I've been at Catz for far too long

So at Catz we have two dinner seatings - one at 7:15 where you sit down and someone serves you 3 courses, and one at 6ish where you line up and choose from a variety of fried foods. The latter is called "Scaf" and basically has two types of customers:

(1) People who can't get to hall for 7:15 - they usually have to be somewhere and/or don't have time for a sit-down dinner, and
(2) Undergrad boys who eat the fried food BEFORE they sit down for the regular dinner.

"Scaf" is short for "Pete's Cafe," named after the former domestic manager. It is known ONLY as Scaf to most people, so lots of newbies ask, "So why is it called Scaf?"

Most of the time, without thinking, I answer, "Because the guy who invented it was called Pete." As if that made sense or something. I realized that when you are at a place for a long time, certain things that may make sense to you may need a bit more explanation to someone else.

Job skills

I was never a student government person in high school or college. I actually didn't like people who were in it - I always thought they were a bit snobby. But having served a year in "student government" (i.e. the Middle Common Room Executive Committee), I realized that these things actually do teach you useful skills.

One of the most useful skills I learned by being on the committee? How to get dressed in 5 minutes.

As you know, I was one of the social secretaries on the committee. Namely, I was the one who planned the parties. When you're the one who plans the parties (especially the ones that coincide with dinners), you have a lot to do. You decorate. You lay out the place cards and write out the menus. You make sure the DJ knows where to go and the bar staff has enough spirits to make cocktails until closing time. And a lot of this happens right up until the 11th hour.

There were quite a few times when we'd be getting ready until 6:50 for a dinner that started at 7. A black-tie dinner, that is. And many of those times, we had guests that I had to meet at the door "just before 7." So I had to get dressed fast.

This is a skill I've been able to take with me. Once, my family was going to a wedding in Cape Cod, and we were very lost. We had maybe half an hour to change before we could get to the church. I was the first one dressed. My parents and sister couldn't believe it - they still had all kinds of stuff to do. Another time, as Junior Dean, I was supervising an exam for people who needed extra time (learning disabilities, etc.). The regular time exam ended at 5, and this one kid took up until 6:15, using all but 15 minutes of his extra time. I had to pack up his materials, make sure the printers and computers were turned off, submit all the paraphernalia (exam books, clocks, etc.), and get ready for a dinner that started at 6:15. I was a teeny bit late (not a big deal since there were drinks first), and I forgot my jewelery, but I made it.

I think this is a very useful skill, but I'm curious how to market it. Time management? Efficiency? In any case, it's one of the few skills I'll take with me beyond academia.

WANT

I really want one of those teeny laptops. I think it's something I would use a lot, so it would be worth the expense.

I wouldn't use it for heavy duty work, but it looks convenient to take to a library to take some notes. I'd also use it at the airport, and to watch movies on a plane.

I've seen them around here for $300-$320. I could probably get one in the States for $250, based on a quick look at Google, but I don't know if that's used or if it'll take weeks to deliver.

Does anyone have one of these little guys? Is it worth it? I'd be interested in your feedback.

Cheers!

Back

This is becoming more of a travel blog than anything else, but I'd much rather use this blog as a release from my boring research, so there you go.

I'm back in Oxford. I had a very laid back summer, which was great. We went in the hot tub, I helped my mom apply for jobs, and I became addicted to two shows: Jon & Kate Plus Eight and Army Wives. I also spent some time in the library making a start on my next diss chapter, which is good.

My flight back today was pretty cool. The only international flight (Canada doesn't count) from my local airport is through Amsterdam, so for the first time I tried that flight. (Sadly, they are ending that flight service at the end of this month!) The plane was crappy - shared TVs and only one movie rather than "on demand," which is more the norm for international flights these days. It was also hard now that I've been on a business class flight, to know that they're having nice dinners with linens and silverware while I am eating what is essentially a TV dinner. But there were some things I liked about the experience that made me want to do it again.

I really liked Amsterdam Airport. All of the signs were in English, and the Dutch speak really good English, so it was very easy to navigate. I bought lots of souvenir crap when I was there - everything with wooden shoes and tulips and Delft designs. It actually made me want to take a proper trip to Amsterdam at some point - I think it would be easy to manage.

The best part was that when I got to London, the customs lines were very short. This is because I usually fly on some giant plane from some major US city, so 500 non-UK and EU people spill out and you have to wait for ages while the 12 UK and EU people zip through customs. (In the UK and the European Union, you can pretty much fly anywhere like you might do in the States, and customs is very easy. The non-Europeans have to queue with their passports to get stamped and all that.) Since this flight came through Amsterdam and had mostly Europeans on it, they had to queue while the small handful of non-EU people got to zip right through! Also, this flight had only a hundred or so people on it, so I didn't have to wait for ages while 500 people searched for their luggage. It was very convenient.

Got back to Catz a little before noon. I've been sleeping off the jetlag ever since, and I just had my usual back-to-the-UK dinner of Chinese delivery. Tomorrow is Chung's going-away party, and I'll probably get cracking on some work!

Stay classy, blogosphere,
Kaitlin

Shameless plug

I was looking over my blog stats tonight (a highly addictive activity), and noticed that a large number of my visitors come to me from Dean Dad's blog. This is actually a trend I've noticed for a while. It's probably just because I'm towards the top of his blogroll, but I'm very grateful for the traffic. So I thought I'd reciprocate with a shameless plug of his blog.

I read lots of blogs written by academics of all types, but I like his a lot because he is one of the few (if not the only) administrators out there in the blogosphere. My brother attends a community college, and I actually pass along a lot of Dean Dad's wisdom to him about course selections, enrollments and transfers at CCs.

So, if you're one of the few people who didn't come here via his blog, stop on over and say hi. Cheers!