Revising an academic manuscript: Rock Springs – June 29 and 30
Saturday June 29, 2013
Not long before my contract finished, I submitted an academic manuscript to a journal. The university has been kind enough to let me keep my email address so I can follow this paper through. A week or so before I met up with my mom, I received the reviewers’ comments for the paper. My feeling was that I would just not respond if it required major revisions. However, since it only needs minor revisions, I feel obligated to see it through. Your worth in academia is largely measured by the quantity and quality of papers you publish, so this paper counts as ‘points’ in performance reviews for my co-authors. I owe it to them.
So I’m spending a couple days at the Holiday Inn Express because it has a nice business centre with four computers. I can hog one computer for hours at a time and not feel like I’m holding up anyone else. Sitting here working on the paper most definitely reminds me of why I did not look for further funding or seek to renew my contract, though. All that sitting inside… bleeeccch!
What luxury have I enjoyed the most by staying at a ‘nice’ hotel to work on the manuscript: AC; fridge; microwave; laundry; easy access to veggies at a nearby grocery; free, hot breakfast each morning; brand name toiletries; a full-size fluffy cotton towel; wifi; ice machine; real bed; choice of hard or soft pillows; pool and hot tub; not having to walk to the shower and wear flip flops in there; or just sleeping in til 8am since I’m not riding?
Not sure – probably a tie between having a pillow (I normally just roll up some clothes) and a shower in the room.
But now the manuscript is finished, so it’s off on the bike again tomorrow and likely to be 2 or 3 days before I get the next proper shower. I love life being reduced to such simplicity that a towel seems like a luxury!