted to the afternoon, so I’m probably not going to be able to make it after all. I’m also beginning to get very concerned that my ‘part-time‘-job-that-I-don’t-need-the-money-from is going to steal me away from the ten days that I get to spend with DrMrNin when he is over for Christmas. I tried asking for time off last month to spend with him, but was told that this would not be possible.

Even my family have noticed how miserable I am right now and are putting pressure on me to hand in my two-week notice. I’m beginning to wonder if they’re right.

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as I call this the ‘Secret Pond’

This past weekend I had three days off in a row and finally I was able to sit back and see my life from a different perspective. I had a very lovely time visiting some good friends up in Harrow whom I hadn’t seen since the wedding, and because I had three days I was able to stay overnight and spend most of Sunday with them too without having to rush back and finish up random menial tasks at home before bedding down for work the next day. On Monday I made excellent progress with Project Bedroom, and then in the evening I went out with another dear friend, again whom I hadn’t seen since the summer. It was when I was with my friends that I realised that the only thing that had kept me from seeing them before was that there had not been enough time. It made me feel rather sad, but I was greatly appreciative of the time we spent together.

My blissful three day-weekend unfortunately comes at a price though – I must now work 11 days in a row with only one day off in the middle, the thought of which is making me miserable which is not how I want to feel right now (I already have something else to feel miserable about). Yes, it all boils down to me spending too much time at work and not enough time at play. I decided to be proactive about it, and hence made the decision to ask for a four-day working week as soon as I got into work this morning.

This doesn’t necessarily mean a cut in my hours though, far from it in fact. When I accepted this job it was on the understanding that I would be working 20 hours each week, but as my time at the company has slowly increased, so too have my working hours. Take this coming week for example, I will be working a total of 37 hours which is almost double what I originally signed up for. Under any other circumstances I would be grateful for the extra money, but this time around my priorities are very different. I’m in the extremely fortunate position right now where I don’t exactly have to work, but I choose to to help distract my mind away from the several thousand miles that separate my current life here, from my regular life back in California. In that respect I welcome the chance to get out of the house as it helps the time fly. But the time I value more than anything right now is that which I can spend with my family. This is very precious to me given my pending move and was the silver lining in my cloud of immigration limbo. And I resent that this is meant to be my year of relaxation and hobbytime after having pushed my way through acadaemia for the past ten years, and yet I have less and less time to enjoy doing things that I love.

I was told to my dismay that cutting down my hours to those which I am actually contracted to do cannot happen until after Christmas (there’s an expectation that our lives must revolve around our jobs ), but at least that’s only three and a bit weeks away now. I just have to be very careful not to let myself get too overtired and grumpy for when MrNin is over as that would break my heart- I’ve been looking forward to his visit for months.

But I already feel relieved- I simply cannot wait to have an extra day off- I’ll be able to spend more time with my family, catch up with friends as I will actually have the time to do that now, I’ll be around home in the daylight so that I can start taking pictures again, I’ll have time to write papers and look for a proper job, and I will finally be able to get on with some more knitting projects. Poor Paige hasn’t had a new jumper for weeks!

PS Regarding that whole immigration thing, we rang the helpline and this is the latest info…

—–Original Message—–
From: MrNin@hisemailaddress.com
Date: Nov 26, 2007 11:22 PM
To:”Nin”
Subject: Re: Greencard
they say that due to the fee increase, they got a ton of new applications before june 1. that’s the spike in apps causing the delay (another bad mark for that terrible lawyer…and it wouldn’t have mattered if we were married unless it was before june 1). normally, it’s 4 weeks now it’s up to 15 weeks for the receipt. i was transferred but the wait was 30 min, so i’ll have to call back later and get more info.

MUUUUH!!!! That “terrible lawyer” that ProfDrMrNin mentioned was the one we saw last October after we got engaged who neglected to inform us of the forthcoming change in immigration laws, and he also failed to let us know about the planned increase in the immigration fees which have caused the surge in applications. I can’t even bring myself to think of how life had been different had we been given proper advice back then. The angry person inside me wants to KICK AND SCREAM at him, or even sue him for his bad advice although what with him being a lawyer he’s got an unfortunate advantage over us. Harumph.

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as A little life audit

And my induction at work went really well too. It was all rather basic stuff really, but there’s rather a lot to take in, but much, MUCH more importantly was that I really enjoyed it. It’s busy, varied and above all, FUN! I have training on the job all next week so my hours are a bit strange, but then the following Monday marks the start of a normal working week, hurrah. I HAVE A JOB!!! Hurrah for being employed, and hurrah for having MONEY GOING INTO THE BANK at last. Gosh that’s going to be so nice after the past year of seemingly non-stop expenditures.

