I wanted to throw this out somewhere while I’m thinking of it, so if there’s ever any doubt, say, 20, 25 years from now, here it is:
My kids will not be allowed to go to an out-of-state public school for college unless they have a scholarship that completely negates the non-res tuition. Wanna go out of state? Go to a private school.
That is all.
PS – I hate college.
First week of school.
Assuming I survive, I’ll catch you on the flipside.
I would really like to ski this weekend. Some fresh(er) snow, cold, but not unbearable– yeah, that would be nice.
I’m kinda sick, too, so we’ll see.
… and Spring Training starts in 25 days.
Nice that the kids are leaving campus in a day or two. I am anticipating the relaxation of 11 days off in a row like you wouldn’t believe. That means I do need to bust a little ass and get stuff accomplished at work this week, though. Glad that the new people are finally starting to be more autonomous and useful. That helps.
Meanwhile, my new favorite dirty Christmas carol lyric is:
“We won’t go until we get some.”
Don’t look at me like that. You know.
Ya-ay.
After a typically vaguely-worded meeting that I had with my fellow fin aid advising staff last week, I had the distinct impression that I would NOT be getting the three days off that I requested between Christmas and New Year’s.
The uni is a graveyard during that time. Sure, you can get a lot done, but if there is nothing to do, you just get angry that you had to go in.
Turns out my expectations were unnecessarily low. I will be leaving work on 12/21 at 4:30, and I won’t have to be back until 1/2. Pretty nice.
I guess this means I can continue to blow off cleaning my wretchedly disgusting apartment, since I’m not anticipating a lot of visitors until 12/31.
And on THAT– more to come soon…
It always amazes me that there’s a large sector of students who believe the campus is only operational when classes are in session. A common exchange this time of year:
TRANSFER STUDENT: I’m really concerned that I haven’t heard anything about my spring aid yet.
ME: Well, there’s still plenty of time. It’s pretty common to be at this stage right now…
STDT: But aren’t you like, off all through January?
ME: (laughing) No, we’ll be here.
STDT: Oh, I thought the whole place was closed…
I think this perception just speaks to the general ignorance of the administrative side of the university for the students. I think it’s more common for them to think of “college” as their classes and homework, maybe with a little res hall sprinkled in. It wouldn’t surprise me if a student thought that their professors were more involved in the actual operation of the university. But I do not care to digress today.
If anyone out there is concerned about the WGA’s strike throwing a wrench in the consumption of your stories, please see the following:
1. Cable
2. You-Tube
3. already-available DVDs
4. (going out on a limb here) READ A BOOK!
I (and I think most sensible people agree with me) am vastly more concerned about the potential screeching halt of the entire economy of southern California. It will be interesting to see how this plays out– for the time being, my best regards to everyone I know who works in The Industry.
Speaking of writers on strike, you may be wondering where the hell I’ve been. Had some psyche-shaking events transpire in recent weeks that lent themselves to extended periods of introspection (that and the 4-day hiatus to the web-challenged Northwoods). I think things are better now, so maybe I’ll get off my dead ass and be more productive.
Maybe I could start writing for TV.
On Wednesday night, Mundschau and I made our way up to Ma & Dad’s house in Eagle River. We were planning to try to get some wireless internetting rocking and to help Dad with his project du jour. In this case, it was putting in the OSB on the ceiling of the garage. That needed to go in so the insulation could be finished.
Dad had off from work on Friday, so we wrapped that up that day. Today (Saturday), Joe and I slept until about 8:30, then by about 10 or 10:30, we took a ride to town to get on the webs. The coffee joint in ER that we’ve used in the past went from charging 2 bucks to completely free internet access, so I guess we don’t even need to be inside, technically speaking. Nice to have the power outlet, though.
The drag is the handful of screaming children that a parent just brought in a couple minutes ago. It really does make it hard to concentrate. Note to self: upon procreation, make sure there is a room in the house that kids don’t enter, as a refuge from the madness.
It’s nice to have a few days off from work. I don’t know why, but I’ve been a little paranoid lately that I’m going to do something to get fired. I don’t think I’ve been doing anything that would actually be grounds for termination, but I guess I just have this streak of paranoia in general. It’s not that much fun.
