Mike's Random Thoughts of the Day. - Page 3

reelbigfish241 · 02-03-2007, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gonzo

When I'm bored I drift my shopping cart around corners.

But yeah I always keep it in an appropriate spot when parking and don't run amok aimlessly.

I hate grocery shopping in Chicago though since I've no car. Lugging groceries back and taking them on the el is no fun. At home I don't mind it, especially when I go shopping with my dad. We enjoy cooking so it's fun to pick stuff out, plus he pays.

bringing stuff on the L would suck...

and I thought I was th only one who drifted my cart. My girlfriend gives me this look whenever I do it :face-icon

Then again, I go the whole 9 yards and make engine noises...

**firmhonda** · 02-03-2007, 09:23 PM

Okay, here is something that I've been thinking about for a while and don't quite understand what the problem is..

Most places like Wally World (Wal-Mart for those of you that ain't down with the lingo) have major isles that lead throughout the store, and then smaller isles that actually hold everything. Well the major isles usually have 2 lanes seperated by displays in the middle..

So you have a right and left side.. Why don't the rules of driving (in america) apply here? Why can't all the people heading in a specific direction all stay in the same lane? When you're driving down a 2 lane 2 way road you don't just switch lanes into oncoming traffic do you? no! Why the hell can't people realise that the same rules should apply in any situation that you will have heavy traffic, whether it be on foot or in a car.

Stupid common sense....

**Gonzo** · 02-03-2007, 09:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by reelbigfish241

bringing stuff on the L would suck...

and I thought I was th only one who drifted my cart. My girlfriend gives me this look whenever I do it :face-icon

Then again, I go the whole 9 yards and make engine noises...

My dad sometimes does full blown engine noises. If I do I kinda hum them to myself. Come to think of it I do engine noises quite a bit. I think I picked it up from him. Is this a psychological problem?

Though I usually go all out with the engine noises when I am hyper accelerating in preparation to ram my cart into the cart return corral. Hearing those carts crash together is satisfying.

**firmhonda** · 02-03-2007, 09:39 PM

Just curious, do you 2 also rub your foot against the wheel to turn when you're racing the carts..

Cuz if so we should start a club.

reelbigfish241 · 02-03-2007, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gonzo

My dad sometimes does full blown engine noises. If I do I kinda hum them to myself. Come to think of it I do engine noises quite a bit. I think I picked it up from him. Is this a psychological problem?

Though I usually go all out with the engine noises when I am hyper accelerating in preparation to ram my cart into the cart return corral. Hearing those carts crash together is satisfying.

Of course not!! THere are no psychological issues with this.

I hit Vtach at least 5 times while going through wal-mart. I get my shopping done quick while revving to 8k

***Special Ringpop*** · 02-04-2007, 10:03 PM

Sunday, February 4th, 2007

Feminine Itch? Feminine Odors? Gas? Lube Me Up!!

I am a very liberal person. As long as you aren't hurting anybody else, or infringing on another person's rights, I will more than likely have no problem with what you are doing.

But there is something I don't like. I don't like that people blame moral degredation on gays and lesbians, athiests, and other "deviants". Basically, anyone who has a varying thought or existance from the majority.

So pair that distain with some commercials we see in the United States. And they just get worse and worse everyday, it seems.

I see commercials for vaginal itching, vaginal odor, vaginal...er...secretion, and just about everything to do with a woman's genital region. I understand these are natural occureences and that women can't control it, but I don't need to be reminded of it. Women obviously know, if they're able to watch TV, that these products are out there.

Then there is the lubricant commercials. The lube commercials, oh wait, sorry, the "personal lubricant" commercials are just getting more and more sexualized. Why don't you just bang on camera and not say anything, it's pretty much getting to that point.

There was a specific example of a commercial that left me with my jaw hanging open earlier today, but I can't remember it and it's been driving me nuts.

I know that some other countries have some commericals that are even worse, but we talk about moral degredation...children spend crazy amounts of time watching TV.

