I bought some clothing for the new schoolyear. After spending so much time watching my money increase, it's sad to see them decrease. I'll probably spend the bulk of what I've managed to save over the summer on back to school stuff. I still need to get a hairtcut, buy some school supplies, and I should really get a new backpack.
Someone told me that laptops have a lifespan of about 3-4 years. My laptop's over three now, but my brother says that when people talk about the lifespan of a computer, they're usually talking about how long it will take for it to become obsolete because of new technology, or they're talking about battery life. My brother says that my laptop doesn't have a "lifespan" the way that I'm thinking of it. At any rate, I'm hoping to squeak by another year with the laptop that I have.
I've had my current wallet since I was 14. It was my first wallet, and I got it on my birthday. I'm resistant to get a new one, but I really should. It's pretty out of shape at this point.
I got some suspenders. I used to wear them, but the clamps would always dull. Won't be a problem with these ones. These have a tab that tucks under a belt. I'd sometimes get criticized for being "over protected" when I'd wear a belt and suspenders, but whatever. Can't be too protected.
The grocery store near where I live had a "grand opening". It was already open, but had been under renovation. Most of the new features were available before this new grand opening, and I'm pretty sure they're still working on it. I guess they just felt like having a grand opening.
We used to have a grocery store and a clothing/general store. The more general store closed down, and basically, our grocery store has expanded to replace it. You might remember me saying that a grocery store under renovation got flooded earlier in the summer. Same place.
Sunday, August 25, 2013
Friday, August 23, 2013
VICTORY!!!!
My sunflower blossomed! It's pointing the wrong way, though.
Here's a look at some Zucchini plants.
Looks moire significant when you look at it from when we started under four months ago.
And here's our lone zucchini, which we're letting grow out a bit more.
I got my timetable, and it turns out that I have no 8 am classes and no classes at all on Fridays! So if I didn't get any exemptions for HSF, at least I've got a really convenient timetable!
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Taking a Look at Courses
Here is the list of courses I will be taking in the coming semester.
Introduction to College Writing
Developmental Psychology
Introduction to Professional Practice
Social Service Systems 1
Social Work and the Law
Group Process and Dynamics
That "Developmental Psychology" course is giving me an ominous feeling. Last year, I was told that I would not have to take three courses, due to my having done them already. They were the two Psych courses and the Sociology one. However, the Psych courses I took were Psychology: Basic Processes of Behaviour, and Psychology: Dynamics of Human Behaviour. Both are a little bit different. Plus, the course codes were PSYC1010 and PSYC1020 respectively. This Developmental Psychology course is PSYC1040.
So maybe both of the Psych courses and the Sociology course are second semester, and I'll just have a super-light second semester, but I doubt it...
I think I heard SSW has a course that's very similar to, but not the same as our Group Dynamics and Conflict Management course from last year. I suspect that's the Group Process and Dynamics course...
I don't know how I feel about doing the two Intro courses... I feel like I went through that stuff last year. My feelings are that the Psych and Group Dynamics courses will be very much like courses I took last year, and the two Intro classes may be similar to the prep stuff we did last year, too. Might not be a very stimulating first semester. Hopefully we get into something meaty second semester.
Actually, just a second, I'll look it up...
Yeah, okay, I just checked, and there's not one overlapping program in the entire two years. They must have changed the curriculum. I took HSF the one year that they cancelled the co-op and added Math, and this is the first year that none of the courses overlap. I know they did last year, because I spoke to two people who'd been through HSF the year prior and were doing their first year of SSW when I was doing HSF.
Oh, well. At least second semester and all of the following year look incredibly interesting!
Introduction to College Writing
Developmental Psychology
Introduction to Professional Practice
Social Service Systems 1
Social Work and the Law
Group Process and Dynamics
That "Developmental Psychology" course is giving me an ominous feeling. Last year, I was told that I would not have to take three courses, due to my having done them already. They were the two Psych courses and the Sociology one. However, the Psych courses I took were Psychology: Basic Processes of Behaviour, and Psychology: Dynamics of Human Behaviour. Both are a little bit different. Plus, the course codes were PSYC1010 and PSYC1020 respectively. This Developmental Psychology course is PSYC1040.
