Had my second interview with the HR people today, in the city i live in. Things went well, i think i nailed it. Wasn't so much an interview, it was more of a group activity, the kind that's designed to see how the prospect works in a team and on their own.
Can't say much about it, confidentiality agreement and all, but overall i think i did well. Everyone was competing for a different post so there was no stress about it between the people in the group. But, they were very insecure, it was easy to become the leader of that pack. Nice people btw.
So yeah, looks like i'm getting it. Lab tech might be done sooner than i thought.
7.12.07
5.12.07
And so it went
Had the interview on monday Nov 26th.
It was out of town, in a small industrial segment of a shitty ass town about an hour from home. Wife and i went the day before to find the place so i wouldnt get lost on monday. We did find it no problem, proper signaling and a few directions from people that have been there and voilá, got there no problem. Getting out was a little troublesome, didn't turn right where i was supposed to and we got a little lost in the shitty ass town. But whatever, retraced our steps, took the right where i was supposed to and got home no problem.
On monday getting there was a breeze, no traffic whatsoever and i got to the factory at 8:30am, when the interview was supposed to happen at 10. I waited a little while, played sudoku on my cellphone and the human resources people let me in at around 9:15am.
First off there was an abstract logic test, matching shapes in sequence and stuff, pretty basic and easy, or so i think, dunno if it did well or not. Then they asked me to draw a human being. I drew a guy wearing a shirt and pants. Not being an artist i think i did well, it was pretty detailed.
Then came a few questions from the human resource girl (jobs, living situation, character questions, etc; nothing but the usual HR BS), did well in that too i think, charmed them. I think they liked me, she set me up for an interview with the lab people right away. So i went there and spoke to the boss of chemical QC analysis and then to the resident microbiology expert, who turned out to have an associate's in industrial eng., the fuck that has with microbiology is beyond me, but i'm guessing she learned on the job. Still i could lecture her on micro for hours on end, not that i'm an expert but it was pretty clear that i knew loads more than her. On that note, the guy from the chemistry analysis lab was pretty chill, but the micro woman was kinda uptight. Not sure if she was uncomfortable or what, my guess from her body language was that she was insecure when interviewing me; maybe because i knew more than her about micro (though i don't know the protocols and tests they use, but i'm pretty sharp in the science of it all). Or maybe she had never interviewed anybody at all. I'd like to thin it was the former, but whetever. I charmed the shit out of her as well.
Their labs look pretty standard. According to the chemistry guy, they process some six thousand samples weekly. Considering it's all swabs, piece of cake.
And the planets aligned.
In a former post i mention that a friend of a friend (a.k.a. my wife's boss) sent my resume in, influence trafficking and all, pretty cool of him to have done that for me. They call me for an interview and i go. The wednesday after the interview i get to sit down and have a friendly chat with no other than the president of the fucking company. Fuck yeah. I'm a decent person, i didn't mention anything about the job or the interview, just spoke with him about all sorts of random things. He's a cool guy. Still, the only help i got was in submitting the resume. Still, the factory would've gotten it anyway because i also submitted it through a headhunter who was kind enough to send it in for me. They decided to interview me, i did, and that was all me. If i get it it's through no help from anybody. It was all me.
TBC...
It was out of town, in a small industrial segment of a shitty ass town about an hour from home. Wife and i went the day before to find the place so i wouldnt get lost on monday. We did find it no problem, proper signaling and a few directions from people that have been there and voilá, got there no problem. Getting out was a little troublesome, didn't turn right where i was supposed to and we got a little lost in the shitty ass town. But whatever, retraced our steps, took the right where i was supposed to and got home no problem.
On monday getting there was a breeze, no traffic whatsoever and i got to the factory at 8:30am, when the interview was supposed to happen at 10. I waited a little while, played sudoku on my cellphone and the human resources people let me in at around 9:15am.
First off there was an abstract logic test, matching shapes in sequence and stuff, pretty basic and easy, or so i think, dunno if it did well or not. Then they asked me to draw a human being. I drew a guy wearing a shirt and pants. Not being an artist i think i did well, it was pretty detailed.
Then came a few questions from the human resource girl (jobs, living situation, character questions, etc; nothing but the usual HR BS), did well in that too i think, charmed them. I think they liked me, she set me up for an interview with the lab people right away. So i went there and spoke to the boss of chemical QC analysis and then to the resident microbiology expert, who turned out to have an associate's in industrial eng., the fuck that has with microbiology is beyond me, but i'm guessing she learned on the job. Still i could lecture her on micro for hours on end, not that i'm an expert but it was pretty clear that i knew loads more than her. On that note, the guy from the chemistry analysis lab was pretty chill, but the micro woman was kinda uptight. Not sure if she was uncomfortable or what, my guess from her body language was that she was insecure when interviewing me; maybe because i knew more than her about micro (though i don't know the protocols and tests they use, but i'm pretty sharp in the science of it all). Or maybe she had never interviewed anybody at all. I'd like to thin it was the former, but whetever. I charmed the shit out of her as well.
Their labs look pretty standard. According to the chemistry guy, they process some six thousand samples weekly. Considering it's all swabs, piece of cake.
And the planets aligned.
In a former post i mention that a friend of a friend (a.k.a. my wife's boss) sent my resume in, influence trafficking and all, pretty cool of him to have done that for me. They call me for an interview and i go. The wednesday after the interview i get to sit down and have a friendly chat with no other than the president of the fucking company. Fuck yeah. I'm a decent person, i didn't mention anything about the job or the interview, just spoke with him about all sorts of random things. He's a cool guy. Still, the only help i got was in submitting the resume. Still, the factory would've gotten it anyway because i also submitted it through a headhunter who was kind enough to send it in for me. They decided to interview me, i did, and that was all me. If i get it it's through no help from anybody. It was all me.
TBC...
22.11.07
New challenge?
My days as a lab tech may be counted. Via some button-pushing and people that know people i have an interview for a large, and i mean LARGE, international company that does food products and shit. They need a microbiology analyst for QC, not sure i fit the bill as the description of what they need is pretty nondescriptive, but they want microbiology, i know microbiology. They need lab work, i do lab work. QC is all protocols, lab procedures. Can't be that hard?
I probably don't know what i'm saying.
But if i do get it, i'm so out of here. Hopefully with a wealth of understanding. We'll see. Maybe i'm not what they're looking for and that was that.
Thing is, it's out of town. About 1.5h away from here, and i'll have to move there if i get it. They better gimme something goooood. Well, maybe i'll go for it just to have that name on my resume.
Stay tuned...
I probably don't know what i'm saying.
But if i do get it, i'm so out of here. Hopefully with a wealth of understanding. We'll see. Maybe i'm not what they're looking for and that was that.
Thing is, it's out of town. About 1.5h away from here, and i'll have to move there if i get it. They better gimme something goooood. Well, maybe i'll go for it just to have that name on my resume.
Stay tuned...
2.8.07
And here we go again...
Another year at bitchfarts starts. lol.
Yeah, so one more week until summer's out and school's in. Poor bastards. Few changes in the roster, but none in the science, just 2 in the math dept, but i don't really do much with math. I actually don't do anything with math.
Chem guy replied to an email i sent him, he seemed in a good mood. He only asked about the computer programs on the laptops, and i forgot about those, so i installed them. I worked with IT all summer long. Boring stuff, but interesting sometimes.
