Business Ethics?

So, I'm actually really pleased with the classes I'm facilitating so far for work this semester. Today I was excited that for the first time ever I had a philosophy class. And I also had a psychology class, a subject which I usually find very interesting. I was also thrilled that I wasn't facilitating any business classes, which I have always hated.

In fact, one time in driving by Thermal Fisher I happened to shout, very seriously, "Oh, I hate Thermal Fisher!" My sister was in the car and started laughing at the random and irrational protest. I then explained that a business professor I worked with happened to work at Thermal Fisher as well, and was always mentioning it. Every week. Several times a lecture. I guess it irritated me quite a bit.

Anyway, when I found out that the philosophy class was actually Business Ethics, I kinda groaned inside myself, "No, I thought I had gotten away." However, the professor stressed that although the students were primarily business students, that it was indeed a philosophy class, and so it would delve deeper into moral theories than they may feel is relevant. Horrah! Next week happens to be a lecture on Immanuel Kant, who I have read a bit of and learned SO much from. Even with the very little I read. So, I'm thrilled that I will be paid to go to this class!

Actually, as the professor was leaving I was about to be so lame as to ask him what exactly they were reading from Kant for the discussion next week so that I could possibly join in too, but he left without saying anything to me (which I generally consider a little rude...but since I like the class, no harm). In fact, he left without closing his slides on the computer, so I actually emailed them to myself. Yes, I am very nerdy, aren't I? Then I noticed that all of the files for all of his classes were available in an open window...so I, now don't judge me, STOLE a bunch of them. Yep, while at work I stole documents on moral theories. How ironic. It seems I just might need a business ethics course myself. How convenient! :)

No Reply

Though my job is usually stress-free, once in a while I get upset by a lack of good communication. Going back to my complaints about the computer age as far as communication goes, I feel ignored. That is, because I don't get responses. You see, we have to fill out these facilitator reports for each class about any problems that we had, etc. In one of my classes, the same problem happens each class period where the distance sites can't see the video from us in Logan, or any other sites besides Vernal and Roosevelt. Can't you imagine how annoying it would be to never be able to see your instructor?

Now, it is especially weird for video to be locked on two sites. When it's just on one, all that needs to be done usually is to adjust the "host" on the connection back to Logan, and restart the system. Anyway, every time this class starts I end up having to call the operations center, and they act like everything is working fine, because as it turns out, they happen to see everything just fine. In the midst of their confusion and me trying to convince them that, "No, we really can't see what you see," it takes about twenty minutes before the problem is miraculously solved. I say miraculously because I'm not sure what they do, and they don't tell me. All I end up figuring out is what I hear being whispered between faint faraway voices at the op. center. Once I heard the word "bridge"...so I included in my report that I believed that the problem was with the bridge. For each report, I describe the problem in detail, and then try to guess what was done to fix it. It's not really my job to explain why something weird happens, so much. I'm more behind the What?'s than the Why?'s in a lot of situations. But, I figure that if it really is so confusing to them, they might want a clue of how to fix it if it happens again.

But my report doesn't ever seem to do anything, because the next day the same problem occurs again and I'm back on the phone trying to convince some other guy that I've tried all the stuff he is recommending and suggesting, and that none of those things will work. If someone just remembered what they did to help, or made a report of their own, this wouldn't be a problem. And a waste of time. And a frustration. It's a bit like the movie Groundhog Day, but even worse because it isn't really the same day repeating itself over and over again. No, it just feels like it. Even if the problem could not be permenantly fixed, I think that I deserved a reply email to that effect. But, no reply. However, this class just ended today, so I don't have to deal with that nonsense anymore. Although, at least I finally found out what the culprit was, sorta. The guy I talked to today vaguely remembered hearing about our problem a while ago, and told me that two bridges were involved in the connection, rather than one. He didn't know what to do about that, though.

On top of this, yesterday I proctored a test out in the hallway. Somehow, other departments seem to be unaware of the schedule for Distance Ed., or that we are in their buildings doing classes, or that we even exist. First of all, I've seen a few occasions myself when a group has booked the same room at the same time we are doing a distance class, and they say that those who they made arrangements with claimed that the room was free. This is what happened yesterday. Not only could we not use the room (which for a distance ed. class requiring the cameras, mics, ect., a specific room is important), but it was a test day and the tests hadn't been delivered to the room as usual. "Great, my own manager forgot about me," I thought. And flustered and blushing I told the students that I would go to the computer lab and print out their tests, and that we would move to another room. For some reason, they wanted to take their tests in the hallway instead. It was kinda funny. We were all in a circle. After the people in our room left (after an hour!), I stole a coke out of the cooler they left in there. Ha! Luckily, the students didn't miss any of the lecture following the test, because the room was cleared by then. And it was a final exam review, so, I would have had an angry mob on my hands if they missed it. So, the double-booking of the rooms is just the one thing.

