Stupid Karma

I shouldn't have written that last post. I've had nothing but bad luck since then. Two papers rejected, a cold, issues with students in the lab, and several other things that I've managed to block out of my mind. That's life for you.

Time for an update

For those of you that follow my blog, you might have noticed that I tend to blog less when things are going well. It's been a month since my last post and things are going really well. Somehow after the miserableness of year 3, things magically improved. I'm teaching my undergrad class again this fall and for the first time, I feel like it's running smoothly and that I'm really comfortable with the material. It could be that the better time slot and smaller class size are making all the difference, but whatever the reason, things are working on that front.

Research is humming along as well. We have multiple papers currently under review and several more in the pipeline waiting for me to polish up. I shifted focus this year away from grant submissions to paper writing and I feel much better. I'm still putting in some grants and have three pending right now, but not the 7 that I had wasted my time on last fall that had not got funded anyway. With the funding rate, and now even government shutdowns, I much rather write papers, which I actually have control over instead of the crapshoot of getting funding. I've also been able to unload some of my service obligations.

I've finally embraced the attitude of either I'll get tenure on my terms, or I'll find another job in 3 years. If you're unhappy before tenure then you'll probably be unhappy after tenure, because nothing in your job description changes.