An open thread for personal stuff, continuing from here.
As usual for these threads: no trolls, no MRAs, no I’m-not-really-an-MRA-buts, don’t be mean.
Categories
We Hunted The MammothBucking the Backlash
We Hunted The Mammoth
This isn’t precisely how I saw Louis – it wasn’t at an angle – but this is as close as I’m likely to be able to reproduce the image. It gives a fair idea, anyway, and I’m happy with this pic for its own sake.
http://i.imgur.com/eACmBSo.png
So… I’m thinking of cutting back to just one job and one big volunteer engagement, and two side volunteer things.
Job 2 might be stretching too thin. Plus, I have some other reservations… And right now I don’t need the money.
But at the same time, I only started job two recently, and eeps.
I’m wiffle-waffling…
You’re thinking of cutting back, which implies you’ve been wondering about the possibility because of reasons.
So you’re already in a position where you’re wondering whether to proceed or not, despite the benefits you can get by proceeding.
My personal trick for those situations is that generally, even asking it is reason enough to start considering stopping whatever I’m doing.
It’s okay to change your mind, sometimes! :b
Well, looks like I do have acid reflux. It’s a week later and I’m still getting symptoms – much milder than the first couple of days, what with taking care about sleeping, not eating late, cutting out chocolate (sob), doing more walking, and going to skim milk. But I’ve got the hoarse voice thing starting, which isn’t good. I’ll be making that doctor’s appointment tomorrow.
Bloody bloody stupid things dammit.
Good luck, kittehserf. I’ve been on losec before and it really helped relieve my symptoms, if that’s any consolation.
Hi guys. Sorry I haven’t been around and modding the last few days. I had a rough weekend where I came really, really close to drinking (I didn’t expect to have such a strong urge after seven years sober and it was like the emotional equivalent of wrestling a bear), and yesterday I found out that my dad has Parkinson’s. So I’ve been exhausted and emotional and dealing with IRL stuff and I’m waaaaayyy behind on threads and I’m sorry if I missed anything important or failed in my modly duties. And I’m sorry for that run-on sentence just now.
Bit of a whinge, here, folks. Please ignore if it’s TMI. I am so fed up right now.
1) my job – I don’t mind the work, but the atmosphere is getting dank. I have some hope because my manager is actually a human being, but there are forces well beyond her control, and the higher ups are lizard people. I’m sure the lizard people will either eat or fire my manager, eventually. Also, people that I like keep bloody dying. The skinny guy in the black cloak can be such a bloody genital brain at times. Why does he leave some people to suffer interminable agony while he takes others quickly with no warning? Also, my manager and one of the clinical fellows had a (loud) go at each other in the hallway the other day, and my favourite staffman just retired, and my second favourite staffman started her own practice, so won’t be around as much. Bloody Hell! Are we getting ready for a doctors v. nurses shoot out? Stoopid politics. Also, my physical state is deteriorating a bit; my eczema is getting worse, no matter what I do, and my plantar fasciitis is starting to flare up again. How can I tape my feet up when my hands are swollen and bleeding? What I do now isn’t as physically demanding as most nurse jobs, but I still need to be able to walk and wash my hands.
2) my kids – What are they even learning in school? My daughter is in grade 2 and can’t count to 100! My son is in grade 4 and doesn’t even know what multiplication is! They want him to bring a calculator! At least, the nice teacher is helping with the bullying, and things have settled down a bit. Should I hire a private tutor to make sure they are functionally literate before graduation? I’ve talked to the teachers, but it’s the curriculum, so the individual teachers can’t do much about it. All parents worry about their smalls, I know, but this one is eating me up. The school isn’t even trying to teach them to think critically. I work too much to tutor them consistently at home, and so does Mr. Grump. BLERGH!
3) where I live – I bloody hate the Prairies! There, I said it! Shoot me, other Canucks. Bloody Tim Horton’s and pickup trucks and institutionalised (quiet) racism and hockey and blast the bloody CFL! Why can’t I find a nice anarchist poetry club? Even being a Wobbly marks one as a weirdo here. Stoopid bloody rednecks.
