About the new job

My reeling-in of another job may have come as a surprise. To be honest, it was a bit of a surprise to me, too. It happened so suddenly. I had applied for the job in early February because I was starting to get fed up with the newsfilm project I am working on. They were so supposed to interview for the position on February 23rd, but I got a letter stating that they would not be able to do the interviews at that point in time and would contact me in the future if I made it for the "shortlisting". March came and went. I assumed the position had been filled, then in early April, I got an invitation to interview on the 28th. Though I had already resigned myself to the fact that I would just stick it out with the newsfilm project, I decided to go for the interview just to see what would happen. It went pretty well. There were three other candidates interviewing that day for the same position. Each of us was quite different, bringing very different attributes to the table. They told us that they would notify of the outcome within 10 days. Monday was a holiday here, so I didn't expect to hear anything. Tuesday and Wednesday went by without incident. I assumed that I would probably receive a letter of rejection, since they would likely have called the successful candidate by then.

Lo and behold, a call came through on Thursday afternoon from one of the HR people. She told me she was calling to offer me the job and that I was their first choice. The head of the film department wanted me to start ASAP, but they were aware that I needed to give one month's notice in my current job, so she asked me to think it over and then call her the next day to let her know when I could start. I was in a state of shock for the rest of the day. Shocked, but definitely ecstatic. Well, as ecstatic as a stoic person like me can be. We talked it over that night and I decided that I would give my notice on Friday and start the new job on June 5th. Now, the job...

It's at the Arts Institute at Bournemouth in the Film Production BA degree program. My title will be "Technician Demonstrator". According to the job description "the main purpose of this role is to ensure the learning environment is adequately equipped and that learners are competent in the use of machines and equipment." I'll be working with a team of three other TDs who all report to a Senior Technician. It's partly a teaching/demonstrating role and partly equipment maintenance and acquisition from what I understand. In any case, it doesn't involve staring at a computer all day long or working in a basement with no daylight. It's definitely going to be challenging, not least of which because I tend to be a bit shy around strangers (in this case, students). Something I'll have to get over quickly if I'm going to be able to effectively teach anything! So, I'm going to learn a lot of new skills. They also want me to undergo a teacher certification program within the first two years. That'll be a good qualification to have.

The starting salary is about £600 more per year than what I'm making right now and once we move to Bournemouth (likely by this August), I'll be saving the £270 that it costs to per month to get to London. There's also prospects for advancement either into more teaching or more technician-ly roles. Plus, it's a permanent staff position, so as long as I make it through the "probationary period" I'll have a long-term job to see us through K's PhD. Speaking of which, AIB is directly across from Bournemouth University, essentially the same campus.

Though I'll miss most of my current coworkers and the good elements of the newsfilm project (working in the ITN archive with some great material) and though I feel a bit guilty about not sticking out the project to its end date in January 2007, the AIB job is too good to let go. And it would be very stupid to do so. Furthermore, I'm really looking forward to it!

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TECHNICIAN DEMONSTRATOR

Job Purpose
The main purpose of this role is to ensure the learning environment is adequately equipped and that learners are competent in the use of machines and equipment. As appropriate to support individual/course projects.

Main Responsibilities
Provide demonstrations and tuition in techniques, processes and safe practise to groups of students to enable them to develop competence in their application.

Provide workshops, demonstrations and instruction on new and existing equipment, processes and techniques.

Deliver Health and Safety and Technical Operations induction programmes to students with particular reference to studio and workshop usage in order to ensure safe working practices in accordance with the Institute’s Health & Safety Policy.

Assist in the preparation of technical handouts required in support of projects, curriculum development and documentation, contributing to annual course monitoring reports, reviews and Quality inspection visits.

Construct and adapt resource area equipment, teaching aids, models or samples in order that teaching and exhibition areas are equipped appropriately and to a professional standard.

Provide appropriate technical and student support for live project work according to the requirements of the School Director and Course Leader.

Ensure effective maintenance and cleaning of specialised machinery and equipment and assist in the coordination of inventories as required.

Maintain stocks and keep appropriate records.

Maintain individual student records of attendance and attainment.