Maybe people should think before they speak.

**firmhonda** · 02-05-2007, 12:28 AM

I feel what your saying, but I also understand that some women may not have paid attention (imagine that) to the products that are out there until they get into a situation that they might need them. I don't understand why commercials like that will air in the middle of a program directed towards the male demographic though. That seems like a complete waste of money to me.

There is one commercial that bothers the hell out of me though.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=DqX7VxW3wL0

That is disgusting. Why in the world was it called for to make that commercial. Couldn't they have just showed it in the box and highlighted the features that it has so that people would know? Did they have to get so graphic about it?

That commercial is disturbing and I don't understand why it bothers me so much, but I would be more than happy if I never had to see it again.

***Special Ringpop*** · 02-05-2007, 10:17 AM

Wow to that commercial...just...wow...

Si_Chick · 02-05-2007, 04:28 PM

WTF?!?! Wow, that commercial is uh interesting... it reminds me of those commercials for shaving products, like from Gillette... so epic.
Anyways back to the topic. As a female, you might think I would disagree with your disgust with these types of commercials, particularly geared to female products, but I have to say I agree. Most of them I think are pretty much uncalled for, I think they are just an example of how society has been taken over by advertising and marketing etc. Really, some of these things are obviously necessities, so why do I need to hear about/see them on television. And some of the products are completely disgraceful. Who the fuk are you to tell me if I smell good or bad down there? And where are the commercials for some type of related product for males?!
I don't want to go as far as saying these types of ads are demeaning to women, but I'm sure someone could argue that.

**Gonzo** · 02-05-2007, 04:43 PM

My favorite was the Gillete fusion commercials. Epic indeed. I like how they build the tension with all those other ads that make you wonder, "what's it gonna be?"

I remember right before the big reveal I just pointed at the TV and shouted "5 blades!!!" No, wait, actually yes...

***Special Ringpop*** · 02-07-2007, 10:11 PM

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007

"Administrative Ineptitude and Ethnocentrism Among Collegiate"

I attend the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. I'm a sophomore in college, and I'm originally from Michigan. I was not in the Top 10% of my class, nor was in in the National Honors Society. However, I am not inept at life. I did well in high school, but I chose to take challenging courses, rather than glide through college getting A's in "Study Hall" and "Independent Study". I took AP courses, and challenged myself.

When I came to college, life didn't change that much, except that my social life became marching band*. I also decided to take Japanese (having no prior experience in it), my freshman year in college. 500 some hours of band dedication in the first semester alone, I came out on top with a 3.8 GPA. I was proud of myself, especially for haven taken 18 credits, including Japanese (not easy here) and marching band (way not easy here).

My point is, each semester, I run into one or two classes at this fine institution (the biggest in the country, I believe), that make me question its credibility.

I am in the College of Liberal Arts. I will most likely end up going into Law of some sort, after majoring in Psychology, Sociology, or a social science field similar, but yet to be determined. In CLA, we are required to take two years of a foreign language (Japanese), and, among many others, two science courses with labs.

I took Geology after mistaking GEO1001 as Geography 1001, and quickly learned that classifying rocks is, under no condition, of any interest to anyone who has the remotest bit of sexual appeal or interest. The labs were unorganized, absurdly difficult (coming from a student who rarely goes out and choses studying before going out), and the teaching was a joke, at best. Their excuse?

"We're revamping the Geology 1001 curriculum".

....

I'm sorry, what? Because I'm pretty sure what I heard you say was, "Sorry you just wasted a ass load of money on this course, but aren't going to learn anything because we don't have our act together.

Now, this semester, my second, and final, science course, is Biogeography. Many students have little problem with this course. The lecturer teaches like we're two years old. That was great, until we got to the exam. He put material on there that was never covered (and we aren't required to read any textbooks outside of what he lectures about in class).

