nanila | My Up-goer Five bio

On being a spacecraft engineer, using only the ten hundred most used English words:

I went to school for a long, long time. I tried a job doing exactly what I had studied but I didn't like it enough to keep doing it. So I moved far away and tried again.

Now I have job I enjoy. I work with a group of people who build things. Our things get sent into space. They tell us how much of something that we can't see, smell, touch or hear is present in space. It takes a long time to build a thing that can go into space and stay on for years. We have to make sure our things don't break easily and don't use too much power. I use a computer to make sure that the stuff our things tell us is right. This is so that we can learn about our world and other worlds. We want to know things like: how shifting lights in the sky form, how the hot stuff in the middle of worlds helps keep them safe from the stars and how to find worlds that could have life on them.

Right now I'm taking a break from my job because I had a baby. I take a lot of pictures of my baby, my boyfriend, my cat and my house. I also like to tell true stories to my friends and to paint. I live in a place that lets me spend time raising my baby without losing my job. This place also gave me free care during the time just before I had my baby. I'm happy because when I do my job, I help to pay for this care for myself and for other people who can't pay for it. This is very good and I wish it were true in more places, like the place where I used to live.

(Created using the Up-goer Five text editor http://splasho.com/upgoer5/, which challenges you to use only the ten hundred most common words to explain an idea.

Words I was unable to use: instrument, measure, device, engineer, planet, system, country, partner. Worst of all, the word “science” was forbidden. Argh!)

Unpaid work and universal childcare by

rmc28
Singlet oxygen by

holdthesky
Political canvassing by

miss_s_b
Working for a Fair Trade organisation by

ironed_orchid
Working as a clinical psychologist by

vi
Working in retail by

pbristow
Working in the hotel industry written begrudgingly by

gominokouhai
Virtualization and "the cloud" by

azurelunatic
Researching politics, gender and human rights by

ajnabieh
On being a physics teacher by

crystalpyramid
Space science & outreach by

rinkle
Teaching people about dinosaurs by

innerbrat

ETA: They accepted my submission to the Ten Hundred Words of Science tumblr: here.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Date: 2013-01-21 04:03 pm (UTC)

From:

soliano

no subject

The key to this is that your country gives you options you did not have here in your homeland. That is sad. Especially the part where you take joy in paying so others have the same advantages you are having now. I say it is sad, because that social contract does not exist in the so called "Land of the Free".

Date: 2013-01-22 06:21 pm (UTC)

nanila

Yes, it's very unlikely that I would have chosen to have children in my homeland, because I wouldn't have been willing to sacrifice my job to do so. (Some might argue that that would have been a good thing, but never mind!)

Date: 2013-01-21 11:41 pm (UTC)

pbristow

"Worst of all, the word “science” was forbidden. Argh!"

Not "Argh!"... *AWESOME*! You succesfully communicated an awful lot about what it means to be an actual, practical, working scientist without ever using the magic "S" word that *conjours up all the wrong ideas*!!!" =:o>

Saying "I am a scientist" only *AFTER* what you have written here would blow a lot of young (and some not-so-young) people's minds. In the right direction. =:o}

Edited Date: 2013-01-21 11:42 pm (UTC)

Date: 2013-01-21 11:45 pm (UTC)

P.S.
...You haven't f-locked this at all, so am I OK to assume that I can link to it from elsewhere...?

(Full disclosure): Actually, already have. [BLUSH] [BITES LIP AND HOPES FOR THE BEST] Here: http://nostalgia.dreamwidth.org/84851.html?thread=567667#cmt567667

Date: 2013-01-22 06:19 pm (UTC)

Of course you may link it! It's public. I can't read that entry, though, it appears to be locked.

Date: 2013-01-22 08:46 pm (UTC)

D'OH!! [FACEPALM] Didn't think to check for reverse access issues. =:o\

Date: 2013-01-22 09:53 pm (UTC)

...And here's my one: http://pbristow.dreamwidth.org/775708.html

Date: 2013-01-23 03:05 pm (UTC)

Hee. I like the way you describe the security tag system!

Date: 2013-01-22 12:28 am (UTC)

foxfinial

:D Have you tried it? Because now I'm wondering if 'foxes' and 'bones' are amongst the permitted words.

Date: 2013-01-22 06:11 am (UTC)

ironed_orchid

I also like to tell true stories to my friends

I LOVE this bit.

I think you did a fantastic job at describing your career path and what you do now.

ETA: did one myself and linked back to this entry

Edited (ETA) Date: 2013-01-22 06:46 am (UTC)

Date: 2013-01-22 06:24 pm (UTC)

Ha, yes, neither 'blog' nor 'journal' were amongst the permitted words!

Thank you. I like the way you conveyed how prices often skewed unfairly against producers of goods.

Date: 2013-01-23 03:02 am (UTC)

My paragraph about commodities trading on the stock market was the hardest bit to write. But satisfying, to break it down like that.

Date: 2013-01-22 12:20 pm (UTC)

I love your description! You explained the scientific nature of your job really well. ^^

I also did a bio and linked back to this entry. \o/

Date: 2013-01-22 06:27 pm (UTC)

Thank you! I've linked your excellent description in the body of the post.

Date: 2013-01-22 04:26 pm (UTC)

amalnahurriyeh

Totally just retumbled your Ten Hundred Words of Science version...but directed them back here for the right-on explanation of why parental leave and health coverage matter.