Thoughts on winter work
It's winter, so I'm in the lab. This is when I catch up on all the paperwork I've not been able to get to all year. I also write those reports that have been languishing for a couple of years waiting for someone (namely me) to get around to working on them.
I have a love/hate relationship with these reports. For the most part they are fairly easy to write, I learn lots from doing them and they go on my CV. The downside is that I usually didn't work on the site, didn't write up the notes or do any of the soil profiles. This means I'm at the mercy of whom ever was originally responsible for the testing. In the process of writing, I end up being part detective, part bloodhound tracking down material and part educated guesser when the notes cannot be found or are incomplete.
Like I said, I learn lots from them. One of the most important is what to do when I am out in the field and in charge. I know what I will need later in the lab, so I can make sure it's done in the field. The trick is convincing the crew to do it my way, not cut corners and keep detailed notes. Not so easy. But, that's what they pay me the big bucks for (NOT!!!)
I love the fact that I learn so much from my job!
I have a love/hate relationship with these reports. For the most part they are fairly easy to write, I learn lots from doing them and they go on my CV. The downside is that I usually didn't work on the site, didn't write up the notes or do any of the soil profiles. This means I'm at the mercy of whom ever was originally responsible for the testing. In the process of writing, I end up being part detective, part bloodhound tracking down material and part educated guesser when the notes cannot be found or are incomplete.
Like I said, I learn lots from them. One of the most important is what to do when I am out in the field and in charge. I know what I will need later in the lab, so I can make sure it's done in the field. The trick is convincing the crew to do it my way, not cut corners and keep detailed notes. Not so easy. But, that's what they pay me the big bucks for (NOT!!!)
I love the fact that I learn so much from my job!