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[calenlass]

So I posted a few days ago that I had just found out my mate Jeff was in a motorcycle accident. His condition is essentially the same (marginally better, in that he is responding to stimui in a slightly larger area now), which is still comatose and not stable enough to be moved out of the ICU, and I am pretty sad for his wife and his family because my dad died under similar circumstances when I was 4.

However, there is a good side to all of this: I have the most amazing friends. They are the most amazing people, and I am so glad to know them. We have coordinated some monumental stuff in record time, and I know we are all mostly dragon*con staffers and so we are kind of used to last-minute miracles, but I am so far beyond impressed with all of us right now. This is what we have pulled off so far:

-a calendar to keep track of who is visiting when, because the ICU keeps odd visiting hours and only 4 people are allowed in the room at a time, posted within 24 hours of the news
-a website outlining details and referring people to an email newsletter and twitter feeds, also posted within 24 hours
-a newsletter thing with updates on Jeff's condition, what his wife and family need, offers from others, etc, also posted within 24 hours, which now has 263 subscribers
-a shuttle service provided to the people from his hometown and want to get down to Birmingham, where he is in hospital, and for his wife to get home, whenever that may be
-house-sitters to do laundry, take care of their dog and cats, and water plants
-gift cards for restaurants and Starbucks near the hospital, shipped priority overnight
-a paypal account to help pay for hospital parking, meals, snacks, and whatever else for the Waiting Room Party, which so far totals over $450
-the Waiting Room Party, 76 "cousins" who have gone to the hospital to offer their support, services, and company, beyond the other people who have just stopped by
-a hotel room. That's right, some fucker smooth-talked his way into compiling his hotel reward points for a 10-night stay at a Bham hotel for Jeff's wife and family. FOR FREE. Also, upon hearing about what was going on, the hotel staff upgraded the room to a 2-bedroom suite.

A further 4 people are roadtripping it over from Savannah thursday night, and 2 people are flying in from New York sometime tonight. So far one wall has been plastered with postcards and drawings in the theme of "Things Jeff Can Do Other Than Ride A Motorcycle", as per his wife's request, and I am making plans to send a bunch of paper snowflakes, too! Apparently Jeff's mother has been mindboggled by all of the people and how much we've managed to pull off in 4 days, and the hospital staff thinks that the number of "cousins" Jeff has is hilarious. I am pretty sad that I can't go down myself on account of exams, although in truth there isn't very much I could do to help, but it makes me feel better to know that, at least in this case, I am really not needed. Everyone has got it covered. I would go so far as to say it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

It kind of makes me tear up a little. Guys, I am so proud of my friends.


Edit: Apparently his toenails are painted now, with all sorts of fanciness and sparkles, and each one is different. This is what we do, folks.

[jodizzle]

Sorry guys, I am strapped for cash this trip, even more so if I can help spot Aaron into coming too.  I am going to Socorro and Vegas and that is it!

[jhocking]

I am proud of myself for actually finishing this project finally. Over a year ago I told myself I would release a game as a Facebook app.

http://www.facebook.com/apps/application.php?id=116252368441587

[Liz]

I got 17000 something on my first try. It was going well until level seven and then everything just sort of went to shit.

[tania]

30000! screw you, liz

[Vendetagainst]

when i woke up to roll over, my boyfriend's cat was under the covers. clearly, to my mind, that means that i must have smothered her in my sleep. she is fine and cuddling me right now but i can't go back to sleep! oh panic disorder, please go away

Oh god, I have a recurring anxiety dream where I accidentally let the cats out of the house and can't find them, and varying other depressing things involving kitty neglect.

[öde]

That is such an amazing thing to hear Katie. I rarely offer sympathy or regards on the forum for situations like that because I feel my contribution would be so meaningless, but I'm really heart-warmed by the lengths your friends have gone to.

