Us vs. The Neighbor

So, how should we go about convincing our neighbor that it’s NOT a good idea to allow his dog to think my backyard is it’s personal toilet? I know me–if I go over there, I’m going to get all upset, wind up opening my mouth and do no good. I AM going to put my camera by the bedroom window so I can take pics of the dog every morning since my room looks out over the backyard.

Well, I’m off to a meeting for a class project, then printing off articles for the research paper due Monday. I’m kinda glad I have no plans during the day Friday, and that wtbrosie is working her part-time job on Saturday morning–I’ll have time to get the paper done, I hope

 

Not Gonna Cheat

I’m tempted to back-date this entry to yesterday so I can actually, you know, post every day this month…but even 29 out of 30 days will be a HUGE milestone for me so I’m just going to play along.

Today, wtbrosie and I went to NH to meet up with my cousin. It’s been…Gods, almost 2 years since I saw him, and that was in a less than ideal situation. It was cool hanging out and getting to know him better–although we’re cousins, our family is less than communicative, and we’ve learned well from them.

I’m supposed to be doing research for a paper due next Monday, so I guess I should get on that, huh?

 

NaBloPoMo

So, what are the chances I’m actually going to succeed this year? Be prepared, I’m probably going to be talking a lot about school and Girl Scouts

 

This and That and Those

GODS I am so bad about blogging lately. I’ve had no time whatsoever these last few weeks with school, work, going to New Jersey last weekend, and 2 conferences this week.

I’m enjoying work, although my direct supervisor could be called scatter-brained. But, she’s never around, so I get quite a bit of down-time when I’m in the office. I really haven’t done too much yet, at least in my mind. But, it’s still a new position and I’m still getting used to everything, so it’s also slow-going.

School is kind of overwhelming. Readings and papers and projects are just piling up. I’m trying to decide if I want to go to the ACPA (American College Personnel Association) convention that’s going to be in Boston this March. I went to the local conference Friday, and felt kind of out of place, but it was a good learning experience, and I know it’s good to get involved with professional orgs. I just don’t know if going to these thing will ever truly be advantageous to me because I’m so bad at networking and getting to know people. Hell, even at the Girl Scout learning conference I went to yesterday, although Girl Scouts is a comfort zone for me, and I know what I’m talking about and actually involved (unlike with higher ed), I feel awkward and like I don’t really belong. It’s a huge dilemma to be honest.

 

To Mail or to Mail?

So, I’m thinking about downloading Thunderbird to handle my email via IMAP (I have 4 emails I use regularly plus an NU email and I’ll be getting a GS email soon)  rather than POPing all of my email to one Gmail account. Gmail doesn’t allow you to send mail from other Gmail accounts without the default noted at the sender, I can only have one signature. But with IMAPing, I never have to periodically log into various inboxes to clear them out or double-check that good mail wasn’t marked as spam.

Should I not rock the boat and deal with the issues I have in order to not have to deal with getting used to a new format? If I do go with T-bird, any tips/tricks/suggestions?

 

Cruising…Or Not

A couple weeks ago, <a href=’http://wtbrosie.livejournal.com/profile’><img src=’http://www.rosequoll.com/lj/lion.gif’ alt=’userinfo’ width=’17′ height=’17′ style=’vertical-align:bottom;border:0;’></a><a href=’http://wtbrosie.livejournal.com’><b>wtbrosie</b></a>’s car wouldn’t start. AAA came out and couldn’t help at all, so they towed it to a garage. Now, she knew the car was on it’s last legs and needed work, so this was really mainly an excuse to actually bring it to be looked at.  As I’m sure you can all guess, the car has seen it’s last day. The guy called with the diagnosis and offered to hold it until she was able to clean it out and decide if she wanted to junk it or try to get a trade.

When she picked it up yesterday he told her he could have ‘fixed’ the car for her, but he told her it wouldn’t have really made a difference. Then made a suggestion of a dealership, gave advice about the cars she’s been contemplating and also offered to look at whatever car she was thinking to buy. From the interactions she’s had with him, he’s going to be our guy for as long as we’re in the area.

 

My Conservative is Showing

A bill before the legislature would require some of Massachusetts oldest banking, financial and insurance companies to look deep into their history — and the histories of subsidiaries and predecessor companies — to uncover links to the slave trade, as a condition of doing business with the state.

via Bill would probe fiscal legacy of slavery in Mass. – Boston.com.

