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[Barmymoo]

We got free cocktails! There's a great photo that Linds took where I'm surrounded by about five cocktails. They are not all mine, honestly...

[Patrick]

Friend sent me a text asking if I'd be interested in a "hash brownie night." That's new.

That's new.

We lead very different lives, friend.

Dear blog,

So Matt's parents might let me borrow their other son's truck (he is in college) so I can commute to my upcoming job in the mall! Which, by the way, yeah that's happening!

I have a First Car lined up for when I have $2k, my friend is gonna sell me her '96 Mustang GT! It's a 5-speed manual, V6, and a convertible. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH SEX I AM GOING TO HAVE IN THAT CAR

Mooovin' on up (mooooovin' on up!)

[Lines]

We got free cocktails! There's a great photo that Linds took where I'm surrounded by about five cocktails. They are not all mine, honestly...

It's in the photo thread! Two are mine, one is Edith's, one is May's, and I think there's a coffee lurking in there too.

[Redball]

It's not red Kool-Aid?

[Lines]

Cranberry juice and peach schnapps. Because it's delicious.

[Redball]

Can you taste both ingredients or does it have a taste all its own? My first college drunk came from sloe gin and 7-up, and my memory is it tasted like neither. But I've never repeated the experience.

[Carl-E]

Ah, the legendary sloe gin fizz...

Bubbles make the alcohol get into the bloodstream faster.  And the sweetness covers the actual strength...


My wife's favorite, when we met. 

[Redball]

Only one other combination comes to mind that didn't taste like its ingredients: Shrimp removed from a traditional American-Chinese shrimp in lobster sauce and dipped in a traditional plum sauce. 

[Carl-E]

There are lots of things that don't really taste like their constituent ingredients, though.  Meatballs come to mind - don't really taste like either the meat or the breadcrumbs or whatever the hell else is in there - but they only come to mind because I just had a meatball sub. 

Then again, I'm a gestaltist of a gastronome.  I'm lousy at picking out individual ingredients by flavour. 


Dear blag & blaggers; 

I went to the campus I'd been at for only a year and cleaned out my stuff from my former office, and turned in the keys. 

Someone else's name is on the door already.  Mine never got put up.  Really, how long was this in the works? 

The English professor in the office next to mine, with whom I'd grown rather close, happened by and expressed how sorry she was to see me go - her students and advisees had sung my praises, as had other faculty members who had gotten to know me.  I was also a lynchpin in her NSF grant proposal, which with my leaving dismissal has been torpedoed.  She offered a recommendation anytime, as did the dean when I turned in my keys to his secretary. 

I get the same damn reaction everywhere I teach get fired.  I'm an excellent teacher, I just seem to have a knack for pissing off the wrong people.  Even when they're my friends. 

The above mentioned professor told me to remember something a student once told her - that the best sentence in the English language is, "Fuck the fucking fuckers!" 

Teaching college is all I know.  It's all I'm qualified to do, and I can't get certified to teach high school because I never got an "ed" degree.  I've exhausted all the colleges in the area, been let go from every one.  The community college is the last one, and they've only got adjunct work.  I can't move away for a large number of personal and financial reasons. 



I guess it's time to find a new direction, something different to do.  Damned if I know what, though. 

[Papersatan]

Carl,

Have you looked up the requirements for getting a teaching licence in your state?  I know NYS (considered one of the more difficult places to teach) had a pathway to teaching that took into account that you were not fresh from university, and had some life experience.  It only required that you be working on your MA when you got your job, but gave you a temp licence without any specific education education.

[Lines]

I am pretty sure in the state of Ohio, you can take courses to get a teaching license in your desired area/age-range of education without having to be in a master's program. I would look up your state's education licensing requirements. You may even just be able to take the Praxis without having to take classes, I'm not sure.

[Jace]

So my classes start in two weeks. I don't really want to go back to school because this semester I have to bring my GPA up to 2.5/4.0 at least or I lose my funding. Oh! But also I have to make sure I work 5 days a week too or I won't be able to pay my bills because I didn't get any supplemental student loans. Oh! But the current job I work might end about the same time I am starting school, then I'll be going into school with close to ZERO income and I have like $1000 or so in bills each month. Hoping that I go to pull out of my driveway and a semi just smashes into me, it'd make everything easier.

[Papersatan]

Speaking of school money drama.  Subsidized loans for graduate students were eliminated this year.  I have been offered $10,000 in subsidized loans which is great, except it is $9,000 less than I need to pay tuition.  I tried to apply for a graduate PLUS loan, which would give me enough money, but was declined because I have a debt in collections.  I need to find $800 to pay that off before I can get the loans I need to both pay tuition and my debts.  I have applied for a few teaching assistant things but I have been declined for most of them.  There is one left to hear from, but it is the position I was least qualified for. if I don't get that, I am not sure how to work around this. 

