So. I bought my tickets. It's expensive, it turns out, to fly halfway around the world and back. But not prohibitively so. Hopefully, hotels and meals won't be as expensive as in Scandinavia, where food and lodging could easily cost $150 each day, at the medium/low end of things. The plane tickets were about $400 more, so I'm hoping that the accommodations will be about that less.
I have no idea what I'm going to do while I'm there, except for ride the trains, and look for natural beauty. I want, like I did last summer, to do a lot of walking, some writing, and generally have a relaxing time on the other side of the planet. I had vaguely hoped that I would have someone to travel with by the time it came time for another major vacation. Alas. I go alone again. Such is the way of things.
The other reason that it's a decent time to go is that my job is funded for the time being. A year from now, who knows? I have a major grant in, but nothing is ever secure. If I win it, I'll not really have to worry about salary for four years. If I don't, I'm in a world of trouble. I'll have other grants going in imminently, and I'll have other job prospects.
My professorship at SLU (Still not quite official!! URGHM!!) will definitely sustain me in the sense of providing a living wage, even if my current position goes un-funded. But it's a nervous time to be on soft money. It's good news that the NIH is getting a 3.3% bump in budget. But I'm going to need to do a lot more grant writing. But I have a good friend who has an R01 up for renewal, and is interested in including me on that.
It's scary. It shouldn't be. I have a lot of people who are in the position to provide me with wages who are really up on what I do. Which is good. And the AA philosophy, which I am working very hard at, is to trust in today, be grateful, and work hard today on what I can do to make tomorrow work out. I can do that. Fear is just fear. Action will disperse it.
2 responses:
Enjoy the trip. I spent some time in Stockholm and loved it. Visited NZ once about 15 years ago. It is beautiful.
I was on soft money for about 10 years and then was tenured. I still had to get money for my research team of 16 people. Luckily, I was good at it. Once you are a member of the "club" and your name gets known, things get a bit easier. I was able to bring in around 1 Million a year in grants which kept people doing good research.
I sure hope so Syd. Thanks. So far, I've only won two competitive awards. But I've really only applied for three. So hopefully I'll be alright.
I envy you though. No one is ever going to offer me a tenured position.
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