An updatey thing!
Oooo a post by me! This hasn't happened for a while. Anyway here are the few thoughts going through my mind at this moment:
1. I've noticed the weather is getting better. Apart from a reduced heating bill and slightly more comfortable cycle into work (although it would be if my bike didn't break yesterday :( ) this can only mean the onset of spring and a change to the cold and snowy winter. The days are getting warmer but the nights are still fairly cold so spring is not here yet but hopefully in 3 weeks time today, camping 6.5 miles down the road *gloat* will be certainly more pleasant than the blizzard that was Easter last year. Or else people are welcome to crash at my flat :)
2. Science. Being at the so called cutting edge of chemical research isn't always what it's cracked up to be. Overcrowded work space, failing facilities and generally poopy temporary 1970s chemistry wing makes the brand spanking new 60 Million Chemical Research Laboratory I once did my PhD at look like... err... well something out of a film I guess. But generally speaking academic research labs are about as good as Nottingham gets. However in industry where money floweth like dihydrogen monoxide the facilities are obviously far better but the research tends to be far more dull if classified as research at all. So herein lies the quandry for me to consider in a year's time: stay in academia and do what you want but not a lot of it or go into industry and have a great professional life being bored out of my mind? Having had a few months of industry experience makes me feel like having better facilities will mean getting more work done = greater happiness. At the same time if the work seems dull like patent deconstruction (taking already tried and tested chemicals and working out ways round patents to get more longevity of a product) then I start to ask myself where the real scientific value in it is. Afterall if you don't care what job you do then surely you want a job which pays more money for less time so you can spend more time being happy doing something else. Maybe these musings are purely a reflection of current job disatisfaction :( If nothing else I'm just considering my options a year before contract completion.
3. I've discovered the post-spleen-vent exuberance.
4. My mini-lemon plant may have snuffed it over the course of the winter. Or else is hibernating with no leaves on. Might need to replace it with something and I'm quite partial to blueberrys so might have to get a blueberry bush.
5. Still wondering what it would be like to have a bath of mercury. Apart from the obvious weight issue I wonder what floating on a liquid 13 times denser than water would be like.
1. I've noticed the weather is getting better. Apart from a reduced heating bill and slightly more comfortable cycle into work (although it would be if my bike didn't break yesterday :( ) this can only mean the onset of spring and a change to the cold and snowy winter. The days are getting warmer but the nights are still fairly cold so spring is not here yet but hopefully in 3 weeks time today, camping 6.5 miles down the road *gloat* will be certainly more pleasant than the blizzard that was Easter last year. Or else people are welcome to crash at my flat :)
2. Science. Being at the so called cutting edge of chemical research isn't always what it's cracked up to be. Overcrowded work space, failing facilities and generally poopy temporary 1970s chemistry wing makes the brand spanking new 60 Million Chemical Research Laboratory I once did my PhD at look like... err... well something out of a film I guess. But generally speaking academic research labs are about as good as Nottingham gets. However in industry where money floweth like dihydrogen monoxide the facilities are obviously far better but the research tends to be far more dull if classified as research at all. So herein lies the quandry for me to consider in a year's time: stay in academia and do what you want but not a lot of it or go into industry and have a great professional life being bored out of my mind? Having had a few months of industry experience makes me feel like having better facilities will mean getting more work done = greater happiness. At the same time if the work seems dull like patent deconstruction (taking already tried and tested chemicals and working out ways round patents to get more longevity of a product) then I start to ask myself where the real scientific value in it is. Afterall if you don't care what job you do then surely you want a job which pays more money for less time so you can spend more time being happy doing something else. Maybe these musings are purely a reflection of current job disatisfaction :( If nothing else I'm just considering my options a year before contract completion.
3. I've discovered the post-spleen-vent exuberance.
4. My mini-lemon plant may have snuffed it over the course of the winter. Or else is hibernating with no leaves on. Might need to replace it with something and I'm quite partial to blueberrys so might have to get a blueberry bush.
5. Still wondering what it would be like to have a bath of mercury. Apart from the obvious weight issue I wonder what floating on a liquid 13 times denser than water would be like.