Damn i love this autosave function.
See you soon?
oh yes and
www.lost.eu/47d04
Play lost, do it for me.
Yeah, so one more week until summer's out and school's in. Poor bastards. Few changes in the roster, but none in the science, just 2 in the math dept, but i don't really do much with math. I actually don't do anything with math.
Chem guy replied to an email i sent him, he seemed in a good mood. He only asked about the computer programs on the laptops, and i forgot about those, so i installed them. I worked with IT all summer long. Boring stuff, but interesting sometimes.
Damn i love this autosave function.
See you soon?
oh yes and
www.lost.eu/47d04
Play lost, do it for me.
14.5.07
16.4.07
Coffee = work bliss
I've been doing a behavioural modification experiment. The bio teacher brought in a coffee machine for me to make my own coffee. I've opened it up for the public, but i only make it every so often. I send out an email when i make coffee, and they come running. They're so appreciative now! And i wondered what the secret of a highly appreciated secretary was... dependance!
9.4.07
Pastafari!
I've forgotten my new-found credo, so i dedicate this to the flying spaghetti monster, bless his holy noodly appendage.
Behold! The Eight I'd really rather you didn't's brought upon us by the FSM:
1. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Act Like a Sanctimonious Holier Than Thou *** When Describing My Noodly Goodness. If Some People Don't Believe In Me, That's Okay. Really, I'm Not That Vain. Besides, This Isn't About Them So Don't Change The Subject.
2. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Use My Existence As A Means To Oppress, Subjugate, Punish, Eviscerate, And/Or, You Know, Be Mean To Others. I Don't Require Sacrifices And Purity Is For Drinking Water, Not People.
3. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Judge People For The Way They Look, Or How They Dress, Or The Way They Talk, Or, Well, Just Play Nice, Okay? Oh, And Get This In Your Thick Heads: Woman = Person. Man = Person. Samey - Samey. One Is Not Better Than The Other, Unless We're Talking About Fashion And I'm Sorry, But I Gave That To Women And Some Guys Who Know The Difference Between Teal and Fuchsia.
4. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Indulge In Conduct That Offends Yourself, Or Your Willing, Consenting Partner Of Legal Age AND Mental Maturity. As For Anyone Who Might Object, I Think The Expression Is Go F*** Yourself, Unless They Find That Offensive In Which Case They Can Turn Off the TV For Once And Go For A Walk For A Change.
5. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Challenge The Bigoted, Misogynist, Hateful Ideas Of Others On An Empty Stomach. Eat, Then Go After The B******.
6. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Build Multimillion-Dollar Churches/Temples/Mosques/Shrin... To My Noodly Goodness When The Money Could Be Better Spend (Take Your Pick):
1. Ending Poverty
2. Curing Diseases
3. Living In Peace, Loving With Passion, And Lowering The Cost Of CableI Might be a Complex-Carbohydrate Omniscient Being, But I Enjoy The Simple Things In Life. I Ought To Know. I AM the Creator.
7. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Go Around Telling People I Talk To You. You're Not That Interesting. Get Over Yourself. And I Told You To Love Your Fellow Man, Can't You Take A Hint?
8. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You If You Are Into, Um, Stuff That Uses A Lot of Leather/Lubricant/Las Vegas. If the Other Person Is Into It, However (Pursuant To #4), Then Have At It, Take Pictures, And For The Love Of Mike, Wear a CONDOM! Honestly, It's A Piece of Rubber. If I Didn't Want It To Feel Good When You Did IT I Would Have Added Spikes, Or Something.
Check out THE FSM CAUSE.
Behold! The Eight I'd really rather you didn't's brought upon us by the FSM:
1. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Act Like a Sanctimonious Holier Than Thou *** When Describing My Noodly Goodness. If Some People Don't Believe In Me, That's Okay. Really, I'm Not That Vain. Besides, This Isn't About Them So Don't Change The Subject.
2. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Use My Existence As A Means To Oppress, Subjugate, Punish, Eviscerate, And/Or, You Know, Be Mean To Others. I Don't Require Sacrifices And Purity Is For Drinking Water, Not People.
3. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Judge People For The Way They Look, Or How They Dress, Or The Way They Talk, Or, Well, Just Play Nice, Okay? Oh, And Get This In Your Thick Heads: Woman = Person. Man = Person. Samey - Samey. One Is Not Better Than The Other, Unless We're Talking About Fashion And I'm Sorry, But I Gave That To Women And Some Guys Who Know The Difference Between Teal and Fuchsia.
4. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Indulge In Conduct That Offends Yourself, Or Your Willing, Consenting Partner Of Legal Age AND Mental Maturity. As For Anyone Who Might Object, I Think The Expression Is Go F*** Yourself, Unless They Find That Offensive In Which Case They Can Turn Off the TV For Once And Go For A Walk For A Change.
5. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Challenge The Bigoted, Misogynist, Hateful Ideas Of Others On An Empty Stomach. Eat, Then Go After The B******.
6. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Build Multimillion-Dollar Churches/Temples/Mosques/Shrin... To My Noodly Goodness When The Money Could Be Better Spend (Take Your Pick):
1. Ending Poverty
2. Curing Diseases
3. Living In Peace, Loving With Passion, And Lowering The Cost Of CableI Might be a Complex-Carbohydrate Omniscient Being, But I Enjoy The Simple Things In Life. I Ought To Know. I AM the Creator.
7. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Go Around Telling People I Talk To You. You're Not That Interesting. Get Over Yourself. And I Told You To Love Your Fellow Man, Can't You Take A Hint?
8. I'd Really Rather You Didn't Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You If You Are Into, Um, Stuff That Uses A Lot of Leather/Lubricant/Las Vegas. If the Other Person Is Into It, However (Pursuant To #4), Then Have At It, Take Pictures, And For The Love Of Mike, Wear a CONDOM! Honestly, It's A Piece of Rubber. If I Didn't Want It To Feel Good When You Did IT I Would Have Added Spikes, Or Something.
Check out THE FSM CAUSE.
Daily
I've got nothing. I figure that since i've got a lot of "nothing" days, i could write about my dailyish routine. This might shift a bit once i live with ze wife, especially the time i wake up and leave, as we'll only have one car to get by for the time being.
6.00 - Alarm sounds. Wake up, shower, breakfast, pack my lunch, watch the news, out the door by 7am.
7.30 - arrive at main gates of the school, park my car, slowly climb upstairs.
7.40 - Once upstairs i greet everybody around (if there's anyone at all), turn on the hallway computers, unlock my lab, turn off the alarm, turn on the A/C, drop my stuff at my desk, turn on the computer.
7.50 - Washup anything that needs washing, including coffee mug.
8.00 - Go down one floor to obtain my daily dosage of caffeine
8.15 - Sitting at my computer:
- Check emails: yahoo, gmail, gmail, hotmail, yahoo. In that order.
- Read the Questionable Content daily funny.
- Immerse myself in isketchforum to see what's up. This often consumes up to an hour.
- Visit addictinggames to see what's new and whether there's anything worth playing. No luck today.
- Read the news on various news sites.
- Sometimes go into blogger and write something, not very often tho.