4) Mr. Grump’s job – his employer is trying to union bust right now. Looks like they’ll succeed, too. I think they underpaid him on his last cheque, but there’s no way to fight it right now. The labour relations board looks like it’s in the pocket of the employer.
Sorry if my airing my little problems annoyed anyone, but I feel better for writing some of it down!
Oh, emilygoddess! So sorry about your dad! So sorry about the bottle, too! I’ve been sober 4 years (one 24h relapse, or it would have been 10) but I hear you about the bear wrestling! I sincerely wish you good luck.
You have nothing to apologize for emilygoddess! Do what you need to take care of yourself. Sorry to hear about your dad.
emilygoddess, all the hugs, and seconding WWTH, you’ve nothing to apologise for. That’s major suckage you and your dad are dealing with.
If it’s not inappropriate to say, though – GO YOU, because you came close but didn’t drink, under huge pressure.
grumpyoldnurse – thank you, and I’ve an appointment in a week (my doc’s part-time and I needed a morning appt), so fingers crossed.
Repeating what was said to emilygoddess: no need for apologies at all! This is the place for venting and for happy stuff and whatever else.
Higher-ups being lizard people sounds soooooo familiar. The *cough* managing director *cough* who got me laid off was an alien changeling, I’m convinced of it.
Plantar fasciitis, ow, that fucking hurts. Stupid question, but do you have custom orthotics? I had to get those to deal with mine.
That’s really worrying about your kids’ school. This sort of crap’s been going on for decades. My brother – who’s pushing 60 – was at school during the “don’t worry about teaching them spelling or grammar, let them express themselves” phase and I’d swear that’s had echoes over the years, or else there are a hell of a lot of incompetent people making up the curriculum. Years ago I did a tertiary short course and half the kids in it were barely literate, let alone numerate. But they passed, just like they’d been passed in every year at school, when they should have been held back, because the schools had neither the resources nor, I suspect, the inclination to do so (it should be said most of the kids in this course were absolute little shits).
News Flash! I just had a call back from another mob I’d applied for a job with. Didn’t get it, but I’m going to do a Business Diploma through them – it’s online and I don’t pay any fees (government grant) until I’m earning over $53 000. Which may be never. 😛
@ kittehserf – I’ve just been taping my feet, so far. Last flare-up, I had another back injury and so rested for that. I could get orthotics reimbursed through Mr. Grump’s health insurance, but can’t come up with the initial payment. I’m probably just in denial!
As for the school, I have bought them work books in the past to catch them up with basics, I just wish I didn’t have to. I get little enough time with them, and (selfish me) would rather play with them than tutor them. Little monkeys are clever enough to notice when I try to ‘sneak tutor’ them about things (eg; asking Master Grump how many blocks he has in Minecraft) and they resent it. A friend suggested some on-line resources, and I’m going to check them out.
Anyhow, Congrats on the project! I really hope it makes employment easier for you. (I’ve been thinking of a career change, myself, but no one wants to cough up the dough to re-educate an RN and can’t justify the expenditure just now.)
Thanks for listening!
@emilygoddess – So sorry to hear about your dad – that’s stressful to be hit with that diagnosis and then grapple with the implications and what to expect. Many hugs and take good care of yourself.
@kittehserf – Congrats on the Business diploma opportunity! Sounds like they’ll have a vested interest in making sure you get to that $53000 salary. How long would it take to get the degree?
Also, that is a beauteous picture of Mr. K. Candlelight becomes him. 🙂
@grumpyoldnurse Maybe you could motivate your kids with real-world examples that benefit them if they get the math right. (Fancy way of saying “bribe them”). For example: “You can either have 12 x 7 cents, or 9 x 9 cents.” “You can either have 40 ml of orange juice, or 1 pint.” And then give them whichever amount they choose. Even if they can’t see the intrinsic beauty of math, maybe you can help them see there’s a practical side that helps them get their fair share, guard their money wisely, and not get ripped off or fall prey to unscrupulous con artists and statistic-manipulating politicians.
I don’t have much of substance to add here, except to say that we got an office-wide email this afternoon alerting us that “several garter snakes” have been seen in various locations throughout the building. The exterminators will be coming tomorrow to check file cabinets, desk drawers, and other crevices. All I can think is that a pregnant snake accidentally got inside the office and had a litter.