So maybe both of the Psych courses and the Sociology course are second semester, and I'll just have a super-light second semester, but I doubt it...
I think I heard SSW has a course that's very similar to, but not the same as our Group Dynamics and Conflict Management course from last year. I suspect that's the Group Process and Dynamics course...
I don't know how I feel about doing the two Intro courses... I feel like I went through that stuff last year. My feelings are that the Psych and Group Dynamics courses will be very much like courses I took last year, and the two Intro classes may be similar to the prep stuff we did last year, too. Might not be a very stimulating first semester. Hopefully we get into something meaty second semester.
Actually, just a second, I'll look it up...
Yeah, okay, I just checked, and there's not one overlapping program in the entire two years. They must have changed the curriculum. I took HSF the one year that they cancelled the co-op and added Math, and this is the first year that none of the courses overlap. I know they did last year, because I spoke to two people who'd been through HSF the year prior and were doing their first year of SSW when I was doing HSF.
Oh, well. At least second semester and all of the following year look incredibly interesting!
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Upcoming School Textbooks
Well, they put up my textbook list for the coming semester, and their prices. $800.20!!! That's a month's rent for a two-bedroom apartment. Most expensive semester yet. Last year, the first semester was like, $600, and my second was under $500. I guess the more advanced a program is, the more expensive the textbooks will be...
A friend of the family gave us these flowers to grow in the garden earlier this year. They're called Impatients and they're little white flowers. When we transplanted them, all their petals fell off, but they quickly bloomed again and stayed like that. Real healthy looking for a long while. Then, all of a sudden, all the petals and all the leaves fell off for no known reason. We told our friend, and she said that her and everyone she knows who have been growing Impatients this year lost them all at around the same time. That's so weird!!!! Is there some kind of airborn disease that effects only this brand of flower?
We finally have a good-sized zucchini, although it's still got some more growing to do. Despite looking healthy, and despite many flowers, most of the flowers have just fallen off, leaving nothing beneath. I'd seen that some recipes called for zucchini flowers, so I thought maybe harvesting the petals might be worthwhile, but by the time I'd communicated this, all of the flowers that had fallen had already been eaten by something else. So I guess they might have been edible, although I'm not sure if you're supposed to pick them up after they've fallen off, or if you're supposed to pull them off the zucchini. On the zucchini that's grown in, it looks like the flower stayed attached but just withered up.
I figured that whatever ate the fallen zucchini petals grew an appetite for flowers and moved to the Impatients.
Cherry tomatoes pulled through surprisingly well late in the season. We will actually have a decent crop of those. Some of them are already almost ready
And my sunflower's finally opening! Really, the only plant that belongs to me is the sunflower, so it's the only one that's well-being I should be concerned with. My neighbour finally produced a flower that's almost as large as mine. But get this, it's growing three heads!!! I didn't know that was possible.
All the neighbours with really successful gardens don't seem to understand why our half-failed little garden divided between three households is something that we're all so proud of. They don't understand that this is pretty much all of our first attempt at anything like this, and that this year was mostly data collection anyway. A half-success this year may be a full success next!
Oh, by the way, after I told you guys to order from well.ca, I got called in. So I don't know if that was you guys or not, but if it was, thanks.
A friend of the family gave us these flowers to grow in the garden earlier this year. They're called Impatients and they're little white flowers. When we transplanted them, all their petals fell off, but they quickly bloomed again and stayed like that. Real healthy looking for a long while. Then, all of a sudden, all the petals and all the leaves fell off for no known reason. We told our friend, and she said that her and everyone she knows who have been growing Impatients this year lost them all at around the same time. That's so weird!!!! Is there some kind of airborn disease that effects only this brand of flower?
We finally have a good-sized zucchini, although it's still got some more growing to do. Despite looking healthy, and despite many flowers, most of the flowers have just fallen off, leaving nothing beneath. I'd seen that some recipes called for zucchini flowers, so I thought maybe harvesting the petals might be worthwhile, but by the time I'd communicated this, all of the flowers that had fallen had already been eaten by something else. So I guess they might have been edible, although I'm not sure if you're supposed to pick them up after they've fallen off, or if you're supposed to pull them off the zucchini. On the zucchini that's grown in, it looks like the flower stayed attached but just withered up.
