h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

{[caer csd] It is much the same here, Marv and salaries have plummetted. An MCNE would have earned upwards of £70,000 with free private health care, car etc 18 months ago. Now its nearer £35,000 and very few extras as they are taxed to the hilt and there are plenty of techies who are out of work.

However there are areas where if you are prepared to work in excess of 60 hour weeks and spot the next best thing and get qualified in time, it is possible to earn £60,000.

No2 son wants to get a few basic qualifications under his belt, CNA type of stuff and get a help desk post to start with and see how he likes it. He knows what the pressures are, having seen H wound up like a coiled spring.}

I personally couldn't do IT....I would say mean things like get away from the computer, you're an idiot...not terribly diplomatic.

Thanks for the link, Witty!!!! I've added it to my favorites, as I think it might be something I need on a regular basis!

Today's the first one...and I guess it's going to be fairly entertaining, as the topic of discussion is the whole moving us to some other school issue. Now, the question that keeps coming up is whether or not this would fall under some sort of gerrymandering (sp?) statute, since basically what they are doing is moving "undesirables" out, without redoing ALL of the district boundaries. I know in the 60s, lots of folks were sued for these sorts of things.

Wish I knew a lawyer.

Courtesy, its so nice to know that I'm not the only one. I'm going back to pick up a degree in Psychology and am transfering many credits from my first go, so I should be able to skip the required classes. Hopefully that'll mean that I'll be in with slightly older students. Although, the thought that I could take a class given by a grad student and still be older than them... That is unnerving to say the very least.

IT isn't so bad. I wish that I could get into it now. Or back into tech support. Or just about anything besides what I am doing right now.

It probably doesn't help, G, (as Marv told me) that you live about 400 yards from where you work. Aaaaaaa! Must. Get. Away.

Titania, I think organizing the phone book by people's first name is a super idea. I can't tell you how many times I wanted to get ahold of someone and could not remember their last name. Of course, think how long the section on "John" would be...

Is it just me, or does anyone else after reading about MR's battles with the PTA have the song "Harper Valley PTA" stuck in their head?

Just for those of you who don't know, I present "Harper Valley PTA":

http://lyrics.coolfreepages.com/Lyrics/1968/201968.html

I had it stuck in my head *just* long enough to force me to fire up some Psychedelic Furs.

Yes, I do live far too close to where I work. The upside of that is that I get to walk to work every morning and home every night. That's actually quite nice.

Just imagine Devo singing it, FG, and it'll be gone almost immediately.

Okay, there's something totally askew about Devo singing that song.

Trivia for the day, who did it originally?

Gw7en, I'm in my mid 30s, and wow. Some of these students I'm working with are REALLY young. 21, never had a job, fresh from a BA...they're so naive and thoughtless it's frightening. By thoughtless, they tend not to think for themselves, but let the professor's idea hold sway. I've found that professors like being challenged by students who can back it up. Just remember to breathe.

Thanks, Red. I don't normally have problems standing up to instructors. One of my earliest memories is arguing with my preschool teacher over whether the earth is closer to the sun during winter in the northern hemisphere. I was, unfortunately for the poor lady, correct. She was, unfortunately for me, a nun of the strict, ruler-using variety. I was happy when we moved.

MR -

I agree with the thoughtless idea. I have a teacher who throws out very broad stereotypes, just to pick up a discussion thread, and all the people under 21 sit there and just write down what she said. I usually pick up the gauntlet and wade into the fray, but it gets boring doing it all the time.

As for the dorms, I currently live with my girlfriend in a nice house in Irvine, so I do not have to deal with the undergraduate drama that I was once a part of. Although it would be nice to sit back with a nice scotch and watch the unfolding events, I definitely wouldn't need a TV.

Also, I have noticed a surprising liberality in the way young ladies (around 21) dress at college now. Short skirts, exposed g-strings, and no bras ...... I would think they would respect themselves more than that.

Courtesy

Hmmm... I seem to recall getting in to an argument with my sunday school teacher in about the third grade over the nature of Plasma. I kept on telling her that there is no way that you can put plasma into your veins as it would burn you alive. Thing is I knew about plasma as the fourth state of matter, but not plasma as in the carrier of blood cells.

