I think it is three weeks since I wrote and I may get around to writing again in a fortnight or I might not. That is I might have a Sunday free from thesis. I get these occasionally when I feel I am reasonably where I want to be and I will be at St Andrew’s on the morning. If that is the case then it would be late before I got around to thesis and sometimes having a day clear of both work and thesis is a good idea. The weather has until mid week been really cold but at present we are basking in sunny spring temperatures (don't get excited it is not double figures yet and the gritters were still gritting on Friday night).
Well the last three weeks have been busy although it is busy in much the usual way. I have been writing my thesis and got another chapter into second draft. I have also done minor alterations to the chapter I have already got to second draft and am in the process of getting on with a third.I saw my supervisor a couple of weeks ago. We talked a lot around the middle chapter and the difficulties of writing it. One of the problems is that I need to write about something that in the end is not resolvable into a neat formula. Many have tried it and failed. Even now having sent it to my supervisor I can think of at least two things I really should put in. The next chapter should be more straightforward. It was the one chapter that my supervisor really felt was working when I got it into first draft. I have read through it and I think I need to work on the theory bit at the start. So this week, I need to read through again, think about clarifying that and then think what I need to include on the second part of the chapter. When I have done this I need to get on with flows which will be harder to knock into shape. I think it may need to go to more what my supervisor calls “poetic”.
Work has been busy largely with bits a pieces that need doing. I have learnt that my assessment for Chartership isn’t now until 2014, this really does not matter to me much, it is not going to be exactly hard to get it renewed if I have my doctorate and I also continue at the rate I am doing with development. I must admit my preferred method is self development rather than going on courses or to conferences. The best sort is what I call client led development which is when I have to sort out a tricky problem for a group of researchers and therefore I sit down and learn the statistics to do that. This is very different from keeping up with what is sexy in statistics. That said I am helping prepare a course for linguist on statistics. It will be interesting to see how this goes. I think personally we are sticking too closely to texts that have been found wanting but we still need to get over that hurdle. It starts next week but the person who was going to teach the first block (I will teach about 50% basically the second and fourth block although I am no expert on either) is now off until her child is born having been admitted to hospital with bleeding. There is another tutor who can take over the actual teaching but she is in the final stages of submission for her thesis. Although the tutor who was going to teach this is doing the slides at home, I am having to do more reviewing and I am also having to learn R to make sure I can cope with queries.
It was communion a couple of weeks ago and Jean D was Table Elder number 1 It went well despite the fact that both table elders were at the start double booked (I was also duty elder and Jean was on creche). Jean thought Marion Howdle was duty elder because that was what the sheet said and then Anne Cathels took that role on. There were no children so no creche. We now have to have a special diets elder for both bread and wine as there is someone who requires gluten free bread. The next communion is Easter Sunday when I am table elder one and it is Sarah’s last Sunday at St Andrew’s. I suspect that I will need to draft a set of ritual notes for communion at St Andrews simply because it is different from what most of the other churches do around here and though David Stec will take some of the communion services he will not take all and even he does not know the backstage stuff (e.g. just before the duty elder goes in with the Bible the minister reminds the elders to observe radio silence i.e. “We are going live folks so shut up”).
I think St Andrews is beginning to catch on that there is quite a long list of things I would like to be at but it is just not going to happen while I have the thesis to write. For instance I am not making Friday Breakfasts, some of this has been just simple coincidences, it started when I was very low one week and just did not feel up to going, then migraine, time of the month, excessive tiredness, colds, tummy bugs, Christmas, departmental meeting etc seemed to occur. However I also know that if I do not go it gives me a full day to work on thesis at the weekend rather than two half days. It is just not working out. If as I am planning at the moment I get my thesis in by the summer then I will be able to help out over the summer. Other things this week included the MAC group, lent groups which are happening and the fact that Yorkshire synod has a study day for elders which sounds interesting are all on the “I would like to but thesis”. This is also meaning that at present I am not going to Sarah’s induction in Southampton. It would mean a whole weekend away from thesis. Actually it would be alright if I had major reading to do as the train journey there and back would give me plenty of opportunity for that but I will almost certainly be at the finer editing stages and I need to be at my own computer for that.
