Shipment for a Semi-Retired Researcher

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

There’s no such thing as a typical semi-retired researcher! But my mail this week pretty much sums up my current preoccupations:  a tripod for the Zoom 5 Handy Recorder (research) and assorted double-ended knitting needles (semi-retirement sock project)! I now have all the tech I need, both for my oral history interviews, and for learning how to knit socks.

Researchwise, I’ve designated this week, The Last Week of Procrastination. I need to  get started on my interviews – no more ‘I must just …’ prevarication. Florence Nightingale’s ‘invalid’ of last week is not technically an invalid this week; I do know how my various technical options work – why, I even have a wee tripod to help me look the part! – all that remains is to start scheduling. (This is proving easier said than done, but I’m working on it …)

Who’d have thought a tripod was such dangerous tech?!

Retirement-wise, though,  I’m not quite sure where the sock-knitting fixation came from. My feet feel the cold, true. And I need something else to do other than embroidery, at times when I find myself ‘relaxing’ in front of the TV. (Let’s just park those inverted commas for now.)

Sheer Bloody-Minded Determination

But I’ve been driving myself crazy with this knitting malarky! If only I had an amenable granny sitting beside me telling me what to do next. As it is, I’ve downloaded instructions off the internet, bought a couple of books, and sworn quite a bit  … I absolutely hate being beaten by a circular needle and a variable quantity of double-ended needles.  (Manipulating these is worse than trying to hold bagpipes.*)  I can’t admit defeat to a 4-ply woollen sock, for heaven’s sake.  I’m meant to be intelligent. As my late mother said about cookery, surely anyone who can read instructions can do this thing? 

If nothing else, it’s proof that I don’t give up easily.  In the grand scheme of things,  I made a second attempt at a PhD. On this micro level, I will work out how to knit socks.

I finally (at the fourth attempt) turned a heel, and arrived at something resembling a sock. If it’s on my foot, it’s a sock, right? Even if Kitchener Stitch is a form of torture, and the sock foot is really only just long enough.

The other one of the pair will be better. And quicker.  I’m getting there.  The BBC recently showcased research proving knitting to be good for one’s mental health.  Relaxing.  Well …

Okay, it’s a ‘neat’ fit!

*Postscript. I did give up on the bagpipes. Learning whilst completing the second PhD was really not a good idea!

Admit Defeat? Not if I can Help it!

Posted on by Dr Karen E McAulay

A Woman with Opinions, and a Man who Resigned more than Once

Whilst waiting to get started with my next project, I’ve been doing a bit more research into individuals who only had a marginal role in my previous projects, but looked interesting in their own right, too.

But if I have one quality which is sometimes a failing, it’s my refusal to accept that sometimes the information is simply not there to be found.  My librarianship background is somewhat to blame. If I can’t find something, it feels tantamount to an admission of defeat. And I don’t like being beaten.

Like Believing in Fairies

I’ve been on a wild goose chase this afternoon, though.  I knew the poetry collections I was seeking were rare. It was totally improbable that I would walk into a couple of secondhand bookshops and find either of them. Yes, they were published in Scotland  – 150 years ago.   The poet (‘poetess’ or ‘authoress’ in her own day) comes across as an interesting woman with informed opinions about women’s status, and since she was the mother of one of ‘my’ woman composers, I thought she merited more attention.  However, there was no trace of her this afternoon.  Luckily, I have tracked down library copies, so all is not lost. I will get to see them – I just won’t have my own copies!

Even the consolatory coffee was a bit of a damp squib.  I had the choice of standing and waiting in a haphazard queue, or going elsewhere to squeeze into a seat between people who really needed the space my seat was occupying. Oh, well. I had an outing.  And I  managed not to spill my coffee when I got bumped by the customers on either side!

However, I’ve had more luck at home, with my other quest. 

‘Beyond a few slender facts [ … ], virtually no information about him seems to have survived.’

So said the authors of a book celebrating the 150th anniversary of our institution,  a few years ago.

Of course, we have more information at our fingertips these days, so I’ve been trying to build up more of a profile of the Athenaeum Principal who only stayed in post for two years.  I now know a lot more about him – though not yet the reason for his resignation.  He was well qualified, a good pianist, and was the organist for several churches in England, Scotland and overseas.

Resigned as Principal, Resigned as Organist …

His resignation from the Athenaeum wasn’t the only time he resigned from a post. Indeed, one church went into a little more detail, saying he lacked tact. Their choir had already reportedly a hard time with his predecessor, though – maybe the choir itself was tricky!

I haven’t ruled out discovering more. But I am rather gratified by what I have found so far!