Sorting all the things...

I've registered for the conference in Wellington, and also booked my flights. As it turned out I have to stay four night because the conference starts early on the Sunday and ends late on the Tuesday, so I have to be there Saturday and Tuesday nights. Oh well, I'll survive, I'm sure.

I submitted my passport application this morning and was told it would take 2-3 weeks, I really hope that it happens as quickly as they say, because three weeks will be the 3rd of November and I fly out on the 29th (I know that sounds like plenty of time, but seriously I want all my ducks in a row with plenty of time to spare!).

I have submitted two weeks notice of applying for assistance (reimbursement from the university for a domestic conference, confusing, I know, but for conference New Zealand is considered domestic). Hopefully, once I submit the application itself, I'll get the reimbursement in short order because I have yet to arrange accommodation, international sim, pocket money etc.

I also have to lodge a postal vote for the Victorian state election which just happens to be the same weekend I'm away, lucky me!

What else?

Around the 7th of November I should, hopefully, get my peer reviewed paper back with revisions. This makes me a bit nervous, I've heard all sorts of stories about papers being outright rejected to needing extensive revision. I'm hoping mine won't need a whole lot of work, though I expect it will need some work, being my very first paper.

Once that is done, I can revisit the presentation, and make sure the two pieces tee up nicely.

For the next three and a bit weeks I plan to revise everything I've done to date on this thesis and see where I stand with the project and how I want to proceed from here (I suspect this won't take three and a half weeks, maybe only a week or so, but the rest of the time will be about a getting a start on what I want to do next. I suspect I feel very differently about it all now, even since doing the colloquium, I feel like I've learned so many new things that colour how I view the topic, but it's all brewing somewhere beneath the surface.