ENC 4931: Assignment 5, Option 3 Post

Unbelievably, I may be able to use my little waste-of-time blog for assignment 5 in my editing class (ENC 4931). The option reads "a personal opinion blog and an inaugural 300-word essay for that blog".

As for the post itself, I'd like to write about how the federal government should stop subsidizing college for non-veterans. I've already posted twice about this, but in a roundabout way:


NY Times "Debt Trap" 1/3/9 (with link to NY Times video)


"It's Overrated" 1/21/9 (with link to John Stossel video)


I expect all you regular readers to be on your best behavior!

Fear and Loathing at USF

You know you're in trouble when you use an illustration from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas for a term paper. Kidding aside though, I think the paper turned out okay. And I have to say, if you haven't read the book, you owe it to yourself to do so.

Addendum: I added some interesting factoids from the paper I wrote. Apparently, layoffs really aren't good for a company.

• 74% of employees who kept their job amidst a corporate layoff say their own productivity has declined since the layoff.
• 69% say the quality of their company’s product or service has declined since the layoffs.
• 87% of surviving workers say they are less likely to recommend their organization as a good place to work
• 64% of surviving workers say the productivity of their colleagues has also declined.
• 81% of surviving workers say the service that customers receive has declined.
• 77% of surviving workers say they see more errors and mistakes being made.
• 61% of surviving workers say they believe their company’s future prospects are worse

Happy St. Pat's

What kind of madman drinks Guinness out of a Foster's glass?


I didn't think until I was taking the picture, that I should have made a "half-and-half" type drink, with Foster's on the bottom. For those who don't know, Guinness is sometimes poured on top of lighter-colored beers. The Guinness will actually float on top of most beers, with a definite separation between the two. (It helps if you pour the Guinness over a spoon.)

After reading the list on wikipedia though, I didn't see a name for a Guinness/Foster's combo. Perhaps I get to make up a name.

A black kangaroo?

Anyway, happy St. Patrick's Day.

Black and Tan

Mixed Bag

As with the past few months, this week has been a mixed bag. On a positive note, on Monday I attended an orientation for the commencement ceremony for my college. It's where I picked up my cap and gown, shown in the picture. That was kind of cool. But on a negative note, I had to take a mandatory, unpaid week-off from work. It's a corporate thing, an effort to save money. They're also stopping their "matching" contribution to our 401(k)'s, which sucks even worse, as we don't know how long that will continue.

I can pretty much smell a layoff in the air....

Anyway, for my editing course, we had to rewrite the treasury secretary's recent speech, in which he outlined the Financial Stability Plan. For those who don't know, the original speech was widely panned as being uninspiring.

Doing research for the paper, I read something disturbing: to really bail out the banks, to soak up all their toxic mortgages so they can start lending again, would cost about $7 trillion. If I'm doing the math right, that's about $23,000 for every person in the country.

Wow.

To paraphrase Stalin: one dollar is a tragedy. Trillions just statistics.

"The Office," via Netflix

I've started watching "The Office", via Netflix's web site. I've gone through the first season, and have just started the second. I'm currently on the one where they award "The Dundies" at a Chili's.

I've never watched this show before. It's pretty good. And if you're paying $10 a month to Netflix anyway, I recommend it.

(Okay, my big T.V. crapped out on me, so I'm stuck watching tv online, and having my mind blown by the amount of wax a human ear can produce. Gimme a break.)

Anyway, it really is a good show.

Ear Wax Removal

Because a picture of ear wax would be too gross.


Maybe ten years ago, one of my ears got stuffed up with wax. After trying one of those over-the-counter things with the bulb and all, I ended up having to go to the doctor to get it done. His nurse squeezed a "Colace" capsule into my ear (it's actually a stool softener) then blew out the wax with a water pick.

On the way out the door, they gave me a printout about ear care, with instructions on how to clean out my ears myself. Unbelievably, I still have that printout, and it came in handy when one of my ears got plugged up again.

Though I ended up having to plunk down $60 on a water pick, and $10 on Colace capsules, it was worth it just to see all the crap coming out of my ear. And for the first time in a month I can hear out of my right ear, which at first freaked me out a bit as I'd grown used to not hearing anything out of that side.

Anyway, I'm glad that's done. And I pumped $70 into the economy, which is saying something.

Economy as Distraction

Sarasota Campus



Is it just me, or is the economy a bit of a distraction right now? It seems like wherever I go, I'm reminded of it.

Every night when I go to work at my factory job, I have to scrounge for work. My normal area being shut down, I end up having to work in other areas. As others are having to do that as well, it's not going to be too long before they have to start sending people home.

A few weeks ago, I went to get my teeth cleaned. My dental hygenist has had her hours cut. She's working only three days a week now. She pointed out that people put off going to the dentist when they're unemployed.

USF has had its budget cut, something like ten percent. For the first time, I heard about "money being an issue" regarding classes.

It makes it a little tough to pay attention to the materials I'm supposed to be learning in my classes. After all, what does Roman History have to do with making a living?

It reminds me of going through a hurricane. Not so much the wind and all that, but the worrying that goes on for days before. It's very taxing, to be expected to go to work and school while waiting for the hurricane that's projected to hit.
Likewise, it's very tough to carry on like nothing's happening right now.

Surely I'm not the only one who feels like this.