Stoopid Ides of March...

[byslantedlight]

But before I whinge - thank you everyone who filled in my poll the other day! Results, if anyone's vaguely interested, came back like this... (The question being - What's your focus when you're here on lj?)

Bodie/Doyle - 10
The Professionals - 0
Another specific show - 0
Whatever show grabs me and pulls me along with it - I'll go! - 3
The actors themselves - whatever they're in - 1
Fandom itself - I want to be part of it all! - 5
The Livejournal World, and the people I meet here - 4
The World in general - this is a good place for chatting about it - 2
Anything I've not thought of! - 1

Though I probably could have phrased the question differently, or maybe split it into two, cos there was a mix of answers about people's original focus on lj, and the focus that it became... But all very interesting, cheers! *g*

Along lj-lines (not linked to the poll though!) I'm feeling rather Spring-ish and as if I should have a tidy-up of my filters and tags and flist and so on... I need to go back and re-open those posts I locked in the wake of the Feng Shui thingie scare, and sort my tags, and then... that very weird thing where you realise that actually this-and-that person have never spoken to you, or else you've really got completely different interests, but there's alot of them popping up in your flist and yet you speak rarely, or people have moved on, or... all those things. So I shall do a wee little tidy up, but the only posts I'll leave locked are really personal ones, so if we don't really talk about those anyway, then I'm guessing you won't miss them... *g* And if I accidentally tidy you away, do let me know! But basically any Pros-y/fannish posts will be unlocked anyway, so they'll come up in your flist and you'll be able to see them, you just won't have to put up with the sort of thing that follows in this post... *g* (Sorry, like MsMoat, I'm apparently lousing at compartmentalising life - life is life, it all comes together in my little world....) And of course saying all this doesn't mean I'll necessarily be doing it today...

In other news, I'm quite liking the peace and quiet of starting early, although I still get stuck in traffic coming home, so I don't get home any earlier, unless I skive off Researching, which I did yesterday with a huge headache... On the bright exciting side, I realised that on that schedule I finish an hour earlier still on a Friday (they have a weird working week...), at 2pm, which was perfect timing for being booked into the archive cos they open at 2 as well - yeay for making the most of research/work hours mix. On the crappy blargh side, as soon as Boss also realised this she said No, you'll have to start at 8am on Friday instead... Which basically means that I'd be sitting in traffic for most of my own hour off, which means that I'll still come in for 7am, cos at least then I'll be sitting in front of my computer rather than in front of some idiot who's left three car spaces in front of him, while the traffic is backing up on the sliproad and onto the motorway... (see, that's why I really really mustn't be allowed to sit in traffic any longer than necessary - imagine what I'm like in the actual situation!) So then I thought - well, maybe if I work the extra hour, but she lets me go an hour early on the 5 occasions between now and August that I've been able to book into the Archives... But she said no to that as well. Gargh! I wouldn't mind, but the two girls in the lab who have babies are treated completely differently... Gargh!! So - I'm taking deep breaths, and thinking that I must find a much more constructive way to use the completely empty and wasted hours I sit behind this desk... I wouldn't mind if we were busy/rushed off my feet, but except for the odd occasion, it's so quiet I could die in this chair and they'd barely notice... Humpff.

SPRI itself continues to be lovely and welcoming and bending over backwards to be helpful... and I heard back from Advisor too, almost as soon as I'd posted grumping that I'd not heard from her! She's all excited that I'm getting back into it, and she's even given me a contact name I asked for, but she also said that we won't hear about the funding until probably August... Which is a problem, cos semester starts in August (very end of), and even if I'm over here still doing the research part of it, I need to be registered, which means I need to be accepted back in via the paperwork, which probably means that I need to physically have my F1 visa... And last time I did it, the F1 visa was pricey, needed all sorts of paperwork to back it up (including proof of funding/lots of money in the bank - eep!) and basically I can't afford to go through all that unless I know I'm definitely going to have the funding to carry on. And if we don't get the funding, then I can't carry on at all (and that, I've decided, will be that - I've been kicking against this particular prick for way too long... *g* And I nicked that phrase from HG because I love the way it sounds, but I've no idea what she specifically meant by it in the story... Not a specific person-prick, I don't think, more general... So - kicking against the prick... *g*) So... just argh. I've written to my international adviser to see what she says, but I suspect I know what it'll be... *headdesk*

So really - I'm keeping my eye out for interesting and non-PhD-based jobs... that I qualify for... that I'm not over-qualified for... Hmmn...

