aw crap. I hate how I was raised to be Responsible which means "instead of doing things where you might take a day off work, do it so your one free weekend for six weeks is blotted out"
I have the newest covid booster scheduled after I walk out of class* today. So either I'll feel like utter crap tomorrow and lie around and watch re-runs of cartoons I've seen fifteen times, and try to knit but not do much, and faff about online, OR I will feel mostly okay and will venture out for the first time in weeks and weeks to go somewhere other than the nearest grocery store.
won't know until I wake up tomorrow morning.
I do have enough food on hand with the option to order a pizza or do drive through to get barbecue if I need a big heavy meal but don't feel like making it.
but I really want to go out to JoAnn's and a couple other places.
(*You do you in re: boosters but I'm in classrooms all week long surrounded by over 100 different people with different contacts and I've already had six or eight folks out with the newest 'rona strain. And I have no one but me to take care of me, so if I do get sick with it, I want it to be the more minor "sit around and gripe about muscle aches" type sickness)
I was wondering, given I'm a woman, if she was fishing to see if abuse could have been a cause; I went in for a mammogram once with a bruise near my breast (I'm clumsy, I think I smacked into the exercise equipment I was using) and the tech was EXTREMELY concerned and asked me about how I got it and then also asked something about "did I have a partner" (I do not)
required reporting is good, except when it gets false positives, I guess
I had an MRI in, what, like February? After I injured my knee. I didn't get offered music, just earplugs ("it can be loud"). The good news is I was put in feet first and only up to my waist. (I had had people warn me about claustrophobia, and yeah, I could see that being an issue)
it was mostly just really boring. Lie there watching the clock count down while you hold perfectly still. At one point my other leg started cramping up from the position I was in so I had to wait for the clock to count down before I could move it a little.
I got asked the "any implants, any piercings" and the answer was no. I did ask the tech about the glitter toenail polish I couldn't fully remove (because I couldn't bend my right leg comfortably to clean it all off) and she laughed and said that was fine, but "you'd be surprised at the people who come in with piercings and regret not telling us" and I thought "well, ears and nose, you could see them and tell them." And then I thought more. And then I thought "OH NO" because I've heard that metal can heat up uncomfortably under the influence of the magnet, and, yeah.
I did wear an elastic sports bra so as not to have hooks to worry about. I could leave my underwear on but had to change into a gown for some reason (Maybe to make my leg more accessible for the cage to go around)
Anyway, the worst part was at the end when she looked at me and said "HOW did you do this again?" and when I told her, she said "it looks PAINFUL" and I worried for about a week that I had ruptured a ligament (I actually had a bone bruise, which you can't do anything for but wait, and a slight meniscus tear, which I am choosing to just live with given that it's not a problem as long as I keep up with the PT stretches)
I have a wal mart supercenter, a small regional chain grocery that mostly doesn't carry my preferred brands, and a one-off small grocery called Green Spray
if I drive an hour's round trip I can have Kroger's, or an hour and a quarter, a Brookshire's.
I was unreasonably excited the other day in Green Spray to see that they now carry a couple of the kind of Tillamook cheese shreds - only place in town where I've ever seen them. I hope Green Spray is upscaling their offerings; they're already the most expensive.
I can only dream about getting to a whole foods or costco or TJs. Or Asian markets.
I WISH we had a larger better supermarket but I bet it never happens, given that my city loves pushing for additional sales taxes (yes on groceries but supposedly that's set to end). Also no one here really has any money so the upscaley places aren't coming.
I just wish there was something other than wal-freaking-mart or basically small stores
I saw him crying about it on TV and I realized I now have compassion fatigue because I was actually angry and may have muttered the letters "F, A, F, O" under my breath.
my university used to do this. I'm sure some people found it confusing but it was nice starting that first week on a Wednesday to ease in to it. Now it's everything all at once, hit the ground running, you can catch your breath on Labor Day in 2-3 weeks....
I dunno. I don't have streaming services so summer tv for me is basically re-runs or the godawfully high-frequency-shown "Big Brother" (Do people actually like that show? I know I'm a weirdo but you'd have to pay me an awful lot for me to watch it, and even then, I'd want to have a book or something to read while it was on.
