Pax RP

Thanks ^_^., I'm sure I'll enjoy that. Some people deserve a good bludgeoning.

Heheheheh

Okay, I know that this is a really delayed response but I'd definitely like to offer some advice all the same - ignore me if this is no longer a problem for you Swix, I'll just say it for anybody else who might need it. The next time somebody tells you that you are overqualified, you should ask them if they are afraid of success. Is competence not something they like in their employees? Is a higher level of education indicative of a lower quality of work? Anything along these lines will be fine, so long as you don't come across as being aggressive or bitter. Basically you are challenging them on how much of an obstacle 'overqualification' really is, and questioning it as a valid reason to not consider somebody. It probably won't work too often, but if you can do this well enough there will be some occasions where this tactic will help you get your foot in the door. At the very least, it may make you feel a bit better about the whole thing as people will very rarely be able to justify it properly to an applicant.

The real reason why employers fear overqualified workers is because they know they won't stick around for very long - as soon as something better comes up, an overqualified person will take it. Workers who are less qualified are typically unambitious and trapped; as long as there is no reason that forces them to leave the job, they will stay in it for as long as possible.

If an employer gives you an interview and tells you that you're overqualified, they're more than likely trying to get a better insight into why you are applying for that particular job - they will not ask you for an interview if you aren't what they're looking for. You don't need to be an aggressive salesman to get a job, all you really need is confidence in yourself and a bit of creativity in how you respond to seemingly dead-end questions.

If you're not getting interviews at all and people tell you that you are overqualified, you should try applying for jobs that you know you aren't completely qualified for. You may find some employers willing to take a chance on you, or willing to provide you with extra training to help you get the skills they need.

Not to brag or anything, but I've helped quite a few friends put together job applications to find teaching jobs (sadly most teaching jobs are given on a one-year contract), and my Dad (who's a business consultant, and has a great deal of experience hiring people) and I have discussed and fine-tuned my resume probably once every year or so ever since I finished high school in 2004. I've had eight completely different jobs in this time (kitchen hand, porter/cleaner, newspaper deliveryman, market researcher, gardening assistant, culling clerk, internal sales/office assistant, and currently I'm a high school teacher). All of these jobs ended when I decided that I didn't want to do them anymore (so as you can see I get bored pretty easily!), and in getting each and every one of these jobs I've made plenty of applications and attending lots of interviews for jobs that I ultimately didn't get.

If you're still interested in getting help with job hunting, I'm more than happy to lend you a hand with anything you like

Anybody seen Looper? I saw it last night with friends, and I left the cinema feeling that it was full of time travel paradoxes and only clever if you don't spend too much time thinking about it. Much to my own dismay, critics are raving about it and declaring that it's a highly intelligent and clever piece of cinema.

Obviously this is a rant that will be riddled with spoilers, so the rest of my post is going to be hidden in the spoiler tag.

<div class='spoiler_toggle'>Spoiler: click to toggle</div><div class="spoiler" style="display:none;">Okay, so a few elements that I found particularly frustrating:

1. Seth is tortured and disfigured in order to lure his older self in to an obvious trap to be killed. It's pretty gruesome&#33; Older Seth's body changes as they do horrible things to his younger self - he suddenly finds old scars on his body, loses fingers and even his legs&#33; But wait, didn't his older self run away from Seth when he untied him? How could he have ever done that without legs?

2. Young Joe killing himself at the end creates a massive paradox. If he kills himself, and this causes Old Joe to never exist, then he has no reason to kill himself, etc.

3. The movie appears to go for the alternate timelines theory, as when Old Joe was younger he killed his timeline's Old Joe successfully, but if that's the case then nothing that happens to the young versions of people from one timeline would affect old versions who are from other time lines (because they'd be from an alternate timeline).

4. Old Joe's plan to kill the Rainmaker makes very little sense&#33; Part of being a Looper is getting sent back in time and killed by yourself in roughly 30 years - he even kills his older self in his own timeline, so he knows that this will definitely happen&#33; Without the Rainmaker it would just be the regular mob boss doing that. Killing the Rainmaker doesn't seem like it would achieve very much at all. How he could even conceive the idea that he'd just live happily with his wife makes no sense at all, so if anything he should blame himself for being so delusional that he thought hiding in China (where Abe tells him to go in the first place&#33;) would actually work.

