This space. What is it anyway? What is it *for*? I really knew what my livejournal account was for, I knew why I posted there and I knew what and how and for whom. But after nearly 200 posts in this new space, it still feels like clothes that don’t quite fit or  party where you don’t really know anyone. I thought if I just wrote, it would sort itself out, that I would find a voice or a tone or a something. But I haven’t really. LJ always felt more intimate. It felt more personal. But then, 5 years ago, I could write a lot more anonymously than now. And now it just feels really self conscious.

Anyway.

I started my new job this week. And for much of the week I just wanted to write a post with the one sentence: Life is weird. But halfway through I thought, no … life is interesting. When I first applied for this job I knew there was an hour and a half commute and I told C that I would have to leave home at *7.30* to get there by 9 and we both wondered how in the hell I would be able to do that. But then … then I had that weird jetlag thing and I started the getting to work at 7.30 thing so leaving home at 6.30 was completely doable. And so it is. And I dunno. Isn’t life funny the way totally disparate things can synchronise?

I like my new job and workplace so far. Everybody is really nice. I really like my new boss and team. The drive is long but I have signed up to try out Audible. com and that’s been working well. And the view is very pleasant. I’ve restructured the way I eat in the day so as to not get sugar drops on the long drives. I’ve started packing my own lunches now as well as breakfast cause there is no onsite canteen. And I’m happy. So far I’m really happy. The work is interesting and challenging. It’s enough in my experience to be able to hit the ground jogging but broader than my knowledge so that I will have to work hard to get up to speed for the level I will be expected to perform at – but I got an itemised checklist for what that specifically means. It’s going to be hard work and full on and challenging – this is both a little bit daunting and also the reason I went for the position. There’s room for me to grow and evolve and that’s exciting. So … this was a good thing.

And today we headed off to the jewellers to hand over my gems for my engagement ring, I’d been working to and fro with her on ideas for the ring and today we finalised it. And we got to use the gems as the deposit. There aren’t many moments in your life where you get to use stones as currency and I loved it! It did make me feel a bit like a swashbuckling pirate. I also played up a bit with the “have you brought the diamonds?” It’s not often you get to feel like you’re in a heist movie! I’m happy to have locked in a decision and am really looking forward to seeing the final product. Couple of weeks and I’ll finally have it. It’s amazing how many people’s eyes go straight to your left hand when you tell them you just got engaged. I’ve also been blown away by how many women will let you try on their rings to see what you like and what suits your hand.

That’s mostly my weekly check in. I’m intending to go back to working one full solid day of the weekend for TPP to make up for the lack of time I have in the week now from the commute. I was really really tired (and headachy) the first couple of nights and couldn’t do anything other than collapse on the couch. It’s amazing how draining just showing up to a new place, learning the ropes and meeting new people can be. I mean, I worked the full week before I started here and in work really similar. It’s not like I suddenly rocked up in ER for a Saturday night shift after being a pool boy or anything. Weird.

]]> http://champagneandsocks.com/2012/01/21/space/feed/ 2 http://champagneandsocks.com/2011/08/30/out-in-the-field/ http://champagneandsocks.com/2011/08/30/out-in-the-field/#comments Tue, 30 Aug 2011 01:10:54 +0000 http://champagneandsocks.com/?p=396 I keep meaning to write a report of my trip away last week but I am so deluged with work that I haven’t felt like sitting down and writing fun posts.

I was meant to do 6 days up north, spread over two weeks, but deadlines got in the way and I stayed in the office the first week. I was kind of glad. My deadlines were getting stressful and more pressing and I didn’t really want to be 6 nights away from home and Twelfth Planet Press. We really did need all the team up on the field work, in the end. There was a lot to do and everything always takes longer than you think in the field.

Highlights:

– the house we rented was pretty good

– my workmates are good cooks and we ate delicious food. A was unable to go out into the field due to being 7 months pregnant so she stayed at the house and ran the project from there. She was always stashing excellent snacks into our field supplies. And chocolate was mandatory. I do love my work mates

– I worked really long hours (not a highlight) but it’s amazing to see what a change in scenery and task can do for your attention span

– we were doing a bit of frontier type science so that was awesome fun

– discovered some awesomely awesome things that we got genuinely excited about – nerdish but fun, and doing it with other nerds who got equally excited

– did NOT get lost but did take about 3 hours to traverse 1 km in thick thicket bush. Might have scared myself a lot with Blair Witch flashbacks (and fear of spiders), might have had a field partner with a very very wicked sense of humour who preyed on that. It was only funny in the retelling. Especially since we were both genuinely rationing our water at that point.

– fell in love with kangaroos. OMG swoon I love them for their tracks to and from water holes – and the ones from a water hole ROCK like I cannot tell you (the same 1km distance only took 1 hour by kangaroo track)

– got bitten by  a spider – and um, was still more upset by the spider being ON ME than that it BIT ME. Gross spider that I’d never seen before. Still have the giant red welt.

– saw a just hatched long necked tortoise – SO CUTE!

– saw emus

– saw thrombolites in real life

– got back into appreciated a good cup of tea

Other highlights included being able to use the week as a jumpstart on feeling fitter which whilst I haven’t carried it on since getting back, I at least feel in a more kindly frame of mind about it. Was really careful to drink a lot of water in order to be hydrated in case of getting lost etc. and that has stuck with me since, which I’m happy about doing. I read a lot. And I knit almost a whole pair of socks – photos to come.