It's brutally hot here. Three or so days in a row with heat indexes over 105. I was thinking of going to the larger of the local groceries (the wal-mart) for shopping after some routine imaging I had done this morning, but when I walked out of it after 9 am it was already so hot. Might still drive out there and see if there's a parking space close. Otherwise I'll make do with what I can get at one of the small groceries.
I'm also having a bad pain day (knee, but not just knee) so doing anything that involves being out in the heat is less desirable. Also classes start Monday so I feel like I need to rest up before the deluge
Good for it being benign. Back in 2021, I had a .... thing....removed from my temple. It was a tiny bump that grew slowly. A med student shadowing my regular doctor expressed concern about it but she was all "naw, it's growing too slowly to be a problem"
Finally, between changing my hairstyle slightly and a year of wearing masks (which disarranged my hair) I decided I wanted it gone, so I made the appointment. The dermatologist looked at it and gently told me that they'd send it out for biopsy as it had a dark....spot....that could be indicative of BCC.
So I worried through the procedure (not bad - a local and a drape so I couldn't see what they were doing and it was fine) and the week or so after. Then I got the letter: benign cylindroma. Dermatologist said it was unlikely to come back and so far it hasn't. The healing (I had 3 stitches and couldn't wash my hair for several days) was worse than the procedure.
I kinda want to reply with "it's called fashion, look it up"? Lots of stuff that wasn't practical (and still is: "thanks, it has pockets!" is a meme because so many women's clothing lacks pockets, which are an extremely practical feature) made it into fashion.
Possibly also buttons were expensive, so lots of buttons were a mark of status?
I think it's just a general joke? that the fashion was for dresses that button in the back, and you can't do your own buttons, so women who don't have the luxury of a maid have to get "Friend Husband" to do it, and he isn't all that willing? Or maybe isn't good at it?
I dunno. I had a blouse once that buttoned up the back, I could usually get all the buttons done up myself (live alone) but it was enough of a pain that I got rid of it. If I ever lose the flexibility to do up the back zips in the dresses I own I've got a problem.
Back in the day there were also buttonhooks (I have one my grandma passed on to me) to help pull small buttons through holes but I think those were mainly used for the high-button shoes of the early 20th C.
The one cat my family had that seemed to have "preferred" toys (as in, ones she'd pick out of the basket not at random), all those toys were yellow. I always wondered if color perception had something to do with that.
I dunno. There's a potluck on Sunday so I have to do what I've taken to calling "tex-mex pot roast" - it's a modification of a Carne Machaca recipe from my Arizona Highways cookbook. It has the virtue of being able to be done in the crockpot (we're going to get very hot again this weekend) and there's minimal finishing steps at the last minute (you make a sauce of tomato, green chilis, onion, and lime juice to put on top of the shredded cooked meat). That's the only real thing I have to do Saturday
You must have got the high pressure dome we usually have all summer. It's actually been cooler here and the other day I was thinking "huh I don't feel miserable and depressed, what's up with that" and then I realized it was in the lower 80s and dry instead of 100 and air like soup.
my main plan in a little bit - I have yet to eat breakfast and put on outdoor clothes - is to mow the lawn. Which will be way less miserable than normal in the summer because it's like 68F right now, UNHEARD OF for here in late July
ThTh1: yeah unfortunately COVID is still out there, even if people have really changed their practices about it. I overheard my colleague having to argue over the phone with his TA, telling her NOT to come in to teach lab with COVID. (My colleague's wife is currently a cancer patient, and it's not impossible that there are immune-suppressed students in the lab). The TAs argument was "there's no longer any official policy!"
I later told my colleague that we are free to make official policy for OUR classes, so he could tell the TA his policy is "if you're infectious, don't come."
Granted, pay is involved here for the TA. My class policy for my students is "e-mail me if you think you have something contagious* and I'll excuse you for the day" I've never had a problem with any one pushing back
(*We have had Norovirus make the rounds here and while it's arguably less serious than COVID, NO ONE wants Norovirus.)
But yeah, F the Chinese government's lies, and F the people who politicized it to the point where now some cities are talking doing mask bans, which will be v. scary if H5N1 becomes a thing.
If it's a mom-and-pop type place (one of my favorite bbq joints very much is), even if I order at the counter, I throw the loose change from paying, and maybe a buck if it's only pennies in change, into the tipjar. Corporate places where it's basically self-serve (Panera Bread, I am looking at you, with your order kiosk and "buzzer to signal you to come pick up your food at the window"), nope.