I figured that whatever ate the fallen zucchini petals grew an appetite for flowers and moved to the Impatients.
Cherry tomatoes pulled through surprisingly well late in the season. We will actually have a decent crop of those. Some of them are already almost ready
And my sunflower's finally opening! Really, the only plant that belongs to me is the sunflower, so it's the only one that's well-being I should be concerned with. My neighbour finally produced a flower that's almost as large as mine. But get this, it's growing three heads!!! I didn't know that was possible.
All the neighbours with really successful gardens don't seem to understand why our half-failed little garden divided between three households is something that we're all so proud of. They don't understand that this is pretty much all of our first attempt at anything like this, and that this year was mostly data collection anyway. A half-success this year may be a full success next!
Oh, by the way, after I told you guys to order from well.ca, I got called in. So I don't know if that was you guys or not, but if it was, thanks.
Friday, August 16, 2013
Busking
So this busker who plays the banjo stopped me recently when he was getting off work. He let me know that he had worked enough that day, and that he was ready to go grocery shopping and return to his family.
I hadn't done anything for this man, so I wasn't expecting such a show of camaraderie. I wasn't expecting his family life to coincide with the Canadian Dream so precisely either. But I couldn't at this point let up, so I continued to ask him about his occupation.
He said that he makes about $100 per day. To put that into perspective, I make just about $80 per day. And that's only if I get called in.
All I would have had to do was learn an instrument, and I could have made my own hours, without any boss, and I would have been able to earn $20 an hour more, with no authority over me. And I could choose overtime if I wanted.
I should have learned the clarinet back in middle school, or the guitar from my grandfather, or even from my diatonic or chromatic harmonica when that was trending.
I hadn't done anything for this man, so I wasn't expecting such a show of camaraderie. I wasn't expecting his family life to coincide with the Canadian Dream so precisely either. But I couldn't at this point let up, so I continued to ask him about his occupation.
He said that he makes about $100 per day. To put that into perspective, I make just about $80 per day. And that's only if I get called in.
All I would have had to do was learn an instrument, and I could have made my own hours, without any boss, and I would have been able to earn $20 an hour more, with no authority over me. And I could choose overtime if I wanted.
I should have learned the clarinet back in middle school, or the guitar from my grandfather, or even from my diatonic or chromatic harmonica when that was trending.
Sunday, August 11, 2013
Name Drop
Well, I'm out of work this Monday, but I'll tell you what you, my beautiful readers, can do about that. I usually avoid stating the names of the places I work, because, I don't know, if an employer ever bothered to Google me and found this blog, they might not feel all that comfortable knowing that I was publishing inside information on them, even if I wasn't saying anything all that bad. But I'm gonna break that rule this time around, since I don't plan on making any complaints.
I get called into my order picking position based on demand, and demand is based on how many orders they get. So why don't you mosy over to www.well.ca and buy a lot of stuff? Preferably, buy value packs of diapers. Those are really large and people have to get carts and bins to move them, slowing things down and making more work. Or order makeup. It always takes a bit to find the exact product and brand combination, since all those items are so small. Or get chips, since people might look at how many grams they are, pick a small box, find that despite relatively few grams of food, they take a relatively large amount of space due to the air packaging, and this will force the worker to backtrack and pick a more appropriately sized box.
Or buy a Jolly Jumper. Those are so big that they don't even fit in a bin and they have to be specially wrapped by someone in the back. Those take up time too.
In all honesty, I would need at least several hundred people to make orders, or one person to make several hundred separate orders, to make a significant difference in number of required employees.
Oh well, long weekend I guess.
