boxes of awesome

one of the best things (and to be honest it is mostly best things) about volunteering in the Horniman's natural history department is the boxes that come back to the study collection centre after they have been to either conservation of to a specialist.

yes more often than not they have been rearranged, co mingled and the labels lost, resulting in untold misery and confusion. but sometimes, just sometimes they contain what can only be described as totally awesome.

today was just such a day. already on a high from practically finishing the human remains audit, it was time to put away all of the specimens that had been returned and dumped on the work space. having already opened one of the boxes and realised it didn't contain all of the specimens listed on the label, i wasn't really looking forward to the task, but the second box was more promising, and then we found this:

awesome!

limited

a successful day at the AOC office, i spent my time sorting the coffin grip handles into types. just in case you are interested there are nine different types (two of which have sub-divisions).

i am now able to identify a type from a small amount or clay covered plate. i feel that this is a quite limited speciality to have. upon mentioning this i was informed that i would be surprised, and yes i think i would not only be surprised, but also shocked and amazed to realise that an ability to identify an AOC grip plate from poor sketches and vague descriptions was ever a required skill.

on an unrelated note today saw the return of the daft verbal expulsions. on looking through old photos my friend suddenly remarked "ahh, a baby elephant", shortly followed by, "oh no, it's a monkey". several minutes later: "a rhino", "are you sure?", "yes!...or a baboon"

what fun!

time

so the second working week of the year, and already it is tuesday night, and i have applied for the grand total of one job. despite being unemployed i have so far only had one day off (i'm not counting weekends, no-one does). a grand total of eight Paul and work free Cat hours.

having said all that where do the hours of the evenings go? how is it the same five hours of evening fly by, but the last five hours of a work day seem to last for days?

i have decided that my computer is stealing mine, tucking them away in it's evil "windows time vortex". it is this stolen time that it can then use to drag the two minute file transfer time take the best part of half an hour.

if only i could bottle this time. i'd make my fortune on ebay...

application

today saw the return of my long standing fight with my much put upon computer. i spent much time diligently searching for jobs and trying to fill in the application forms, and although i did much to blame the internet connection, and then the site, it is probably my poor abused computer who is ultimately to blame. obviously as primary user of said computer it is not my fault.

having given up the application process (after checking closing dates - i still have time) i thought i would try to continue one of my crafty projects, which also unfortunately required the cooperation of my computer.

having suffered for several hours with the random windows time vortex whilst trying to simply transfer photos i have come to the conclusion that i might have to give it a good kicking, or alternately just reset it back to factory settings.

now where did that start up cd get to...

oh, christmas tree...

so the end of the first week of the new year heralds the official end of christmas and with it the mass abandonment of the christmas tree. on my way to the station this morning i passed no fewer than 7 trees before even reaching the main road, impressive as i only live at number 13.

i must say it did make me a little sad, gone now is the christmas spirit, the twinkling lights cheering the morning darkness, and the tinsel hiding the cobwebs. now that all the decorations have been packed away it seems people have returned to their casual rudeness.

i feel that maybe, just to bring good cheer a little further into the year, a communal burning of christmas trees and an unwanted christmas present exchange might go a long way towards boosting spirits...

on the plus side friday spirits were high at AOC Archaeology (or maybe all staff were just running on autopilot) but there were some good quotes of which i shall share my favourite:

whilst discussing the coffin plates and furniture from one of last years sites with Dr Rachel, the consversation moved on to the new exhibit soon to appear at the Museum of London, and amongst other things would be work from "disection people", otherwise known as surgeons or pathologists, whichever you prefer...

sardines!

so, although a day off from volunteering i spent my time wisely hunting for future employment (2 potentials - good times) and the day was topped off with a night at the theatre...

Noises Off! having spent my life thus far having missed all previous incarnations of the production i feel somehow i have been missing out, but not to worry, i am now topped up with farce.

i am also happy to learn from the programme that for a mere £10,000 i can become a member of the artistic directors circle which includes invites to members receptions, opening nights and memorable post-show parties, dinners with the cast and creative teams, backstage tours and a personalised booking service.

what amounts to basically my annual wage (assuming i get some work this year) does not however include any actual theatre tickets or even a signed photograph of Kevin Spacey. i might give it a miss this year...

a quiet wednesday

today saw the return of volunteering at AOC Archaeology, which holds a warm fuzzy place in my heart as having given me my first "real" job (for those that consider archaeology to be a real job)

it seems to be that whenever they are not employing me to dig big holes in the ground i am volunteering in the finds department, this of course is beneficial to me on several levels:

a) i get to see what is going on post excavation and check out all the cool finds i missed on site,

2) it looks good on the CV that i'm not just loafing around during phases of unemployment,

and

iv) it is quite hard for them not to employ me when jobs do come up as i will obviously find out,

minioning as a spying tool, cunning huh

:)