The Totally Radical Thread for Crotchety Old Bitches

I feel special...

Just a few moments ago I got a text message claiming that I've received a cashiers [sic] check of $765,500 from the UN-Habitat Settlement, with an e-mail address at "upsdelivery.net" to claim it.

This is particularly amusing given that a) I've never been outside the US for more than brief periods (and that as a "guest" of the US Navy), b) prior to the text I didn't even know there was a "UN-Habitat" organization (there is, more formally named "United Nations Human Settlements Programme"), and c) I'm a white Christian^* well, okay, somewhat nominally, but this post isn't about my religious beliefs , which makes it somewhat unlikely that I would be in a position where such a supposed settlement would affect me.

In short: Practice Harder, Nigeria.

All your safe space are belong to Trump

I finally got into a free beginning Tagalog class! There are very few teachers and a whole lot of Filipino people who want to reconnect with their roots, so it's a mad rush to try and get into a class I can actually afford. I hope it's good.

Good luck!

Another deployment almost done, and another Wog Day gone by.^note The ceremony when the ship crosses south of the equator; anyone who has not previously been south of the line is a "slimy wog", while those who have been are "trusty shellbacks."

Also, today's absolutely-horrifying-out-of-context-remark: "I've had my taste of small boys."^note A "small boy" being the Navy term for a frigate or destroyer; in comparison to larger ships like aircraft carriers or amphibious assault ships. Nothing to do with actual children.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

So I spent the last week and a half walking around town, dropping resumes in every business I could see. And... nothing. Not a peep. Two weeks now since I started looking for a job, and I haven't got one single reply. Not even Mc Donald's called me. I'm confused. I knew there were going to be some difficulties, since I have a very prohibitive time schedule, but still, no one even tried. This is less than optimal.

It's quite normal to feed the black hole with applications. It's not just you. <hugs>

Employers can be a pain in the ass especially if they have to work around or with any scheduling issues.

Who watches the watchmen?

Couldn't hurt to call them as a follow up. Not saying that'll definitely solve your problem, but it also couldn't hurt.

I feel you, though. Very difficult when you need work and you've got nothing to take your mind off the tedium & worry.

Thanks, everyone. It's been a bit too stressful to deal with this. Needing a job sucks.

edited 30th Mar '18 9:42:40 AM by TheLovecraftian

So almost three weeks after I started looking for a job, someone finally called me today. It was from a nearby English School, and they were offering me... a discount for enrollment in one of their classes.

...screw you, local English school.

Well, another successful trip to Singapore is over with. I am waiting to find out how many sailors off the carrier are staying behind in jail, because every previous port visit here that's been a non-zero number. I got lots of good food, bought my kids some kind of Japanese mini-Lego sets, a 4' wide painted fan for my bro-in-law, and earrings for my wife. I also walked at least 20 miles over the whole visit.

So, unless I win a trip on The Price Is Right, I will never see this city again. Onward towards home!

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

Well ... time to finish up my retirement paperwork - my detailer denied me for every set of orders I tried to pick.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

Pouring one out for R. Lee Ermey tonight. I may have been Army, but in his honor I'll say "Semper Fi, Gunny."

R. Lee Ermey, Art Bell, we seem to losing some of our notable "characters".

Who watches the watchmen?

I'm hoping ol' Gunny is chewing out God right now, bellowing "UNFUCK THIS SHIT, YOU GODDAMN PIECE OF SHIT! RIGHT NOW! LEFT-RIGHT LEFT RIGHT!"

Aw man the Channel Awesome implosion is hitting me hard. I loved that site and a lot of the reviewers.

Oh well, time to bow to our Youtube Overlords...

All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be a case on The First 48

Well it looks like they may have put their own foot in the bear trap they built themselves. Pity, they sometimes had some interesting content.

So I decided to try my hand at the "new" methods of division seen in schools these days. There were two I Iooked at, such as "Big 7" and "The Box Method". Once I found some youtube videos with a math teacher to walk the viewer through the steps, they suddenly made a fair bit of sense. They both work rather simply but I found the box method more intuitive and easy to work because it allows you break down the problem into more manageable chunks without having to rely as heavily on figuring larger multiplication numbers for larger numbers with smaller divisors.

So now I am poking at the multiplication methods.

edited 16th Apr '18 5:08:21 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Who watches the watchmen?

But I think we can agree that the 70s New Math "teach kids base-8 so that we know they understand the process when they do arithmetic" approach is bonkers.

Fresh-eyed movie blog

I looked at the New Math from that time frame 60's70's. Wow they were trying to make serious leaps in approaching math and math concepts that is usually considered more advanced.

However the methods in the more modern stuff isn't anything like that. If anything I would describe it as a different way to organize the problems more than anything else. I can see a definitive reason to do the box method for division and the Gelosia method of multiplication. The math still works the same it is just how organize and arrive at the answer is different. Ultimately it still requires you to know the bare basics of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.

edited 16th Apr '18 6:17:00 PM by TuefelHundenIV

Who watches the watchmen?

A couple of years ago everyone was livid about Common Core, and while I'm completely on board with setting a national standard curriculum, the specific examples of approach to teaching math that were going around were... interesting.

Fresh-eyed movie blog

Wait, that was a real thing and not just Tom Lehrer making fun of (other) math teachers?

Our port call to Manila was kind of disappointing. But now we're on our way home ... ever so slowly.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw

My country just removed philosophy, sociology and is trying to remove history from it's curriculum by claiming it "negatively affect scores in math and language studies".

Dude , many US states cut liberal arts then wonder why the kids are uncultured.

So El Paso Comic Con came and went....

...and I didn't give a shit. I just couldn't bring myself to go for some reason. Mostly it was me being tired from work, my complex "forgetting" to tell me that they took over my internet (and me trying to get the $130 I paid back from the ISP), my internet being broken and just being not up for hours of walking and stuff I can't afford or have room for.

All night at the computer, cuz people ain't that great. I keep to myself so I won't be a case on The First 48

Philosophy and sociology are college electives here.

Fresh-eyed movie blog

Oh, don't worry, local politicians have you covered! The current mandatory curriculum for elementary and high school in this country consists of maths, language (native and english), religious studies, basic sciences (slipshod physics, chemistry and biology all rolled into one), and PE, i.e. go play football (soccer for ya'll) for the next 45 minutes with varying levels of supervision. Everything else is optional, with history, philosophy, sociology, geography and art studies being "discouraged".

edited 18th Apr '18 2:05:25 PM by TheLovecraftian

So, I've started doing some cursory job searches in preparation for my retirement from the military in ~8 months. I'm really annoyed at some of these job search websites. If I do a search for (city), do not show me a job with "multiple locations" unless (city) is one of them. I'm not going to move to Texas or Michigan or fucking Alaska on my own dime^note because literally the only job I've seen that offers moving reimbursement is a job for the CIA when I could probably find a similar job in the urban area I want to live.

That’s the epitome of privilege right there, not considering armed nazis a threat to your life. - Silasw