And on yet another brighter note, I had a phonecall yesterday asking me to interview for the job I applied to, but I was able to say very proudly that thankyou, but as of the other day, I am already employed. It would have been a good second choice though, and it’s nice to feel desired. Not bad really, given that I only applied for two jobs, and had interview requests for both. I was worried that I wasn’t going to get anything, full stop, given that I’m only here for nine months. Maybe the gods are on my side after all? Anyway, it’s nice to have things to smile about again.

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as But on a brighter note…

But nothing prepared us for what we would encounter on the last day… In the afternoon, we decided to visit Vikingsholm (one of the mansion houses just off Highway 89, in Emerald Bay).

We first noticed the fire at around 3.15pm or so, and at this stage it was a plume of white smoke in the sky that looked like low cloud. We were on the trail to see the Eagle Falls waterfall which is at the bottom of Emerald Bay, about a mile down from the parking lot. From where we were, we could only tell that it was a forest fire because we could see where it was coming from. Had we not seen the source of the smoke, it would have just looked like clouds. But within about 20-30 minutes or so, the plume started to turn dirty yellow and brown. It was clearly spreading fast. The layer of smoke was starting to reach out over the lake.

As we walked back up the mile-long path back to the car up the path overlooking Emerald Bay, it looked like there were multiple fires, rather than just one. As we climbed, we could also hear the sirens of the fire trucks.

Because we weren't familiar with the scale of the mountains, we couldn't work out where the fire was- whether it was a smaller fire close by, or one giant fire miles and miles away. But as we drove down Highway 89 toward South Lake, it soon became clear that it was all happening just a couple of mountains away. There were a couple of really clear vantage points as the road ascended up the coastline, especially round by the entrance to the Emerald Bay campground, and from here you could see the bright orange furnace of the flames. We passed a couple of other campgrounds on the way, and we could see a lot of people were packing up and leaving as there was a line to get out of the campground. In the campground itself, people were standing around talking, obviously deciding what to do, and you could see in the distance the billows of smoke rising above the ridge at the back of the campground. We carried on heading south.

We got to the "Y" in South Lake Tahoe at around 4.30. You could see the smoke in the air, and the whole place smelt of burning wood (like a campfire, it wasn't unpleasant). Clods of ash started falling on our windshield, and the light was very dim.

Overhead, helicopters were flying back and forth, scooping up giant buckets of water to dump on the blaze.

There were a lot of worried people standing in parking lots on their cellphones. We continued on down Highway 89, attempting to tune into local radio stations for word of what was happening. We were fortunate that we wouldn't come up against any road closures to keep us from coming home, and it rapidly became apparent thereafter that were part of a large-scale evacuation from the area. Thereafter, I basically stuck my camera lens out of the window and kept my finger on the shutter all the time, documenting our surreal journey home. I've posted below a couple of my favourites, but you can see are a lot more by clicking HERE

After we turned onto Highway 50, the road was clear, but we rounded a ridge and lost sight of the main fire. The only glimpses we got were a plume of smoke in the rear view mirrors, which trigger-happy me of course photographed! There were also a lot of fire trucks that whizzed by.

The final roadblock at the end of the set was at Pollock Pines 17 miles away from South Lake Tahoe, and they were stopping people heading toward the city. So basically, they were letting everyone out, but no-body in. All in all, it only took us an extra hour and a half-to-two hours to get home. And luckily for us, we were able to get home, and home for us is in a place that isn't about to be engulfed by flames and taken away from us without our will. My heart goes out to anyone who is feeling a fire-related loss right now. We can only hope that the hard working fire crews are able to get this inferno under control, and that life in South Lake Tahoe can at least attempt to get back to normal.

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as Our evacuation from the Angora Ridge Forest Fire at Lake Tahoe

We have reached a decision. We will be staying put right here in California! HOOOO RAAAAAH!!! (In case you’re wondering what the heck I’m on about, you can read all about it very quickly here). I am very VERY relieved. Pheeew!

Good GRIEF, what a WEEK!

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as Pictures that paint a thousand words….

