My supervisor left on holiday this morning and will be out of the office through next week. I’ve decided to make it an “easy day;” I arrived at 10.30 and will probably depart around 4 this afternoon. I’ve earned some slacky-time over the past couple of weeks, and know that I won’t get much overall between now and, say, Christmas.
My lab is on a major push to get papers submitted using data that were collected at four different sites across the country. I’m a bit behind on my paper because I got a late start in the spring and due to the wedding earlier this summer. I’d sent 25% of it to my boss two weeks ago, right before he left for a weekend out of town (ah, the summer schedules of academics!), but never heard anything back from him. When he and I met yesterday, we figured out that it somehow became lost in the cyberspace between our two offices. About an hour prior to our meeting, I’d unfortunately discovered that the file had become corrupted. All of the letters in each paragraph layered themselves on top of each other, with the net effect being a file full of black globs. Strangely the tables and figures had been preserved perfectly. Our local IT guy recovered an old copy for me, which also appeared to be corrupted BUT ONLY ON MY COMPUTER. I sent a copy to a colleague, who printed a hard copy for me, reformatted the file and saved it under a new name. No dice — it was still corrupted when he sent it back to me. I’ve concluded that something is wrong with Microsoft Office on my machine, but now have yet to convince the IT guy to fix my installation. I’m not sure I’m willing to fight this battle today, since only one document refuses to cooperate with me.
Somewhere in the middle of this I was asked to review an article for a multidisciplinary journal on adolescence and young adulthood. I’ve printed it but haven’t looked at it yet. Like I said, it’s a slacky sort of day. Reviewing is not my favorite activity, mostly because it takes a lot of time. Journals seem to be in the habit of sending me really bad papers to review, which is in itself a unique challenge. Reviews should only be about 1-2 pages long, but it can be hard to stick to that limit when researchers commit too many sins!
In the meantime, lately I’ve been working on my job application materials and 2-3 other manuscripts which must be submitted before I can submit any job applications. More good ads have been posted, and I’m very excited about a couple of positions. One in particular would provide unique personal and professional opportunities. I’m trying to avoid getting too excited, as it makes the heartbreak that much worse. Please keep your fingers crossed for me!
On a related note, as that first application submission moves closer and closer, I’ve been thinking about how to deal with my blog. I’ve decided that it’s too much trouble to make it “by invite only,” and have thus started making it as anonymous as possible. Please be advised that photos and other personal information will be temporarily removed on or around August 1. If you wanted to check out our wedding photos but hadn’t yet had the chance, now is the time to do so!
I think I’m finished with my submission to the Chronicle for Higher Education, sans the final round of edits. I’ve poured most of my thoughts about the academic experience from the eyes of an ADDer into it. I’m reluctant to do that round of edits today because I’ve had WAY too much caffeine, am listening to a Swedish techno station via Itunes, and my medication dosage still isn’t quite right. All in all, I’m having trouble sitting still today! Writing this entry is going pretty well, and writing stuff for work is going okay despite my having semi-predictable gaps in coverage.
A dose of short-acting ritalin is supposed to kick in about 15-30 minutes after taking it, and is supposed to last about 4 hours. I have gotten into the habit of taking it right before I leave for work in the morning, around 8.30. Per med-shrink’s instructions, I should take it my 2nd dose at 12.30. Unfortunately I’ve found that I can’t wait that long, and I end up twiddling my thumbs and bouncing from activity to activity unless I take it by 11.45 or 12.00 at the latest. Predictably, the second dose stops working around 3 or 3.30, which is WAY too early in the day. I’ve tried to work through it by structuring my day accordingly, but it’s just not enough. Plus, there are times that I have meetings in the late afternoon. Stringing together coherent sentences and paying attention to conversations during these meetings is important!
Talky-shrink mentioned that it isn’t unusual for adults to require 3 doses to get through a workday. I can definitely see the advantage in potentially adding a 3rd dose around 3.00. The need to be able to persevere until after 3 will be particularly acute during the time I’ll be on the market. So, seeing that I don’t have another med management appointment until the end of August, I will have to call med-shrink today to ask her about whether this is something we can consider at this time.
I do have energy, however, to post a little bit about my new obsession, which is undoubtedly linked to my neurotypical quirk. I definitely find myself thinking about it more during the aforementioned medication gaps… my new obsession is clothing from India. Yes, I am weird, but I don’t care. It occurred to me on my last international trip that Indian women’s clothing looks way better suited to long flights than my typical travel garb (long-sleeved t-shirt and khakis or jeans). A couple of weeks ago I started doing research into salwar kameez, which is sort of like an Indian sweatsuit. It consists of a kameez (like a kurta, which is a longish top that can resemble a dress), and salwar, which are looser-fitting pants that may or may not have cuffs. Salwar kameez also sometimes have churidar instead of salwar, and churidar are more like gathered stretch
pants. Sometimes a dupatta (a scarf that can serve as a shawl) is also worn, but not always. There are casual versions in cotton and rayon for everyday wear, and fancy versions in silk & other dressy fabrics for parties, weddings and other festive occasions. Custom tailoring is the norm. This permits wearers to ensure that their suit fits and flatters them as they prefer.
Being the thrifty girl that I am, I wanted to try one before I had one custom made. I found a non-custom one on eBay for $18, and it arrived last Saturday. The one pictured to the right isn’t my model, but is similar in styling. Mine is pumpkin orange, trimmed in black and red. A black & red pattern is printed on the kameez, which is knee-length. The salwar is plain orange. The dupatta has a red and black pattern similar to the kameez. It is as comfortable as I imagined, despite being a little too small.
As I eventually think I will have one made for me, I started looking into
retailers that ship to the US. This is how I found S2 Fashions, a company in India that makes custom salwar suits and kurtis. I have since ordered two shirts (pictured at right and left), as I am holding off on a custom salwar suit until I am brave enough to wear the pumpkin one outside of the house! Both shirts will be custom-fitted to my measurements. I’m excited about the styles, as they are just a little bit different but not so different that I’d feel odd wearing them in public. Shipping to the US from India was just $10, and it appears that I could have my tops in about 2-3 weeks’ time. I’ll post again once they arrive.
anticipate a change in medication dosage soon, incidentally. I’m having gaps in coverage during the day. I’m also spending a lot of time focusing on the wrong things, like blogging and decorating my blog with fancy capitol letters. Not a good use of time, even if it is stress-relieving!