11.00 - At this time there's often something to do, whether it be cleaning out the fishtanks, hamster cages etc, or repairing something or another. Today i might get a microscope from a science substitute teacher that needs a little maintainance.
12.30 - Head down to the teacher's lounge to heat my lunch up, then proceed to the cafeteria lunchroom to sit at the back tables to have innane conversations with whomever might be there of the local support staff. It can be fun, but often i do not partake in conversation as i seldom know what the hell they're talking about.
13.30 - Head back up, wash my coffee mug, head back down for more caffeine, chitchat a little with the highschool office girls, then head back up for the afternoon session.
13.45 - Sit at the computer and play whatever online game i come across first to ward of the afternoon's sleepy time, hoping that someone will send in a request.
15.30 - Classes are out, i tour all 4 labs to see if anything requires cleaning up. Often there's nothing, so i head back into my hole for another hour of online gaming while teachers work silently in their offices. I try not to disturb them at this time as it is the only time of the day they have for themselves to catch up with grading and all that.
16.30 - Everyone's gone, i tour the labs once more, straighten out whatever needs to be straightened out.
17.00 - pack up and leave. It depends where, might be home, might be tutoring, or might be the gym. Today's gym time as i haven't exercised much lately and my knees are starting to hurt again.
18.00 - Arrive at home, take a shower if needed, vegetate in front of the TV until wife gets out from work.
20.00 - At the wife's, have dinner, chat a little, and you know.
22.00 - Head home.
22.15 - Once at home, call the wife to announce a safe arrival. Sit at the computer, check all emails, forums.
23.00 - Bedtime.
Fun eh?
6.00 - Alarm sounds. Wake up, shower, breakfast, pack my lunch, watch the news, out the door by 7am.
7.30 - arrive at main gates of the school, park my car, slowly climb upstairs.
7.40 - Once upstairs i greet everybody around (if there's anyone at all), turn on the hallway computers, unlock my lab, turn off the alarm, turn on the A/C, drop my stuff at my desk, turn on the computer.
7.50 - Washup anything that needs washing, including coffee mug.
8.00 - Go down one floor to obtain my daily dosage of caffeine
8.15 - Sitting at my computer:
- Check emails: yahoo, gmail, gmail, hotmail, yahoo. In that order.
- Read the Questionable Content daily funny.
- Immerse myself in isketchforum to see what's up. This often consumes up to an hour.
- Visit addictinggames to see what's new and whether there's anything worth playing. No luck today.
- Read the news on various news sites.
- Sometimes go into blogger and write something, not very often tho.
11.00 - At this time there's often something to do, whether it be cleaning out the fishtanks, hamster cages etc, or repairing something or another. Today i might get a microscope from a science substitute teacher that needs a little maintainance.
12.30 - Head down to the teacher's lounge to heat my lunch up, then proceed to the cafeteria lunchroom to sit at the back tables to have innane conversations with whomever might be there of the local support staff. It can be fun, but often i do not partake in conversation as i seldom know what the hell they're talking about.
13.30 - Head back up, wash my coffee mug, head back down for more caffeine, chitchat a little with the highschool office girls, then head back up for the afternoon session.
13.45 - Sit at the computer and play whatever online game i come across first to ward of the afternoon's sleepy time, hoping that someone will send in a request.
15.30 - Classes are out, i tour all 4 labs to see if anything requires cleaning up. Often there's nothing, so i head back into my hole for another hour of online gaming while teachers work silently in their offices. I try not to disturb them at this time as it is the only time of the day they have for themselves to catch up with grading and all that.
16.30 - Everyone's gone, i tour the labs once more, straighten out whatever needs to be straightened out.
17.00 - pack up and leave. It depends where, might be home, might be tutoring, or might be the gym. Today's gym time as i haven't exercised much lately and my knees are starting to hurt again.
18.00 - Arrive at home, take a shower if needed, vegetate in front of the TV until wife gets out from work.
20.00 - At the wife's, have dinner, chat a little, and you know.
22.00 - Head home.
22.15 - Once at home, call the wife to announce a safe arrival. Sit at the computer, check all emails, forums.
23.00 - Bedtime.
Fun eh?
28.3.07
Getting things greener...
I just finshed watching "An Inconvenient Truth".
Everyone needs to see this movie.
Not because it's Al Gore. This movie concerns everyone. Forget the politics and personal political tragedy of Gore, if you're against Gore and you're mature enough to get past that, you will learn much from this movie.
The science is sound and let me tell you, it is solid. There is no bullshitting in this movie. We keep on this trend, and we're going down. No terrorists, no war, no famine, no axis of evil, no conservative party, nobody, noone, zip zero nadie niemand, will be as much a challenge for the survival of the human race as climate change. We're killing out planet and we don't even know it.
So get out there rent it, buy it, borrow it, whatever. Just get it and GET IT. Once you see it you'll know what i mean. Get as many people as you can to watch it too.
Climate change is not bullshit. It's what's going to kill us all if we don't do something about it.
Everyone needs to see this movie.
Not because it's Al Gore. This movie concerns everyone. Forget the politics and personal political tragedy of Gore, if you're against Gore and you're mature enough to get past that, you will learn much from this movie.
The science is sound and let me tell you, it is solid. There is no bullshitting in this movie. We keep on this trend, and we're going down. No terrorists, no war, no famine, no axis of evil, no conservative party, nobody, noone, zip zero nadie niemand, will be as much a challenge for the survival of the human race as climate change. We're killing out planet and we don't even know it.
So get out there rent it, buy it, borrow it, whatever. Just get it and GET IT. Once you see it you'll know what i mean. Get as many people as you can to watch it too.
Climate change is not bullshit. It's what's going to kill us all if we don't do something about it.
26.3.07
Broken glass
Today's the official 2007 glass breaking day!
Not that i intend to, but today so far i've broken 4 sections of glass tubing, a 125ml flask and a 100ml kimax grad cylinder. Wonderful eh? Accidents happen i guess.
The labs are going great. I've done a couple new things over the last few weeks. Not interesting things, but it's been fun setting up the experiements.
In bio we've done chicken wing disections (for elbow joint labs) and cow hearts too. On saturday we're doing rat disections to show mammalian organ arrangement.
Chem's doing thermometric titrations, where you mix precise concentrations of acid and base and measure the heat released in the reaction. Quite fun if you ask me, but i only made the solutions, i didn't get to participate in that one.
The new van der graaff generator's already busted, what a piece of shit. We're looking at buying a wider belt for the old one, but that seems a bit tough right now as imports to the country are sluggish.
I've also been making homemade electromagnets. The mightiest one is made out of some 22m of copper wire coiled around a 50cm steel retort stand rod. It can pick up 21 paperclips! Not much i know, but considering that the powersource is only 12v, it's good.
There's been a few victories this year. My boss managed to talk his way into getting a bottle of 1L of HCl from the other school, and that bottle now rests comfortably in our acids storage. I managed to replace all the alligator clips from the powersources, as the old ones were all depleted from all the electroplating and hydrolysis labs. I've also managed to speed up the cleaning process, i think i'll buy some low foam machine dishawashing soap and actually start periodically using that dishwasher because it cleans well and it's a lot less work.
