South Africa, register to vote....

When I was in my "yes phase" post break up, I signed up to volunteer with the DA. There was a leaflet in the post box - I am somewhat of a compulsive volunteer-er. It wasn't an entirely shallow decision, I have huge respect for the changes that I have seen in Cape Town since the DA has been in power here, I am a big Zille fan, my local Councillor works so hard and is lovely (and I look nice in blue). Obviously there are issues with the DA as with all other political parties AND this blog is not about politics... I am just mentioning it here because this weekend, you can register to vote if, for some weird reason, you haven't already done so.  



People fought so hard to get the vote I think the least we can do is acknowledge that by casting our own vote. In our 4 elections the voter turnout has averaged 82% and was 77.3% in the 2009 election (for a comparison, the 2010 election in UK had 65.1% and in the US in 2012 57.5%). I think that is pretty good and I like being better than the UK and USA at something for a change. Let's keep that up! 

First years.... 

The Daily Maverick reports that 77% of potential voters are registered however, the worrying bit is that they say that only 22.6% of 18 - 19 year olds are registered. Are our youth apathetic? Isn't all youth - by the way - I realise that saying that makes me seem old, but it is hard not to feel old with the influx of tiny first years on campus. 

I didn't really have topic
appropriate photos... can you tell?

OK, so, vote and encourage young(er) people to vote for the first time. If for no other reason than to keep our average turnout higher than that of the UK and USA, but also because I firmly believe you have no right to moan about anything if you are too apathetic to get to the voting stations on the PUBLIC HOLIDAY that is election day. You can register on the 8 and 9th Feb. I will be there to check up on you.... OK that is only true if you live in my neighbourhood, and I will just be there, volunteering, not so much checking up on you.  

For more information about the elections or where to register check out the IEC website or call the local office of your preferred political party. Or call 0800 11 8000 (toll free from a landline) during office hours. You should also check if you are registered. 

       

Register at your correct voting station on 8/9 Feb from 8am to 5pm.

PS The DA has also put up a good fight to get South Africans living abroad the opportunity to vote, so make it worth the slog. (Again, I don't care who you vote for, just so long as you care enough about the country to vote). 

Load shedding silver linings

Load shedding sucks, it has huge economic consequences, is inconvenient and frustrating. It makes me feel a little embarrassed about South Africa especially when I have to cancel a Skype date with friends in UK and Canada because of it (and if you know me well, I'm obnoxiously proud of south Africa so it's incredibly frustrating to be embarrassed by load shedding and SONA2015.)

I know that load shedding can be terribly frustrating. When we had it in 2008 it wasn't that well scheduled, and I had put a 96 well PCR in. You can imagine how frustrating it is to lose that especially when I actually got bands on that gel - and had no way to recreate the conditions - I am sure they weren't real bands, but as you can see, I still remember that plate (I had SUCH troubles with my PCRs in my PhD - optimisation heartbreaks). Now, I think, the scheduling is a little better, usually where it deviates, we get less load shedding than planned, which isn't something to moan about.  

So, it's Sunday night and we're sitting outside drinking chilled white wine until the sun goes down. It is a beautiful still evening. And, this is the first time we have actually had load shedding in a couple of weeks. Load shedding sucks but wow the stars and moon are brighter. Candle light is beautiful and the world seems quieter (unless there's a generator near by).

I think there might even be some good that comes out of load shedding. It makes people appreciate electricity and think about it as precious and worth saving. It starts serious conversations about alternative energy and some people are even starting to invest in solar panels which is definitely a good thing. It forces people to stop their electronic and TV addictions (although I'm emailing myself during load shedding on my phone - just in case I forget these thoughts - so that does rather contradict what I am saying).

When we had to pay for plastic bags, people started to bring re-usable bags. When petrol got expensive, people (for a while) drove slower and were a little more petrol conscious.  Granted, people get used to things quickly and eventually just handed over the extra cash for the plastic bag or petrol, but people thought about things for a while, and some people stuck with the reusable bags, the slower driving. So maybe in a small way, load shedding will make, at least some people, slightly more energy conscious.