According to Wikipedia, garter snakes can have between 3 and 80 babies per litter.
It’s really hard to google this information while you’re curled up in a fetal ball in your desk chair.
Good on you sticking to your guns, emilygoddess! God knows that isn’t easy, but you did it! Congrats!
Things are holding fairly steady and okay here. I’ve been working my way through another book on incest, and it’s simultaneously a relief and deeply disappointing to see it all laid out on the page, clear as day. Apparently ALL THIS SHIT in our head, from multi to ED to depression to dissociation are all really common side effects of incest. In some ways it’s validating; in other ways, kind of depressing to realize just how much of our life has been devoured by all this trauma and how much of our behavior is adaptation to it.
I’ve started making comics again, to try and get a grip on all this. I’ve only uploaded one strip so far; right now I have like eleven, and will probably be making a lot more. The act of making comics helps take the unspeakable and make it something nice, clean, and panel-sized.
In nicer news, despite the horrorshow looming, I’ve been able to have a lot of fun with hubby lately. He’s been real sweet to me and I’ve been enjoying the brief reprieve from triggers and memories to have some intimate time with him. I know the horror will come back, so I’m milking this for all it’s worth!
SNAKES!!!!! Snakes in the building! At least it’s garter snakes, which are actually pretty cute. Also, thanks for the mini-tutoring suggestions! Will try.
@ LBT – Hang in there. That sounds trite, but I’m rooting for you! Enjoy the good stuff, when you get it, and survive the bad stuff, when you have to.
grumpyoldnurse:
Bummer. I wondered if $ might be the problem, those things ain’t cheap.
Bummer #2. I’d be stuck with getting education if I wasn’t eligible for free(ish) courses, too.
You know, I’m actually not fussed about being unemployed now. I did some figures last night and I’m on about 2/3 what I was, but my expenses have gone down about $120 a week, too, so it isn’t at all bad. I like being at home.
My pleasure!
buttercup:
Pretty much so! They will be looking for suitable placements for me, I think, at least if I get the thing done. It’s a year long course (groan) but it’s only a few hours a week. I’m cringing a bit at the prospectus. All that stuff about Innovation! and Seizing Business Opportunities! and Passion! Drive! are just so not me it’s not funny, and I know I’ll forget the lot the minute the module’s done. 😛
Merci beaucoup! I’m very pleased with it.
We had a lovely time *cough*playing*cough* in the autumn leaves in the garden at Home yesternight …
Congrats on the opportunity, Kittehs! And glad you’re holding up okay under the unemployment.
Thanks, LBT! Truth be told I’m enjoying it, though I’d go back to my old workplace if the opportunity arose. I liked working with those guys. I’ll be complaining mightily about the hours if I do get another job. I’m doing Old Person/Teenager hours now – getting up before 10 am is early!
Just read the comic. Hugs, Rogan, Kid, anyone who’d like them. Glad you’re holding up, pretty much.
buttercup – garter snakes? Okay I’m envious now (yes I know that’s ridiculous given you’re scared of them) but I’d love to handle a barely-venomous snake like that. We tend not to run to harmless snakes here. 😛
RE: Kittehs
Yeah, these days, I’m kinda relieved that I’m only working as an artist. I really don’t know how I’d maintain the necessary hours anymore, with my brain glitching as much as it does. (And lately, we’ve been sleeping ten, eleven hours a night. Not so good for long work hours.)
grumpyoldnurse
Speaking as a tutor — who’s had to deal with the chronic failures of teaching elementary number skills, multiplication obviously prominent among them — there are a couple of things about learning tables that none of us had to think about when they were taught the conventional way.
Most importantly, some teachers advise learning tables exactly the wrong way. Never, ever, teach – eight multiplied by seven equals fifty six. I’ve seen real, live, must-pay-money-for workbooks that use this construction. Everything we know about forming and recalling memories tells us this is wrong. It has to be as compact as possible (verbally, aurally, physically) for ease of retention and recall. It’s 8 7s are 56, 3 12s are 36.
