A Fisherman Sells His Boat

This is pretty much how my sabbatical went ...

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So I tried, I worked at three different universities on synthetic, theoretical and spectroscopic projects and all of them were interesting projects similar to things I have done in the past. In all cases I was hopeful for a short work term leading to a small publishable paper. One project worked and I think I can make something from another but for the most part two of the three projects were "interesting but not publishable in its current state".

When I came to ABU I had equipment worth a lot of money I had purchased from my research grants over the years. In fact, a lot of the equipment we use in the lab (especially the organic lab) is really "my" equipment. Indeed, when one of the Biology faculty lost his keys it was my $ 5000 toploader balance that was stolen from the lab. For the most part however my research equipment has sat in bankers boxes for the past 12 years. Sort of like really cool toys that you probably will not use again but don't want your parents to give away. This past year I came to a decision about my research equipment and decided to loan it to a new faculty member starting out at a university in Halifax. It has been an interesting way to end my sabbatical and in fact the relationship has some promise of a research collaboration.

So, when it is all done I hope to have a couple of small papers published from my sabbatical. I attended four conferences and presented four research papers. I have re-newed old friendships, networked and created new collaborations. I also spent a lot of time with my family thinking about what is next. And for all that thinking I came to the realization that thinking about something as complex as the ABU Science program is alot like steering a boat. If the boat is tied to the wharf then it doesn't matter which way you turn the rudder nothing will change. Once you are moving then you can steer the boat. So I have to get back into the business that I was called here to do so I can figure out what happens next. Gotta go, classes start in a week and I have two laboratory courses with new textbooks and no lab manuals.