The labs are even worse. The TA's hardly can speak English, and they make such outrageously difficult to understand directions for the lab (I hate Excel, by the way), and are filled with inaccuracies and errors, that are later subtracted from our grade, due to their mistakes.

This has been a very unorganized post, and I apologize. My point is, I'm tired of ineptitude. I am not paying far more money than I need to be to obtain a subpar education just because the teacher's wife "just recently had a baby, so I'm not sleeping much", or "we're revamping the program"

If I do not do well in a course, I expect the bad grade I earn. However, a bad grade due to clerical and administrative error is not acceptable under any circumstances.

I am not racist, nor am I xenophobic or ethnocentric. However, I'm starting to lose patience with these TA's who come here and have barely spoken what seems to be a year of English, and my grade, because of their poor English skills, suffers.

I have talked to my professor(s) about this, and they don't seem to find it to be troubling. Perhaps I expect too much. Funny, I never expected that getting an education was too much to ask.

My morale for today is this: If you want to teach in this country, I expect you to be able to fluently uphold a conversation with me without making me feel bad for asking a question. If you cannot do that, you should not be in the Human Services industry. Not in this country at least.

Note: As a trilingual individual, I fully embrace cultural and lingual diversity, however, English is the primarily language in this area, and I expect it. I would not go to Mexico and expect every place to cater to me in English, knowing full well that they speak Spanish.

Also, here is a link to the University of Minnesota Marching Band's pregame, for those of you who are interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEpbSZF9-E4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yabUB...elated&search=

uscgbeachbum · 02-07-2007, 11:38 PM

I fully understand where you are coming from. I went to college at the Florida Institute of Technology, which, at least when I attended, was #2 in the country for the most international students with something like 56%. There were many great professors and TAs; however, their greatness was overshadowed by the poor teachings of others. Whether it was because they just flat out sucked at teaching, were too smart to convey basics, or could barely piece together an English sentence. Fortunately, most of my classes were math related (engineering major) so it wasn't as bad for me as many others, but if you had a question good luck getting an explanation. When you go up the ladder to try to get help you only get answers such as, "In an international society it is necessary to cope with multicultural people. We are preparing you for real workplace dilemmas." Well, I'm sorry, but if your statics professor sucks elephant shlong then I doubt I'll be able to make it very well in the workplace.

gbae007 · 02-07-2007, 11:58 PM

You have to understand that a large educational institution does not always have the interest of undergrads students in mind. I went to a large school and experienced similar things.

Why are so many TA's foreign? Admin wants to attract talent.

Can they teach? Most likely not but that's not the point - the point is they want their Ph.D students to produce top research, that why you have to put up with their less-than-perfect command of English.

Si_Chick · 02-08-2007, 02:31 AM

gbae007 is probably right on the money. But...
Have I ever encountered this problem!... but I definitely laughed at this comment "The labs are even worse. The TA's hardly can speak English, and they make such outrageously difficult to understand directions for the lab (I hate Excel, by the way)..."
I'm taking an intro to economics course that I need for grad school. Now I actually took pretty much the exact same course in first year (but for "non-economics students" which some grad schools don't accept!) and barely and I mean barely passed because the prof was impossible to understand and a horrible teacher, and I'm sorry, but all the TAs were of some sort of Asian background, with limited English skills.
This time around, I went to see one of the TAs the other day and well, I'm not 100% sure where he was from, but most likely somewhere in Africa. Again, he had a heavy accent and had to repeat numerous things for me to understand the simplest things he was saying. It's very frustrating and exhausting sometimes.
I am also trilingual (English, French, Italian) and I love languages so basically I'm agreeing with Mike on this one, if you're going to TA your English should be up to snuff.
On a bit of a side note, the university I attend is fully bilingual. There has been a large issue, and still ongoing, about receiving service in either french or English. It's a big problem in the administration (largely Francophone) but yeah, I'm blabbering... I just laughed when I saw this because I can definitely relate. Keep it up Mike.

