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The School of Jack Yr2 - Jack - 22nd October 2013
P Prentice Wrote:i ws alluding to the nepotistic traji-comedy that permeates commercial archaeology. when do we get sleeping your way to supervisor?
Grin,
Oh I see, humour: The quality of being amusing. An inclination or whim. A useful tool to distract oneself from the horrific truths apparent in the world of commercial archaeology.
As to 'Sleeping your way up the greasy pole' the School of Jack is painfully aware of such practices but does not condone such behaviour.
The School of Jack Yr2 - Dinosaur - 22nd October 2013
kevin wooldridge Wrote:Urban myth!! Bet you cannot get one person on this forum to admit that they personally slept their way to supervisor....I remember hearing in a pub once an archaeologist slagging off a well known lady digger who he claimed on a certain site back in the early 80s had slept with everyone on the project. 'Including you?' I asked. '...er well not with me, but with every other guy on the project...'
Actually I worked on a project in the mid-1980s where two long contracts came up and somehow or other mysteriously got filled by the two young women who just happened to be sharing beds with the two supervisors at the time... and I've heard of/worked with a few other cases
The School of Jack Yr2 - kevin wooldridge - 22nd October 2013
Dinosaur Wrote:Actually I worked on a project in the mid-1980s where two long contracts came up and somehow or other mysteriously got filled by the two young women who just happened to be sharing beds with the two supervisors at the time... and I've heard of/worked with a few other cases
As I said bet that not one person would PERSONALLY admit they slept their way to supervisor...
The School of Jack Yr2 - Dinosaur - 23rd October 2013
Sadly I was already a supervisor
........
Doubt anyone who had to resort to such tactics has lasted the course anyway, one of the above eventually followed the cliché and switched to banking, never heard of the other again
The School of Jack Yr2 - barkingdigger - 23rd October 2013
kevin wooldridge Wrote:As I said bet that not one person would PERSONALLY admit they slept their way to supervisor...
How about those who slept their way to no significant advantage? :o)
The School of Jack Yr2 - Dinosaur - 23rd October 2013
barkingdigger Wrote:How about those who slept their way to no significant advantage? :o)
A warmer tent?
The School of Jack Yr2 - P Prentice - 23rd October 2013
kevin wooldridge Wrote:As I said bet that not one person would PERSONALLY admit they slept their way to supervisor...not likely to admit that they promoted anybody to supervisor on that basis either but ..............
The School of Jack Yr2 - Jack - 28th January 2014
...........Like an algae covered monster rising from some fetid pool of evil The School of Jack re-emerges to ease the boredom, poison your mind and hopefully save some from the crushing iron-clad wheels of commercialism......
Course 201: Lesson 2 Watch your back, cover you nethers.
Now that you've been gently eased through assistant supervising on a site under the kind tutelage of a seasoned veteran your ready to start to learn the skills required to successfully run a site yourself.
'Best way ta learn is ta chuck em in at the deep end and see who swims.'
- (Hitler)
So what will your first lone assignment be? A gentle two trench evaluation? Or maybe a test pit into an exciting prehistoric mound?
No, more likely you'll be sent to watch a horde of machines rip a 10m wide corridor across some blasted moor......the dreaded watching brief of doom!
Now, you could be lucky. But don't count on it.
A large proportion of commercial archaeology revolves around a long drive to a blurry dot of an even blurrier map to watch some construction crew dig a hole (or several) in a road.
Watching briefs vary form your typical non-job of monitoring the excavation of access pits over existing services in a sensitive area (e.g. scheduled monument, conservation are etc.) to following a bunch of machines for miles on a high-powered gas main or road scheme.
Some are mindlessly dull, the practitioner can go months without seeing anything other than topsoil finds. Some are heartbreaking, watching topsoil being removed by bulldozers or knowing that the engineers are sending you on goose chase after goose chase trying to keep you from where they are stripping today.
Some have strange conditions such as the archaeologist cannot dictate the depth of stripping, or can't talk to the public or even members of the same company about what they are doing.
One thing will be sure, you'll be isolated, alone and under pressure not to get in the way...........
Though its not all bad. Good archaeological companies provide good support, usually down the phone and even training. Often new staff start on 'easy' watching briefs to gain confidence with dealing with clients, groundcrews etc, before being moved onto larger more difficult ones. Some clients really value archaeology and bend over backwards to assist, some construction project managers likewise.
But as commercial pressures bite, it can be a case of 'who we got that can drive and can start tomorrow?
Watching briefs are a whole different world to the uninitiated. They are an introduction to the foibles, pitfalls and unpleasantness of the construction industry.
The School of Jack advises the practitioner to read any documentation carefully, keep your WSI close to hand. Be helpful, polite, stand your ground (but be professional) where necessary, but equally work with the groundcrews not against them - they are not the enemy. But overall KEEP YOURSELF SAFE! don't jump into a trench to look at the section if it looks dangerous, even if others are.
Take lots of photographs (photographic evidence can sometimes get you out of trouble) these are the main proof you were there, saw that trench opened and backfilled etc. Watch, listen and learn everything you can. Not just about archaeology, but how construction is carried out, organised and what machines do what and how safe they are (or not).
Talk to the groundcrews/engineers. They are people too, just doing their jobs. They can be a useful mine of information and can help pass any boring days.
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The School of Jack Yr2 - P Prentice - 28th January 2014
i'm minded of a time back in the day when visiting my team on a new road job one of the engineers crew-bosses actualy tried to intimidate me into giving up on a site that was going to hold them up! The same guy sacked a 360 driver i knew from a different job for stopping to talk to me! on the bright side, according to thier own rules, he had to pay for the great big gouge he found down the side of his landrover:face-approve:
The School of Jack Yr2 - kevin wooldridge - 28th January 2014
Football is a great way to break the ice!! Gain an insightful knowledge of a football team, preferably one that isn't in the top two divisions (so no-one feels threatened), but avoid Millwall!! Wear the hat, scarf etc. A tattoo is even better....When the contractors realise that you are a normal human being it helps overcome the image promoted by our elders and betters of what an archaeologist is or does....