[jhocking]

Today on the bus a talkative stranger guessed my age at 38.
When I told him I was actually 25, he squinted and said I had a 'Mature look about me.'
He also decided that my 21 year old roommate was my daughter.
Flattery!

wow that guy is even more ridiculous than my mom

Day two of my new job was pretty shit! I am no longer panicky though. The hours for this job are stupid and definitely just inside the limit of the law (i work 50 hours one week, 30 hours the next week but get paid for 40 hours for both weeks). We don't get overtime and apparently a former employee is taking the company to court over non-payment of wages. Basically, this is not a company I want to work for.

ouch I hate getting stuck working for not good places

[Inlander]

It's been raining a lot in Melbourne since winter. A bejiggerload. The worst drought in recorded history that we've been living through for years now just went up and broke in truly spectacular fashion. At their worst last year the city's water supply was around 25% full; a few weeks ago they went above 50%. In one six-day period a couple of months ago the water levels went up by 2%. Melbourne has around 3 million people in it: think how astronomically big the dams for a city that large are, then imagine 2 whole percent of those dams, then imagine that much water falling in just six days.

So it's been wet.

Today a big storm passed through the city, and after it passed I went out to get a coffee and do some writing. On my way home I was walking through a local park, and not for the first time the drains had overflowed and the grass in the park had been turned into a swamp. I was squelching through the swamp, and passed a woman squelching in the other direction, and from her accent as she said something to me in passing about the rain, and from her appearance, I surmised her to be South American. Between that, and the verdant grassland, and the swampiness of said grassland, the very first thing that came into my head was capybaras.

QC Forum, what have you done to me.

[David_Dovey]

Man Harry I wish I could sigquote that entire thing. Glorious.

[Spluff]

it's finally reached the point where we can no longer say 'at least it's good for the farmers'

[Inlander]

No, but we can still say "Man who the fuck would want to be a farmer in Australia, you'd have to be crazy".

[Patrick]

I do love how I have family friends who have farmed for as long as I've known them. That's one pretty awesome thing about the central valley of California.

This month my sister is coming to town. She, her boyfriend and I are going to visit my uncle, who is fighting renal cancer. It'll be great to spend some time with him. My father will be crashing the party, despite never ever calling or caring about anybody else's life, and being quite immature and rude atop it. Despite that, though, I'm determined to get in some good quality time with my uncle Bob. It'll be good to have a good time with my uncle. That dude is rad.

And work was pretty cool today. I'm making friends with a lot of people there. Getting more and more comfortable with myself all the time. Everybody there is friendly and helpful, and most importantly they're all competent workers. I'm realizing that as far as places I COULD be working, I didn't do too bad. I have realized that I've never really dreaded going to work. It isn't the job or the pay, it's the people I work with. This is a pretty damn good group of people to work with.

[jodizzle]

Oh also I guess if you live on Route 66 after Albuquerque (heading towards Vegas) then we will be passing by you (assuming we end up with enough dollars for a road trip)!  We are going to the Grand Canyon! oooooh!

[pwhodges]

How's your shoulder doing?

[StaedlerMars]

Fuck this country and how it handles a little bit of snow and cold weather.

There's maybe three inches of snow on the ground which, due to poor planning of the city has now turned into ice, these three inches have caused ALL TRAINS between Edinburgh and Glasgow to be cancelled. All of them.

The other option, using the M8 motorway, is so clogged up there's horror stories of it taking people 12 hours to reach either city from the other.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a modern, first world country, one that once ruled a giant massive chunk of the world's landmass. Completely fucking crippled by a thin layer of snow and a temperature that dropped beneath 0 degrees.

The reason this angers me so is that I am meant to go see Godspeed You! Black Emperor in Glasgow tonight. I bought this ticket the day the gigs were announced about four(?) months ago. I've been pumped for this gig for ages. I am pissed off.

</middleclassproblems>

[pwhodges]

In the winter after I was born*, the temperature across the whole of Britain dropped below 0 degrees (well, 32 degrees in those days, I guess) and stayed below for six weeks.  I guess life went on...

