Other people’s impressions

I've observed an interesting phenomenon this last week and a half. Several times, people have stuck their heads into my office and said something like, “I know you're really busy with the grant...”

What the heck did people think I was doing before I got the grant? That I was just hanging out in my office, reading the latest copy of FHM? Counting the number of little perforations in the ceiling tiles? Arranging the magnetic poetry tiles above my computer?

You get money, you’re assumed to be busy. Interesting.