5. Young Joe's plan to kill himself also makes very little sense&#33; If he knows that he causes Cid to become the Rainmaker then can't he just grow up to become Old Joe, travel back in time and... not do that? Why does he have to kill himself?</div>

There's more, but I don't really feel like complaining more about it now as I have school tomorrow. Suffice to say that, so long as you don't think too hard about it you can enjoy Looper, but you guys are clever enough to figure out the same annoyances that I have, so who knows if you'll really enjoy it or not&#33;

@3kuls more recent post: Really? Aw man, I was thinking about going and seeing that at some point. Since it kind of sounds like Premonition I don't think I'll be going to see that now.

@3kuls less than recent post above: O_o... How... did I miss that? My circumstances have changed little since then (I guess I went under, got distracted by other personal issues and then fell for it again. My own fault really ), but, how did I miss that?&#33;

That actually really helps a lot. I've gotta admit though, those thoughts do go through my head, just.. I never thought to actually ask them whilst I was there... and that does usually happen during or after an interview. The whole overqualification thing that is. So... does that mean that I just... answered wrongly in some way?

I am, still, looking for another job-tbh it's kinda depressing how many companies have latched onto this apprenticeship fiasco over here to justify paying people less than minimum wage, I saw an 'Apprenticeship' for stacking shelves the other day .

I think I will try your suggestion of going for the things I'm underqualified for as well. I wish I'd read your post sooner because I saw two jobs that I was interested in that I was literally only one qualification short for on both.

Thank you, that really helps.

Since you've clearly had more successful experience with applications and interviews, is it truly better to tailor the resume to the job you're applying for?

This is... kind of a strange coincidence but I've had a guy come in where I work now a few times and, I can't remember how we got on the subject exactly but he suggested I should try teaching, he was a teacher himself. I was a bit taken aback to be honest, I never really saw myself as being capable of doing that.

Eight jobs? Wow, that's seriously impressive&#33; I've only had four, so far.

I am still interested in getting help with job hunting though, if you're still interested in lending a hand and I haven't responded too late (and you know, you aren't too busy at the time )

You could still see it, no need to miss it just because I don't like it

As for the job-related advice, I'm glad that you found it helpful (eventually )&#33;

As I said, the trick to calling an interviewer out on thinking that your being overqualified is a disadvantage is to do so without sounding too aggressive or bitter about it. If you are concerned that you can't do this, or it feels like you're being drawn into an argument with the interviewer, you could just try to think of the real question to answer as "how do I know you won't leave in six months like so many of our other employees have?"

Definitely apply for jobs that you're underqualified for, there's really nothing bad that can come from it; you'll gain some interesting experiences and you'll find yourself feeling a bit more positive because you're looking beyond jobs like shelf stacker (highly lucrative field that it is ^o) ). If they don't want you, you simply won't hear from them.

It's worth noting that, even though I've had plenty of jobs, I've also had plenty of interviews that did not go very well at all&#33; One interview I had when I was much younger that really shattered my confidence was for a telemarketing position; the interviewer asked me almost straight away to try and sell him cheese (their company didn't actually sell cheese, this was just something that he chose at random). I performed terribly (thank God, because otherwise I would have actually become a telemarketer XD), the interview was over in less than 20 minutes, and I left wondering why he'd bothered to interview me in the first place&#33; Now of course I understand why he'd make it difficult for me (because I had no proven sales experience, I needed to show that I could sell something), and even with no proven sales experience they gave me an interview simply because telemarketing is an industry with an astronomically high turnover rate.

Tailoring your resume to suit the job is... Well, up until very recently I didn't think it was necessary, and I've gotten every job I've had so far without ever changing my resume, but I met with a resume consultant recently (long story short I won a free one hour consultation session at an education expo) who explained that it is a good idea to adjust your resume to suit the job. According to him, you don't need to change the content, just the order it's presented in.

So, for example, in my old resume I would always have my details, personal statement and education on the front page, however the consultant pointed out that my education was fairly stock standard and not likely to impress anybody (I'm in teaching and have a Diploma of Education, a one year postgraduate course which is the minimum requirement for any teacher, so he was right in saying that). He explained that the front page of your resume is the most important page - apparently some employers don't bother looking beyond this, so if you waste space or don't put the best information here you might miss out. Obviously your details always have to go at the front, but now I've shifted my key skills and attributes and most recent employment history to the front page, and moved my education to the back page. I plan on keeping this format for most of the jobs that I apply for, but if I ever apply for a private school I might choose to shift my education to the front page again, as I went to a private school when I was younger, and that kind of history is a positive to any private school employer.

I can send you a copy of my newest resume if you feel that would help you better understand what I'm talking about.