* I'm not saying I actually remember  that, of course!

[Barmymoo]

It seems ridiculous that all these problems are so much less serious than they are in other, generally colder countries, but we can't deal with them because it wouldn't be worth spending money on the solutions when it's so rarely an issue. Well, it seems to me that it's getting more commonly an issue so why not spend some money? Just a little bit of money on machines that de-ice train tracks, and more grit for the roads? No?

[the_pied_piper]

This, ladies and gentlemen, is a modern, first world country

Scotland

 

[pwhodges]

It's part of England, you know.

[The Seldom Killer]

Completely fucking crippled by a thin layer of snow and a temperature that dropped beneath 0 degrees.

</middleclassproblems>

You really need to lay off the Daily Mail there.

We weren't completely crippled, we were briefly inconvenienced and then life continued largely as normal. As for thin layer of snow/0 degrees, I'm not sure how you do things up in Bonnie Scotland but when I was walking off my driveway here in Sheffield on Wednesday, the snow was over my knees. I think at that point you have to stop calling it thin. The temperature didn't just drop below 0, it dropped below -8, that magic number at which grit and salt don't do anything.

That said, I managed to cycle the 12 miles each way to and from work every day so I'm not sure what all the car drivers are whinging about.

[The Seldom Killer]

It seems ridiculous that all these problems are so much less serious than they are in other, generally colder countries, but we can't deal with them because it wouldn't be worth spending money on the solutions when it's so rarely an issue. Well, it seems to me that it's getting more commonly an issue so why not spend some money? Just a little bit of money on machines that de-ice train tracks, and more grit for the roads? No?

No.

[valley_parade]

We weren't completely crippled

I didn't get to watch soccer this weekend because the lovely people of Blackpool CAN'T UNTHAW GRASS.

[Ptommydski]

I live near Aberdeen. It's been below zero for a couple of weeks now, snowing for three. There haven't been major delays, which is remarkable.

Either they're having worse weather than us down there or they're not as good at dealing with it.

[Ptommydski]

I didn't get to watch soccer this weekend because the lovely people of Blackpool CAN'T UNTHAW GRASS.

Most other games went ahead though.

Blackpool most likely weren't overly keen on a fixture with Manchester United when they have so many injuries. Might as well take advantage of the snow break.

[The Seldom Killer]

grit doesn't help below -8?

I mean, it's like -25 here at the moment and grit seems to work pretty well.

I'm guessing that if you live somewhere that gets -25 then they clear the roads before gritting. In the UK gritting is used as a method of snow removal. Compared to when I was living in Canada, it really is shit.

[valley_parade]

I didn't get to watch soccer this weekend because the lovely people of Blackpool CAN'T UNTHAW GRASS.

Most other games went ahead though.

Blackpool most likely weren't overly keen on a fixture with Manchester United when they have so many injuries. Might as well take advantage of the snow break.

Yeah but Fox Soccer Channel this season doesn't care about most other games.

Funny, last year all they ever showed were like..Birmingham City, West Ham, and Sunderland. Now it's the big four (and Spurs, which my friend is grateful for) every weekend.

[pwhodges]

grit doesn't help below -8?

Grit is fine; salt  doesn't work in practice below about -8.  It's science.

[StaedlerMars]

Completely fucking crippled by a thin layer of snow and a temperature that dropped beneath 0 degrees.

</middleclassproblems>

You really need to lay off the Daily Mail there.

We weren't completely crippled, we were briefly inconvenienced and then life continued largely as normal. As for thin layer of snow/0 degrees, I'm not sure how you do things up in Bonnie Scotland but when I was walking off my driveway here in Sheffield on Wednesday, the snow was over my knees. I think at that point you have to stop calling it thin. The temperature didn't just drop below 0, it dropped below -8, that magic number at which grit and salt don't do anything.

