Category: Life

  • ODDS and ENDS: Adjunct Professor Strike, Christmas Trees, and What’s the Deal?

    (I say what I say…)

    There is a brewing movement underway being led by adjunct faculty and students. Hell Gate ran this story yesterday about students at the New School, here in New York City, joining the faculty strike, which has been going on for 23 days. If you didn’t know, University of California academic workers, have also been on strike. For far too long, adjunct professors, basically part-time teaching staff, and academic workers, who are teaching assistants, tutors, graduate student researchers and postdoctoral scholars, have been doing more and more of the actually teaching at universities. Across the country, full-time and tenured positions at universities have been shrinking, while at the same time administrative positions have been growing. I don’t think anyone will find it surprising that administrator salaries have been growing, while faculty pay has remained flat for years. A reckoning is coming. For the past forty years, American universities have become little corporations – making money and growing endowments comes first, and education is second. And to accomplish that, administrators have to keep their labor costs low. It has gone on for too long, and now faculties are pushing back. I see strikes like these growing and continuing in the coming years.

    Tomorrow, our Christmas Tree arrives. We ordered one, it’s fake, which was designed to fit specifically in small apartments. The base diameter is like 23” and it’s 6’ tall, so it’s a think pole of a tree. I can admit that that since we put up decorates after Thanksgiving, it really hasn’t felt like Christmas in the apartment, and that’s not really surprising. The Tree does tie the whole thing together.

    So, what’s the deal with all the views on my post: Short Story Review: “The Face in the Mirror” by Mohsin Hamid? When I originally posted it, I received 11 views which, for my humble little blog, was rather respectable. In the last two weeks, the same post has received 42 views, which is an outlier for me. So, what’s going on? If people are enjoying what I wrote, then that’s cool, but being that this blog is, well, little, then I find it odd when people notice it. Or is this just a bunch of bots screwing with me?

    (INSERT JOKE ABOUT LIKING THIS BLOG.)

  • Stupid Cold

    I used to not mind being sick, such as having a cold. When I was in school, and starting my professional career, a cold gave me a forced opportunity to take time off to relax and recover. I never felt guilty for taking a sick day, and tried not to make the people who worked for me feel bad for making their health a priority. I’m sure a have a few ex-employees that would disagree agree, but there are always outliers.

    Yet the cold I have been dealing with for the past two weeks has really pissed me off. It won’t go away. It acts like it’s gone, I start thinking life is back to normal, and then it comes back, worse each time.

    And I’m not the only one sick in our home. We all got it; first the kid, then wife, and now me. We have gone through all the stages of this illness, and we have now landed on the cranky bitchy stage. We’re trying to be cool with each other, but the edginess pops out.

    What I want is for us to be healthy for the Holidays. The good news is that it’s not Covid or the flu; just a stupid cold. There is still so much we have to do for Christmas, and I feel like I’m falling further and farther behind.

    Damn, I hate being sick.

  • ODDS and ENDS: Movie Trailers, They’re Talking About Me, and Christmas

    (Pay teachers more. You know it’s true.)

    Yesterday was a big day for the release of movie teaser trailers. We got one for the new Transformers movie though I wonder who out there is asking for another installment of that series, one for Guardians of the Galaxy, and the one that hit my sweet spot was the new Indiana Jones. Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my favorite movies of all time, and I still find it exciting to watch after all of these years. It can still take me back to being seven years old and seeing it for the first time. And I can also say that I am old enough now to know that nothing, no matter how good this movie is, will recapture that feeling of being a little boy and having no idea where Raiders was going to take me. But at the same time, I will be first in line to see it when it comes out.

    There is a New York Times article that was written about me! Not me specifically, but my middle aged demographic, which I will take as the story is about me. The article examines why middle aged men are not returning to the workforce after the pandemic. The piece gives several reasons, but it mainly focuses on men who do not have college educations, as they make up a large number of these middle aged men. For me, I don’t necessarily want to return to an office job, but I do want to bring in additional income for my family. And family is the optimal word there. My real job is taking care of my daughter and my family, and I do enjoy it. Yet, living on one income in the most expensive city in the US, does make our lives feel rather fragile. I believe that things will change for us when we get into the new year. I’m not asking for much; just $500 a month would make a big difference.

    Christmas is like, three weeks away…

    (And here is where I ask you to like, comment, share, or follow my blog. It’s a standard thing I do now.)

  • It’s Thanksgiving, Ya’ll!

    Yup, it’s Thanksgiving, and I can say that I do have many things to be thankful for. My amazing wife, wonderful daughter, family, and friends. I did want to also say thank you for taking the time to read this silly little blog. I also wanted to mention that I am thankful for the bots, from China, Vietnam, and Croatia, who continue to check out my posts for some reason. Maybe you’re looking to hack me, or maybe you are a real person who finds short story reviews, Ikea essays, and general bitching about the state of Tottenham Hotspur highly entertaining. Either way, thank you, all of you, for taking your time and spending it on me.

    Now, here’s to the Cowboys beating the Giants!

    Happy Thanksgiving!

  • ODDS and ENDS: World Cup Starts on Sunday, Twitter-ageddon, and Thanksgiving

    (I came all this way…)

    I shouldn’t watch the World Cup. FIFA, the organization that runs the World Cup, is corrupt as the day is long, and they were paid off by Qatar so that this authoritarian nation could host the competition. Just gander at this, if you haven’t heard it yet. That’s bad, but let’s not forget that Qatar has a history of human rights abuses, and in the rush to build these stadiums in the desert, thousands of migrant workers died. That is truly horrendous, and unconscionable. Then today, Qatar banned beer sales at the stadiums. Now, now, wine and alcohol will be available in the VIP boxes, but not for everyone else. Yes, fans will be able to get alcohol at their hotels, and other designated spots. I don’t know much, but I do know that when you ban something, people will just find a way around it. That leaves me to believe that there will be a whole lot of pre-gaming from certain fans from England and Germany. Well, actually, all the teams from Europe, if I am to be honest. The World Cup in Qatar is a shitshow before it even started. And yet the whole world will watch. Myself included. There is a little shame in that, sure, but I really like the idea of a global sports competition. It’s not the equalitarian event I want it to be, but I keep hoping that if all of us who love this event keep putting pressure on the organizers, that soon we can have the fair, sportsmanship advocating event that we all really want. Also, Mexico will choke in the group stage, USA will make it to the knockout round but lose their first match, and England takes third place. That’s my prediction, as I have no idea who will win the whole thing.

    I keep expecting Twitter to blowup – just explode in a ball of flames. Sadly, I see now that it will be a slow decline, like Myspace and Tumblr. Everyone will migrate somewhere else, and the trolling begins anew. I just can’t make heads or tails of Mastodon. (Seriously, I need to pick a sever? Whatever.) I think my Tumblr account is still active. Just look for me @mlgroff wherever handles are used.

    I’m ready for Thanksgiving. We’ll be shopping for the meal this weekend, as we have had our menu ready to go for two weeks now. I’m looking forward to this holiday because in our house, we hang around in pajamas all day, and eat when the meal is ready. It is a very lazy day in our house. As I have gotten older, and now that I am a father, Thanksgiving has come to symbolize for me the last full day of rest I can get before the crazy marathon of Christmas starts. So, Here! Here! Turkey Day!

    (SAY! Thanks for making it to the end of this post. If you have enjoyed my wordsmithing, then please be kind and give a like. No one shares or comments on my posts, so you don’t have to do that, but following my blog would be a super awesome bonus. I’ll update the website soon. I promise!)