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[Eris]

See, I never thought university (college) was like high school at all, because you had a lot more responsibility in regards to your studies;  the lecturers and tutors and all that didn't care if you didn't come to class or hand in assignments. They're not going to chase you up and ask why you haven't done these things, they'll just fail you. I never understood how people could just not turn up to class and cruise through uni. Also it always seemed to me that you went to uni to get a degree that would help you get a job, so with me doing a BA I was either coming up with reasons why it wasn't a useless degree or just resigning to myself that it was a waste of time that was going to just cost me a fair bit of money (I think jimmy commented on this mindset in another thread).

I also am really bad at making friends, so I never really talked to anyone and ultimately found university a pretty lonely, stressful experience. Maybe if I had gone to uni straight out of high school and had some people I knew in my classes it would have been better? I dunno.

[Lunchbox]

Maybe it's just us, Han.

When I worked at the Uni bar all I ever saw were bunches of people hanging out, getting drunk, having awesome times with new friends. After two years I sucked up the guts to do a Mature age entrance course and got into a Bachelor of Teaching, but between disgusting amounts of class, study, research and trying to work so that I could have enough money to actually get myself to Uni and have lunch every day, I never had time to socialise. In six weeks I made one acquaintance who only spoke to me because I had a QC picture on my folder, but we never spoke outside that one class we had, and when I served him at my cafe two months later, he didn't recognise me. Another happy bonus was that because I was too busy studying, my work stopped calling and I had to get a new job.

Yeah so Uni sucked. I'm glad other people enjoy it.

[scarred]

So I was entirely ready to have a chill night for my bday party tonight. And we seemed to start that way - me, paul, matt, and seth hung out, drank, and watched standup. I got convinced to go to my buddy Logan's, who apparently had no one over, just to hang out. We got all the way up to his place and opened the door - everyone I know was there, yelling "SURPRISE!!!!!!!!" There were streamers, cake, and more hard liquor. I love my friends.

[Inlander]

Living by myself is really giving me impetus to get out of the house and go and socialise and do stuff. It's great! Last night was the first night since I moved into my house that I haven't gone out, and that's only because I had friends around instead. It's all too easy when you're living with other people to just stay at home and watch T.V. with your housemates and think that you're socialising, but you're not.

This has been a really good weekend, the fullest weekend I've had in ages. Yesterday there was the SAIL birthday (the organisation I volunteer with every Saturday morning, with the Sudanese kids). All the kids and families and volunteers from all six SAIL centres around Melbourne converged on the Myer Music Bowl for a couple of hours of sunshine and singing and dancing and general frivolity. While there I realised that this whim I had about 9 months ago to give up my Saturday mornings and start volunteering with SAIL is the snigle best decision I've made in quite some time: I've met a bunch of lovely people, both kids and volunteers, and I'm regularly reminded that they truly value my efforts every Saturday even though it seems to me that all I'm doing is playing soccer with a couple of little boys every week, and it really feels as though I've lucked into a tight-knit community and I really cherish it.

Also yesterday, last night, I hosted a dinner party for some friends who helped me move house. It was the first real test of the kitchen in my new house and it performed admirably! I made slow-cooked beef stew, mashed potatoes with rosemary from the large bush in the garden, and spinach and leeks. I bought most of the ingredients from the farmer's market yesterday morning. Oh, have I mentioned that the farmers market, which I've been going to regularly for the last year and a half, is only a seven minute bike-ride from my new house? Anyway the dinner party went well, it was good company and good alcohol and (if I say so myself) good food.

Today I went to hear Joe Bageant talk at a free event at the Melbourne Writer's Festival, then straight after that I went to the monthly Women of Letters event, in which five local female luminaries read letters they've written to a particular theme - this month, "A letter to my 12-year-old self". The event's only been going for five months but it's already built up a loyal following, and going there is always a social event as much as a literary one. (By the way, Women of Letters is travelling up to Sydney next month - all you Sydney folks should look into it!). After Women of Letters there was just enough time to go home and feed my cat before heading out to a nearby pub to catch up with some friends. The pub has a fantastic range of beers - I managed to spot a bottle of a discontinued local stout which was about 12 months old in one of their fridges - and also just happens to be run by a woman who used to be my next-door-neighbour. I'd been meaning to go to the pub for years but it was a little out of the way from where I used to live - but now it's only a five-minute bike ride from my new house.

