I admit it - my posts tend to be rather whiny, as a friend pointed out. And that same friend pointed out that I shouldn't feel guilty about the journal. After all, Since Jan 1st, I've made 70+ editorial decisions and sent 50+ papers out to review. I've also come back from South America, gone to North America, terminated one mole, installed the new eye-tracker, had my credit card details stolen, and been ill with influenza. What's there to whine about? That I haven't yet managed to write the paper that was due Feb 1st? A minor detail, that... Fact is, I provide a quality service and deserve a medal.
Perhaps if I repeated that last sentence a few million times I'd eventually believe it...
Actually: despite the odd hiccup at the journal, I think that I, and the associate editors, do a fantastic job. I genuinely believe that. It's just that I like to whine about all the other things I'd like to do but find hard to get done in the time that's left over. Perhaps if I spent less time whining...
Sunday, 17 February 2008
Saturday, 16 February 2008
someone's stolen my identity!
Well... not quite. But my credit card details. There I was, browsing my credit card statement online, as one does on a peaceful Saturday morning, when I thought to myself: "oh look, 9 separate payments over a 6-day period to EasyJet - I wonder where I'm going, and who with..". And then a couple of £700 insurance payments and various prepay minutes to phone companies I don't subscribe to... all totaling just short of £3000. Phoned up my credit card company, who were amazingly helpful, and didn't question even once the possibility that I might have simply forgotten that I'd made 9 separate payments to EasyJet... new card is in the post, old card is already cut up...
I wouldn't mind, really, but if someone's going to steal even a part of my identity, they could at least edit a paper or two while they're about it...
I wouldn't mind, really, but if someone's going to steal even a part of my identity, they could at least edit a paper or two while they're about it...
Friday, 15 February 2008
my immune system...
... is on vacation - sadly, I am not on vacation, and I wish it would come back. Am in bed with 'flu-like symptoms. Can't possibly be 'flu as I had a 'flu jab in October. But hey - if it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, flies like a duck, and tastes like duck, it's a duck, right? So it's 'flu. Plain and simple.
My first thought as I woke up with fever and aches all over (even my feet ached) was: it's Friday, and Fridays are spent working on the journal (as are weekends and Monday afternoons). This was a catastrophe. The thought that I might actually sleep the 'flu off didn't survive more than a few milliseconds, despite my body telling me that that is what it needed to do... so have been working from my bed, sending out papers to review, and dealing with various other issues. And I feel guilty that I haven't done more. It is a sad indictment of my life that I feel guilty that I am unable to work on the journal because I'm ill. And most likely, it's working on the journal in the first place that has contributed to the suppression of my immune system.
:( Hmph...
My first thought as I woke up with fever and aches all over (even my feet ached) was: it's Friday, and Fridays are spent working on the journal (as are weekends and Monday afternoons). This was a catastrophe. The thought that I might actually sleep the 'flu off didn't survive more than a few milliseconds, despite my body telling me that that is what it needed to do... so have been working from my bed, sending out papers to review, and dealing with various other issues. And I feel guilty that I haven't done more. It is a sad indictment of my life that I feel guilty that I am unable to work on the journal because I'm ill. And most likely, it's working on the journal in the first place that has contributed to the suppression of my immune system.
:( Hmph...
Sunday, 3 February 2008
somewhere over the rainbow...
... well, over the Atlantic (again). Have decided to write down my thoughts on the passing of time:
It's SO SLOW..
I've just looked at my watch, having written 6 decision letters, and there's still SEVEN hours of flight to go. I'm exhausted. No amount of coffee or United Airlines goodwill is going to get me through the next 7 hours. The guy sitting next to me has a very clever screen protector on his PC which means that he can see what's on his screen (and mine, I suppose, if he cared to look), but I cannot see what's on his from this angle. The fact that he has to insert a plastic passkey into the machine to use it makes me think that whatever it is, it must be really interesting, and just the kind of thing that, were I to read it, would make those 6 hours and 58 minutes pass all the quicker...
6 hours and 47 minutes to go... and time isn't speeding up. My eyelids are definitely heavier than they were before. The guy in the seat next to me is doing gymnastic exercises in his seat... Am curious about his screen... what's he got to hide?
6 hours and 32 minutes to go... I can't go on like this. Some turbulence would be good, just to break up the monotony of working on the journal uninterrupted. I have important decisions to make as I read through manuscripts and reviewers' comments: Should I keep listening to Chopin (soporific value: High; intellectual value: High) or switch to Sting (soporific value: Low; intellectual value: Medium; Carbon emissions: Excellent)? It's not easy being an editor... but I do feel I need to change the music, as the chap next to me is now doing some silent, headphoned version of the jitterbug... what's HE listening to??
5 hours and 17 minutes left... Finally! Some excitement: Mr. Jitterbug went to the toilet, so being the curious person that I am, I took the opportunity to surreptitiously open up his laptop (passkey still inserted) and take a look at what he'd been writing. Evidently, he's a civil servant of some kind (it was that boring..). And I think he could do with a bit of help with his grammar... OH COME ON.. do you really think I'd open up his laptop when he wasn't looking, let alone advertise that fact on my blog? Honestly.... what do you take me for? Get real - it was a PC, and as a Mac evangelist I wouldn't touch a PC with a barge-pole....
4 hours and 10 minutes left... current rejection rate on this flight, for 1st submissions sent out to reviewers: 70%. Which sounds like it's a little short of the journal's average rejection rate of 85% - but 15-20% of submissions didn't even get sent to review, so under one interpretation of these numbers, I'm rejecting about the right number of papers.
