Re: First Week, New Job

1

Just stay out of the cabinets, for god's sake.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 06- 1-12 6:43 PM
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2

Also, stay out of the cabinet. You'll only get moved on after November.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 3:44 AM
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3

Also, stay out of the Kabinett. Getting drunk at work is great, but wait until you're a little better on top of things.


Posted by: Sifu Tweety | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 5:19 AM
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4

Congratulations!


Posted by: Neil the Ethical Werewolf | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 6:10 AM
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5

Life is a cabinet, old chum.
Come to the cabinet.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 6:28 AM
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6

Congratulations on the promotion!


Posted by: Mary Catherine | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 7:27 AM
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7

You want a stupid reaction? I was actually a little depressed about the promotion. Not the acting promotion -- that I'm just panicky about because I don't know what I'm doing. But something about being forty years old and getting promoted from the very bottom of the organizational pyramid to the lowest level of management feels like a moderately sad accomplishment.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 8:11 AM
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8

But isn't that because you decided to make a significant change in your career at some point in the not-too-distant past for perfectly good (even praiseworthy) reasons?

Anyway, congratulations here too.


Posted by: widget | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 8:51 AM
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9

Staying out of the cabinet will make you look like more of a grown up, and, you know, keep you in state.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 8:52 AM
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10

Goddammit. Link.


Posted by: oudemia | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 8:53 AM
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11

7: See, that's what comes from viewing it as an accomplishment. If you view it as a step backwards you can be happy that it took you that long to come to it.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 9:05 AM
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12

7: Also, "The soulless have no need of melancholia."


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 9:06 AM
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There's some kind of Cabinet thing that someone should say but I'm too ignorant to get it right. Someone send out the AWB signal.


Posted by: essear | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 9:43 AM
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14

I was reading my Cabinet while reading this thread and thinking of something to say about that and failing.


Posted by: AWB | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 9:46 AM
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15

I'm generally sad for a bit after what should be successes, and don't know why. Probably because *still* no roseleaves and trumpets. Also, look: more work.

Herding dogs seem pretty happy, though.


Posted by: clew | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 11:16 AM
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15.2: They get to run, chase, nip, bark, and be praised for it. What could be better? IMX they're so happy they will herd until they pass out from heat exhaustion rather than stop and rest.


Posted by: Biohazard | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 11:35 AM
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The one with which I am new acquent will pause to ask for cheese. I don't think he's supposed to. OTOH, I fixed part of the fence, maybe I deserve to chum up with the dog.


Posted by: clew | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 11:53 AM
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18

... Would your admin like a cheese basket, LB?


Posted by: clew | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 11:58 AM
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19

I'm generally sad for a bit after what should be successes, and don't know why.

I often have the feeling that the work leading up to a success is way more engaging/satisfying than the success itself.


Posted by: NickS | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 12:04 PM
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20

It's for that reason that I assiduously avoid success.


Posted by: Eggplant | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 12:13 PM
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21

19: I was going to say that 'not work' leading up to success is even better, but harder to pull off.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 12:33 PM
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21: I feel melancholic and paranoid when praised for not-work. I think I only enjoy rewards for work I did awhile ago and have already "written off" as scorned by the world. John Hughes had my number.


Posted by: clew | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 12:52 PM
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22: Sure, but the not-work itself is nice ... if it weren't for the anxiety of not doing it.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 1:06 PM
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24

Gosh, everyone here is so miserable about work. I'm with the herd dogs. I'm eating some cheese RIGHT NOW.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 1:42 PM
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25

I was told about moving the cheese. I didn't realize you ever got to eat the cheese.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 1:55 PM
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26

CHEESE IS FOR CLOSERS, MOBY.


Posted by: ajay | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 2:15 PM
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27

When I worked at McD's, closers got to eat the cheese from the salads we had to waste.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 2:28 PM
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28

I was trying to figure out a way to contribute to this thread without being a total Danny Downer, but I couldn't come up with anything. Hey, look, I've failed again! =)


Posted by: x.trapnel | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 5:10 PM
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29

Aw, x.


Posted by: heebie-heebie | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 5:38 PM
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30

Remember, failure spelled backwards is eruliaf.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 6:04 PM
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31

Failure is just success rounded down.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 6:26 PM
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32

Hah! I love that one, Teo; thanks for reminding me of its existence.


