nostalgic bitching

well, there was some small frustrations at work yesterday, and i had the urge to totally bitch about it. . . but then i realized that even in comparison to the rest of my life. .. . it wasn't worth bitching about. ahh, the days of hanging out with my friends after work and bitching for a couple of hours in order to purge it all from my system, they don't quite exist as they used to. the summer will bring a few more things to really bitch about, but until then, i still have this need to gripe for a bit. . . perhaps it's my menstrual cycle. . . so, to make myself feel better, i've decided to bitch about something that deserves it. . . from my days at grad school.

it was my last year at grad school. i was asked to hold a seminar on soldering. . . yeah, i'm pretty good at it, not all the detailed electronic type soldering but just simple electrical type soldering. like i didn't have enough to do in that last semester. . . finish my thesis, teach two classes, take four classes, design most of a dance concert and watch over two other designers for the same concert, watch over the lights for a second dance concert. . .and well, i'm sure there was a lot more going on.

so it was later in the semester, and i decided to really put this thing together. i had to make sure on a place and time to hold it and make sure we wouldn't be in the way. in the middle of this process, my advisor (you know, the person i should be looking up to for an example of how to be in the professional world) came to yell at me about if i was going to include her in this whole process. (she liked to yell, A LOT. . . perhaps i'll spend some more time explaining all that when i feel the need) so i explained that i wanted to secure a handful of times and places to choose from before i solidified it, and that way i would have choices for the students in order to get the largest turn out. after going to my class and figuring out when the kids who were interested could show up, i let my advisor know. she then complained that that time was no good for her students. . . so i gave her a choice of the other times i could hold a special seminar for her students. i then had two seminars planned.

my students came over a weekend. we spent the afternoon soldering different wires together, and making complete circuits and testing them. it was great, the kids had a lot of fun. so, i then had my second seminar for my advisor's students. now. . . . guess how many of them showed up, after having to set it up for a completely different day that fit her students' schedules. . . ONE, that's right, ONE! this particular kid already had dabbled in soldering, and all he needed was an idea of different techniques to use to perfect what he was doing. his hands shook quite a bit, and i taught him a few ways to hold everything steady. . . it was productive, but i had this one fabulous moment within the whole thing. . .

i'm not so sure this is really bitching. . . well, i guess you can judge for yourself.

our school's technical director walked through with another student. (the technical director liked to give me a hard time, and not in the fun, playful way. you see, when my advisor is having problems with a student, the technical director and several other staff and professors liked to follow) so, the student that was with him had wanted to be in the seminar. he walked by several times with a pouty look on his face. i apologized that he couldn't work with us and tried to jokingly rib with the technical director about letting him out of his work to let him learn soldering. the tech director then came over and said, 'well, i don't know if would feel comfortable teaching soldering if i were you. are you teaching them about sublimation?'

to which i replied, with a half cocked head, 'you mean the process by which some materials when heated go directly from solid to gaseous state?' (thank god i was paying attention during some of my science classes in highschool!)

he says, 'no, sub-lim-ation.'

and the kid who was soldering with me, a rather smart one, says. . . 'yeah, that actually means when a material goes from solid to gas bypassing the liquid state, like dry ice.'

the tech director stood there and stared at me for a bit, 'well, you know like when things suck up the solder as they are heated.'

me: 'well, i wasn't using scientific terms for it. . . . but if i had to, i guess i would describe it as capillary action. . . kind of.' and we went back to our lesson. god. . . what a dick.

mmm. . . maybe i should write a grad day memoirs. . . i should've written it while it was happening, as my mom always said. . . alas, i guess only the most prominent moments will stick out when i get a chance. later for that. . . .