Ali's Journal

Papers
well the first paper i was working on has gone back to the editor and hopefully it will get accepted this time around. am now working on a second which like the first should have just required some tidying up but over the last week i have managed to generate so much data from the homology models that it will probably be faster to completely rewrite the thing and start over. some of the stuff i have spotted i have no idea how they missed the first time around and should actually significantly improve the impact factor of the journal which we are going to submitt it to. was originally hoping to have a crack at the review before christmas as well am not sure whether that will be happening now but we shall see. man i miss the lab...
On a different note am still waiting to hear from the wedding planner as i need to know what the maximum seating is at the venue. need to send out invites quickly as the hotels are filling up.

Wedding
WEll after a rather turmultuous year things have finally started coming together. The flat is now almost completely as we want it. We are hoping to have a new oven & hobs by next week and that should be everything.
We have now booked our in italy next year as well. Now we just have to book the big party for when we get back.

First Student
Today I met the first student i will be looking after. How did i go from not being worth a place in academia in my old job, to running someone else's research in this one in <a year.... Also for those without Facebook I have submitted my first paper in 6 years. Am working on a review at the moment where a single table has 42 references in it and counting. I dont know who will read this review though as none of oxford, cambridge, Imperial and kings have access to the journal!! Also finally ironing out the problems with our new flat. At least we now have a washing machine and oven having lacked one ofr the first 10 days!! Still no descent hobs but at least we no longer have the disgusting bright pink curtains.

request for help
has anyone used the opensuse version of LINUX before? ors seems to be broken as no GUI is loading on startup even after input of correct password when prompted in the commandline.

Back in IC
I am back from a week in corfu. It was lovely and relaxing apart from the annoyance of a cancelled trip to albania because frankly the bus driver could not be bothered to pick us up. this was especially annoying as we had got up at 6 am on charlotte's birthday in order to go on this trip!!
Anyway am back working in Imperial for a couple of days this week, anyone who fancies a coffee i will be in my old lab.

Current Mood: tired

Alone
This is really weird, out of approximately a dozen people in this group I am the only one in and it is 3.30 on a tuesday!!!

Funeral and other updates
Well Barbara's funeral was yesterday, it was made even more poignent by the fact that the priest's son (age 29) was undergoing chemotherapy at that very moment. Charlotte is still in pieces most of the time and I feel helpless to do much...
One piece of good news is that we have finally found somewhere to live in slough although i will be living there on my own for at least a month. The location is far from ideal as I will have a >1 hour commute each way on a good day but charlotte would not consider anywhere further from london. After spending a weekend in a B&B with barely functioning mobile broadband I am hopefully going to be able to move in a week on saturday.

RIP Barbara Pond
She passed away yesterday at about 4.20 in the afternoon yesterday.
You were one of the nicest people I have ever met and you gave me your beautiful daughter. Our wedding will not be the same without you....
I am in London to support charlotte today and maybe tomorrow. Unfortunately saturday did not go much better as we found no properties.

Current Mood: sad

OUSFG
Well I attended my first OUSFG meeting last night, as was suggested it is very much like ICSF except transferred to oxford. Nice bunch of people and I will hopefully be attending more frequently now that i am more settled.
In other news Charlotte's mum is deteriorating fast after diagnosis of 4-5 brain tumours. Weirdly her cat seems to also be suffering from brain lesions so charlotte is not all that happy at the moment.
Sorry to those expecting to see me at Picocon, uinfortunately i will be spending saturday house hunting in slough... The only upside being that I at least get charlotte out of the hell hole which home is turning into for her.

First night in oxford
Well have just finished a lovely weekend in Brighton which allowed us to celebrate both valentines day and my birthday. I then had to say goodbye to Charlotte and catch a train to Oxford. I am slightly nervous about starting my new job tomorrow and it is going to be a weird experience living on my own again. Will not get much time to explore oxford though as am in newcastle next weekend.

Current Mood: sad

4 cities in 2 days
Am now safelt in newcastle after 2 completely mad days which saw me move from oxford wednesday morning back to london. I then travelled on to edinbrugh thursday where I stayed for <17 hours before catching a train to newcastle arriving friday lunch time.
The paperwork for oxford has now arrived and am due to start a week on monday. They originally wanted me to start on monday but as I am away for my birthday I would only have managed half a week. Am going to be lookng for somewhere to live so if anyone knows someone looking for a flatmate in oxford, or can recomend to me where to stay I would much appreciate it.

