The Fora: A Higher Education Community

Had to fill up in san Antonio today.  Went to a Circle K.  Card worked, but pump never started.  It looked like others were having problems with the pumps as well. I went inside and was told that they were out of gas.  I said, "Usually they put a bag over the handle so people would know."  They responded that they put "caution signs" out to indicate that they were out of gas.  I said, "How does "Caution, slippery when wet indicate that you are out of gas?" 
Idiots.  i went to a place next door, and after waiting in line and filling up, I looked and they STILL had not put bags or anything to indicate that they were out of gas. 

There has certainly been an increase in problems purchasing fuel at gas pumps lately.  I've got a lot of road travel to go in the coming weeks.  I hope that fuel suppliers can get their act together.

Quote from: clean on September 30, 2023, 02:29:06 PMHad to fill up in san Antonio today.  Went to a Circle K.  Card worked, but pump never started.  It looked like others were having problems with the pumps as well. I went inside and was told that they were out of gas.  I said, "Usually they put a bag over the handle so people would know."  They responded that they put "caution signs" out to indicate that they were out of gas.  I said, "How does "Caution, slippery when wet indicate that you are out of gas?" 
Idiots.  i went to a place next door, and after waiting in line and filling up, I looked and they STILL had not put bags or anything to indicate that they were out of gas.

I thought of iconic line in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" when the guys see Rufus stepping out of the phone booth.

Quote from: hmaria1609 on October 05, 2023, 12:03:53 PMI thought of iconic line in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" when the guys see Rufus stepping out of the phone booth.

Try teaching philosophy with "So-crates" stuck firmly in the back of your mind. =/

It's only a matter of time before I slip up.

Quote from: Parasaurolophus on October 05, 2023, 04:25:35 PM

Quote from: hmaria1609 on October 05, 2023, 12:03:53 PMI thought of iconic line in "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure" when the guys see Rufus stepping out of the phone booth.

Try teaching philosophy with "So-crates" stuck firmly in the back of your mind. =/

It's only a matter of time before I slip up.

I have a similar concern with Plato vs. Play-Doh.

Just had a video call with the chair of the sabbatical committee: I didn't get approved, which didn't surprise me (I haven't been a rah-rah-Kumbayah girl for a number of years now). Whatever, fine--I can rack up better money via OL toward my pension for the next two summers (rather than being off on sabbatical during that time), and summer students are always way better than the regular academic year.

What DOES piss me off is that, when I asked for the committee's reasons ("so I can improve my proposal if I'd apply in the future"*), every single one of them had been directly and clearly addressed in my package and my letters. In each case, I stopped the chair and pointed out where every objection had been answered; in each case, she answered with, "Oh, I don't remember seeing that," or, "I guess we missed that." Yet the decision was final anyway.

So you're actually telling me that you only half-assed looked at my materials--and more importantly to me, the letters that my colleagues put a lot of time and thought into writing--and that it was, what, pre-determined that I wasn't going to get the award before you even bothered to decide?  What the actual FUCK?

If I evaluated student work, or filled out required admin paperwork, like that, my ass would be fired in a heartbeat for dereliction of duties. But when you're deciding on a benefit for a colleague, it's OK (maybe because I'm on one of those Admin blacklists that I've always heard about but tried not to believe were actually real)?

As I told her, this kind of shit is exactly why faculty are checked out and don't do anything except teach our classes, sit alone in our offices for required office hours, and then get the hell off campus ASAP; saying "the College values your input and rewards good work" and such is just so much BS. Also, in the case of sabbaticals:  my proposal, directed at creating dev ed resources for use in the classroom by any interested faculty, to help remedy basic literacy gaps, doesn't get approved, while another proposal that created a WalkMan narrated walking tour of our campus WAS worth a semester off at full pay?  Seriously?

---
* Of course, ohHELLno, I'm never wasting my time to apply again. Nor am I going to apply for the full-time online faculty position that would be perfect for me and that I'd be perfect for. They don't get any more chances to kick me in the teeth. Save it for somebody else.

Dell and your sucky computers.

Microsoft for having no good help online and no actual humans to talk to.

Best Buy and your lousy customer service.

Windows 11 which cannot even compress a folder without freezing.

I wish terrible, terrible toenail fungus upon all of you.

Quote from: AmLitHist on October 26, 2023, 12:12:13 PMSo you're actually telling me that you only half-assed looked at my materials--and more importantly to me, the letters that my colleagues put a lot of time and thought into writing--and that it was, what, pre-determined that I wasn't going to get the award before you even bothered to decide?  What the actual FUCK?

Ask me why I don't apply for internal grants anymore . . .

Took the subway during morning rush hour on a weekday this week. As the train started pulling into one of the staions, it stopped abruptly because "an individual" according to the conductor had thrown a shopping cart onto the tracks. On my way home, encountered a teenager vaping away, not far from where I was sitting. I fumed (metaphorically, of course) for a while, and then asked the teen if he could stop vaping and that it was illegal to vape in the subway. Much to my surprise, the teen complied. He and I were on that train for several stations so although it was a relief, things could have gone badly if this had been a teen not used to authority figures such as parents or teachers.

Today I expect to hear bad news about the choice for a senior level hire at my institution, leading to the loss of a very strong interim, and yesterday I witnessed a faculty member try to physically another senior administrator. This does not feel like a cheerful ramp up to Thanksgiving.

Quote from: sinenomine on November 16, 2023, 04:15:59 AMToday I expect to hear bad news about the choice for a senior level hire at my institution, leading to the loss of a very strong interim, and yesterday I witnessed a faculty member try to physically another senior administrator. This does not feel like a cheerful ramp up to Thanksgiving.

Seems to be a crucial word missing. Don't tell us. Let us guess.

Tackle?

All right, you're going with "tackle," and you've picked Charles Nelson Reilly as your celebrity match. Charles, "I witnessed a faculty member try to physically BLANK another senior administrator." Show us your answer, please...

You can see how rattled I am! The missing word is attack.

They should run for the Senate if you are in the US.

I am so tired of the requests to allow student group presentations in my class, to excuse my class to go to some presentation, or to assign extra-credit to encourage attendance.

NO!  I don't have enough time to get the rough the class stuff as is.  And I don't do extra credit for subject material, I'm not gonna do it for your pet project.