Posted by alexandra_k on August 16, 2018, at 21:22:30
In reply to Re: elections make no difference, posted by alexandra_k on August 16, 2018, at 20:59:23
I need to buy a lemon tree.
A spade to turn the garden.
I think a compost bin will be a bit much, but maybe I can dig a few scraps / weeds in to help the soil quality of the front garden...
A couple herbs.A lemon tree, at least. Because it's the kiwi thing. It's a unspoken rule of being a decent human being. You move into a place that has space for a lemon tree and there isn't a lemon tree: You f*ck*ng well plant one.
The place is better for having had you in it.
That's the rule. Of being a good neighbour.
I got some information about central heating systems... But that's the sort of major project you need to borrow equity against the house sort of project...
They got to observe me here over a year.
There are State Houses in the quieter, pleasanter, inner city suburbs of Auckland. Million dollar state houses... Not many. But there are some.
And they are careful about them, of course. Because they are quiet and pleasant neighbourhoods with people who need to work odd hours and so on... And you can't have people upsetting that, you just can't. And you do want people to appreciate what they have got and invest in making things that little bit better, where they can.
At least, you have to hope that that's how it goes down and there is an aspect / element to that.
University Accomodation is fairly awful. Housing mangers who think they don't need to treat for cockroaches because they are simply endemic, or whatever. Residential assistants who use swipe cards (not even any real keys for security) to enter whenever they like... Tee hee.. LIke walking into your brothers bedroom tee hee...
The State House thing will come through or I'll get put up in a 1 bedroom hotel which will be a bit ugh, but will be a place where I can get work done.
I just have to believe that...
I'm not going to be cowed into applying for awful cramped studio space, anymore, with people trying to conceal high rise construction they are just about to start next door (which will involve pile drivers working in the dead of the night because they needed to close off roads to get heavy machinery into the work space).
I don't know why I think I won't be culled at interview. And FASS at Waikato...
I suppose I didnt realise that, as an undergraduate in FASS before, things were fairly much set up to have their graduates marked as... Slow and unproductive. Overloading them on teaching work, primarily. Excessively liberal stance on deadlines and genuinely trying to teach them that deadlines are meaningless... Trying ot encourage them to stay as lowly paid teaching slaves for as long as possible...
I remember having a breakdown at one point. I said I had too much of a teaching / grading load and I needed to not take that much work on. Even though it was flattering to have been asked and I did enjoy teaching and the money was GREAT from the perspective of someone who was fairly much living off $2 takewawys chips per day... And they didnt' listen... Until I went into hosptial for a week and then they managed to distribute the teaching work amongst lecturers and the like... And I went on to get really good grades in my honours year.
But that was the only language they seemed to understand...
My mate quit the subject after that year because she didn't make the grades on the externally imposed essay deadline. Because they overloaded her / allowed her to be overloaded with teaching work. Yeah.
So there is some concern that if I actually complete this year (instead of taking the 5 years my student ID allows me) that it will be perceived as 'unfair' to the other students.
Well.. Maybe they should think about how fair they are to the other students.
I don't know why they won't focus on producing high quality graduates for the world. Sigh.
I have academic freedom this year. I suppose. I don't need to disclose financial remuneration from teh university or from the district health board. So i can feel freer to talk about these practices. About how much people on councils and boards earn while crying about how we don't have enough money to provide suitable housing / adequately pay post-docs / junior lecturers to, uh, do grading and so on.
poster:alexandra_k
thread:1100381
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20180816/msgs/1100385.html