You don't need to make major changes to your resume to suit the job if you don't want to, but you definitely need to tailor your cover letter to suit the job that you're applying for. Every application you make should include a cover letter, and you should always keep your cover letter to one page long.

Teaching is a really tough job, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody who isn't already keen on the idea. I can talk to you about it in more detail if you'd like, but I think that this post is long enough for now as it is

Just a quick one, because I have to run out for a bit now

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>Quote:</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>You could still see it, no need to miss it just because I don't like it [/quote]

True, I could, but from your description I wouldn't like it either XD.

Premonition irritated the hell out of me for those very same reasons-that is, paradoxes without explanations through time travel and eventually ended with having the exact same thing happen that the main character was trying to stop in the first place, because she caused it by trying to change the timeline. Only, things and people around her in the timeline changed when she changed things-even at the end of it there were some environmental changes she'd caused which she shouldn't have been able to cause due to the plot basically being that she couldn't change her fate or anyone elses anyway, so the entire plot of the movie was null and void and I felt like I'd wasted my money.

I mean I don't mind time travel movies, I don't like them that much to be honest so I rarely watch them, but, when they have gaping plotholes like that and the one you described it kinda just makes me feel like I wasted my time.

Ok, I'm off now before I leave it too late XD.

Double Post only because for all the free time I have, I've actually been fairly busy recently (and I wanted to post last night but I never got it finished)

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>3kul</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>As I said, the trick to calling an interviewer out on thinking that your being overqualified is a disadvantage is to do so without sounding too aggressive or bitter about it. If you are concerned that you can't do this, or it feels like you're being drawn into an argument with the interviewer, you could just try to think of the real question to answer as "how do I know you won't leave in six months like so many of our other employees have?"[/quote]

That's an interesting way of thinking about it, I'll certainly keep that in mind for next time-and not sound bitter.

I had a consultation with a woman from a place that's supposed to give people jobseeker advice and her words were "I wish Brackenhurst (that's the college I went to) would stop doing this" and I asked her why then, what was so bad about learning skills for a possible job that I was interested in, and she clammed up and wouldn't talk to me about it for the rest of the time I was there. Also I was apparently 'so well educated' they were only allowed to give me two sessions with them to try and get some pointers.

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>3kul</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>Definitely apply for jobs that you're underqualified for, there's really nothing bad that can come from it; you'll gain some interesting experiences and you'll find yourself feeling a bit more positive[/quote]

I definitely will now, absolutely&#33; Might have missed some interesting opportunities already but I'm sure that I can find more.

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>3kul</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>because you're looking beyond jobs like shelf stacker (highly lucrative field that it is ^o) ).[/quote]

Yeah... to be honest I only saw that because at the time I was looking for 'learning whilst you work' courses. Some of those are Apprenticeships, which are meant to be for Skilled jobs like plumber, joiner, carpenter, electrician, etc and the company where the apprentice does those courses are meant to guarantee them a job afterwards. Only they changed the wording around it to 'open them up' recently and I saw ones for shelf stacker, cashier, greeter, even telesales operator. I only looked at them because I was going "Wait. WHAT?" (I have something of an insatiable curiousity-plus there was some telesales CEO on the news at the time abusing this and trying to gain sympathy-but that's another rant). They were all 40 hours a week, and less than half minumum wage, which says more about companies desire to cut down on wages whilst still keeping the same amount of staff than it does about actually learning anything really. I wasn't actually looking to go into them, I know I can do better than that XD. Just seeing them when looking to better myself is depressing.

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>3kul</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>If they don't want you, you simply won't hear from them.[/quote]

Well, that I can deal with. I stopped taking that personally a long time ago. I'd rather that than the company that phoned me up and went "Hey, we're interested and we'll have a slot open in three months time, so don't apply for anything else until you hear back from us, because you definitely will&#33;" and then, well, didn't.

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>3kul</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>It's worth noting that, even though I've had plenty of jobs, I've also had plenty of interviews that did not go very well at all&#33; One interview I had when I was much younger that really shattered my confidence was for a telemarketing position; the interviewer asked me almost straight away to try and sell him cheese (their company didn't actually sell cheese, this was just something that he chose at random). I performed terribly (thank God, because otherwise I would have actually become a telemarketer XD), the interview was over in less than 20 minutes, and I left wondering why he'd bothered to interview me in the first place&#33; Now of course I understand why he'd make it difficult for me (because I had no proven sales experience, I needed to show that I could sell something), and even with no proven sales experience they gave me an interview simply because telemarketing is an industry with an astronomically high turnover rate.[/quote]

Is it strange that makes me feel a bit better? XD. I know now why some companies do what they do but when I first went out it felt like, walking through a field full of glass and mines without any preparation. There was the one place I worked at immediately out of college and they were employing me illegally-I didn't know it at the time, but when they told me I had to leave that felt like a personal blow. Now I know why they did it and I know what they were doing so I don't feel so bad but at the time I thought it was something I did. There was also the pharmaceutical job (that I was actually enjoying) that told me I had to go because 'I wasn't confident enough', which I unfortunately found out too late had nothing to do with that and everything to do with someone else taking a personal dislike to me, and was therefore a wrongful termination. I suppose at least I learned quite a bit about drugs whilst I was there.

