austin_dern (austin_dern) wrote,
austin_dern
austin_dern

Now wasn't that a foolhardy notion

I may have to begin a program of electroshock on my students. First, I've got several who don't mind sending me an e-mail in the evening, then another in the morning, then calling me, then seeing me before class to make sure I read it. I grant I'm often dilatory in e-mails, but I refuse to be one of those people who slave themselves to answering e-mail the minute it arrives. I'm distracted enough that I can't be at everyone's call.

There's a bunch very upset about recitation timeslots. ``Can I sign for the Monday session?'' ``Sure, whichever you like.'' ``But what if it's full up?'' ``Is it?'' ``No, but what if it is?'' ``If it fills up we'll figure something out.'' ``But there won't be any class space.'' ``No recitation has ever had full attendance. You'll fit.'' ``What if I cannot?'' I didn't take my thesis defense this seriously. I just know they're going to worry about the grade curve. Those in the course for an easy A, asking questions way beyond the current level, are also a joy. No, I don't know where the stdio.h file is.

Meanwhile the department's abuzz about the Workplace Safety and Health Act. Well, abuzz is the wrong word; we're flipping through to see if there's any section for people whose most complex machine is the lift and whose most dangerous fluid is green tea. Green tea is a hazard as no matter how it's prepared, it tastes just like warm water.

Trivia: Among Betty Boop spinoffs were a daily and Sunday comic strip and a radio program. Source: The Fleischer Story, Leslie Cabarga. There was also the live-action Hollywood on Parade Number 8 with Bela Lugosi and Mae Questel. Playing against expectation the short has wax museum figure Dracula come to life and leer over the vitalized Betty Boop, who gets rescued in the end.

Currently Reading: The Railroads of the Confederacy, Robert C. Black III.

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