small validations, random, various
- My sister texted me from a restaurant last night, where her server noticed the surname on her credit card and asked if she were related to me. Apparently I have massively assisted him in every year of his studies and he is very grateful. I am not sure if this actually compensates for the hell aspects of this helljob, but it's very nice to hear. History does not relate if he brought her free shots on the strength of the association, possibly I actually need to be in the restaurant for that to happen again.
- The Religious Studies department brought me fancy chocolates this morning. They are trying to drum up numbers in their courses, and I enlivened advisor training this year with, according to onlookers, a heartfelt, impassioned and articulate rationale for advisors to push REL courses on students looking for electives. (This didn't actually do violence to my atheist soul as it's a comparative religion rather than theology department, and made a good case for both the core social science training they offer, and the absolutely vital need to understand religious belief and pressures in today's global political and cultural landscape, which, word. Also, their first-year course back in my undergrad days is materially implicated in the gentle death of the somewhat lukewarm evangelical Christian beliefs with which I arrived at university, so I owe them). They have nearly doubled their first year courses and are seeing marked increases in senior course sign-up, which means I've had a measurable effect even given the hideous 120% of capacity at which this year's first year is labouring. Heh.
- My small cat, Jyn of legend, song and inoperative jump module, is going through a hyper-affectionate phase, where she will reliably run to the door to meet me when I get back home from work (Pandora merely lurks on top of the piano and waits for me to come to her), and will insist, several times an evening, on climbing onto the desk and headbutting me affectionately in the armpit until I stop petting Stardew Valley ducks and pet her instead. Someone on Teh Internets mentioned the other day that they have never known a cat with the tuck-head-under-human-chin-lovingly impulse who wasn't taken away too early from the mothercat as a kitten, and I have to say, insufficient maternal training would also probably explain the deficient jump module. She still can't climb out of an open window if she has to balance on the windowsill to get up there. I am mentally adding it to the list of reasons to ritually curse her original owners, the bastards who imported her for their visiting grand-daughter and then got rid of her when the child left.
- In tenuously related news, I finally beat the *()%^@#& Stardew Valley fishing minigame on the Ipad, where I can't mod the hell out of its ridiculously fiddly and demanding butt. I feel that the universe is validating my imminent Ipad upgrade, which has become a necessity because my current iteration's most recent possible operating system upgrade option is too old to run either Firefox or the 1.4 Stardew Valley content update, which is lovely and adds materially to game enjoyment. Bugger Apple's careful operating shenanigans for the obvious marketing ploys they clearly are, anyway. But a tablet of some sort is vital to my reading-fanfic-in-bed routine, as well as to my game-playing needs when I have to elevate my feet because my ankles have swollen again. And I don't want to go Android because I'll have to buy all the apps again for Android. Sigh. Fortunately, I can fund the upgrade almost entirely from the money left over in my account at the end of February, which happens because I'm too bloody busy with reg over Jan and Feb to actually spend any money. On a cosmic level, I have totally earned this.
- When I mentioned to the Deputy Dean that I'll be on leave for just over a week from tomorrow, he looked momentarily stricken and then muttered, not quite under his breath, "well, that seems overdue". A sentiment with which I can only heartily concur.
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