DELAYS

14 hours of travel EACH way!!!!!! And nothing to show for it! Well, I did see an old friend and got a very nice new purse from the in-laws. But don't know that it was worth the frustration of flying and numerous other petty disagreements.
Hubby did get me a nice recorder. Now I can record my thoughts on the causeway. (I refrained from recording my thoughts in my 6 extra hours in the airport!)
I finally made it back last night (at midnight instead of 6 pm) and ended up with a migraine today and a broken Internet connection.
It's been a helluva month.

Apply...

Wise up Grad Programs! Don't have an electronic application that requires me to print off 30 pages of crap and mail it in... my life is not that stable and I don't have enough printer ink... this is going to require a trip to staples and/or campus.

I will survive

It's been my mantra this past week.
So far I've survived: teaching the WHOLE semester, grading 50 papers, and my first grad app. Still my in-laws to go!


If only I looked like that in red spandex pants and rollerskates!

Evaluations

It's course (read Instructor) evaluation day!
Despite my usual level of anxiety at times like these, I couldn't care less. I already got a nice review from a faculty member and don't really care about what the little grade-grubbers think about my book selections.
I, like my students, am done for the semester. I, like my students, am focusing on my own life.
AND
I found a little post on RYS that reinforced the point that essentially these evals. mean little to my future:
"Your responses provide important information we use to evaluate part-time instructors for re-hiring and scheduling of future classes. Although, to be fair, part-timers are so cheap and pliable, that unless you report that your instructors have been sodomizing animals in lieu of lecturing, we'll probably hire them all back and put them in your classes again next semester. It gives a nice break to our real professors who are trying to get ready for tenure and promotion."

Success!

Suck on that GRE! Up 160 points! Now All I have left off my list....
Oh yeah, EVERYTHING ELSE!

Two Weeks of To Do

1. Grade 50 papers (maybe some won't turn them in?!)
2. Grade 50 tests
3. Retake the GRE (Tuesday)
4. Lecture at least 5 more times
5. Start and Finish 5 Applications for PhDland
6. Buy tickets to see the in-laws with the measly check they gave us for airfare
7. Contact cat-sitter
8. Manage to not lose my mind
9. Manage to not gain more weight and maybe lose some
10. Clean my house so the cat sitter doesn't judge me, can't handle a repeat of last year

First Worldwide Festival of Dignified Rage

"Our voice is small to be the echo of that word, our gaze small for so
much dignified rage.

The process of seeing each other, looking at each other, speaking to
each other, listening to each other, is still lacking.

We are others, the other.

If this world does not have a place for us, then another world must be made.

With no tool other than our rage, no material other than our dignity."

...

Thanks tac for making sure I had this! Looks like there will be a job for me after all!

Anywhere a Mouse Can Go...

Way to go class! Stellar use of prepositions!

"Slavery was very common among Bob."
"He saw the workers of trying to take advantage of him."
"The workers went in great lengths."
"Mexico has gone thru many changes." (Though not used incorrectly, still must be spelled right.)
"In this time of period..."

Dance Off

Dancing with the Stars

Here's the lineup for next season....

I hate the GRE

No witty remarks. Simply, I hate it!
I found an error in the prep CD that GRE sends out: "In the 1960's scientists thought blah, blah, blah.

Despite my acute editorial eye, I am spending the day in the"quiet study" portion of Big State U's library, next to the garrulous douche bags that comprise our student population, hoping for a quantitative epiphany.

WTF (part 2)

A student email received by a TA friend:

"Quick question i know that we took notes in class on words and different things. there are certains that you gave us a more well to remebr definition should we know both of what the book says or is just knowing you gave us in class is good?"

No You Cannot Cite Wikipedia

What if you had Wikipedia as a professor?

Reflect this GRE

Geometry in no way reflect my abilities in CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY!
I doubt this will ever be an equation I have to figure out...

What is the area of the sector occupied by 5 Mayans sitting in a circle of 15 Mayans?

(I think the answer would be 1/3 the area of total Mayans!)

Exhausted

16.5 hours of GRE cramming this weekend+extreme levels of anxiety+having to prepare for lecture today!
................................................

During GRE class I came to fully understand how much I must show I am not annoying and would make an excellent grad student in my personal statement; I would have shot 9/15 students within the first semester of working with them!

Also, the smart instructor pointed out that no matter how much you study there will be words that no one knows on the test. His example? "COOPER" Um... someone that makes barrels (evidently, I'm the first to ever know what it is... and yes I knew the meaning before my stint in the wine industry) I think I learned cooper with blacksmith and mason in 6th grade history. Also we live near major wine area of the world... has no one ever read a book about a winery?

