The bittersweet Sunday night update...
The weekend was good. On Friday, I got some nice relaxation taken care of. The one real downer was that, as folks may have heard, the government is closing some bases. Obviously, government efficiency is a good thing - in this case, it hits close to home as my uncle was employed at one of the bases (the Rock Island Arsenal). Ouch. But things are not so terrible. They are not actually closing the base - just moving the department he works in. This means he can either:
1) Look for a new position at the base (and there are actually some new units coming TO the Island, so that is a good option).
2) He will have the chance to follow his job to San Antonio, and probably get a nice promotion out of it.
3) He may already have a job offer in the private sector.
On top of all that, it will be around two years before his unit (and his job) are gone. So he has time. But it's still a bit of a stark way to start a weekend.
Saturday - the wife and I went to Coobah, a Cuban/Neuvo Latino (who comes UP with this stuff?) restaurant. It was pretty good. My steak was a bit tough - but everything else, including the mojitos, was pretty killer. That night, we headed back to the HP for a colleagues birthday party. I regret to inform you all that i succumbed to social pressure and karaoke'd. I rocked (re: massacred) the Clash with "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" (Note: I believe the consensus was for the latter.
) It was a blast.
This week brings more studying for the exam. I also need to start my paper for my course on Roman Republicanism. I'm writing on the position of censors. Not sure what about them - but the public/private aspect of their duties interests me. So, starting tomorrow, I have to go through Livy, Polybius and Plutarch and start putting some notes together. Fun.
Oh, and I have second year review tomorrow, which is basically a chance to talk with a panel of three faculty members about my progress in the program. I plan to complain about: the lack of American classes (because they make all the Americanists teach statistics...), the ridiculous importance placed on the MA that slows down people's progress, the poor planning of the American exam (it's not that it's hard - it's that we have no clear criteria, which makes prepping not difficult but impossible), and assorted other issues that I'm sure they will dismiss out of hand. I view this, cynically, as a disciplining tool: they find out our complaints, under the auspices of "learning what is going on," just so they can indocrtinate us as to why their current methods are aces.
[That's probably not entirely fair - I suppose they do get some good feedback this way.]
Until then, enjoy your Sunday, and have a fine fine work week.
The weekend was good. On Friday, I got some nice relaxation taken care of. The one real downer was that, as folks may have heard, the government is closing some bases. Obviously, government efficiency is a good thing - in this case, it hits close to home as my uncle was employed at one of the bases (the Rock Island Arsenal). Ouch. But things are not so terrible. They are not actually closing the base - just moving the department he works in. This means he can either:
1) Look for a new position at the base (and there are actually some new units coming TO the Island, so that is a good option).
2) He will have the chance to follow his job to San Antonio, and probably get a nice promotion out of it.
3) He may already have a job offer in the private sector.
On top of all that, it will be around two years before his unit (and his job) are gone. So he has time. But it's still a bit of a stark way to start a weekend.
Saturday - the wife and I went to Coobah, a Cuban/Neuvo Latino (who comes UP with this stuff?) restaurant. It was pretty good. My steak was a bit tough - but everything else, including the mojitos, was pretty killer. That night, we headed back to the HP for a colleagues birthday party. I regret to inform you all that i succumbed to social pressure and karaoke'd. I rocked (re: massacred) the Clash with "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" (Note: I believe the consensus was for the latter.
) It was a blast.
This week brings more studying for the exam. I also need to start my paper for my course on Roman Republicanism. I'm writing on the position of censors. Not sure what about them - but the public/private aspect of their duties interests me. So, starting tomorrow, I have to go through Livy, Polybius and Plutarch and start putting some notes together. Fun.
Oh, and I have second year review tomorrow, which is basically a chance to talk with a panel of three faculty members about my progress in the program. I plan to complain about: the lack of American classes (because they make all the Americanists teach statistics...), the ridiculous importance placed on the MA that slows down people's progress, the poor planning of the American exam (it's not that it's hard - it's that we have no clear criteria, which makes prepping not difficult but impossible), and assorted other issues that I'm sure they will dismiss out of hand. I view this, cynically, as a disciplining tool: they find out our complaints, under the auspices of "learning what is going on," just so they can indocrtinate us as to why their current methods are aces.
[That's probably not entirely fair - I suppose they do get some good feedback this way.]
Until then, enjoy your Sunday, and have a fine fine work week.
VIEW 5 of 5 COMMENTS
I think I'd pay big money to see you do Karaoke.
If I'm reading the above correctly, it's not that your uncle is in a bad situation, but rather that a dramatic and abrupt change is on the horizon?