It’s time for another top 10 list

You are a bit too much like me if you've ever:

1. Bought a Frappuccino at the gas station, got your change but forgot the beverage at the register.
   
2. Given the pizza delivery driver his tip, then walk back to your apartment without the pizza.¹
   
3. Shut the door when leaving your office…when your officemates are still IN the office.
   
4. Locked your keys in your office…at 11pm on a Sunday.
   
5. Put laundry detergent and clothes into the washer and forgot to turn it on.
   
6. Never know what time it is; all of your clocks in your apartment and car are set ahead by various numbers of minutes as a way to trick yourself you're on time.²
   
7. Left your apartment at 11am when your office hours start at 11.³
   
8. Attempted to use your office key to unlock the bathroom door.⁴
   
9. Pressed 3 on the elevator when on the 3^rd floor and are puzzled when the door opens immediately and other occupants in the elevator are laughing at you.
   
10. Your clothes have ended up more wrinkled after you iron them than before.⁵
    

¹ The next time you order pizza, the same delivery driver comes to the door and laughs when he sees it is you.

² You are late anyway.

³ One could argue that getting to the office is an essential to having office hours and thus should count as such.

⁴ The bathroom door is always unlocked

⁵ Wrinkles were carefully ironed in. Doesn't effort count for something?

Proper wording is very important…

I may have a real-life example for explaining perceptual sets to my students

Yesterday, when I got my mail, there was a business card for a groomer. Since I don't have a pet, I almost threw it out. I decided to flip it over and read the back. OMG. It said…"In a short time, (former neighbor) will be finished with the punishment."

This would be considered weird for most people, but it scared the crap out of me for several reasons. First of all, this particular neighbor never liked me. He'd never thank me when I opened the door for him and even brushed past me in the hall, hitting my shoulder with his. Totally rude. Never said hello. Also, whenever I made the slightest bit of noise, he'd bang on the ceiling of his apt. For example, I had someone over and while putting down the futon (which does make some noise – I have wood floors), he furiously banged on the ceiling for 5 minutes after. It takes all of 30 seconds to convert the futon to the bed configuration. He seemed to have some anger issues.

The biggest thing, however, is that I know he has a criminal history. I did get sex offender notifications for him. When I looked at his record (yay for public records) I saw that he had some assault charges too.

So, putting this information together, I quickly determined that I needed to leave my apt asap. I took it as he was going to be getting out of jail soon…and that he might come after me. He really seemed to hate me when he lived here.

a bag and booked it over to a friend's apartment, where I called my landlord. She told me that they (his fiancée/wife) were getting their lives together and moved out into a bigger place. She asked me about the business card – what it was for, what it said, etc. When I looked more carefully at the front, I noticed it had the name of the groomer on it. My landlord identified it as his fiancée. Also, there appeared to be a $5 coupon on the card too. My landlord said it was probably her way of telling people that she and H were doing ok and everyone probably got one.

This makes sense, but why would she write something like that on the card? I never talked to them; they didn't know me. However, it is not likely that someone sending a threatening note would leave a business card with her own name on it.

Now I feel silly about freaking out so much about it. The criminal charges against him were quite a while ago. I was really thinking about calling the police. I'm very happy I didn't; that could cause huge problems for them. I hate that I'm that judgmental about people. I am a believer that people can change, if they want to. It sounds like he wants to. Plus, I could have taken a little bit longer to read the card completely. I'm really happy that my landlord knew him well enough to understand what she probably meant.

Ah, the drama.

Still alive…just hungry and tired

I'm back from NYC! I had a great weekend, but I'm frantically trying to catch up with some stuff. I'll post some updated stuff and travel stories later.

Mutiny…narrowly avoided

Today, I conducted an exam review. My "favorite class" slipped in the rankings, big time. While I was explaining exactly how the testing systems work (they take them on the computer at a testing center on campus), and outlining how I was going to conduct the review, my eager to learn, friendly class turned on me. Sudden hatred…great. Especially since I was in a rather jovial mood and quite well prepared.