The main motorway joining the two largest of Scotland's cities is closed off, trains aren't running, stores are running low on bread and milk, all of my friends that work in Glasgow can't get to work, a lot of people that live out of town can't get in, and the mail hasn't been delivered in over a week. I would count this entire city grinding to a halt near crippling, yes. It's been around 0 for about two weeks, and snowed almost continuously a week ago, but that was a week ago. It snowed yesterday morning causing the airport to completely shut down, but it didn't end up being more than about ten centimeters. The fact that it's been about two weeks since first snow should mean that the city councils should have gotten their act together by now.

Also, I wasn't making any comment on the Daily Mail?

[Metope]

Yeah, no buses were running (I think they've started up again now) within Glasgow either, I know a guy who spent 9 hours getting home on Monday when it usually takes him 1 hour, I can't get bread, the gym was closed, the library at school was closed, the friggin cinema was closed. On the plus side they extended the deadline for the essay that was due today till 5 PM instead of 11 AM so I could sleep in a little longer. But I mean, come onnn this is getting ridiculous.

[The Seldom Killer]

Also, I wasn't making any comment on the Daily Mail?

That was a joke about how you said the whole country was crippled, the Daily Mail oft being guilty of trumpetting the end of times if a bit of snow falls on London and it takes and extra 20 minutes to get home in the evening.

[Barmymoo]

Grit is not used as a method of snow removal, they use snow ploughs for that. Grit is used to prevent ice on the roads, which is what has been causing most of the problems in Scotland. One of the major motorways (anyone know the number offhand?) has been completely closed for a few days now because they cannot get rid of the ice. If it had been properly gritted to start with, that wouldn't be an issue.



Moving away from the surprisingly contentious topic of snow, I have been wrapping Christmas presents on and off all day and I still have 25 items to wrap, not to mention the five that haven't arrived yet and at least five more which haven't been bought. Why did I think this was a good idea?

[Lines]

Why do you have so many gifts???

[The Seldom Killer]

Grit is not used as a method of snow removal, they use snow ploughs for that. Grit is used to prevent ice on the roads, which is what has been causing most of the problems in Scotland. One of the major motorways (anyone know the number offhand?) has been completely closed for a few days now because they cannot get rid of the ice. If it had been properly gritted to start with, that wouldn't be an issue.

The transport minister seems to think otherwise, although he is a witless tool of the first order.

Gritting wouldn't have been able to deal with the amount of snow that came down. People shouldn't have been out driving causing the ploughs and gritters to be delayed by slow traffic and stranded vehicles. Alas most people with cars do not have this much foresight.

[Zingoleb]

Hi guys!

I have been without internet and the library are cocks who block things like Questionable Content and any pages with the word "transsexual" on it. Bastards. Anyways.

I may have a job (interviewed, seemed like a good shot, and I'll know in the next couple days). I may be in a small place without a lot going on, but fuck it if I'm not happier than I've ever been with my life. Things are seriously looking up, and for the first time I am entirely free to be myself and people are actually supporting me. It's really bizarre, and I'm not used to it.

Did visit home for the holidays, and was reminded was a shitty little place I came from was, and how horrible my family are. It was a nice spot of relativity to see how well off I am.

On the other hand, if I don't get this job, I might be in trouble. I may even have to sell my stuff off and buy a bus ticket to California and sleep on Patrick's couch for a few weeks. (Just kidding dude)

anyways the neighbour came over and let me use her laptop in exchange for her using my shower (her hot water's out), and now she wants it back. Bye guys. I know you missed me terribly, but I'll try not to be away too much.

[valley_parade]

Yeah hey wait a minute I have dibs on said couch.

[Nodaisho]

I have been without internet and the library are cocks who block things like Questionable Content and any pages with the word "transsexual" on it. Bastards. Anyways.

Threaten to sue them for bigotry because they are preventing you from accessing your intergender support website.

