Fuck fuck fuckity fuck fuck.

[rivka]

I can't fucking believe this.

To whom it may concern:

I respectfully request that you consider accepting this R21 application, “Irrational and Mistrustful Beliefs in Antiretroviral Therapy Decision-Making,” although it will arrive approximately 15 hours past the May 7 deadline for the receipt of AIDS-related proposals.

The academic institution in which I am based, the Institute of Human Virology, is currently in the middle of making a transition from membership in the University of Maryland Biotechnology Institute to becoming an institute fully contained within the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Some faculty and staff have become employees of the School of Medicine already, while others have not. Some administrative procedures have already been transferred to the School of Medicine, while others have not.

Because of the confusion engendered by the constantly-evolving status of the merger, it was not immediately clear which approval and routing procedures (Biotechnology Institute or School of Medicine) applied to a grant submitted during the merger process. Those questions were not resolved until late in the routing process, a few hours before the grant deadline of 5:00pm on Monday, May 7. At that point, a critical administrator whose signature is required for grant submission had already left the campus.

I would like to underline the fact that there were no delays or problems in the scientific and financial preparation of the application, and that there are no underlying administrative problems which would interfere with the conduct of the research if a grant is awarded. The problems which led to this delayed application are a one-time event, based on the fact that the grant deadline fell in the middle of the period in which our institution is merging with the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Therefore, it is my earnest request that you approve a slight extension of the 5:00pm deadline and accept this application for review.

Sincerely, Rivka, Ph.D.

Obviously, there's more to it than that. More later, when I redevelop the ability to breathe.

Comments

[kightp.livejournal.com]

Great letter. But oh, maaaaan...

[kightp.livejournal.com]

P.S. We're evidently on the same grant cycle as whatever agency you're submitting this to, and our grant management people are expecting a few people to shove their applications under the door (actual or virtual - we have an on-line submission system) after 5 p.m. If they're not habitual offenders, they'll be allowed to submit; if they are, they'll get their hands slapped - and still be allowed to submit. So there's hope...

[melebeth]

Oh that beyond sucks. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

[ailbhe]

Fuckity *fucking* fuck indeed. Double fuck. *Fuck*.

Wow. That's a great letter, but *fuck*.

[windsea.livejournal.com]

Dear god.

Oh, I hope they are reasonable.

I would have been sorely tempted to forge the appropriate signature!

[aloha-moira.livejournal.com]

sorely tempted? I WOULD have. (Don't tell my funding sources.)

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I might have been tempted too, but unfortunately the way it works is that this person in the Dean's office (who went home early) reviews the grant for completeness and reasonableness, and then the Dean signs it, and then it goes to a guy in the Office of Research Development, and he's the one who has to physically push the button that submits the grant electronically.

So it would've involved forging the Dean's signature, and then sending the forgery to a guy who looks at the Dean's signature every single day. Not a good idea.

[windsea.livejournal.com]

Damn. Pity about that.

[naomikritzer]

Oy fucking vey.

[kalmn.livejournal.com]

um. don't kill anyone. you'd be sorry later. i admit, much later, but still.

*hug*

however, i'm totally willing to come hit people for you. that will only maim them.

[rivka.livejournal.com]

I adore your icon.

[minnaleigh.livejournal.com]

Oh, god. So sorry you've had to deal with that mess! I hope that your letter works some magic!

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

I'd like to think you were kidding. Just .... {shakes head}.

[txanne.livejournal.com]

There aren't enough electrons to express the massive fuckityness of that. (I'm with kalmn on the maiming. Just say the word.)

[therealjae.livejournal.com]

Oh, CRAP.

Fingers crossed.

-J

[wcg.livejournal.com]

Oh for God's sake...

I've been watching all day as you crossed off items on the other post, and I had been hoping to see the "all sent" update before I left work. Instead, I see this tip of the iceberg of frustration now that I'm home. I'm so very sorry.

I do hope they'll accept it and include it for consideration. (And of course I hope it gets approved and funded too.)

[saoba.livejournal.com]

Arrrrrrrgh.

This sucks so much I think it effected the local gravity field.

[mjlayman.livejournal.com]

Oh no. I hope they're reasonable.

[jerusha.livejournal.com]

Ai yi yi.

Nicely written letter, but what a letter to have to write!

[ckd]

Oh, bletch. We went through a similar shift (going from being part of this to being "a research collaboration [...] governed jointly by [...] two universities". And that last bit can be really fun, when you have grants that go through two different universities....

Our cutover took a long time, and I think various parts of it were specifically scheduled to avoid grant deadlines.

Best of luck on your grant application.

[mactavish.livejournal.com]

Augh!

Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck!

[wanderingaengus.livejournal.com]

Good luck.

[beaq.livejournal.com]

Oh, jeeze.

I look forward to their positive response.

Good luck

[hazelchaz]

Crossing my fingers for you in California...

[lerryn.livejournal.com]

I'll agree with everyone else that this sucks. Positive energy is available if you want it, as that project sounds important.

[tassie-gal.livejournal.com]

Bollocks and DAMN! hope the funding genies are feeling generous.

Oh, dear

[redbird]

*hugs* and tea if they'll be any comfort.

I hope they're sensible about this.

[ricevermicelli.livejournal.com]

You have all my sympathy, and every good vibe I can muster for an approved extension.

[annaoj.livejournal.com]

Oh, hell.

*good vibes*

[papersky.livejournal.com]

That's -- my sincere sympathies. I'd say I don't believe it, but I do believe it. Sheesh. You poor old thing. *hug*

[huladavid.livejournal.com]

Want me to teach you the "Fuck You Dance"? It's great on recalcitrant copy machine.

(I should see about posting video of that sometime.)