Going to dinner with the speaker

Academia can be hideous and cut-throat, but it can also be social and fun.

Working the 100-hour week

Academic twitter has been in a bit of a tizzy in the last few days. Mary Beard, who has over 240,000 followers, tweeted "Can I ask academics of any level of seniority how many hours a week they reckon they work. My current estimate is over 100. I am a mug. But what is the…

Caring: when it all gets worse

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…

One year of retirement

What has it been like? And what have been the best things about retiring?

The first day at university

Your experience of 'going to university' isn't necessarily the same as anyone else's experience, and that's fine. There isn't just one way of doing it.

Housework for academics

I had this feeling that the house would be a lot cleaner once I'd retired. This has proven to be completely untrue, but today I suddenly realised why. Before I reveal all, let's just think about academics and housework more generally. First, cleaners: we don't have one. Lots of my academic friends do, whether they…

Christmas for academics

I may just be going upstairs for a few minutes...