time keeps on ticking

Time is flying by and nothing seems to change. The only thing I can reasonably assume is that I'm getting accustomed to my relatively new lifestyle as a tenure-track faculty person. I write proposals, I teach class, and I try to manage my trainees. There are the occasional ups and down, but more or less, this is my reality.

My trainees don't seem to be getting the point, they need to learn to fix things on their own, to become creative, to be independent. They treat it like a job...."I did everything you told me to do, are you happy with the results?" Who enters graduate school thinking that blindly following orders will suffice? On top of that, one of my trainees took a second job without disclosing it to anyone!

One more year!

I've been reappointed to be an assistant professor for at least one more year! According to my annual review, I am meeting expectations and get to keep doing more of the same. There's no external review on these in my department, but it feels good to know that at least my colleagues approve so far. Now if only I would here back on some of the proposals I sent out last semester...

Hopefully my posting can get back to its normally erratic schedule. Had some travel last week and did several preproposals and internal proposals the last few weeks in addition to the normal stuff.