The Venting Thread

[Puget]

I think I need one of those "no" punch cards. I failed to track just how many things I was saying yes to and now  I've committed to the following, all due within the next 6 weeks:
1 grant review panel (2 full days on zoom, plus all the time before then to review and score my assigned grants)
2 grant submissions (not as PI, but still)
1 conference talk (far away)
1 support letter for a former mentor for a Distinguished Professorship
1 panel discussion for a national org (which I'm a bit nervous about)
5 journal reviews

Plus all the usual work. It's all stuff I'm genuinely excited about and want to do (well maybe except the journal reviews), but damn, I did not think through the time commitments as much as I should have.

[poiuy]

I think I need one of those "no" punch cards. I failed to track just how many things I was saying yes to and now  I've committed to the following, all due within the next 6 weeks:
1 grant review panel (2 full days on zoom, plus all the time before then to review and score my assigned grants)
2 grant submissions (not as PI, but still)
1 conference talk (far away)
1 support letter for a former mentor for a Distinguished Professorship
1 panel discussion for a national org (which I'm a bit nervous about)
5 journal reviews

Plus all the usual work. It's all stuff I'm genuinely excited about and want to do (well maybe except the journal reviews), but damn, I did not think through the time commitments as much as I should have.

Which of these did you wish you had said 'no' to?  Genuinely curious. So many items on this list seem like 'must-do' things for academics?

[Puget]

I think I need one of those "no" punch cards. I failed to track just how many things I was saying yes to and now  I've committed to the following, all due within the next 6 weeks:
1 grant review panel (2 full days on zoom, plus all the time before then to review and score my assigned grants)
2 grant submissions (not as PI, but still)
1 conference talk (far away)
1 support letter for a former mentor for a Distinguished Professorship
1 panel discussion for a national org (which I'm a bit nervous about)
5 journal reviews

Plus all the usual work. It's all stuff I'm genuinely excited about and want to do (well maybe except the journal reviews), but damn, I did not think through the time commitments as much as I should have.

Which of these did you wish you had said 'no' to?  Genuinely curious. So many items on this list seem like 'must-do' things for academics?

That's the problem-- these are mostly things I should and want to do, there are just too many of them at once, and at some point you have to start saying no to more, however worthy and important, or you won't be able to successfully complete everything you've already said yes to.

Well, I should have said "no" to 3 of the reviews, following my usual rule of only having 2 reviews on deck a a time -- but two of the asks were from editors I know and like (and I know how hard it is to find reviewers these days), and 1 was a revision and I never say no to those, so here we are.

[AmLitHist]

The Crud is making the rounds here.  I stayed home Tuesday (could have gone in if I'd had to, but had a rotten sinus headache, plus sick days that go away if we don't use them).  One of my colleagues came in that day, sick as a dog, according to the secretary; he doesn't sound much better today. Another is sick and stayed home.

We keep veering between the 50s and 60s, and the teens and 20s, over the past few weeks.  I know there's probably no clinical proof of a connection, but the changes do set off my sinuses and the achy joints.

[apl68]

The Crud is making the rounds here.  I stayed home Tuesday (could have gone in if I'd had to, but had a rotten sinus headache, plus sick days that go away if we don't use them).  One of my colleagues came in that day, sick as a dog, according to the secretary; he doesn't sound much better today. Another is sick and stayed home.

We keep veering between the 50s and 60s, and the teens and 20s, over the past few weeks.  I know there's probably no clinical proof of a connection, but the changes do set off my sinuses and the achy joints.

The wild fluctuations in temperatures here have been having the same effects.  It really is hard on a person's body to keep having to readjust like that.

[Juvenal]

I think I need one of those "no" punch cards. I failed to track just how many things I was saying yes to and now  I've committed to the following, all due within the next 6 weeks:
1 grant review panel (2 full days on zoom, plus all the time before then to review and score my assigned grants)
2 grant submissions (not as PI, but still)
1 conference talk (far away)
1 support letter for a former mentor for a Distinguished Professorship
1 panel discussion for a national org (which I'm a bit nervous about)
5 journal reviews

Plus all the usual work. It's all stuff I'm genuinely excited about and want to do (well maybe except the journal reviews), but damn, I did not think through the time commitments as much as I should have.

For the wholly retired?  Let me see: Sleep in tomorrow until about nine a.m., or sleep in until noon?  That's a toughie.

[smallcleanrat]

I've got COVID.

[jimbogumbo]

I've got COVID.

So sorry!! Rest plenty, even if you don't feel really sick.

[evil_physics_witchcraft]

I've got COVID.

Feel better soon! Feel free to vent about it! :)

[poiuy]

I've got COVID.

Oh no!  I hope you have the mildest possible case, over as soon as possible.

[AmLitHist]

Get well soon, SCR!

[smallcleanrat]

Thanks, everybody.

I don't seem to have a severe case, but it's not been a great week either.

Was nauseated most of today. SO, in a sincere attempt to help settle my stomach, offered me SPAM.

[Larimar]

Get well soon, Smallcleanrat!

[arcturus]

Vent: I am spending more time documenting the student's plagiarism than the student spent doing the copy/paste plagiarism for this assignment.

[apl68]

More building HVAC problems today.  It's having trouble keeping the air on--in February!  I've just had to submit a proposal to our Board of Trustees to spend over $12,000 to try to fix the current problem.