..."Ancient Curse"
So this morning I was trying to get ready for my last day of classes. Low and behold when I pulled on the button to turn the shower on - the faucet snapped.
So there was much water pouring in all the wrong places. Much more cussing.
No time to fix it so I had a =very= cold shower before going to campus.
Good news: Tomorrow my grandfather is coming over to look at the problem and (slightly more importantly) I no longer have to deal with my criminology students.
Go me!
While at work I received an email about the current fiscal crisis in the country.
The solution is so simple that it would never work.
The Fix
There recently was an article in the St. Petersburg Fl. Times. The Business Section asked readers for ideas on: "How Would You Fix the Economy?"
I think this guy nailed it!
_____
Dear Mr. President,
Please find below my suggestion for
fixing America's economy. Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the "Patriotic Retirement Plan":
There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered Auto Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage Housing Crisis fixed.
It can't get any easier than that!!
P. S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress pay their taxes...
Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I'll bet both programs would be fixed pronto!
The solution is so simple that it would never work.
The Fix
There recently was an article in the St. Petersburg Fl. Times. The Business Section asked readers for ideas on: "How Would You Fix the Economy?"
I think this guy nailed it!
_____
Dear Mr. President,
Please find below my suggestion for
fixing America's economy. Instead of giving billions of dollars to companies that will squander the money on lavish parties and unearned bonuses, use the following plan. You can call it the "Patriotic Retirement Plan":
There are about 40 million people over 50 in the work force. Pay them $1 million apiece severance for early retirement with the following stipulations:
1) They MUST retire. Forty million job openings - Unemployment fixed.
2) They MUST buy a new American CAR. Forty million cars ordered Auto Industry fixed.
3) They MUST either buy a house or pay off their mortgage Housing Crisis fixed.
It can't get any easier than that!!
P. S. If more money is needed, have all members in Congress pay their taxes...
Mr. President, while you're at it, make Congress retire on Social Security and Medicare. I'll bet both programs would be fixed pronto!
Well,
Something happened with the template on my old blog. I logged into it this morning and it was completely messed up. Apparently, some of the code that it was accessing (the graphic elements) had been deleted and the blog did not now how to process the information without the proper code in place.
So, after a quick search of the web for a new template, I decided to go with something green for the time being.
All my links are gone but I'll get them back up between now and the weekend.
C'est la vie virtual!
-T
Something happened with the template on my old blog. I logged into it this morning and it was completely messed up. Apparently, some of the code that it was accessing (the graphic elements) had been deleted and the blog did not now how to process the information without the proper code in place.
So, after a quick search of the web for a new template, I decided to go with something green for the time being.
All my links are gone but I'll get them back up between now and the weekend.
C'est la vie virtual!
-T
From "That Student"
While in class and after I returned the research papers, "That Student" said that I should have warned them (the class) that Computers would be required for the research paper.
After trying to blame everyone on campus for her inability to complete a simple, five-page research paper, she tried to foist the responsibility on me for not alerting her to the need to be able to use computers. Now, we're not talking about using some advanced Statistics Program, just your average MS Word / Excel stuff.
Argh!
Oh well, only a few more classes to go and she'll no longer be my problem. :)
While in class and after I returned the research papers, "That Student" said that I should have warned them (the class) that Computers would be required for the research paper.
After trying to blame everyone on campus for her inability to complete a simple, five-page research paper, she tried to foist the responsibility on me for not alerting her to the need to be able to use computers. Now, we're not talking about using some advanced Statistics Program, just your average MS Word / Excel stuff.
Argh!
Oh well, only a few more classes to go and she'll no longer be my problem. :)
Once more, an email from "That Student".
Can I take this test next week to give me more time to find out stuff or just take it tomorrow night?
I was left confused because she emailed me the notes and never put what chapters they are for.
What the HELL?
(more later)
Can I take this test next week to give me more time to find out stuff or just take it tomorrow night?
I was left confused because she emailed me the notes and never put what chapters they are for.
What the HELL?
(more later)
This was the last line in an email I just received from "That Student".
"Please pass me in both of your classes because I depend on college for my education and the money to make ends meet in life!"
My official response:
Ms. XXX,
Let me make this perfectly clear: I will not pass you or fail you. You will succeed or fail based on your performance in class and for no other reason.
-Tom.
STAB IT. BURN IT. BURY IT. KILL IT.
"Please pass me in both of your classes because I depend on college for my education and the money to make ends meet in life!"