Erm... the sun is shining? (Kind of - well it was earlier...) Did I have other whiffle to whiffle? Probably not... How're you doing...? *g*

Comments

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

in front of some idiot who's left three car spaces in front of him, while the traffic is backing up on the sliproad and onto the motorway...

Heh! I love driving, even round the M25 (although crawling is more the word there) but OMG the number of stoopid people there are behind the wheel. Even your not-an-actual-situation makes me seethe :)

It is sort of sunny today. And warmish. Quite a novelty. But argggh springcleaning ... my whole life needs it but eeeeep!

And have you watched all/any of New Pros? Were we going to attempt a NewProsProsWatch??

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ha - yes, it is rather my whole life that needs a spring clean actually... *sighs*

And after all that - no, I've not watched any of the New Pros yet - not had chance(/inspiration)! I might do, if we did it as a ProsWatch though... Erm... we could either try to interupt the NPPW after Rhodes (2 more eps) or we could do it on another night? Friday night, maybe? What d'you reckon?!

[solosundance.livejournal.com]

well I wouldn't want to interrupt NPPW even though I'm not a not-Pros person *g* Friday night could work ... in fact, that sounds rather cool. Would there be more than just us two snarkily watching two blokes who aren't the Lads?

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ooh okay - let's do Friday night!

I think a few other people said they might be interested - I could post to find out? Or you could... *g*

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Along lj-lines (not linked to the poll though!) I'm feeling rather Spring-ish and as if I should have a tidy-up of my filters and tags and flist and so on... I need to go back and re-open those posts I locked in the wake of the Feng Shui thingie scare, and sort my tags, and then... that very weird thing where you realise that actually this-and-that person have never spoken to you, or else you've really got completely different interests, but there's alot of them popping up in your flist and yet you speak rarely, or people have moved on, or... all those things. So I shall do a wee little tidy up, but the only posts I'll leave locked are really personal ones, so if we don't really talk about those anyway, then I'm guessing you won't miss them... *g* And if I accidentally tidy you away, do let me know! But basically any Pros-y/fannish posts will be unlocked anyway, so they'll come up in your flist and you'll be able to see them, you just won't have to put up with the sort of thing that follows in this post... *g* (Sorry, like MsMoat, I'm apparently lousing at compartmentalising life - life is life, it all comes together in my little world....) And of course saying all this doesn't mean I'll necessarily be doing it today...

How do you feel about dunging out your flist? I've thought about doing it—not that my flist is all that big, but still, there are those whose interests have gone in another direction and we have nothing in common (though there are those that, even when you don't share a fandom, you share...something else.) But I've often seen where people get a bit upset about it, even if, as you've mentioned, they've never once responded to any of your posts and often you to theirs. Anyway, thinking about it is as far as I've gotten.

Erm... the sun is shining? (Kind of - well it was earlier...) Did I have other whiffle to whiffle? Probably not... How're you doing...? *g*

It's supposed to be clear and unseasonably warm this week. The snow is all melted away but we might get some next week. Lovely, just as I'm flying out for Phoenix. *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, it feels really uncomfortable to be even thinking about taking people off my flist! I'm having to be very stern with myself, and remind myself that they'll probably be happier to be off than I will be to take them off... There's so many reasons why you might have originally friended each other, though, and then things change... especially when it turns out that you don't often speak to each other anyway...

I've only ever defriended a few people - a couple of people who've defriended me cos they've moved on in their fandoms (fair enough); or twice now I've discovered that someone has filtered me completely off their posts, so that all I can see are birthday greetings or the odd meme, and yet they've stayed friended to me, presumably so that they could read my locked posts. That seems rather sneaky and two-faced to me - why not just defriend me completely, be honest about it? Anyway, I wasn't worried about what they thought!

I do worry about inadvertantly upsetting people - but then, I think the people I'd take off are people who never talk to me anyway, so I'd be surprised if they spoke to me just to complain... *g* And it's only my more personally-identifying posts I want to lock anyway - I only locked up in the first place cos of the FS Doctor thing... So if they leave me on their flist they can still read most of my posts (if they're genuinely interested), and if they're not posting about things I'm into, then we're not going to be talking on their posts in the first place, so...