I am quite a bit more wary of companies now, as you can probably see. If I find anything is not quite right when I do a trial or an interview or anything I tend to go running. There was another one I did work experience for as a trial, because it was quite a responsible and fairly risky job, but when I got there the name was wrong and when I mentioned contracts I found not only did I know more about contracts than they did, but they viewed people who were looking for a job as nothing but 'cheap, unambitious, unimportant hardworking labour' (he actually said that to me). So, needless to say I had a very hard think about that that day whilst I was there and didn't turn up again. Then again, I didn't really want to work somewhere that violated the animal health and safety laws anyway. (I did report them, maybe it wasn't the smart thing to do, but, I couldn't let them keep doing what they were doing without compromising my conscience).

I know a few people who went into telemarketing and as bad as my job is now they tell me that absolutely anything, anything at all is better than doing that.

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>3kul</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>Tailoring your resume to suit the job is... Well, up until very recently I didn't think it was necessary, and I've gotten every job I've had so far without ever changing my resume, but I met with a resume consultant recently (long story short I won a free one hour consultation session at an education expo) who explained that it is a good idea to adjust your resume to suit the job. According to him, you don't need to change the content, just the order it's presented in.

So, for example, in my old resume I would always have my details, personal statement and education on the front page, however the consultant pointed out that my education was fairly stock standard and not likely to impress anybody (I'm in teaching and have a Diploma of Education, a one year postgraduate course which is the minimum requirement for any teacher, so he was right in saying that). He explained that the front page of your resume is the most important page - apparently some employers don't bother looking beyond this, so if you waste space or don't put the best information here you might miss out. Obviously your details always have to go at the front, but now I've shifted my key skills and attributes and most recent employment history to the front page, and moved my education to the back page. I plan on keeping this format for most of the jobs that I apply for, but if I ever apply for a private school I might choose to shift my education to the front page again, as I went to a private school when I was younger, and that kind of history is a positive to any private school employer.

I can send you a copy of my newest resume if you feel that would help you better understand what I'm talking about.[/quote]

Oh&#33; That makes sense, another thing I never considered&#33; . Errr, sending me a copy of your resume is very generous and kind of you, but I'm pretty sure I get the point, so I don't think I'd need it. That explanation is thorough enough that I'm sure I can integrate that idea into my own resume.

As a side note, you went to a private school? I'm now officially jealous&#33; XD. I went to public schools, I only learned how to read and write properly because my parents were adamant I well, learn how to read and write properly so they tutored me in English after school as well. I'm glad they did, some of the people who went to my primary school left with less than adequate reading and writing skills.

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>3kul</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>You don't need to make major changes to your resume to suit the job if you don't want to, but you definitely need to tailor your cover letter to suit the job that you're applying for. Every application you make should include a cover letter, and you should always keep your cover letter to one page long.[/quote]

Now that, that I do already ^_^. Every job I've applied for always has a cover letter tailored specifically for it.

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>3kul</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>Teaching is a really tough job, I wouldn't recommend it to anybody who isn't already keen on the idea. I can talk to you about it in more detail if you'd like, but I think that this post is long enough for now as it is [/quote]

That's fair enough, I won't press you on that (although I do relish a challenge, that's why I took the Biochemistry and Microbiology module at college rather than Aquatics). I was just wondering if maybe you could give any insight into why somebody would just mention that to me at apparent random. I suppose he must've seen something he liked that I cannot.

Again, thank you so much 3kul&#33; You've really helped a lot&#33;

No problem Swix, I'm more than happy to help out&#33;

Yes, I did go to a private school&#33; I didn't think much of it at the time, but apparently there is a very large gap between private schools and public schools here in Australia - students in private schools are roughly two years ahead of their public school peers. Judging by your own comments it sounds like it's a bit similar over in your part of the world as well, which is a bit sad because an education is one of those things that everybody should enjoy equal access to.

