Back in 2016, I mused here on the difficulties of being a carer for an elderly relative, especially when something unusual happens. Then, it was a planned surgical procedure: last week, it was an entirely unplanned disaster scenario, when my mother somehow fell in her own flat on the day before her 90th birthday party… Continue reading Caring: when it all gets worse
Category: identity
Growing old
Last weekend my cousin, who's the same age as me but not yet retired, came to stay and - inevitably - at one point we started talking about being 61. We agreed that it really is very odd being 'elderly'. We're old enough to be lumped in with those in their seventies but we still… Continue reading Growing old
Retirement/retiring, 18 months in… an update
day in a library no longer feels wicked, like it's been stolen from teaching activities. OK, it never should have felt like that, since research was allegedly part of the job, but ...
Why I’m not changing my Twitter ID to include ‘Dr’
In the last 36 hours or so, lots of women I know who use Twitter (and lots of women I only know through Twitter) have added 'Dr' to their twitter handle (their Twitter ID) to make it clear that they have a PhD in some subject; thus, that they are experts. If you’re not on… Continue reading Why I’m not changing my Twitter ID to include ‘Dr’
Mental health for academics
It's a funny old job, being an academic. It's one of those jobs in which, if you are feeling bad, suffering from a heavy cold or lack of energy, there's usually something not too mentally demanding which you can do: checking whether the books for the new course are in the library yet, sorting through… Continue reading Mental health for academics
It’s ‘retiring’, not ‘retired’
When I retired, I never planned to have a clear before/after moment. Professionally, binaries of this kind have no appeal - I wrote a whole book about one such alleged moment - and when it comes to life transitions, why is one supposed to feel any different just because of a birthday, for example? In… Continue reading It’s ‘retiring’, not ‘retired’
Retirement, four months in: it’s all a blur
I think it's time for another stock-taking blog post. This retirement thing is complicated, and I know I have followers who are thinking of taking the same path and want to know what it looks like, although their paths may turn out to be quite different. So, four months of retirement: what has happened so… Continue reading Retirement, four months in: it’s all a blur
Redundancy in universities
(written before The Open University began its extensive voluntary severance programme in 2018, but with a few relevant additions in italics...) It's déjà vu all over again... I had a bad case of déjà vu this week, as the universities of Manchester, Aberystwyth and Sunderland announced job cuts. I went through this at Reading in 2010… Continue reading Redundancy in universities
Ten days of retirement
Naked Minotaur, ancient and modern science, and a MOOC - and no REF in sight!
Doing it
So, the great day has passed. I retired on Tuesday. I suspect retirement from The Open University proceeds very differently from the practice in most universities, let alone most jobs. Since I was working from home on The Day, absolutely nothing happened. No presentation of a clock, no round of drinks with colleagues down the… Continue reading Doing it
The retiring academic 