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as I don’t think they want people to use this door…

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as Gone AWOL

Quite why I suddenly decided to bake, I’m not altogether sure, but it might be to do with the fact that we had a bit of news yesterday afternoon (relayed to me on the phone from a rather excited SoonToBeMrNin) about the whole job situation. You can read about that here and here (although I should probably remove those links ultimately in case I get dooced). The news that he called to tell me was that we might be staying in the same area after all, which has done nothing but fill me with absolute glee. Why wouldn’t it? I mean I’m just beginning to feel settled here, I’m passionately in love with the city that I’ve been able to call home for the past 15 months, and above all else, we have some really amazing friends close by, with whom I know we’ll be friends for life. So it’s an understatement to say that I’d be devastated to leave. I’m still not allowing myself to get completely excited about it just yet, just in case it all falls through, as that could still happen, although I’m told that that’s unlikely. They very much want him apparently….*mustkeepcalm, mustkeepcalm*. But if it all works out we might even be able to buy a house *breathe, breathe* and actually settle down properly *mustkeepcalm, mustkeepcalm, breathe, mustkeepcalm*. Oh the excitement! Anyway, we’re hoping that this will all be sorted out within the next week or so *YAY!*. So maybe there’ll be more cakes upon the horizon? I hope so. Speaking of which, writing this post has somehow made me roaring wih hunger, so I’m going to dig in to a nice big chunk and get the day off to a good start (hey, I’m allowed, it’s Friday!)

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as Martha Stewart would be very proud

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as And to make matters worse…

But all didn't exactly go to plan.

Toward the middle of the summer, my boyfriend (who is also a scientist) had one of his grants cut, with immediate effectiveness. Now in science, job security really very much depends on your sources of grant money, and basically your job can only last as long as your money will allow. This is less of a case if you are a faculty member as you have 9 months of your salary covered by the institution for your teaching responsibilities, and so you only have to find 3 months. And if the worse comes to the worst, you can actually live off a 9 month salary a lot of the time. But where by boyfriend works, it's a research institution, no teaching, so he has to find money to cover 100% of his salary for 12 months of the year.

This grant cut that he was told about was significant. It would mean that his money would run out in September of that year, instead of February the following year. It was a 6 month cut in his funding. Not good. In the past, before 9/11, wars in Afghanistan and the invasion to impose "freedom" on Iraq, there was more money in science. People in situations like ours could weather the storm, and in fact, these storms happened less often as grant cuts didn't exactly happen that often. But since the fiscal irresponsibility of the current federal regime, there has been less money to fund research, and scientists have increasingly found themselves having to tread water, having to keep their heads up in active research by living off the rainy day money that they had ever so gradually set aside from previous grant awards. Or for those in academia, get by with just their 9 month faculty salary and either take a hiatus from research (risky) or somehow do it for 'free'. Or for non-faculty scientists, as a very last resort, get emergency fund money from the host institution to stay afloat until the next grant opportunity. That's us, we're on the emergency money right now. And we're not sure how much longer we can make it last. Fortunately he successfully managed to appeal the initial grant cut and get the funding reinstated to its original term, but since February, we have been on the emergency fund. He's doing everything he can, he's applying for new grants and applying for new jobs (i.e. faculty positions which at least have a component of guaranteed salary). But here's the deal….there is just no money right now. Nobody has any money either, which means that for that little bit of grant money that is available, there is so much competition for it. Put it this way- one of the grants that he just applied for….apparently there were 84 applications for that grant money. Out of those, the agency is going to fund just 3 of them. Considering that it takes weeks of time to prepare for each application, it hardly seems that it's worth it. But it has to be done.

Jobwise, everyone's kind of in the same boat across the whole country, so even finding a new position isn't exactly easy. Couple the fact that there's increasing competition for any faculty job right now (faculty position = job security), back in the days one used to be able to get what's called a 'start up package' whereby among other things like lab equipment, you could get a couple of years worth of research money that you could use to get data to apply for more grants. You've guessed it, because of the lack of money, startup packages are becoming unrealistically small. It's like you need a grant even before you get a faculty position, which is stupid really when some grants require you to have a position before they will even consider you for funding.

So, if you followed all of that, you can basically see that IT SUCKS right now to be a scientist.

And because of the situation, and not knowing where we'll be living, and the chance that we could be moving any time, I have not been in the position to apply for a job. It would be not worth anyone's time to accept a position only to have to hand my notice in 3 weeks later, and neither of us wanted to be newly married, but living on opposite sides of the country….even the world. So I am currently jobless too. I have a visiting research position, so I technically work for free, but this can't go on forever. At least I have something for my resume I guess. i just wish we knew what was going to happen.

© Originally published by Nin for |••• PeachyHollow •••| as The worst job in the world right now