the same thing I would want today
I would want again tomorrow
I hope you've all had a fantastic long weekend. Must be nice to have a job in a country that takes time off. You'd never find that here in the J-pan. It's all work work work. And an ungodly number of meetings. They're everywhere in the society.
For example, I want to cancel my cable. Instead of canceling it and returning the box, J-Com sent someone to my house today to sign a paper saying that I wanted to cancel the cable. This was after I called and requested that I cancel my cable. So they just wanted to double check.
He couldn't have come at a worse time either. O and I were just wrapping up the second chorus of "Somewhere Out There". We sing it to each other all the time to stay close and the doorbell rang right when we got to the "pale moonlight" part. Fuck, I'm getting teary-eyed just thinking about it.
Anyway, I sign the paper and the guy wants to then schedule another meeting in a week for a guy to come out and disconnect the cable box. Disconnect the cable box? I don't think I need a specialist for that. It's not like there's some risk of personal injury here. Let me disconnect it. Please? Maybe I'll rig up a booby trap of some sort so that when the guy comes to disconnect the box his finger will get a shock and I can laugh a little.
I enjoy so much of this place, but I can't stand the meetings.
They are a constant nuisance in an otherwise idyllic existence over here. At work it started with the 4 week Wednesday afternoon meeting cycle. It took a while to get used to it, but after a while I came to understand the futility in complaining about the loss of my Wednesday afternoons.
First, to start the month off right, a full faculty meeting. During this 2 hour smilefest the entire faculty sits down to listen to Michael drone on about some amazing program that he's brought to the school or how he's working hard to make sure our kids are respected. It's a bit of flag waving that gets tiresome after the first quarter hour.
If you pay attention during these full faculty meetings you can usually catch a few gems out of the bullshit that endlessly flows from this guys mouth. The other day I was talking with him about upgrading my chalkboard to either a whiteboard or a smartboard. He couldn't believe his ears when he heard that I still had a chalkboard.
"No way, it's time to look towards the future. I'll make sure you get a whiteboard." Wait, correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't whiteboards been around for a few years? Wouldn't looking towards the future mean implementing a touch screen whiteboard that is linked to your computer and the Internet and all the other wonderful things a smartboard can do?
But I digress. The point is that he didn't believe me that I still had a chalkboard. I literally turned around and showed him my ass so he could see the chalk that is always below my belt from leaning on the chalk tray. So during the last full faculty meeting he said, "I know every corner of this facility. I know what needs to be upgraded and what is top of the line. You don't have to go grumbling around about upgrages. I know what's happening here."
No you don't.
The full faculty meetings are a chance to talk with members of the faculty and discuss school-wide issues in an open forum.
O.K. that statement was a lie.
We have one of those 2 hour beauties every first Wednesday of the month. But don't worry, we also have a half-hour love fest every Tuesday morning. Again, those are just a chance for the guy to talk at us for a while. The best part is the glazed over look on everyone's eyes.
Just when you thought you could go home, there's another meeting every second Wednesday of the month. These are the division meetings and it just happens to be my luck that Michael is the head of the high school so he leads our meetings as well. Again, another chance for us all to sit in a room and listen to him drone on for about 2 hours. These are brutal because you really have to pretend like you're paying attention.
Every third Wednesday of the month is the PTA meeting. Yes, I have to go because it's written into my contract. I don't really mind though, I usually just sit in the back and grade papers. Wait, what the fuck. Yes, I mind. Why do I have to be there? Anyone?
So.
The whole point of this little rant is that at our last high school Wednesday afternoon meeting Michael decided that since these meetings are held so seldom we should meet more often to stay a cohesive group. He suggested that the high school teachers all meet for lunch once a week on Thursday. Location? "Let's hold these in Devin's room."
What the fuck?
Why? Oh come on!
Now I can't even pretend that I am too busy and can't show up all the time. Everyone is going to be sitting there in my room. I like the other teachers, but why does this have to happen in room 8?
For those of you who have been paying attention, now I meet with Michael in some capacity, three days a week. When am I going to have any time to play freecell and talk to O during school hours?
Just to recap:
Tuesday morning: Full Faculty
Wednesday afternoon: Full Faculty / Division / PTA / Bye week
Thursday lunch: high school teachers lunch in my room
Only one more month until Thailand.
