So it’s been a busy old week in the world that is Morgan. I’ve suddenly been thrown into a world where work seems to be not even remotely close to the number of hours I have in the day. Well, I say that, but in reality I’m still far better off than I have been for the last 2 years. It’s just that for 3 of the thus far 4 days I’ve been getting home at gone 6 after getting to work at 8. Which just seems a bit of a jip after the last couple of weeks when I’ve been doing my standard 8 til 4 which my body was just really starting to like. C’est la vie. When me must and all that.
Anyway that’s not the purpose of todays rant. During this week I’ve spent a lot of time on various training courses and met a lot of new people which normally would be great. This was all in the name of “personal and professional development”, which is basically a government initiative that says that postgrad researchers are coming out of university with brilliant minds in their field (read scientific minds) but lack daily interchangeable skills that make them an asset to employers. Now this isn’t something that I believed until this week.
This week I’ve done courses that introduce statistics, Linux, open-source software and how to use big scary magnets. Well I say that but really I’ve used bigger magnets and have done a lot more than just press a few buttons.
Anyway. I know that I’m not the coolest person in the world and don’t pretend to be, never have. But bloody hell. This week I’ve met several people that just personify the word nerd, in the fact the definition should perhaps be modified in light of these new subjects. Compared to these people I looked like the Fonz. My god I even saw a pocket protecter for the first time in real life. My only thought was “Really?”
I try not to be a harsh person in normal life but when I feel like bullying people it just makes me thing that a) they must have had a really sh*t life and b) they must really be asking for it.
Trousers go below the belly button. And if you’re really going to wear them at such heights do you really need to tuck the shirt into them along with wearing the tightest belt in the world?
I appreciate that academia is an escape from the real world for a lot of people but really reality needs to slap these people about the face with a trout.
This page previously appeared on morganbye.net[^1][^2]
[^1:] http://morganbye.net/2009/11/nerds-nerds-everywhere) [^2:] http://morganbye.net/blog/?p=93