working on a new chapter

[profbutters]

I have over two hundred pictures, so once I'm done sorting them out, I will be dividing them in half. It's not exactly going to be a Part 1 and Part 2, just 250 pictures is a lot.

What can you do, huh? I'm baking a pie. I figure that might help me, anyhow. And I've been playing. And . . .

well, here is Elaine.







 

Comments

[profbutters.livejournal.com]

Oh, no worries, they already did that. Couple years ago they decided not to empty the garbage cans in my building more than once a week. Not sure exactly how that was supposed to save money, but I teach in the Music Building--English on the second floor, studios and rehearsal rooms on the first floor, those lit crits are all arty-farty and those musicians live like animals, anyhoo, they'll never notice. A colleague of mine was working late into the night on a Spanish textbook and he saw a couple of rats the size of possums. Even allowing for some natural excitement on his part, they must have been pretty big.

I don't go into campus if the building isn't officially open. Even if it's unlocked, it'll send some kind of electronic signal to Security if you go in. Another of my colleagues went to his office with his kids and was interrupted by some guy from Security pointing his gun at him, incidentally aiming over the stroller in which his two year old was sitting. He took the attitude that "hey, they're just doing their jobs." I figure, "fuck, I am not getting paid enough for that crap. I am working from home."

It's funny about financial commitments. I'm sure it would probably be cheaper to abandon the school's Arabian Horse program and cut way back on the Ag School stuff, but tough titty: the ex-cereal magnate who donated the land on which the school sits did it on condition that his Arabian Horse breeding program be maintained unto the crack of doom. Watching those horses frisk around on my way in to work really brightens the worst day!

My students have mostly figured out how to use Powerpoint, which at least conveys movement and spatial relationships. Some even use simple animations or embedded media.

[docnerd.livejournal.com]

Depending on the strain of rat, they can get to be small-possum size. Alternatively, he saw a possum.

I'm not sure how much of a drain Agricultural programs are. They tend to involve sciency-stuff, and therefore outside money. Having graduated from "Moo U" and riding on the equestrian team for a couple of years, those programs can fund themselves if they're managed properly. MSU had a dairy herd. They had grants to study various things associated with cattle and milk production, that whole bit. They composted the manure and used it as fertilizer for the turf management fields, and the milk was processed and sold on-campus in a variety of tasty ice creams and cheeses. The equine program got a MASSIVE grant from somewhere, and used it to build a state-of-the-art equine diagnostic and rehabilitation facility, with treadmills, pools, an entire biometric setup the whole bit, and it didn't cost the university a dime. But the prestige that comes from having the facility has brought in some money. They bred Arabs, and the horses were trained by equine management students, their medical care was taken care of by veterinary students, and particularly promising horses were shown in breed shows--MSU Magic J won a major Arabian Horse dressage competition about a year after they stopped letting us use him for equestrian team practices and gave him to the Dressage Chair to ride.