Discussion: America

I don't doubt it. But most of that is in my head and not a real problem. Given I'm going to be here another 2.5 years now, I should try not to think like that.

On the upside - way improved chance of getting a job once those 2.5 years are over.

head is real enough I think.
If you are going to be there another 2.5 years then you should think about what it is there that does your head in and work out how you can mitigate.
Plus a definite plan to move on to somewhere where you can feel at home. That in itself could be a help whilst you are there.

I already feel better knowing that in 2 years I'll have 6 months left of this grant, 2-3 more papers and it will be time to apply for jobs at home with a real chance of getting them.

I really don't know what does my head in. I hate most of the politics and I get frustrated about paying full tax with no representation, but I can't honestly say that's what's stopping me getting out of bed in the morning. I'm bored a lot of the time outside of the lab. The lab is the best it has been, I have good friends there and Angus is an excellent boss. Despite having been here for almost 5 years I don't feel like I have the close friends I have at home - no one I'd call if things got rough. Part of that is that just as you start to get close to people they move away again - the nature of the job.

I just know I feel tired almost all the time and that affects my ability to do many things. I have tried visiting the doctor but they don't really take it seriously. I don't work that hard really, unless I have a big experiment that requires the extra hours I'm not in the lab more than I should be.

I really don't know. Like you say, I don't think this is a physical problem, but that doesn't make it any easier to try to sort out.

At times like this (nearly all the time) I like to have a couple of Mcvities with homemade jam. Heavenly.

Orienteering trips in Europe got me hooked on these. Luckily the local Wegmans carries them. They aren't in the cookie aisle with the other biscuits. There are some digestives there, but they're Burtons brand. However if you look in the UK/Ireland section - the REAL McCoy! They even have the chocolate ones. A bit costy, but hey...jen-u-wine McVities.

No Wegmans in New Haven. Maybe Target has them? Also available from Amazon.

Haven't noticed much in the way of proper British food in Target, just some brands pretending to be.

I would rather have proper sausages, but I think I have to go to New York for those!

Eddie, I got about 4 raspberries this year! So no jam for me :) All the canes I got from George died, no idea why. I will try again next year.

The gardening really is a joy. Although I have given up the fight against tomato blight!

Ugh, rough day. Something got into the tomato patch last night, which is inside the deer fence and also inside a bird netting enclosure within that. But something pulled the wire fence door aside and made a real mess of things. I just about cried. Lost 9 nice ripe fruit and some vines were pulled down and bent. Was able to salvage 5 more tomatoes on the ground that were unharmed or only lightly damaged. Spent an hour this morning fortifying the door and netting, plus putting some wire fence over the areas I know about around the deer perimeter where digging has occurred. It was either the groundhogs or more likely the raccoon that's been tearing up the plants in the pond this summer. I put some fencing over the hole under the shed, which I thought was abandoned but seems to be active again. *sigh* one step forward, two steps back.

The cat threw up in the pond this morning too, which was a first :) The fish didn't seem interested in the floating kibble.

Also read about this nut butters recall today. I have a jar of MaraNatha almond butter on this list in my fridge :( I've already eaten about 1/3 of it. Does that mean its ok?

I saw that recall yesterday! I have Trader Joe's Almond butter but not the one on the list! Was wondering if that would explain Tuesday!

I was wondering the same about the almond butter r.e. if I've already eaten half of it…! But I went for marmite yesterday instead just in case.

Sorry about your tomatoes Eddie - they must be real tasty for a beastie to go to all that effort to get to them.

I totally hear what you're saying Becks about the issues with a transient life and profession. Guess we can just be thankful for all the fab people we meet even for a short while!

I'll give the butter co. a call tomorrow and see what they have to say.

The beasties got in again last night. 9 more toms on the ground. This despite the entrance gate fortifications. I found another hole in the bird netting in the back under the shrubs, so my guess is groundhogs. I repaired that and added a section of 3' high wire fence around that half of the perimeter. Also need to get some batts for the gopher thumper. Its starting to look like 'Caddyshack' back there :)

Only one tom was a total loss. 3 were untouched but not ripe yet. The other 5 had small bites that I was able to cut out. Most of the damaged ones are the Steak Sandwich hybrids. These have a darker color than the others - almost like an heirloom. But maybe they've taken the ones they like away and left these? I think they have a nice flavor.

Are your tomatoes still producing despite the blight? You might want to keep trimming off the dying veg just to minimize the spore development ahead of next year in that bed. Even if you can rotate to a new location. My boss is considering pulling a couple of his poor producing plants simply because they are standing blight factories. But don't rip anything out if you're still getting good production.

I'm having good success with the neem against powdery mildew on the butternuts. Its knocking it right out and the affected leaves are surviving with a few yellowish spots where the mildew was. Seems like the neem didn't work on the PM last year - but I was also using deer repellent. Maybe it was the combo, or just the hot weather last year. The deer haven't touched them despite the lack of repellant. I'm making sure to spray tops and bottoms. Still putting neem on the toms, but I have no controls to know if its doing any good or not.

Yeah, they're producing really well still. I've had bad blight from the get go, so there must be something in the neighbourhood. Tomatoes seems to be the one thing everyone tries to grow.

My butternuts are not yet getting PM, which is weird after last year. I have 4 squash at almost full size now too! Courgette is covered in the stuff so I will yank it after this final courgette is picked today.

Everytime we go away the pests take hold so I might yank the tomatoes the day we leave next week, as we already have more than we can eat and the neighbours don't like them! Then we're away for two weeks ish.

Becks, you're good enough you should be able to get away with telling your boss (now) that you (and Rob) will work from (UK) home for one month or more next summer, interspersing a week or two's worth of holidays. Plan your experiments accordingly and have some reading and writing to do.

I've been away from Helsinki for a month and pretty much got a new article written, way more productive than working full-time at the office ;)

yey - back on topic
this I like -
Is the key point here the fact that you have your own funding and does that put you in greater control of how you deliver ? You can choose how / where stuff gets done to some extent - if its not in the lab then you have flexibility.

imHo its fundamentally about feeling at home

Becks if you want to transplant anything to our garden for us to look after, let us know. My mother-in-law did extensive weeding this week...

ffs

I am planning to take up to a month off next summer as Jen is getting married two weeks after WOC - two things that I promised myself I would be in the UK for. I am now only partially funding myself, so I don't have that much freedom, but I'm sure that Angus will be amenable to that. He is a great guy and I am the most productive member of the lab by far. I'll probably try to squeeze in some talks in Edinburgh/Glasgow/Oxford whilst visiting people, and maybe get a bit of work done.

I really don't feel like the lab is the problem. I'm actually pretty happy when I'm there.

Incubator, unless you fancy tomato blight, there's not much that can be moved at this time of year :)

Follow-up on the nut butters recall. I called the number, which is an automated system to collect name, address, etc. I presume some sort of refund check will arrive in the mail in a few weeks.