Another reason why I'm pretty sure no one knows about our class schedules is that last summer they started closing the library at five after the on-campus classes were over. Realizing that Distance Ed. still had classes going in the library well after five, I asked one of their employees about it. She said, "Classes are over."

"No," I corrected. "Distance Ed. classes are still going."

Once again, an oblivious reaction. Unfortunately, upon discovery of this fact, we evidently didn't have enough power in our department to warrant the library being open a few more hours. Incidently, the air conditioning wasn't going for a couple weeks either. So, it sure did suck when I had a class that started at eight, and I had to get there at five so I wouldn't be locked out (and to let everyone else in, of course). Seriously, I spent hours alone in the hot library because of it. That was kinda fun, though. I set up a scavenger hunt with cute little poetic riddles. And at the end was the book The Quest for Utopia, which in turn directed you to a pile of quarters. Ooh, it was a treasure hunt too, I guess.

Anyway, this is likely the only blog entry that I will write about work. For this job, at least. I was just a little irritated, so that's why I wrote it. I know it doesn't entertain much. I guess that getting ignored has always been a hot-button issue with me, from work to home, to friends, and of course, the government.

Actually, I'm so tired right now partly due to this issue. Not only am I tired from working a 12 day (still in the process), but I also walked a few miles this afternoon in the hot sun. The kicker was why I had to walk in the sun so much. I was waiting at a bus stop for twenty minutes and when the bus came the driver didn't see me, and passed by! It was so stupid, but it made me...sad. Ignored again. But, I did stop by a lemonade stand that I saw on my way home to get a drink...and I've been thinking just recently about how I'd like to pass by one of those. Huh.

Instant Karma

The justice of universal karma extends its mighty grasp even as far as a simple vending machine, I've found today. So, I put a dollar into this vending machine so that I could get some Doritos to snack on at work, and the corner of the bag got stuck, so it wouldn't drop down. That always sucks. So, I was a little irritated (moreso because I was hungry than that I had lost a bit of money). So, I put in another dollar so that I might have two bags. The first dropped down, but the second one also got stuck. "Oh well," I thought, "at least I got one."

After pushing the change button, however (since the chips cost 80 cents, not a dollar) I actually got two dimes and one of those coin dollars. "Hey!" I thought. "How did it know?" The change compensated exactly for my trapped chips. Haha.

I do find it cool that vending machines can tell the difference between American and Canadian quarters, as well as American quarters from before 1965...so, I tend to call them clever. Of course, I realize that the coins are likely weighed (simple enough). So, this "sophistication" begs the question: Did the machine give me an extra dollar in change because it recognized that it did not deliver its product? Or, did the machine have an odd malfunction in issuing its change, that just happened to exactly compensate for my loss? It boggles the mind!!

A View to a Kill

Well, summer is officially here, and I'm actually pretty excited about it. I've moved back to the Beach House, and am near some of my friends again. It's nice to be back.

As far as the job goes, I've actually decided to stick with the same one for the summer, for a few reasons:

1. I hate looking for a job.
2. I hate waiting around to get hired for a job.
3. I hate training for a job.
4. I like having my weekends off, always.

Good enough for me. I do like changes, but not at the expense of too much stress when you are absolutely poor. I am...absolutely poor. Unfortunately, for the first half of the summer I don't have very many hours at all (seriously, only about 25/week). That's what happens when small summer classes end up getting canceled. Bah! Maybe I'll just enjoy it, as I actually have Friday afternoon-Monday completely off. Wow, now that's a weekend!

In other news, the last couple of days I've been at Ali's house watching over her kitty Crash, and her garden, plants, etc. I was really looking forward to a whole week of just bumming around her house while she's in Oregon, but I actually had to come back early due to work starting earlier than expected. While there, I discovered a good reason why she should have someone staying in the house, rather than just having someone come by and check up on things.

So, I awoke Sunday morning to the sound of Crash's jingling bell from his collar as he jumped through the window (he comes in and out as he pleases). I looked up from my sleep to greet him, and he sets down this dead mouse on the floor and starts meowing in a bright and chipper fashion, as though to brag. I was a little horrified by the greeting, but a little amused at the same time by the nature of cats to impress you with their kills.

The next morning, I woke up to the same jingling and looked up to see a dead bird this time. Feathers all over and everything. Definitely gross. But then I thought, maybe this cat likes me if he's trying to impress me with two kills in two days. There is a bright side to everything. And it's a good thing I was there to get those dead animals out of the house.

Here's the culprit:

Anyway, now that I'm back I've got to unload all my stuff into my new room, which is actually really nice because it is usually a shared room, so it is fairly large with it's own spacious bathroom and a walk-in closet. I've always wanted a walk-in closet! Plus, the walls are green, which is my favorite color.