So yeah, despite the emotional angst of it, I really don't think we should be stressed about it... If someone takes offence then they'd probably take offence no matter what you did, I suspect...

And yeay the sound of Spring in your part of the world too! *g*

[mabiana.livejournal.com]

For me, it's a mix of "The World in general - this is a good place for chatting about it" and "The Livejournal World, and the people I meet here", which is why I hadn't filled it out. :-)

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Ah, cheers! Yes, I think that's the flavour I've had from your lj - hope you've not been bored with all my Pros-y (and non-knitting!) stuff!

[mabiana.livejournal.com]

Not at all - I do like Pros-y stuff! And you have interesting thoughts and beautiful photos and give glimpses of your life. :-) I hope I am not boring you with my lack thereof!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Lol - shucks, thank you! And no, not at all! *g* I can be slow to comment though, especially on health issues - I hope you're elbow and all is feeling better though!

[cornishcat.livejournal.com]

You want to try hurrying to work in this neck of the woods -tourists are notorious prats.

'Oooh, see that lovely view, dear! Let's drive reeeeeeally slowly passed, so we can have a good long look!'

or

Travelling along behind a tractor when you meet one coming the other way. What do the farmers do? Stop for a chat, of course!!

Arrrrgh ...... *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, we have tractors here too... but admittedly all the tourists are at least in the city centre... *g* I shall try not to be a tourist when I come to Cornwall next. Promise. *g*

[kiwisue.livejournal.com]

this-and-that person have never spoken to you
Oh, I have a couple of those. And one or two people who have passed on, and I kept their journals friended in remembrance, but maybe it's time to let go.

I don't lock most of my posts, and I really only use a posting filter occasionally so again no-one's missing out on much.

twice now I've discovered that someone has filtered me completely off their posts, so that all I can see are birthday greetings or the odd meme

You too, huh. Yeah, that's a little hard to parse.

Maybe I need a spring-clean too. Except it would be more an autumn clean... no, that doesn't sound quite right *g* And there are probably Pros fans around who I haven't friended - except I do a search every now and then for people with the_professionals or bodie/doyle as interests and most of the new people I find are more into other fandoms that don't interest me. I'm just glad we have places like the_safehouse and ci5hq where we can all gather!

And I'm stuffing around until it's time to leave for work, because morning traffic down the motorway is horrible in the early morning, so I usually start late. Of course that means finishing late, it doesn't seem to create more hours somehow, although it should!

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, you know I finally decided I had to let go of someone on my flist who died, but of course her journal's still there, so she's still on my Friend of list... which is kind of nice, kind of sad, kind of nice...

You too, huh. Yeah, that's a little hard to parse.
Oh, I'm pretty sure I get it in both cases - I just don't like it... Lj's a funny place, it seems so friendly, you can forget very easily that people are the same people that're around in the rest of the world...

You know, I'm wondering if there just are more multifandom people around now - you know, as people discover Pros from other fandoms they're almost inevitably going to bring those fandoms with them, without necessarily having the same passion for Pros... Which would totally mean a changing flist...

Actually, you know one of the things that has popped up on my all-new options-bar-thingie - a Communities flist, where there seems to be only posts from the comms that I'm in... Thank goodness it's not been split out of my flist as well (don't give me separate places to go and look for things to read, for gads sake), but I wonder if that'll be a sort of Pros-y-central looking page, since I'm really only in Pros comms... except for that one TW one, though I've not read the posts for ages now, so I should leave...

And eep - my traffic's the other way now, nice and quiet in the early morning, hell when I'm leaving late, afteer SPRIing... Good luck with yours!

[snailbones.livejournal.com]

Oh good luck on the funding babe - how horrible to be balancing on the edge like that. I'm crossing bodily parts that it'll come through in time... Meanwhile, am I allowed to say I think your boss is a baggage? *g*

[byslantedlight.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's eternal balancing-for-funding - I've spent the last dozen years doing it, so really I should be used to it by now!

My boss is a baggage... although I'd better also admit that I am trying to circumvent a normal working day here... mostly because it's not normal work, mind you... But gargh! Still, at least she's so far alright with the 7-3 thing... and she's off herself today - yeay! Nice and quiet! *g*