A few defeats too though. Of the 60 chemicals we tried to order in november, we only got a list of 6. Then the suppliers moved, and now that they've reopened they can only get 3 of those 6 now. Lucky we were to find that acid, because chemicals are running out quickly and the government isn't granting permits for purchase or permits for importing. There's also the matter that a lot of students and teachers are leaving the country, and it's getting harder and harder to find students that are capable of paying the tuition and teachers that want to come to this shithole.
Anyway.
Ah, and one big Hooray! for me, i finished the teacher's cert course i've been doing since september last year. Finally!, i am officially a teacher, probably in biology hehe.
At least now i can fall back on teaching if i don't make it in anythign else.
Oh yeah, i'm also legally married. We don't live together yet, that'll happen as of may 1st. I'll let you know all about it.
Not that i intend to, but today so far i've broken 4 sections of glass tubing, a 125ml flask and a 100ml kimax grad cylinder. Wonderful eh? Accidents happen i guess.
The labs are going great. I've done a couple new things over the last few weeks. Not interesting things, but it's been fun setting up the experiements.
In bio we've done chicken wing disections (for elbow joint labs) and cow hearts too. On saturday we're doing rat disections to show mammalian organ arrangement.
Chem's doing thermometric titrations, where you mix precise concentrations of acid and base and measure the heat released in the reaction. Quite fun if you ask me, but i only made the solutions, i didn't get to participate in that one.
The new van der graaff generator's already busted, what a piece of shit. We're looking at buying a wider belt for the old one, but that seems a bit tough right now as imports to the country are sluggish.
I've also been making homemade electromagnets. The mightiest one is made out of some 22m of copper wire coiled around a 50cm steel retort stand rod. It can pick up 21 paperclips! Not much i know, but considering that the powersource is only 12v, it's good.
There's been a few victories this year. My boss managed to talk his way into getting a bottle of 1L of HCl from the other school, and that bottle now rests comfortably in our acids storage. I managed to replace all the alligator clips from the powersources, as the old ones were all depleted from all the electroplating and hydrolysis labs. I've also managed to speed up the cleaning process, i think i'll buy some low foam machine dishawashing soap and actually start periodically using that dishwasher because it cleans well and it's a lot less work.
A few defeats too though. Of the 60 chemicals we tried to order in november, we only got a list of 6. Then the suppliers moved, and now that they've reopened they can only get 3 of those 6 now. Lucky we were to find that acid, because chemicals are running out quickly and the government isn't granting permits for purchase or permits for importing. There's also the matter that a lot of students and teachers are leaving the country, and it's getting harder and harder to find students that are capable of paying the tuition and teachers that want to come to this shithole.
Anyway.
Ah, and one big Hooray! for me, i finished the teacher's cert course i've been doing since september last year. Finally!, i am officially a teacher, probably in biology hehe.
At least now i can fall back on teaching if i don't make it in anythign else.
Oh yeah, i'm also legally married. We don't live together yet, that'll happen as of may 1st. I'll let you know all about it.
8.3.07
glasses
It really pisses me off when people make decisions that affect me too without consulting me.
Anyway, been a while since i've spoken about science eh?
Ok, nothing's changed really, semester after semester, same experiments, different students. Some students this yar have a severe lack of common sense i've noticed. I tell them to use test tubes for their experimental needs. What do they do? Dissolve BaCl2 in water IN A FUCKING WEIGHING BOAT. It's like they lack a brain.
The van de graaff generator we got this year is already fucking up on us. It won't generate anymore. We've tried everything, to no avail. I'm no generator technician, but the principle is simple enough and i'll be damned if i can't figure it out. Turned out i couldn't. So we're back to our 100,000 volt potential one, with the crappy motor and the tiny belt, oh well, it's not my education getting screwed up.
The top boss and i had a chat today. She was rather nice to me. I don't know why, but she's always been nice to me. People tell me she can be a real bitch and that she treats like shit most people that work there but i can't say that because she's not been anything like that so far. Now my department's boss, he's a royal dick, but that's been covered; but he's been ok lately too.
Maybe they've broken my spirit or something.
Anyway, been a while since i've spoken about science eh?
Ok, nothing's changed really, semester after semester, same experiments, different students. Some students this yar have a severe lack of common sense i've noticed. I tell them to use test tubes for their experimental needs. What do they do? Dissolve BaCl2 in water IN A FUCKING WEIGHING BOAT. It's like they lack a brain.
The van de graaff generator we got this year is already fucking up on us. It won't generate anymore. We've tried everything, to no avail. I'm no generator technician, but the principle is simple enough and i'll be damned if i can't figure it out. Turned out i couldn't. So we're back to our 100,000 volt potential one, with the crappy motor and the tiny belt, oh well, it's not my education getting screwed up.
The top boss and i had a chat today. She was rather nice to me. I don't know why, but she's always been nice to me. People tell me she can be a real bitch and that she treats like shit most people that work there but i can't say that because she's not been anything like that so far. Now my department's boss, he's a royal dick, but that's been covered; but he's been ok lately too.
Maybe they've broken my spirit or something.
6.3.07
Not really what i had planned but...
So stuff's not going according to plan anymore, but who cares, it still works.
My idea of making a cartoon blog was an utter failure, mostly because i don't have real talent in the drawing department, and because when i started drawing by hand i realized how much work it actually is, and now i hold a great deal of respect for all the world's cartoonists.
So i don't know if i've discussed this at length, my GF and i are going to get married. In. Two. Weeks.
In this country, if people want to be married through the church they have to go through a civil wedding first. I don't really want to marry through the church, mostly because the GF is catholic, and i'm nothing, i'm a non-believer (agnostic? meh, who cares). I'm such a non-believer that i question science on a daily basis. To top it all off, i was raised in the german lutheran church style. Not that my family is really faithful to their religion or anything, hell, they go to church once a year at christmas to see and be seen. I haven't stepped foor in a church since i was 14, participated in making religious people question their belief system (with this novell thing called LOGIC) and have dissed people of almost every belief out there, when provoked. I'm not one of them aggressive atheists, it's just like i'm dynamite, doesn't take much to set me off when pushed.
So anyway, i made it fairly clear to my girlfriend that i'm non-believer to the extreme, but that if she respected my shit, i'd respect hers, as i've always done. So she has, but i've been a bad boy sometimes, but she's no good at debating, she ends up crying which is really stupid. In any case she can't make a decent argument in favour of her religion or customs to save her own life.
Thing's not the religion, thing is the customs. I'm fairly unconventional and i like to wing it, it's more fun that way. She on the other hand is fairly conservative and likes her traditions. But, and i'm sorry, catholic traditions (or religious for that matter) are RETARDED. Top it all off, her family is syrian catholic, which means they have all sorts of weird arabic traditions to trump the catholic traditions.
So here goes my rant.
When we decided to get married and i "proposed", we agreed on a bunch of stuff about the wedding and about life. So far i can only comment on the wedding stuff, because life with her hasn't occurred yet but if the trend keeps, i'm fucked, mostly because i can't seem to get my way. I've been inches away from cancelling the whole show several times, but the nature of love is stronger than my anger at how the whole thing's managed.
What we agreed: For starters we decided on a small wedding, to reduce costs and because we're not really all that big on partying until 6am and stuff.
The reality: My family's not having the best economic situation right now so her father took over the show, as he is a man of wealth. From a small wedding with few immediate family and friends in a restaurant it went to a (and i shit you not) 200 guest, $20,000 USD wedding. Professional catering, waiters, 18 year old whisky, bar, snaks, fingerfoods, coffee station the whole shebang, all in one of caracas' most luxurious banquet halls. My side's 22 people. Her side is 170.