***Special Ringpop*** · 02-09-2007, 06:59 PM

Friday, February 9th, 2007

Oh God, Friday. Finally.

It's Friday. Thank God.

So I went out in the 5 degree weather today and washed my car at a self-service bay car wash. Then dried it outside of said wash bay (got kicked out for "taking too long"). Fear my testicular fortitude.

Anyways, I got home and it was already dirty along the lower door panel. Damn dry, salty roads. I hate winter a great deal.

A friend of mine that lives in North Carolina OD'ed last night. He's 17, has no family, and is renting from one of his friend's grandmother, who charges him a decent price for rent, but makes him pay the entire electricity bill (she owns a tanning bed downstairs, and whores it out to the public), which goes over $200 a month, among other things. In addition to that, he has to pay car payments for his Celica, go to school, and buy food for living.

He has no relatives that he can be with, and because he's 17, he can't legally rent anywhere yet, even though he's emancipated from his mother. He's been working full-time for as long as I can remember, and going to school, and his boss just recently cut him down to halftime, but he gets off at midnight every night, still.

Without that full-time money, he can't afford to pay his bills, but more importantly, too live. He's been depressed for some time now, and last night, he OD'ed. He's still alive, but he took a lot, and the doctors aren't sure of anything right now. His friend and I (who are also very close) is keeping me up to date, but the hospital won't tell him anything because he's not family, so we don't know anything.

I think suicide is a horrifically selfish thing to do, but I understand why he feels the way he does. He has nothing right now. He can't live anywhere else, the woman he's living with rapes him on prices, knowing full well he's a friend of her grandson, and a high school student, and now that he's working part time, he can't afford to do it all. He's getting worn down, and there's nothing anyone can do about it.

I don't know what to do. I'm hoping he'll be okay, but this is the first time I've ever dealt with any form of attempted suicide, and it's just something you can't prepare yourself for. So now we just have to wait.

Perhaps this is why that GM's robot commercial during the Super Bowl kind of rubs me the wrong way. Hits a little too close to home. Only this time, it wasn't a robot, and it wasn't a dream.

***MAMA'S~HONDA*** · 02-09-2007, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Special Ringpop

Wednesday, February 7th, 2007

"Administrative Ineptitude and Ethnocentrism Among Collegiate"

You should read "The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America" I think you would enjoy it.

***Special Ringpop*** · 02-09-2007, 07:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MAMA'S~HONDA

You should read "The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America" I think you would enjoy it.

I'll take a look at it the next time I'm in a book store or library. Thanks, Judy.

**Gonzo** · 02-09-2007, 08:06 PM

I wish best of luck to your friend. Poor guy certainly has his work cut out for him. I hope he has a good recovery. Keep in touch with him, he needs his friends right now for support and advice. His spirits have gotta be incredibly low but hopefully that will change.

Do you know how his grades are? If he can get some student loans and/or a scholarship and get into school (hopefully a good state school to save money) then hopefully he can get an education while finally having some fun, then get a job and tell all the people that screwed him to kiss his ass. If you know people who think well of him (teachers, mentors, friends) you all could maybe write a series of letters to a school he might be interested. Every bit helps.

Again keep in touch with him if you can after he's out of the hospital or what not. Tell your other local friend to tell him you're wishing him the best and would like to talk sometime.

***Special Ringpop*** · 02-09-2007, 08:26 PM

Thanks for the warm words, Gonzo, I appreciate it.

Unfortunately, because he has no choice but to work so much, his grades aren't very good, I don't think. He really feels he has no chance of going anywhere in life except working his dead-end job for the rest of his life.

There's really no one there to help him out financially or in other ways. It's a really rough situation, either way, and I hope he'll pull through.

I tell him that he just has to get through the rest of high school, and then, even if he doesn't go to college right away, work for a few years and get some money set aside.

It's getting there that's tough.

EDIT: Also, my friend doesn't know anything, because the hospital refuses to let his condition out, due to the fact that he's not family.

