Having a Bad Day?: Get 'yer Hugs here!!

[Delightful]

On the parents front, we had a Year 11 information evening tonight. The advice is sound, and I generally try to listen to it. The only flaw is that my parents came along.

 

My parents have a tendency to take just the bits that fit their arguments out of the speech (either the bits that make students a.k.a. me look bad or the bits that sound like the came out of a prison scheme) and throw out the rest. So, if she references her part of the speech and expects me to accept it because it came 'from a person who's been doing this for years' (despite the fact that she didn't mean what my parents seem to think she meant.) Then, if I reference a different part of the same speech suddenly it's silly. "Real life doesn't work like that" is a particular favourite.

 

Yeah, I get it Mum. But, the whole 'emulating real/adult life thing' is only used when I make a suggestion. If one of her arguments has the same flaw, suddenly it's "Tough. We bring the money into this household. You could show a bit of respect."

 

Re. Doctor Who: Libraries and TV reruns are always valid options. At the end of the day, if you really can't find one of those options, there's always torrents...

Oh fun! :/

Was it a subject choice evening or general BE PREPARED FOR YEAR 11 BE SCARED kind of thing?

[little wilson]

Yesterday, I had a tickling in my sinuses I thought was allergies. It wasn't. I went to bed last night with chills, congestion, a post-nasal drip, and internal aches all over my body. I woke up this morning to the same, but they'd found a friend: a sore throat. Feels like a fairly nasty cold virus, since I don't usually ache or have chills from colds (unless there's a fever involved). And unfortunately, I get to work today as well, since we only get 5 (unpaid) days off per quarter, and that includes both vacation and sick days, and I just took practically all of those last week. Go me. So now I get to use an unholy amount of hand sanitizer and pop throat losanges all day, while working in a room that I swear has no working heater. In the middle of winter. 

[Mestiv]

What kind of hell do you work in? 5 days off every 3 months and they are unpaid? Is that even legal? O.O

[Blaze1616]

What kind of hell do you work in? 5 days off every 3 months and they are unpaid? Is that even legal? O.O

 

Yes it is! Holidays notwithstanding, employers in the US are not obligated to give you days off just by virtue of employing you (though nearly everyone gets 2 days off as their weekend, though which two days those are tends to depend). Part-time workers generally get no vacation or sick days whatsoever, and Full-time employees must negotiate for vacation and sick days when going through the hiring process. For example, I'm a full time employee, working 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year (again, holidays notwithstanding). I get a total of 5 sick days a year, and 10 days paid vacation. I didn't have access to my 5 sick days until I had worked for 6 months, and I didn't have access to any of my vacation until after a full year.

 

I'm not sure how labor laws work in Poland, but I know that many Europeans who come over on business are usually shocked at the kinds of working conditions we have here. For example, our employers are not required to put windows in our working areas. My job's old office had zero windows, except in the managers' offices. In the winter, if I didn't go out for lunch, I'd go into work and leave work in the dark, without having seen a single ray of sunshine all day. And my employer is considered one of the best in the world. *shrug*

[Orlion Blight]

This last year, I found Tyelenol was a lifesaver for whatever terrible cold was going around.

[Kaymyth]

I slept wrong last night.  I have a pinched nerve in my shoulder.  Hello, I am Grouchy McGrouchperson from the land of Grumblonia.

 

Also, there's a chili cook-off at work today.  The downstairs smells like chili.  I...hate chili. 

 

So, after getting the job offer earlier today, my mom's immediate reaction was to assume that the library was actually a closet sex trafficking scheme. No, I'm not kidding. She didn't even let up on that until my brother did some research and proved everything was on the up-and-up. She went back to Spokane earlier today to look at housing, and before I went to work and she went to the airport, I told her to have a nice trip. 

 

"Be sure you do this, this, and this, because we're on a very narrow timeframe here, and you need to be proactive," she said in reply. 

 

Around six, I decided to be proactive and announced over a text to the family that I was going to put in my two week's notice tomorrow. It seemed like a good way to do it; since it would give me time to get everything in order and give my current job time to train a replacement. "Wait before you do that," my dad said. "I think we need to discuss this first, since there's a lot of moving pieces all of a sudden. We want to do this as a family, as much as we can."  

 

Just a few minutes ago—as I was getting ready to wind down for the night, at what she knew was 10:15 Arizona time—she called with more unsolicited advice. Get an offer letter. Do that before you put in your notice. She put my dad on the phone and he had advice for me, plus the news that they'll be calling with more advice whether I want it or not. Apparently, the way Louisiana does things is different from the ways they've seen, and so they're worried—which is sweet, don't get me wrong, but I wish they'd take my schedule into account before calling with every thought they have! 

 

And yeah, I'm still annoyed that when I decide to be proactive—like my mom was telling me to be—my dad snatches that away from me and says, "Noooooo, we're going to do this as a family."

 

This is their last-ditch effort to try to keep control over you.  They're flailing now.

