This is crappy

There; I said it.

For the past two weeks we've been short staffed. With three vacant positions and one of my colleagues on vacation, it's been myself and my one other coworker. Sure, there are a few supervisors around. However, we've been doing most of the face to face work. I've stated in the past how much I love my job and that has not changed. The difference is that I like MY job, not mine and two others'!

Luckily, the coworker who was on vaca came back today. I can't be mad at her for being on vacation. She deserves it. Hell, we all do around here. I especially can't complain because in 17 days I will be on my way to my two week vacation in Marrakesh, Morocco. 11 days in Africa. How sweet is that?

I will be providing a plethora of photos from this upcoming trip. It will be, as my roommate overly describes everything as, "epic".

Party Foul

I've been known in my day to... acquire things. (I also always forget the "c" in acquire, every time.) In college on the first day of classes I would wait to be the last person to leave, and I would collect all the pens and pencils I would need for the rest of the semester from around the lecture hall. I would on occasion I would go on double secret black ops (that's operations for you civilians). We would "acquire" all sorts of stuff: potted plants, tiki torches, trophies, small children. It was a blast!


Well, in a less than inebriated state my friend "Kermit" and I devised a plan. A sweet plan. At a local establishment that we frequent and poses a cover charge (which I despise anywhere) we decided we needed an 8 ball. I thought it would be a great addition to the 5 ball that Kris and I acquired from a pub in Grand Rapids, MI (a.k.a. G-Riggity). The 8 ball was held in my ball cap which was then placed in Kermit's pocket. All was going just perfect, and as we were leaving Kermit decided to strike up a conversation with one of the beer girls. Kermit was fiddling with my camera case from across the small tall top table. I saw it, gestured her to hand it to me, and the pass was made. As this happened I began to think... "if she was fiddling with that, what's next?... not... my ballcap?" Sure enough in the middle of her sentence about plane tickets to a Caribbean destination we were all alerted to the sound of the 8 ball bouncing on the floor behind her. Kermit's response: "What is that? A ball?" (Nice cover), she places the ball on the table... only for it to again fall... and bounce. (It is a very distinct sound mind you). She wrapped up the conversation returned the ball to the table, and we departed.

The rest of the evening included bursts of laughter, exclamations of embarrassment, and shouts of disbelief. Needless to say, it was one for the record books... or what we have coined as being "bloggable".

Clearly NOT a San Francisco Treat

This evening I read that voters in the city and county of San Francisco continuously demonstrate thinking out of the box (and in the can?). For the record, I have never been a registered voter in my hometown or home state. Thus, I DON'T take any responsibility for voting in a republican governor (see previous blog). I do wish I had a part in the most recent measure up for the November ballot. What a sight to see!


One can only express so much, as to the pride he feels towards his hometowns folk. I love political satire. It makes me proud to be an American?

I try not to be to politically vocal on my blog, but it's my blog, right? Thus, I am free to share my political views. By the way... my brother is a communist. (You know sha-ta?)

Maybe it's a silent "J"

I went jogging this evening. Neighbor "A.P." convinced me when I arrived home after 8 tonight that we should go for a run around the neighborhood. I've measured already and know a route that is roughly 1.1 miles. Piece of cake.

I'm not in the best shape... but then again. I haven't worked out 6 times a week since the end of football season senior year of high school. In college, I was lucky is I worked out 3 times a week. Now, after joining my coworkers in a local softball league I'm back to 3 times a week. Even after tonight's run, I still have more energy. Unfortunately, it's 10:45 p.m. and I do not need to be doing anything else except preparing for bed.

Here I am being distracted by Terminator 2. I'm surprised I got this far in my blog tonight. Well, I wish my readers well and have a great rest of your week!

Swift Kick In The Rear

I've made it clear from the get go that I am not good about being a regular blogger. However, it's hit and miss each month. It just so happens that this month has a little bit of a gap between posts... and by a gap I mean almost two weeks. What a douche.

However with 20 minutes left in the day and my promise to one of my high school compadres J. Jay. Our friendship revolved around a friendship bound in a secret named organization known to outsiders as SMB. That's neither here, nor there. But I promised him earlier today that I would blog and for him I will follow through.

I was overcome by the urge to purchase a Thin Mint Cookie Blizzard from Dairy Queen. Couldn't for the life of my find a friend or neighbor who was interested in one as well. I called to find out when they were closing, which ended up being in 20 minutes. I jumped in the Bu (which I washed earlier in the evening) and drove cautiously but with haste to the DQ on Stassney. Although there was only one fella in line ahead of me, he was ordering for what seemed like what would feed a Gad damn Hockey Team. !!! But I got my tasty treat and drove home.

So here I am scraping the bottom of the green abyss with insanely large chunks of thin mint cookie all with Elvis Costello playing in the background on iTunes.

And this wraps up my weekend. A weekend of evenings with friends and new acquaintances in San Marcos, and Austin. Tomorrow: New Student Orientation. I L-O-V-E, love my job!

Go ahead. Cry. Then see the big picture.

Today I made a girl cry. She was not admitted to our university because of the two college classes she took which she earned a "D" and an "F". Ummm... why was she so surprised?

I love my job. It's great because I get to educate students on the college admission process. There are far too many kids out there that simply don't know the process. Frankly, if the student is a potential first generation college student what resources would they have to know how to apply to colleges? Parents are the primary resource for this information. If mom and dad hadn't attended, how would they know what advise to provide?

That's where I, and my amazing admission colleagues, come into play! When I applied to the two colleges I thought to consider, I had little to know help from my folks other than financially. They were so far removed from the process. Plus, either they wanted me to gain some independence via the process OR they were passively attempting to keep me from applying to the two college I applied to (both were 2000+ miles away). Fact of the matter is, I did the process on my own, traveled to and attended my Orientation on my own, and had but 2 visits from a family member prior to graduation. That was an approach for the school of hard knocks!

But here I am now. Graduated a little more than a year and a half since my graduation, working in higher education, counseling students in the admission process, and admitting and declining students. Can everyone go to college? Yes. Is my institution for everyone? No. I would not want to admit a student who wants to pursue a major we don't offer on the false advice that we can meet their needs. Nor do I believe in admitting a student because the "really, really" want to attend knowing that they are not academically prepared. That would just be setting that student up for failure, and possibly programing their minds to believe that they can not succeed in college. That's not the message I want any student subscribing to.

So. I made a girl cry today. I informed her (and her mother) that entering this fall was not going to be an option. However, I offered any and all help in getting her in admitted in a future semester through the transfer admission process. There are always option... just like there are always parking spots. It's just not always the case that the option available is not your first choice. It's still a parking spot though!


Whew! That was a lot of work related and personal philosophical blogging. How about we end on a funny note? NOTE!

June?

Where the hell did the month of June go?