Living with no Money!

Well I have emerged from my sick bed after two weeks, a little worse for wear but none the less alive, only to pull a muscle in my back and be unable to stand upright. Joy of joys. Just when one thinks they have ditched the panadol habit and will only return to bed and bedtime, I'm forced to start taking painkillers, lie down frequently and sit at precarious angles all over the house. Life couldn't be better......

It's not so much the flu and pulled muscles that really get to me, it's also the lack of money. I am broke beyond anything which I ever thought possible before. Broker than the brokest person living in the brokest town who just found out he was extra broke (if we want to get all Monty Python about it). The thing about being broke isn't for me so much that I can't buy anything, but the boredom, much of which is self-induced and indulgent. I can sit for ages in the front room, with nothing to do and think about all the things I would do if I had any money. I would go to the cinema, have a walk around the shops, go for a pint, etc etc, even though I am fully aware that even if I did have money I would be rather unlikely to do these things anyway and would probably just be spending my time thinking about something else. Therefore it would seem to me that financial deprivation leads to depression more through state of mind than actual brokeness. As I will undeniably be penniless for a good while longer I may as well try and work on my mental skills for dealing with this situation rather than dwell on all of the things that I would do if I actually had any money (I'd love to be going to the cinema today.......STOP IT STOP IT).

What pittance I do have to spend during the week has to be planned out very carefully. Once food, heating and bills are covered what little I can currently call 'fun money' tends to be spent on alcohol. If one is going to be bored and broke my feeling is that I may as well be a little bit sozzled too. Beer is good, but I find I tire of it quite quickly, and it turns out some cheap wines are okay (as long as one lines the stomach beforehand). Saturday night tv, watched in the full knowledge that all of your friends are out having a good time spending their money, is much better once one has consumed half a bottle of Tesco's five euro Soave wine. Even now, at midday, I'm thinking about whether or not I can scrape together enough change to have a little drinkie. This will have to stop soon though as not only is it very likely to lead to alcoholism, but it is also not very friendly to the waistline.

Perhaps I should try and lose myself in some work instead.....................................

Or maybe not............

I have been meaning to start working on an article for quite some time now and still haven't mustered the courage to do so. I really must do it this month, for fear that it runs into the New Year and I will still be unemployed and will also be without a published article, hence diminishing my chances for getting a research grant.

I have decided that I will start this week. Or at the very least start researching the possibility of perhaps starting to work. Ah, the procrastination skills of a recently finished PhD student are second to none. I bet you I can procrastinate all the way into the New Year......

Ciao for Now,

UA (The Unemployed Academic)

Clothing and Style

So I made the leap and bought a pair of 'skinny jeans'. This is to say skinny leg jeans. It was a daunting decision that required many months of thought. I was rather scared that coating my legs in skin tight denim would render my body a balloon on blue legs, but in many ways they are quite flattering. At 5'3'' my short little legs look slightly longer in a skinny fit jean, though they are not without their drawbacks. For one thing, they are rather hotter than normal jeans as there is rather less air ventilation around the legs. Also, there is a shoe issue. Chunky trainers don't tend to go very well with skinny jeans as they tend to look like flippers on the end of denim sticks. While small little ballet type pumps work very well, at this time of the year they are rather less than practical. I have one small pair of trainers that seem to work okay and I am working my way through the transitional period. That being said I'm too tired to be brave today so I am opting for my old school boot cut jeans today. Fashion be damned.

As you can probably tell at this point, I still don't have a job, as I am sat her rambling about the perceived benefits and deficiencies of skinny legged jeans. Nor have I yet embarked upon writing my own article yet. Obviously said article would be hugely beneficial for an academic career were it to be published, however, at the moment, I am still revelling in the freedom that post-phd liberation provides. Also, for the last two days, I have been minding, cooking for and cleaning up for the rest of the house, all of whom have the dreaded lurgy. So far I have not succumbed. If I were to come down with it at this point at least the house is clean and those who were ill could mind me (and hopefully mind me as well as I have minded them!).

No jobs around today. Might head off into town. Today I think I'll take that umbrella. While my sunglasses were very stylish yesterday, they did little to prevent my drowning in rainwater!

Ciao for now

UA (The Unemployed Academic)

Hello all,

Or perhaps that should be just 'you', hello you, or at this point, perhaps just hello 'me' as there are no readers of the blog quite yet. Yet.

I have no set ideals, standards, rules or hopes for this blog, only that I have set it up to allow me to relate to the world what it is like to be an unemployed academic currently seeking work while also attempting to keep the grey matter working. But it will not just be the ramblings of a job seeker, rather I hope to document what it is like, for what can only be classed as an 'institutionalised' PhD graduate, as she tries to re-enter society after 10 years of full-time schooling. From what I have learnt in the last three months since I emerged from 'The Room' where I wrote my thesis for the last two years, the outside world is a very engaging, active and fast paced world. Quite different from the dusty, often bookish world, or Roman history and archaeology.

I hope any of you who end up reading the blog will enjoy it, and post comments and suggestions. All shall be gratefully recieved.

Ciao for now,

UA (Unemployed Academic)