GasBandit
Staff member
Or a sewer maintenance worker.
Omg ew.
Hey hey! Ralphie boy!
The last university I adjuncted for did that so much. Most of the faculty were great, and so were the students. It was the admin that was the problem. The adjuncts were either doing full-time work for minimum wage or half-time work for half that pay and half-benefits. And we were told to be grateful for it because at least it was teaching experience. Just yesterday one of my friends told me about an adjunct who had worked there for four years without incident. This past spring, we were told to put in our schedule preferences for the upcoming Fall semester. Anyways, this adjunct emailed in his schedule request and was told "sorry, all classes are full. Can you come by to turn in your keys?"
And a week before the semester started, there was a meet and greet on campus for history faculty and incoming students. These social events are strictly voluntary. I wasn't about to drive an hour each way for lunch, so I let the event coordinator know that I couldn't come. Then I got an email from my department chair saying "I was informed that you do not wish to attend due to the long drive. Might I remind you that I expect all faculty (tenure and non-tenure track) to be at these events? If you don't want to come because of the drive, then you might want to consider whether you want to teach for us in the future."
THAT made my decision to teach up in Tyler so much easier. Right after I got the snarky email, I was offered a full-time dual-track job at a high school. I accepted it and called my old department office. I thanked them for the opportunity but I had just accepted another offer. Boy, the admin were really upset to hear that because they had three full classes to assign before the semester started in five days. My committee told me to not sweat it because that university hadn't shown me any consideration. My friends from my program said they hoped it felt great after I screwed those douchebags because one of us actually hit back. American universities have made a habit of squeezing faculty, overcharging students, and completely exploiting adjuncts while pampering incoming provosts who get that position because they're golf buddies with the university president.
GasBandit
Staff member
IIRC your previous uni was A&M, and if so, this doesn't surprise me. There's no bureaucrat like a Texas bureacrat, but A&M's administration takes it to all new levels of bullshit, in my experience.
It wasn't Texas A&M. I taught there as a graduate assistant and it was all right. I currently teach an online class for A&M's Galveston campus and it's also fine.
But man, the place I taught for last year screwed me over. They knocked me down to half-time, TWICE. And didn't even warn me. When I asked I was just told "unfortunately, a number of faculty have returned and so we needed to transfer some classes to them." But they somehow found an 8 am class to bring me up to .75 FT. What happened was a professor looked at my schedule and really wanted my noon time slot. Adjuncts are disposable and there are a lot of desperate PhDs who don't want to leave academia. College towns are filled with them. They adjunct for starvation wages over the course of two, four, or even ten years, hoping to be offered a tenure-track job that just won't come.
Adjuncts used to have full-time external jobs and their one or two adjunct courses were a supplement. In fact, that's exactly what I'm doing now. I teach college-level courses at a high school and one online course in my specialty for TAMU Galveston. Adjuncts were also retired faculty who just wanted to keep their office and have something to do. Since the 2008 recession, however, austerity measures and budget cuts have made the majority of new positions adjunct with all those underemployed grad students. Combine that with a glut of new PhDs who went to school to avoid the recession and it's the perfect storm of academic sweatshop labor.
But man, the place I taught for last year screwed me over. They knocked me down to half-time, TWICE. And didn't even warn me. When I asked I was just told "unfortunately, a number of faculty have returned and so we needed to transfer some classes to them." But they somehow found an 8 am class to bring me up to .75 FT. What happened was a professor looked at my schedule and really wanted my noon time slot. Adjuncts are disposable and there are a lot of desperate PhDs who don't want to leave academia. College towns are filled with them. They adjunct for starvation wages over the course of two, four, or even ten years, hoping to be offered a tenure-track job that just won't come.
Adjuncts used to have full-time external jobs and their one or two adjunct courses were a supplement. In fact, that's exactly what I'm doing now. I teach college-level courses at a high school and one online course in my specialty for TAMU Galveston. Adjuncts were also retired faculty who just wanted to keep their office and have something to do. Since the 2008 recession, however, austerity measures and budget cuts have made the majority of new positions adjunct with all those underemployed grad students. Combine that with a glut of new PhDs who went to school to avoid the recession and it's the perfect storm of academic sweatshop labor.
