31.7.06

Bosses are back

As i've mentioned in previous posts, i have many many bosses. The main boss, the superintendent, is the boss of all kind here. Since i'm school staff (as opposed to faculty), the head of staff is my boss, and all managers of staff sections are my bosses (IT, Maintainance etc). Since i'm working in the highschool, the principal of the highschool is my boss. Since I'm sicence, all science teachers are bosses, including those of middle school, since i serve all of them. And then there's the highschool assistants, the deans, and anybody that has any kind of seniority at the school.

Thing is, a lot of them don't know they're my bosses, and the rest doesn't care. I'm only mildly supervised by the high school principal, and somewhat supervised by the chair of science. As such, i'm an almost fully independent, self-supervised unit.

So, 2 of my bosses are back, the superintendant and the highschool principal. And they can't complain at all. I accomplished all that had to be done over the summer and over the last week I set aside a lot of time to have all labs fully operational by friday. That leaves me the rest of the week to distill water and clean out the fishtank in the bio lab.




I went ring shopping with my girlfriend over the weekend. I'm supposed to take care of the engagement ring, so i'll ask for a loan from work to get it. My wages will be garnished for a while, but at least i won't be paying interest. I'm looking at about $1000 for a white gold solitaire with a ~.25 carat diamond (no such thing as white gold, that's just a name for yellow gold with rhodium plating. I haven't been able to find any with palladium or platinum plating, but those would still be out of my price range anyway). Another think we looked at was wedding bands. Some very original, some very nice looking, ALL extremely expensive. $1500 for the ones the gf wants. She says that at least those we pay for together. Which leads me to the question, and I know this sounds like male chauvinism, but if i'm making a compromise by providing a ring that costs so much money, what is in it for me? Women should just as easily have to provide something in return, and I ain't getting nothing in return. I belive that women should have equal rights and privleges as men, i'm pro-feminism, pro-choice and support gender equality and gay rights and all that crap. And I also think we should tear down the social rules that tradition brings upon us, especially those brought upon us by the clergy.

Say no to rings!

Our society is retarded.

25.7.06

Back to school dangerously near.

My little at work vacation is almost over. 2 months went by sluggishly and extremely uneventfully. Pooradise's crisis is getting worse by the minute and soon enough Somalia will have nothing on us. The great big freak of a president we have will yet again cheat his way into "winning" december's elections and then we'll be screwed. My mother, a journalist and political analyst, predicts that the government will call for riots protesting something (they don't need much of an excuse to do it, they'll go ape shit over nothing), and while the violence lasts, key opposition and non-conformist military people will be assasinated (and blamed on crime of course). And that's along with anybody else caught in the cross fire.

All this unrest makes me nervous.

This puts me into an awkward position to make some kind of quick plan to get the hell out of here. Canada is no longer an immediate option since the immigration process to get there are lengthy and are not guaranteed. I am left with little choice but to escape to europe, bless that german passport i have, which by the way i should renew, as it expires in 2007.

Once there i'll figure something out, we'll see.

The big issue here is what will happen with my girlfriend. She does not have german citizenship as i do, and thus cannot escape as easily as i can.

I'll let this play out, but i'm not dying for any government, political movement or love. She's coming, period. I don't care about the consequences.





In other news, things up here in the 4th floor have been quiet. I've finished sorting and rearranging the labs for the new school year, which starts on august 15th, some 20 days from now. The teachers should be back from their summer breaks on the 8th, so that they'll have enough time to prepare classes and all that. Meanwhile i'm sorting out all the stuff i'd like to throw out and donate. I found some insect boxes in the back cabinets of the biology lab. The good ones at that, glass covered and a special pocket for the naphtaline pouch. I might just start collecting once again, i'll set up some malaise traps in the back of the school, see what i can get.


I'm also moving. My parents sold the house, which is too big for us 3 only and have used the money to buy a smaller, cozier apartment in the same building my 86 year old grandmother lives. Pool, jacuzzi, sauna, gym, tennis and squash courts. Me likey them odds. There's one thing that sucks: i'll have to leave sophie, my dog, behind. At least not with strangers, my uncle bought the house, so i know she'll be fine and if any inconveniences arise, they'll call me. She's a good dog, well educated, good natured and very smart. She'll be fine i'm sure. Yet, however grim it may sound, i am comforted by the fact that she'll live no more than 2 or 3 more years. She's 7 yeard old now, and german shepherds don't live much more than 9 or 10 years. She's also had kidney issues in the past, which probably have decreased her life expectancy by a year. She's lived a happy life and she's always been cared for in a most loving fashion by all of us, i am sad yet not thoroughly unhappy about it, she'll be fine.