Right I am trying to remember what happened this last week, certainly it was not eventful as the previous one. Monday was spent writing the final report to the elders at Herringthorpe. I learn a lot about myself in so doing as I found it very easy to write lots of words and I know there are more words just waiting to get out. I think if I was designing my study again I would shorten slightly my time with the two congregations so as to have a space to recuperate between them. I find that in getting to know and understand a congregation for two years I also develop a love for them and the ending, uprooting of yourself afterwards is actually quite painful. Rushing into the next situation as I have designed my doctorate, is not a good idea. You need time to sort assess and get your bearings afterwards.
Tuesday I was in work, Derek Collins had asked about lights on at the sound desk so Cliff kindly came down and changed the bulbs. This was not a simple tasks as the bulbs needed soldering into position. A more modern desk would just use LEDs that last forever rather than small filament bulbs. I am well aware that when I get back I am going to have to start trying things like placing microphones for the choir and see how we get on. The initial stages will be messy and it will have to be done on weeks when I am there not weeks when I am writing. Then in the end it may not work or it might only be possible for the transmitted part (that would actually mean rewiring the speaker to the creche so it takes its feed from the loop or other output and not from that to the speakers. I also suspect that I should look again at recording services. Then long term there is planning for what happens when the radio microphones give out. They must be about a decade old.
Wednesday was the day that I had to sit down and write up an analysis I was doing for the department. The due date was 1st September, when I took it on I assumed I would be normally busy and that it would be relatively simple. The analysis was relatively simple but it took me a long time to prepare the data for analysing (first I had to go through and label everything, secondly I then had to calculate the variables we actually wanted, which were not the same as the variables that were there in the original data set) and then I had work through the actual presentation of the data. One of those days where the sheer absorption in the analysis is draining. I got most of the points covered and I suspect the request for more analysis is that it is making sense to other people now. The previous person did not understand that you had to give your audience a framework within which to interpret it. It meant that a number of my results looked substantially different from hers simply because I kept the base the same in graphs. So I reported estimated percentage of all students while she was reporting percentage of people who owned ipads next to percentage of people who owed laptop PCs.
Thursday got the nicest rejection letter ever for a paper sent to a journal. The response was basically “This should be published unfortunately it is not in our brief”. Also was proofing another paper., totally different subject. I am finding it odd to do this, I am not by a long way the most pedantic of grammarians as James and Ruth can vouch for. Actually although I keep trying to do better I was in the wrong generation at school, the one where they thought it all came naturally and did not need teaching. Hence I have bits but not nearly as much as I should have. This is not helped by the fact that I am a relatively late developer with writing style. I still at writers group often find it difficult to critique others writing.
Friday was the breakfast and we were down with 45 there, but this was a good number, more and we really are exhausted by the end of breakfast. The thing is numerical growth is not what we are aiming at with the breakfast. What we want is to develop is more a sense of community and relationship between those who come. One of our regular breakfasters is starting his masters (I think its his third or fourth) in sports chaplaincy. He has been appointed one of the sports chaplains in Sheffield at least in part due to the immense amount of volunteering he does at sports events. However after breakfast I go back and sleep. On a sadder note Matthew, a ltwenty year old who through most of his childhood been fostered by a local couple, collapsed shortly after the couple returned from holiday and certainly by friday had not regained consciousness. I have not sussed how to deal with my body and breakfast. My major problem is my body insists on checking every two hours during the night whether it is 6 a.m. yet. No chance of me oversleeping but by the end of breakfast I am tired. Oh I don’t think my body would cope with an alarm, it would just keep waking me every couple of hours to check how long it was before the alarm goes off.
Saturday my parents came over. Well I read a paper before they came over from a Presbyterian minister in Bloemfontein. Actually there seems to be a group of ministers doing fairly sensible Congregational Studies in South Africa although they are minister focused and therefore tend to be more managerial/action research. Working as a lay person I actually have more time to gather information but less ability to implement actions. Anyway I got it read and a couple more in store for reading on Mendeley. We went down to Waitrose to shop. Amongst the items was a new ironing board cover for me (I wanted to pick mum’s brain on putting it onto the board but my old cover had persihed) and also I needed to get a new toaster. My old one had started shorting the fuse every time I put it on and before it made toast. Fortunately Waitrose were having a bit of a sale of household goods so I got a £25 one for £17. We also bought lunch which was the real purpose and Dad boughts some coffee beans with the caffeine still in them. For lunch I got hold of same ham filled pasta, some guacamole and a a salad. I cooked the pasta and then stirred in the guacamole rather than use a sauce. It worked pretty well. I also bought the ingredients and mum made up a fruit salad. I forgot to get a fizzy drink for the syrup so had to make it from raw ingredients.
Today I went to Herringthorpe, a poorer than usual turn out possibly doe to the weather,but families often don’t ocme on communion sunday. Next week they have the dedication of the refurbishment of the Clines Hall and a gift day. I am trying to decide if I am going to their coffee morning for charities on the Saturday or if I am having a quiet day in, perhaps reading.
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