Random Happenings

There isn't much new about my life in school, so I thought instead I'd talk about some of the things I've seen and heard in the last little while.

Recently I've noticed, around 1 pm, a guy who walks towards campus.  I assume he's a student.  But no matter what the weather (and thankfully it's been relatively mild, with temperatures seldom below -10) this man is in winter boots but just a t-shirt and shorts.  No shit.  Just t-shirt and shorts.  Save for his boots, he could be walking around in the summer.  Well, temperatures are expected to fall in a few days.  I wonder if his attire will change then.  I mean, hell, just because we have national health care...

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At the mission over the weekend, an interesting "conversation" took place.  One of the volunteers, a small-build lady in her 60s, was about the take this bucket of raw turkey from a rack to put it on a table for the meat to be processed.  The damn bucket weighed at least 30 pounds.  No kidding.  I said, "oh, let me help you."  She was grateful for that.  Anyway, behind me a guy said, "yeah, that's not a job for a woman."

At that point, another volunteer, a young woman, said to the guy, "what, you mean no woman can handle that?"

OK, I think that's when the guy should just back off.  Instead, he said, "Nah, that's a man's job.  Women shouldn't be doing that."

Well, you can imagine the rest of that conversation.

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This class I'm in today, people have a tendency to come in late and leave early.  The prof passes around a sheet so people can sign in, to show that they are present.  I guess it'd be downright impossible for him to actually know who's there and who's not, since the class has 80 people in it.  Anyway, he usually passes it around about 15 minutes into class.  So people who leave early would have signed in already.

Well, today, he altered his routine.  He waited and waited, until an hour has passed, before he passed the sheet around.  I assume he hoped to catch those who leave early.

But I guess the students caught on too.  No one, I mean NO ONE, left early.  They waited and waited too.  Once they have signed in, they started leaving.  What can you do?

I'm glad I didn't teach in big schools.  I don't think I would like it if I didn't know the students in my class.

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I must confess, there are days when I seriously miss being in front of a class.  I enjoyed my interactions with students (by and large).  I really miss that.  But having done that for over 20 years, it was time to move on.  Time to do something different, to learn something new.  And I'm so fortunate that I'm able to do just that.  Still miss the classroom aspects of my former life, though.  Dealing with colleagues and administration I can do without.  But the students.  Dear Reader, if you were one of them, you are missed.

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My LSAT is set for Feb 22.  Shit, I haven't touched the stuff since Christmas.  My plan is to prep for it over reading week, though I also have to study for my midterms that come after.  So chances are I will only get to do two or three practice tests.  Well, too late to change the date now, so I'm stuck with it.  Let's see how sucky the result will be.

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Over 20 years teaching in the US, heavens know how much I paid into social security.  A lot, is all I can say.  So now it's time to get some back.  Well, guess what, since I am not a citizen, but a greencard holder, I have to go in person to SSA to show them my greencard.  Take a number and wait.

I didn't remember they made it this troublesome when they took my fucking money!  Did I pay less into social security because I only had a green card?  No.  Did they want to see my green card before they took my money?  No.

Sigh.

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I have three mini papers due this week.  One is a book review due tomorrow.  The other two are term paper proposals.  WTF.  I don't like this term paper proposal shit.  Just making me do the work twice, is all.  But...

Well, that's it for now, I guess.  Till next time!