First of all, the majority of my class said I didn't tell them there was a review sheet posted on the website. Several students did insist to others that I did state it would be posted on the website. Also, I wrote on the homepage of the course website stating there was a review sheet, as well as exactly where to find it. They are *supposed* to check it every day. They glare, save from the few sympathetic glances from those who actually follow directions.

I mention that it is 15 questions that will be very much like test questions. How many questions are on the test? 50, I answer. The class reacts as if I told them they all were going to fail. One outspoken female student asked me, "How can there only be 15 questions on the review sheet and 50 test questions?! You aren't even covering half of the test material" she states indignantly. I hear a few "yeahs" from other students. I am dumbfounded. Somehow they believe that if I give them 50 review questions it would cover all of the test material. *Sigh* I could give them 100 review questions that might do a better job, but they won't actually look at them.

I'm trying to explain that I tried to pick a representative sample of questions that cover the major topics on the test, and that I only have enough time to thoroughly go through 15 questions. I was cut off by the drone of students murmuring about how unfair the tests were and that I should go over EVERYTHING that could possibly be on the test. Um, even with 3 hours of lecture a week cannot cover everything in the book that they need to know. I then wonder if they are still used to chapter tests. They are, in fact, just out of high school.

I tell them that I cannot possibly cover everything that could be on the test. I am asked if I know what is on the test. I repeat what I had said earlier, "Modules 1-4, 6, & appendix A". Dude in the back says, "No, what's on the test". I am perplexed. I state that "that IS what is on the test." "All of it?" he said in disbelief. "All of it", I repeat. The class freaks out. I tell them I mentioned this the first class and reminded them repeatedly that I can only cover the most important things from the text, the rest of it they have to read on their own. Guess what? That's why you have a freakin' book. I also tell them that I can't possibly cover all of the test topics as a review. Unless, of course, I just list them and not explain them. They can get that on the website – and I showed them how to do it in class today.

I ask them if they would like me to post more review question on the website. They say yes. How many, I ask? They don't know. How about 10 more, I say. The outspoken girl exclaims, "That's still only covering half the material on the test". I open my mouth to speak…and close it again. I can't even reason with her – she won't get it.

I agree to the 10 more. They do not look satisfied. I also tell them that I will go over the 15 questions in class, and I can hold another exam review outside of class. I tell them that I'll go over the 15 and then we'll set up an outside review afterward. So we do, and it takes the rest of the class time. I not only showed them the right answer, but asked them why it was right, why the others were wrong. I showed them how to pick out the key words in the questions to tip them off to the answer. At the end of the class, I asked those who wanted another review, outside of class, to please come up to the front….One person comes up to me. Several file past and thank me for the review. Relief.

I'm still in shock how pissed off my students seem. They are usually a dream class – participative, they seem to like learning, and they laugh at my jokes. But today….

Second class was cool; they gave me no problems. Nice.

Full moon tonight – possible explanation?

More evidence to convince my students I’m old…

Today I taught about culture stuff; similarities and differences. Oh, and gender roles. I was mentioning that it usually is not see as acceptable for boys to play with dolls, and girls to play with gi joes, like I did. Blank stares. Quizzical faces. It hit me…they never played with gi joes!

Later on in the lecture (I was talking about culture then), I asked them if they remembered George Bush (senior's) gaffe in Australia (V doesn't mean victory in Australia; it means "fuck off"). Just as I was saying this, it dawned on me that they probably don't remember George H. W. Bush. His presidency ended in 1992….most of my students were born in 1990. Oh dear.

Lastly, I show a video about taste – the supertaster one with Alan Alda. For those of you that don't know, cayenne pepper can be used as an analgesic. After the video ended, I was about to say something, what exactly I can't recall. I was going to reference absolut peppar and chipotle beer, probably ask them if they had ever had either. Crap. I can't exactly ask underage students that!

I need new examples. Perhaps I should ask a student what the cool kids talk about these days J.

Friends…

Every time I need someone, I'm surprised how many people are there. Or would be there, if I asked. I scroll through my phonebook, there are many that I feel like I can call…even at 3am. Sometimes, people really, really surprise me. Like driving a good distance to see me when all I needed was a friend and a night out.