And to think i dared to suggest that a small wedding be made for, say, 10000 and the other 10 given to us to get a fucking mortgage to get our own apartment instead of renting... what was i thinking...
What we agreed: everybody wears what they feel like wearing, no need to go out and buy new dresses or ties or shirts, my dad, her dad, her brothers, my best man, nobody has to dress alike (which apparently is the tradition).
The reality: thousands of dollars being spent on bridesmaids', kids, bride's entourage dresses and suits. Fucking hell. Apparently the males on her side also have to dress up in fancy suits and shit. And so does my side... but that's really no problem because it'll just be my dad and whomever is my best man (i'll get into that later) I wanted to rent a simple tuxedo, james bond style, but every single person in her family have me such a fucking hard time for that bit that i said fuck it and went for something a little different, which i absolutely hate, but they love. I'm actually considering going to the place and actually switching to the tuxedo just to be comfortable, and mostly piss them off.
What we agreed: the civil wedding should be small, 25 people at most, little alcohol, some snacks, a general good time, ending at 12 or 1am. My parents pay for it as that's as much as they can afford, but since they have NO experience organizing events like these, they handed it over to her dad, which i think was the biggest mistake they've made so far.
The reality, and mind you that this is happenind march 17th, two weeks from now: the guestlist for that is 50 people and growing, fully fledged dinner, 18 year old whisky, waiter, music, almost like the church thing. What bugs me the most about this is the outmost disrespect from her family about the organization of this event. My parents will pay for this, and yet my side has 9 people, and hers is 40 something, after it was agreed that it'd be small and that we'd have roughly the same amount of people. The second i speak up about it i get a "don't you want to make her happy?" Of course i do you manipulative assholes, but this is not what she wanted, not what i wanted. Furthermore this is ridiculous, all to sign some papers...
What we agreed: traditionally, bride arrives in a fancy vintage car to the church and subsequently the party. As we agreed that fuck tradition would be the theme of our thing, we said she arrives with friends or something, no fancy car.
The reality: *sigh* $500 for 1 hour's rental of a 1950 rolls.
What we agreed: black ink on classic oyster invite cards.
The reality, that has been sent to print and should be done by tomorrow: they have cartoon versions of ourselves, it's baby blue and it looks like a fucking baby shower invite. I was so pissed about that from the beggining, but she was designing them and whenever i'd bring it up she'd end up crying because of all the work that went into making the cards. All i could say is that i complained from the start, when the idea came up, before they were designed.
And the list keeps going, nothing's going according to plan or at least my vision. If i had 1 thing that could go my way i'd be so happy, but so far the only thing i could flip is my suit.
As i've probably mentioned, i don't dance. Not because i suck, not because i'm shy, but because i don't enjoy it. It's like drinking coffee when you don't like it. You can do it, yet not enjoy it. So as part of the weird syrian customs, apparently there's a waltz of sorts that the groom and the bride dance upon their arrival at the party. It's not conventional waltz, it's something with the bride doing weird shit with her arms, hip moving and the groom jumping back and forth with arms open. It looks retarded to me, and as this is something i could control, i mean, i decide whether my body dances or not, i said NO, I WILL NOT DANCE.
Bring forth the massive fight and subsequent communications breakdown.
After thinking about it, i said i'd negotiate it. I've sacrificed so much in this deal, had control over so little (if anything), i want something in return. I mean, outside of the arrangements of the party, i'm getting married through the church, something i could very well say no to and be done with the relationship, much to my discontent, but this is something i do for her thus violating entirely my personal ethic, values, morals, belief system. That's a huge sacrifice for me too.
But anyway, back to the fight. I figured i could manipulate the situation a little bit so that in the end i wouldn't have to dance, in return for not complaining to her family about the mismanagement of everything. She ends up crying, saying this is "her lifetime dream". How the fuck does that work out? Have women no other aspirations but to have a spectacular wedding? I mean, holy shit people, THINK ABOUT WHAT COMES AFTER THE DAMN WEDDING, IT'S A LONG AND HOPEFULLY HEALTHY MARRIAGE!
What pisses me off the most is that when i ask her to explain why, she cannot give me an explanation. She is unable to make a coherent argument about why i should dance. I told her that if she gave me one single argument, no matter how weak, about why i should dance other than pleasing her or because it's her life's dream (creepy), i'd dance, but for something in return.
So i'm still negotiating that one, but one way or another, i'm not dancing like an idiot, and if i am i'm getting something else my way. I'm tired of being the pawn here.
Then there's the paperwork. For the civil wedding there's a huge amount of paperwork that needs to be filled out, certified, taxed...
First we needed a notarized certification that we're single, which needs to be written by a lawyer. A friend's mom, who is a lawyer, offered to do it as a wedding gift. Thankies! So when we go get it notarized, we find out that we need two witnesses to certify that we're single, and they can't be family. So i call my trusty best friend Daniella and she comes right away, she's always there for me, i'm always there for her, she's my sister in all respects. So who else to call? Nobody answers their phones at 7am, and those few who did were in class or busy. My uncle works just up the block from the notary so i called him, and he came through for me, he brought his secretary. Done deal.
Then we had to book THE appointment with the judge that was to marry us. Every time we went to city hall to do that, we were missing another paper. 4 times was the charm and we booked, then we had to pay the taxes required.
So i go to the bank and nothing worked, couldn't pay because i was out of cheques, didn't have ID and the stupid bank couldn't do direct deposit from my account, that was yesterday. I'm trying again tomorrow with cash.
Then on friday we need to publish in the paper and in the entrance of city hall "signs" announcing that we're to get married so that if anybody knows that we're married already, were that the case, could speak up and prevent it. Utter bullshit in my opinion, they could just computerize records and check in a registry if we're married or not, idiots i tell you. But once that's done we should be able to marry no problem, but knowing this country as i do, there's going to be one problem or another.
The church wedding is something entirely different. A monsenior is going to officiate that. I had to be my most hypocritical self in years. The guy interviewed privately and asked me if i believe in god, if i'm religious, what religion i'm in, if i go to church, why i want to get married, if i'd consider being baptized a catholic, if i'm going to have kids and if my kids would be catholic.
Do you believe in god?
Said: yes
Shouldve said: laughed insanely, looking at him straight in the eyes with an evil look
Are you religious:
Said: sure
Shouldve: no such thing as an omnipotent, interventionist being controlling the world, thus no reason to believe in anything
What is your religion:
Said: lutheran (technically)
Shoulve said: the religion of what the fuck do you care
Do you go to church:
Said, didnt lie right out there: only in december, for christmas eve mass (something i actually did until i was 14)
Shoulve said: haven't stepped foot in a church for 12 years and would like to keep it like that.
Why do you want to get married through the church:
Said: because i love her.
Shoulve: because i love her and i'll do anything for her, including risking getting dissolved by the images of crosses, jesus or holy water because church is bullshit.
Would you consider being baptized a catholic:
Said: i'm happy with my religion (the priest guy didn't make a fuzz over my being "lutheran", he was quite happy about it actually)
Shouldve: fuck no, even if i don't remember getting baptized a lutheran once, i wouldn't do it for a million bucks again. Well for money perhaps and maybe for the DEVIL, but no deal otherwise.