I've thought about planing some weekly or semi-weekly events for the summer, much like the Simpsons Night from a few years ago. Heidi and I also want to organize our own little book club. We'll see how that goes.

Also, I just checked my grades, and am pleasantly surprised to find no C's this semester, and two A's. I got a B- in Physics II just like I hoped for (yeah, I did hope for a B-). My health/motivation/class attendance/whatnot have all pretty much sucked this semester, so, it's a good thing most of my classes were really easy or else who knows what the results may have been. I do have to retake Physics I, since I screwed that class over last semester. I found that the one I was in this semester was actually pretty interesting as we talked about sound waves, electricity/electromagnetism, and optics whereas last semester it was all about calculating applied forces...boring, boring stuff. I actually might read up on optics in my spare time, I've got lots of it for a while :)

EZ

I waited until today to do my taxes. Ah, well, at this point in my life they are EZ. Once they become complicated, I'll make my brother Matt do them. Wait, now, Matthew...I mean, I will pay you to do them. Yes... (twittles her fingers in a Mr. Burns-like fashion and laughs maniacally).

Apparently the equipment is down at work today, so I'm just sitting here waiting for it to come back on line. However, since the one student that comes to tonight's class is not here today I'm not too concerned about whether or not the broadcast connection will be re-established. Hmm...the irony is, now it seems that I am getting paid to twittle my fingers and wait, whilst laughing maniacally. I'm not getting paid much for it, though.

I still need to decide where I'm going to live and work for the summer. Alaska seems very doubtful, it was a passing fancy/fantasy. "Who guts fishes in their fantasies?!" you ask. Good point.

I Would Die Before Earning a Food Pellet

Once again, work is cancelled, and I showed up anyway. This time I was about 95% certain it was cancelled. That's the worst. I really wanted to sleep in, but that 5% was really nagging at me. Then as I was coming to work, I realized, to my dismay, that I would make an unintelligent lab rat. Well, that's if I were a lab rat. You see, there's this door code that I have to use for one of the doors, within which there is a set of two keys, with which to open two more doors, and two locks. Thus, you can see the importance of getting through the first door.

Anway, on the first day of class I couldn't open this door with my door code, so I called my manager to see if there was a new number for it. He said that I had the right number, but that I had to press the numbers very slowly and firmly. Well, he was right, and after that I was able to get it open...usually. I noticed that it only seemed to work when the duration between which I pressed the buttons was not exactly consistent between numbers, but I never could really pick up on the exact pattern. I just ended up coming early, to an already annoyingly early class, so that I could mess with the door code until it opened.

At some point, a few weeks, or maybe even a month later, I gradually became aware of the pattern. After pressing the first number, I had to pause for roughly a second, then enter the following four numbers in the usual fashion (with only slight pauses), and then finally pause roughly another whole second before entering the last number.

Anyway, that was a long story about a rather small and pathetic problem. Haha. But I realized that if I were a lab rat in some sort of experiment, I would probably die before earning a food pellet.

Murphy's Law Got Me to Work on Time

Well, I showed up to work this morning, and no one is here. Haha, I guess I didn't pay attention as to whether it was a free study day for the students or not. That sort of thing always happens on days that I really want to sleep in. Is that part of the whole Murphy's Law thing? Hang on, I don't even remember the specifics on that. I'll find it. Ah, one definition from Wikipedia: "If anything can go wrong, it will, and usually at the most inopportune moment." Uh...I'm sure there are far better situations to apply to that than this one.

Actually, I was considering Murphy's Law when I was headed to the bus stop this morning. I'm spoiled enough to have 4 bus stops within the vicinity of my apartment complex. And when I'm running a little later than usual because of my "sleeping in fantasies," it's important to gauge which bus will get me to work on time. Albeit, the time the campus shuttle arrives is certainly not down to a science. Anyway, I made my decision today by watching for which bus left most recently, and going to that stop. That seems counter-intuitive, unless the phrase "Murhpy's Law" oddly pops into your head...and then it becomes clear that the best bus stop to go to is the one that you might least decide on by deductive reasoning. And this instinct was correct! And yet, it turns out that I didn't need to be on time today after all, so, it matters only to amuse me. Come on, it's early...I have no proper sense of good entertainment or amusement.

It's my dad's birthday, so that's likely to be slightly entertaining, for him. He's 62 today. He's actually started eating really healthy, heart-friendly foods, and I'm pretty impressed. It's a little depressing that things that are good for you are always a tad expensive, though. Well, except cocaine. I'm sure there are other exceptions, but I like to choose the most blatant. So, I hope he has a happy birthday, and starts it off with a big bowl of those Cheery O's.