If someone is actually taking my order, bringing me food, and taking the plate away? Yeah, I tip, and almost always in cash because I know the server gets to keep it. (I don't trust the chain restaurants to not skim some of the tips for the franchise owner.)
I've seen tipjars in retail (not food) establishments, and that's bizarre to me - if you're the business owner (and in many small businesses here, it's the owner waiting on you) and you can't earn enough to stay in business without guilting your customers? RAISE YOUR PRICES.
Frankly, tipping has really spread since the pandemic; the idea then was "throw a little more into the pockets of the hardworking folks out there risking their lives for you" and I get it. But at some point we have to pull back a little, I think. It's offputting to be told "well, here's the price but, wink wink, if you want to throw in another five or ten bucks, here's a jar...."
First up: I hope this advice is not me being presumptuous but I've experienced a form of this from the other side of the desk*
She may not want to have the label, but FWIW, if she decides to go to higher ed, having the paperwork will be necessary if accommodations are needed. (I think you remember I'm a prof).
Many times I've had students struggle in my class, and when they come in to talk to me, they mention "oh yeah, I had an ADHD accommodation in high school" and I say 'why didn't you go through student support? That will then allow me to give you extra time on exams** or have you take them in a quiet environment" and they say "well, i didn't want the diagnosis to follow me" and I get it, I really do, but.......I wear my glasses because I have bad eyes and it makes my life easier. And I used a cane for almost all of spring semester after a knee injury. Did I hate having to use the cane? Of course I did. But getting around without it was much harder and slower. (In fact, I am considering buying a simpler - less "therapeutic" looking - cane and keeping it in my office for bad days, because the torn mensicus is never going away)
* And it's entirely possible I have some neurodivergence myself; I vaguely remember going through a testing process at about 7 which involved both things like IQ tests and also .... like, "can you catch a ball?" testing. I guess the conclusion was "bright but clumsy and a little weird" which still describes me. And my attention span has gotten markedly worse, not sure if it's (gestures at world) or that I recently went through menopause....
** We cannot offer most accommodations without an official letter - in fact, we got into trouble some years back when someone teaching online decided it was simpler to just give EVERYONE double time on exams rather than accommodate the people with accommodations. That led to, IIRC, a fine, and also ALL of us, whether we taught online or not, doing extra training in "how to accommodate for online exams"
of course if she's choosing a different path my advice doesn't apply, and I may be overstepping to offer it, but I've encountered enough students who are entitled to some things that level the playing field a bit but who are stubborn and won't take them.
(And yes, some professors/teachers will be pissy about it. They shouldn't. But I take it as "yay, one less person who will struggle in my class through no fault of their own" if someone needs extra time on exams or whatever)
maybe I'm a cynic but I think 80% of the "he should step down" talk is newsies high on their own supply, who have discovered that this very brand of chaos keeps attention focused on them, and that's what they want. 24 hour news channels were most likely a mistake
Brutally hot here and I'm STILL dealing with the chigger bites (they can take 2 weeks to heal; I still have one super itchy spot on a shoulder). So I'm not sure. Not eager to go in and do work while campus is closed for the 4-day summer week because they put the AC on low and the buildings get hot, and I nearly had an asthma attack yesterday (from the humidity in the building plus working for the past several days with damp soil, even though I was wearing an N95 mask)
I'd like to go and do something "fun" but I stepped out of the house to take a bag of trash to the wheelie bin, and....WHEW. Maybe not. It's supposed to be like this.....well, probably until September....
In my climate, a full duvet would be too warm in summer. And I've heard STORIES of what a pain it can be to wrestle a clean duvet cover on to one. I'm old-fashioned American I guess: fitted sheet and top sheet, and a quilt on top - for show in the summer (and folded back to sleep), for warmth in the winter.
Three of the rooms in my house have wallpaper but it was there when I bought the place and I can't be troubled to change it. My mom's house also has wallpaper, but again, that was put in some 40 years ago.
This weekend - well, it's brutally hot here now, and I went and did fieldwork early in the week and DESPITE using DEET I now have approximately 80 chigger bites, so I'm staying indoors in the cool and am not doing much
ThTh1: It seems to me this is just more of the same. There's a problem, it has complex causes and complex aspects, and it's hard to attack, but there's one comparatively minor side to it that is susceptible to sound-bites and "something must be done," so that side of it is blamed for most of the problem.
