tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75942882009-02-21T06:29:33.669-07:00Pnoreply@blogger.comBlogger257125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1128378312532636322005-10-03T16:10:00.000-06:002005-10-03T16:27:09.856-06:00

All -When I worked at Amazon.com, the easiest way to say goodbye to a large group of people was to send a single email to everyone you knew (and in the early days, to the entire company). These emails were often funny, usually clever, and always sentimental. Every now and then a random tirade would come barreling into your inbox, spilling its guts about the injustices of the world and Amazon's

Pnoreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1127770094831853852005-09-26T15:27:00.000-06:002005-09-26T15:28:14.840-06:00

In Things Fall Apart, Chinua Achebe details the life of a tribal leader in Nigeria whose existence is slowly – though painfully – destroyed. It's less about colonialism (although the arrival of missionaries thoroughly wipes out any hope we might have for the protagonist's return to power) than it is about pride, erosion of tradition, and change.At least, I think that's what it's about. It's been

Pnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1127691660244671492005-09-25T17:40:00.000-06:002005-09-25T17:52:50.066-06:00

The UW club water polo team practices on Sunday and Tuesday nights. I started going about two weeks ago after being convinced by a fellow student in my post-bac program to try it out. I've always enjoyed water; I consider myself a decent swimmer; I've been trying to swim for exercise for several weeks now, but this is without a doubt the hardest workout I've ever had, wet or dry.Coed water polo

Pnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1127690681268244612005-09-25T17:24:00.000-06:002005-09-25T17:24:41.276-06:00

Well, folks, it's Sunday afternoon and I'm bummed. Not significantly or even unusually bummed, but bummed nonetheless.Mostly this has to do with being sick of school and the RA gig and the whole thing. I just want to get into the classroom and start teaching. Yes, yes, I'm learning some really important stuff – especially in my Teaching of English Methods classes – but overall I'm sick of sitting

Pnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1127181718711609062005-09-19T20:01:00.000-06:002005-09-19T20:01:58.723-06:00

Spent the weekend at K's place in Denver, or more accurately, K's older sister's and brother-in-law's place in Highlands Ranch. Sunday was J's birthday, and K's other, younger sister A and I drove down on Friday after class, negotiating some really obnoxious front-range traffic. A handled it great, though, even after I encouraged her to cut off a rather large dump truck. Hey, we needed into the

Pnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1126646681879570162005-09-13T15:24:00.000-06:002005-09-13T15:26:41.356-06:00

Tuesday, 12 midnight to 12:20am. Perform final hall round. Overhear a young woman say "I'll switch you shirts" in a rather loud voice behind a closed door in Crane. Hear other voices as well. Knock on door. Politely ask them to shut up.Tuesday, 12:20am to 12:45am. Finish reading articles and try to declutterize room. Notice that a pile of papers sitting on my desk are mostly outdated flyers I was

Pnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1126646617465453742005-09-13T15:23:00.000-06:002005-09-13T15:23:37.470-06:00

Monday, 7:00am. Wake up fully rested by alarm for the first time this semester. Feel refreshed. This feeling lasts approximately five minutes, when it occurs to me in the shower that I have a metric ton of homework and reading due on Tuesday.Monday, 8:00am. Breakfast at Washakie. Avoid Honey Nut Cheerios because the last time I tried them they were plain Cheerios because the Washakie staff can't

Pnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1126646559021856862005-09-13T15:19:00.000-06:002005-09-13T15:22:39.026-06:00

"What is, 'Paul had to bust people during his HR shift for noise complaints because they were so loud while they were gettin' it on?'"Alex: That's correct!

Pnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1126225507975133222005-09-08T18:23:00.000-06:002005-09-08T18:25:07.980-06:00

This blog has mostly refrained from getting way too personal about stuff. Sure, sure, I've crossed that line a few times, but generally the extremely personal details of my life are pretty much none of your damn business.Still, some things are worth sharing.I'm dating someone. K and I have known each other for over a year now, and a relationship that started as friendship has evolved into

Pnoreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1126053197502740962005-09-06T18:30:00.000-06:002005-09-06T18:34:31.430-06:00

Go see The Forty Year Old Virgin. I haven't laughed that hard so consistently in years. A group of us went Sunday night, and maybe it was the people I was with, maybe it was because the four male characters were as cleverly and accurately written as any males in recent cinema, or maybe it was because the middle aged woman next to me was laughing so hard she was crying, but I'm sitting here

Pnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1125845220185606732005-09-04T08:38:00.000-06:002005-09-04T08:47:01.790-06:00

I spent yesterday watching college football - lots and lots of college football - instead of freaking out about homework. Yes, yes, I have roughly 100 pages to read and a five pager to rewrite this weekend, not to mention some tricky assignments to crank out in my Methods class, but I woke up yesterday morning and thought I could use a day off.Wyoming lost but so did Colorado State, and when it

Pnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1125621984663876782005-09-01T18:38:00.000-06:002005-09-01T18:46:24.670-06:00

Folks, I'm not sleeping well and I have no idea why. Last night I went to bed at 11, woke up at 2, and never went back to sleep. Yesterday I woke up at 4. The morning before that was the adventure with HR (which has since blown over).And during the day I'm an idiot. In class I can't concentrate for shit. I've already dropped the ball on two assignments out of sheer inattention.The good news is

Pnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1125519421891480872005-08-31T14:05:00.000-06:002005-08-31T14:17:01.900-06:00

Methods of Teaching English - Basically, this class takes place in two parts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The afternoon section is tailored for more advanced students, which includes my fellow post-bac graduate students. This class is going to be one hell of a lot of work, but also very valuable in terms of preparing me for student- and real-world teaching. The most important class I'm taking this

Pnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1125408863986319462005-08-30T07:32:00.000-06:002005-08-30T07:34:23.993-06:00

Okay. It's two and a half hours after that previous post. I just called my boss and gave him a brief overview of last night's incident. After some quick questions, he assured me I did fine. He also wasn't surprised I couldn't find the report form, because apparently that seems to be a trend throughout the department right now.All's cool. But I'm still very sleepy. And that last thing is still

Pnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1125399118149908902005-08-30T04:49:00.000-06:002005-08-30T04:51:58.156-06:00

Well, folks, I'm writing this at 4:15 in the morning because I can't sleep, and I haven't been asleep for several hours now. I'm on on-call duty tonight, and at 2:30 the desk worker called me. I won't get into the details of what's going on because it's really nothing major (and it's confidential anyway), but the actual incident isn't what's bugging me.For this kind of situation we're supposed to

Pnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1125098932689090192005-08-26T17:25:00.000-06:002005-08-26T17:28:52.696-06:00

Well, actually, it's been steady but overall not too bad. Well over half of my floor is checked in; I'm taking a quick break in my room and the desk worker promised to call me if I had any arrivals.As with last year's move-in Friday, I have eaten nothing but sugary food today. Literally. Nothing else but sugar and carbs and caffeine.And now I feel a little oogie.

Pnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1125028587216381522005-08-25T21:56:00.000-06:002005-08-25T21:56:27.216-06:00

Hitting the deer last night was an odd moment. Technically, we didn't hit it so much as it hit us - it literally jumped into our car's rear quarter panel. Dazed, it proceeded to wander directly into the path of the behemoth pickup behind us. By the time we turned around the other driver was already out of his truck, digging in his toolbox for a knife. The deer, not yet old enough to have lost its

Pnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1125028552424578062005-08-25T21:23:00.000-06:002005-08-25T21:56:52.073-06:00

Check-ins start tomorrow. Keep me in your prayers.Last night a combined group of Crane and Hill staffers drove over to Saratoga to hang out in the hot springs there. It was a great night; we got back at 2 this morning after having reached and breached the limit of adventures a group of RAs can have in a 140 mile trip. Pulled over by the cops? Check. Mooning the other carload of RAs on I-80 at 1:

Pnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1124902019231814712005-08-24T10:44:00.000-06:002005-08-24T10:46:59.236-06:00

Well, two of us anyway.N and I have early check-ins scheduled today, and have been excused from a training session which looked not only agonizing but also completely irrelevant to the Crane RA job.Small mercies.

Pnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1124677437996918502005-08-21T20:22:00.000-06:002005-08-21T20:23:58.003-06:00

Okay, things are looking up. The room fiasco was solved by a last-minute cancellation on the women's wing, my desk schedule is limited to two four hour shifts (Sunday morning and Thursday night), and I don't have to get up early tomorrow morning. That last one is actually irrelevant since I'm an early riser, but after the weekend I've had, I'll take what I can get.Turns out the campers had a

Pnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1124648107589949082005-08-21T12:14:00.000-06:002005-08-21T12:18:49.463-06:00

Bad: I learned yesterday that I couldn't go camping because I had an early check-in.Good: Last night some friends stopped by and we drank port and watched Old School.Bad: Seeing those friends made me really miss last year.Good: Another early check-in arrived late this morning. Thank God I was here or she would have been really super pissed.Bad: Due to an administrative snafu she had been assigned

Pnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1124641927482772332005-08-21T10:31:00.000-06:002005-08-21T10:32:56.363-06:00

A little picture of what Crane hall looked like in its heyday.

Pnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1124570921775873962005-08-20T14:47:00.000-06:002005-08-20T14:48:41.786-06:00

Well, folks, it's been a very busy week and is ending, at this very moment, on a sour note. More on that in a minute.RA training is going better than it did last year, but that's a bit like saying this year's colonoscopy is better than last year's. Some of the sessions are vaguely interesting and occasionally relevant. Most of them are exercises in mental anguish. I literally walk out of the

Pnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1124045962768947542005-08-14T12:53:00.000-06:002005-08-14T12:59:22.776-06:00

Because I'm all about mnemonic devices and I'm also all about not having a webcrawler find my number online, I present to you my new number in Crane:307.POOR1AHor, if you prefer . . .307.POOP1AH

Pnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7594288.post-1124027131832445432005-08-14T07:43:00.000-06:002005-08-14T07:45:59.486-06:00

I'm back in Laramie after a week in Illinois, where it was hotter and more humid than a boiler room in hell. Nothing too exciting went down on this trip; mostly I sat around and read. That first Sunday my mom and I drove up to Chicago to see my sister and her family, but other than that. . . nothing too major.Although come to think of it I did walk to the UI campus and back (my mom lives about a

Pnoreply@blogger.com1