Are we SERIOUSLY considering this? Did several other states REALLY pass this kind of crap? I have to admit to agreeing with House Republican leader Rep. Brad Jones,  who “called slavery ‘a historical stain that is never going to be erased,’ but said the proposal sounds more like an academic or historical project best undertaken by a university rather than state government.” Doesn’t our state legislature have WAY better things to be doing with their time and MY money than research this? I find it hard to believe that anyone thinks any major company in this country doesn’t have some ties to the slave trade if you dig back far enough. It was a major business from before Europeans even came to this country–if you think not one tribe of Native Americans didn’t turn their hostages into slaves, you are sadly mistaken. I’m not condoning the practice; it was and continues to be a blemish on the world and the US, but how about looking forward, to those problems faced by African-Americans due to generations of slavery and prejudice against their ancestors. How about trying to further reduce prejudice and discrimination that’s still happening in many areas. I just don’t see how this knowledge will be of any use to anyone.

I guess it all comes down to priorities–I feel that all branches of the government has better things to do (like successfully restructure the Mass Highways and MBTA to save the taxpayers’ money) than ’study’ something that has no real bearing on society because it’s not going to change the past. Please do try to explain it to me though.

 

{GS} Escaped and Returned to Tell the Tale

This past weekend I went to the Great Escape, a weekend-long event put on by Girl Scouts of Eastern MA for leaders all over Council to get together to camp, socialize and attend workshop. I’m a little bit on GS overload right now, and kinda wish my job was starting now so I could get some of it out of my system. It was awesome getting to know other leaders and do some networking–I should create some simple little cards to make it easier to exchange info. I also learned that I know a lot more about Girl Scouts than I thought I did, and possibly more than some of the ‘trainers’ out there–I should present a workshop on GS History next year.

I also learned that I NEED to invest in some rain boots or something since I no longer commute via car. I also need to go through Billy’s camping gear and find his headlamps and see what else he has that I can commandeer–wtbrosie and I have a good start, but not NEARLY enough.

 

{GS} Off to a Good Start

The Girl Scout year has gotten off to a great start–even better than I’d planned. Over the summer Melissa and I got together with a couple of the Council staff members to create a Task Force for the Boston, Cambridge, Somerville area. Basically, these areas have very few resources and volunteers, so typically can’t work as individual Service Units. We realized over the summer that, without active Service Units, the girls aren’t getting all of the benefits of being Girl Scouts. By bringing together all of these under-served areas, we can have a ‘mega unit’ that will function like an SU for the time being. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this all pans out; we’ve had 2 meetings already and have some really big ideas, like an Adult Court of Awards (we deserve awards just as much as the girls do!!) and an encampment for the girls in February.

I’ve also been accepted to be a Council Facilitator (trainer). My training doesn’t start until February, but I’m excited to be able to offer more required trainings in the city since we get so few; I’m hoping to be able to provide some of the more obscure trainings that REALLY never get offered here.

Finally, I have a job! One of the Council staff members I’ve been working with suggested I apply for a part-time job as a Membership Aide. Basically, it’s what I’m already doing, only I’ll be getting paid for it.

 

Courses Ahoy!

This semester I’m taking 4 classes: College Student Development, Vocational Ed & Career Development, Counseling Theory and Financial Aspect of Higher Education. Out of them the only one I’m really not that keen on is Career Development–the prof is rather boring and disorganized, and the subject matter is less than interesting.

The other three however, are really interesting. I feel like Student Development is getting off to a fairly slow start, but I’ve had on less session than the other classes, and we’ve pretty much not ‘learned’ anything; we’ve been mostly focused on discussing the group projects that will be the culmination of the course. Counseling Theory is just fascinating in that I really enjoy learning about therapy and theories and whatnot–it’s the basis for choosing this program over some of the others. Financial Aspects may be my favorite as of right now. First of all, it’s taught by Mr. Feeny. Also, it’s an extremely ‘real’ class–we’re discussing the actual workings of a college, how finances affect everything, etc. I think I’m enjoying it so much because it’s the class I have the most experience in, having been involved with a university on a more financial level than most of, if not all, the other members of my cohort.

The only bad thing so far is that I don’t have a job yet. I’ve applied to a couple of assistantships, but haven’t been hired. I’m not giving up, and should be able to make it financially for the semester, but I do need something in the near future. If the job I just applied to with Girl Scouts doesn’t pan out, I’ll go to Yankee Candle.