Diggin' on this song on this beautiful fall night :)
Saturday, September 28, 2013
Friday, September 27, 2013
Perspective
Yes, I have effectively had the week from hell. But you know what? Life ain't half bad when you're sitting on a playground with both of your beloved children hanging off of you....
Do I wish I knew what the future held?
DAMN STRAIGHT!
But I gotta take a moment to appreciate what I have. Because life is good, despite the other stuff....
And while my angst most likely won't dissipate until my boss disappears, it's important to keep my perspective.
Because I am damn lucky to have the support of my family through this :)
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Mother fucker! Am I on the chopping block?
So.... I think it's time to come clean and explain why I'm not very consistant with my posts. I'll stop beating around the bush and say what I feel is happening in my new lab.
My boss wants to fire me.
Only they can't because I have a grant (with their help). I have no idea how it came to this so relatively fast (I consider a year after my hire fast), but I have been stripped of most of my lab responsibilities and been given expectations that I haven't seen anyone else (including my boss) live up to at this institution. Sure, I'm awesome, but I'm not sure if even I can achieve this level of greatness. Especially since I completely switched fields less than a year ago....
Yes, I will try to succeed anyway, just so I can shove it up my boss where the sun don't shine. I can kick ass with the best of them, but I ain't gonna sacrifice my family to do it. Maybe the vitriol is because I actually managed to maintain a nuclear family while my boss has been less than successful on this front. Maybe it's because I don't walk around looking totally pissed off at the world, or that people feel they can talk to me, or because I help people out of genuine kindness, rather than selfish political motivations. I don't know. But it sucks. Big time.
I've broken down in tears in traffic on the way to work, had to pull over to gather myself and stop thinking about what I might have to face that day. I've had nightmares about my job. Fantasized about witnessing my boss's downfall. Dreamed of success despite the odds. Hoped I would someday have something resembling stability.
I have to believe I have better options than this. I don't need this stress on top of everything else.
The latest in this week of "fun" (I'm hoping quotation marks indicate sarcasm - it's so hard to tell nowadays) - in addition to being told I should publish ASAP without support because a collaborator wants to poach my project, I was told I was not allowed to teach a class on "company time." I should take vacation time if I wanted to teach, present at seminars, or give invited talks out of state at other institutions. Essentially, if I wanted to further my career, it had to be on my dime, despite being on a career development grant. Can you say say double-standard? Thankfully, institutional protocol came to my rescue, but the administrative support have started to ask why my boss is doing this to me. What they have against me. All I can do is smile ruefully and say that it doesn't really matter - I have no choice.
Yet all I want is to be able to yell WTF at the top of my lungs, scream my indignity at the wind. I just sat through an external advisory committee meeting where I was told that the institution needed to give me the opportunity to do all those things.
And they asked if I had problems with my mentor. Stupid me, I lied and covered it up. Maybe they saw through it, saw the "oh shit" moment in my eyes, but I'm not convinced.. Maybe they noticed my desperate search for outside guidance, my glowing words for previous mentors, and general lack of attention I gave my current advisor. But, bottom line, I've got a noose around my neck, and the hangman is waiting for the right opportunity to pull..
Yes. I am a postdoc. But I am a fucking good postdoc. And I could do amazing things if I had support.
Instead, I manage the lab like a motherfucker, 'cause there ain't no one else to do that job. Shut your door all you want, the job will still be done, just not by you.. Hide in your office - people will begin to notice who runs the show. Yes, it slows my productivity, but I feel I'm forced to run the lab because I'm terrified the students will fail without me. Because I sure as hell can't see you lifting your ass off your chair to help anyone other than yourself.
Why? Because there is one thing I've learned - you ain't nothing without that piece of paper.
And sometimes even that isn't enough.
But if you hear of a job needing a stem cell perspective and a willingness to kick ass, please let me know. You know where to find me -either in the lab or with my family. I'll be the one trying to hide my shame and achieve greatness despite the odds.....
My boss wants to fire me.
Only they can't because I have a grant (with their help). I have no idea how it came to this so relatively fast (I consider a year after my hire fast), but I have been stripped of most of my lab responsibilities and been given expectations that I haven't seen anyone else (including my boss) live up to at this institution. Sure, I'm awesome, but I'm not sure if even I can achieve this level of greatness. Especially since I completely switched fields less than a year ago....