Do you want to have kids:
Said: absolutely, my gf and i often discuss baby names.
Shoulve said: yeah, i do, but after i have 2 i'm getting a vasectomy. Screw you guys with your idiot rules about contraception, i'm taking it to the ultimate step, all thanks to SCIENCE. (And whatever my wife tells you, my son (if i have one) will not be Alan as well. Fuck my name, i hate my name.)
Will your kids be raised in the catholic tradition:
Said: sure, gf is catholic, it's their right
Shoulve said: (the truth) my wife will try her best to pass on her fear of god, but as dad's a scientist, and sadly logic makes sense, i shall show them the ways of rationality and analysis. I highly doubt they'll buy into church bullshit. They'll know that they're owners of their destiny, that nothing controls them and that there's no such thing as supernatural power, luck, or holy punishment. Shit happens because it does, and "miracles" are either 1. bullshit or 2. coincidences.
Oh and they require a premarital course to be allowed to marry through the church. This was done by church people at a different church, so i expected nothing less than indoctrination, but i promised i would behave. It started ok, a priest told us that this wasn't an indoctrination thing, just a series of discussions from speakers and experienced professionals (a couple married for 33 years, a psychologist that specializes in conflict resolution, the priest, a couple married for 5 years, and a laywer), something for us to ponder about, to think, no indoctrination.
Hello 7 hours of indoctrination indeed.
First couple wasn't too bad, they spoke about being married for 3 decades and such. Of course they threw in that without god, there's no marriage. But i expected that. What i didn't expect is for them to have said something about gay people. I'm not gay, but i do believe that if you're going to speak about equal rights for all human beings, you have to include the GLTBQ (Gay, Lesbian, Transexual, Bisexual and Questioning). The guy starts talking about his kids, which he can do as nobody can take that experience away from him. He mentioned one of his sons is getting divorced, and that its a real bitch to do that. Somehow he hovers over equal rights for all humsna and a little while later jumps over to how the marriage of gay people is an abomination, which leads him to talk about what it'd be like to have a gay kid.
I felt like saying: sir, what in the fuck gives you the right to say what it's like to have a gay kid if you aint got one? I have gay in my family, and i love them no less than the rest of my family. And also, what gives you the right to talk about equal rights for all humans, and then say marriage should not be for gay people? Aren't you contradicting yourself? Fucking asshole.
Then the psychologist spoke. He was alright. Gave us some good conflict resolution tips and explained once and for all to my wife that freaking out about tradition kills relationships.
Then the priest spoke again, can't remember what about, some impression eh?
So lunchtime! and when we came back from lunch, time with the couple that's been married for 5 years. He's an administrator, she's a doctor. He said that church is good and blah blah blah, youre going to hell if you don't pray, blah blah blayh i expected no less. But her, a doctor, holy crap. She claimed a bunch of stuff that were untrue, misguided or inaccurate. She manipulated medical fact to favour the church. Where she has the moral to do that, or how she can live with having violated medical ethic like that is beyond me. Conveniently enough, she asked if there were any doctors in the room, and seeing that there weren't i can only infer that she unleashed the bullshit shamelessly
She said, and i don't know these numbers, but come on, logic dictates she's bullshitting her way through:
80% of adult women have HPV. So essentially every non-virgin woman in the world has HPV.
10% of the country's population has HIV/AIDS. So over one million men an women in this country are infected? where are we, africa? hmmmm... fishy.
Condoms are not a barrier against viruses. Sure, if they break, but she claimed that latex is not effective against viruses of any kind.
Methods such as those of menstrual rythm, temperature, cervical secretion are as effective as contraceptive pills or condoms. And if used properly are even more effective. Right, and if my wife drinks 16 glasses of water every day at the same time and place our baby will be a boy eh?
Being unfaithful will get you an STD, always.
the HPV vaccine is not very effective (this i know to be untrue)
HIV mutates at the same rate of influenza (this i also know for a fact is not true)
and i wondered when it would stop.
But whatever, we got the certificate that said we went, i warned my gf not to believe the doctor, and i'm tempted to find out where she works and reporting her lack of ethics to her boss.
*sigh* there's more, but i'm out of time for writing. Don't worry, you'll hear all about it.
My idea of making a cartoon blog was an utter failure, mostly because i don't have real talent in the drawing department, and because when i started drawing by hand i realized how much work it actually is, and now i hold a great deal of respect for all the world's cartoonists.
So i don't know if i've discussed this at length, my GF and i are going to get married. In. Two. Weeks.
In this country, if people want to be married through the church they have to go through a civil wedding first. I don't really want to marry through the church, mostly because the GF is catholic, and i'm nothing, i'm a non-believer (agnostic? meh, who cares). I'm such a non-believer that i question science on a daily basis. To top it all off, i was raised in the german lutheran church style. Not that my family is really faithful to their religion or anything, hell, they go to church once a year at christmas to see and be seen. I haven't stepped foor in a church since i was 14, participated in making religious people question their belief system (with this novell thing called LOGIC) and have dissed people of almost every belief out there, when provoked. I'm not one of them aggressive atheists, it's just like i'm dynamite, doesn't take much to set me off when pushed.
So anyway, i made it fairly clear to my girlfriend that i'm non-believer to the extreme, but that if she respected my shit, i'd respect hers, as i've always done. So she has, but i've been a bad boy sometimes, but she's no good at debating, she ends up crying which is really stupid. In any case she can't make a decent argument in favour of her religion or customs to save her own life.
Thing's not the religion, thing is the customs. I'm fairly unconventional and i like to wing it, it's more fun that way. She on the other hand is fairly conservative and likes her traditions. But, and i'm sorry, catholic traditions (or religious for that matter) are RETARDED. Top it all off, her family is syrian catholic, which means they have all sorts of weird arabic traditions to trump the catholic traditions.
So here goes my rant.
When we decided to get married and i "proposed", we agreed on a bunch of stuff about the wedding and about life. So far i can only comment on the wedding stuff, because life with her hasn't occurred yet but if the trend keeps, i'm fucked, mostly because i can't seem to get my way. I've been inches away from cancelling the whole show several times, but the nature of love is stronger than my anger at how the whole thing's managed.
What we agreed: For starters we decided on a small wedding, to reduce costs and because we're not really all that big on partying until 6am and stuff.
The reality: My family's not having the best economic situation right now so her father took over the show, as he is a man of wealth. From a small wedding with few immediate family and friends in a restaurant it went to a (and i shit you not) 200 guest, $20,000 USD wedding. Professional catering, waiters, 18 year old whisky, bar, snaks, fingerfoods, coffee station the whole shebang, all in one of caracas' most luxurious banquet halls. My side's 22 people. Her side is 170.
And to think i dared to suggest that a small wedding be made for, say, 10000 and the other 10 given to us to get a fucking mortgage to get our own apartment instead of renting... what was i thinking...
What we agreed: everybody wears what they feel like wearing, no need to go out and buy new dresses or ties or shirts, my dad, her dad, her brothers, my best man, nobody has to dress alike (which apparently is the tradition).