Now it's 11:00 o'clock on Sunday night and I have a whole shitload of washing up to do.

[Graphite]

*reads Inlander's post*

Well, how about that. Near-perfect humans do exist. I now feel inadequate.

[ummmkay]

i think people experience college/university/whatever a lot differently depending on whether they live on campus or not. being a commuter student makes it a whole lot harder to make friends when you're only there for your classes.

[Barmymoo]

I have just remembered that I once wrote a letter to my future self and that, providing the server storing it doesn't get wiped, it will be emailed to me at some future date (I don't recall which date it will be). Exciting!

About time to go for a company dinner! Only one more show - today one of the cast was too ill to perform and the producer made his stage debut which was pretty funny and surprisingly successful!

[Patrick]

May, I did the same thing! I think it was supposed to arrive this year. I actually really, really want to see it.

[Zingoleb]

I wrote a letter to myself! I think my spam filter ate it, though.

Edit: I also just started to do my dishes and accidentally used honey instead of dish soap. No, I'm not sure why my honey and my dish soap were right next to each other, either.

[beat mouse]

I suppose it still beats the alternative of a terrible peanut butter sandwich.

[snalin]

I guess "college" isn't actually an entirely appropriate word - this place is like a middle stage between high school and uni, but it's a lot more like high school than uni in that the teachers follow you very closely, attendance is taken for every single class, and the rules here are actually incredibly strict about drinking.

Folkehřgskule?

I've heard two versions on how that life is. Number one is "oh my God it was the best year of my life ever", and the other was "nah, we got high for a year straight". I've heard the first one a bit more, but that's probably because I've mostly hung out with theatre people, and drama FHS is pretty much drama high school: you spend all year making plays and making out. Only this time, there's no maths and Norwegian and whatever to interrupt your theatre. So I guess that might be a bit biased. What are you studying there?

[Patrick]

Ed man you should post the picture of the broccoli you found that looks like a fleshlight

[jhocking]

what

pixplz

[Zingoleb]

broccoli's in my dinner now doggo

[jmrz]

Maybe it's just us, Han.

Yeah so Uni sucked. I'm glad other people enjoy it.

I don't think it's just the two of you. Once again, I am coming to the conclusion that I'm not made for this anymore. I was that person in highschool that everyone hated because I was brilliant. I consistently pulled assignments out of my ass the night before they were due and I consistently did exceptionally well. I was fantastic at being a last-minute person doing everything the night before it was due. I loved highschool, at least the academic side of things. I hated the social side of things; the girls were all too bitchy and the guys were just immature and I just generally hated most people there. I did have some really close friends but I certainly wasn't friends with heaps of people. I don't have anything to do with any of the people I went to highschool with except one and that one person is my exboyfriend and we're still good friends.

I went to uni straight after school and I didn't have anyone from my highschool in my classes. I changed degrees a semester in and have been doing classes part time since. I've been here for nearly three years and theoretically, I should be graduating next year and I am no where close to that.

I don't enjoy it anymore. I picked up classes from Communications this semester to see what it's like and I just don't enjoy the study side of any of it anymore. I've looked over the list of degrees and things I can study so many many times and the only thing I can think of to say about any of them is "Oh, that looks like it could be interesting... for someone that actually cares."

I'm starting to think that perhaps I should just finish this semester, defer and go back to full time work. I have a good job, it pays stupidly well and it would allow me to travel and eventually save up and move the hell out of this city. I mean, I could always go back to study if it's something I want to do later? People survive without needing to go to uni, people live happy and satisfied lives without going to uni. I don't NEED to go... right?

[Eris]

That's what I keep telling myself, but I work at a cafe for shitty pay and am burning myself out, so hey. The thing is that I really liked learning stuff; The linguistics part of my studies was really interesting, and it was fun learning all that. I just wanted to take things slower than the course took things (I think that also was because it was a first year course and the later courses would be more focussed) and really hated the assignments aspect of it. I turned up to lectures and classes and paid attention and was enthusiastic when talking about it to other people. Why should I have to do a bullshit assignment on nicknames to hammer home something anyone could figure out? I really do want to learn more about that stuff, but I think it is the kind of thing that I would need someone to teach me rather than trying to teach myself. If there was a way I could learn linguistics one-on-one with someone I would do that in a second, but I don't think that kind of thing exists. No matter what, I can't be a waitress for the rest of my life, I have to think about my future at some point.