Secondly, the order in which they’re taught/learned. It should be 2,10, 5 to start with, then 3, 4 and 6 as the next group. 11 should be next when you’re dealing with kids above year 4 – it’s easy and it’s fun. Then go through 7,8,9,12. For a real sense of achievement as you go, use a 12×12 number chart, I prefer ones that also show the squared numbers. There’s a biiiig selection of these if you go ogle it for images. (It’s handy if the layout actually shows equal horizontal and vertical lines so you can **see** the squares and rectangles for each multiplication.) Once kids start crossing out the tables they’ve learned, the vertical _and_ horizontal 1, 2, 5 and 10 lines to start with, they realise that the more they learn, the less there is to learn. When you’ve crossed off everything up to the 11s, there is literally just one last square left blank on the page, the 144 square. If the kids just have scattered knowledge of their tables, cross those off individually. (Remember there’ll be two squares for all but the squared numbers, if they know 3 12s, they also know 12 3s.)
If they’re needing tables because they’ve started on fractions and don’t know what the hell they’re doing, group the tables a bit differently. You have to start with 2/5/10, but the next group should be 4 and 8. Then 3 & 6. Then the rest.
Hey, LBT, the extra sleep is necessary for healing. You deserve all the healing you can get! Hugs to the whole system (at least, anyone who wants them!) How’s the ceiling, if you don’t mind me asking?
kittehserf – nothing wrong with sleep-ins! I would go for some, myself, except small people tend to jump on me early in the morning.
Buttercup – Oops! I didn’t know you are uncomfortable with snakes when I posted my last reply. I hope they get them out soon!
Tee, hee! Here’s a funny! Master Grump has to do reading at home every night for school. He always puts up a fuss about it, so tonight I caved and said I would count him reading the Minecraft Wiki as reading, just as long as he was reading something. Well, he found the page on creating mods, and has now decided to learn Java. He found an on-line course for kids and signed himself up. This, after I wrote a teal dear about how he’s not learning anything at school! Karma, stop mocking me! Oh, never mind, I probably deserve it.
@ mildlymagnificent – Thanks! Googled and bookmarked!
OK, just remembered. One quick trick for improving knowledge of any particular table. Takes about 8 to10 minutes.
You write the whole thing down *in pencil*. Get the student to read it aloud a few times, get them to try reading it quicker each time. It can take 3 or 4 goes to get reasonably fluent with only a couple of hesitations. Then you take an eraser and rub out one thing on each line — = and x signs, maybe the repeated number, mostly to start with. Get them to read it aloud again, repeat if there’s more than a couple of hesitations. Then erase one more thing on each line. Repeat. Keep going until the kid is fairly happy they know it pretty well.
The one thing to bear in mind is that most people who learned by the say-out-loud-in-class method were never perfect at every single item in a table, they were carried along by the whole group recitation. Even my not-quite-90 mum has to think twice about 54 and 56. So a child learning on their own will show hesitations and consistently have trouble with scattered items. If they know how to recite the whole of the rest of the table, they can easily work it out.
And that 12 x 12 sheet, print out an extra one which the student can use instead of a calculator. It’s much, much faster and there are no keying errors to mislead.
Emilygoddess: sorry to hear about your dad. Congrats on keeping up your sobriety though, that is huge and you should be proud.
grumpyoldnurse – yay for Master Grump finding something he wants to learn that way!
LOL I’ve never been in that situation, ‘cept with a small person of the feline variety (Katie) when she used sleep in my bed.
LBT, seconding grumpyoldnurse about the sleep. You obviously need it. Heck, I’m sleeping nine and ten hours these days.
Got to laugh: just had another call from another agency asking if I want to do a business diploma. I tell the dude I just signed up, he asks when (cos I’d only applied for a job with them the other day) and I say “What time is it now?” He asks who with, compares prices (which are all pay back later anyway) and says his lot give students a iPad. “Just got one from the certificate I finished, which is ironic since I’ve always steadfastly refused to use Apple products.” “Oh,” he says, and pretty much buggers off.
What it is to be popular!
I just got an iPad Air too, and have already downloaded approximately 70 billions apps.