Random School/Work-Venting Post

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Well it wasn't really an interview... I was just hired pretty much since he wanted to get me this summer, but I turned 18 a week too late.

Also I have a job for next school year that comes with free housing! Need to find one this year though.

 

Name of the rant: History of Pharmacy + Ethics
Reason(s) of rant:
1. There is no literature for this, rather a collection of various books (which is fine, if they would let me transcribe the list of them at the first place ). With every book there is a comment "oh, but this is not suitable (too good) for you so use judgment"
1a. They are not giving any handouts or posting the lecture materials in the net centre for DL, so you have to sit there and virtually TRANSCRIBE a boatload of .ppt slides... So middle ages, but without the fun manuscript part. And the woman can talk for hours

0. (The Reason): They are having lectures on Saturdays, because the teachers were on some seminar or something when they should have kept them. The fact that the majority of the generation doesn't live in this city doesn't bother anyone.

Bottom line - I don't mind attending the damn thing, but, woman, either publish your own damn book or let me use some other relevant source. It's rather stupid to force a whole amphitheatre of people to sit there transcribing what you took from other books...It's the 21st century! Who needs transcribing lessons?!
Did I mention that writing occupies so much of the time that I have no idea what the lesson was about and it was half an hour ago...

P.S. The matter covered with the lectures is actually quite interesting - all sorts of old medicines, beliefs and practices... which probably just makes it worse.

 

Well done! The free housing by itself will save you TONS of money.

 

The thing is though, is that the job pays shockingly little... but is still a good job. I would be on call from 4PM-8AM 3-5 nights a week to go and fix things for the university. While on call I get a single dollar per hour (they might up it to $2) and while I'm working after being called in, it is $12. Now the working money is certainly good, but I doubt I will get called in much, so I'm only expecting to make about $60-85 dollars a week... but it is still fine with the housing

 

When you're getting something as massive as free housing you cannot look at the money you're earning as the income. How much do you pay for rent? $150 a week? $200? That's your income. The rest is just an extra bonus. When you look at it this way, it does pay well

 

Well... it ends up that I'm not going to take the job, since they are looking for someone to work it for the next three years and I wasn't really willing to commit to that without ever working it

However, that won't be too big of an issue, since I will be fine financially after this school year as I still have the job for summer and should be able to find a Spring one. I still might end up taking the troubleshooting job two years from now (he said he'd pretty much give it to me if I wanted), but either way I'm fine.

 

IT IS DONE! IT IS DONE!

I have just finished putting the last touches on my thesis and have just saved the PDF. Now for my boss to have one last look at it to make sure I didn't miss anything major and it's off to the printer!

Next stop, final examination in January. Once I pass this I can submit the final copy and start a new life!

Exciting times ahead.

 

Congratulations on your thesis, Z.!
I'm sure you'll do great on the defense of it, too.

There is something depressing in cleaning up and sorting everything up in the lab (after a few hours of real lab work), just so you can come in the next day and realise that the place looks like a bomb fell (again).
I'm not especially tidy, but there is constructive chaos, and there is Chaos.
My mentor is great, but I wish she was just a touch more methodical. With our current MO it takes over an hour to start any reaction (mostly because we are fishing for equipment all over the institute and doing the last minute dish-washing, acetone induced water removal and drying stuff).

 

Hmmm...very interesting...

My school's website is claiming that I got an 'A' in both of my classes this past quarter...and if that's true, that would put me within grasp of "Highest Honors" if I continue to get straight A's next quarter as well. While I'm not valedictorian or salutatorian material, being in the top 5% of my class would give me a chance to say, "Ha! What now bi**es?!?" to all those teachers who told me I was a goofball who would never amount to anything.

However, knowing my luck...and the reliability of my school's website...I probably got a 'C' or worse in both classes... We'll just have to wait for the grades to become official. But if I did in fact get an 'A' in both classes, I'll be getting another fancy honors certificate to put in my portfolio.

 

So here I am, one week later, still correcting the bloody stupid thesis. I printed the damn thing today, celebrated, got home... and noticed that a number of my figures and the table of contents are pointing at the wrong pages. More corrections followed.

Enough already!

 

I've had a little switch in attitude at work. I let the moronic customers do the talking. If they want to greet me, I'll greet them back, otherwise take what you need, pay and [censored] off.

I'll probably get slammed by complaints about my rudeness by both customers and mystery customers, though. If they don't like it, they can all suck my [censored]. I'm not a polite, nice, smiling machine.

 

Neither is Sal. Difference is he has to work with children

He's thinking of quitting the job... now has changed his mind after I've suggested alternatives he previously shot down and being offered a transfer to another Games Workshop store.

 

I also could ask for a transfer - my new workplace would be like 30 seconds away from where I live. With that little [censored] at work hating me (the feeling being mutual), my boss being as stable as a pendulum (it gets on one's nerves) and getting seriously fed up of 38 hours a week in this [censored] store, I've given this possibility some serious thought. I promised my bro I'd stick around till January, and if there's one thing in this word that is unbreakable, it's my word. He's aware of my idea of jumping ship and actually is fine with it, unlike when I first talked to him about the idea.

 

Thesis is submitted and out of my hands - FINALLY!

I won't go into the maddening details of last-second (or last 40 hours, in this case) problems and woes and horrors. It doesn't matter anymore - it's in the college office, making its way to my examiners, and I have nothing to do with it until the 21st of January.

Until then I'll enjoy a well-deserved rest!

Or so I thought... in reality I'll be running around like a headless chicken sorting all the last-minute stuff and figuring out how to move all the junk in my flat...

 

Bittersweetness= Staying up till 4:00AM to finish a paper that is due later that day... and having that class canceled.

Edit, cancel that, it's just bitterness. It turns out that despite being canceled the papers were still due today and he does not accept late papers (20% of grade)... It looks like I will be forced into using one my valuable withdraws to get me out of the course as I can't afford the GPA hit (for my scholarship). Three possible credits, and hours upon hours down the drain there

 

For several weeks now, I've been looking forward to my Medieval History of Medicine and Pharmacy classes, especially since I was hoping for depictions of decorated manuscripts , illuminations and preparations from the period.

However, the course is short (just a few lessons), the lecturers focus on legislature, and most of my favourite topics from the period barely got a footnote.

True, some aspects of it - the Salerno school teachings (mulieres salernitanae and the introduction of magister and doctor titles...) for example, were quite fun to learn about, but I feel like someone promised me a beach and delivered a handful of sand.

Rather disappointing, really.

 

Dead-week shouldn't include a 5-10 page analysis due two days after it is assigned

 

OMGZ (lol), I think I actually did well on the test for previously mentioned class... Which means I'm sure to be disappointed

 

Oh man....our company is screwed.

The announced last Friday that they are going to layoff over 12% of the company's global employees; our yearly performance raises have been postponed until mid-Q2; they've changed our schedules so that every week is now a "long week" but we don't get anymore overtime...and we work *every* Saturday; the stock purchase plan has been suspended indefinitely; they're reducing our plant's capacity...so there's often nothing to do, and if they catch anyone playing games, they will probably be added to the layoff list.

I'm almost hoping they lay me off, that way I could find a better paying job without having to pay back the $44,000 they've already paid for my schooling. The only downside to leaving is that I'd have to drop out of school for awhile, as I would have to pay my school $37,000 to finish my degree...that's right kids, a 4 year degree at ITT Technical Institute costs over $81,000...actually, it's more than that because they raise the price every quarter or so.

 

Good Luck, Kitrax