2 hours and 30 minutes to go.. I have a streaming cold. Tissues are insufficient defense against the floodwaters emanating from my nostrils. I guess you neither needed, nor wanted, to know that. Chap in the next seat has now graduated from gymnastics to a form of ballet. Very impressive, really... either that or he's just trying to avoid the nasal torrent...
Landed.
It's SO SLOW..
I've just looked at my watch, having written 6 decision letters, and there's still SEVEN hours of flight to go. I'm exhausted. No amount of coffee or United Airlines goodwill is going to get me through the next 7 hours. The guy sitting next to me has a very clever screen protector on his PC which means that he can see what's on his screen (and mine, I suppose, if he cared to look), but I cannot see what's on his from this angle. The fact that he has to insert a plastic passkey into the machine to use it makes me think that whatever it is, it must be really interesting, and just the kind of thing that, were I to read it, would make those 6 hours and 58 minutes pass all the quicker...
6 hours and 47 minutes to go... and time isn't speeding up. My eyelids are definitely heavier than they were before. The guy in the seat next to me is doing gymnastic exercises in his seat... Am curious about his screen... what's he got to hide?
6 hours and 32 minutes to go... I can't go on like this. Some turbulence would be good, just to break up the monotony of working on the journal uninterrupted. I have important decisions to make as I read through manuscripts and reviewers' comments: Should I keep listening to Chopin (soporific value: High; intellectual value: High) or switch to Sting (soporific value: Low; intellectual value: Medium; Carbon emissions: Excellent)? It's not easy being an editor... but I do feel I need to change the music, as the chap next to me is now doing some silent, headphoned version of the jitterbug... what's HE listening to??
5 hours and 17 minutes left... Finally! Some excitement: Mr. Jitterbug went to the toilet, so being the curious person that I am, I took the opportunity to surreptitiously open up his laptop (passkey still inserted) and take a look at what he'd been writing. Evidently, he's a civil servant of some kind (it was that boring..). And I think he could do with a bit of help with his grammar... OH COME ON.. do you really think I'd open up his laptop when he wasn't looking, let alone advertise that fact on my blog? Honestly.... what do you take me for? Get real - it was a PC, and as a Mac evangelist I wouldn't touch a PC with a barge-pole....
4 hours and 10 minutes left... current rejection rate on this flight, for 1st submissions sent out to reviewers: 70%. Which sounds like it's a little short of the journal's average rejection rate of 85% - but 15-20% of submissions didn't even get sent to review, so under one interpretation of these numbers, I'm rejecting about the right number of papers.
2 hours and 30 minutes to go.. I have a streaming cold. Tissues are insufficient defense against the floodwaters emanating from my nostrils. I guess you neither needed, nor wanted, to know that. Chap in the next seat has now graduated from gymnastics to a form of ballet. Very impressive, really... either that or he's just trying to avoid the nasal torrent...
Landed.
Thursday, 31 January 2008
It's life.. but not as we know it...
My life in 10 days:
- Submitted my tax return with two days to spare
- Tried to arrange for the new mortgage to start in time (it didn't)
- Sent a bunch of papers out to review (but not nearly enough)
- Made decisions on a bunch of papers (but not nearly enough - that'll teach me to take holiday over Xmas)
- Submitted 7 grant reviews almost on time, but there never seems to be enough (time)
- Set up most of my new eye-tracking lab (most of...but not all - you can guess what I ran out of)
- Replied to one email, from someone I've never met, accusing me, as an editor, of gross negligence, unfair treatment, and unprofessionalism (I'd rejected their paper)
- Replied to another email, from someone else I've never met, saying I'm possibly the best editor in the universe (not sure why this person said this, as I don't think I'd recently accepted anything of theirs, but they are a guaranteed friend for life...)
- Worked till between midnight and 1am most nights to try and meet deadlines
- Failed to meet all deadlines (except my tax submission - but hey, that'd have cost me dearly!)
- Been elevated to Premier Executive status on United Airlines. I'm not sure what it means...
- Replaced pump in pond, 'cos the old one (only 4 months old) broke. Well...almost... the new one is waiting to go in, but have to go to San Francisco first, for two (yes, just two) nights (for NIH). Thank you aquatics-online for replacing the pump in just two (yes, just two) days.
- Wished I'd bought that bottle, in my dream, marked 'instant time - just add water and wait'.
- Wished I'd bought that other bottle, in my dream, marked 'instant life - just add time and enjoy'
Friday, 18 January 2008
I wish I was still stuck in Sao Paolo...
Title says it all....
But actually, it was good to get back to the children, the karate training, and the people I care about... I'm fairly sure it was (and still is) not so good to get back to manuscripts screaming to be reviewed or actioned. But one consolation... no more mole. Poor thing. RIP.
But actually, it was good to get back to the children, the karate training, and the people I care about... I'm fairly sure it was (and still is) not so good to get back to manuscripts screaming to be reviewed or actioned. But one consolation... no more mole. Poor thing. RIP.
Friday, 11 January 2008
flight cancelled
It's 3am in Sao Paolo. Flight from Buenos Aires to London was cancelled, and we've flown with a Chilean airline to Sao Paolo where a British Airways plane is due to leave in an hour or so for London. BA arranged, in Buenos Aires, to take all passengers to a supposedly 5-star hotel. I'd have knocked a star off for charging us for internet access! Waited 4 hours for a room (they had very little notice in which to make up around 100 rooms, so I'm not complaining). Got to the room, and within 10 minutes received a call telling us to get on a coach back to the airport. Didn't even have time to steal the toiletries! Got to the airport, where they checked us all in very efficiently, but forgot to tell us to ignore what it said on the boarding card and to go to a different gate at a different time with a different airline. But hey, at least we got to Sao Paolo. And as I write this, I can see the BA jumbo right in front of me on the other side of the glass window. Life is sweet down here in Brazil.... could do with some sleep, though...
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