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no wonder that, according to my co-worker r, an administrative assistant down the hall has become rather heavy over the last few years. when you're paid to sit, as all of us in this building are, regardless of whatever fancy title we may possess, packing on the pounds, ounce-by-ounce, hour-by-hour is nearly effortless, as effortless as sitting motionless for hours on end, day-after-day, right here in front of this very computer screen.
one would think perhaps that this lack of motion would suppress one's appetite. such little energy being expended, after all. quite the contrary seems to be the case. perhaps it's the lack of mental and physical stimulation, the boredom, that not only makes me more lethargic than my natural tendency, but also dulls me to the point of wanting to eat for wont of any activity in which to engage.
lulled and dulled into a mind-numbing inert state, i find myself hungrier than normal. does this even make sense? it seems illogical in a way to think that i could be understimulated into snack attacks. yet, this occurs with frightening regularity. i have also observed that this is not an issue when i am at home, free to move around, in and out, from couch to kitchen to office to yard to bedroom.
as we all know by now, there is a proposed 700 billion dollar bailout plan for wall st., which is now framed by bush as a rescue plan, not a bailout.
so, while these good, honest, hardworking people have been raking in millions of dollars for themselves annually, and doing everything they can to maximize their (private) profits by slashing retirement funds and health insurance and pay increases for their employees and by laying them off, sometimes thousands per instance, they are now desparate for all of us to cover their losses. "socialized" isn't such a dirty word for them at the moment. can't talk about universal healthcare ever without being called a socialist or commie, but now we can talk openly and freely about socializing the losses of those corporations.
gotta love this country.
bush's argument last night is that many average americans pay their mortgages and car notes and might be apt to think it unfair, but without this rescue effort, average americans will be hurt because they won't be able to get a car loan or house financing or pay for college tuition.
how about bailing me out of my student loan debt? or our mortgage?
does this appeal to me infinitely more
Exposure to environmental and weather conditions (to include extreme temperatures, dirt, dust, fumes, smoke, and loud noises).
than this?
May work around standard office conditions. Repetitive use of a keyboard at a workstation.
in just the nick of time, learned of a bicycle film festival in town for the weekend. attended a screening of shorts; some were actually quite good. in attendance were those hipsters - you know the ones, the lean, lanky boys who cruise around town on their customized, fixed-gear bikes.
first thing this morning, in the kitchen at work, i decided to scrub out my coffee mug while brewing a fresh pot...the scent of the dish soap wafted up out of my mug, and within moments, i had the sensation that i was in france again, standing in evelyne's kitchen doing dishes. it smelled just the same: a fresh, citrus-y aroma that i can only associate with france and french dish soaps. how bizarre to be standing in this office's kitchen, in this all-too-american, 1970's educational institution building, and to have these random snippets of my five months in psycho evelyne's t-1, a flat with a small balcony on the southern edge of angers, an area populated by towers of flats, sort of a weird no-man's land purportedly inhabited by thousands of people, although there was never really any trace of them.
well, it did have me quite concerned for a few days, and admittedly, i persist in angsting somewhat over these polls, even though there's the faintest indication that mcsame's %'s have dropped slightly.
the brighter news is that, despite there being a two month-long wait for palin's frames and despite reports that scores (hundreds, thousands?) of women are striving to achieve le look palin as i type, her favorable rating has sunk slightly this week.
please let the novelty continue to wear off. time's ticking, you know!
please prove me wrong, amerika, about how dumb and blinded i believe too many are!
after all this time with phd in hand, living on the so-called administrative track, i still find myself compelled to browse daily all faculty job postings in my field, and any other field remotely related.
so, another year, another tenure-track job cycle has been launched, and already, i have noted that not so much has changed. take this extrait of a recent ad, par exemple, which reads like numerous others have in years past, seeking some candidate with a specialization in nearly anything other than mine:
The successful candidate is expected to hold the Ph. D. in French by August 1, 2009. Native or near-native fluency in French is required. The primary field of specialization is open, excluding twentieth century and film studies and the medieval period. In addition, the ability to teach some aspect of francophone literature and culture is highly desirable.
other ads posted so far this season are targeted to 19th century specialists as well as french linguists. what's a 20th century lit crit gal to do?
we'll just ignore that for now, because here i am again.
last week, as ike was plodding its way toward the texas coast and as work was settling down into the new semester, i had space in my head for just a few thoughts:
1.) stocking up on wine and clif bars for ike's inland march
2.) the season premiere of house (which, by way, finally occurs this evening)
3.) desire for more tennis featuring roger federer (because the us open finals was insuffiicient)