Talking about my shitty job, I am so exhausted lately. I want to take a week off just to relax and clean my house properly and not think about work for a while and reset myself. That is not going to happen any time soon because a) I think too much so work will probably come up in my thoughts; b) the cafe is just down the road, so I will probably walk past/visit to get a coffee; and c) we are stupidly understaffed so if I take a week off people will have to pull multiple doubles, which will make me feel really guilty sitting around doing nothing while they work 15 hour shifts. I guess I will just have to deal with my twitching eye (I am super tired and that is how it is manifesting. Also I am constantly just wanting to crawl into bed and sleep, even though I know I won't) and maybe actually apply to other jobs.

tl;dr: I like learning, just not uni. My work still sucks and I am very tired. Sorry if I am boring you guys by constantly talking about how shit my job is, I know I should be trying to get a new one, but I just am avoiding it. I mentally yell at myself to get a new one a lot, if that is any consolation?

[Lunchbox]

I'm amazingly glad I left Uni when I did and didn't bother forcing myself to do something that I really didn't want to do. But then of course after a couple more years waitressing I said 'To hell with this' and somehow miraculously landed Dream Job, where I'm pretty sure I'll stay for years to come.

Jamie, I definitely think you could leave Uni if that's how you feel. You've got a job that pays well and might lead you to other things, why bother putting yourself through torment when you can already prove to yourself and employers that you can do your job well?

Han, sadface. I wish I could just hand you an awesome job. I know exactly how you feel.

[Lunchbox]

Also Dear Blog Thread I have a cold and it sucks and I am out of paid sick days for a month. Boo.

[jmrz]

Jamie, I definitely think you could leave Uni if that's how you feel. You've got a job that pays well and might lead you to other things, why bother putting yourself through torment when you can already prove to yourself and employers that you can do your job well?

Yeah, I kind of figure that I could just drop the classes I don't want to bother finishing this semester (I have until tomorrow and then it's census date and I have to actually pay for this crap), finish the semester and then Get Out/Defer. I mean, I can always go back if I want to. Then just work and work and work some more, start banking as much as I can and then travel to the states next July as planned, and come back here and move to Sydney? I mean, I am sure that I could find a decent paying job that wouldn't be terrible and I wouldn't move without having enough in the bank to support myself for at least three months anyway. Can't be that hard?

[look out! Ninjas!]

I love uni. I'm doing what I enjoy to try and get a job I want and all the people are lovely.

[Lunchbox]

Dude I moved to Sydney with $200. It's not hard if you put yourself out there in the job market and you have awesome friends who can let you crash till you get your own place.

[jmrz]

Yeah, I mean, it can definitely be done with less money than I'm planning on having before I do it. I want to do the US trip before I plan on moving and I don't want to be stuck in a situation where I could possibly be imposing on people and not being able to feed myself. I am kind of paranoid about being responsible.

[Lunchbox]

See that's where we differ. Responsiblity? Pfft.

[JD]

Last year of High School here I come.

You guys are the worst with your college horror stories.

[squawk]

What the heck people are still in high school? I'm used to being the baby here :[

In other news, lately I've been making the worst thing ever. I put toffee bits in a cup, and then put in some ovaltine, and add milk... and then I eat it with a spoon. WHY AM I DOING THIS

[jhocking]

Relatively recently I had a conversation with a co-worker about going to the college our high-school guidance counselor recommended. I did, and it was great. He did, and it was terrible.

Be careful about taking others' opinions of what school to attend.

[negative creep]

Speaking of school, today was my first day back in school! it's absolutely weird. I'm almost 10 years older than the youngest guy in my class.
Also, a girl in my class is exactly as old as I am and it is our birthday today. Weird. She's a cutie, too.

I'm massively over-qualified for this shit, but at least that means that I'll be done with it in one and a half years.

[Boro_Bandito]

I don't NEED to go... right?

