« Back in Pennsylvania | Main | Groveling »
January 10, 2006
Moving Party
Well, it has begun. Classes started yesterday, and the spring semester is underway. Oh goodness, this one could be a doozy, we have term papers due in all three courses this semester. I think I wanna cry already. But anyway, after Mesoscale Dynamics and Cloud Physics, Caren invited several of us along to Starbucks, and treated us to the use of a gift card she'd received over Christmas. Yes, I caved and finally ordered a coffee at Starbucks, I'd managed to avoid that my whole life until now, but I guess there's gotta be a first time for everything. :-) But the cafe mocha was actually really good, I might end up going back sometime... Anyway, since it was warm out in the low 50s, we even sat outside at the patio tables. It was definitely good to see everyone again though, and hang out for a bit. We didn't have any homework assigned yesterday, which allowed me to relax and spend the evening just writing a couple overdue emails to people, plus getting a few more photo albums up on my Photos page.
Today for lunch Daniel & I resumed our regular Tuesday tradition of heading down to the Sports Cafe for their 25-cent wings. Mmm, so tasty... I also did a bit of work in Walker on making my syllabi for my lab sections, and getting my grade spreadsheets ready, in preparation for the labs starting next week. I'm gonna be kept so busy by Meteo 003, this semester I have 79 students currently, it's insane. And they all have assignments every week they have to turn in, which means I have that many to grade every week. I thought it was tough enough last semester when I had only 50 or so students... So I talked to Bill about my predicament (usually they try to cap at 60 the number of students any individual TA has), of which he was unaware, so he's gonna try to talk Dr Shirer into having the department splurge for an undergrad "floating" grader or two to help us Meteo 003 TA's cope with our ridiculous class sizes. Here's to hoping that works, otherwise I'm gonna be driven straight out of my mind.
This afternoon several of us (me, Daniel, Amber, Mario, Amy, Levenia and Caren) all helped Kerrie move to different apartment. Helping to fill up the moving truck kinda made me glad that I can still currently fit all my belongings in my car. :-) But I was glad we could help her out and all that, and fortunately unloading everything went far faster than loading it, but that's always the case. We even got a little help from a random guy (who I think called himself DayDay or somethin like that) who lives in Kerrie's new building, he just happened to be outside when we all pulled up, and graciously volunteered to pitch in. He was actually pretty amusing, constantly calling both Daniel & I by the name "D" the whole time, though Kerrie was made a bit nervous of his calls of "just push it in" and stuff like that when we were trying to get her couch and other large furniture up the small staircase and into the small doorway, hehe. But we got it all in, and then just sat around in Kerrie's new apartment talking for a few hours and having a good time just hanging out, until suddenly we realized that it was 9 o'clock. Yet more evidence that time flies when you're having fun!
Well that's about all the excitement that's going on for now. Well, apart from Josh trying to sully my name in Japan. Josh-san wa baka desune!
Posted by Jared at January 10, 2006 11:52 PM
Comments
So why did it surprise you that a black guy helped you? Hmmmm? Did you think he was going to start looting the van when you turned you back. Why wasn't he just "a guy"? I mean, you don't see me saying "This Asian guy gave me directions to the train station" or "This white guy forced me to eat natto"? Goodness Lee, stop being so 19th century.
Posted by: Joshua at January 12, 2006 08:18 AM
No Josh, it didn't surprise me that a black guy helped us, not in the least, though it was surprising that any random guy would help us out. I know you're probably joking, but I still resent being accused of racism. And maybe if I were in Japan and some white dude forced me to eat natto, I'd probably refer to him as a "white guy" when recounting the story. They're called adjectives, Josh, and they weren't being used in a negative way at all.
Posted by: Jared at January 12, 2006 09:31 AM
Oooo adjectives. Jared its not that you use adjectives, its how you selectivly use them. You would never say `this fat guy helped us` or `This italian guy helped us` or `this one armed man helped us` or `this white guy with three nipples helped us` or even `this gay guy helped us,` yet you feel the need to let us know that a black guy helped you. He wasn`t just a guy, he was a black guy. As if that made a difference in his helping you. They`re called people Jared, and they come in many shapes and colors.
Posted by: Joshua at January 12, 2006 08:08 PM
Hey! I've got an adjective to describe this man...ODD!
I'll admit, it was nice of him to help but there's such a thing as being too friendly and I have every right to be wary of that, regardless of race; especially since the man in question knocked on my door at 11 o'clock that night looking for a ride. First night alone in a new place...needless to say I wasn't thrilled!
In all honesty, I think the man is a little ill. However, you should continue to give Jared a hard time about his word choice so he'll be more careful about just what he includes in his blog entries in the future!
Posted by: Kerrie at January 13, 2006 10:45 AM
Well I'm really glad someone else feels the same way I do about Lee and his choice of words. Seemed he was a bit ticked off at me for my comments. Actually, he still is a bit ticked off at me for it. Though he did eventually change his blog entry.... hmmm.... makes you think.
Posted by: Joshua at January 14, 2006 12:29 PM
Sorry to be the stereotypical conservative, but WHO CARES. If someone said "a woman helped us," no one would say you were singling out women. Why not attack Jared for saying it was a man and not a person who helped? Or a carbon-based life-form? We don't want to single out a species. What would the Sierra Club say?
Besides, if we live in so colorless a society that someone can't neutrally use an adjective to describe a person's appearance for the sake of a simple anecdote, why do we live in a society that rewards race, gender and ethnicity in college admissions, job searches, and practically every facet of competitive life?
From a different slant, the comment is justified through rarity as well as grammar. If you have been to State College, you realize that it is not incredibly diverse. Thus, having a black guy help you might merit a little adjective attention because it heightens the unusualness of the situation. Josh, if you helped someone in Japan and later that person told his friends, "A white guy helped me," would you really be offended? Dubious darling.
Jared, I'm sad you caved to liberal pressures and changed your blog. Ann Coulter would slap you.
Posted by: Kate at January 18, 2006 08:35 AM