So, I booked an appointment for my possible Cutaneous Leishmaniasis. Usually she sets me like, a month from when I book the appointment, but this time it went down like this:
"Hi, I'd like to book an appointment."
"And for what would this be, sir?"
"I just got back from Africa, and I have this cut that's... healing slowly and attracts bugs. Also, someone I was travelling with had a similar injury, and apparently he came down with something. So I was thinking I'd get it checked out."
"Can you come in Monday at 10:40?"
Cuttin' line! Looks like Africa's getting me special privileges even after my trip!
When my friend got his wound checked out, and the doctor made the correct diagnosis, apparently he got really excited because he was able to make that diagnosis even though he'd never had a case of it before. Then he called a bunch of apprentice doctors to look at it, and they all took pictures of it and are going to publish it in a pharmaceutical journal.
I'm tempted to not tell my doctor what it is. Then when she makes a bad diagnosis, I'll be all "Hmmmm... I think it's Cutaneous Leishmaniasis" and when I turn out to be right, she'll think I'm a better doctor than her.
The bus system changed while I was gone. Now there are places where the buses stop and you have to board other buses, at locations that are not the regular bus transferring point. So if I want to go somewhere like the YMCA, then I have to take three buses. Guelph was already horrible in terms of public transit. Even our regular bus changing place was this awkward spot downtown that wasn't suited to hold all those buses. But apparently this makes things more efficient, and they can lay off a bunch of drivers to save money. But with all that money they're saving, I don't know why they felt they also needed to raise the price of bus fare to $3.00. I remember when it was literally half that.
I've been looking at college courses. That one that I was talking about before, turns out just would get me an Ontario College Certificate. That kind of bother's me. You probably haven't been counting, but I have certificates for each of the three youth programs I've completed, and four additional certificates from my initial pre-employment program. That comes to seven certificates. And if you count my most recent Karate certificate and my Cultural Dimensions certificate... I already have plenty of certificates. I want something post-secondary that counts for more than what my single-lesson online Smart Serve quiz got me.
To be fair, it is worth a little more than those. There are courses that are even shorter than what I was looking at, and they're just labelled "Certificates". And on those job applications where a requirement is "Some college or University", I would be able to say yes. But if they ask for a diploma or degree, I have to say no.
Honestly, though, finding an entry-level position in what I want to do is not that difficult. I know people who got in when they only had high school. It's kind of sad, actually. I think the educational requirements for working with mentally handicapped people should be higher, and it almost reflects how there are so few people who want to be involved in that field, that they have to lower their standards in employees. Like, when I was working in Summerside, there was apparently no job placement for a seniors home because of necessary requirements to work with the elderly. But at Community Connections, I was in charge of the seniors club for the elderly disabled... I don't know why there's an assumption that handicapped elderly have fewer needs than elderly people without handicaps.
There's a more general course in social sciences that sort of overlaps with my goal, that would net me a full diploma, but honestly... This Ontario College Certificate course is cheaper, shorter, is stationed in Guelph, and more focussed to my goal. I think it would be more beneficial.
This other social sciences course is only available in a college in a nearby city. My mom went to that college, but we don't have a car, and I still don't really know how to drive. I only have a level 1 driver's license out of a 3-tier graduating license.
My ego's not big enough that I need a University degree... But, I dunno. I don't want my high school diploma to be my strongest-standing piece of paper. I want to say I "Studied" somewhere, not that I "Took a course" there.
Plus, check it out: http://www.conestogac.on.ca/fulltime/1165.jsp
The PSW course includes studies on "home management and nutrition and family responsibilities". That's a girl's program, most definitely. Sure, those are all things every man should be required to study into, but I'd have to transcend a lot of gender barriers... I'd be the only heterosexual male in class, I'm sure.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
From what I understand, there are significant advantages to being in classes with a lot of women ... sadly my Computer Science classes at Purdue were the exact opposite, so I can't speak from personal experience. But the idea is that you've obviously got a shared interest, you'll be spending a reasonable amount of class time with them ... it's not like you'd be feigning interest in a subject that's important to women. You're learning it alongside them.
ReplyDeleteDown here, when they make cuts to the transit system, it's usually announced as "efficiency" or "streamlining" or what have you, but it usually means that the people in power (generally Republicans) decided that they don't want to spend as much money on services that could be used by poor people. When there is a resulting loss of jobs (because people without cars can't get around as easily - the company where I had my first job had to shut down its call center when the bus routes changed because you couldn't catch a bus within walking distance), they blame it on unrelated factors.
But that's American politics; things can be different everywhere.
I think the biggest advantage that having a degree gives you is when you're applying for entry-level positions - again, this is a US frame of reference, of course. The more experience you have in your field, the less employers care about what you learned in school. There are careers that require a degree, maybe even an advanced degree, but a lot of them don't. It just depends on what you want to do (and how similar Canada is to the US in that respect, or more accurately, how similar the Guelph area is).