Very True...

It's Official

I am now a student of University of Massachusetts Lowell.

I had about 24 hours to decide on summer classes and I thought "what the heck, let's do it." So yesterday I changed my matriculation to start with the summer and registered for my class. While I wanted to get some of the required courses out of the way, the only ones open were the major stats courses. I do not want to take stats in the summer. So instead I registered for Forensic Psychology. That should be a fun one. :)

It really is amazing how much cheaper UMass is over BU. My course at UMass is going to cost a little under $1,500. The same class at BU will cost $3,000! This is not including the ridiculous price of textbooks either. The one for this psych class is $153. For. One. Book. Is that a rip-off or what? I thought it was bad my students would have to pay $80 for their textbooks, which is why I don't make them buy them.

On a sillier note, I think Loki has actually grown again. The poor guy is already big enough (around 20lbs and none of it is fat). He is definitely going to be on the larger end of the scale for Maine Coons. His brother Monkey, though, is on the smaller end but he got all the brains. I swear they are the kitty version of Pinky and The Brain.

Some Good News

I found out today that I was accepted to the Master's program at UMass Lowell. I'll probably go there over Boston University mainly because it costs about 30% less. In this economy cost is everything, especially since I'll have to take out loans to cover everything. Also, it has a lot more classes in forensic psychology which I'm interested in. The only problem is that their summer session starts on Tuesday. I have to decide very quickly if I want to enroll during the summer or wait until the fall.

A Sign?

My colleague who shares an office with me also had her name removed from the door. On Monday, she put up a little sign with both our names on the door. Guess what? It was gone when I came in this morning. WTF?

And people wonder why I'm stressing out.

I Don't Like Mondays...

There's this great song by the Boomtown Rats called "I Don't Like Mondays." It's on days like today that this song goes through my head.

I left my wallet at home by accident this morning. I realized this as I went to pay for my coffee at Dunkin' Donuts.

When I got to work, I noticed that my name has already been removed from the door as well as the other lecturer I share the office with. As my husband put it, can they give me a bigger hint?

There's an e-mail from the VP of student services demanding that I give an incomplete to a student who disappeared about a month ago. I know what happened: he got arrested for violating parole. I'm not giving an incomplete to a kid who ended up in jail. That's not a qualifying excuse in my book.

Then I find out that the grandchild of the head of our union is in my class. When the union head asked about me the chair said I was a good teacher. He responded "well she better be!" This is the man who can make my life a living hell if I stay at the college. I wish my department head never told me this.

And people wonder why I don't like Mondays...

Adjusting

I will have to admit that changing over to wheat-free diet is a bit of a challenge. We went out to dinner last night and all my favorite foods contained some sort of bread product. I was stuck with tuna salad, which is OK but not the greatest.

At the library, I picked up a couple of gluten-free cookbooks to help me make the switchover and I found a store near the college that sells gluten-free products. I still have to be careful with the foods I eat on a gluten-free diet because gluten is only the protein found in wheat. There are other parts of wheat that I still have to avoid.

I also went in for more food allergy tests. I'm fine with most of the major food allergens. However, I am in the process of doing a patch test for oat and rice on my back. Something is causing my back to itch but that may just be the adhesive from the tape holding the test strips in place. I'm allergic to something back there. LOL. I can live with an oat allergy but if I'm allergic to rice I'm screwed. How would I have my sushi rolls? Bah. I'll know more tomorrow when I go in to see the allergist tomorrow.

Wheat Allergy

I just found out I have an allergy to both wheat and rye. The latter isn't that big a deal but you'd be amazed how many goods have wheat in them. Hell, even some ice creams have some wheat in them. This is going to require a massive change in my diet. I'm half Italian. I've got to cut out most pasta now. Ugh. Not good.

Bizarre...

We're driving along and I see something rather bizarre. It's a crow flying past with something in its mouth. As we get closer, I realize that it has an entire plain doughnut in its beak.

A crow flying along with a doughnut in its beak.

That's not something you see every day.

Channeling Ayla

Some of you may remember the world's most famous grump, Ayla. Ya, I miss the old girl too. Well, I don't know what is going on but Phoebe has been channeling her an awful lot lately. She has been very grumpy ever since Kukai passed away. But it's more than that:

• First I noticed that she started hanging out in "jail" (the footrest under my desk), which was Ayla's favorite spot.
• Then she seriously started turning into a skutch (e.g., attempting to steal burger from me).
• Today, I saw her back into a defensive position near Loki and I swear I heard the thwap upside his head as she was thinking it.

Is this Phoebe channeling Ayla or am I just getting a new grump in the house? Things will be interesting either way. I just can't wait to see Loki's reaction when she does act out on the thwap instead of just thinking about it.

P.S. Why can't students ever thank me for As? All they ever do is bitch and moan when you give them Fs. I'm glad the semester is almost over.

The Red-Tailed Hawk

To all my friends and family, I'm doing better. I was really upset the other day more because of the lack of stability in my own job than not getting the tenure-line job. Honestly, I knew I wasn't going to get it since my qualifications were not "impressive" enough for the committee. It was what happened afterwards that really threw me for a loop.

When I asked the chair of my department if I'll be coming back as a lecturer, he was unsure. Now, for some strange reason, the president of my college is getting rid of all lecturers. We are the full-time non-tenure track faculty. Basically we're "temps," but we can stay up to four years. 99% of the time, the lecturer stays for the full four. We are a cheaper alternative than hiring a whole bunch of tenure-lines (permanent positions). In a lot of cases, after the four years, a lecturer gets hired into a tenure-line. It's a lengthy round about way of doing things but it works. Our college president doesn't think so. He wants to replace over 300 lecturers with 37 tenure lines. How is he going to make up for the course loads the lecturers taught? Hire more adjuncts (part-time professors) and increase class sizes dramatically.

Technically for every three lecturers, two lines were to open. This didn't happen in my department. We only got one, the Latin American specialist. What does this mean for me? I'm out of a full-time job for the fall. I have three classes in the fall but as an adjunct my pay scale drops dramatically. I'll literally be making 1/4 of what I've been getting for the past two years. This means I'll be working at the library more often if I can get more hours. I'll also be trying to get another teaching gig at a different college. As no one is hiring full time because of the economy, I'll be doing the adjunct work there as well. If I can get one.

So, you are probably asking "why is the title of this post 'The Red-Tailed Hawk'"? We've recently had a red-tailed hawk perch itself on the building opposite our office window for a couple of days now. This is not a very common sight in New Jersey suburbia.

It just so happens that one of my office mates is part Native American. Yesterday morning she showed me a book called "Animal Speak" which is about animal spirits. It seems that the red-tailed hawk we've been seeing is a powerful totem:

This powerful bird can awaken visionary power and lead you to your life purpose. It is the messenger bird, and wherever it shows up, pay attention. The message is coming.

Talk about interesting timing. Just so happens I got some interesting news later in the day. I got accepted into Boston University's Masters in Criminal Justice program. I applied as part of my "backup plan" in case I didn't have a full-time job for the fall. It's an online program with no residency requirements so I can attend classes when I'm able and can do so in my jammies. I needed a program with the flexibility in case I have to work two jobs and go to school part time.

If this isn't a message, I don't know what is.

I Hate Mondays

It was bad enough that I left my handicap placard in my husband's car.

It was bad enough that I forgot my jacket and umbrella on a rainy day.

What made it worse was finding out I won't get a second interview for the tenure-line job I applied for.