One of the problems with kids and social media is that bullies have a further reach now. But bullying will never be extirpated; it's very complicated to teach kids not to bully (especially if their parents see nothing wrong in it, as was the case when I was a bullied kid - the worst bullies had parents who thought it was ridiculous the school might ask their kids to rein in their behavior). And the pandemic, as you noted, will have far-reaching effects on people. I can see now that even though I was comparatively safe, didn't lose my job, didn't lose any close loved ones, etc., I still had a certain level of trauma that's still not totally healed.
But banning kids from social media? We can (try to) do that! And so New York state is working on it.
Nevermind that a gay friend of mine (who is also younger than me and grew up with the internet) commented that being able to find other kids like him online may have saved him as a teen.
getting back to normal after
a. a freight derailment in Arkansas blocked the tracks for several days, requiring me to remake my train reservation for five days later than planned
b. the bigger thing? part of my elm tree came down a couple days before I got back. Took out the cable, ripped the phone box (yes I still have a landline) and the meter box for the electric off the house. O G and E uses super sturdy braided cable lines so it didn't snap the line, but the line was down. It also - I found out later - cracked into the roof of the garage, damaging the decking and a couple rafters.
So I first had to have the power shut off to reduce the risk of fire (though I don't know how long the line had been on the ground, I guess I got lucky). Then I had to hire guys to remove the downed three. Then had to hire an electrician to replace the meter. All this while I was staying in a local (not great) motel because it suddenly got into the mid 90s here and being in a house with no AC and not even power to run a fan didn't appeal to me.
that took a couple days (Friday through Monday). Tuesday I finally got power back (after a few hiccups, communication mostly). Wednesday I got cable and internet back. Thursday I got the phone box put back up.
I still have to secure a roofer (or more likely, a carpenter, seeing the extent of garage roof damage) and also call the tree guys again to (on my own dime this time) take down the rest of the tree 'cos I don't want to do this again.
I will say my homeowner's insurance has been good; they already paid me back (minus a deductible) for the tree cleanup and the electrical work. I submitted my hotel bill, and will have to submit the roof repair bills.
I restocked my freezer yesterday - just threw everything out because I knew I couldn't trust it. Same with (most) of the fridge stuff that was still in there while I was gone (mostly cheese an a few spread-type things)
but I'm exhausted. That's more being-an-adult than I really like, and FAR more dealing with phone trees and "phone representatives" of services who are not actually based in my town so if the call keeps getting dropped (as one did), there's no way I could just go to the office and talk to a person's face.
I am REALLY hoping my insurer doesn't drop me for filing a claim. I expect my premiums will go up a good bit come this fall at least.
living in apartments sucks, I did that too many years. but sometimes owning a home sucks. I don't know what the answer is, certainly going and living in the woods under a tree isn't it...
my comprehension seems worse when I read off a screen. I read a lot of research articles and I have gone back* to printing out the pdfs, reading them, and taking reading notes in a bound journal as I go.
I have a very large number of physical books. I have a kindle-type app on my phone but never use it, even when traveling - I carry paper books with me.
I also find i get eyestrain after reading a screen too long, and my 55 year old eyes combined with the distance of my work monitor from my face is not ideal; I often have to magnify sites that have smaller text
(*after a "save the earth" obsessed former colleague fundamentally bullied me into not printing stuff out because it "wasted paper." After they retired I realized that it didn't matter any more, so I started printing again. Also the whole "all my little pdfs cost less to the planet than one CEO's plane ride to go get lunch with his golfing buddies)
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.
On “Weekend Plans Post: The Return to the Office”
aw crap. I hate how I was raised to be Responsible which means "instead of doing things where you might take a day off work, do it so your one free weekend for six weeks is blotted out"
dammit.
"
This will be Schroedinger's weekend.
I have the newest covid booster scheduled after I walk out of class* today. So either I'll feel like utter crap tomorrow and lie around and watch re-runs of cartoons I've seen fifteen times, and try to knit but not do much, and faff about online, OR I will feel mostly okay and will venture out for the first time in weeks and weeks to go somewhere other than the nearest grocery store.
won't know until I wake up tomorrow morning.
I do have enough food on hand with the option to order a pizza or do drive through to get barbecue if I need a big heavy meal but don't feel like making it.
but I really want to go out to JoAnn's and a couple other places.
