Quick summary of 1st week of summer
Well, for heaven’s sake that semester is finally over. It’s kind of disheartening when I’m taking one less course than the full-time 6th-semester MecE and I still don’t have time for anything. A great fear of mine was that I would become more inefficient when I drop a course. That did not happen. But what really happened is that when I dropped my first course, my eyes were opened to all the things that needed changing in my life. And that’s what distracted me from my work. What I was mostly concerned about was physical activity. I mean, look at how many people are overweight because of their office jobs. How can people be overweight and pretend that there is nothing wrong? Being overweight and out of shape increases the chances of inheriting many kinds of diseases. I don’t want to force someone to change, but physical activity is not something to just say to, “oh well, it’s not important”. Maybe some have back pain. But actually (which we now know) back pain can be caused by underusage. That’s why there are new ad campaigns out with the slogan “Don’t take back pain lying down” Duh! Our bodies are meant to be used almost every day. Many of our ancestors were hunters and farmers. Duuuuuh!
On another note, I tackle another issue. Who says that someone’s life cannot be interesting? What is the definition of interesting? That has been changing for me. In the comics, there have been recent attacks on blogging. One character says “I blog, therefore I am.” And his 11-yr old sister replies, “who would be interested in your mundane life?”. I suppose “mundane” is relative. But in some ways it’s not. My life has not been mundane lately. That’s why I’m writing in this LJ - and it’s likely to never stop.
Life’s full of change. (although sometimes it seems painfully slow - especially when there is no change during the exam season.)
This week I was job searching. I applied to Alberco Construction - they were offering 10hr of work per day and work on Saturdays. I turned down an interview because of the excessive hours. I am somewhat lucky to be able to turn down work when I want to. But really people need to be able to relax. If I were living in a 3rd world nation, then 10hr per day may not be me very much. But I’m not living in one, and that’s why I try to help out those nations - which is sometimes ridiculous considering that my income will increase drastically in the next few years. My parents make astronomically more money than I do - so from my perspective I’m not contributing very much. But if everyone (who can) sets an example, then hopefully others will catch on. Now obviously it’s not that simple. I’m scratching the surface, and I’m brushing by the topic of philanthropy because it is connected to so many other values. (esp, when living in the “West” as we do)
Instead I went to Diversified Staffing. On Wednesday, I helped unload two very large trucks of furniture, and prepared them for office space on the 12th floor of the “Standard Life Place” (I think that’s what it’s called [downtown]) Thursday, I helped tear off shingles, as I did yesterday (Friday). Now I look back, and I think “hey, this week’s been pretty interesting. Two new jobs”.
My back was sore after the first half hour of tearing shingles off of a house. That’s real work. It puts a lot of stress on the lower back. And it’s going to take awhile to get used to the heat of the sun. I was going pretty slow on Friday, because I had a headache from a slight lack of sleep and from over-exertion. I am so thankful it is the weekend.
Well Nathaniel, I'm glad that your summer is looking promising. Mine is looking better than ever. (at least the best since the summer of '03 - that was a good summer too. But '04 and '05 were summers that have partly lead to my destruction this last semester) One of my goals is to have confidence this summer. Canadian Locators destroyed my confidence. Every day I would work as hard as I could to finish all 20-or-so locations and still get home with scarcely enough time to eat supper and get a good night's sleep. This summer, I'm not going to keep thinking "I'm not fast enough, I'm not efficient enough" because chances are that I am doing a good job.
But right now I’ve got to clean my room, so I will end my discussion here.
On another note, I tackle another issue. Who says that someone’s life cannot be interesting? What is the definition of interesting? That has been changing for me. In the comics, there have been recent attacks on blogging. One character says “I blog, therefore I am.” And his 11-yr old sister replies, “who would be interested in your mundane life?”. I suppose “mundane” is relative. But in some ways it’s not. My life has not been mundane lately. That’s why I’m writing in this LJ - and it’s likely to never stop.
Life’s full of change. (although sometimes it seems painfully slow - especially when there is no change during the exam season.)
This week I was job searching. I applied to Alberco Construction - they were offering 10hr of work per day and work on Saturdays. I turned down an interview because of the excessive hours. I am somewhat lucky to be able to turn down work when I want to. But really people need to be able to relax. If I were living in a 3rd world nation, then 10hr per day may not be me very much. But I’m not living in one, and that’s why I try to help out those nations - which is sometimes ridiculous considering that my income will increase drastically in the next few years. My parents make astronomically more money than I do - so from my perspective I’m not contributing very much. But if everyone (who can) sets an example, then hopefully others will catch on. Now obviously it’s not that simple. I’m scratching the surface, and I’m brushing by the topic of philanthropy because it is connected to so many other values. (esp, when living in the “West” as we do)
Instead I went to Diversified Staffing. On Wednesday, I helped unload two very large trucks of furniture, and prepared them for office space on the 12th floor of the “Standard Life Place” (I think that’s what it’s called [downtown]) Thursday, I helped tear off shingles, as I did yesterday (Friday). Now I look back, and I think “hey, this week’s been pretty interesting. Two new jobs”.
My back was sore after the first half hour of tearing shingles off of a house. That’s real work. It puts a lot of stress on the lower back. And it’s going to take awhile to get used to the heat of the sun. I was going pretty slow on Friday, because I had a headache from a slight lack of sleep and from over-exertion. I am so thankful it is the weekend.
Well Nathaniel, I'm glad that your summer is looking promising. Mine is looking better than ever. (at least the best since the summer of '03 - that was a good summer too. But '04 and '05 were summers that have partly lead to my destruction this last semester) One of my goals is to have confidence this summer. Canadian Locators destroyed my confidence. Every day I would work as hard as I could to finish all 20-or-so locations and still get home with scarcely enough time to eat supper and get a good night's sleep. This summer, I'm not going to keep thinking "I'm not fast enough, I'm not efficient enough" because chances are that I am doing a good job.
But right now I’ve got to clean my room, so I will end my discussion here.