The reality: thousands of dollars being spent on bridesmaids', kids, bride's entourage dresses and suits. Fucking hell. Apparently the males on her side also have to dress up in fancy suits and shit. And so does my side... but that's really no problem because it'll just be my dad and whomever is my best man (i'll get into that later) I wanted to rent a simple tuxedo, james bond style, but every single person in her family have me such a fucking hard time for that bit that i said fuck it and went for something a little different, which i absolutely hate, but they love. I'm actually considering going to the place and actually switching to the tuxedo just to be comfortable, and mostly piss them off.
What we agreed: the civil wedding should be small, 25 people at most, little alcohol, some snacks, a general good time, ending at 12 or 1am. My parents pay for it as that's as much as they can afford, but since they have NO experience organizing events like these, they handed it over to her dad, which i think was the biggest mistake they've made so far.
The reality, and mind you that this is happenind march 17th, two weeks from now: the guestlist for that is 50 people and growing, fully fledged dinner, 18 year old whisky, waiter, music, almost like the church thing. What bugs me the most about this is the outmost disrespect from her family about the organization of this event. My parents will pay for this, and yet my side has 9 people, and hers is 40 something, after it was agreed that it'd be small and that we'd have roughly the same amount of people. The second i speak up about it i get a "don't you want to make her happy?" Of course i do you manipulative assholes, but this is not what she wanted, not what i wanted. Furthermore this is ridiculous, all to sign some papers...
What we agreed: traditionally, bride arrives in a fancy vintage car to the church and subsequently the party. As we agreed that fuck tradition would be the theme of our thing, we said she arrives with friends or something, no fancy car.
The reality: *sigh* $500 for 1 hour's rental of a 1950 rolls.
What we agreed: black ink on classic oyster invite cards.
The reality, that has been sent to print and should be done by tomorrow: they have cartoon versions of ourselves, it's baby blue and it looks like a fucking baby shower invite. I was so pissed about that from the beggining, but she was designing them and whenever i'd bring it up she'd end up crying because of all the work that went into making the cards. All i could say is that i complained from the start, when the idea came up, before they were designed.
And the list keeps going, nothing's going according to plan or at least my vision. If i had 1 thing that could go my way i'd be so happy, but so far the only thing i could flip is my suit.
As i've probably mentioned, i don't dance. Not because i suck, not because i'm shy, but because i don't enjoy it. It's like drinking coffee when you don't like it. You can do it, yet not enjoy it. So as part of the weird syrian customs, apparently there's a waltz of sorts that the groom and the bride dance upon their arrival at the party. It's not conventional waltz, it's something with the bride doing weird shit with her arms, hip moving and the groom jumping back and forth with arms open. It looks retarded to me, and as this is something i could control, i mean, i decide whether my body dances or not, i said NO, I WILL NOT DANCE.
Bring forth the massive fight and subsequent communications breakdown.
After thinking about it, i said i'd negotiate it. I've sacrificed so much in this deal, had control over so little (if anything), i want something in return. I mean, outside of the arrangements of the party, i'm getting married through the church, something i could very well say no to and be done with the relationship, much to my discontent, but this is something i do for her thus violating entirely my personal ethic, values, morals, belief system. That's a huge sacrifice for me too.
But anyway, back to the fight. I figured i could manipulate the situation a little bit so that in the end i wouldn't have to dance, in return for not complaining to her family about the mismanagement of everything. She ends up crying, saying this is "her lifetime dream". How the fuck does that work out? Have women no other aspirations but to have a spectacular wedding? I mean, holy shit people, THINK ABOUT WHAT COMES AFTER THE DAMN WEDDING, IT'S A LONG AND HOPEFULLY HEALTHY MARRIAGE!
What pisses me off the most is that when i ask her to explain why, she cannot give me an explanation. She is unable to make a coherent argument about why i should dance. I told her that if she gave me one single argument, no matter how weak, about why i should dance other than pleasing her or because it's her life's dream (creepy), i'd dance, but for something in return.
So i'm still negotiating that one, but one way or another, i'm not dancing like an idiot, and if i am i'm getting something else my way. I'm tired of being the pawn here.
Then there's the paperwork. For the civil wedding there's a huge amount of paperwork that needs to be filled out, certified, taxed...
First we needed a notarized certification that we're single, which needs to be written by a lawyer. A friend's mom, who is a lawyer, offered to do it as a wedding gift. Thankies! So when we go get it notarized, we find out that we need two witnesses to certify that we're single, and they can't be family. So i call my trusty best friend Daniella and she comes right away, she's always there for me, i'm always there for her, she's my sister in all respects. So who else to call? Nobody answers their phones at 7am, and those few who did were in class or busy. My uncle works just up the block from the notary so i called him, and he came through for me, he brought his secretary. Done deal.
Then we had to book THE appointment with the judge that was to marry us. Every time we went to city hall to do that, we were missing another paper. 4 times was the charm and we booked, then we had to pay the taxes required.
So i go to the bank and nothing worked, couldn't pay because i was out of cheques, didn't have ID and the stupid bank couldn't do direct deposit from my account, that was yesterday. I'm trying again tomorrow with cash.
Then on friday we need to publish in the paper and in the entrance of city hall "signs" announcing that we're to get married so that if anybody knows that we're married already, were that the case, could speak up and prevent it. Utter bullshit in my opinion, they could just computerize records and check in a registry if we're married or not, idiots i tell you. But once that's done we should be able to marry no problem, but knowing this country as i do, there's going to be one problem or another.
The church wedding is something entirely different. A monsenior is going to officiate that. I had to be my most hypocritical self in years. The guy interviewed privately and asked me if i believe in god, if i'm religious, what religion i'm in, if i go to church, why i want to get married, if i'd consider being baptized a catholic, if i'm going to have kids and if my kids would be catholic.
Do you believe in god?
Said: yes
Shouldve said: laughed insanely, looking at him straight in the eyes with an evil look
Are you religious:
Said: sure
Shouldve: no such thing as an omnipotent, interventionist being controlling the world, thus no reason to believe in anything
What is your religion:
Said: lutheran (technically)
Shoulve said: the religion of what the fuck do you care
Do you go to church:
Said, didnt lie right out there: only in december, for christmas eve mass (something i actually did until i was 14)
Shoulve said: haven't stepped foot in a church for 12 years and would like to keep it like that.
Why do you want to get married through the church:
Said: because i love her.
Shoulve: because i love her and i'll do anything for her, including risking getting dissolved by the images of crosses, jesus or holy water because church is bullshit.
Would you consider being baptized a catholic:
Said: i'm happy with my religion (the priest guy didn't make a fuzz over my being "lutheran", he was quite happy about it actually)
Shouldve: fuck no, even if i don't remember getting baptized a lutheran once, i wouldn't do it for a million bucks again. Well for money perhaps and maybe for the DEVIL, but no deal otherwise.
Do you want to have kids:
Said: absolutely, my gf and i often discuss baby names.
Shoulve said: yeah, i do, but after i have 2 i'm getting a vasectomy. Screw you guys with your idiot rules about contraception, i'm taking it to the ultimate step, all thanks to SCIENCE. (And whatever my wife tells you, my son (if i have one) will not be Alan as well. Fuck my name, i hate my name.)