There's always a silver lining.  So instead of ranting about load shedding on Facebook try enjoy the moment. Go outside and look at the beautiful stars, light a fire and have a braai, practice low-light photography, make a phone call to someone you haven't spoken to in a while - try doing something that doesn't require electricity for the 2 hours you will be in the dark. For me, it is now time to actually enjoy the candle light, wine and quality time playing trivial pursuit (and the wine!) 

What is your weakness? Interviews?

Shumba

I have a confession… I hadn’t really planned on telling people about this because if nothing came of it I wanted to avoid the sympathetic head tilts. I do really hate the head tilts – unless it is Shumba that is giving them to me, because he is just so pretty he can get away with almost anything. Of course anyone who has spent time with me (particularly when wine is involved) will know that I am very bad at keeping my own (I really can keep your secrets don’t worry) secrets anyway.

Meet Marmalade - he pretends he wants
you to stroke him, but really he wants to
dig his claws into you - not the sort you
want to interview you. 

OK, now I am worried this is too much of a build-up, REALLY, it wasn’t a big deal, I just had an interview on Monday, which is kind of a big deal because as you know I am currently looking for a job. I have only actually had 5 interviews before this (EVER) and none of them had gone well, so I have mostly gotten myself into the frame of mind that I am bad at interviews. That and my general self-confidence took a real knock with the whole PhD thing.

The first was for an internal position I knew that I could do better than anyone else, and that didn’t go well because I expected them to know that too. I also found out how much I was going to get paid and decided it wasn’t really worth my time and asked them not to consider me for the position (I am not a snob, I have at various times worked hard for very little money – but I knew what kind of time commitment this job required and I couldn’t justify it). I did get the runner up prize, a different position with fewer hours and an hourly rate that actually suited me better.

Benji 

The second interview was for a youth-leadership program (within a political party), but I don’t have that “RA RA” personality that I think they were looking for – I really am more of a “do-er” than a “let’s discuss in an opinionated way what needs to be done” sort. Anyway, having recently watched the SONA I am glad to distance myself from the political sorts. The third was a telephone interview for a position that would have been really interesting. I worked really hard on that one – read papers, did research and was quite excited about it. It didn’t work out, but if I think about it, it wasn’t really for me and I know I am not that good on the phone.

The fourth was awful and I was actually choking up on the phone to my mom before it because I didn’t want to work there, but I didn’t feel like I had the option to be choosy. It was a horrible interview. I try to forget about it. The fifth was my dream job. I say that, running the risk of potential future employers seeing this. Eeekkk. And because it turns out that potential future employers have looked at my blog, I will refrain from saying it remains in my top 3 places of work. Alas, I didn’t hear anything. I was heartbroken.

Marmalade again

Which brings me to this interview: I was nervous, of course, I did the required research, of course, and I think it went OK. It was a Skype interview which was a first for me and a little awkward because I could see the funny facial expressions I pull and they had their camera kind of pointing at the empty wall so I was talking to invisible people for at least some of the time. It is an exciting opportunity that I won’t tell you about too much because I haven’t had any feedback yet (and now you know that you can give me wine and I will tell you, so I will hold out and let you buy the wine). If nothing else comes out of it, I am glad that I had this interview. It made the whole interview experience less terrifying for me because there were such nice people on the other side of the camera (when I could see them). I didn’t feel like they were trying to trick me or catch me out. They had read my CV (and – blush – some of my blog) and were really nice.

Jill 

So, this rather long preamble is to say that when people tell you that just the experience of having an interview is a good thing, it is really true. It turns out that when I was terrible at an interview – it wasn’t that I am terrible, it was that it wasn’t a good fit. (Although being almost in tears before an interview because you don’t want to work there should have been enough of a sign that it wasn’t a good fit). Whether or not I get this job, I know that I genuinely have good qualifications, varied experiences and worth and if you are reading about how to survive a PhD, then you probably do too (or you are friends with me, and then you definitely do). And the right fit might just come along (OH how I hate it when people say that to me!)

PS They said I would hear on Wednesday, but obviously I haven’t heard, is there a consensus on whether or not it is rude to send a polite email asking? It has (within South Africa) geographical implications for me after all. 