Sounds like you've had some very interesting and unusual experiences in work&#33; You've obviously developed a sound sense of why things are actually happening (rather than just accepting what you're told as the entire story ) and it's good to see that you aren't afraid to report people who are doing the wrong thing. It's almost always smarter for you to report employers like that than work with them and possibly become implicated in whatever they're doing.

As for why somebody might recommend teaching to you, it could be that he works with an agency (such as ANZUK), or it could just be that he feels teaching to be a challenging and fulfilling job. It can be, but it's one of those jobs where it feels more like a lifestyle choice than a simple career move. You will work more hours than you are paid for, you will take work home, and perhaps most frustratingly of all, you'll find yourself spending large amounts of time on students who don't do the work you ask them to, don't like your class or simply don't want to be there. You'll also be working alongside colleagues who may be trapped professionally (as in, they feel that they can't get out of teaching), political and overly ambitious, over-stressed and developing health problems because of it, or doing the bare minimum and treating teaching like it's no big deal. You'll be working for an employer who may not appreciate all that you do if you can't help them tick the right boxes, and for parents who may view you as nothing more than an overpaid babysitter.

Don't get me wrong, there are a lot of things I enjoy about teaching, but I also feel that it's very important not to be under any illusions when getting into it as a profession. I work with some fantastic teachers who I really admire, some of the kids I teach are brilliant and will definitely be moving on to bigger and better things in the future, and I am lucky enough to teach a subject that I'm fascinated by in a way that most of my students seem to genuinely enjoy (having paid holidays every 10 weeks is pretty cool too ).

On the flip side of that coin, I was told last Friday that I would not be given another contract for next year because a teacher is returning to take over my classes (here in Australia teachers get two kinds of contract, short-term, which is as long as the school wants it to be, and ongoing, which is basically for as long as you want it to be - that guy has ongoing, so even if he leaves the school for over two years he can come back and reclaim his job whenever he likes). Everything and anything that I've done over the past two years effectively counts for nothing; since he was 'there' first there is literally no contest for the position. It's pretty frustrating, but it's difficult for me to get too worked up over it - even if he wasn't coming back I doubt they'd keep me on for next year anyway. Enrollments are down at my school (we're a year 7-9 middle school campus, with six classes of year 9s wrapping up this year and only three classes of year 7s starting next year - a net loss of 3 classes, or around 60 students), they are in a considerable amount of debt and will be getting rid of a lot of ongoing staff in the coming months.

<blockquote class='quote_blockquote'><dl><dt>3kul</dt><dd>&nbsp;</dd></dl><div>Yes, I did go to a private school&#33; I didn't think much of it at the time, but apparently there is a very large gap between private schools and public schools here in Australia - students in private schools are roughly two years ahead of their public school peers. Judging by your own comments it sounds like it's a bit similar over in your part of the world as well, which is a bit sad because an education is one of those things that everybody should enjoy equal access to.[/quote]

I'm not really sure what the gap between public and private is here (but I am going to have to go and look it up now), but, I do know that out of the class of 32 that I ended up in at the last year, only two did well enough to get into the secondary school I went to. It wasn't exactly public, but it wouldn't take students unless they scored a certain percentage on a test first either. I don't know how well the other class in our year did though, it's possible I was just put in the class that had the least well taught students in it, I suppose.

I'm loath to make a sweeping generalisation and say the whole school was bad though, it's clearly been there for years (the oldest building is made out of sandstone, nobody builds anything out of sandstone anymore) and it had a good reputation that was failing whilst I was there. I know my love of stories comes from there, specifically from the nursery teacher I was lucky enough to have who actually managed to read a thick fantasy book to us all every day and keep almost the entire class enraptured by it.
There was the first primary school teacher I had too, who was pretty awesome. Whilst I'd say it was definitely my parents who got me to read and write properly, it was this teacher who encouraged me to write stories for fun during the free periods, not just write a short story in one session either but a whole series of events. Saying that though, most of the other kids who were taught by these two with me left for one reason or another afterwards.

At the other end of the spectrum though there was the History... fiasco. I reckon (now) that it probably had something to do with the fact they kept moving us all around so much that I did the Tudors three times in a row and the Victorians twice-I remember near the last year actually going up and begging the History teacher not to do either of those two subjects again because I'd done them so often and wanted to learn about something else-because surely there was more to History than just the Tudors and the Victorians. I left there thinking I hated History because of that. The truth is I don't hate it all, I find it fascinating. The repetitiveness just skewed my view.