 

I'm sorely tempted to tell you, once everything was set in stone and it's your last day there, to start doing things like blasting Gogol Bordello throughout the house and running randomly up to your mother and shouting, "Dobby is a FREE ELF!"

 

Yesterday, I had a tickling in my sinuses I thought was allergies. It wasn't. I went to bed last night with chills, congestion, a post-nasal drip, and internal aches all over my body. I woke up this morning to the same, but they'd found a friend: a sore throat. Feels like a fairly nasty cold virus, since I don't usually ache or have chills from colds (unless there's a fever involved). And unfortunately, I get to work today as well, since we only get 5 (unpaid) days off per quarter, and that includes both vacation and sick days, and I just took practically all of those last week. Go me. So now I get to use an unholy amount of hand sanitizer and pop throat losanges all day, while working in a room that I swear has no working heater. In the middle of winter. 

 

Ack!   That sounds like potential flu.  If it gets at all worse, get to a doctor.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

This is their last-ditch effort to try to keep control over you.  They're flailing now.

 

I'm sorely tempted to tell you, once everything was set in stone and it's your last day there, to start doing things like blasting Gogol Bordello throughout the house and running randomly up to your mother and shouting, "Dobby is a FREE ELF!"

 

I'm going to let them have this. The less resistance I put up, the more freedom I'll have. 

 

And I am tempted, oh so tempted, to end her first attempt at picking a phone-fight with "DOBBY IS A FREE ELF!" and hanging up.  

[Kaymyth]

I'm going to let them have this. The less resistance I put up, the more freedom I'll have. 

 

And I am tempted, oh so tempted, to end her first attempt at picking a phone-fight with "DOBBY IS A FREE ELF!" and hanging up.

 

Dooo eeeeeet. 

[Orlion Blight]

Does that mean you're going to take one of her socks?

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

Does that mean you're going to take one of her socks?

She does have some nice socks.

[SmurfAquamarineBodies]

She does have some nice socks.

If you do take her socks, take a sock from two separate pairs.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

And now that my parents know the JPL isn't offering me a relocation package or reimbursing me for the cost to fly out for the interview/drug test, their big thing is that I'm going to get down there and find out that—whoops!—I was just one of their top two candidates and someone else got the job, leaving me jobless and out several hundred dollars. I asked for an offer letter and I have it forthcoming, and I've been told that the job is mine, but they're still saying that no, it's totally possible I'm being conned.  

[ChickenPlague]

And now that my parents know the JPL isn't offering me a relocation package or reimbursing me for the cost to fly out for the interview/drug test, their big thing is that I'm going to get down there and find out that—whoops!—I was just one of their top two candidates and someone else got the job, leaving me jobless and out several hundred dollars. I asked for an offer letter and I have it forthcoming, and I've been told that the job is mine, but they're still saying that no, it's totally possible I'm being conned.

Uhmmmm... wow. Do they seriously not believe you can get a job. Also, this sounds a bit like some conspiracy mumbo-jumbo.

[Orlion Blight]

And now that my parents know the JPL isn't offering me a relocation package or reimbursing me for the cost to fly out for the interview/drug test, their big thing is that I'm going to get down there and find out that—whoops!—I was just one of their top two candidates and someone else got the job, leaving me jobless and out several hundred dollars. I asked for an offer letter and I have it forthcoming, and I've been told that the job is mine, but they're still saying that no, it's totally possible I'm being conned.

I got this bs when I got my current job. It was a scam, I was being set up as a sacrificial lamb, it did not make sense, etc.

No proof will ever be enough. You're smart, you can tell that this isn't a front for getting you hooked on heroin, and if you hear decent advise in all that madness, you take it. Trust yourself and leave your rabid parents to foam at the mouth

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

I got this bs when I got my current job. It was a scam, I was being set up as a sacrificial lamb, it did not make sense, etc.

No proof will ever be enough. You're smart, you can tell that this isn't a front for getting you hooked on heroin, and if you hear decent advise in all that madness, you take it. Trust yourself and leave your rabid parents to foam at the mouth

Okay. If other parents say stuff like this, and it turns out to be a pack of lies, then my parents are probably wrong on this one.

[Pestis the Spider]

So if I didn't have enough problems with mental health, it seems that my physical health is not that pretty either. I just learnt today that I will need to have a surgery done in the next few weeks. It's a minor thing, so they said they'll let me go home the same day, but I should have someone to pick me up from hospital and stay in the flat over the night. So I asked my flatmate, and he agreed, because he's a really nice guy. But it's just really scares me to talk to him for some reason, omg. Also, I barely know him, and now he knows more about me than my mother. And I'm wondering if I should tell my parents about the surgery. I seriously don't want to, because I seriously don't like my parents, but I think like maybe I should... I don't know? 

 

My life is complicated.  