(*You do you in re: boosters but I'm in classrooms all week long surrounded by over 100 different people with different contacts and I've already had six or eight folks out with the newest 'rona strain. And I have no one but me to take care of me, so if I do get sick with it, I want it to be the more minor "sit around and gripe about muscle aches" type sickness)
On “Anatomy of a Conspiracy Theory”
was the "neighborhood group" NextDoor?
I bet the "neighborhood group" was NextDoor.
On “Weekend Plans Post: The MRI”
OH! like the old-skool "disposable" airline headphones I remember from the 70s and 80s
"
I was wondering, given I'm a woman, if she was fishing to see if abuse could have been a cause; I went in for a mammogram once with a bruise near my breast (I'm clumsy, I think I smacked into the exercise equipment I was using) and the tech was EXTREMELY concerned and asked me about how I got it and then also asked something about "did I have a partner" (I do not)
required reporting is good, except when it gets false positives, I guess
"
I had an MRI in, what, like February? After I injured my knee. I didn't get offered music, just earplugs ("it can be loud"). The good news is I was put in feet first and only up to my waist. (I had had people warn me about claustrophobia, and yeah, I could see that being an issue)
it was mostly just really boring. Lie there watching the clock count down while you hold perfectly still. At one point my other leg started cramping up from the position I was in so I had to wait for the clock to count down before I could move it a little.
I got asked the "any implants, any piercings" and the answer was no. I did ask the tech about the glitter toenail polish I couldn't fully remove (because I couldn't bend my right leg comfortably to clean it all off) and she laughed and said that was fine, but "you'd be surprised at the people who come in with piercings and regret not telling us" and I thought "well, ears and nose, you could see them and tell them." And then I thought more. And then I thought "OH NO" because I've heard that metal can heat up uncomfortably under the influence of the magnet, and, yeah.
I did wear an elastic sports bra so as not to have hooks to worry about. I could leave my underwear on but had to change into a gown for some reason (Maybe to make my leg more accessible for the cage to go around)
Anyway, the worst part was at the end when she looked at me and said "HOW did you do this again?" and when I told her, she said "it looks PAINFUL" and I worried for about a week that I had ruptured a ligament (I actually had a bone bruise, which you can't do anything for but wait, and a slight meniscus tear, which I am choosing to just live with given that it's not a problem as long as I keep up with the PT stretches)
On “Weekend Plans Post: The New Grocery Store”
I have a wal mart supercenter, a small regional chain grocery that mostly doesn't carry my preferred brands, and a one-off small grocery called Green Spray
if I drive an hour's round trip I can have Kroger's, or an hour and a quarter, a Brookshire's.
I was unreasonably excited the other day in Green Spray to see that they now carry a couple of the kind of Tillamook cheese shreds - only place in town where I've ever seen them. I hope Green Spray is upscaling their offerings; they're already the most expensive.
I can only dream about getting to a whole foods or costco or TJs. Or Asian markets.
I WISH we had a larger better supermarket but I bet it never happens, given that my city loves pushing for additional sales taxes (yes on groceries but supposedly that's set to end). Also no one here really has any money so the upscaley places aren't coming.
I just wish there was something other than wal-freaking-mart or basically small stores
On “Open Mic for the week of 8/19/2024”
I saw him crying about it on TV and I realized I now have compassion fatigue because I was actually angry and may have muttered the letters "F, A, F, O" under my breath.
"
my university used to do this. I'm sure some people found it confusing but it was nice starting that first week on a Wednesday to ease in to it. Now it's everything all at once, hit the ground running, you can catch your breath on Labor Day in 2-3 weeks....
On “Weekend Plans Post: Reacher Reviewed”
I dunno. I don't have streaming services so summer tv for me is basically re-runs or the godawfully high-frequency-shown "Big Brother" (Do people actually like that show? I know I'm a weirdo but you'd have to pay me an awful lot for me to watch it, and even then, I'd want to have a book or something to read while it was on.
It's brutally hot here. Three or so days in a row with heat indexes over 105. I was thinking of going to the larger of the local groceries (the wal-mart) for shopping after some routine imaging I had done this morning, but when I walked out of it after 9 am it was already so hot. Might still drive out there and see if there's a parking space close. Otherwise I'll make do with what I can get at one of the small groceries.