It does explain a bit about the Lecturers reaction to me at College, now I'm thinking of it. I didn't think much of it then (other than it was slightly rude) as when I first went there there was a part-time Advanced English Language module and the first thing we were all asked to do was correct this appalling paragraph, including all the grammar and spelling mistakes by writing it down in a fresh paragraph in our own handwriting. She personally checked everyone's papers, said mine was perfect and then asked me to stay behind for a few minutes only to ask me if I was absolutely sure that I had actually gone to my primary school and hadn't put the wrong one down by mistake.

(Still on the phone-but whenever I get access to the pc and here it keeps slipping my mind to edit this :S)

Argh, I feel so insanely busy at the moment that I should not even be here to post, but I need some time to vent... Today is a great example of how tough it can be to be a teacher.

Here's my day today (spoiler-tagged because this is long):
<div class='spoiler_toggle'>Spoiler: click to toggle</div><div class="spoiler" style="display:none;">7:45am - wake up, skip breakfast, leave for work in half an hour.

8:45am - arrive at school just in time, start teaching period 1, continue through period 2. Receive an e-mail during this time from an assistant principal at a school that had a position I applied for but didn't get; it is the feedback that I requested from him, but far more detailed than what I expected (basically a point-by-point analysis of my application, what they liked and how to improve it), making for a really pleasant surprise that I greatly appreciated.

10:35am - recess, spend this chatting with the language assistant about plans for next year.

10:59am - start teaching period 3, continue through period 4; at the start of the period I had to yell at the class next door because the students had quite literally broken into the room (they broke the lock on the door) when their teacher didn't arrive on time to take them in order to get out of the heat (it was 34C in my part of the world today, unusually hot), which has become a bad habit of hers. Fortunately there was another teacher free who could supervise them until she arrived... 25 minutes late (classes only go for 50 minutes at a time) - her excuse is that she forgot which week it was (we operate on a fortnightly timetable). Around the middle of my double lesson most of my students are called out for immunizations (something that I was not told would happen) and one student inexplicably managed to chip a tooth.

12.39pm - lunch break, normally I'd be running anime club today but no kids turned up so I go back to the language centre (the building that I work in) to catch up with the teacher who supervised the other class for half of a period. It was then I found out that the door was actually badly damaged and could not be locked any more, so I spent the rest of my lunch break typing an e-mail to the principal (to ask her to speak to the staff member who was meant to be there), the year 7 coordinator (to ask her to speak to the students about breaking the doors) and the maintenence guy (to ask him to try and fix the door). I had about 10 minutes to eat a sandwich before class started.

1.35pm - start teaching period 5, obvious problems arise immediately; one notoriously difficult student is refusing to do work, the other is enraged for no apparent reason. I send the difficult student to the year 7 coordinator, she tells me that he is leaving the school at the end of the year and that if he stays quiet and behaves himself it doesn't really matter what he does. The enraged student is in and out of the classroom for the entire 100 minutes, constantly requiring time to 'cool down' and refusing to speak with the school counselor... or any of his peers, for that matter. Five minutes before the end of class he explodes, swearing at a friend of his for being too noisy and storming out of the room.

3.15pm - class finishes, but I need to stay behind to send e-mails about the angry student - he has had some anger issues in the past but this kind of extreme and uncontrollable rage is uncharacteristic of him. E-mails sent to year 7 coordinator, his home room teacher and the school counselor.

3.50pm - union meeting after school. I don't think of myself as a unionist but these meetings are good to attend; they give me better insight into how and why things work (or don't work) at my school, and at the moment we are going through an excess process (basically they are looking to fire teachers who have ongoing contracts due to the school being in significant debt, but it's really more like being redeployed in another school than being fired) which is quite interesting but also fairly emotionally draining for all concerned. It seems clear to all at the meeting that the principal has a group of teachers that are 'safe' as the school decided on who would get positions of responsibility (year level coordinators, learning area leaders, etc) before deciding who would be named in excess (if he did it the other way around it would seem fairer), even though he denies that these teachers will be excluded. The documentation that the principal has provided us with is also inaccurate and so it's not terribly useful.

5:00pm - union meeting finishes, but I remain behind to chat with members. Several are very angry about certain teachers who are returning after years of being away from the school and getting positions of responsibility that may make them immune to excess (one of these is the wife of the teacher who is replacing me). A few express disappointment that I'll be replaced by somebody who has been away for five years and who is actively anti-union (to the point that he openly mocks people for being a part of it, apparently). He also has a reputation for being slack and enjoying how the low standards that come with public education enable him to get away with this - this is exactly the sort of attitude that I really hate to see in teachers, so I'm even more disappointed about this now. The union executive leader (kind of like the head of our union branch, I guess?) expresses his own personal disapproval of this decision; he was really hoping on having me around next year too and despises the person who is returning to replace me.