PhD Singleton

I have had the thought of writing this blog for a very long time but for some completely inexplicable reason I feel more vulnerable and exposed writing about being single than I do writing about being brokenhearted (which took up two blog posts) or having to re-write my PhD or even losing someone I love. But, since Valentine's Day is coming up - and I already did one of those optimistic blogs about all the things I love last year - I thought I would actually talk about being single and doing a PhD (after all, I am no longer even doing a PhD so that half of the equation is in the past). I am quite content being single, but is my reluctance to write about it because I perceive there to be a stigma associated with being over thirty and single? I hope not... Although I do like that I can put "Dr" instead of "Miss" on forms now. 

I actually got the idea from the PHD COMICS Facebook page (You all know I love PHD COMICS - I mentioned it in the optimistic Valentine's Day post last year). The topic they were discussing was: 

"What is your experience being single in grad school? Tell us your stories." 

There were plenty of responses along this line: 

"Find someone before starting, otherwise end up as the unemployed overeducated catlady." 

But I really liked this comment most:

"My daughter may not have an m.r.s. but she'll have a Ph.D., and that lasts forever."

Of course liking that line doesn't mean that I want to be single forever either - and saying that doesn't mean that I will judge the success of my life based on whether or not I get married. 

In the first part of my PhD I did actually have a boyfriend, and quite a serious one at that. When we broke up it took a while to get over him and so for a while I wasn't interested in looking for anything else. Funny thing though, when I was over him, I actually still wasn't interested in looking for anyone else. Doing a PhD takes up a lot of time, and so I was grateful that I didn't have the extra distraction of wanting to spend time with a boyfriend (does that make me sound terrible?) I enjoyed having my free time to myself or to spend with my friends. I was pleased that if I was working late or on the weekend I wasn't resenting the work as time away from the boyfriend (which is what happened when I was in a relationship).  

I am quite an independent person and enjoy being the sole dictator of how I spend my time (and I have mentioned before, I am glad to not have to watch hockey games on cold Winter evenings anymore - not that I didn't want to do it at the time). I also find that I need time alone to stay sane (which is possible in a relationship too, of course). I also like that because I am single I make decisions about my future (geographically speaking) that are purely selfish. So, I am a pretty happy singleton at any time but I want to be honest. While I was doing my PhD I didn't have head space to meet someone new. I didn't have time. I didn't have the inclination. I didn't actually even go out to places where meeting someone would be a possibility. I was grateful that my PhD could come first in my life - even if it drove me a little bit crazy (and it probably didn't come as first in my life as it should have, I do love spending time with my friends). I suspect, that might be true for a lot of PhDers. If this is making you - as a current single PhDers - feel sad, I know of some friends that did manage to meet new people during the course of their PhD so don't lose hope. And here is further reason for hope... one day... even though it is very hard to believe... you will finish your PhD and LIFE will carry on. Isn't that an amazing thought. I am still not sure if I believe I am done (although I do have the mug to prove it).

Great gift!!!

And while finishing your PhD might not mean that you have loads of extra time (because of course you will find a job or get a post doc that keeps you busy - see, I am all about hope) it will hopefully mean that you can allow something else to come first in your life. For me, right now, I think what should be coming first in my life is me... I am enjoying having the time to go to yoga and go for walks (with the JHB dogs) and read lots and lots of books. After all, I hopefully will soon be very busy learning the ropes at a new job/post doc. As far as relationships go... well I would rather first know where I will be in the next 6 months, but I guess we'll just have to wait and see... 

I think one of the reasons that I was hesitant to write this blog is because while I am single, it is not how I define myself. I have always felt it frustrating when listening to people that are just so desperate to be in a couple that it is their primary focus (also those "I wish I had a boyfriend" conversations get a little bit boring). I believe that what you achieve in the world should be how you define yourself, not whether or not you are married. I also felt frustrated when people do the Bridget Jones "when are you going to get married then?" thing because I feel that there is so much more happening in my life. Still, Valentine's Day is the one day of a year when it is inevitable to be defined be your relationship status. BUT Valentine's Day also means the end of my alcohol free month - got to love that - so Happy Valentines Day indeed!