My First Week (and a bit!)

It’s hard to believe I’ve only been here a week. I feel like I’ve been here forever, though luckily everything is still new and interesting. Work has been interesting – I’ve been learning how to sex and age squid, how to use the database, and how to cut otoliths. I feel about as ready as I’ll ever be to go on board and start observing.

There’s not much interesting to tell. I’m at work from 8am to 4.30pm and it’s pretty dark by the time I get home. The short days are making me more tired than I feel I should be, as are the early mornings (I’m not used to them!). Luckily, work hasn’t been too arduous yet and by the time I have things to do I should be more used to the early starts! And when you get presented with sunrises like this it isn’t too hard to get motivated!


On Sunday I went to Fitzroy and saw some of the war memorials. There was one to the Welsh Guardsmen who died and another to those on the Sir Galahad.


The memorials seemed so small against the landscape.


Both memorials had at least a dozen names on them and it was strange to think that so many people died for a couple of islands with hardly any people on it. But I think it was worth it. The islands have changed so much since the war and from everything I’ve heard it’s been for the better.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Fantastic sunrise. If anyone come out to you I take it they have to bring some PG Tips.
MUM
8 August 2007 at 11:45
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sexism vs cultural imperialism

Image
As I was getting ready for bed last night a friend shared a tweet that immediately caught my attention. https://twitter.com/sbattrawden/status/1143465003409915905 The tweet was of a paper that has just been published online, titled "Does physician gender have a significant impact on first-pass success rate of emergency endotracheal intubation?" and showed the abstract which began, It is unknown whether female physicians can perform equivalently to male physicians with respect to emergency procedures. Understandably, this got the backs up of a lot of people, myself included. Who on earth thinks that's a valid question to be researching in this day and age? Are we really still having to battle assumptions of female inferiority when it comes to things like this? Who on earth gave this ethics approval, let alone got it though peer review? I then took a deep breath and asked myself why a respected journal, The American Journal of Emergency Medicine , would publish
Read more

The remarkable tree lobster

Image
I can’t remember the first time I heard about the Lord Howe Island stick insect, and I can’t say my interest has been much more than in passing. They would pique my interest when I saw them in the news, only to fade back into the vast and ever growing pile of ‘oh, interesting’. Then, at the beginning of November, I actually got to come face to face with one of these creatures and it was so incredible I decided to find out more. This is what I’ve learned… Lord Howe Island stick insects are - I’m sure you’ll be surprised to learn - found on Lord Howe Island. This is a small crescent-shaped island in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand. I didn’t realise until researching this piece that the island is actually inhabited. It has a population of 382 people according to the 2011 census . The Lord Howe Island stick insect ( Dryococelus australis ), or LHISI as it’s known to friends, was first described by Xavier Montrouzier in 1855 from specimens collected by the HMS Hera
Read more

Gutting the DSA with dodgy statistics

A couple of days ago the Rt Hon. David Willetts MP (Minister for Universities and Science) announced his changes to the Disabled Students’ Allowance. The DSA is a grant given to disabled students to help cover costs that arise as a direct result of their disability. It's an excellent scheme and for many it can, and has, make the difference between success and failure. These 'changes', more accurately termed 'cuts', are far-reaching and devastating. 
Read more