The bad stuff:
My boyfriend's grandmother passed away in March and my grandfather died in June. His other grandmother had a stroke this year, and so did mine. Several friends lost grandparents, aunts, friends or pets this year. Car trouble. A few friends lost their jobs and one had to move because his landlord was evicted from the place she was renting. My niece moved to Colorado in July. Prague. Work. Politics class. School in general. Heath Ledger. Michael Crichton. Recounts. My iPod breaking. Too much snow in December.
The good stuff:
My boyfriend and I celebrated a year together. Lots of babies born, two engagements and a few new pets. My niece moved back. Berlin. I moved into an apartment and neighborhood I really like. Most of those friends have found new jobs. Obama. Calculus 2. A+ certification. A week up on Potato Lake. Camping. The Dark Knight. Duluth. The Minnesota Zoo. Sonic. Bowling. Zack and Miri. 33 books. The 35W bridge reopened. Lots of new music. My Blackberry. The boyfriend got a Wii, and he is buying me a sewing machine for Christmas.
So it seems there was a bit more good than bad. That's a good trend, right?
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Teen Angst
I wrote this poem in 9th grade:
I had a beer behind a book, no one gave me a second look.
I shot up in a back hall, no one seems to care at all.
I failed five tests in a row, people act like they don't know.
I had a joint under the stairs, I guess that no one really cares.
When I was thirteen, I ran away. I was gone for over a day.
When I got home, I got a beating, which wasn't exactly what I was needing.
I'm more innocent than I appear, for growing up is what I fear.
I'm just a kid, not sure of what I did.
I don't know where to go from here, I guess I'll have another beer.
I had a beer behind a book, no one gave me a second look.
I shot up in a back hall, no one seems to care at all.
I failed five tests in a row, people act like they don't know.
I had a joint under the stairs, I guess that no one really cares.
When I was thirteen, I ran away. I was gone for over a day.
When I got home, I got a beating, which wasn't exactly what I was needing.
I'm more innocent than I appear, for growing up is what I fear.
I'm just a kid, not sure of what I did.
I don't know where to go from here, I guess I'll have another beer.
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Disenfanaticism
Disenfanaticism - What happens when you find something you like being advertised in an icky way, like spam or pop-up ads. Netflix: you were the first.
Cute animals, but not the ones you're thinking
No cats or dogs here. A baby hippo was born at the Berlin zoo on November 29th. Scientists have discovered hundreds of new species in Mozambique, including the olive sunbird.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Today
Today's word is bivouac.
"I’ll go see where he’s bivouacked the family." always struck me as odd when watching The Great Outdoors.
Today's annoyance is crappy snow shoveling, and today's malady is Upper Respiratory Illness.
"I’ll go see where he’s bivouacked the family." always struck me as odd when watching The Great Outdoors.
Today's annoyance is crappy snow shoveling, and today's malady is Upper Respiratory Illness.
Saturday, December 06, 2008
Count again
Metropolitan State University claims to be convenient and accessible because "Five convenient metropolitan locations serve as class sites." Except that they don't make a point to hold general classes at each site. Want to take any Math class? You must got to one of the two St. Paul campuses. Art? Every class but one is held in the same building in St. Paul. Chemistry or Biology? Let me give you a map to St. Paul.
I am very annoyed by the lack of any official statement about this. Put it the handbook, note it on the locations page and make it clear on the information pages about each major. "The Math Department is located in ST. Paul and holds classes in St. Paul and Midway." If they were more upfront about it, students could make an informed choice instead of being mislead. I feel mislead.
I've emailed people at the school, complained in class and asked a Metafilter question about it. While I know it can be hard to get an answer to a Why question, I find this one particularly difficult. Several times they have just restate the policy instead of offering a reason. If I did that on a test, I wouldn't get credit for it.
Reasons I have been given:
Lack of students willing to take a class in Minneapolis, due to parking costs or other reasons: Parking is only $2 more here and it's not an issue for College of Management students. If you don't hold classes here, how do you know if students want to take them? The last three classes I took here were full on the first day.
Due to an agreement with MCTC, Metro will not hold 100 level classes in Minneapolis so they won't be in competition: What a crappy agreement. The co-location was nothing of the kind then. It turned Metro into an unwelcome guest, and not a roommate.
Lack of space: How many classrooms are empty in Minneapolis? I'm not just talking about in the CoM building, but in all of the MCTC buildings. An Algebra class needs seats and a whiteboard and I think they have some of those hanging around.
It's! so! easy! to take an MCTC class for Metro students: No it's not. You have to apply, get transcripts twice and you have to take MCTC assessment tests. How is that different than attending any another school?
The bottom line is that you are not filling your customers' needs and I have tried to point this out. Apparently there are too many layers of bureaucracy to get a point across.
I'm so frustrated by this that I have decided not to continue trying to take Metro classes. I haven't decided what I am going to do yet. I have checked out other schools, including MCTC, and might go to one of those. It seems like my job will pay for Associate's degrees now, too. For now I plan to take a CLEP or two this spring.
I am very annoyed by the lack of any official statement about this. Put it the handbook, note it on the locations page and make it clear on the information pages about each major. "The Math Department is located in ST. Paul and holds classes in St. Paul and Midway." If they were more upfront about it, students could make an informed choice instead of being mislead. I feel mislead.
I've emailed people at the school, complained in class and asked a Metafilter question about it. While I know it can be hard to get an answer to a Why question, I find this one particularly difficult. Several times they have just restate the policy instead of offering a reason. If I did that on a test, I wouldn't get credit for it.
Reasons I have been given:
Lack of students willing to take a class in Minneapolis, due to parking costs or other reasons: Parking is only $2 more here and it's not an issue for College of Management students. If you don't hold classes here, how do you know if students want to take them? The last three classes I took here were full on the first day.
Due to an agreement with MCTC, Metro will not hold 100 level classes in Minneapolis so they won't be in competition: What a crappy agreement. The co-location was nothing of the kind then. It turned Metro into an unwelcome guest, and not a roommate.
Lack of space: How many classrooms are empty in Minneapolis? I'm not just talking about in the CoM building, but in all of the MCTC buildings. An Algebra class needs seats and a whiteboard and I think they have some of those hanging around.
It's! so! easy! to take an MCTC class for Metro students: No it's not. You have to apply, get transcripts twice and you have to take MCTC assessment tests. How is that different than attending any another school?
The bottom line is that you are not filling your customers' needs and I have tried to point this out. Apparently there are too many layers of bureaucracy to get a point across.
I'm so frustrated by this that I have decided not to continue trying to take Metro classes. I haven't decided what I am going to do yet. I have checked out other schools, including MCTC, and might go to one of those. It seems like my job will pay for Associate's degrees now, too. For now I plan to take a CLEP or two this spring.
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