Is There A Pharoah In This City Who Won't Let Someone's People Go?
So a couple weeks ago, the news came that the GM plant in Janesville - the only thing that keeps it from being South Beloit - is closing within 18 months. I sort of figured that would happen, since gas prices are over $4/gallon, the economy is going to Hell in a handbasket, the plant builds giant SUVs, and 2 shifts have already been laid off due to decreased demand and strikes at GM suppliers. What I didn't see coming was the plague of giant horseflies in my house. After a good spray with Raid in the basement, there were 44 corpses on the carpet and still plenty of huge loud living insects buzzing around. I checked just about every place their "nest" could be, so my folks have concluded that they are inside the broken furnace. So when the repairperson opens it up tomorrow, there could be a fun surprise waiting. Just 3 nights ago, streets within easy walking distance of the house were closed due to flooding. My mom watched the police arrest some drunk guy who got out of his truck and moved some of the barricades because he was too lazy to go around. Today it took my stepdad and me quite a while to drop my car off at the dude's house who's going to fix it, because even though he doesn't live very far away, we had to go way out into the country and come back into town on a different road because pretty much all the roads that go near the river are underwater now. Our community wasn't nearly as hard-hit as some others, and the tornadoes missed us entirely. What concerns me is that the water is very close to the public library with more rain on the way. People just donated tons of money to remodel it and update the technology. And of course, anyone who lives near the river has had water in their basements for months. The park where the veterans' memorial walkway is is completely underwater. I haven't been over to U-Rock to see if that's flooded yet, but the portion of Highway 11 that goes through town has been closed due to flooding for a few weeks already. It will be a while yet before we know how bad the damage is going to be.
Even though school was over a month ago, I'm just now starting to be able to get things done and relax more because I had to spend so much of my time dealing with people at UW-Whitewater and planning for next semester. Everyone has been very nice, once I finally managed to get in contact with them. They do everything over email and PeopleSoft applications, which has its advantages and disadvantages. Watching sports is the only thing that has kept me sane while waiting an hour for the PDF of info I'm reading to go down one page and waiting for people who might be overseas to get back to me on email, but that's worth a whole other post. I won't be taking summer classes, because I couldn't find anything that was still open and complied with DVR's freaky requirements for summer classes they will help pay for. When I called my contact person there, she said, "Well, we really expect our clients who aren't taking summer classes to get a job." (!) Taking into account the economic apocalypse I described above and my total failure to get a job, even at Kentucky Fried Chicken, back when the economy was booming, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's not going to happen. I got a free speech about how I have to think positively and reach for the stars as I cheerfully fail to get a job digging ditches for $6/hr, though. ;)
My last 2 months at U-Rock were very successful. Things were just really hellish for a while because I had 2 classes with the crazy teacher who gives really hard exams, and the exams were always really close together, so one or the other always got less than my best effort. Somehow I managed to get straight As, even though my brain fried on my Stats final and I completely forgot how to do the calculation that half the exam was on. Despite spending 3 hours in the exam room, I still ended up leaving questions blank. I always hate the last few days in a place, but at least I will probably see some of the other students again at Whitewater. I was proud of myself because even though I was sleep- and food-deprived and stressed out all week, I remembered to thank each of my professors for everything they've done for me. I thought a lot about how I could say goodbye to "that guy" without being creepy, since he's going to UW-Madison and I'm unlikely to ever see him again even if he goes for US citizenship. So just before our teacher handed out the Calculus exam, I walked up beside him, said, "Good luck," and put my hand out to shake his. The way he knew what I was going to do, and so warmly and naturally shook my hand and smiled and wish me well, is something I am very grateful to him for and that I will remember as long as I live.
Last weekend I dodged the flash flooding and tornadoes to drive out to Racine to see nayters, his bf and his friend. His folks were getting ready to celebrate being married for an insanely long time, and the barbeque sauce was already off to a good start. The weather kept us from doing anything too exciting, but we had a nice dinner at the Olive Garden, and everyone had interesting stories to tell. His friend J is an inner-city music teacher and brings his sensitivity and independent thinking to the classroom. He even got some music by Fantastischen Vier and Bushido so the kids could hear some not-in-English rap! *big sparkly hearts* This week, I'm hoping to get my car back from "the shop" in time to attend what promises to be a lovely party at Slash House. When I do get it back, it will be cleaner, because I pulled out all the invoices for work I've had done on it, flattened them out, took the hole puncher to them, and put them in order in one of those report folders. It's been so long since I had a steady job that I had forgotten about how I used to change my oil religiously every 3,000 miles. Huh.
Even though school was over a month ago, I'm just now starting to be able to get things done and relax more because I had to spend so much of my time dealing with people at UW-Whitewater and planning for next semester. Everyone has been very nice, once I finally managed to get in contact with them. They do everything over email and PeopleSoft applications, which has its advantages and disadvantages. Watching sports is the only thing that has kept me sane while waiting an hour for the PDF of info I'm reading to go down one page and waiting for people who might be overseas to get back to me on email, but that's worth a whole other post. I won't be taking summer classes, because I couldn't find anything that was still open and complied with DVR's freaky requirements for summer classes they will help pay for. When I called my contact person there, she said, "Well, we really expect our clients who aren't taking summer classes to get a job." (!) Taking into account the economic apocalypse I described above and my total failure to get a job, even at Kentucky Fried Chicken, back when the economy was booming, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that's not going to happen. I got a free speech about how I have to think positively and reach for the stars as I cheerfully fail to get a job digging ditches for $6/hr, though. ;)
My last 2 months at U-Rock were very successful. Things were just really hellish for a while because I had 2 classes with the crazy teacher who gives really hard exams, and the exams were always really close together, so one or the other always got less than my best effort. Somehow I managed to get straight As, even though my brain fried on my Stats final and I completely forgot how to do the calculation that half the exam was on. Despite spending 3 hours in the exam room, I still ended up leaving questions blank. I always hate the last few days in a place, but at least I will probably see some of the other students again at Whitewater. I was proud of myself because even though I was sleep- and food-deprived and stressed out all week, I remembered to thank each of my professors for everything they've done for me. I thought a lot about how I could say goodbye to "that guy" without being creepy, since he's going to UW-Madison and I'm unlikely to ever see him again even if he goes for US citizenship. So just before our teacher handed out the Calculus exam, I walked up beside him, said, "Good luck," and put my hand out to shake his. The way he knew what I was going to do, and so warmly and naturally shook my hand and smiled and wish me well, is something I am very grateful to him for and that I will remember as long as I live.
Last weekend I dodged the flash flooding and tornadoes to drive out to Racine to see nayters, his bf and his friend. His folks were getting ready to celebrate being married for an insanely long time, and the barbeque sauce was already off to a good start. The weather kept us from doing anything too exciting, but we had a nice dinner at the Olive Garden, and everyone had interesting stories to tell. His friend J is an inner-city music teacher and brings his sensitivity and independent thinking to the classroom. He even got some music by Fantastischen Vier and Bushido so the kids could hear some not-in-English rap! *big sparkly hearts* This week, I'm hoping to get my car back from "the shop" in time to attend what promises to be a lovely party at Slash House. When I do get it back, it will be cleaner, because I pulled out all the invoices for work I've had done on it, flattened them out, took the hole puncher to them, and put them in order in one of those report folders. It's been so long since I had a steady job that I had forgotten about how I used to change my oil religiously every 3,000 miles. Huh.