As I mentioned earlier this week, this blog is primarily a tool for myself to be able to track how I spend my time over the next year. Without this thorough (and timely) account of my day, I would have written today off as a complete waste. Now I didn't make much progress with regards to my research, but that's not to say I didn't get anything done.
I ended yesterday's post with a teaser into the work I wanted to dive into today. Unfortunately, I have to report I wasn't able to start my "lab" work until almost 5pm this afternoon. Let me explain...
This morning I went into the lab knowing I had a certain amount of desk work to do before my "real" work could start. As such I began my day by preparing an abstract to submit for an upcoming conference. Once the draft was sent to my supervisor I started to review the latest version of a patent application that was prepared based on an instrument I have designed and built in our lab. In no way is the "detailed description" section of a patent application easy reading and when it's your job to check for errors, it makes it all the more difficult to read. Next I had to prepare a couple reports for the July issue of the PGSA newsletter. I had a University Research Committee meeting to cover in addition to a meeting of the university working group looking into the future of the Honours degree* at Victoria. Also, as PGSA President, I needed to prepare an editorial piece for the newletter. By the time I finished the aforementioned items and responded to the daily backlog of emails it was 4:50pm; almost the entire day gone.
Needless to say I know what work I will to dive into tomorrow morning, when I am able to resume my research studies.
* An Honours degree in New Zealand is a one year post-undergraduate qualification. While degree requirements vary by discipline there is typically a mix of course work and thesis required.
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