I really....REALLY want to work for Caviar, bike delivery in Philadelphia is a god-damned NIGHTMARE, and if I'm gonna do it I want the pay that Caviar people get! Realistically I can only do 5 Postmates jobs a day before having to get home in time for the right bus, and SOMETIMES(like today for example) THE FUCKING RESTAURANT I GO TO CAN'T MAKE THE FOOD-either because they no longer take the Postmates card, OR because they are legit-CLOSED! THAT'S RIGHT-Postmates is an app where you can order food from a CLOSED RESTAURANT! And the ONLY reason they let me cancel an order is "Food is damaged" not "The restaurant can't make the food" or "The restaurant is fucking closed and your database is run by idiot"-NOTHING!
Was helping some friends assemble a 200in screen (goddam yuge) for their indoor projector, and one of the frame's spring-hooks (which hold the screen in place and keep it taut) sliced a ∩ through my left index finger pad. The wound and the bandaid make typing bothersome.
An ex roommate is posting that she's doing emergency art commissions because she needs money, I feel bad for all of 2 seconds before remembering she basically ripped off my girlfriend and I by around $3,000 by bailing out of the lease with little warning, not finding a replacement roommate, not bothering to clean her room in the slightest on her way out, and leaving it in such an irreparably disgusting state that it was impossible for us to fully clean and find someone willing to take it on top of us getting a de-smellifying penalty in our deposit.
Oh and she absolutley refuses to even attempt to get a normal people job outside our art major, when all of her money woes would be solved by working at a Taco Bell for 20 hours a week. We honestly looked into taking her to small claims but realized there would be no way for us to collect anything from her, even if it's the slam dunk case on our part we think it is.
Oh and she absolutley refuses to even attempt to get a normal people job outside our art major, when all of her money woes would be solved by working at a Taco Bell for 20 hours a week. We honestly looked into taking her to small claims but realized there would be no way for us to collect anything from her, even if it's the slam dunk case on our part we think it is.
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So, since I was supposed to be on extended leave starting in September, I have literally no work to do and no one will give me any outside of menial filing and such. There's no time for me to be transferred into a different department. All my paperwork is done, doubled-checked and done again. I don't know if there's a equal feeling in any of your professional lives having been drowned in paperwork for the last decade(@Officer_Charon would know) but the feeling that I have no responsibilities at work for the next 3 months (outside of some court appearances) is both exhilarating and terrifying. I don't know what the fuck I'm going to do with myself in the office for 40 hours a week until January.
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I'm going to school in January.
Nintendo Switch?
Pokémon Go?
Pokémon Go?
GasBandit
Staff member
We had a client who insisted he needed to do his production this morning, not yesterday afternoon, not this afternoon, this morning. So I had to come in early to accomodate him. I bailed on Stardew Valley with Dei early last night so I could get to sleep earlier and get up on time, and I busted my ass to get to work early enough to take care of the client.
Guess who didn't show up.
Guess who didn't show up.
FTFY
Im heading home for the weekend to help my dad pull cottagers' docks out out of the lake for the winter. The water is freezing this time of year, so I have a wet suit. The ONLY TIME I EVER wear this wetsuit is when helping my dad to either put in, or take out the docks. So, I keep it at my dad's place.
He messaged me this morning telling me to remember to bring it. Which means my dad lost my fucking wetsuit. Which means I get to spend 16 hours of the weekend in water that is maybe 10°c, without my wetsuit. Helloooooo hypothermia!
He messaged me this morning telling me to remember to bring it. Which means my dad lost my fucking wetsuit. Which means I get to spend 16 hours of the weekend in water that is maybe 10°c, without my wetsuit. Helloooooo hypothermia!
Are there any rental places nearby?
If not, that sounds horrid.
If not, that sounds horrid.
My mom is offering to buy me a new one if they can't find it and my brother is offering to let me wear his ( so he would be in the water sans wetsuit instead).
My dad still insists that I have it. I 100% most assuredly do not.
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It's my dad. My dad is wrong.
GasBandit
Staff member
It just took Underling 1 (formerly underling 3) 5 hours to do the easiest commercial log of the week.
The previous underling 1 had at least 5 logs done in the same amount of time. I'm still having to help him by doing some of his logs for him on thursdays and fridays.
I realize he's new and I'm still training him, but he's been here months now, and this is getting slower, not faster. My boss has mentioned more than once about how "every time I go in there he's on his phone/on facebook/etc."
