PNs submitted!

Fingers crossed! Feeling a little more optimistic than I did last year at this time. I revamped all my responses compared to the prior year's submittal.

I took the day off work today, since there has been so much (unpaid) overtime recently. Spent a relaxing day gardening, cleaning the garage and going to a tag sale.

Japanese anti-gun laws

My Conversation Partner, K, and I went to the mall. He bought some books and, at the  big sporting goods store,  sandals. As we passed the hunting section, K said that guns were basically illegal in Japan and he didn't know anybody who owned one.

When I arrived home, I told my 18-year-old son about this conversation. He already knew all about Japanese gun laws, which I later looked up on the Internet, where I learned that most years, Japan has fewer than 20 gun-related deaths, and usually, far fewer than that.

Still working on PNs

PN responses not due until July 31. I have been working on them 15-20 minutes most nights. Pretty close to completion. Then, I will ask a friend or two to edit my mini-essays.

Tomorrow is a "Hawaiian Luau" themed lunch at the university. I am going with my daughter.

That  evening is dinner with my Japanese Conversation Partner. I think he wanted to see the indoor ice skating rink, so maybe we will have a meal nearby.

Passed FSOT, onto the PNs

FSOT scores released for the June test cohort today.

                 Last year's score         This year
Biographic
Questionnaire       55.52                64.32

English
Expression            52.22                61.4

Job Knowledge     61.60                60.14
                                                                
Total                   169.34              185.86

Essay                        6                       7

You need a total score of 154 for your essay to be scored. You need a 6 (out of 12) on your essay to receive an invitation to the next round.

Next round: answering six short essay questions, called the Personal Narrative (PN).

Post-conference trip to London

My first day, I started with a three-hour bicycle tour. In January. Maybe 40 degrees out, which was perfect. There were five of us. A great orientation to a big city. The guide was superb.




Where you get your bike for Fat Tire tours.




Guard at
St. James Palace.
 






What a $60 hotel room looks like about
five blocks from Hyde Park (Bayswater Inn).
I had no complaints. Beds were comfy.
Water was hot and had pressure.




Cheap and yummy lunch.
Fruit, chocolate croissant,
berry muesli.




Moat around Tower of London.

Graffiti in the Tower.




Bad-ass knight horse.



The British Museum:
Easter Island moai, Hoa Hakananai'a.
Dates to about A.D. 1000.





















And another view...

Society for Historical Archaeology Conference, Leicester, UK

Archaeology conference in January, 2013. Wonderful trip.

 

What a bunch of archaeologists gathering near the registration desk look like.

 

 

What my room at the conference hotel looked like.

What King Richard III's burial place looks like.
Under the white tent in background.
Yes, in a parking lot.
Richard Buckley at pre-conference walking tour.

Guildhall, built late 14th century.



Roman bath ruins, built ca. A.D. 150



Cemetery.




Leicester cat.



An English pub, this one in Nottingham.
Established A.D. 1189.

Inside view of same pub.
Yes, I had fish and chips there.

 



My two jobs

I have two jobs: archaeologist (full time) and community living assistant (CLA, 11 hours/week). The first, for 22 years, the other, just over one year.

As an archaeologist, I mostly manage surveys of areas that will be disturbed by construction--roads, bicycle trails, cell towers. Then, I write up the results of the investigation. I prepare budgets, hire people, train people. Working with volunteers is a big part of the job, too. Lots of folks are interested in archaeology and willing to lend a helping hand in research, excavation, or lab work.

The other job involves working in a group home where five adults with disabilities live together. CLAs do all the tasks these folks cannot--cooking, cleaning, getting them out into the community, helping to keep them active and safe, teaching social and day-to-day skills, and giving medications.

These two jobs couldn't be more different. However, to be successful in either job, you must be able to:

• prioritize,
• follow-through,
• work with all kinds of personalities (both clients and co-workers),
• do the drudgery in order to get to the good stuff,
• communicate well, and
• get dirty.