I've been struggling with this for the past two and a half years now, it was especially bad at the beginning of this semester because I haven't liked the major that I'm actually now done with for at least that long, and only because I haven't ever had a decent paying job have I stuck with it as long as I have. For the moment I'm just trying to push through with it to finish the degree because everyone around me has told me that I would not being doing the "responsible thing" for the amount of time I've spent on it (since I will be finishing up in May, most likely) just so I can say that I have a degree.

To add to this last minute ultra-stress I get every semester (that's resulted in me now being a super senior through numerous class failures and dropouts) my boss also just said that he's ready to promote me although I've only been working where I have since mid-June and that I have more potential than any other person he's seen in a good while and that I could easily be manager of my own store by next year, so I know now that I don't actually have the excuse of not having a decent job that I could afford to move out with anymore, so I'm starting to wonder. This also comes from the fact that my manager has a Masters in some kind of Math and the assistant manager also has one, and neither of them seem to be doing anything other than what they are now, so why the hell do I need it?

I think you should do what you want to do without letting other people throw the pressure at you of not completing your education "the right way". Like you said, you have a good job and you can always go back and finish your education later. If you hate it that much, I can't be on the other side of that argument telling you to finish, because to be honest the only reason I didn't drop out earlier is because I was too spineless to listen to myself and let other people push me here instead.

[JD]

What the heck people are still in high school? I'm used to being the baby here :[

In other news, lately I've been making the worst thing ever. I put toffee bits in a cup, and then put in some ovaltine, and add milk... and then I eat it with a spoon. WHY AM I DOING THIS

Jacob is the youngest.

or j-coobbb or whatever

[Christophe]

So I have Jury Duty scheduled for next week. It will probably be the day after I start working at my new job. I have already served once and while that ended up being an okay experience I'd rather not do it again. Would being the only full-time employee where I work be enough to excuse me from duty? Otherwise I'm gonna try arriving to court about 5 minutes before I'm supposed to report, so hopefully I end up on the outermost number of jurors whom they'd probably outright excuse for the day.

[Jimmy the Squid]

Just try to get yourself kicked out by being entirely sympathetic with the defence or plaintiff or whatever.

[Jimor]

Last year of High School here I come.

You guys are the worst with your college horror stories.

The main lesson isn't "don't go!" or even "definitely go!" It's that it's OK to not go or drop out if you find out it's not your thing.

My story is that I spent too much time in that no-man's land of going/not going/failing/repeating classes/etc. After finally deciding to just drop it, I drifted around in retail for a few years before that burned me out, and now I'm back in school but more for technical expertise in TV/Video production than going for a full degree.

Looking around, there are a LOT of jobs that call for A degree, not caring in particular what it's in. So if it's a choice between taking things you like, and things you don't, do what appeals to you even if it's obscure, and it will still help in the job market. Past your first job, it also rarely matters which school you went to, so again, go somewhere that you WANT to go.

The model we all are pointed at is somebody who gets good grades in high school (or equiv) to get into a good college/university, that feeds you directly into your chosen field at a prestigious company for good money. We feel like failures if any part of that path is interrupted, but much like women made to feel like shit because they can't match the idealized supermodel, too many kids are raised with this ultimate goal that is very rarely realized even by "good" students.

Edit: stray uncompleted thought deleted.

[Patrick]

So I have Jury Duty scheduled for next week. It will probably be the day after I start working at my new job. I have already served once and while that ended up being an okay experience I'd rather not do it again. Would being the only full-time employee where I work be enough to excuse me from duty? Otherwise I'm gonna try arriving to court about 5 minutes before I'm supposed to report, so hopefully I end up on the outermost number of jurors whom they'd probably outright excuse for the day.

Dogg just do it. I had a summons while I was living overseas and even though my excuse was perfectly legitimate it's really made absolutely painless. You can't lose your job for it, there's legal protection on that front. They make it impossible to refuse unless you're under certain very strictly-defined circumstances.

[Christophe]

Yeah but considering that that Tuesday is the day after Labor Day it will most likely also be the day the bookstore opens. I'd rather be around the shop for the first week of operations rather than be in a jury trial.

[Lunchbox]

In my experience (I manage the leave requests for my entire company) it is incredibly hard to get Jury duty off. We've given up writing excuse letters for staff because they are always denied. Might be different on your side of the ocean though.