**Gonzo** · 02-09-2007, 08:33 PM

I dunno how hardcore the hospital's security is but if your friend can just find out what ward he is in you can sometimes just walk in, find a nurse, tell her you are lost and are looking for "..."

Again I dunno if that would work or if it is realistic to do in this situation...

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02-03-2007, 09:23 PM	#42 (permalink)
firmhonda Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: DF-Dub Age: 25 Posts: 10,982 Justin Credible. iTrader: 0 / 0%	Okay, here is something that I've been thinking about for a while and don't quite understand what the problem is.. Most places like Wally World (Wal-Mart for those of you that ain't down with the lingo) have major isles that lead throughout the store, and then smaller isles that actually hold everything. Well the major isles usually have 2 lanes seperated by displays in the middle.. So you have a right and left side.. Why don't the rules of driving (in america) apply here? Why can't all the people heading in a specific direction all stay in the same lane? When you're driving down a 2 lane 2 way road you don't just switch lanes into oncoming traffic do you? no! Why the hell can't people realise that the same rules should apply in any situation that you will have heavy traffic, whether it be on foot or in a car. Stupid common sense....

02-03-2007, 09:39 PM	#44 (permalink)
firmhonda Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: DF-Dub Age: 25 Posts: 10,982 Justin Credible. iTrader: 0 / 0%	Just curious, do you 2 also rub your foot against the wheel to turn when you're racing the carts.. Cuz if so we should start a club.

02-04-2007, 10:03 PM	#46 (permalink)
*Special Ringpop* VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Minneapolis, MN Age: 22 Posts: 7,721 Name: Mike iTrader: 0 / 0%	Sunday, February 4th, 2007 Feminine Itch? Feminine Odors? Gas? Lube Me Up!! I am a very liberal person. As long as you aren't hurting anybody else, or infringing on another person's rights, I will more than likely have no problem with what you are doing. But there is something I don't like. I don't like that people blame moral degredation on gays and lesbians, athiests, and other "deviants". Basically, anyone who has a varying thought or existance from the majority. So pair that distain with some commercials we see in the United States. And they just get worse and worse everyday, it seems. I see commercials for vaginal itching, vaginal odor, vaginal...er...secretion, and just about everything to do with a woman's genital region. I understand these are natural occureences and that women can't control it, but I don't need to be reminded of it. Women obviously know, if they're able to watch TV, that these products are out there. Then there is the lubricant commercials. The lube commercials, oh wait, sorry, the "personal lubricant" commercials are just getting more and more sexualized. Why don't you just bang on camera and not say anything, it's pretty much getting to that point. There was a specific example of a commercial that left me with my jaw hanging open earlier today, but I can't remember it and it's been driving me nuts. I know that some other countries have some commericals that are even worse, but we talk about moral degredation...children spend crazy amounts of time watching TV. Maybe people should think before they speak.

02-05-2007, 12:28 AM	#47 (permalink)
firmhonda Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: DF-Dub Age: 25 Posts: 10,982 Justin Credible. iTrader: 0 / 0%	I feel what your saying, but I also understand that some women may not have paid attention (imagine that) to the products that are out there until they get into a situation that they might need them. I don't understand why commercials like that will air in the middle of a program directed towards the male demographic though. That seems like a complete waste of money to me. There is one commercial that bothers the hell out of me though. http://youtube.com/watch?v=DqX7VxW3wL0 That is disgusting. Why in the world was it called for to make that commercial. Couldn't they have just showed it in the box and highlighted the features that it has so that people would know? Did they have to get so graphic about it? That commercial is disturbing and I don't understand why it bothers me so much, but I would be more than happy if I never had to see it again.

02-05-2007, 10:17 AM	#48 (permalink)
*Special Ringpop* VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Minneapolis, MN Age: 22 Posts: 7,721 Name: Mike iTrader: 0 / 0%	Wow to that commercial...just...wow...

