It's been just over a month since I started my postdoc at the LSE and a similar length of time since the new coalition Government took office. I remain optimistic about both.
From a work perspective, I am really starting to get stuck into things now and there is already a pile of mounting jobs that are both interesting and challenging. I have met my project partners, who come from climate centres all over the country and am finding my feet in terms of the day-to-day goings on at the LSE.
It has been pretty tough in this first month to balance my new job with finishing the old (that is trying to get my thesis into a state that is ready for submission). It doesn't help that there is no overlap between the two, but my boss is understanding and keen for me to keep ties with Surrey and I feel that I can start to pick up pace on the thesis front again now that I'm settled.
It also helps that there are few other distractions now, for the moment at least. Not that distractions aren't good fun of course. The latest was last weekend when some colleagues from Surrey and I gave a talk at the Cheltenham Science Festival. During my short stay at the festival I had a fantastic time and got the chance to meet interesting people. Our event received positive feedback too, so that's always good news. For now though I'm glad to be able to get back to concentrating on the job(s) at hand.
I am heading to Guildford tonight to help my friend and ex-colleague celebrate her successful PhD thesis defense. It gives me mixed feelings to have left the field and the friendly faces of the nuclear physics community, but it's always nice to go back and catch up. For me though, today is also serving as a reminder that I need to pull my finger out and get my thesis finished too!
Music: Andrea Bocelli - Voglio Restare Cosi
Mood: Slowly settling into a mode of normality