Month: June 2012

Another Rejection Letter

The emails keep trickling in.  Here’s the latest one I received.  It’s actually one of the better ones — in terms of getting the tone right — but it makes it ever so clear what the odds I’m facing are.

Dear Applicant,
Please forgive this impersonal letter. Last year, our Department simultaneously conducted two tenure-track searches and one visitor search: we received close to one thousand applications (my emphases), and such large numbers of applications have been difficult to manage. Many of these applications were truly extraordinary; we were humbled by the witnessing of so much talent. It is, as I am sure you know, a poor reflection on the state of our profession that so many talented applicants may not end up landing the jobs that they deserve.
As you by now realize, you did not get the job with us. I hope that you realize that this is not necessarily because of any weaknesses in your dossier. Rather, it is, above all, the result of a dramatically over-crowded job market. If you have landed a job elsewhere, please receive my congratulations; otherwise, I wish you good luck next time. In either case, thank you very much for allowing us to consider your application.
Sincerely,
1000 applicants for 3 jobs.  Anyone know how to catch lightning in a bottle?  I’ll pay.

Imaginative Toys

The kids had a book home from the library entitled playtime.  It talked about how different animals were playing: pouncing, swooping, rolling, digging etc.  At the back of the book was a note to parents how play leads to useful skills for adults.  It encouraged simple toys.  Today when K was playing I was reminded of simple toys and the value of the imagination.  For a long time I thought that K “needed” a high chair so that she could make the best use of her dolls and her play food.  Now she might still like a high chair but who knew that a blanket on the floor means a picnic for lots of dolls.

Granted the picnic keeps getting interrupted with trips to the doctor’s office because L’s new lego bionicles keep setting the dolls on fire or sticking them with weapons.  Not sure that Bionicles can be classified as a simple toy but they definitely have play value.

Half Marathon


I decided to run the half marathon again, but this time I had a running partner.  The run went well enough till about mile 10, at which point I inexplicably ran out of gas.  (Uncle) L was feeling better than I was so he put on the afterburners and left me eating dust.  In the end I didn’t miss my goal of a sub-2-hour time by all that much, but it was a bit of a disappointment given how well my long run of a week earlier had gone: today my quads are so sore I can hardly walk stairs; a week ago I ran 12 miles (a mile less than half marathon distance) and didn’t feel it in my quads at all the next day.  Oh well, it was fun (for the first 10 miles).  Maybe I/we can improve on our times next year.

Weekend Wedding

Went to a friend’s wedding this past weekend, and we posed for our customary photo shoot. It was good to hang out with these girls again.  We only see each other about once a year, but the company and conversation is always special.  It was an added bonus that husbands were around to join the conversation. As usually happens not all 6 of us could make it, A you were missed.  We look a little different then we did 10 years ago, but I don’t think we look so bad.  Thanks to the Sweet girls for a good weekend.

Tomatoes

Look at my tomato plant it’s blooming, I can almost taste the vine ripened tomatoes.  Unfortunately I had noticed earlier in the week that something was eating around the stem.  Yesterday I noticed that the plant was hanging a little limp.  Guess I won’t be tasting tomatoes from those blooms.  Just when I think I have found a place in my yard where the sun doesn’t cook the plants I get bugs!

It’s hard to see in a photograph but the stem below the line of soil is brown and half the size of the stem above ground.  The stem looks like it’s been chewed as far down as I have dug.

All Worked Up

CBC recently published a story about 2 teenagers that were tricked into eating moose droppings on a school canoe trip.  (The initial story is here and a follow up is here.)  The way CBC presented the story and the public reaction to it got me, well, all worked up.  So what did I do?  I sat down to write a comment on their website and Facebook page.  The comment turned into an essay.  So when I tried to publish the comment on the website, it got cut off about a third of the way through and, since the story is no longer “breaking news,” the story (and my comment) are no longer easy to find on CBC Manitoba’s Facebook page.  Sigh.  But having vented, I want someone to be able to see what I had to say.  If you’re interested, which, I’m sure, you aren’t, you can read it here.