The Neighbours Cat
This morning, the no-rain streak was broken in Oxford. Only just, though - it rained for probably half an hour (of course, it had to be during my walk to work), and even then it was very light. I had offered to water Dorothea's garden for her while she is gone, and since this morning's rain didn't really count, I was out there this evening. She's made quite a nice garden out of what was really a thickly overgrown junkyard. Its not quite finished yet - there is a patch in the middle that still has a bunch of deep rooted weeds to dig out - but all the edges and the back have been dug out and planted.
Its weird though, because I'm sure she must have known she'd be away from mid-July to October, yet she still planted things like tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, and flowers that only bloom in late summer. Oh well, I'll try not to let all of it go to waste.
Anyways, while I was out there I met the neighbours to the rear for the first time. They have apparently lost their cat :( There are a few pet cats wandering around that I often see in the back yard, one skinny little black one, and one I just saw tonight for the first time: a big one with very strange fur - it was like half spotted, half striped, and it looked like a cross between a housecat and some wild thing. The neighbour's cat is apparently another black one, but twice the size of the black kitty I've seen around. So I'm on the lookout for a pudgy black cat now.
Today at work was the usual - I have finished going through all the catalogues, and I've ordered them all by date on the shelves. I've also gone on the internet and found the results for as many sales as I can (though not all of the ones recorded are available online), and I've started doing the number crunching part of the assignment. That I'll continue tomorrow, and I expect I'll be done by the afternoon. After that...I'm not really sure what I'll do. There are some little tasks here and there - but none are too appealing or substantial, really. I still have a good 12 days in the office (3 out of office on the excavation), and I could probably take on one more little project - the problem is finding someone to think of one for me. I'll see if I can talk to someone tomorrow - it would be nice if I could just like go through some cupboards or something and do an inventory or some condition reporting. Not sure if that will happen though - with all these strict rules about keys, and since all the curators seem to have their plates full at the moment, I imagine it would be difficult for me to start something independently like that.
To make matters worse, a new intern just started today, and so things to do probably just got more scarce. She's an undergrad from Yale majoring in Archaeology and Politics. She seems nice and bright and everything but honestly, I don't know what she is going to do here, or even where she is going to sit. Its a little crazy how many interns, work experience students, and volunteers the department has taken on this summer - especially since half the time the curators are never even around. Because of that, the admin ladies and Helen often have to take on responsibility for us, and find things for us to do, which isn't their job. And I don't like being the reason they have to do it. The whole this was not very well planned.
Apparently, the new girl might be working with the Registrar frequently on some project to do with loans, so hopefully that will be enough for her...for a little while, anyways. Until I'm gone, haha. Don't steal my work!!
Its annoying too, because I know for a fact there is tons of work that needs to be done - but no one is really utilizing interns as a resource, and I feel that we are just in the way more than we are actually being helpful. Really, no one is benefiting from this system - the interns aren't getting significant collections-related experience, and the staff aren't getting any extra projects finished. If they would be willing to hand over a little more responsibility to us, I really think we could be very productive. I wonder if this is what it is like at all large museums. or if it just a result of an overworked post-renovation staff who feel pressure from the Director to take on as many students as possible.
So, I started this post in a good mood - watering the garden, talking to the neighbours, cats...and now since writing this I'm kind of annoyed and frustrated, lol. Way to be, blog, thanks a lot.