I left Sydney for Oxford in early July, so a month having elapsed, this is what I’ve been up to:
Job Hunting
My primary goal has been finding work. So far that looks like:
| Positions Considered | 81 |
| Applications | 16 |
| Rejections | 6 |
| Recruiter Calls | 4 |
| Interviews | 3 |
| Offers | 0 |
Unfortunately no offers. I’ve focused on jobs in Oxford, so have applied to positions from the university. In a wider search, reed has seemed more relevant to me than indeed, and making a profile there has been the main source of calls from recruiters, which seems promising. It’s probably time to extend the search to include London, though I’m still hoping to find something here in Oxford.
Reading
Aside from many job descriptions, I’ve been reading Huffington’s The Sleep Revolution, The Economist, and reddit.
Hackerspace
Having become a member of the Oxford hackerspace, I’ve been helping out a little with the 3D printing service. Producing tangible objects is very satisfying in contrast to job hunting.
Fitness
I’ve tried two new activities: squash and rock-climbing/bouldering. My staples of running/cycling and weightlifting leave a gap over hand-eye coordination, which squash fills in well. After about 8 hours I think I’m starting to develop muscle memory for basic play. I was surprised to find climbing has a huge mental component; planning and executing the correct strategy seems just as important as strength. It’s certainly fun, and much more mentally involved than lifting weights or running, but for pure fitness training not as effective.
Chess
I’ve played 207 games of chess. I haven’t improved much, so should add structured training rather than just blundering repetitively through similar openings. It’s probably also been more procrastination than relaxation this month.
Berglabs
And, of course, I’ve resuscitated this domain and updated it with a WordPress theme.
Travel
Life has taken me to London (by train) and Eyam (by car).
Writing from the Clarendon Laboratory, Oxford.