5:20pm - most staff have left the meeting by this point, however the union exec asks me to remain behind for a chat. We discuss a number of things, and he is quite interested to know exactly how I found out that I would not be working for the school next year. I end up telling him that I was only told that I could not work at my campus specifically (it is a three campus school) and that I didn't know what the other campuses were doing. We both know that the Japanese teacher on one of our other campuses is employed on a contract which will most likely run out at the end of the year, and he strongly encourages me to inquire about this. He (and several other staff members) have made it very clear to me that they want me to stay, however I feel quite torn about this as the other Japanese teacher is on his first year out and will most likely want to apply for the contract again for next year - it feels like I'd be stealing the position away from him, and I'm not sure if I even want it. The conversation ultimately turns to a number of other things, because I get along well with the union exec, and we chat for a bit longer than we probably should because he asks me for advice on behalf of a friend on applying for jobs in teaching at the moment.

6:00pm - we both decide it's too late and time to go home, so I give my (somewhat worried) partner a call. She's fantastic as always, understands why I am out so late so I tell her I'll take her out for dinner to apologize. The place she chooses is good, but far.

6:30pm - get home, drop my bags and go out for dinner straight away.

7:00pm - arrive at restaurant, eat, talk to my partner almost non-stop about my day at work and how I'm feeling torn about staying for the sake of colleagues or going.

8:30pm - leave for home, during conversation on the way home I find out that my partner had a speaking test that was made problematic by a strange and somewhat inappropriate examiner who was disagreeing with her opinions (it was meant to be a language test, so it's bizarre that the examiner would try to get into an argument of any kind with her). I tell her that she needs to make a formal complaint and promise to help write this.

9:00pm - get home, watch an episode of Psych because it's my partner's favourite show and by this time I'm really looking to unwind and forget about work for a bit.

9:45pm - time to write that complaint&#33; Research who to send it to, type it up and make sure that it all corroborates with the events that took place according to my partner. Eventually she's happy with it, and we send the e-mail.

10:30pm - time to get work done for tomorrow. I check my e-mails, accept a meeting with the school principal that I requested, type out a big long e-mail to the union exec regarding the advice he asked me for with a list of resources to help him out.

12:00am - e-mail took longer than I thought, partly because I was taking short breaks every 15 mins or so to read news, manga and anything else that catches my interest to try and unwind a bit more.

12:30am - realize that it's after midnight and I still need to plan a double lesson for my English class tomorrow, which I really hate because unlike Japanese, which I know well enough to plan 50 minute lessons in about 5 minutes, English takes me a lot of time to plan for. We are currently doing poetry, something that I'm finding quite difficult to plan for and come up with work to suit. I decide to go on Pax and complain about my day instead, thinking that maybe I'll also have time to respond to some RPs that I've left neglected for far too long.

1:40am, or something close to it - finish this loooooong post, vow to go to bed shortly after and endeavour to wake up extra early tomorrow to plan English lessons before school (even though I almost never wake up early and so I know this is unlikely to work out - I will probably be using my only free period tomorrow to plan for the double after lunch). Sadly decide to put the RPs on hold for a little longer </div>
In the space of ten hours I got about ten minutes to myself; the rest was all work-oriented. I spent more than an hour driving to and from dinner, which took a little longer than an hour, and spent almost all of that time talking about work and work-related topics. I didn't stop thinking about work until 9:00pm - thirteen hours after waking up this morning - and even that was only for an hour and a half&#33; All in all I'd say that I spent about 15 hours of the 17 hours I was awake for today with work on the brain.

I still enjoy teaching, and I am well aware that I actively chose to do just about everything that I did today (I can't control my timetable I suppose, but I can choose to attend meetings, stay back late, etc.). There are days when I only have one or two classes and consequently have a lot of free time to myself, but days like today really make me feel like I don't have much of a life outside of work...

Today's issue...

One word. Migraines.

I hate Christmas.

Not for the holiday, no, for the family guilt trip, blame game and hypocrisy that comes with it and causes unneeded problems.