Assist the Course Leader and Senior Technician in the effective and efficient operation of the School in whatever manner deemed appropriate and undertake such other reasonable duties as may be required by the Institute.

Observe equality and inclusivity practices and procedures and promote equal opportunities at all times.

And the winner is...

...Hiscock! 800+ votes against the Conservative candidate's 600+ votes. Don't remember exactly what the margin was, something like 160 votes.

He better be worth it, not that it'll matter much to us.

Eventful Week

So... yesterday I voted for HISCOCK. It was very anti-climactic, just a little X on a ballot. They didn't even check my ID. The polling mailer was enough, apparently.

Let's see. What else happened yesterday?

Oh! I got a call at work from the Art Institute of Bournemouth offering me a job. I accepted it.

Today, I notified my current employer that I will be leaving in a month. Also found out that my immediate boss is planning to do the same thing, though I think I beat her to it (fortunately).

Life is good! Crazy, but good!

Please, please vote for me!

Tomorrow (May 4th) is election day in the UK, but just for local government (city councillor). I received a polling card in the mail a couple of weeks ago, inviting me to cast my vote. So, to be a part of the community, I thought "What the hell, why not?" This will not only be the first time I will vote in the UK, but also the first time I will vote in ANY election anywhere. Living in the US, I was not allowed to vote because I was not a citizen. As a "Permanent Resident" you are afforded pretty much all the rights of an American citizen except for the right to vote. This didn't really bother me all that much. Anyway, since we are currently living in the UK, which is part of the European Union to which I am a citizen, I am allowed to vote.

I've been struggling about who to vote for because I'm not sure what political party I'd fit into (Labour? Conservative? Liberal Democrat? Respect? Greens?), so I've just been looking at the issues. We're most concerned about the farmland around us getting re-zoned for low-rent housing. We are vehemently against this, so I'll vote for the party that shares that view.

The city councellor for the past 7 years has been a Liberal Democrat. Things seem pretty good here, so I suppose he's doing a good job. Therefore, he'll likely get my vote. My only reservation is his name. Sit down. Are you ready for this?

Hiscock. Hiscock!

Brits, Americans... what's the difference?

A good article by Andrew Sullivan in yesterday's paper. I think it's pretty true. I feel sort of vindicated because these are some ideas that had been bouncing around in my head during the past two years of living in England. You can read the full article HERE, but here are some of the more salient points:

"From Starbucks to WiFi, much of Londonland — and I include the vast expanse of England that is essentially a satellite of the capital — is indistinguishable from an American blue (Democrat-voting) state city.

Thatcher’s reforms, and Blair’s co-optation of them, have created, from a distance, a pseudo-American society. The energy in Londonland, its vibrant labour markets, its consumerism, its media, its multiculturalism, its unabashed capitalism, have a distinctively American feel. Even the new wave of eastern European immigrants is strikingly like New York in another era."

[...]

"Class has clearly diminished in the Londonland mind. People tip bartenders more than they used to. They own shares, make their own retirement arrangements, live near people with different religions and colours, and have turned urban American hip-hop into a strange English hybrid. What else are chavs but some kind of English fusion of “white trash” and “ghetto”, complete with bling? Brits today can even look at someone like David Cameron and be less interested in his class background than in what, if anything, he has to say. How, er, American."

[...]

"Culture still matters, and on that score Britain is still closer to America than almost any other country. I don’t mean simply the number of San Franciscans downloading Ricky Gervais podcasts, or the ubiquity in American pop culture of reality television created in Britain, or even the cross-cultural franchises of Harry Potter, Tolkien or The Simpsons. I mean rather a residual, tenacious sense that the individual is responsible for his own destiny. Some 82% of Americans ascribe lack of success in life to the individual rather than to society and 75% of Brits share this view."

[...]

"But to me the most telling aspect of Americanisation is anti-Americanism itself. Anti-Americanism, after all, is as American as its opposite. You will find few foreign countries as hostile to Bush as California. The most successful anti-Americans, like Michael Moore, are home-grown. Asked recently whether Americans were “greedy”, 64% of Brits agreed. But 70% of Americans chimed in agreement. Some 26% of Brits believe that Americans are “immoral”; 39% of Americans agreed!"