Cloud Nine has got a job – again. Yes – two years and several
adventures on from the PhD, I have actually found something resembling one of
those nine-to-fives that I’ve been hankering after. Something that’s (hopefully, please, please please) quite a
bit less horrible than the Grotty Job.
The only trouble is: I can’t sleep. Ever since I laid down
my little head on Sunday night, ready to drift off for a good night’s sleep
before the First Day On The Job, I have tossed and turned and I can’t sleep. On
that night before my first day, I woke up at four. Today I woke up at 2. (That’s
a lot of lying awake.) There was nothing for it but to do what any normal
person would do, and get up and write on my little blog. (Maybe, if I just tire myself out a little
bit, I’ll get a bit of a nap – between 6 and 7?...)
I must confess that I thought this was finished, you know.
The sleepless nights of the crazy last-months-of-PhD, or that awful night before the viva. The brain that won’t shut
down. The tossing and turning, the knot in the stomach. (Ironic, really,
since the main thing I didn’t like about the Grotty Job was that awful
knot-in-the-stomach feeling every time I had to go in. And now I have found
myself a Nice Job, and it’s like my body hasn’t understood yet that it is nice.
My body has a mind of its own, and it’s preparing the fight-or-flight response.
Or is my brain telling me that it considers this job to be grotty, too?...)
This and other wonderful secrets of the working world I am
able to consider while siting in my living room in the wee hours of a Tuesday
morning.
And now back to bed.
Congratulations Dr Cloud Nine! I hope your new job is going well. I must confess, after nearly 3 years of working 9-5, it is not really my cup of tea. However, it pays the bills and I am working out ways to make my hours outside of work happier. I am also pleased that I am not the only insomniac on this blog!
ReplyDeleteDear Dr Jack Nohi!... I'm sorry it took me so long to reply to your lovely post. The job has been great (it is actually now finished, as it was a temp job!) The insomnia tends to hit me at times of 'stress' (pre- job interviews, pre- new job, pre- stressful day doing horrible things like where your job is to run around all day and deal with very stroppy people, that sort of thing). It's as though, at times when I need a good night's sleep the most, my body has a mind of its own and decides that waking up nice and early (so as to start getting stressed early) would do me good :) Hope you are well!...
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