I'm also having a bad pain day (knee, but not just knee) so doing anything that involves being out in the heat is less desirable. Also classes start Monday so I feel like I need to rest up before the deluge
On “Weekend Plans Post: Leiomyoma”
Good for it being benign. Back in 2021, I had a .... thing....removed from my temple. It was a tiny bump that grew slowly. A med student shadowing my regular doctor expressed concern about it but she was all "naw, it's growing too slowly to be a problem"
Finally, between changing my hairstyle slightly and a year of wearing masks (which disarranged my hair) I decided I wanted it gone, so I made the appointment. The dermatologist looked at it and gently told me that they'd send it out for biopsy as it had a dark....spot....that could be indicative of BCC.
So I worried through the procedure (not bad - a local and a drape so I couldn't see what they were doing and it was fine) and the week or so after. Then I got the letter: benign cylindroma. Dermatologist said it was unlikely to come back and so far it hasn't. The healing (I had 3 stitches and couldn't wash my hair for several days) was worse than the procedure.
On “RFK and Dead Cubs”
"You think that's weird? hold my beer and watch this" should not be a viable political strategy but oh well, here we are.
On “If Men Went To That Buttoning School”
I kinda want to reply with "it's called fashion, look it up"? Lots of stuff that wasn't practical (and still is: "thanks, it has pockets!" is a meme because so many women's clothing lacks pockets, which are an extremely practical feature) made it into fashion.
Possibly also buttons were expensive, so lots of buttons were a mark of status?
"
I think it's just a general joke? that the fashion was for dresses that button in the back, and you can't do your own buttons, so women who don't have the luxury of a maid have to get "Friend Husband" to do it, and he isn't all that willing? Or maybe isn't good at it?
I dunno. I had a blouse once that buttoned up the back, I could usually get all the buttons done up myself (live alone) but it was enough of a pain that I got rid of it. If I ever lose the flexibility to do up the back zips in the dresses I own I've got a problem.
Back in the day there were also buttonhooks (I have one my grandma passed on to me) to help pull small buttons through holes but I think those were mainly used for the high-button shoes of the early 20th C.
On “Weekend Plans Post: The Fruits of Prime Day”
The one cat my family had that seemed to have "preferred" toys (as in, ones she'd pick out of the basket not at random), all those toys were yellow. I always wondered if color perception had something to do with that.
I dunno. There's a potluck on Sunday so I have to do what I've taken to calling "tex-mex pot roast" - it's a modification of a Carne Machaca recipe from my Arizona Highways cookbook. It has the virtue of being able to be done in the crockpot (we're going to get very hot again this weekend) and there's minimal finishing steps at the last minute (you make a sauce of tomato, green chilis, onion, and lime juice to put on top of the shredded cooked meat). That's the only real thing I have to do Saturday
On “Weekend Plans Post: It’s too dang hot”
You must have got the high pressure dome we usually have all summer. It's actually been cooler here and the other day I was thinking "huh I don't feel miserable and depressed, what's up with that" and then I realized it was in the lower 80s and dry instead of 100 and air like soup.
my main plan in a little bit - I have yet to eat breakfast and put on outdoor clothes - is to mow the lawn. Which will be way less miserable than normal in the summer because it's like 68F right now, UNHEARD OF for here in late July
On “Throughput: COVID Blogger Edition”
ThTh1: yeah unfortunately COVID is still out there, even if people have really changed their practices about it. I overheard my colleague having to argue over the phone with his TA, telling her NOT to come in to teach lab with COVID. (My colleague's wife is currently a cancer patient, and it's not impossible that there are immune-suppressed students in the lab). The TAs argument was "there's no longer any official policy!"
I later told my colleague that we are free to make official policy for OUR classes, so he could tell the TA his policy is "if you're infectious, don't come."
Granted, pay is involved here for the TA. My class policy for my students is "e-mail me if you think you have something contagious* and I'll excuse you for the day" I've never had a problem with any one pushing back
(*We have had Norovirus make the rounds here and while it's arguably less serious than COVID, NO ONE wants Norovirus.)
But yeah, F the Chinese government's lies, and F the people who politicized it to the point where now some cities are talking doing mask bans, which will be v. scary if H5N1 becomes a thing.