First Day Dress Dilemma Solved

http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.com/2008/04/30/97-scarves/

A scarf... not typically worn by undergrads...
and as a bonus it's from Mexico... problem solved.

Men banned from national parks after vandalism - Boston.com

Men banned from national parks after vandalism - Boston.com

Posted using ShareThis

While working in wine world, I always drove by this sign and it was all I could do not to pull over and fix it... "Fresh Strawberries and Cherry's"

What are yours?

The Iron Cage of Bureaucray

I'm so happy to have a job that doesn't involve trying to sell people on the joys of working in the wine industry or feigning a "passion for human resources" that this all is only slightly more than an annoyance...

-Contract did not come in until Friday-therefore not signable until Tuesday.
-Can't finish syllabus for printing... don't have email address yet!
-Can't upload documents to LOCUS or send to the reserve room...don't have emial!
-Can't see class list...don't have access to computer system because i don't have email!
-Can't contact computer helpdesk to try to figure out the email situation... holiday weekend!

But can finish all of MY outside reading for the first week (which means going to the bookstore for coffee) and probably can work in a pedicure (thanks to TAC for the suggestion!)

Gladys from Austin

PreSemester Guilty Pleasures

One of guiltiest pleasures ever... the song and enrique... although I think he was better pre-mole removal...

HR the good way

Spent the day with two of the gooodies from the office at one of our properties in Amador county....


Then ate pretty good Mexican food at the local restaurant. Some of the best jalapeno poppers I've had!

Back in time to watch trash T.V. or read by the pool, or in the comfort of my messy living room... still haven't decided yet.

Students as Consumers

Suck on this Gonzo:
RYS

Preparing for the Semester

To Do BEFORE the semester starts:

1. Visit with potential future advisors?

2. Raise GRE score by at least 100 points.

3. Finish the readings for class.

4. Figure out if we're moving.

5. Figure out where I can GET IN!

6. Publish something, or at least submit it.

7. Cry a little.

8. Clean the house; purge it of unnecessary items (may include books, cat, and/or husband).

9. Lose weight.

10. Buy an iphone! (I bet this gets done first)

** Update:**

Did not complete anything on list, but did come up with a plan for Fall 2009:

Summer T-Storms

This posting from the daily picture of NOLA made me think about how much I miss sitting in the front porch swing of my grandparents house and listening to the rain on the tin roof. I also miss how fresh everything smells after it rains in the summer. It's one of the great smells of the South, along with fried okra!

Tick, Tick, Tick

book order to campus bookstore-Check!
letter of interest to chair- Check!

the sound of the HR job clock counting down!

Blew My Mind

Padma is married to Salman Rushdie?!*


Thank God, I watch VH1, otherwise I'd never had learned this tidbit.

Back to catching up on my history of Mexico!

* Oh, they divorced in 2007, but still...

Intersections

The intersection of my day job (wine) and my career (academia/drunkenness)!

Approved

The thesis is in and approved by graduate studies... I am officially out of Dodge!
YAHOO!!!!!

Different Strokes

I understand that different people need different things when they study or write.
I need peace and quiet, but know that some (the guy sitting across from me in the computer lab) need a little background music, but does it have to be the same song on repeat!

And a Musician

Oh... and I love a musician...



Do you think this will hurt my chances to become independently wealthy one day?

La Lucha Sigue

How I love a revolutionary...

Although the day we met, he didn't have that "barba," just the mustache. More to come I'm sure.

A little advice

... from RYS regarding how to get through that dissertation.

Final Edits

Making the final edits in the thesis!
WOOT WOOT!

Put this one in perspective

Rejection letter 2. This time from number one choice and the school's city DOES NOT smell like fertilizer. It's a very cool city in my homeland. But hey, there's always my job...cry, cry, cry.

You really want to bring him back?

Since there are no TA positions in the Spring, I am once again moonlighting as a high-powered HR intern. Yes, it is as glamorous as you think!
My day consists of calling people to schedule phone interviews, in-person interviews, drug screens, and pre-employment physicals. Oh and I get to do reference and background checks.

Recently a forklift driver came in for his interview and to fill out our application, that I copy onto "buff" paper (TC it's very similar to the goldenrod you adore from the museum). He first asked if he really had to put in his Social Security number. YES, that's why we ask for it. He then asked how much detail he needed on his job history, because he didn't come prepared to fill out the application. Really, I told you on the phone you would be completing an application before your interview. He followed this up with a discussion of whether he should mark "yes" or "no" for the "Have you ever been convicted of a felony or serious misdemeanor?" Sir, I can't tell you what to mark. Just answer the questions as best you can. This response was followed up by a recounting of his "messy divorce" and criminal trespassing charges. The ultimate conclusion was that he would mark yes, because he is "Too DAMN honest to mark anything else." Good to know sir; and thanks for swearing in the interview process.