02-05-2007, 04:28 PM	#49 (permalink)
Si_Chick Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ottawa Age: 23 Posts: 2,756 iTrader: 0 / 0%	WTF?!?! Wow, that commercial is uh interesting... it reminds me of those commercials for shaving products, like from Gillette... so epic. Anyways back to the topic. As a female, you might think I would disagree with your disgust with these types of commercials, particularly geared to female products, but I have to say I agree. Most of them I think are pretty much uncalled for, I think they are just an example of how society has been taken over by advertising and marketing etc. Really, some of these things are obviously necessities, so why do I need to hear about/see them on television. And some of the products are completely disgraceful. Who the fuk are you to tell me if I smell good or bad down there? And where are the commercials for some type of related product for males?! I don't want to go as far as saying these types of ads are demeaning to women, but I'm sure someone could argue that.

02-05-2007, 04:43 PM	#50 (permalink)
Gonzo You're doing it wrong!! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Richmond, VA Age: 21 Posts: 5,689 iTrader: 5 / 100%	My favorite was the Gillete fusion commercials. Epic indeed. I like how they build the tension with all those other ads that make you wonder, "what's it gonna be?" I remember right before the big reveal I just pointed at the TV and shouted "5 blades!!!" No, wait, actually yes...

02-07-2007, 10:11 PM	#51 (permalink)
*Special Ringpop* VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Minneapolis, MN Age: 22 Posts: 7,721 Name: Mike iTrader: 0 / 0%	Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 "Administrative Ineptitude and Ethnocentrism Among Collegiate" I attend the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. I'm a sophomore in college, and I'm originally from Michigan. I was not in the Top 10% of my class, nor was in in the National Honors Society. However, I am not inept at life. I did well in high school, but I chose to take challenging courses, rather than glide through college getting A's in "Study Hall" and "Independent Study". I took AP courses, and challenged myself. When I came to college, life didn't change that much, except that my social life became marching band*. I also decided to take Japanese (having no prior experience in it), my freshman year in college. 500 some hours of band dedication in the first semester alone, I came out on top with a 3.8 GPA. I was proud of myself, especially for haven taken 18 credits, including Japanese (not easy here) and marching band (way not easy here). My point is, each semester, I run into one or two classes at this fine institution (the biggest in the country, I believe), that make me question its credibility. I am in the College of Liberal Arts. I will most likely end up going into Law of some sort, after majoring in Psychology, Sociology, or a social science field similar, but yet to be determined. In CLA, we are required to take two years of a foreign language (Japanese), and, among many others, two science courses with labs. I took Geology after mistaking GEO1001 as Geography 1001, and quickly learned that classifying rocks is, under no condition, of any interest to anyone who has the remotest bit of sexual appeal or interest. The labs were unorganized, absurdly difficult (coming from a student who rarely goes out and choses studying before going out), and the teaching was a joke, at best. Their excuse? "We're revamping the Geology 1001 curriculum". .... I'm sorry, what? Because I'm pretty sure what I heard you say was, "Sorry you just wasted a ass load of money on this course, but aren't going to learn anything because we don't have our act together. Now, this semester, my second, and final, science course, is Biogeography. Many students have little problem with this course. The lecturer teaches like we're two years old. That was great, until we got to the exam. He put material on there that was never covered (and we aren't required to read any textbooks outside of what he lectures about in class). The labs are even worse. The TA's hardly can speak English, and they make such outrageously difficult to understand directions for the lab (I hate Excel, by the way), and are filled with inaccuracies and errors, that are later subtracted from our grade, due to their mistakes. This has been a very unorganized post, and I apologize. My point is, I'm tired of ineptitude. I am not paying far more money than I need to be to obtain a subpar education just because the teacher's wife "just recently had a baby, so I'm not sleeping much", or "we're revamping the program" If I do not do well in a course, I expect the bad grade I earn. However, a bad grade due to clerical and administrative error is not acceptable under any circumstances. I am not racist, nor am I xenophobic or ethnocentric. However, I'm starting to lose patience with these TA's who come here and have barely spoken what seems to be a year of English, and my grade, because of their poor English skills, suffers. I have talked to my professor(s) about this, and they don't seem to find it to be troubling. Perhaps I expect too much. Funny, I never expected that getting an education was too much to ask. My morale for today is this: If you want to teach in this country, I expect you to be able to fluently uphold a conversation with me without making me feel bad for asking a question. If you cannot do that, you should not be in the Human Services industry. Not in this country at least. Note: As a trilingual individual, I fully embrace cultural and lingual diversity, however, English is the primarily language in this area, and I expect it. I would not go to Mexico and expect every place to cater to me in English, knowing full well that they speak Spanish. Also, here is a link to the University of Minnesota Marching Band's pregame, for those of you who are interested. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEpbSZF9-E4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yabUB...elated&search=