On “Tipping Over”
If it's a mom-and-pop type place (one of my favorite bbq joints very much is), even if I order at the counter, I throw the loose change from paying, and maybe a buck if it's only pennies in change, into the tipjar. Corporate places where it's basically self-serve (Panera Bread, I am looking at you, with your order kiosk and "buzzer to signal you to come pick up your food at the window"), nope.
If someone is actually taking my order, bringing me food, and taking the plate away? Yeah, I tip, and almost always in cash because I know the server gets to keep it. (I don't trust the chain restaurants to not skim some of the tips for the franchise owner.)
I've seen tipjars in retail (not food) establishments, and that's bizarre to me - if you're the business owner (and in many small businesses here, it's the owner waiting on you) and you can't earn enough to stay in business without guilting your customers? RAISE YOUR PRICES.
Frankly, tipping has really spread since the pandemic; the idea then was "throw a little more into the pockets of the hardworking folks out there risking their lives for you" and I get it. But at some point we have to pull back a little, I think. It's offputting to be told "well, here's the price but, wink wink, if you want to throw in another five or ten bucks, here's a jar...."
On “Struggling For Normal”
First up: I hope this advice is not me being presumptuous but I've experienced a form of this from the other side of the desk*
She may not want to have the label, but FWIW, if she decides to go to higher ed, having the paperwork will be necessary if accommodations are needed. (I think you remember I'm a prof).
Many times I've had students struggle in my class, and when they come in to talk to me, they mention "oh yeah, I had an ADHD accommodation in high school" and I say 'why didn't you go through student support? That will then allow me to give you extra time on exams** or have you take them in a quiet environment" and they say "well, i didn't want the diagnosis to follow me" and I get it, I really do, but.......I wear my glasses because I have bad eyes and it makes my life easier. And I used a cane for almost all of spring semester after a knee injury. Did I hate having to use the cane? Of course I did. But getting around without it was much harder and slower. (In fact, I am considering buying a simpler - less "therapeutic" looking - cane and keeping it in my office for bad days, because the torn mensicus is never going away)
* And it's entirely possible I have some neurodivergence myself; I vaguely remember going through a testing process at about 7 which involved both things like IQ tests and also .... like, "can you catch a ball?" testing. I guess the conclusion was "bright but clumsy and a little weird" which still describes me. And my attention span has gotten markedly worse, not sure if it's (gestures at world) or that I recently went through menopause....
** We cannot offer most accommodations without an official letter - in fact, we got into trouble some years back when someone teaching online decided it was simpler to just give EVERYONE double time on exams rather than accommodate the people with accommodations. That led to, IIRC, a fine, and also ALL of us, whether we taught online or not, doing extra training in "how to accommodate for online exams"
of course if she's choosing a different path my advice doesn't apply, and I may be overstepping to offer it, but I've encountered enough students who are entitled to some things that level the playing field a bit but who are stubborn and won't take them.
(And yes, some professors/teachers will be pissy about it. They shouldn't. But I take it as "yay, one less person who will struggle in my class through no fault of their own" if someone needs extra time on exams or whatever)
On “Open Mic for the week of 7/1/2024”
maybe I'm a cynic but I think 80% of the "he should step down" talk is newsies high on their own supply, who have discovered that this very brand of chaos keeps attention focused on them, and that's what they want. 24 hour news channels were most likely a mistake
On “Weekend Plans Post: Ground-Penetrating Radar, Short Weekends, and Grape Juice”
Brutally hot here and I'm STILL dealing with the chigger bites (they can take 2 weeks to heal; I still have one super itchy spot on a shoulder). So I'm not sure. Not eager to go in and do work while campus is closed for the 4-day summer week because they put the AC on low and the buildings get hot, and I nearly had an asthma attack yesterday (from the humidity in the building plus working for the past several days with damp soil, even though I was wearing an N95 mask)
I'd like to go and do something "fun" but I stepped out of the house to take a bag of trash to the wheelie bin, and....WHEW. Maybe not. It's supposed to be like this.....well, probably until September....
On “Weekend Plans Post: GenX is, apparently, the last generation to use a top sheet”
In my climate, a full duvet would be too warm in summer. And I've heard STORIES of what a pain it can be to wrestle a clean duvet cover on to one. I'm old-fashioned American I guess: fitted sheet and top sheet, and a quilt on top - for show in the summer (and folded back to sleep), for warmth in the winter.