[abadname]

Man people are pretty dumb about things such as sexual orientation and similar.

[Patrick]

I may even have to sell my stuff off and buy a bus ticket to California and sleep on Patrick's couch for a few weeks. (Just kidding dude)

Yeah hey wait a minute I have dibs on said couch.

Guys, this would only work if I had a couch of my own to lend. If I did, you could have at it.

[jodizzle]

How's your shoulder doing?

Still broken but better! I can use 2 hands to type and I am just in the sling now, no harness.  I can even make my own toast!

Only another month off skates! (Assuming when I go to the doctor in a few weeks everything is okie doke)

[vegkitkat]

I love exam season.  I just made $100 for 5 hours of tutoring over the last 2 days.  It's mainly consists of me sitting there eating yogurt, trying to get the to understand that curly arrows go from regions of high electron density to regions of low electron density.  Nice work if you can get it.

And I found out I'm moving to a lab closer to my apartment.  I can now sleep in later every morning! There is also the prospect of finding a doctor boyfriend, as this new lab is in the children's hospital.  My mom is pretty excited.

[Tom]

That part's way easy, even with the one/two electron movements.

-----------------------

For those of you who haven't heard, many of the University of New South Wales' staff are currently taking industrial action due to choices made by management. Like many my fellow students I don't really understand the situation. All I really understand is that I can't get my marks for this semester finalised. The Vice Chancellor issued a video through UNSW' youtube channel the last time this happened (July 2010); it was vague, misleading and ultimately dismissive ("the staff doesn't matter, you do!").

Today, I received a very frank (group) email from one of my lecturers/lab demonstrators today. I've had a number of conversations with Craig, he's a real straight-shooter who only ever says what he feels and knows to be true. I'm sure you guys can imagine how refreshing it is to have a teahcer who respects his students enough to address them all as adults. Th email was as follows:

Dear students,

By now you have probably noticed that you have been given an LE grade for the courses which I convene or co-convene. What LE stands for is "Late Entry".  The reason you have been given this grade is because I am participating in the NTEU results ban. Whether or not you are interested in the issues which underlie these bans is your business, but you should at least be given an explanation of why I am involved and why I'm not submitting your results to the UNSW administration.

I am a relatively easy-going character, and not usually the guy you see jumping up and down at protests and on picket lines.  Despite this, I am participating in the ban in protest against the University's refusal to negotiate a fair and equitable Collective Agreement on par with the overwhelming majority of Australian and other G8 universities.  

Even though I am participating in the ban I have been attending work and performing all my other duties as required.  In response, the University has withdrawn my entire salary along with the salaries of my colleagues participating in the action.  As you can imagine, this is an extremely stressful and distressing time for me and my family, particularly in the lead-up to Christmas.  

UNSW management, under the direction of the Vice Chancellor, is determined to wage a campaign of intimidation against its employees to impose its political will.  Many if not all of my colleagues who are on fixed-term contracts (some of which have hefty mortgages and young children), dare not participate in
the results ban for fear that their contracts will not be renewed.  This suits the Vice Chancellor down to the ground.  In his view of the ideal collective bargaining landscape, many more academics would be on fixed-term contracts without any tenure or security.

Such a stranglehold over intellectual and industrial freedom and opinion in an institution which is firmly rooted in these principles, is dangerous.  It's time we put a stop to the use of university staff as political pawns and reclaimed universities for higher education and achievement.  

I am truly sorry that this industrial action has inconvenienced you.  I am not sorry for the major inconvenience it has created for the UNSW administration as there is no other way in which we can be effectively heard.  We need to send a very clear message that the academics, who are the life blood of this university, will not continue to be strong-armed and bullied into whatever the administration dictates.