[LTK]

So you're saying you need to pay off a debt of $800 in order to be granted a loan of $19,000, with which you can pay off your debt. Can we get ten people to pitch in $80?

[Carl-E]

Carl,

Have you looked up the requirements for getting a teaching licence in your state?  I know NYS (considered one of the more difficult places to teach) had a pathway to teaching that took into account that you were not fresh from university, and had some life experience.  It only required that you be working on your MA when you got your job, but gave you a temp licence without any specific education education.

I am pretty sure in the state of Ohio, you can take courses to get a teaching license in your desired area/age-range of education without having to be in a master's program. I would look up your state's education licensing requirements. You may even just be able to take the Praxis without having to take classes, I'm not sure.

Unfortunately, I live in PA.  We have the strictest requirements in the US.  I can teach in any other state with a PA license, but it'll take two more years of schooling to get the required ed and psych courses, along with a semester of supervised student teaching.  Bear in mind I've been teaching 18 year olds for over 20 years, now...  and I can't afford more school.  14 years of college was enough, really.  I have enough defaulted student loans to buy two of my houses. 

I also can't afford to move to an easier state.  That's not just monetary, there are a lot of issues tied up with that one. 

Now I'm feeling nauseous...  and weepy.  I just want out.  I want to go back, and do everything right.  I don't want to be blindsided by money or politics anymore.  I want to change my major to something useful. 

What the fuck was I thinking, trying to be a professor?  I'm pretty much just an asshole who loves math and likes to show other people how things work.  Why didn't I learn about computers back in the 80's?  I took one Fortran course, and never finished the final project.  At least I'd be employable. 



Fucking fuck. 

[Lines]

   Don't give up yet. At least you've got a math degree and not something virtually useless. Like art. It may not be related to teaching, but hopefully you can find something math related that will make you happy. Double crossing all of my fingers, toes, and appendages for you.

Subsidized loans for graduate students were eliminated this year.

They were? Or just for your state/uni? I got offered and accepted (part of) one. Or do you mean unsubsidized loans? Because this was the first year I wasn't offered one of those, I think.

[Lupercal]

Friend sent me a text asking if I'd be interested in a "hash brownie night." That's new.

That's new.

We lead very different lives, friend.

Dear blog,

So Matt's parents might let me borrow their other son's truck (he is in college) so I can commute to my upcoming job in the mall! Which, by the way, yeah that's happening!

I have a First Car lined up for when I have $2k, my friend is gonna sell me her '96 Mustang GT! It's a 5-speed manual, V6, and a convertible. DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH SEX I AM GOING TO HAVE IN THAT CAR

Mooovin' on up (mooooovin' on up!)

What Patrick  can buy with $2000

What I can buy with £2000

At least they're still both Fords, but fuck. Way to go Patrick, you don't have to drive something this tiny! (but its totally about under-compensation or something) (#totallywishIhadamustangtoo)

[LTK]

You forgot about currency conversion. What Patrick can buy with $2000 should be compared to what you can buy with £1250.

[pwhodges]

I took that as part of the point!

[Jimor]

One thing to account for with U.S. dollars and U.K. pounds is the weird phenomenon where it seems that despite the current and historical conversion rate, the numbers on prices for a lot of goods and services are essentially the same in both countries. So a CD is $15 in the U.S. and £15 in the U.K. etc. This might have changed somewhat, but I remember a variety of friends over the years commenting on this when they visited over there.

[BeoPuppy]

Yesterday I saw Leonard Cohen perform in Amsterdam. Spry for 77. Funny too.

[negative creep]

Hello,
I've got internet again! In some way. I moved in with some friends, so I can use theirs. My computer is still broken.
In other news: I finished my apprenticeship, my girlfriend left me for some 45-year-old teacher (very dramatic), I've got a new band, I grew a beard.
I hope some of you remember me.

[lepetitfromage]

  Don't give up yet. At least you've got a math degree and not something virtually useless. Like art. It may not be related to teaching, but hopefully you can find something math related that will make you happy. Double crossing all of my fingers, toes, and appendages for you.

I concur. Yay unemployed art teachers!

Man....seriously.....fuck the education system in America. I say we all get together and start our own school.


Carl- have you thought about looking into an office job? It's not as fun as teaching, but I feel like administrative jobs are a dime a dozen now- especially those that are fiscal related.

[Carl-E]

I'm looking, now that I'm back home.  One issue is that I took a part-time teaching job for one class nearly an hour away, from 11 - noon.  With the commute and pre- and post-class student time, that pretty much kills 9:30 AM - 2 PM three days a week.  Kills regular hours, maybe I can get 2nd (or 3rd) shift...

