18th February 2010, 09:45 PM
Here`s one where anyone interested can follow the interesting/fun/miserable/soggy day to day lives of archaeologists. Samual Pepys wrote one so here goes! Don`t be shy, no names please but here`s where we should share......
For me, I`m having a whale of a time. I left the country 3 years ago after spending a goodly few years on the circuit. I needed time out as I had become one of the most jaded, cynical and professional whingers of all time. I`m not by any means saying that there isn`t room for change in the profession-simply that I got sick of moaning about it and had frogotten why I loved the job in the first place. My "sabbatical" did me the world of good. I`ve seen how other nations and universities deal with their heritage now and quite honestly, we really do have a lot to be proud of. Believe this or not, despite the fact that the beach was only ten minutes from my house in the Med and that I woke up to blue skies and palm trees for three years, I was gagging for a big ditch and a mattock. On top of that, to pay the rent I had to do probably the most mind-numbingly crap job in the universe for a company run by single-celled amoeba. A soggy ditch back in soggy Britain started to sound such a tasty alternative!
Since I`ve returned to the job, I`ve been surprised (and embarassed!) by just how much I`d forgotten. The little tricks of the trade that we learn along the way that we all take for granted have had to be re-learned. It`s been a fun journey of rediscovery though! It doesn`t take long for it all to come back and become second nature again but it has had its entertaining moments!
Today and for the last couple of weeks I`ve re-learnt the following:
1. Never sharpen both ends of the pencil to avoid an unwanted on-site lip piercing,
2. Snow may be pretty but actually is hideous,
3. You can`t record anything with frozen fingers,
4. You can`t operate the zip on your trousers with frozen fingers,
5. Portaloo seats often dip below minus 40 degrees and induce heart failure,
6. You can`t hide lifes` little spills if you don`t remove waterproof trousers before portaloo visits,
7. Hard hats are actually designed to fall off just prior to final feature photos,
8. Hard hats don`t account for wierd shaped heads,
9. Flourescent jacket zips work for a maximum of one week,
10.There is no such thing as dry gloves,
11. Never put thermal undies on with the fly at the back-nightmare when nature calls,
12. Microwaves are actually gifts from God himself,
13. Tesco microwave corned beef hash tastes like spoil heaps,
14. On-site drying rooms are luxury,
15. Toilet roll is luxury,
16. flint can actually be quite painful,
17. Chalk sites are not as simple as one would expect,
18. Permatrace no longer smells like roll-mop herring,
19. Always consult a compass for north-never ask site staff and,
20. I hate wet, yellow clay. Period.
For me, I`m having a whale of a time. I left the country 3 years ago after spending a goodly few years on the circuit. I needed time out as I had become one of the most jaded, cynical and professional whingers of all time. I`m not by any means saying that there isn`t room for change in the profession-simply that I got sick of moaning about it and had frogotten why I loved the job in the first place. My "sabbatical" did me the world of good. I`ve seen how other nations and universities deal with their heritage now and quite honestly, we really do have a lot to be proud of. Believe this or not, despite the fact that the beach was only ten minutes from my house in the Med and that I woke up to blue skies and palm trees for three years, I was gagging for a big ditch and a mattock. On top of that, to pay the rent I had to do probably the most mind-numbingly crap job in the universe for a company run by single-celled amoeba. A soggy ditch back in soggy Britain started to sound such a tasty alternative!
Since I`ve returned to the job, I`ve been surprised (and embarassed!) by just how much I`d forgotten. The little tricks of the trade that we learn along the way that we all take for granted have had to be re-learned. It`s been a fun journey of rediscovery though! It doesn`t take long for it all to come back and become second nature again but it has had its entertaining moments!
Today and for the last couple of weeks I`ve re-learnt the following:
1. Never sharpen both ends of the pencil to avoid an unwanted on-site lip piercing,
2. Snow may be pretty but actually is hideous,
3. You can`t record anything with frozen fingers,
4. You can`t operate the zip on your trousers with frozen fingers,
5. Portaloo seats often dip below minus 40 degrees and induce heart failure,
6. You can`t hide lifes` little spills if you don`t remove waterproof trousers before portaloo visits,
7. Hard hats are actually designed to fall off just prior to final feature photos,
8. Hard hats don`t account for wierd shaped heads,
9. Flourescent jacket zips work for a maximum of one week,
10.There is no such thing as dry gloves,
11. Never put thermal undies on with the fly at the back-nightmare when nature calls,
12. Microwaves are actually gifts from God himself,
13. Tesco microwave corned beef hash tastes like spoil heaps,
14. On-site drying rooms are luxury,
15. Toilet roll is luxury,
16. flint can actually be quite painful,
17. Chalk sites are not as simple as one would expect,
18. Permatrace no longer smells like roll-mop herring,
19. Always consult a compass for north-never ask site staff and,
20. I hate wet, yellow clay. Period.