Reminds me– I should really go to a doctor. And a dentist. And an eye doc. I need to make a whole bunch of appointments.
Jesus Christ these kids are loud. I mean, holy shit.
59 and sunny here in ER. We should try to wrap up the Interwebbing and get back outdoors. I need to pick up some booze.
I’ve had a productive work week so far that I don’t want to jinx or derail. That being said, please take note of the following:
Dad and I did go to the Brewers game on Friday that they lost in fairly unspectacular fashion, but since then, it’s been 4 victories and now they’re back in a tie for first. This pennant race shit is pretty cool.
Grandma has a new kitchen floor. Regardless of what anyone tells you, it is definitely there. I’ve seen it. There are other tangential projects to complete, which surround the floor, but the floor is done.
I’ve started reading The Singularity Is Near, after hearing its title in an AP story that I blogged about a week or so ago. While I seem to share some beliefs/feelings about the future with the author, I am trying to approach it with an objective mindset.
Speaking of blogging other things, Wil Wheaton has a post today about the continuing saga of Internet radio and the RIAA. It’s a good read, and offers some leads links to additional sources of info on this topic.
That is all…
I considered it carefully, and finally decided that I would post this thought from yesterday.
If you’ve ever lived in or near Milwaukee, you probably know that the city is extremely (and mysteriously, from an outsider’s perspective) divided along racial lines, manifested most directly through geography. The physical separation of blacks and whites (there are others, but let’s focus on the Big Two) makes the intermingling of the races a tenuous affair at best.
I think the most common response of white people in Milwaukee is to pretend there’s not actually a problem, and that the racial/social/economic divisions are some sort of mysterious coincidence. Most white people, I think, like to believe that they received license to stop worrying about race somewhere around 1970 (at least way up north here in Wisconsin, by God).
My speculation, based on interactions and observations I’ve had, is that most black people are going to be guarded, and cautiously suspicious in interactions with whites, which is completely understandable in a city whose casual racism simmers just below the surface.
Ultimately, what you end up with are interactions that are cordial in appearance, but where one or both parties has a proverbial finger on the trigger, just waiting for the slightest reason to write the other off as the personification of a racial stereotype.
I don’t think of myself as a racist. However, I do know that my hyper-awareness of the existence of the race problem in this city probably affects the way that I am in interracial encounters. I don’t know how to resolve this, other than to give it time.
One thing that’s definitely not going to help is events such as what transpired at work today. I’m sure that it’s not appropriate for me to say much about it, but the short version is, a student who I legitimately could not remember working with claims that I promised something I could not/would not have promised, gave me a total of four hours to look into it, then went to folks much further up the chain to accuse me of discrimination.
I think that this situation escalating so far so fast has a lot more to do with the climate in Milwaukee than with me personally. I really believe that if my skin and the student’s were the same color, these accusations would not have been made.
I’m trying my best, but this is just another one of those things that makes me wish I wasn’t here. I don’t have the solution to 150 years of history in my pocket. If I did, I’d be doing something else.
Lacking overwhelming praise or accolades, I prefer anonymity, and for that, I’m probably in the wrong job. I know that sounds naive or selfish. But, this is what I’ve been thinking about today.
Work is madhouse, and will continue to be such throughout the month of September.
However, I have somehow gotten caught up on a number of things that were lagging over the last couple weeks around the office. This has made me feel better about being here in general. I am still weary from the endless droves of people who don’t have enough money for school and are not considered “needy enough” to get it from the government, making my options for helping them close to nill.
Things at home are a lot cleaner, too, as Christy and/or Michelle could attest to. I have one room left that still needs significant organization, but for the most part, I am “settled in.” This new-found comfort is a double-edged sword, since I am nearly certain I’ll be moving again in 10 months.
OK, more to do. Look at this in the meantime, and think about what you’ve done.
I said to myself this afternoon, “I’m not gonna waste my time calling this kid back– I told him what I would need to process this, so if this is what I have, this is what I process.”
And in the moment that followed, I realized that I have become everything Lloyd Dobler never wanted to be.