My official response:
Ms. XXX,
Let me make this perfectly clear: I will not pass you or fail you. You will succeed or fail based on your performance in class and for no other reason.
-Tom.
STAB IT. BURN IT. BURY IT. KILL IT.
Although I am a firm believer that people should always attempt to educate themselves, I have must state that I am TIRED of ignorant people wasting my time.
It is one thing for someone to simply not be aware of a topic, and need some assistance to grasp the concept; that's what teachers are for.
Some people have difficulty grasping concepts and need additional help to make the connections that others seem to make more easily; that is what tutors are for.
It is another thing entirely for someone to:
One of my students, a non-traditional student who is apparently a grandmother, believes that college should be just like the school where her grand babies go. If she doesn't pass an exam, she wants to re-take it, over and over again, until she does. Apparently this is a common technique in the public school system (though I don't know what grade) where her grandchild attends. She, the non-trad student (AKA "THAT student"), assumes that all education systems are like this and that if she just continually walks around clueless that she'll get passed because people are tired of looking at her.
Here's the kicker, she's on something called "Financial Aid Probation". Essentially, she has failed so many times previously, that the University (or the State / Fed) is going to suspend her Financial Aid unless she can pull her grades up. I agree with the idea that people who aren't getting the grades shouldn't be able to pull down thousands and thousands of dollars (and most likely not paying them back) - potentially removing funding from those people who -are- making the grade. So this student is faced with a challenge, pass your classes or loose your money.
She is in both my Intro to Sociology and my Intro to Criminology course. It turns out that she was in my Intro to Psychology course last spring (and failed - but only by 5 points). This term she is failing again - not scoring higher than 50% on any of her exams and once she scored 34% OUT OF 100%.
Normally, I would have written her off as an Ashley and let her fail without a second thought. Since she is a non-trad (a category of students who usually out-perform my other students), I tried to give her a bit more attention hoping that she would be like my other non-trad students and really contribute to the class.
NOPE.
She realizes that she's failing and she's continually panicking about it. I usually receive between three to four emails from her at a time; usually within the scope of 10 minutes. They all say about the same thing, usually with more and more panic in her tone each time. She has probably accessed every help desk, tutor and resource at the university to help her improve her grades, but the reality is that she just doesn't have the academic tools to be in college at this time.
It's no great failure to say that a person is not ready...yet. Usually it's a matter of intellectual focus rather than sheer brain power, but a University should not be used as an alternative form of Unemployment / Welfare. A university is a place of learning, a sanctuary for academic achievement (cue monastic chants in the background with a subtle mix of "Georgetown" from St. Elmo's Fire), and most importantly a means to change your life.
Not everyone is ready to change how they think about the world or their place in it. Until they are ready, they should not be at College.
It is one thing for someone to simply not be aware of a topic, and need some assistance to grasp the concept; that's what teachers are for.
Some people have difficulty grasping concepts and need additional help to make the connections that others seem to make more easily; that is what tutors are for.
It is another thing entirely for someone to:
- A) Not know something,
- B) Refuse to put forth the effort to learn it.
- C) Fail to apply it.
- D) Fabricate reasons why they don't / can't learn.
- E) Expect you to pass them because "they're just not getting it".
One of my students, a non-traditional student who is apparently a grandmother, believes that college should be just like the school where her grand babies go. If she doesn't pass an exam, she wants to re-take it, over and over again, until she does. Apparently this is a common technique in the public school system (though I don't know what grade) where her grandchild attends. She, the non-trad student (AKA "THAT student"), assumes that all education systems are like this and that if she just continually walks around clueless that she'll get passed because people are tired of looking at her.
Here's the kicker, she's on something called "Financial Aid Probation". Essentially, she has failed so many times previously, that the University (or the State / Fed) is going to suspend her Financial Aid unless she can pull her grades up. I agree with the idea that people who aren't getting the grades shouldn't be able to pull down thousands and thousands of dollars (and most likely not paying them back) - potentially removing funding from those people who -are- making the grade. So this student is faced with a challenge, pass your classes or loose your money.
She is in both my Intro to Sociology and my Intro to Criminology course. It turns out that she was in my Intro to Psychology course last spring (and failed - but only by 5 points). This term she is failing again - not scoring higher than 50% on any of her exams and once she scored 34% OUT OF 100%.
