Well this has been a busy week for the Professor here. I had two tutoring labs to teach at Firebird U that were swamped--10 students 1 day, 6 the other. No complaints for the most part--double time for 10 student day and time and a hlf for 6 student day. Need the moolah, for sure!
Had a concern with one student that showed up at both labs!
A young woman came in wearing low rise jeans and a tank top on a freezing night. Her bum and her boobs were nearly hanging out of them and I was averting my eyes. As bad as that was, the worse thing was she was Tweaking. She was shaking, her eyes were twitching and she had trouble focusing. It was like she was on crack or something. On the first night I saw no evidence of it, but on the 2nd night I saw a can of Red Bull sitting next to her gear in the lab. At one point I said to her "You're acting like you drank too much coffee or Red Bull or something." and she said "I don't drink Red Bull" with the can right in front of her. I saw two other students present look at eachother with a "What the F**K?!?!?!" look. After she left, the students present informed me she's been in that condition at every math lab or class she's attended--shaking so bad she makes the table shake, etc. I contacted student services to report her out of concern for her--I wonder if she's got some other issues beyond it, but regardless she needs help.
Weighty Matters
My weight creeped up 4 lbs from 198 to 202 during US Thanksgiving. This week I hit the gym HARD--4 days in a row, burned over 700 Calories each cardio session, plus weights, got my weight back down to 200. I am now back to pushing to get my weight dropping (heading in the right direction). The goal is 180 lbs by January 19th. I don't think I'm going to make it, but if I can hit 190 by that date, it'll be a 40 lb loss for the year.
My ultimate goal is 180 lbs. And when I get it, I will adjust my workout towards maintaining it. I have no illusions about ripped abs. I ripped an ab and had hernia surgery earlier this year and don't want to go through THAT again. However, I do know that I can get my belly down to a reasonable level and get my muscles well toned so my clothes fit well and I look good enough to feel happy with myself and so that most women think I'm in good enough shape for my height/frame.
Social Matters
I've chatted up a new woman at the gym recently, who's a little older, but very nice. Just friends only though. I got her phone number and we're going to have coffee sometime in the next few weeks. I see her every Tuesday and Thursday at the gym location I go on those days. She's a nice lady, an aesthetician (does skin/facial treatments) and has two kids that are college age (She married young).
I've also chatted up a very nice lady on Twitter and we've swapped some Emails. She's LD though and doesn't want an LD relationship, which is understandable. I like her though--she's beautiful, has an interesting career and is intelligent. She is someone that I would date, or want a relationship with IF she were interested in me that way.
In either case, I figure just be friends, maybe it leads to something, maybe it doesn't. Maybe they have some attractive friends that are looking for someone to date and they can give me a good recommendation. Or maybe after they are my friend for a while, they decide they're interested and want to date me. I would date either of these women if they were interested, but if they're not liking me that way but want to be friends, I'm okay with that too. No unreasonable expectations of them though. No expectations = no disappointments.
Holidays Coming Up--Had to Help my older Sister with an Issue
I really wish that some of my fellow Christians had a better education in our faith. I don't doubt their sincerity or their love of God, or their love of Jesus. However, due to the fact that some of my fellow Christians feel that Christmas is being pushed out of the public conscience by overzelous Secularists or those of other faiths, they are a bit resentful and over sensitive to things that they really shouldn't be upset about.
Example: Happy Hollidays/Seasons Greetings.
When I was growing up, this a perfectly acceptible saying in Christendom to those whose faith is not known. You wouldn't say "Merry Christmas" to someone whom you know is a Jew or a Muslim, as they don't celebrate the Holiday. Though most non-Christians would understand you mean a blessing and not an insult, they would accept it without being upset. However, some would feel an affront and so those were considered safe, universal greetings in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.
Fast forward to late 21st Century, some Christians have taken this as an affront to their faith, much like the PC nuts took the phrase "a chink in his armor" to be a slur against Asians when in fact that term is of Germanic origin and means a DENT. As a result, a bunch of them have been jumping on any retailer that has its employees use those phrases in lieu of Merry Christmas. My response to them is GET A GRIP! Those that say that expression are NOT INSULTING OUR FAITH!!! They are trying to use a universal greeting of blessing that would apply to anyone and they DO NOT KNOW WHAT YOUR FAITH IS!!! No insult is implied or intended, so there is no reason to get so upset.
The issue that my sister ran into was the use of the shorthand phrase "XMas" for "Christmas" on decorations she made for her cubicle at work. My sister spent a lot of time cutting out green, red and white construction paper and making a lovely poster that featured the Jolly Green Giant, Sprout, The Incrdible Hulk and the Grinch, all wearing red and white Santa Claus hats. She did not have enough room up top to put the full phrase and so she put "Merry XMas" instead. Two older coworkers who are very zealous in their faith, but also very ignorant of things like the Greek used to write the word "Christ" (Χριστ). The "X" at the beginning is the FIRST GREEK LETTER (Chi) in the word "Christ" which is itself a GREEK WORD. Xmas uses a Greek abbreviation for Christ rather than a C or K in Latin letters.
However, these older coworkers were ignorant of this (clearly they weren't raised Episcopal, Anglican, Methodist, Lutheran or United Church of Canada) and they were hassling her about "X-ing out Christ" and "not loving Jesus." This really cheesed off my sister as she definitely loves God, loves Jesus and is a Christian, but she's not self-righteous, not a zealot and like me has a "live and let live" attitude about others' beliefs or lack thereof. My sister did not know about the "X" being a "Chi" and was just fuming at what those coworkers said, especially given how much time and trouble she put into making this display.
She mentioned it to me in the phone call and I explained what it meant. I also had to explain to her the reason why some people react that way to the a Latin "X" as opposed to a Greek "Chi". There are some rituations where pieces of paper are put in a bucket. All are blank except one with an "X" on it. The one who draws the "X" is killed, kicked out of a club, has to so something humiliating, etc. Sometimes people "X" out someone's name on a roster as showing they're not present, or kicked out of something. It's a way of negating someone. It's also used in grading papers to mark something wrong. Due to this CULTURAL perception of the Latin "X" in a negative sense and due to the fact that many Christians that DO NOT KNOW about the Greek word (Χριστ), this is WHY some Christians find "Xmas" offensive. However, once a Christian learns about this, it's a different story.
She was contemplating filing a complaint with Human Resources, but she also realized if she did, then NOBODY would be allowed to do ANY Holiday decorating of their cubicles at all in order to avoid anyone being offended. She told another coworker who looked it up on the internet and talked with her pastor and confirmed it. That coworker got documentation of this and they went to the women who hasseled them and showed them the proof. The hasseling stopped after that.
Upcoming Weeks
The next couple of weeks I'll be busy grading papers and winding up the courses. Christmas is coming up and my kids have made out their wish lists. We're keeping it simple--one gift from each parent for each kid. We're putting together some money and buying needs and gifts for a family on our Church's Giving Tree. We're not rich, but we're doing okay, my kids have plenty of toys and clothes and games, and they don't really want for anything. I want to use this as a way to teach them charity and to help them appreciate what we have.
As my Great Aunt Julia once said "Those who are not grateful for what they have, shall not get any more." True words to live by, in my opinion!
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