We sometimes package products from some brand called Dr. Bronner's. It's all-natural fair trade stuff. What draws the eye is the fact that it is so covered in tiny text. At a glance, you assume that it will be about the ingredients of the product, or their effects, or even the policies of the company. But every time I've snatched a glance, I've more often than not read a portion of some kind of unusual proverb. Last one I read was something about becoming like a bird to perfect yourself, but I can't exactly stop to read for any length, so I haven't even been able to learn the context of anything I've read. I want to buy one of those products, just so that I can sit down and read it all. If I order it through the site, I might even package my own product, and get a little note with my initials on it.
In my work, I have to read the set of numbers on a list, memorize them, and then read the list of numbers beneath a bar code on a product to make sure they match. Every time I see a bar code now, even when I'm not working, I find myself memorizing the list of numbers. It's a reflex.
I also take note every time I see a product outside of work that I sometimes package when I'm in work. It's like when my thinking process changed when I was working as a machine operator. Looking back at some of my posts from that time have a really different tone than from most of the rest of the time that I've been publishing to this blog.
I get called into my order picking position based on demand, and demand is based on how many orders they get. So why don't you mosy over to www.well.ca and buy a lot of stuff? Preferably, buy value packs of diapers. Those are really large and people have to get carts and bins to move them, slowing things down and making more work. Or order makeup. It always takes a bit to find the exact product and brand combination, since all those items are so small. Or get chips, since people might look at how many grams they are, pick a small box, find that despite relatively few grams of food, they take a relatively large amount of space due to the air packaging, and this will force the worker to backtrack and pick a more appropriately sized box.
Or buy a Jolly Jumper. Those are so big that they don't even fit in a bin and they have to be specially wrapped by someone in the back. Those take up time too.
In all honesty, I would need at least several hundred people to make orders, or one person to make several hundred separate orders, to make a significant difference in number of required employees.
Oh well, long weekend I guess.
We sometimes package products from some brand called Dr. Bronner's. It's all-natural fair trade stuff. What draws the eye is the fact that it is so covered in tiny text. At a glance, you assume that it will be about the ingredients of the product, or their effects, or even the policies of the company. But every time I've snatched a glance, I've more often than not read a portion of some kind of unusual proverb. Last one I read was something about becoming like a bird to perfect yourself, but I can't exactly stop to read for any length, so I haven't even been able to learn the context of anything I've read. I want to buy one of those products, just so that I can sit down and read it all. If I order it through the site, I might even package my own product, and get a little note with my initials on it.
In my work, I have to read the set of numbers on a list, memorize them, and then read the list of numbers beneath a bar code on a product to make sure they match. Every time I see a bar code now, even when I'm not working, I find myself memorizing the list of numbers. It's a reflex.
I also take note every time I see a product outside of work that I sometimes package when I'm in work. It's like when my thinking process changed when I was working as a machine operator. Looking back at some of my posts from that time have a really different tone than from most of the rest of the time that I've been publishing to this blog.
Monday, August 5, 2013
Civic Holiday Weekend
I just got back from my grandparents' house in Toronto. My Greataunt and Greatuncle (remember, that's one generation beneath Great Grandfather and Great Grandmother) were visiting, and also my cousin. Today was Civic Holiday, so I was able to leave on Sunday and come back Monday without missing a day of work.
We ate at a Korean restaurant. It was the first time I'd eaten Korean, and I got a BBQ dish, which from what I've heard, and from how it was presented on the menu, seems pretty classic. Not really a Western BBQ, as you'd probably guess, it was quite a bit different and brought out in lots of separate sections. It was quite good, I'd definitely eat that style of food again.
I got to meet up with my Aunt from my father's side of the family and the rest of the family there as well, which was nice.
To go to and return from Toronto by Greyhound bus costs $55 now! Feels like the last time I used it for that trip, it was under half that price. Going to and from Kitchener still costs under $20.
You might remember me saying that the Toronto terminal was unique in that it had a separate terminal for arrivals and departures, but that they had shut down the departures station and had been using Arrivals for an all-purpose station since then. Well, they've got the departures terminal back.
I finished both Things Fall Apart and the Gaiman-Pratchett collaboration since I last talked about books. I might review them and give a nod to my old Reviews blog.