02-07-2007, 11:38 PM	#52 (permalink)
uscgbeachbum Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Melbourne, FL Posts: 273 I laugh at ricers. iTrader: 0 / 0%	I fully understand where you are coming from. I went to college at the Florida Institute of Technology, which, at least when I attended, was #2 in the country for the most international students with something like 56%. There were many great professors and TAs; however, their greatness was overshadowed by the poor teachings of others. Whether it was because they just flat out sucked at teaching, were too smart to convey basics, or could barely piece together an English sentence. Fortunately, most of my classes were math related (engineering major) so it wasn't as bad for me as many others, but if you had a question good luck getting an explanation. When you go up the ladder to try to get help you only get answers such as, "In an international society it is necessary to cope with multicultural people. We are preparing you for real workplace dilemmas." Well, I'm sorry, but if your statics professor sucks elephant shlong then I doubt I'll be able to make it very well in the workplace.

02-07-2007, 11:58 PM	#53 (permalink)
gbae007 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Portland, Oregon Age: 27 Posts: 878 iTrader: 0 / 0%	You have to understand that a large educational institution does not always have the interest of undergrads students in mind. I went to a large school and experienced similar things. Why are so many TA's foreign? Admin wants to attract talent. Can they teach? Most likely not but that's not the point - the point is they want their Ph.D students to produce top research, that why you have to put up with their less-than-perfect command of English.

02-08-2007, 02:31 AM	#54 (permalink)
Si_Chick Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ottawa Age: 23 Posts: 2,756 iTrader: 0 / 0%	gbae007 is probably right on the money. But... Have I ever encountered this problem!... but I definitely laughed at this comment "The labs are even worse. The TA's hardly can speak English, and they make such outrageously difficult to understand directions for the lab (I hate Excel, by the way)..." I'm taking an intro to economics course that I need for grad school. Now I actually took pretty much the exact same course in first year (but for "non-economics students" which some grad schools don't accept!) and barely and I mean barely passed because the prof was impossible to understand and a horrible teacher, and I'm sorry, but all the TAs were of some sort of Asian background, with limited English skills. This time around, I went to see one of the TAs the other day and well, I'm not 100% sure where he was from, but most likely somewhere in Africa. Again, he had a heavy accent and had to repeat numerous things for me to understand the simplest things he was saying. It's very frustrating and exhausting sometimes. I am also trilingual (English, French, Italian) and I love languages so basically I'm agreeing with Mike on this one, if you're going to TA your English should be up to snuff. On a bit of a side note, the university I attend is fully bilingual. There has been a large issue, and still ongoing, about receiving service in either french or English. It's a big problem in the administration (largely Francophone) but yeah, I'm blabbering... I just laughed when I saw this because I can definitely relate. Keep it up Mike.

