verygneiss

Hiatus

2009-04-24T08:49:00.000-07:00

I am putting this blog on hold indefinitely, as I feel that a personal, handwritten diary would of more value.

First shift

2009-04-01T04:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I had my first shift at Morrison's yesterday, and it was pretty fun. I wore a stupid hat, sliced lots of meat, and washed my hands a great number of times. It was only a 3 hour shift, so the real test of my mettle will be tomorrow, when I'm doing an 8-hour shift; I suspect it will be rather boring... But it's a daft part-time job: they are boring. Hopefully the banter will be good, but if it isn't? Meh.

On a more interesting note, I'm off to the Isle of Arran for a week on Sunday, then to Aviemore for a further week thereafter. It should be a fun two weeks, but I hope my academic colleagues don't decide to drink all week, as I dislike drunk and hungover people.

Trained to bits

2009-03-29T05:21:00.000-07:00

I had my initial training day at the mighty Morrisons (my new employer, always sans apostrophe); it dragged on a bit, but it was ok nonetheless. It basically consisted of (a) customer service (b) basic food hygiene and (c) common sense. I am going to be working in the delicatessen, so the basic message for me was "WASH YOUR HANDS". I received two shirts, some nice stripy aprons, and I will be getting a boater at some point, probably before my first shift on Tuesday; I'm working 3-7 Tuesday and 11-8 Thursday. Woohoo! I have to train to 'level 3' in food hygiene, whatever that is, to be full qualified as a deli guy. I suppose I also have to acquire a good knowledge of cheeses, pies and the like.

In unrelated news, my mother bought a car at a police auction, which is intended for shared use among me, my mum's boyfriend, and my little brother (when he passes his test). I suppose it will be useful, but I'm quite ambivalent about having it at my disposal. Driving is driving, and I much prefer walking, cycling or taking the train. However, it is quite a funky wee car, and it might be useful for snowboarding trips come winter/fishing trips come summer.

Aside from not getting fired from Morrisons, not crashing this new car, and passing my uni exams, I have another ambition for the coming months: pass the Zertifikat Deutsch. This is the standard level of German language proficiency required to work in die Bundesrepublik Deutschland, and the practice tests I've done seem fairly straightforward. Obviously, one cannot know every single word in a foreign language, but working them out from context is the real key. Plus, many German words are built up from smaller components, so some sense of the meaning of a word can usually be gleaned from its constituent parts.

I have a job! Ich habe eine Stelle!

2009-03-26T12:09:00.000-07:00

At long last, I have a job! I am now a sales assistant (deli) for Wm. Morrisons. I will be slicing meat and cheese quite soon! The glamour! That aside, I'm really glad I got this job, as I was beginning to be a little bit strapped for cash. The steady increase in transport costs, plus all the little extras that seem to mount up (field trips, books, more books, stationery) were all hitting me in the pocket.

It is now the norm for students to work while they study, due to the cost of university, particularly for English students. Lecturers and relatives have regaled me with stories of the glory days, when students were subsidised left, right and centre, and how it's a disgrace that we have to pay so much these days. However, not everyone chooses to rack up massive debts during their uni days. I put myself under this banner, as I would prefer to be financially independent in later life; the 'credit crunch' has also ensured that my classmates will probably graduate into a depressed economy, less able to accomodate them.

Mein Gott

2009-03-21T05:43:00.000-07:00

I am now 20 years old. Huzzah! I can now:

Moan about teenagers, the youth, and children.
Grow a beard, without the need to be a palaeontologist.
Start bar fights.
Reminisce/be nostalgic about things.
Write serious essays about books.

Note: the above points may be the witterings of an old man.

I was 20 yesterday, and I had my final earth science lab of second year; it was a remote sensing lab, a subject which I particularly enjoy. It may seem ridiculous that my entire course of classes ended on March 20th, but it is due to the compression of the academic year into two 11-week semesters, or something like that. I mentioned this during an adviser-of-studies meeting, and immediately regretted it, as I got a long, boring spiel about the previous and current structure of the academic year. Ach so, I guess that's just life. And it's quite a good one, na?

An end to the term

2009-03-12T11:56:00.000-07:00

Wow! The 2nd term of my 2nd year at university is almost complete. All my geography labs/tutorials and earth science lectures have finished. All I am left with are a few palaeobiology labs (and a test) and a final remote sensing lab. I have really enjoyed remote sensing, especially since powerful conclusions can be arrived at via free tools and data (MultiSpec and ESDI, thank you!).

This year has been shorter than last, thanks to a compression of the timetable, so I'm left in a familiar position, i.e. nothing to do. Thankfully, I have a job interview this coming Saturday, so that may alleviate the boredom. Otherwise, I've been devoting myself to reading (mainly philosophy and German), running at night, and maintaining my vegetable garden.

