overwork – Music for Deckchairs

Service as a Service

Kate Bowles August 2, 2015 17 Comments

There is a lot of activity that an academic undertakes that acts as ‘glue’ holding together the whole scholarly practice. Martin Weller, Scholarship Can’t Afford Itself, July 2015 But after what happened at the Tour, I need to prove myself on a bigger scale. Tejay van Garderen, 2015 Two stories about the glue that holds together the whole scholarly practice. 1. It’s 2007. I’m in my office. I’m always in my office. Looking back, I don’t remember much else about that…

Being an academic, Cancer, Work and working

Weighted time

Kate Bowles July 24, 2015 0 Comments

We are in the shark’s domain … I am just lucky it wasn’t my time. Mick Fanning, Australian surfer So there’s an administrative thing that must be done, and if I do it, it’s worth a certain amount of workload time. But if the money is available to pay someone else to do it at an hourly rate, it’s given a bit more time. This is not because it takes less time for me to do it, but because it costs less per…

Being an academic

On, on, on

Kate Bowles July 15, 2014 27 Comments

Life chez Simpson was not normal, Helen now reflects, principally because a constant eye had to be kept on anything that might affect Simpson’s performance, whether he was racing or not. … “Social life [as a couple] was non-existent. I often used to think it would be really strange living a normal life, going out and having a meal with people.” William Fotheringham, Put me back on my bike: in search of Tom Simpson (2002) In the past 4 months I have kept…

Being an academic, Risk

On impact

Kate Bowles March 4, 2014 12 Comments

I know that there are people who actually enjoy sports but I never thought that there would be such a thing as a dodgeball enthusiast. Well, there isn’t really. There are just highly competitive people who use dodgeball to satisfy that need to win. Dodgeball, an autobiography When life is understood as a career, the resume becomes an extension of the body. Gaps in the resume are institutional stigmas. Since most of us have to work, it is hard for…

Being an academic, Casualisation of work