Spring, Sprang, Sprung

Another (pre-)farewell today, this time for workmate Nicole (of the bbq fame), a locum who is being replaced by a permanent staff member. As previously discussed being a locum doesn't necessarily mean you're more temporary than the “permanent” staff though: after me, Nicole is actually the next longest serving therapist in that team. Today we were pleased to celebrate the new locum position she secured, at the Bobath Centre here in London. It is hard to describe exactly how momentous this is... the Bobath Centre is to neuro-physiotherapists the world over what Mecca is to the planet's Muslims. She's rather happy. Well done Nicole. I shall miss working with you. Do keep in touch.

It was nice to be able to sit outside this evening while contemplating Nicole's success, and find it not just still daylight well after 5pm but also a temperature that failed to be inclement. It may only have been 15 to 16 degrees over the last couple of days, but there is a feeling of resolve in the air, as if the city itself has had enough of winter. Though long-term forecasts proclaim doom and gloom of a disappointing summer, I am not convinced and shall not be swayed, planning on bringing about warmth by sheer force of personality if required. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I am done with winter.

That's not all I'm done with. I'm well done with working three jobs. I think I'm reasonably good at keeping my processes as streamlined as possible. But I know I'm just not as efficient as I could be, if I were focussed on just one thing. Admittedly there are some things I quite enjoy about my work. (For one, my colleagues are good.) I've often said in the past that I'd never want to be a (school) teacher, and I used to say I was not a “teacher” in terms of giftings either. I'm starting to revise that. One school teacher is quite enough in the family, but my quiet secret is that I quite enjoy giving lectures at the various training events that are a regular part of my work here. The problem is there is never time to prepare for them during work hours. Last week I ended up working till 1am on Monday morning, then 1:45am on Tuesday, to finish a presentation with a Wednesday deadline. Unusually, that particular presentation isn't until later in the month, but the conference organisers wanted the handouts in order to distribute them beforehand. Since then I worked on yet another presentation over the weekend, finishing it Monday night for a Tuesday morning delivery. In that case I was talking to a group of senior nurses that I mostly did not know, and I deliberately picked a(n important but) controversial subject. I seemed to pull it off and have since got good reviews... I think a future job for me may need to include such teaching as a more core job function ― so I can keep doing this kind of thing but avoid the late nights. There's really only one type of organisation that supports this, but when the time comes it won't be in this country; academics here get paid in cornflakes.