Normally, I would have written her off as an Ashley and let her fail without a second thought. Since she is a non-trad (a category of students who usually out-perform my other students), I tried to give her a bit more attention hoping that she would be like my other non-trad students and really contribute to the class.
NOPE.
She realizes that she's failing and she's continually panicking about it. I usually receive between three to four emails from her at a time; usually within the scope of 10 minutes. They all say about the same thing, usually with more and more panic in her tone each time. She has probably accessed every help desk, tutor and resource at the university to help her improve her grades, but the reality is that she just doesn't have the academic tools to be in college at this time.
It's no great failure to say that a person is not ready...yet. Usually it's a matter of intellectual focus rather than sheer brain power, but a University should not be used as an alternative form of Unemployment / Welfare. A university is a place of learning, a sanctuary for academic achievement (cue monastic chants in the background with a subtle mix of "Georgetown" from St. Elmo's Fire), and most importantly a means to change your life.
Not everyone is ready to change how they think about the world or their place in it. Until they are ready, they should not be at College.
Sunday was one of those days that really reminded me that the seasons have changed from Summer to Fall.There wasn't much scheduled for the day - I had the idea of doing some house work and such but then Josh wanted to head out to a Sorghum festival. It was a quick drive out to the county and over a rattling wooden bridge. There wasn't much there, but it was fun to get out of the house for a while and get away from some tests that I needed to post.
It was interesting to watch the old machines squeeze the juices out of the Sorghum cane and the huge cooking trough. I saw the very same set up when I had to give out information at a similar sorghum festival in Lawrence County (around Ironton) back when I worked for LCCAO. I assume that there are only so many ways to turn the cane juice into some form of potable sugars so once it was figured out the basic design / system was spread from county to county.
Afterward, we were driving up to the store and I saw a huge string of people along side the road.
I'm not sure what was the occasion, but for some reason there was a huge campaign to announce that "Abortion Kills".I wasn't aware of any national awareness campaign for that Sunday, but there were almost four blocks of people shouting to get people's attention as they drove by. I've never understood the concept of the 'string of people with signs' campaign. Does it draw any more attention to an issue? Are they hoping that someone will see the validity of their sign and say to themselves, "Ya know, they're right," and change their lives accordingly because four blocks of people held up signs?
All I can see as the aim to such a stunt is to get media attention. An image like this is perfect for a local newspaper. It gets the public's attention, granted, but does it do anything with it once they have it?
Cranberry Juice Consumed: *twitch* *gack*
Antibiotics Consumed: God bless cipro
Time spent in a hot bath: 2.5 hours
Finally being able to move (or just lay there)
without wincing in pain?: Since 3 p.m. yesterday
Well, thanks to the gods of Cipro, I think I'm out of the woods. Yesterday afternoon I was pounding cranberry juice (*gack* *twitch*) and toasting a bag of rice in my microwave (to use as a heating pad) so often I was certain that it would somehow turn into popcorn - but the pain would not let up. The only way I was able to actually think was to sit in a scalding-hot bath. As soon as the heat hit the right side of my lower back - the pain would ease. It was fine so long as I laid in there and didn't move much.
But then I got a delivery of antibiotics, Cipro. The family keeps a stock of this stuff on hand and when word went out that I might have a stone, they were quick to hand it over. They were also quick to tell me how many of them had also passed stones in their lives and how it's sort of a "family" medical condition. So what do I have to look forward to in my life? Kidney Stones, Diabetes, Alzheimers, and possible some form of Cancer.
Joy.
After about twenty minutes of taking the Cipro, I was laying down on the couch since I had finally found a position that didn't hurt. Then I realized that I was getting more and more sleepy and eventually passed out. At some point, though I was not really awake for this, I got up and went to the bathroom and heard a weird 'clink'. I stared down into the bowl to find that a pebble about the size of a BB was in the bottom. Not saying that I have a high threshold for pain, but my first thought was that there was no way in hell that came out of me without me feeling it. Then again, I had taken about three kinds of pain-killers before I passed out so I was still a bit groggy.
The family doc said that I should collect it since if the pain returns there may be more stones and they would need to examine the last one to figure out what was causing them. One of the more curious questions that I had for the doc was how could this have happened. Most kidney stones are formed by deposits of calcium and I'm not really what you would call a milk-drinker. There is, however, some connection between drinking sodas like Mountain Dew.
Yeah - there was a moment of silence when I was on the phone with her.
So I guess I'm reduced to water, some juice and coffee for a while.
Ugh.