I just had to lay down the law. I reminded him that I told him many weeks ago that the goal was to get him to do ALL ten logs, on his own, without help, by 4pm. That is where he needs to be, because there are other parts of the job he isn't doing right now because it's taking all his time to work logs. I let him know that if he can get results, I don't care what else he does... but if he does not get the job done, the other perks like listening to pandora on his phone while he works, checking his facebook, etc... that's all gonna have to go away.
I hate having to treat people like children, but I hate the position he's putting me in even more. I went to bat for this guy. He needs to get his work done.
The previous underling 1 had at least 5 logs done in the same amount of time. I'm still having to help him by doing some of his logs for him on thursdays and fridays.
I realize he's new and I'm still training him, but he's been here months now, and this is getting slower, not faster. My boss has mentioned more than once about how "every time I go in there he's on his phone/on facebook/etc."
I just had to lay down the law. I reminded him that I told him many weeks ago that the goal was to get him to do ALL ten logs, on his own, without help, by 4pm. That is where he needs to be, because there are other parts of the job he isn't doing right now because it's taking all his time to work logs. I let him know that if he can get results, I don't care what else he does... but if he does not get the job done, the other perks like listening to pandora on his phone while he works, checking his facebook, etc... that's all gonna have to go away.
I hate having to treat people like children, but I hate the position he's putting me in even more. I went to bat for this guy. He needs to get his work done.
GasBandit
Staff member
Pandora's no strain on mobile data, unfortunately.
And things were going so well.
Even though we're on month to month lease extension, our apartment's leasing office is saying that never altered the terms of the original annual lease from 2009 that said we need to give two months' notice. So essentially we're to pay for a month of rent where we won't be living there.
I'm hoping I can talk to the manager and work something out, because we can't pay for both a month's rent AND our first mortgage payment this November. Christmas this year was pretty much cancelled anyway, but that was a willing sacrifice to make things work. This is just a sudden $1250 bill we weren't expecting.
State law requires the manager to make a good faith effort to find replacement tenants, but we've lived here almost a decade, so there's some wear and tear to care for, plus state law requires they replace the carpet if it's been two years since the last tenant. There's no oversight on good faith effort. But we pay our rent on time; I'm hoping she'll be understanding.
If not, we may need to ask family members for help. I was really trying to avoid that. I've already had to put numerous personal things on hold, such as therapy or meeting my new niece.
We've been through so much getting a home this past month. I really thought we were finally hitting the home stretch, and now this.
Even though we're on month to month lease extension, our apartment's leasing office is saying that never altered the terms of the original annual lease from 2009 that said we need to give two months' notice. So essentially we're to pay for a month of rent where we won't be living there.
I'm hoping I can talk to the manager and work something out, because we can't pay for both a month's rent AND our first mortgage payment this November. Christmas this year was pretty much cancelled anyway, but that was a willing sacrifice to make things work. This is just a sudden $1250 bill we weren't expecting.
State law requires the manager to make a good faith effort to find replacement tenants, but we've lived here almost a decade, so there's some wear and tear to care for, plus state law requires they replace the carpet if it's been two years since the last tenant. There's no oversight on good faith effort. But we pay our rent on time; I'm hoping she'll be understanding.
If not, we may need to ask family members for help. I was really trying to avoid that. I've already had to put numerous personal things on hold, such as therapy or meeting my new niece.
We've been through so much getting a home this past month. I really thought we were finally hitting the home stretch, and now this.
That's another thing eating me. I found out depending on your state that this is pretty normal. That's fucked up.
Pictured: my brother and I in *matching* wetsuits, May 2017.
Update:
My wetsuit and my brothers are matching. my dad's is different.
Got home and mydad bought himself a new wetsuit and gave me his old one. The first thing I noticed was that "his" old westuit was, in fact, my wetsuit. It matched my brother's.
I said nothing, but today my mom messaged me saying "hey, did your dad's wetsuit match yours? I thought his was different."
Turns out my dad was borrowing a wetsuit from a neighbour, had to give it back when the guy he was borrowing from moved, forgot about it, and thought my wetsuit was his.
To be fair, we only wear the wet suits twice a year - once in April/May and once in September /October. So there's a lot of time to forget things.
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Happened to me too. I went month to month and was still told I had to give 60 days notice to terminate my lease. Wound up paying for a full month I wasn't living there.
Yeah, I was still paying almost 4 years after I moved out before I was finally rid of them.
Ain't never doin' that again.
--Patrick