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

So if I didn't have enough problems with mental health, it seems that my physical health is not that pretty either. I just learnt today that I will need to have a surgery done in the next few weeks. It's a minor thing, so they said they'll let me go home the same day, but I should have someone to pick me up from hospital and stay in the flat over the night. So I asked my flatmate, and he agreed, because he's a really nice guy. But it's just really scares me to talk to him for some reason, omg. Also, I barely know him, and now he knows more about me than my mother. And I'm wondering if I should tell my parents about the surgery. I seriously don't want to, because I seriously don't like my parents, but I think like maybe I should... I don't know?

My life is complicated.

Believe me, I know that feeling. If you think you can keep the surgery a secret from them, do it. Sounds like telling them would just open a whole can of worms you don't want to deal with, so do what's best for you. If you think there's a good chance they'd find out about the surgery and would be upset if they learned they'd been left out of the loop, telling them is the better bet. But if there's no reason to tell them, and telling them would stress you out, don't.

[Left]

I had a brutal shift at work.....lifeguarding is so freaking stressful, especially when the temperature goes from 55 to 90 in the pool room.

I did come home to a sweet text from my crush, so that was nice

[Young Bard]

Oh fun! :/

Was it a subject choice evening or general BE PREPARED FOR YEAR 11 BE SCARED kind of thing?

 The second.

 

And, can I just say, from an Australian perspective, it sounds like you're describing slave labour when you describe your working conditions. In Australia, you have maximum 8 hour shifts, the minimum wage, a decent time of (paid) sick leave in addition to vacation, etc.

 

Moral of the story? Come live in... just about anywhere but America. It sounds really screwed up there (no offence.)

[Delightful]

 The second.

Even more fun! 

If it puts anything into perspective, literally every teacher since kindy has (for me, anyway) gone with the same mantra.

"You are not [previous year] anymore! You are [insert current year]. You need to be more serious! You need to be more focused! CONSTANT VIGILANCE yada yada yada".

It just gets more intense with "YOU'RE IN YEAR 11/12 IF YOU FAIL YOUR EXAMS YOU WILL BE MISERABLE FOREEVERR MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Laughing unobtrusively to yourself helps. Just do what you can and try not take the screeching too seriously. 

 

I think the moral is, get your high school education elsewhere and then come work in Australia.

[Young Bard]

Even more fun! 

If it puts anything into perspective, literally every teacher since kindy has (for me, anyway) gone with the same mantra.

"You are not [previous year] anymore! You are [insert current year]. You need to be more serious! You need to be more focused! CONSTANT VIGILANCE yada yada yada".

It just gets more intense with "YOU'RE IN YEAR 11/12 IF YOU FAIL YOUR EXAMS YOU WILL BE MISERABLE FOREEVERR MUAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

Laughing unobtrusively to yourself helps. Just do what you can and try not take the screeching too seriously. 

 

I think the moral is, get your high school education elsewhere and then come work in Australia.

 

So it's not just my school. Good to know.

There's a joke going round at the minute that was altered from the Deputy's speech: If you put fifty percent in, you get fifty percent back. If you put 90 percent in, you get 90 percent back. If you put 100 percent in... you get 99.95 percent back.

 

(Americans who don't get this, don't worry. It's an Australian thing.)

[Delightful]

So it's not just my school. Good to know.

There's a joke going round at the minute that was altered from the Deputy's speech: If you put fifty percent in, you get fifty percent back. If you put 90 percent in, you get 90 percent back. If you put 100 percent in... you get 99.95 percent back.

 

(Americans who don't get this, don't worry. It's an Australian thing.)

hahahahahahaha that's great. Where did the phantom .5 go? does it haunt you for the rest of your life, seeking closure>

You're doing HSC right?

 

 

 

Also, if you try put 200% in you'll probably get 20% back. 

 

Edit: yeah its definitely not just your school. IMHO the whole system is broken.

Edited February 4, 2016 by Delightful

[The Honor Spren]

Even more fun! 

If it puts anything into perspective, literally every teacher since kindy has (for me, anyway) gone with the same mantra.

"You are not [previous year] anymore! You are [insert current year]. You need to be more serious! You need to be more focused! CONSTANT VIGILANCE yada yada yada".

How sad is it that, because I have no teacher doing this to me, I do it to myself?

[Delightful]

How sad is it that, because I have no teacher doing this to me, I do it to myself?

Self expectations can be good, so long as you give yourself a break sometimes.

 

The problem is that the school needs to look good so they pressure the teachers who need to look good who pressure the students and it turns into like a do-or-die mess of overly stressful insanity.

[TwiLyghtSansSparkles]

I do not like my mom and dad. 

I do not like them, Sanderfans. 

They scream and whine and pitch a fit. 

They tell me that I ought to quit. 

"Spokane, WA, is where it's at! 

"Dismiss New Orleans off the bat!" 

Supportive and sweet they are not. 

Nor happy about the job I've got. 

I wish they'd shut up and be nice. 

Put their opinions out on ice. 

But with them I'm forced to deal, 

Until I'm out—then I will squeal.