Three of the rooms in my house have wallpaper but it was there when I bought the place and I can't be troubled to change it. My mom's house also has wallpaper, but again, that was put in some 40 years ago.
This weekend - well, it's brutally hot here now, and I went and did fieldwork early in the week and DESPITE using DEET I now have approximately 80 chigger bites, so I'm staying indoors in the cool and am not doing much
On “Throughput: The Kids Are All Right but the Surgeon General Isn’t Edition”
ThTh1: It seems to me this is just more of the same. There's a problem, it has complex causes and complex aspects, and it's hard to attack, but there's one comparatively minor side to it that is susceptible to sound-bites and "something must be done," so that side of it is blamed for most of the problem.
One of the problems with kids and social media is that bullies have a further reach now. But bullying will never be extirpated; it's very complicated to teach kids not to bully (especially if their parents see nothing wrong in it, as was the case when I was a bullied kid - the worst bullies had parents who thought it was ridiculous the school might ask their kids to rein in their behavior). And the pandemic, as you noted, will have far-reaching effects on people. I can see now that even though I was comparatively safe, didn't lose my job, didn't lose any close loved ones, etc., I still had a certain level of trauma that's still not totally healed.
But banning kids from social media? We can (try to) do that! And so New York state is working on it.
Nevermind that a gay friend of mine (who is also younger than me and grew up with the internet) commented that being able to find other kids like him online may have saved him as a teen.
On “Weekend Plans Post: Settling into the Summer”
getting back to normal after
a. a freight derailment in Arkansas blocked the tracks for several days, requiring me to remake my train reservation for five days later than planned
b. the bigger thing? part of my elm tree came down a couple days before I got back. Took out the cable, ripped the phone box (yes I still have a landline) and the meter box for the electric off the house. O G and E uses super sturdy braided cable lines so it didn't snap the line, but the line was down. It also - I found out later - cracked into the roof of the garage, damaging the decking and a couple rafters.
So I first had to have the power shut off to reduce the risk of fire (though I don't know how long the line had been on the ground, I guess I got lucky). Then I had to hire guys to remove the downed three. Then had to hire an electrician to replace the meter. All this while I was staying in a local (not great) motel because it suddenly got into the mid 90s here and being in a house with no AC and not even power to run a fan didn't appeal to me.
that took a couple days (Friday through Monday). Tuesday I finally got power back (after a few hiccups, communication mostly). Wednesday I got cable and internet back. Thursday I got the phone box put back up.
I still have to secure a roofer (or more likely, a carpenter, seeing the extent of garage roof damage) and also call the tree guys again to (on my own dime this time) take down the rest of the tree 'cos I don't want to do this again.
I will say my homeowner's insurance has been good; they already paid me back (minus a deductible) for the tree cleanup and the electrical work. I submitted my hotel bill, and will have to submit the roof repair bills.
I restocked my freezer yesterday - just threw everything out because I knew I couldn't trust it. Same with (most) of the fridge stuff that was still in there while I was gone (mostly cheese an a few spread-type things)
but I'm exhausted. That's more being-an-adult than I really like, and FAR more dealing with phone trees and "phone representatives" of services who are not actually based in my town so if the call keeps getting dropped (as one did), there's no way I could just go to the office and talk to a person's face.
I am REALLY hoping my insurer doesn't drop me for filing a claim. I expect my premiums will go up a good bit come this fall at least.
living in apartments sucks, I did that too many years. but sometimes owning a home sucks. I don't know what the answer is, certainly going and living in the woods under a tree isn't it...
On “The Evolving Act of Physically Reading In a Digitial World”
my comprehension seems worse when I read off a screen. I read a lot of research articles and I have gone back* to printing out the pdfs, reading them, and taking reading notes in a bound journal as I go.
I have a very large number of physical books. I have a kindle-type app on my phone but never use it, even when traveling - I carry paper books with me.
I also find i get eyestrain after reading a screen too long, and my 55 year old eyes combined with the distance of my work monitor from my face is not ideal; I often have to magnify sites that have smaller text
(*after a "save the earth" obsessed former colleague fundamentally bullied me into not printing stuff out because it "wasted paper." After they retired I realized that it didn't matter any more, so I started printing again. Also the whole "all my little pdfs cost less to the planet than one CEO's plane ride to go get lunch with his golfing buddies)
*Comment archive for non-registered commenters assembled by email address as provided.