[ackblom12]

Ah see, in the US businesses legally have to comply. They actually get in some serious shit if they're caught telling people they can't go.

[jhocking]

They will get in serious shit if they order the employee not to go, but what about asking the judge to excuse the person?

[ackblom12]

That's perfectly acceptable and also done on regular occasion for those who see it as a hassle. I mean, they have to come up with a slightly better excuse than that, but in general it doesn't have to be much. I took it as an excuse to take a day off work and possibly do a bit of civil duty.

[StaedlerMars]

Yay the fringe is over! I can sleep again!

Got to hang out with May in the end, we went to see Helen Arney who was ridiculously cute and twee and awesome. Yay times!

[bainidhe_dub]

I got in a car accident yesterday morning, on my way to the first day of temping (again) in Bethesda. I'm fine but my car is all smooshed in the front. I was driving an Accord, and hit an SUV crossover thingy, so their bumper kinda ate my grill and headlights and hood. The radiator seems in one piece still, but the fans don't work so it almost overheated coming home in traffic, what with stoplights. Mostly I just feel stupid, and wish that The Boy hadn't just spent $600 of our tax return on a damn pistol, and now I have to take the bus & metro for the rest of the week. *grumble*

[Lines]

Oh noes! At least you're ok.

My glasses shipped today! I should get them in a few days, huzzah.

[Metope]

Blog thread! I am unemployed!

Today was my last shift at the bakery, it feels... weird. It hasn't been very fun working there lately, but I've been there for four years, and it used to be pretty great. I guess it sorta feels like breaking up with someone who used to be awesome (I could eat as much ice cream and cake as I wanted), turned out to be shitty in the long run (got sick of ice cream and cake, + everyone was on sick leave and it got messy), but I stayed anyway because of selfish reasons (money). Haha, I dunno.

Anyway! Moving countries on Monday, and I need to start packing since I'll only have tomorrow to do it on, seeing dad + grandma in Oslo on Thursday, leaving for my uncle's wedding on Friday (7 hour train ride woo), attending said wedding on Saturday, getting home again Sunday evening, leaving Monday. Oh, and I am struggling getting my loans and papers sorted, so I have to find time to do that as well. All in all, the coming week will be quite busy, but completely worth it when I'm finally settled in Glasgow. Yay!

[Zingoleb]

Found a John Lennon chat bot. Doesn't really sound much like him though.

Though I did accuse him of killing Stu and being a terrible person, and he said, "Well I stuck up for you!" and then I said, "Well, now you're just stuck up." to which it responded, "I think it's an English thing."

[Dimmukane]

I found out last night that it is hard to make out with adult swim as background noise.

[Spike]

That's perfectly acceptable and also done on regular occasion for those who see it as a hassle. I mean, they have to come up with a slightly better excuse than that, but in general it doesn't have to be much. I took it as an excuse to take a day off work and possibly do a bit of civil duty.

Anecdote time.  I ended up being summoned for jury duty and sat through the jury selection process.  One person was excused because they had a vacation that involved flying somewhere.  The person who wasn't excused?  The person who would have to close their restaurant for the duration of the trial. 

[Jace]

I found out last night that it is hard to make out with adult swim as background noise.

Making out with the wrong girls.

[Elizzybeth]

After "working on" applications for PhD programs all summer, I finally finished a draft of my personal statement today.  And I'm about halfway through the list of grad schools that exist in my field, to figure out where I want to apply.  And my comprehensive exams are in about 10 weeks (during 7 of which I will also be teaching and taking classes). 

It's been good to have some time to unwind and live a little less frenetically.  But I think it's time to buckle down.

[Caleb]

Well they were finally going to open a 5 guys burger joint in town...

But of course when the town authorities heard that they were going to open a decent food place in Plattsburgh they clamped down and hit them with zoning penalties and restrictions.

(Can't let the god awful locally owned restaurants have competition from a place that can make a decent non frozen sandwich)

Seriously the only good places to eat in town are super expensive (Thai, Mexican, Indian) and there isn't a good place to grab a nice sandwich.

[Lines]

Let alone a gigantic burger with an unlimited supply of fries. I feel your pain.

[Zingoleb]

I just found $32 in my microwave