[lepetitfromage]

Look into medical facilities! A lot of them employ people during off hours

[LTK]

I just called a telecom service helpdesk for the first time. Taking into account the horror stories I've heard, it was surprisingly painless. Even though the service employee gave me the wrong instructions on how to enable my mobile internet functionality, he did direct me to the appropriate configuration submenu, where I could input the network configuration according to the instructions given by the telecom provider's website, which worked. What the service employee told me didn't work, and his further instructions entailed resetting the entire phone, which would have undone all my work of unlocking it. Thank god I'm tech-savvy.

That reminds me, I need a new job. Maybe I can take his, since he''s obviously not very good at it.

[celticgeek]

Calling the help desk of my ISP is always interesting.  Half of the people seem never to have heard of computers or the Internet, and the other half are very knowledgeable about what is going on and how to fix it. 

[Omega Entity]

One thing to account for with U.S. dollars and U.K. pounds is the weird phenomenon where it seems that despite the current and historical conversion rate, the numbers on prices for a lot of goods and services are essentially the same in both countries. So a CD is $15 in the U.S. and £15 in the U.K. etc. This might have changed somewhat, but I remember a variety of friends over the years commenting on this when they visited over there.

I noticed the same thing in Portugal back in 2002 (holy crap, has it really been a decade since that trip?!). I was scoping out the videogames, and not only were the prices 'equal' in the sense that you put it, but they actually cost significantly more! As in, 77 Euro for what I think was either a PS2 or PSX game!

[Mister D Nomms]

I just had sex with a tranny.

[Carl-E]

Congratulations? 

[Zingoleb]

I just had sex with a tranny.

what in the actual FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?

[Zingoleb]

like that's awesome that you're willing to reduce someone to a pejorative term that, if you called me that, would get YOUR FUCKING NOSE BROKEN

seriously, FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING CUNT

[Jace]

Maybe he was talking about his car. Lotta guys talk about having to rebuild the tranny in their old fastbacks.

[Zingoleb]

my (trans) friend parked and then when she got out the car started going in reverse and she had to jump in and put it back in park

I told her I blamed the tranny, but I was purposefully vague as to which one I meant

[The Seldom Killer]

I grew up in a rather provincial, rural part of England and as such was hopelessly naive* when I left for more cosmopolitan climes. Alas when I first heard someone described as a "tranny" I thought it bizarre and a little obtuse to describe someone as a transistor radio. Shamefully I still find juvenile humour when I return and still hear some ask to "turn the tranny on".

Nomms, might I suggest that you strongly consider that you had sex with a complete person, with the full gamut of personal psychology, history and emotions who is wholly deserving being treated with respect and dignity rather than a reductive two-dimensional biological entity.

*I'm probably comparatively no less naive now.

[pwhodges]

Mister D Nomms meant no offence.  May I remind you of the problems he has to cope with, and ask you to continue to be tolerant:

I have schizophrenia, disthymic disorder, and a small list of other mental problems,

[Carl-E]

While this is certainly a blog thread, and that was indeed a journal-like entry, perhaps more of an initial post would have stemmed the minor tide of retribution.  Was he happy, ecstatic, disappointed?  Is this someone he was pursuing, was pursuing him, a random encounter?  Hence my initial response. 

Perhaps, had he told us a bit more in either the original post or a quick reply, the recriminations would not have been as quick and harsh; of course, had he told us less, it would have been a non-issue, since the post was minimal. 

Either way, blogging can be a delicate art, as I'm sure he's learning.  Mental issues aside, he's still a part of the community. 

[Lines]

I feel like we've had the discussion recently about how using the term tranny for a person is offensive. Even if we didn't, it was still a pretty tactless way to say whatever it is he meant to say. I don't know. The reason I didn't respond is because it was laid out in a way to shock, not to be blog-like. And obviously it shocked some people in a bad way.

[Redball]

The OP's comment seemed to be either an expression of wonderment or intended to shock or surprise. I took it as the former because it reminded me of an incident I might have related here before: In a dormitory discussion in the 1950s, a freshman med school student from an upperclass home announced that he'd "touched" a Negro. He'd shaken hands with the person. It was an expression of surprise.

[Mister D Nomms]

like that's awesome that you're willing to reduce someone to a pejorative term that, if you called me that, would get YOUR FUCKING NOSE BROKEN

seriously, FUCK YOU YOU FUCKING CUNT

I really wasn't trying to use the word in an insult. What would be the word to use when describing my close friend who is transitioning, but still has a penis? I've always known that to be a transsexual.