Posted by: x.trapnel | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 6:41 PM
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33

There's a shirt, too.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 06- 2-12 6:51 PM
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34

Congratulations despite the down feeling!

I was very sad myself about graduating this year. I finally figured out that it was because I was used to having a firm purpose toward which I trudged. Once I was done trudging I felt empty because I didn't have something concrete at which to aim.

Perhaps I should start learning to herd sheep.


Posted by: winna | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 7:06 AM
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Winna, I share your post-graduation feeling. I was in school for 27 straight years, and complaining about hoop-jumping the whole time, and now, I have to make my own hoops. I think I feel good about that, but I feel quite angry when I look back even just a year or two into the past and think about how needlessly shitty people in various work environments were to me before I got my PhD, using that as an excuse. Now that I have it, I get vastly more respect in professional situations, but it's impossible to get laid.


Posted by: AWB | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 9:00 AM
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Now that I have it, I get vastly more respect in professional situations, but it's impossible to get laid.

Mmhmm. It's funny how widespread this problem is. Who are all these undersexed post-docs going to have sex with? If only there were some mutually beneficial arrangement...


Posted by: real ffeJ annaH | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 10:25 AM
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37

36: Construction workers.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 10:37 AM
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38

Congratulations LB!

Regarding the herding thing, just watch out for the boojums.


Posted by: md 20/400 | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 10:40 AM
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39

On the other hand, it's a killer argument when you're trying to discourage an unsuitable candidate from going to grad school. "Well you could get a PhD of course, I suppose it really depends whether you like sex."


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 10:41 AM
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40

34 & 35: It can hit on the other side of life too. Once you've run completely out of people who need you for anything at all you have to figure out some reason to still exist other than habit & fear. Feeding cats doesn't quite do it.


Posted by: Biohazard | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 10:48 AM
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39: The key is to be sufficiently narcissistic that you won't miss the sex.

Unfortunately I discovered too late that what I had was overconfidence, rather than narcissism. (Overconfidence means you choose the hardest research topic and then beat yourself up when you fail to make progress. Narcissism means you choose an ordinary research topic and believe that you are revolutionizing the field.)


Posted by: YK | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 11:08 AM
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That's a grim sentiment, Biohazard. I'd try for joy! Back when all those people needed you, there was no room for that most of the time, which was a drag in its own right.

I'm sounding obnoxious about the joy, aren't I? Still, as I cast about for an example just now, the first one I came up with was an occasion on which I found myself on a hillside where a bunch of people were, of all things, flying kites in the breeze. What a surprise. They seemed to be pretty serious about it, too. How excellent. But not everyone is as simple-minded as I am.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 11:08 AM
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I found myself on a hillside where a bunch of people were, of all things,

This sentence really calls for a more outre conclusion.

"I found myself on a hillside where a bunch of people were, of all things, creating a giant pyramid of owl statues."

"I found myself on a hillside where a bunch of people were, of all things, gleefully hitting each other on the head with copies of Hegel's Encyclopedia of the Philosophical Sciences."

"I found myself on a hillside where a bunch of people were, of all things, burning Pablo Picasso in effigy."

"I found myself on a hillside where a bunch of people were, of all things, putting on a mime performance of Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat."


Posted by: redfoxtailshrub | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 11:25 AM
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44

42: Oh, there's fun stuff around, Parsi. My point is that "Now what?" isn't a one-time question that gets answered and so the downer vanishes forever. It comes up over and over again throughout life. This one has been harder to answer than most of the previous but I'm working on it.


Posted by: Biohazard | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 11:28 AM
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45

I found myself on a hillside where a bunch of people were, of all things, holding up Chipotle as the crown jewel of capitalism.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 11:35 AM
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I found myself on a hillside where a bunch of people were, of all things, quietly sending and receiving information through small, personal electronic devices connected via radio signals to a vast, worldwide data network.


Posted by: real ffeJ annaH | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 11:54 AM
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47

44: Good. Love ya. (I am very sentimental this afternoon.)


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 12:01 PM
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48

I would burn Damien Hirst in effigy, gleefully while feeling bad.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 12:10 PM
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49

On a hillside? I'll attend.


Posted by: Biohazard | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 12:14 PM
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50

...gleefully while feeling bad.