Yes, I will try to succeed anyway, just so I can shove it up my boss where the sun don't shine. I can kick ass with the best of them, but I ain't gonna sacrifice my family to do it. Maybe the vitriol is because I actually managed to maintain a nuclear family while my boss has been less than successful on this front. Maybe it's because I don't walk around looking totally pissed off at the world, or that people feel they can talk to me, or because I help people out of genuine kindness, rather than selfish political motivations. I don't know. But it sucks. Big time.
I've broken down in tears in traffic on the way to work, had to pull over to gather myself and stop thinking about what I might have to face that day. I've had nightmares about my job. Fantasized about witnessing my boss's downfall. Dreamed of success despite the odds. Hoped I would someday have something resembling stability.
I have to believe I have better options than this. I don't need this stress on top of everything else.
The latest in this week of "fun" (I'm hoping quotation marks indicate sarcasm - it's so hard to tell nowadays) - in addition to being told I should publish ASAP without support because a collaborator wants to poach my project, I was told I was not allowed to teach a class on "company time." I should take vacation time if I wanted to teach, present at seminars, or give invited talks out of state at other institutions. Essentially, if I wanted to further my career, it had to be on my dime, despite being on a career development grant. Can you say say double-standard? Thankfully, institutional protocol came to my rescue, but the administrative support have started to ask why my boss is doing this to me. What they have against me. All I can do is smile ruefully and say that it doesn't really matter - I have no choice.
Yet all I want is to be able to yell WTF at the top of my lungs, scream my indignity at the wind. I just sat through an external advisory committee meeting where I was told that the institution needed to give me the opportunity to do all those things.
And they asked if I had problems with my mentor. Stupid me, I lied and covered it up. Maybe they saw through it, saw the "oh shit" moment in my eyes, but I'm not convinced.. Maybe they noticed my desperate search for outside guidance, my glowing words for previous mentors, and general lack of attention I gave my current advisor. But, bottom line, I've got a noose around my neck, and the hangman is waiting for the right opportunity to pull..
Yes. I am a postdoc. But I am a fucking good postdoc. And I could do amazing things if I had support.
Instead, I manage the lab like a motherfucker, 'cause there ain't no one else to do that job. Shut your door all you want, the job will still be done, just not by you.. Hide in your office - people will begin to notice who runs the show. Yes, it slows my productivity, but I feel I'm forced to run the lab because I'm terrified the students will fail without me. Because I sure as hell can't see you lifting your ass off your chair to help anyone other than yourself.
Why? Because there is one thing I've learned - you ain't nothing without that piece of paper.
And sometimes even that isn't enough.
But if you hear of a job needing a stem cell perspective and a willingness to kick ass, please let me know. You know where to find me -either in the lab or with my family. I'll be the one trying to hide my shame and achieve greatness despite the odds.....
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Channeling some positivity
It would be an understatement to say that I've been a bit down lately. But no matter how things go in my life, that is not who I am, nor who I want to be. Although everyone faces challenges, everyone still has a responsibility to help brighten others days, lives, outlook.
I wish I was half as inspirational as this man.
Life is not measured by the good or bad things given to you in life, but rather what you do with what you've been given.
Saturday, September 21, 2013
#2 post of the day
"It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men."
Frederick Douglass
Thought for the day
Is it a bad sign when graduate students forward you job postings?
And this was without me complaining.... Not sure if I'll apply, but at this does lend some credibility to my overall feelings of my situation and desire, in the pit of my stomach, to get the hell outta here.
More meditation in the weeks to come, for sure....
And this was without me complaining.... Not sure if I'll apply, but at this does lend some credibility to my overall feelings of my situation and desire, in the pit of my stomach, to get the hell outta here.
More meditation in the weeks to come, for sure....
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Oops
I think I accidentally embalmed my fingertips when I helped an undergrad prepare a spleen sample for histology.... Sad thing is that it took me until tonight to realize it.
On the bright side, I discovered I can still pull an all-nighter to submit a manuscript and still fully function the next day. Who knew? I was even more productive than usual - this is probably a trend I should not notice, less I drift off into very, very bad habits of never sleeping on the weekends or conversing with my family...
On the bright side, I discovered I can still pull an all-nighter to submit a manuscript and still fully function the next day. Who knew? I was even more productive than usual - this is probably a trend I should not notice, less I drift off into very, very bad habits of never sleeping on the weekends or conversing with my family...
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