02-09-2007, 06:59 PM	#55 (permalink)
*Special Ringpop* VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Minneapolis, MN Age: 22 Posts: 7,721 Name: Mike iTrader: 0 / 0%	Friday, February 9th, 2007 Oh God, Friday. Finally. It's Friday. Thank God. So I went out in the 5 degree weather today and washed my car at a self-service bay car wash. Then dried it outside of said wash bay (got kicked out for "taking too long"). Fear my testicular fortitude. Anyways, I got home and it was already dirty along the lower door panel. Damn dry, salty roads. I hate winter a great deal. A friend of mine that lives in North Carolina OD'ed last night. He's 17, has no family, and is renting from one of his friend's grandmother, who charges him a decent price for rent, but makes him pay the entire electricity bill (she owns a tanning bed downstairs, and whores it out to the public), which goes over $200 a month, among other things. In addition to that, he has to pay car payments for his Celica, go to school, and buy food for living. He has no relatives that he can be with, and because he's 17, he can't legally rent anywhere yet, even though he's emancipated from his mother. He's been working full-time for as long as I can remember, and going to school, and his boss just recently cut him down to halftime, but he gets off at midnight every night, still. Without that full-time money, he can't afford to pay his bills, but more importantly, too live. He's been depressed for some time now, and last night, he OD'ed. He's still alive, but he took a lot, and the doctors aren't sure of anything right now. His friend and I (who are also very close) is keeping me up to date, but the hospital won't tell him anything because he's not family, so we don't know anything. I think suicide is a horrifically selfish thing to do, but I understand why he feels the way he does. He has nothing right now. He can't live anywhere else, the woman he's living with rapes him on prices, knowing full well he's a friend of her grandson, and a high school student, and now that he's working part time, he can't afford to do it all. He's getting worn down, and there's nothing anyone can do about it. I don't know what to do. I'm hoping he'll be okay, but this is the first time I've ever dealt with any form of attempted suicide, and it's just something you can't prepare yourself for. So now we just have to wait. Perhaps this is why that GM's robot commercial during the Super Bowl kind of rubs me the wrong way. Hits a little too close to home. Only this time, it wasn't a robot, and it wasn't a dream.

02-09-2007, 08:06 PM	#58 (permalink)
Gonzo You're doing it wrong!! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Richmond, VA Age: 21 Posts: 5,689 iTrader: 5 / 100%	I wish best of luck to your friend. Poor guy certainly has his work cut out for him. I hope he has a good recovery. Keep in touch with him, he needs his friends right now for support and advice. His spirits have gotta be incredibly low but hopefully that will change. Do you know how his grades are? If he can get some student loans and/or a scholarship and get into school (hopefully a good state school to save money) then hopefully he can get an education while finally having some fun, then get a job and tell all the people that screwed him to kiss his ass. If you know people who think well of him (teachers, mentors, friends) you all could maybe write a series of letters to a school he might be interested. Every bit helps. Again keep in touch with him if you can after he's out of the hospital or what not. Tell your other local friend to tell him you're wishing him the best and would like to talk sometime.

02-09-2007, 08:26 PM	#59 (permalink)
*Special Ringpop* VIP Member Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Minneapolis, MN Age: 22 Posts: 7,721 Name: Mike iTrader: 0 / 0%	Thanks for the warm words, Gonzo, I appreciate it. Unfortunately, because he has no choice but to work so much, his grades aren't very good, I don't think. He really feels he has no chance of going anywhere in life except working his dead-end job for the rest of his life. There's really no one there to help him out financially or in other ways. It's a really rough situation, either way, and I hope he'll pull through. I tell him that he just has to get through the rest of high school, and then, even if he doesn't go to college right away, work for a few years and get some money set aside. It's getting there that's tough. EDIT: Also, my friend doesn't know anything, because the hospital refuses to let his condition out, due to the fact that he's not family.

02-09-2007, 08:33 PM	#60 (permalink)
Gonzo You're doing it wrong!! Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Richmond, VA Age: 21 Posts: 5,689 iTrader: 5 / 100%	I dunno how hardcore the hospital's security is but if your friend can just find out what ward he is in you can sometimes just walk in, find a nurse, tell her you are lost and are looking for "..." Again I dunno if that would work or if it is realistic to do in this situation...