Does everything walk at a snail's pace over here?.
I coordinate research funding for my Department and i resposible for bringing ideas, writing proposals and in short, get money for the Department. But the thing is, there is so much protocol to go through. Each idea i turn in to a proposal has to be reviewed by my supervisor who now has to decide if we could go ahead with it(some have been approved by a visinting Prof. already) but he sure takes his time!! While he is doing this, application deadlines are looming!
If i had to bypass all of this, things would move a heck of a lot easily.

I am sure the snails are way ahead now.

I know, I know...so many hoops to jump through. Did you ever see that email joke that went around, about the element "Administratum"? (inhibits every reaction it comes into contact with, and so forth)

Here it is:

http://www.kettering.edu/~jhuggins/humor/admin.html

That was hilarious juno. LOL, especially this part:

'The 312 particles are held together by a force that involves the continuous exchange of meson-like particles called morons'

What field are you in juno?

I'm in pharmacy. Endless health and safety regulations, of course, but also a nightmare moving money from one account to another, so ordering consumables for the lab can take ages. Everything has to be signed by at least 3 people, one of whom will always be in Mongolia when you need them.

It never ends, does it juno? I don't understand why everything needs to go through such (most times) unncessarry chain. Sometimes i wonder if other countries go through this same hasle we go through

Is there anyone from other countries who couls give an insight of their own department?

sorry for my typo there.

Hi Cryogenics, Juno ("Boterkoek"),

I see what you are saying and I feel exactly the same: I can't stand that everything takes ages! I do not believe that things have to take such a long time, often the reason is that someone has just left your proposal / letter etc. in a drawer and forgot about it or does not care, until after waiting for a long time you remember him / her about it.
In a the normal world one would say: Just leave it, I will go somewhere else, yet in academics one seems to be stuck with " the system". Really annoying and probably the reason why it takes ages to finish something!

Hehe...I tried to make boterkoek this weekend. It didn't work out.

You could try again and let us have some. Yummm...

You wouldn't want this. It was crap.

Anyone know of UK stockists?

Here's some virtual boterkoek:

http://images12.fotki.com/v241/photos/8/83773/1140958/Boterkoek-vi.jpg

That was lovingly tempting