For example, I want to cancel my cable. Instead of canceling it and returning the box, J-Com sent someone to my house today to sign a paper saying that I wanted to cancel the cable. This was after I called and requested that I cancel my cable. So they just wanted to double check.
He couldn't have come at a worse time either. O and I were just wrapping up the second chorus of "Somewhere Out There". We sing it to each other all the time to stay close and the doorbell rang right when we got to the "pale moonlight" part. Fuck, I'm getting teary-eyed just thinking about it.
Anyway, I sign the paper and the guy wants to then schedule another meeting in a week for a guy to come out and disconnect the cable box. Disconnect the cable box? I don't think I need a specialist for that. It's not like there's some risk of personal injury here. Let me disconnect it. Please? Maybe I'll rig up a booby trap of some sort so that when the guy comes to disconnect the box his finger will get a shock and I can laugh a little.
I enjoy so much of this place, but I can't stand the meetings.
They are a constant nuisance in an otherwise idyllic existence over here. At work it started with the 4 week Wednesday afternoon meeting cycle. It took a while to get used to it, but after a while I came to understand the futility in complaining about the loss of my Wednesday afternoons.
First, to start the month off right, a full faculty meeting. During this 2 hour smilefest the entire faculty sits down to listen to Michael drone on about some amazing program that he's brought to the school or how he's working hard to make sure our kids are respected. It's a bit of flag waving that gets tiresome after the first quarter hour.
If you pay attention during these full faculty meetings you can usually catch a few gems out of the bullshit that endlessly flows from this guys mouth. The other day I was talking with him about upgrading my chalkboard to either a whiteboard or a smartboard. He couldn't believe his ears when he heard that I still had a chalkboard.
"No way, it's time to look towards the future. I'll make sure you get a whiteboard." Wait, correct me if I'm wrong, but haven't whiteboards been around for a few years? Wouldn't looking towards the future mean implementing a touch screen whiteboard that is linked to your computer and the Internet and all the other wonderful things a smartboard can do?
But I digress. The point is that he didn't believe me that I still had a chalkboard. I literally turned around and showed him my ass so he could see the chalk that is always below my belt from leaning on the chalk tray. So during the last full faculty meeting he said, "I know every corner of this facility. I know what needs to be upgraded and what is top of the line. You don't have to go grumbling around about upgrages. I know what's happening here."
No you don't.
The full faculty meetings are a chance to talk with members of the faculty and discuss school-wide issues in an open forum.
O.K. that statement was a lie.
We have one of those 2 hour beauties every first Wednesday of the month. But don't worry, we also have a half-hour love fest every Tuesday morning. Again, those are just a chance for the guy to talk at us for a while. The best part is the glazed over look on everyone's eyes.
Just when you thought you could go home, there's another meeting every second Wednesday of the month. These are the division meetings and it just happens to be my luck that Michael is the head of the high school so he leads our meetings as well. Again, another chance for us all to sit in a room and listen to him drone on for about 2 hours. These are brutal because you really have to pretend like you're paying attention.
Every third Wednesday of the month is the PTA meeting. Yes, I have to go because it's written into my contract. I don't really mind though, I usually just sit in the back and grade papers. Wait, what the fuck. Yes, I mind. Why do I have to be there? Anyone?
So.
The whole point of this little rant is that at our last high school Wednesday afternoon meeting Michael decided that since these meetings are held so seldom we should meet more often to stay a cohesive group. He suggested that the high school teachers all meet for lunch once a week on Thursday. Location? "Let's hold these in Devin's room."
What the fuck?
Why? Oh come on!
Now I can't even pretend that I am too busy and can't show up all the time. Everyone is going to be sitting there in my room. I like the other teachers, but why does this have to happen in room 8?
For those of you who have been paying attention, now I meet with Michael in some capacity, three days a week. When am I going to have any time to play freecell and talk to O during school hours?
Just to recap:
Tuesday morning: Full Faculty
Wednesday afternoon: Full Faculty / Division / PTA / Bye week
Thursday lunch: high school teachers lunch in my room
Only one more month until Thailand.
Devin thought this was worth your time
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