Oh, the terrible life of a student!

3 more essential reads

2009-02-27T19:55:00.000-08:00

Not scientific, but essential nonetheless:

The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, by Robert Tressell. One of the finest non-Orwell accounts of early 2oth century poverty.
Crime and Punishment, by Fyodor Dostoevsky. Neurotic, ultra-detailed, as fevered and crazy as the main character.
Europe - A History, by Norman Davies. This is a solid account of the history of the continent upon which I live, from the depths of prehistory, to modern statism.

Read them!

Essential Reads

2009-02-26T14:24:00.000-08:00

There are a select number of books I have encountered which I would recommend to any science student who needs a detailed summary of a sub-field or discipline. The ones I've discovered so far are as follows:

Francis Albarède. Geochemistry - An Introduction. Cambridge University
Press, Cambridge, 2003. This is a brilliant summary of a wide range of geochemical techniques and applications.
Gordon Dickinson and Kevin Murphy. Ecosystems. Routledge, Abingdon, 2007. This book is excellent: it is intellectually rigorous, full of content, and actually interesting to read. Ideal for those interested in functional ecology and biogeography.
E.N.K. Clarkson. Invertebrate Palaeontology and Evolution. Blackwell Science, Oxford, 1998. Encyclopedic; accessible; lucid: these are all suitable adjectives for the description of this work, which is clear enough for 1st and 2nd year palaeobiology courses, but goes into detail suitable for honours work.

Continued

2009-02-22T05:12:00.000-08:00

Continuing last night's attempts to classify my own beliefs, which I fear became a bit waffly, I will make a further point:

There should be a balance between the individual and society. My point here is that highly individualistic behaviour, generally speaking, doesn't make those around you more happy; in the same vein, acts that will benefit only others, will not generally make yourself happy. Unless you are some kind of as-yet-undiscovered person, who lives on altruism alone, then it is not foolish to ask for a little benefit from good actions.
The 'growth ethic' is harmful. That's right: I am hitting out against the dominant economic paradigm of the 20th and 21st centuries. It is simply mad that economic 'growth' is regarded as the most important activity in society, which must be maintained at all costs, regardless of environmental and societal impact. It would seem to be linked up the neoliberalism of recent decades, and its harmful advocacy of free trade, a policy only adopted when it suits the interest of the parties involved. Why can't we simply plateau? What prevents us simply maintaining our current standard of living and wealth? Mankind should concentrate on making people happy without the assumption that money is the sole root of happiness.

Something I struggle with

2009-02-21T19:52:00.000-08:00

I must confess: I cannot order my thoughts properly, particularly regarding the field of politics and philosophy. It's not as if I lack the vocabulary required to express my opinions in these fields, and neither am I ignorant, but I simply find it hard to categorise my views and express them succinctly. This post is therefore an attempt to summarise some of my views, with an eye to their future development.

Another facet of this, is the fact that I often find myself agreeing with both sides of an argument: dualities do not appeal to me, and have always struck me as a false, artificial way of interpreting society. Unfortunately for me, I am a product of a culture which has used dualities as the dominant structure for understanding and classifying people, opinions and groups, who then propagate this system by using the terms to further describe themselves, and so on. From the patricians and the plebeians, to the proletariat and bourgeoisie, to today's ideas of society being delimited by class boundaries. These linguistically lump people into distinct, separate groups, and I believe the truth to be much more complex and fluid than it would seem to be: seeing an issue from a purely black or white perspective limits one's conceptual powers, in the sense that it limits you to a previous maxim.

With that out of the way, I'd like to post a few of my political beliefs, and try and clear them up for myself.

Private property has sensible limits. I say this out of common sense: it would seem self-evident that a vast upland estate should not be treated in exactly the same way as someone's back garden. Large empty regions of land should be essentially free to access, as long as it is done responsibly. Mountains, lakes, rivers &c., do not really subscribe to the idea of private ownership, and their use by an individual or small number of people can never really be justified. This belief is inspired by Scottish and Scandinavian 'right to roam' laws, which are imbued with the spirit of responsible access to landscapes that more rightly belong to the public.
Ownership must be justified. Can keeping a dwelling empty for long periods be justified to the community at large? I believe it cannot, and therefore would advocate responsible squatting of such properties, while keeping point three in mind. It is not viable to occupy a house while someone is on holiday, but if the building has lain empty for decades, and shows no sign of being sold, or otherwise used, then utilitarianism should come into play.
Common sense must be applied judiciously. This seems like a fairly daft thing to state as one of my key beliefs, but common sense is like a superpower: very rare indeed.