Digging in Cruel Boots
The dig is done - at least as far as Team One is concerned and Team Two can do their worst to it. They will open up a new trench as well as having to fill the two open ones - more grunt labour.
We were very lucky with the weather, many short sharp showers gave a hint of how unpleasant it would have been if there had been insistent rain, the clay turning unmanageable almost immediately and sods became so heavy that lifting a bucket of them became an almost Herculean task; moving the wheelbarrow became impossible for me. I discovered I had muscles in all sorts of places I hadn't thought about - and forearms like Popeye but - oy!- those steel-capped and mid-soled boots nearly killed me.
The group dynamics were interesting to observe, although I am not sure that my observations wd be appreciated in the Log which we will have to submit in 6 weeks time, complete with Photographic record and Context sheet. The males, in the minority of the grunt force, managed to stick together so adroitly in the beginning that one trench was 'manned' entirely by females, a couple of whom were entirely hopeless as far as the de-sodding task was concerned. The trench with the 'boys' was soon done and they were on to the task of removing soil with trowels. Meanwhile, the second team struggled with a larger area of sod (fewer features). On the second day we were allotted two male workers from the A Team, who were not best pleased to find their Trojan efforts of the first day(I'm told)rewarded by being sent back to back-breaking labour for the next half day. Their reaction was to stage a go slow. Eventually, several of the more hard-woking girls decided the only way was to shame them into working harder, so we set to work beside them and showed them how hard we were working. One way or another we finished the job by lunch break of the second day, but it was notable that the 'boys' were often to be found leaning on their shovels or manicuring the site, while the 'girls' worked unremittingly. This was abetted by the Supervisors, who allotted them the easier jobs in the first place and criticised any girls who seemed to be taking it easy. Maybe some kind of reverse sexism, because there are so many youny pretty blonde girls! A plain girl (with a good strong voice)got the cushy job of standing around with the measuring pole, while C, our recording Chief, took electronic measurements.
I was irritated to realise as further details of our optional courses slowly emerge , that I probably should not have taken this course at all, since there are two further courses which I want to take, both offered in Semester One only. IF they are timetable-compatible, I have now got all three options in the first semester as well as two out of three Core modules-----and that is just ONE subject of two. Anyway, it is all idle conjecture until we are permitted to see a proper timetable (I have seen two separate Provisional ones that differed radically) and get to sign up for the various courses. It is so frustrating, waiting for the admin to get their act together. Nothing new on the strike; I don't think it will happen, it would be so disruptive that I think it cd only be counter-productive.
Only one week left of my lovely holiday - - looks like a hard year ahead.....
We were very lucky with the weather, many short sharp showers gave a hint of how unpleasant it would have been if there had been insistent rain, the clay turning unmanageable almost immediately and sods became so heavy that lifting a bucket of them became an almost Herculean task; moving the wheelbarrow became impossible for me. I discovered I had muscles in all sorts of places I hadn't thought about - and forearms like Popeye but - oy!- those steel-capped and mid-soled boots nearly killed me.
The group dynamics were interesting to observe, although I am not sure that my observations wd be appreciated in the Log which we will have to submit in 6 weeks time, complete with Photographic record and Context sheet. The males, in the minority of the grunt force, managed to stick together so adroitly in the beginning that one trench was 'manned' entirely by females, a couple of whom were entirely hopeless as far as the de-sodding task was concerned. The trench with the 'boys' was soon done and they were on to the task of removing soil with trowels. Meanwhile, the second team struggled with a larger area of sod (fewer features). On the second day we were allotted two male workers from the A Team, who were not best pleased to find their Trojan efforts of the first day(I'm told)rewarded by being sent back to back-breaking labour for the next half day. Their reaction was to stage a go slow. Eventually, several of the more hard-woking girls decided the only way was to shame them into working harder, so we set to work beside them and showed them how hard we were working. One way or another we finished the job by lunch break of the second day, but it was notable that the 'boys' were often to be found leaning on their shovels or manicuring the site, while the 'girls' worked unremittingly. This was abetted by the Supervisors, who allotted them the easier jobs in the first place and criticised any girls who seemed to be taking it easy. Maybe some kind of reverse sexism, because there are so many youny pretty blonde girls! A plain girl (with a good strong voice)got the cushy job of standing around with the measuring pole, while C, our recording Chief, took electronic measurements.
I was irritated to realise as further details of our optional courses slowly emerge , that I probably should not have taken this course at all, since there are two further courses which I want to take, both offered in Semester One only. IF they are timetable-compatible, I have now got all three options in the first semester as well as two out of three Core modules-----and that is just ONE subject of two. Anyway, it is all idle conjecture until we are permitted to see a proper timetable (I have seen two separate Provisional ones that differed radically) and get to sign up for the various courses. It is so frustrating, waiting for the admin to get their act together. Nothing new on the strike; I don't think it will happen, it would be so disruptive that I think it cd only be counter-productive.
Only one week left of my lovely holiday - - looks like a hard year ahead.....
posted by ruth @ 7:50 AM
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