A modular brain can handle that contradiction.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 12:25 PM
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51

We might have to work up the energy: does anybody know what he looks like? We'd need an effigy figure, after all. He might not be famous enough to avoid that troublesome "Who??" reaction.


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 12:25 PM
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51. As far as I remember what he looks like, there's a risk your effigy might be taken for a generic aging hipster prat. Up to you whether that matters,


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 12:35 PM
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53

I found myself on a hillside where a bunch of people were, of all things, chasing a Double Gloucester cheese.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 12:50 PM
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54

I found myself on a hillside where a bunch of people were, of all things, killing Christ.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 12:54 PM
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Unfortunately I discovered too late that what I had was overconfidence, rather than narcissism. (Overconfidence means you choose the hardest research topic and then beat yourself up when you fail to make progress. Narcissism means you choose an ordinary research topic and believe that you are revolutionizing the field.)

Heh. Same here. This is a nice way of drawing the distinction.


Posted by: x.trapnel | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 12:58 PM
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56

There goes Walt, always looking at the bright side of life.


Posted by: JP Stormcrow | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 1:02 PM
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57

56. It's OK, he'll be back to his old self in a couple of days.


Posted by: chris y | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 1:12 PM
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58

48/49/51: You may enjoy this review, then.

At their very best these paintings lack the skill of thousands of amateur artists who paint at weekends all over Britain

Posted by: Mr. Blandings | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 1:36 PM
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57: In three days, to be precise.


Posted by: Walt Someguy | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 1:40 PM
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60

I have a mental image of Damien Hirst but it just looks like Noel Gallagher with gray hair wearing a blazer.


Posted by: Cryptic ned | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 1:58 PM
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58: Art with a capital 'F'.


Posted by: Biohazard | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 1:58 PM
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I found myself on a hillside where a bunch of people were, of all things, sitting on a blanket eating cold chicken and potato salad. They called it a 'pick-a-nick', which sounds a little racist.


Posted by: snarkout | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 2:35 PM
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To the OP--so, at what point would it be politic or possible for you to look into the admin's salary history, comparables, etc., and to hoist her take-home? She sounds like an ideal candidate for a hefty rise.


Posted by: Jackmormon | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 3:41 PM
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48
I would burn Damien Hirst in effigy, gleefully while feeling bad.
Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 12:10 PM

49
On a hillside? I'll attend.
Posted by: Biohazard | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 12:14 PM

Glad that someone is working on a slate of activities for unfoggedecadecon.


Posted by: Blume | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 3:50 PM
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58: Wow. I haven't something that plain-spoken in some time. (Well, not since I read Colin McGinn's review in a recent NYRB of some guy named Deacon's attempt to explain the emergence of consciousness, which review featured words like "abominable", "confused", "infuriating" and similar.)


Posted by: parsimon | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 5:37 PM
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I haven't [read/heard] something that plain-spoken in some time.

Don't forget the recently-linked-here (no?) review of McGinn's book on disgust, which starts boldly:

"In disgust research, there is shit, and then there is bullshit. Colin McGinn's book belongs to the latter category."

and maintains that high standard throughout, finishing with the zinger: "Sometimes with books, as with farts, it's better to just hold it in."


Posted by: x.trapnel | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 11:30 PM
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recently-linked-here (no?)

I saw it when AWB linked it on FB, but it may have been linked here too. I haven't been reading all the threads lately.


Posted by: teofilo | Link to this comment | 06- 3-12 11:37 PM
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63: Not only do I have no control over or input into salaries, I'm not sure that I've ever met anyone high enough in the administration to make that sort of decision.


Posted by: LizardBreath | Link to this comment | 06- 4-12 3:49 AM
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||

Only semi-OT, Does anybody know of a website for searching all of the Federal grants that have been awarded for medical research? I think that soup mentioned one a while ago, but I don't have a current e-mail for him.

There's a job* that I want to submit an application for, and it's working on a federally funded grant, but I want more details. I have a sense of the broad area of research and know the medical specialty but not much more.

*That's my justification for treating this as only semi-off topic.

|>


Posted by: Bostoniangirl | Link to this comment | 06- 4-12 5:04 AM
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70

Check your email.


Posted by: Moby Hick | Link to this comment | 06- 4-12 5:29 AM
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