I know I haven't been a lot of fun lately, and a lot of my responses to "How are you?" have been "stressed", "overwhelmed", or "lonely". I'm just trying to get back on track at school…and in the rest of my life. I'm frustrated with myself often and use this as a sounding board. I hate that sometimes I get so caught up in my own life that I forget about other people.

So, let me be the one you can call at 3am. I want to be there.

It doesn’t matter how many times…

It doesn't matter how many times I watch Jim Gaffigan. I always find him hilarious. Even when I remember most of his jokes.

Lately, I have lost my belief in the goodness of my neighbors. I still have not gotten my package that I know for a fact had been delivered. Probably stolen. Grrrr.

Today, my hostility towards my neighbors ended abruptly. Here's how it went down: I went downstairs to the laundry room to (you guessed it) do laundry. All workout clothes and pajamas. I'll have nothing to wear to school all week, but I'll have plenty of clean clothes to sweat and/or sleep in.

Annnyyywayyy, I noticed that someone was drying their clothes. When I got back downstairs…my neighbor had actually taken his/her clothes out of the dryer. I pull out the lint trap….NO LINT!!! Craziness! Usually, clothes end up being in there for hours and the lint trap is beyond full. I just can't believe that at a least one of my neighbors is that thoughtful!

What can I say? Small things make me happy!

Random visits. Wire Mothers. Hot pocket!

Someone stole my pants!!!

I actually had a pretty good day, even though I got about 2 hours of sleep. Teaching went well, and I'm feeling a bit better somehow (given lack of sleep). Although one of my students (a different one this time, the usual creepy guy was absent today), is being a little creepy. I dropped my pen while I was lecturing. Before I even started to bend down and pick it up from under the table, a student (male) sprang from his seat, darted past the 2 students sitting in front of him, and reached under that table to retrieve my pen. He was at least 15 feet away. Did he predict I would drop my pen? How did he get to it that fast?

The pen was about 2 inches from my feet. I was standing behind the table. I thanked him, of course. The half of the class that actually noticed were looking at me like, WTF? I'm sure I had the same expression on my face. Who does that? If I had rolled near him, then that would be a normal and polite way to act. To bound across the room and dive underneath a table in front of 41 of your classmates is just…weird.

I get back to my apartment and get my mail. I had signed and left an info notice from UPS. I had ordered some clothes that (hopefully) would fit well. The package was not at the front door and the info notice was gone. I started to get pissed, then I thought that someone may have been kind enough to bring it to my door (Some of my neighbors are very nice). Nope. Perhaps ups didn't deliver it? I check the website. Delivered at 1:53pm. Crap. I want my pants!!! (tee-hee I put crap in front of a sentence talking about pantsJ)

Why new pants are important: On Tuesday, I wore a pair of pants that usually are little big, and are very comfy. And they were unwrinkled. Well, they now are more than a little big. They had no belt loops either. I wore them anyway. In my first class, I was setting up my computer for class. I stepped on the hem of my pants (too big à too long) and took half a step. Luckily I didn't take a whole one – my pants almost fell off!!!

Oh, and I received another AARP card in the mail. Seriously? Yes, seriously.

I'm pissed off, yet amused. And have a splitting headache. However, I am not sad. And the events of today make a good story. I'll take it J.

So why aren’t you grilling something?

After a long, aimless drive (I do that sometimes), I decided to go to chipotle. Yummy. When I get to the cash register to pay for my burrito bol, the guy at the cash register says; "hey, why aren't you out grilling something?" Incredulous, I reply, "Because I have no grill, yard, patio, or balcony". Who asks something like that? Who asks something like that when you are purchasing food?

I've spent this weekend catching up on some things and getting some sleep. I'm no longer sick (*knocks on wood). I just needed a relaxing weekend to quell my anxieties about school/teaching/life. It's helping. If I'm prepared this week, it will go soooo much better than last week.

Ok, that's b.s. I haven't done any work this weekend, and I've stayed up way too late. The no longer sick thing is true, however. I'm just as anxious (due to lack of work done) and dreading the upcoming week. I also feel a little lonely. Why, I'm not sure. I did spend the weekend alone, but I'm usually cool with that. I talked to my folks, but it didn't seem to help.

Well, I shouldn't feel lonely tomorrow – there will be plenty of people around me then…