Was I really a geek way back then?

Courtesy, It is not just ~21 year old college students that dress like that. I was eating at a mexican joint near a highschool as it was invaded by the lunch rush. I noted all of the same clothing options on girls that were about 13-17 years of age. While I am somewhat used to that manner of dress as a club goer, it is unnerving to think of the distraction that would have caused in my highschool and that was only nine years ago.

My older daughter is a sophomore in high school and taking honors social studies. She had to read a biography of an influential American Colonial over the summer. The first day of school, the teacher asked my daughter who she read about. When she responded that it was Abigail Adams, the teacher ranted on about how Abigail was just a fat housewife and why would my daughter pick her. My kid sat there with her jaw hanging until the teacher said, "Well, aren't you going to defend yourself?" It was a moment.

Valuable lesson, that. Sounds like it's going to be a good year for social studies.

Titania, I posted that link over in Amy's Emergency Ward 42 thread. If you go to my space and use the link to my last posting there, it should not be too far off, only 1 led back or so.

I'm testing a new internet connection in one of our offices. Oooooohh it's fast. I wish it was my office.

I agree, Courtesy. There seems to be a shortage of self-respect these days - ironically clothed in the guise of self-respect. Sad but true, I fear. I just wish people would get over it already. I am convinced that the only reason most of the girls I work with don't dress that way is because they would be sent home to change and/or fired.

That connection sounds blinding, d'E. I think that you should appropriate the office in question.

G, I am not so sure. I have seen some of the girls in your office. The ones in our office are so rare they do not need to have risque clothing to gain attention. Their being in a room full of geeks is enough.

And some of the kids down a floor are even worse.

I must explain to the rest of you. The company that G and I work at (note I said at and not for) employs a number of highschool aged kids that really should not be let out of the house. We have seen fights in the parking lot in the past. Some days I feel like I am back in highschool.

We've got a girl here who insists (despite having a bit of a tummy) on wearing navel-bearing shirts and low hip-hugging skirts and pants. Some days there's a bit of a g-string hanging out. Needless to say, she's well liked by the guys in my office.

"I never let schooling get in the way of my education" - Mark Twain


As the parent of a home-schooled child, you know where my biases lie. However, there's lots to back up my views. For a very thorough treatment, read "Instead of Education" by John Holt - most of what is to follow is paraphrased from him.

Okay, you have expressed concern with education systems in various parts of the world. However, I would say that they are not failing - they are doing what most people want them to do, and doing it quite well. They do the following:

1) shut young people out of adult society. Nobody wants them around (parents want to work, they're a nuisance to businesses), therefore we have compulsory education.

2) Ranking kids; dividing them into winners and losers. To be peaceful and stable, every society is organized into winnners and losers. The winners must persuade the losers that this state of affairs is necessary, and that the way of picking the winners and losers is just - ie that the losers deserve to lose. This is where schools come in. But it is further complicated by the fact that the people controlling society want the schools to pick the winners in such a way that the existing social order is not changed (ie. the winners are the children of winners).

(I can talk more about this point if people are interested)

3) Get kids ready for reality (learning to live as losers, to live the kind of life and do the kind of work that most people do)

Most modern work is moronic. (I can expand on this if wanted). So, schools have to prepare curious, energetic, enthusiastic children for this type of work. They do very well. Schools run on the policy that kids have to be told, all the time, what to do, and have to be made to do it, right away, with no fuss or backtalk. The idea is that if they learn to obey the principal now, they will obey the president later. Basically, they are taught to be submissive, and obey authority.

So those are the purposes of schools and I think they do a good job of it. Wanna know what schools teach?

Ooops - gotta get back to work. More later.



Oh, before I go - someone mentioned the Lemony Snicket books. I just read the first 6 of them. They are great! I think the humour would appeal to DNA fans.

*quietly applauds GL's rant* Here, here!

*raises in salute and takes a sip*

You're right, though, Marv. Some of them are rather... Not entirely clothed. Most of the time they do ok, though. And, yes, downstairs is far worse.

Another Lemony Snickett fan. Number 9 will be out soon.
Also a fan of home schooling. I'm really impressed with the test scores of the kids who are home schooled.