When I finally got the application back the work history didn't even include company names. I can understand the date being a little hazy, but the company names?

At the end of the interview process the hiring manager told my boss that he probably wouldn't be able to pass the obstacle course, but we should bring him back and see. Maybe I am wrong, but I get the impression that this guy could be a liability!?!

Welcome to my hell, but it's a well-paid hell!

Putting It in Perspective

Received first letter (read email) from a school...rejection, but CD reminded me of a very important point, "[school's city] sucks, anyway. It smells like fertilizer."
You're so right!

Thesisizing, Part II

Full draft is turned in!

Thesisizing

The only good thing on MTV (can you tell how dedicated I am to my thesis?)

• MTV
• Music Videos
• MTV Shows
• Entertainment News

You can all feel safe knowing

Interesting, as I live so close to the Sierras...
30%

SLAC

We need more Moms like this

Overheard in my Starbucks office...
To her daughter: "It really doesn't matter if you do well in school."

If more mothers were like this, teaching would be so much easier.*

*I hope your picking up the sarcasm, 'cause I'm laying it on pretty thick!

googling the day away

I had a really productive weekend that included thesis work and house cleaning, but I have been a slug all day today!
I did have a good chuckle at these comments grad students wanted to write on papers, but couldn't.
This makes me ponder what my contributions would be... I did write on a paper "3 inch margins, you have got to be kidding me," but the student didn't come to the last class so she never saw it.
I've always felt like writing, "Congratulations, I've spent more time on this paper than you did."

What are yours?

Something Clever (thesis edition)

Really there is nothing clever or interesting happening in my life... I've been hold up in Fivebucks drinking coffee and revising the 88 pages that are my thesis. I've got no students to compare my writing to, so I was a little down until I realized I've got no students!

In Fivebucks I did overhear a student from SLACK U talking about his study skills class and his b*tch professor. He wasn't my student, so I wondered which of my fellow TAs was his b*tch professor. Judging from his unrelenting desire to look like a homeless man, I'm guessing there is another side to that story.



In an unrelated note: in my efforts to procrastinate I googled writing a research paper and this image came up:

First, who is writing a research paper with a nib pen?

Second, why is there a leather strap? Maybe for shooting up? Or wrapping around your neck when the perfect synonym escapes you?

Starting the Year Off Right?

The Car-- Dec. 30

The hubby and I got back from a nice visit with my parents at 6:55 pm. We went to baggage claim and retrieved all our bags and walked right on to the shuttle to long-term parking. We got off at 42G (right where hubby told me he had parked). The car is nowhere to be found. So we walked around.... NO CAR. So we walk some more....NO CAR. So we yell and walk through the gravel parking lot dragging 2 rolling bags and a hanging bag... NO CAR.



I finally stop a shuttle and find out that if we know our license plate number the airport can tell us where our car is. I guess we are the only people that don't know our plate numbers. So I call the insurance company... they will know that kind of info, right? NOPE. But they have the VIN numbers.... that probably won't help us out at 8 pm in the dark, cold, unpaved parking lot.



I call parking info for help. They allow 1 of us to drive up and down the aisles looking for our car. Hubby goes. I stay in the shuttle stop and manage to create perhaps the wierdest outfit from Christmas presents: husband's hat and sweater, own purple leather gloves, husband's new gym socks, and own running shoes (thank God I imagined I was going to work out during the vacation).



8:55 Hubby returns sans car. It won't start, battery is dead. I call parking info for help. They eventually come and jump the car.


We finally check out of parking at 9:45 pm.
P.S. The car was parked in 42 H, but in the middle section, not the end section where we were looking.



The Phone-- Dec. 31

Hubby and I go into the city for NYE. Still recovering from the car episode, we get a late start to the train. We arrive in the city around 11:15pm. On the way out of the train station, I realize by cell phone is no longer in my pocket. GREAT.



We walk to friend's hotel room and call the phone. No answer. We call once more. No answer. Hubby calls one more time... ANSWER, in Spanish. Hubby took German in highschool, so he is of no use. I work my magic and arrange to meet them at a train station in another part of the city. 11:40pm Hubby and I catch a cab to said train station.



11:57 We arrive, but they aren't there. I call back and try to give directions to what exit of the trian station I am at. We count down to the new year with the cab driver from Zimbabwe. He was quite dapper in his suit.



12:05 phone arrives!