As a result I may well not be turning up to Picocon this year as the next few weeks are likely to be absolutely crazy. As charlotte will not be moving with me we have to find all of my stuff and repack it before i can move to my new accomodation which is a job i am dreading.

10 months to the day
That is the period of time which i have spent looking for a job.
That search is now over!!!
They have offered me a position at Oxford university in their pharmacology department starting a week on monday!

Current Mood: ecstatic

Update
For thosewho are interested I am still looking for a permanent job. To prevent myself going completely insane I have taken up a menial job in the NHS which is barely paying minimum wage.

On the jobs front I got turned down for a postdoc in the Institute for cancer research straight after christmas and then got turned down for a position at a small company in leeds last week. I now have an interview at Oxford on monday doing pretty much what I was doing for my PhD so fingers crossed.

Due to the sheer number of interviews I have attended and some paranoia I am beginning to wonder whether I may be being s***** by my references. I have already changed one of my references but am consdiering changing the other.

Anyway enough of my ranting, for those of you in IC and are interested the next time you will see me is probably Picocon.

It's a kind of magic
Saturday we went to see the Cosmos Rocks tour starring Queen and Paul Rodgers at Webley Arena.
I was a little worried as no one can replace Freddie, and the reviews of Pual Rodgers were at times less than sparkling.

Altough there was a middle section which was a little dull the beginning and end of the concert were fantastic especially the crecendo with Radio Gaga, followed shortly by The show must go on, Bohemian Rhapsody, we will rock you, we are the champions and of course the national anthem.

Paul Rodgers does not deserve soe of te bad press he has gotten, as I have already said no one can replace Freddie but he did a very good job and if he is touring with them again i will certainly go. The other star ogf course was Dr Brian May who took over the vocals for a couple of songs and even had the poise to laugh when he hit a dud note half way through the show, I had never really watched seen him play before but it was amazing to see what he could do with it.

Am on my way back to newcastle, may be back in Imperial sometime next week for those who are interested.

Current Mood: bouncy

Interviews are like buses...
none come along for ages and then 4 come along in one week!!

Current Mood: confused

West Wing
Well I probably shouldnt have done this but at <£50 for all 7 seasons I couldnt resist getting the complete boxset.
Now I must stop my compulsion to watch it all back to back rather than spend the day job hunting as i really should be doing.

Barcelona
Charlotte and I have just returned from a hectic but fun four days in Barcelona.
The most important bit of information arising from this is that I asked her to marry me and she said yes! We are hoping to get married sometime next year finances allowing but more on that in the coming months.

I has new shiney
Well after almost 4 and a half years my laptop finally died over the weekend. As a result I bought a new one yesterday.
Ok the spec by most standards is not great (1.6Ghz atom processor 1Gb RAM, 120Gb hard drive) but it only weighs 1kg and cost £300! I am only planning on using this for relatively light weight work like word processing and trips around the country, but plan on getting a nice new desktop when i finally get a new job.
For those interested a currently back to trying to get lab jobs although saying this i am keeing away from imperial jobs.

further information
Further to last weeks post. We now have confirmation that Charlotte's mum's breast cancer has come back for the third time in 10 years and this time it seems to be a much more aggresive strain than on previous occassions. There is also an indication that it may have metastesised and thus things dont look great.
Thanks to everyone who sent their best wishes last week. The following few weeks are going to be very difficult and your thoughts are much appreciated.

Current Mood: worried

7 years 10 months 25 days .....
I dont know whether to be sad or happy. I am sitting in SAF having finally handed in the last copy og my thesis revising for an interview which will land me a really interesting job in Swansea.
Many would think that this is a time for celebration but this joy is tempered by the looming spectre of cancer in a family member and as a result a prolonged separation from Charlotte. Only time will tell how this sorts itself out and I will hopefully have a clearer idea of the future by the endof the week.
I want to take this opportunity again to thank all present and past memebers of ICSF for your support over the last few years. I dont know how often I will be returning to the library after today especially if i end up in swansea but I will always remember it and all of you with great fondness.

Current Mood: contemplative

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