I have been thinking about this post for a while and have finally found the time to actually get on her and write it. This is even more the case since today is the 6 month-a-versarry since I became unemployed. It is also the day after I received an email about the post I most recently applied for at the University of Warwick.
Where to start?
To understand this story better you have to go back to January of this year. You may remember I mentioned that I graduated back in January of this year. Over lunch my PhD supervisor popped in to see me and the family and asked how the job hunting was going. He suggested a few places to try for jobs and then I also mentioned that I had talked to a couple of academics about the possibility of working part time for the chemistry department looking at things on the electron microscopes - a sort of specialist that would look at samples a few days a week My supervisor said that he would be interested and that it had come to his attention that there was a lack of this sort of thing in the department and indeed the university, especially as I an my boss at the time were both due to leave. He said he would talk to a few people he knew and then get back to me. In fact he did talk to the head of department who was so enthusiastic he contacted the head of biology to insist that I be kept on. Sadly this was not possible and so as I understand it there were a number of high level discussions that went on about this topic and what to do. Additionally the post-doc in physics was also leaving meaning there was really nobody to man the scopes other than a few technicians. I don't know the whole storey but after much promising that a post was being created and that the job description was being written a job advert did eventually come out. According to my man on the inside the position fit my CV perfectly and there was support from those I knew in Chemistry and Biology departments. Unfortunately this was being run by physics. Prior to its publication was personally emailed by one of the professors in the physics department who asked me if I would be applying. I told him yes and then when the advert came out sent in my application. 6 weeks went by and then on the 6th June I received a letter stating that due to exciting developments in microscopy they were advertising a higher post and suspending the experimental officer post in favour of the senior research fellow post. I was informed that I could apply for the higher post but must meet the eligibility criteria. Well I did apply after trying to get a little more information from the inside sources I have, however they were stunned at the news and said they would look into it. Eventually at a meeting it became apparent that there was something afoot at a higher level and that this had determined the physics departments decision to act in this way. It seemed that after 4 months of patient waiting for a near perfect job it was not to be. I sent in my application and left the rest up to fate, hoping to get an interview at which I hoped to prove myself. That never happened and yesterdays 'Sorry, but no' email brings the whole sorry saga to an end.
There is however hope on the horrizon as I found out on Thursday that I have an interview on Monday 11th for another microscopy job... news to follow!
Thursday, 7 August 2008
Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside!
Hi all!
Sorry for being an absentee blogger, but I have been thinking about you all.
We had a little piece of good fortune care of my parents last week. Wednesday evening my mum called me about 10.30 and said "We have a bit of an urgent situation on our hands!" now my grandmother is 83 and so I panicked for a second in case it was something to do with her, however it turned out that they had made some kind of a mistake with hotel bookings and had managed to book a room in two different hotels for the same weekend!
Basically they asked if we wanted one of the rooms and of course we said yes at the chance of a free break.
So on Friday afternoon after a bit of hurried packing, we hopped into the car and drove down to Bournemouth on the south coast.The journey itself wasn't bad except for the part where the baby cried for about 40 minutes because she was bored. At home she can roam free and we haven't been on too many long journeys since she learned to crawl, so she took her nap for a few hours and was mighty put out to still be contained until we reached Bournemouth.
The girls didn't know that my parents were going to be there as all we had told them was we were gong on an adventure. We packed up their backpacks with clothes and swimming costumes and all they knew was we were going to sleep a few nights in a hotel. The deception worked brilliantly and when they saw Grammie and Grandad in the hotel bar they were surprised beyond words. They just looked at my parents, then up to Mageigh and then back to mum and dad. After a second a smile crept across my oldest girls face and her younger sisters face soon followed.
The hotel we stayed in was called the 'Belvedere' and despite having some very poor reviews on the website we consulted, we were happy enough with our stay. We called ahead to make sure the room was mould free and also to request a fan as some reviews had noted the rooms to be very hot even in the spring. The room was actually really good with a double bed, two singles and a cot. Startlingly both girls actually sleep in their respective beds and the baby even stayed in her cot for some of the night all three nights and all night on the Saturday night. The service we received was good and breakfast was also good. Additionally we had free use of the swimming pool much to the girls delight. Sadly we only got to go swimming once, however we all enjoyed it and we plan to go swimming again soon. All in all very acceptable and worthy of the hotels three stars.
