My coursera course didn't go so well (and I missed the completion certificate by 2% because I bailed on the last assignment because I truly could not see the point anymore). I was looking for an art history primer, but this course was a) random sprinklings of info b) had (optional) parts that totally took longer than their estimates and c) had assignment questions on information not covered in the material, and how do you half google? d) an over-emphasis on collage.

If I'd known I was close to passing, I'd have done the last quiz, but I was irritated and dispirited. I do have another one coming up, and I'm assuming each course is markedly different, so I'm not pre-judging one by the other.

Good lord. I wake up this morning and go to the IO9 Observation Deck (their natter board), and there's an article titled: What I learned from [ita] by incest boy. Content? To wit:

1. Don't fuck with her.

2. O Deck is a respite from the world, don't be a dick here.

3. Don't fuck with her.

Thank you, madam.

Seriously.

I needed an attitude adjustment. The regular net has made me quick-tempered, quick to judge and hateful without realizing I'm doing it.

Great! I mean, on one hand, great. On the other hand USE YOUR INSIDE VOICE. Now the people that hate me, just got a great big morning goosing to their dislike of me.

But! No one can ruin that I only really woke up three times last night, and that's the best sleep I've gotten in a week. I am diligently going to continue babying the neck/shoulder, getting way WAY in front of the ouch until I see pain doc on Tuesday. I think I have enough meds to get me that far.

NYC was 9-5 and FT was considered 35 hrs.

TX is 8-5 and FT is 40 hrs.

I hate 8-5. Well, I actually just hate having to work.

The men I work with are such PILERS. They all have clean desktops, but there is still pushed into drawers and onto bookshelves and just NEVER dealt with. I just pulled a pile off a shelf that over half can be tossed without even looking at. I think the other half is unfiled invoices from last year.

We have to keep all shipping documents for 4-5 years, but they have been keeping them for 7! I need to get into the storage shed with the file boxes and pull out a bunch for shredding.

With all the dust we produce (lime plant, very dusty) having all this unneeded paper around is just collecting dust. I hates it. I want everything that can be ina file drawer to be in one, because at least that cuts down on the dust on things. And I want to get rid of all the bookshelves.

So turns out, apparently, no-incest boy is/has been/was an epic troll on a few of the Gawker sites, and now he's crediting me with a large part of his turnaround. I want zero credit for that, because when he turns back to the dark side, also zero responsibility.

Too late! Now you own him.

Give him a sock.

When I worked at the college of arts and sciences, I worked 9:00 - 5:00 with a hour unpaid lunch. 35 was considered full-time. It was lovely (except I didn't make much money.

When I moved to the school of nursing, the standard was 8:00 - 4:30 with a half hour unpaid lunch, and now anything under 40 hours- even as salaried, is considered part-time for benefits (but not for paying for parking).

You may have just gained a classmate.

It looks like it'll be fun, right? It's a partnership with University of Alberta.

I'm trying Duolingo, myself, for French.

Oh, nice. I am bookmarking that, because one day I intend to be fluent in Portuguese again... like I was 15 years ago.

Oh, man, I want very badly to take that Science and Cooking class, but I don't think I can.

There's an option to audit the class without making a commitment to complete the course materials, btw.

It's been well over a decade since I worked anywhere that 40 hours wasn't the full-time work-week. One place I worked, before college, the work-week was 37.5 hours in order to avoid paying full-time benefits to the staff. The guy who owned that company was a hard-core right-wing guy, who tried to run for Senate against Ted Kennedy a couple of times. Heh.

Mass residents will know who I'm talking about: he owned a small medical-equipment company in Foxboro or Walpole or something, and I think he even tried to pay Kennedy to debate him.

As my work situation was explained to me by the now-retired company pres (who is a relentlessly organized morning person), we must be in the office by no later than 9 a.m. and work 8 hours before leaving, barring the use of PTO or unofficial comp time from earlier in the two-week pay period. (Originally salaried employees were supposed to work things out so we only worked a total of 80 hours in any two weeks. A ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha...)

At any rate, this generally results in me being paid for the first 90 minutes or so at work where answering email and brewing coffee are the most productive things I can manage, and going home in the late afternoon/early evening when I still have a couple hours of clear-headed high speed work left in me. Flex time actually maximized my productivity, but apparently made the company look too loosey-goosey and unprofessional to the executives and clients that almost never actually show up at this location anyway.

I suspect that many hourly 9 to 5 workers are held to that schedule to prevent them from working a 40 hour week and being full-time.

I rather appreciate my line of work where due to the 24-7ish nature of it, it is difficult to come up with a schedule wherein most people have exactly 40 hours. Here, if you are regularly scheduled for 30 per week, you are considered full-time and given benefits as such. Part-timers get full benefits when they have worked 1000 hours.