0 comment Sunday, March 23, 2014 | admin
GrAdvisor's been bugging me for stupendous figures of shiny sparkling new data. Nice to have him interested in what I'm doing for a change. However, I've had a lot on my plate this week and didn't have a lot of free time to spend faffing around converting shiny new data into cool sparkly figures in the midst of processing Hated Data Set.But it's my week to give lab meeting so I responded to his repeated request for these shiny new data by saying "I haven't finished processing the raw data yet, but I will have it in figure format for lab meeting on Friday". Several times. I was here in the lab until stupidly late last night making sparkly videos so I could wow him this morning. I just gave a knock-out presentation of all my shiny new data at lab meeting...and he wasn't there.He's giving a talk in some other state! I'm guessing (because he never actually told me) that he wanted sparkly figures of my shiny new data for this talk. Why didn't he just say so? Why didn't he respond to my repeated messages that I will present this info on Friday by saying, "Sorry I won't be there, I will be in Other State giving a talk. If you do have any shiny new data ready to go I would love to present it during my talk in Other State. I am leaving at [blank]."?Then I could have run around like a headless chicken whipping up cool sparkly figures instead of doing my planned experiments just like I did the day he left for his last talk in Other Country. Perhaps he sensed my annoyance last time at giving me 3 hours notice that he was leaving and that he wanted them in a different format (never mind that the original figures had been sitting, untouched, in his inbox for the past 3 weeks)...and right now.Grrrr.Please, just communicate clearly with me! It's not too much to ask I don't think. I cannot read your mind (too bad, because that would make my life exponentially easier) and I cannot know when you'll be out of town/giving a talk unless you tell me. If there is something specific that you want from me just tell me, specifically, what it is. Please show some respect for my time by giving me some advance notice on your deadlines and clearly stating which information is a priority for you so that I can get it to you in a timely manner. Really it's Not. That. Hard.