This morning at 6 am I woke up with a pain in my right side, in my back. At first I thought that it was s pulled muscle do I grabbed Josh's msgic back massager and tried to fix it. As soon as I started the machine I could tell that something was wrong. There was an odd sensation that radiated around from the small of my back and down to my groin. For about three hours I tried to sleep or find some comfortable spot but noting worked.
Josh got up around 9 and I asked him to take me down to the campus clinic to have them look at me. Yes, the pain was serious enough that I was willing to ask for help.
They confirmed the diagnosis that I probably have a kidney stone. The hospital would be able to confirm it with a batch of tests (about 5k from what we dug around to find out) but the treatment was basically to just flush it out.
So since Josh had to stay on campus for classes, I asked Will to take me home where I promptly threw up (again) as soon as we were in front of the house. I tried to put my mind out of the pain but that didn't work - I couldn't think straight for that.
That's when Josh and Will's idea set in. Taking a hot bath might help the muscle spasms. With Will on the couch and me yelling to him from the bathroom we continued the conversation for a few minutes and it was like someone threw a switch. The pain was gone. So long as the water was hot, there was no pain.
The main problem with kidney stones is that everyone wants to ask you if you've been pissing regularly. I had been, but not too often. I've been drinking water all day and I would get the urge to take a leek but nothing would happen. Pulling the old Boyscout Trick of standing in a hot shower or putting your hand in warm water, however, assisted things along so it's not that I'm blocked.
After sending up the flag to everyone I could think of - I got some of last night's chili on my stomach so that will hopefully help with the nausia. (My chili is mild so it's not like I'm eating fire. Will has headed off for a while and I've gotten some antibiotics in me to help with any future possibility of a kidney infection.
Otherwise, I'm typing with one hand, laying face down on the couch and trying to get my back to stop hurting.
ugh.
someone just kill me.
Josh got up around 9 and I asked him to take me down to the campus clinic to have them look at me. Yes, the pain was serious enough that I was willing to ask for help.
They confirmed the diagnosis that I probably have a kidney stone. The hospital would be able to confirm it with a batch of tests (about 5k from what we dug around to find out) but the treatment was basically to just flush it out.
So since Josh had to stay on campus for classes, I asked Will to take me home where I promptly threw up (again) as soon as we were in front of the house. I tried to put my mind out of the pain but that didn't work - I couldn't think straight for that.
That's when Josh and Will's idea set in. Taking a hot bath might help the muscle spasms. With Will on the couch and me yelling to him from the bathroom we continued the conversation for a few minutes and it was like someone threw a switch. The pain was gone. So long as the water was hot, there was no pain.
The main problem with kidney stones is that everyone wants to ask you if you've been pissing regularly. I had been, but not too often. I've been drinking water all day and I would get the urge to take a leek but nothing would happen. Pulling the old Boyscout Trick of standing in a hot shower or putting your hand in warm water, however, assisted things along so it's not that I'm blocked.
After sending up the flag to everyone I could think of - I got some of last night's chili on my stomach so that will hopefully help with the nausia. (My chili is mild so it's not like I'm eating fire. Will has headed off for a while and I've gotten some antibiotics in me to help with any future possibility of a kidney infection.
Otherwise, I'm typing with one hand, laying face down on the couch and trying to get my back to stop hurting.
ugh.
someone just kill me.
Anyone who has ever known me for some length of time knows that I'm allergic to garlic to some degree.
Now I'm not sure how I'm able to eat some foods with garlic (Barbara's Magic Garlic) and be fine and then I can have a french fry with garlic-laden salt and I'm sick to the world for a day.
Last night I was sick to death because of garlic. I woke up around six a.m. with terrible stomach cramps. I couldn't roll over, could barely move and the pain was constant. After trying to rid myself of the pain in anyway I could think of (I'll spare you the details) I hit the net to see if there was anything that could have caused all of the upset.
Logging onto Arby's website, I found that their curly fries contain a heavy amount of garlic-flavoring in their salt. So this explained why I was hugging a bucket on the toilet for about an hour.
Once I discovered that garlic was the culprit - at first I didn't think that it was since normally I'm sick within 30 minutes of eating it - I went to the kitchen and gobbled down some peanut butter sandwiches. Don't ask me why but for some reason, peanut butter kills the garlic poisoning within a half-hour at most.
So...
For the record: Garlic Poisoning Bad. Arby's fries taste good but are also Bad.
Grr.
Curse this mortal existence!