Will your kids be raised in the catholic tradition:
Said: sure, gf is catholic, it's their right
Shoulve said: (the truth) my wife will try her best to pass on her fear of god, but as dad's a scientist, and sadly logic makes sense, i shall show them the ways of rationality and analysis. I highly doubt they'll buy into church bullshit. They'll know that they're owners of their destiny, that nothing controls them and that there's no such thing as supernatural power, luck, or holy punishment. Shit happens because it does, and "miracles" are either 1. bullshit or 2. coincidences.
Oh and they require a premarital course to be allowed to marry through the church. This was done by church people at a different church, so i expected nothing less than indoctrination, but i promised i would behave. It started ok, a priest told us that this wasn't an indoctrination thing, just a series of discussions from speakers and experienced professionals (a couple married for 33 years, a psychologist that specializes in conflict resolution, the priest, a couple married for 5 years, and a laywer), something for us to ponder about, to think, no indoctrination.
Hello 7 hours of indoctrination indeed.
First couple wasn't too bad, they spoke about being married for 3 decades and such. Of course they threw in that without god, there's no marriage. But i expected that. What i didn't expect is for them to have said something about gay people. I'm not gay, but i do believe that if you're going to speak about equal rights for all human beings, you have to include the GLTBQ (Gay, Lesbian, Transexual, Bisexual and Questioning). The guy starts talking about his kids, which he can do as nobody can take that experience away from him. He mentioned one of his sons is getting divorced, and that its a real bitch to do that. Somehow he hovers over equal rights for all humsna and a little while later jumps over to how the marriage of gay people is an abomination, which leads him to talk about what it'd be like to have a gay kid.
I felt like saying: sir, what in the fuck gives you the right to say what it's like to have a gay kid if you aint got one? I have gay in my family, and i love them no less than the rest of my family. And also, what gives you the right to talk about equal rights for all humans, and then say marriage should not be for gay people? Aren't you contradicting yourself? Fucking asshole.
Then the psychologist spoke. He was alright. Gave us some good conflict resolution tips and explained once and for all to my wife that freaking out about tradition kills relationships.
Then the priest spoke again, can't remember what about, some impression eh?
So lunchtime! and when we came back from lunch, time with the couple that's been married for 5 years. He's an administrator, she's a doctor. He said that church is good and blah blah blah, youre going to hell if you don't pray, blah blah blayh i expected no less. But her, a doctor, holy crap. She claimed a bunch of stuff that were untrue, misguided or inaccurate. She manipulated medical fact to favour the church. Where she has the moral to do that, or how she can live with having violated medical ethic like that is beyond me. Conveniently enough, she asked if there were any doctors in the room, and seeing that there weren't i can only infer that she unleashed the bullshit shamelessly
She said, and i don't know these numbers, but come on, logic dictates she's bullshitting her way through:
80% of adult women have HPV. So essentially every non-virgin woman in the world has HPV.
10% of the country's population has HIV/AIDS. So over one million men an women in this country are infected? where are we, africa? hmmmm... fishy.
Condoms are not a barrier against viruses. Sure, if they break, but she claimed that latex is not effective against viruses of any kind.
Methods such as those of menstrual rythm, temperature, cervical secretion are as effective as contraceptive pills or condoms. And if used properly are even more effective. Right, and if my wife drinks 16 glasses of water every day at the same time and place our baby will be a boy eh?
Being unfaithful will get you an STD, always.
the HPV vaccine is not very effective (this i know to be untrue)
HIV mutates at the same rate of influenza (this i also know for a fact is not true)
and i wondered when it would stop.
But whatever, we got the certificate that said we went, i warned my gf not to believe the doctor, and i'm tempted to find out where she works and reporting her lack of ethics to her boss.
*sigh* there's more, but i'm out of time for writing. Don't worry, you'll hear all about it.
31.1.07
What to do, what to do
I've been thinking. I could update the blog with cartoons from now on. We'll see if that motivates me to share more often.
Anyway, work's been shit. My boss is an ass and he's been giving me crap for everything and nothing. General science guy is also starting to give me attitude. What the fuck, i ask, have i done to deserve this kind of treatment??
Chemistry guy got all pissy at me because i forgot to deliver a fucking bottle for an experiment, one fucking bottle with 150ml of magnesium sulfate, that was left on my bench. I swear i was about to knock him to the ground and beat the living shit out of him when he started telling me off, not allowing me to explain that i forgot the bottle, and telling me to not talk to him like that. Grow some cojones you ass.
With general science guy was a different story. As part of my job, i am obligated to tell the teachers about potential hazards of some chemicals. I don't like to do it but i have to do it. So i tell this guy to be careful with the lead nitrate as that stuff's really toxic and he gives me a "look at me on my high horse" look and tells me in a very patronizing way "you know this is not my first time teaching".
Oh and then there was the conference issue. I get told that i must go to a conference. Since i'm not sure, i check with the boss. He doesn't know so he checks with his boss, who also doesn't know anything about it. All other instructional assistants were going, why would it be any different with me? Simple, my boss would rather have be doing nothing in the labs than sitting at a conference learning something useful. So i stayed all day at work scratching my balls and throwing pingpong balls at the wall.
The girlfriend is applying for a new job at a university, as a department director pisition opened up. I'm thinking she'll probably get it. Meanwhile, i'm stuck in this job until i leave the country.
Oh yeah, and the country, the country is going to hell. The government controlled national assembly is giving the president -without debate or consultation- infinite decree powers for a year and a half, to speed up the socialist process says them, to turn this into fidel castro's wet dream says i.
As such, i am going to get the fuck out of here before i end up becoming another miserable victim of authoritarism, corruption and egomaniacal delusions of the asskhole that runs this country.
Anyway, work's been shit. My boss is an ass and he's been giving me crap for everything and nothing. General science guy is also starting to give me attitude. What the fuck, i ask, have i done to deserve this kind of treatment??
Chemistry guy got all pissy at me because i forgot to deliver a fucking bottle for an experiment, one fucking bottle with 150ml of magnesium sulfate, that was left on my bench. I swear i was about to knock him to the ground and beat the living shit out of him when he started telling me off, not allowing me to explain that i forgot the bottle, and telling me to not talk to him like that. Grow some cojones you ass.
With general science guy was a different story. As part of my job, i am obligated to tell the teachers about potential hazards of some chemicals. I don't like to do it but i have to do it. So i tell this guy to be careful with the lead nitrate as that stuff's really toxic and he gives me a "look at me on my high horse" look and tells me in a very patronizing way "you know this is not my first time teaching".
Oh and then there was the conference issue. I get told that i must go to a conference. Since i'm not sure, i check with the boss. He doesn't know so he checks with his boss, who also doesn't know anything about it. All other instructional assistants were going, why would it be any different with me? Simple, my boss would rather have be doing nothing in the labs than sitting at a conference learning something useful. So i stayed all day at work scratching my balls and throwing pingpong balls at the wall.
The girlfriend is applying for a new job at a university, as a department director pisition opened up. I'm thinking she'll probably get it. Meanwhile, i'm stuck in this job until i leave the country.
Oh yeah, and the country, the country is going to hell. The government controlled national assembly is giving the president -without debate or consultation- infinite decree powers for a year and a half, to speed up the socialist process says them, to turn this into fidel castro's wet dream says i.
As such, i am going to get the fuck out of here before i end up becoming another miserable victim of authoritarism, corruption and egomaniacal delusions of the asskhole that runs this country.
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