I'm actually sorry.

[valley_parade]

I think the correct phrasing would be "I had sex".

[Jace]

a transsexual.

This is the term you are looking for.
Tranny =/= Transsexual

[Jace]

My housemate's solution to me suggesting that he take his dog to the vet for his raw tail:

(click to show/hide)

Not pictured: the sock that was used to cover the tail that was chewed off overnight.
Additionally, the dog is basically losing his shit and seems to be afraid of everything. This is very very different from his usual demeanor. He is jumping at his own movements sometimes.

EDIT: Also I keep getting bitten by fleas, there is no way to keep them out of my room it seems as my efforts to just keep the door closed as much as possible is not working. My foot has like 15 little bite marks and I've seen at least 2 jump off me.

[Redball]

You're connecting the dog's injuries to its tail with the flea infestation? Seems there must be ways to deal with it all at once.

[Lines]

1. The dog needs flea medication. Flea collars don't work as well, must be meds.
2. You need to get some carpet spray intended for fleas and vacuum as much as possible. That way you kill and suck up as many fleas and eggs as possible.
3. Not quite as important, but does help - wash all fabric things that haven't been washed in a while and may have ended up on the floor at some point.

And seriously, that is a sad picture, and I kind of want to slap your housemate right now. I mean, I can understand if he's broke or something, but there are vets that are willing to work with people that have little money.

[Zingoleb]

Mister D Nomms meant no offence.  May I remind you of the problems he has to cope with, and ask you to continue to be tolerant:

I have schizophrenia, disthymic disorder, and a small list of other mental problems,

I've been diagnosed with dysthymia and schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, along with a number of other things. I don't really find that to be an excuse in this case.

I'm less pissed beyond reason right now, and more irritated, so let me lay out the problems with what was stated:

The word 'tranny' has a BAD history. It's one of the worst things you can say to a trans *person (the only worse one is shemale, and I fucking loathe that word). Even saying "I had sex with a transsexual" is still reductive of someone to one part of them, 'cause it's taking everything about that person and reducing it to the fact that they are gender variant. It's the difference between, "I had sex with a nigger," "I had sex with a black chick," and "I had sex with a chick." Does that illustrate my point?

Also, you could call her a 'woman,' regardless of her operative status (I'm presuming she identifies as a woman here?). Her genitals don't matter, because she's still a woman regardless of whether she has a penis or not. If you HAVE to talk about her being trans*, you could call her a trans woman. Either way, just referring to someone as a 'tranny' or 'transsexual' is really reducing someone to one small part of them in a way that, to a lot of people, is dehumanising.

[pwhodges]

Thanks for that. 

Can we end the discussion of this matter in this thread now, please.  If a more extended discussion of gender terminology is desired, it should be taken to DISCUSS!.

[Jace]

1. The dog needs flea medication. Flea collars don't work as well, must be meds.
2. You need to get some carpet spray intended for fleas and vacuum as much as possible. That way you kill and suck up as many fleas and eggs as possible.
3. Not quite as important, but does help - wash all fabric things that haven't been washed in a while and may have ended up on the floor at some point.

And seriously, that is a sad picture, and I kind of want to slap your housemate right now. I mean, I can understand if he's broke or something, but there are vets that are willing to work with people that have little money.

Well the first part isn't going to happen because he refuses to believe that putting frontline on the animals didn't kill all of the fleas on them/in the house. I could probably get my other housemate and I to carpet spray and vaccuum and wash all the fabric, but the third one (who owns the dog) will handwave and say that it isn't a big deal and it is just fruit flies. And it is in his room that the dog goes to sleep, so if we can't get it out of the whole house, well.

Its not even that he doesn't have money either, he is just lazy and would rather get drunk. I mean, I'm lazy too, but when the wellbeing of another living thing is in your care you can't be lazy about this sort of thing.

EDIT: he did put the cone of shame on the dog, so hopefully that will help since it'll keep him from licking and chewing on the raw skin

[pwhodges]

Preventing the dog from trying to deal with fleas which are still present could be a form of torture from the dog's perspective.  The cone is properly used to prevent the dog from worrying at a healing wound rather than as a get-out from dealing with the cause of the problem.

[Lines]

Is there a time when he's not home and someone can sneak attack his floor? I mean, that might help a little (especially for the poor dog), but really if you can't kill the ones on the dog, it won't get much better because he'll still have fleas and those fleas will continue to multiply...unless he puts some damn flea medication on the dog.

Your housemate seems frustratingly stupid. Maybe you should call the ASPCA and report him for animal cruelty (depending on your area's laws). Usually what they do is give a warning and tell you to fix certain things and if you don't by the time they come back to check on you, they take the animal away.