Weather wise we were lucky and the rain stayed away except for one time when my dad had to hurry back to the pay and display car park to put more time on the meters. Despite getting caught in the downpour he wasn't too disgruntled. On Sunday we went to the Oceanarium in Bournemouth, as the weather was supposed to be wet. Everyone enjoyed themselves. I was most impressed by the massive Piranhas, which now having seen them close up actually look like the could eat a person or a horse in about 5 minutes. For the girls it was great and were delighted when they saw fish they could recognise from 'Finding Nemo'. Monday was a beach day and the weather held out, despite looking a little overcast. We did all get sun and my dad became a sand castle builder extraordinare.
I think the whole family had a good time and I know we all wished we could have stayed longer. In fact my oldest daughter even went so far as to ask my wife, "can we stay here forever?". My mum said she wanted us to have a break and boy was she right. For three days I was able to forget about jobs that didn't come and counting the pennies and pounds and calculating whether we could afford to pay a bill or rather have food instead. Of course I am now back and faced with it all again, but it was nice to have break from all that - Thank you mum and dad.
Sorry for being an absentee blogger, but I have been thinking about you all.
We had a little piece of good fortune care of my parents last week. Wednesday evening my mum called me about 10.30 and said "We have a bit of an urgent situation on our hands!" now my grandmother is 83 and so I panicked for a second in case it was something to do with her, however it turned out that they had made some kind of a mistake with hotel bookings and had managed to book a room in two different hotels for the same weekend!
Basically they asked if we wanted one of the rooms and of course we said yes at the chance of a free break.
So on Friday afternoon after a bit of hurried packing, we hopped into the car and drove down to Bournemouth on the south coast.The journey itself wasn't bad except for the part where the baby cried for about 40 minutes because she was bored. At home she can roam free and we haven't been on too many long journeys since she learned to crawl, so she took her nap for a few hours and was mighty put out to still be contained until we reached Bournemouth.
The girls didn't know that my parents were going to be there as all we had told them was we were gong on an adventure. We packed up their backpacks with clothes and swimming costumes and all they knew was we were going to sleep a few nights in a hotel. The deception worked brilliantly and when they saw Grammie and Grandad in the hotel bar they were surprised beyond words. They just looked at my parents, then up to Mageigh and then back to mum and dad. After a second a smile crept across my oldest girls face and her younger sisters face soon followed.
The hotel we stayed in was called the 'Belvedere' and despite having some very poor reviews on the website we consulted, we were happy enough with our stay. We called ahead to make sure the room was mould free and also to request a fan as some reviews had noted the rooms to be very hot even in the spring. The room was actually really good with a double bed, two singles and a cot. Startlingly both girls actually sleep in their respective beds and the baby even stayed in her cot for some of the night all three nights and all night on the Saturday night. The service we received was good and breakfast was also good. Additionally we had free use of the swimming pool much to the girls delight. Sadly we only got to go swimming once, however we all enjoyed it and we plan to go swimming again soon. All in all very acceptable and worthy of the hotels three stars.
Weather wise we were lucky and the rain stayed away except for one time when my dad had to hurry back to the pay and display car park to put more time on the meters. Despite getting caught in the downpour he wasn't too disgruntled. On Sunday we went to the Oceanarium in Bournemouth, as the weather was supposed to be wet. Everyone enjoyed themselves. I was most impressed by the massive Piranhas, which now having seen them close up actually look like the could eat a person or a horse in about 5 minutes. For the girls it was great and were delighted when they saw fish they could recognise from 'Finding Nemo'. Monday was a beach day and the weather held out, despite looking a little overcast. We did all get sun and my dad became a sand castle builder extraordinare.
I think the whole family had a good time and I know we all wished we could have stayed longer. In fact my oldest daughter even went so far as to ask my wife, "can we stay here forever?". My mum said she wanted us to have a break and boy was she right. For three days I was able to forget about jobs that didn't come and counting the pennies and pounds and calculating whether we could afford to pay a bill or rather have food instead. Of course I am now back and faced with it all again, but it was nice to have break from all that - Thank you mum and dad.
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