We ate at a Korean restaurant. It was the first time I'd eaten Korean, and I got a BBQ dish, which from what I've heard, and from how it was presented on the menu, seems pretty classic. Not really a Western BBQ, as you'd probably guess, it was quite a bit different and brought out in lots of separate sections. It was quite good, I'd definitely eat that style of food again.
I got to meet up with my Aunt from my father's side of the family and the rest of the family there as well, which was nice.
To go to and return from Toronto by Greyhound bus costs $55 now! Feels like the last time I used it for that trip, it was under half that price. Going to and from Kitchener still costs under $20.
You might remember me saying that the Toronto terminal was unique in that it had a separate terminal for arrivals and departures, but that they had shut down the departures station and had been using Arrivals for an all-purpose station since then. Well, they've got the departures terminal back.
I finished both Things Fall Apart and the Gaiman-Pratchett collaboration since I last talked about books. I might review them and give a nod to my old Reviews blog.
Friday, August 2, 2013
College Confirmation Scare
Here, let me tell you a story that I have only recently found a mouth to speak of.
I am paying my tuition through a Trust Fund, and awhile back, I sent information on how payment should be made. However, last Monday, I received a letter in the mail that said that I had not paid my tuition fees in time, and so they had eliminated me from my program. They said that I had seven days to contact them if I wanted to reclaim my position.
The letter was dated eight days previous to when it arrived.
The envelope showed that it had been mailed two days after it was dated.
I had been on my Student Portal the previous day, and nothing indicated that anything was wrong. However, in this following day, there was no evidence that I was ever enrolled in the Social Service Worker program.
I reflected on the 900 applicants, 600 of which would make it to the info session, and the 60 of which had been accepted. I reflected on my 20-page application folder that I had prepared, and all of my friends that had failed to get into it.
The warning letter said that the position was on a first-come first-serve basis if I did not respond within 7 days. I reflected on the 500 qualified applicants that wanted my position.
Now, I must say, who does this? Send a warning only post-elimination, send the warning only through snail-mail, and then neglect to send it for two days after it was issued? They had my phone and email addresses...
I spent one sleepless night, then called them. I was worried, because they said to contact the person in charge of my application, and since my warning time had already expired, I worried that there was no one in charge of my application anymore.
But there was. I phoned, told Front Desk of my dilemma. They asked me what my student number was and birthday. I told them. They put me through to a girl who, upon introduction, re-admitted me and gave me two more weeks to make a payment. I checked the Student Portal, and indeed, everything was how it used to be. Just like that.
They had their paycheque the same day, and since, it has been processed and confirmed. I'm confirmed to be in the program now. Only an exciting statement after the scare.
I am paying my tuition through a Trust Fund, and awhile back, I sent information on how payment should be made. However, last Monday, I received a letter in the mail that said that I had not paid my tuition fees in time, and so they had eliminated me from my program. They said that I had seven days to contact them if I wanted to reclaim my position.
The letter was dated eight days previous to when it arrived.
The envelope showed that it had been mailed two days after it was dated.
I had been on my Student Portal the previous day, and nothing indicated that anything was wrong. However, in this following day, there was no evidence that I was ever enrolled in the Social Service Worker program.
I reflected on the 900 applicants, 600 of which would make it to the info session, and the 60 of which had been accepted. I reflected on my 20-page application folder that I had prepared, and all of my friends that had failed to get into it.
The warning letter said that the position was on a first-come first-serve basis if I did not respond within 7 days. I reflected on the 500 qualified applicants that wanted my position.
Now, I must say, who does this? Send a warning only post-elimination, send the warning only through snail-mail, and then neglect to send it for two days after it was issued? They had my phone and email addresses...
I spent one sleepless night, then called them. I was worried, because they said to contact the person in charge of my application, and since my warning time had already expired, I worried that there was no one in charge of my application anymore.
But there was. I phoned, told Front Desk of my dilemma. They asked me what my student number was and birthday. I told them. They put me through to a girl who, upon introduction, re-admitted me and gave me two more weeks to make a payment. I checked the Student Portal, and indeed, everything was how it used to be. Just like that.
They had their paycheque the same day, and since, it has been processed and confirmed. I'm confirmed to be in the program now. Only an exciting statement after the scare.
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