I have checked the student records and the vast majority of you are in stage 1 (i.e. 1st year) so your results for ANAT1551 and ANAT1521 are not critical at this point.  For the Exercise Physiology students you will need your marks before enrolling in ANAT3131 next year.  Keep in mind that semester 1 does not start until February 28 and you have until at least week 2 to enrol.  Priti Pandey would have estimated the number of ANAT3131 students for next year to be around the same as it was for this year.  Hence there should be plenty of positions for all students who have passed ANAT1551 this year.  For the Medical Science students, you do not require your grade for ANAT1521 to enrol in any of your Stage 2 Semester 1 courses.

What I do find very concerning is the administration's recent suggestion that they will simply make up your marks
(see: http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/unsw-to-pass-students-as-strike-disrupts-marking-20101201-18grf.html)
This is what you should find particularly disturbing and should make it explicitly clear to the management that under no circumstances do you want this to occur.  You should be given the marks which you have worked hard to achieve and not simply a pass or a fail based on only part of your total assessment.

Help us to protect the present and future students and staff at UNSW by taking a minute to click the link below and sign the petition:
http://www.gopetition.com/petition/41216.html
I would also really appreciate it if you could forward the above link onto anyone you know who sympathises with the gravity of this situation.  Letters and emails to the VC as well as newspaper editors and local members are also effective methods for achieving the type of publicity which this issue absolutely deserves.

Cheers
Craig

I don't care about my ANAT 1521 marks anymore, not because I wouldn't have done well but because the issue at hand is much more pressing and I wholly intend to support the teaching staff of UNSW in their endeavours.

TL;DR?
Fred Hilmer is dix; sign this petition.

[Lunchbox]

That's awful.
I've signed it for you.

[Joseph]

McGill's online infrastructure is the fucking worst. Big exam tomorrow and I'm trying to access some of the course notes, but the system is down. Not that it ever functions well to begin with.

[Slick]

oh man is it using SAM or ACE or whatever that bullshit is being called this year?
man I hate that software.

[october1983]

Man I feel like a total dick now because I came here to celebrate good academic news. But yeah, that situation sounds completely shit, Tom - we had some similar issues at King's College London last year, in which every member of academic staff was going to be made redundant and forced to reapply for their jobs at a stage when the current education cuts were only being speculated on. The collective action of staff and students forced management to reconsider their position, so I'd urge you to keep doing whatever you can to support them because it is possible to make a difference. Motherfuckers need to leave education alone goddamn.

But returning to my better news, after dragging their heels for months over our results, KCL have finally released the grades for my Masters, and I did really well! I averaged 80% overall, with 90% for my dissertation, which is pretty darned good in British marks. And I just got an email from my supervisor encouraging me to try to get my dissertation published. Fuck yeah.

[schimmy]

Bloody hell, a 90 for a dissertation?! Well done!

[Barmymoo]

That's amazing, well done!

Tom, I hope that situation resolves itself soon. I've read a bit about the situation that university lecturers and teachers can find themselves in over there and it sounds terrible, so I'm glad someone is doing something about it!


Blog thread, I got myself into a big emotional mess last night over leaving the house and going to play cards with some elderly Welsh people. I feel really stupid this morning because it wasn't such a big deal but I got all panicky about it and my mum had to coax me out of the house. I'm nearly 20, I shouldn't have this problem. I know it's because I'm not doing anything at all with my days and just sitting inside is making going out seem scary, but what can I do to fix it? There's nothing to do in the area and I have no money to do anything with.


By the way, the 25 Christmas presents isn't presents for 25 people, it's just I bought a university friend a tea set and I have to wrap each piece individually.


Oh and Dicky (I really should get out of the habit of calling you that), we should meet up in London! I am going to be there on the evening of the 16th, and then for a few days either side of the New Year. I might be around for a week or so after New Year if I can find somewhere to stay, but plans are still being made.

[The Seldom Killer]

There's nothing to do in the area and I have no money to do anything with.

There's always something to do.

Obviously I don't know where you live and some places are harder than others, but often something do is readily available once someone starts doing something.

[valley_parade]

Dicky, well done! o/