Both my mum and stepdad, and my dad are missing me not phoning them. Apparently. So what do they do? Do they, oh I don't know, actually RING or CONTACT ME to rectify this? NO&#33; Of course not&#33; That would make too much godsdamn sense&#33; They wait until my partner's online on Facebook when they are and then MOAN AT HIM ABOUT ME NOT CONTACTING THEM&#33; WHY? I mean, I had to tell my dad last year NOT to do this. My DAD&#33; He's over fifty, surely he should know better? My mum too&#33; Even my younger half sister, whth whom I've had a hate-love-hate relationship since before I can remember, who has only recently had the courage to tell me that she admitted herself to the mental health hospital twice, can and has rung me herself. So has my half brother. Hell, he's even arranged visits. So, why do my parents believe that us keeping in contact is solely my responsibility? I mean the last time I saw my mum I waited after to see if she'd talk to me afterwards. She didn't until a random FB message recently and then more recently told my partner she hasn't spoken to me for three months&#33; My dad told him he hasn't spoken to me for six months&#33; I was talking to him on the phone last month&#33; I was messaging him last week&#33; Why lie???&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

What's worse is them moaning at him inevitably leads to him moaning at me and then subjecting me to a long list of everything i've ever failed at, not done, don't do, should've done and should be doing... even the stuff he KNOWS I cannot do due to having supported and still supporting him during his crises&#33;

Since I'm angry about Christmas, I may as well add what happened at work during this holiday season.
I had a family in, they had a bratty little kid. Ok, that's fine. Kids play up sometimes. I say hello, the mum stares at me for a second then concentrates on the kid. Fine. Must be distracted. I get that. I start putting it through and notice there's a lot of Christmas decorations. Dad and the kid go out to the vending machine, Mum stays inside. I tell her that I can put the christmas decorations through in different transactions so she gets a better deal, if she'd like me to? So she stares at me again. I know she can talk, because she was talking to the dad in english earlier. So, after figuring out I wasn't going to get an answer, I just put them through together. Clearly she doesn't care about the offer of assistance I was giving. When I get about halfway through her literal trolleyful of stuff she asks if we don't do bags anymore, I tell her "yes we do still have them- but I don't have any currently at my desk, so i'll have to go to another desk to-" at which point she walks off whilst I'm still talking to the vending machine to join the kid and dad. She then stays out there and doesn't come back again until after I'd done everything, put the bags on top of the stuff and have had to leave to go and deal with a problem elsewhere. Then she leaves again after paying, leaving her card and the stuff. When they all eventually come back fifteen minutes later, they stand far too close to me, whilst the dad packs the stuff and she stands there, munching on crisps, loudly saying how stupid the size of the large bags were and not even helping her family. So I find a reason to be somewhere else. People who are that rude are not getting any help from me, especially when they can't be bothered to ask&#33;
Another thing that annoys me, people who refuse to speak. I had one guy stood three feet in front of me who pointed at me, made a weird nodding gesture, half looked behind him, and then half lifted his hand up and shook it like something had just bit him. Meanwhile I'm looking very confused and half wondering if maybe the guy is deaf. Only then did he ask if the desk was open. Why is talking so hard for people? I'm not 'that' scary.

Bah humbug

I have a slight variation on your problem Swix, though it doesn't relate exclusively to Christmas.

This year I moved out to the western suburbs to be closer to my workplace. My friends and family all live in the eastern suburbs, and the distance between the two is roughly half an hour to forty minutes of driving - fifty minutes if the traffic is bad. I visit my Mum, step-dad and my siblings every single week, without fail. Not one of them has visited me at my house in the past eleven months&#33; They always tell me that they are happy to visit me and they seem to approve of the idea whenever I suggest it, but then nobody follows through with it. "It's too far" is the usual reason, but if I had that same attitude then we'd have been estranged for the past year&#33;

Don't get me wrong, I love them and I love seeing them, I guess my frustration is that I put all of the work into maintaining the relationship, while they don't seem to be willing to do the same. Of course, they almost never call me for anything either, and I'm really surprised whenever they do.

Dad has been a lot better; he's very happy to come out to my side of town and loves exploring the restaurants in the western suburbs with us, and there are also times where we'll go someplace that's closer for him because that's only fair. This is what I was hoping I'd be able to do with most of my family members, but he's the only one who's made the effort to do it.

I'm planning on moving back to the eastern suburbs next year as I've got a new school to work at next year (it's not in the east, but it's pretty easy to get to from the east), and I'll be really annoyed at them if they expect that they'll be able to by whenever it suits them just because I'm closer.

I'm pretty surprised to hear that your parents would rather complain to your partner instead of just talk to you, and even more surprised to hear that he'd take their side instead of support you&#33; I doubt I'll ever have the same problem as my partner's parents don't speak very much English, but I'd much rather tell them to discuss it with her than try to 'help' them like that :-/

So, it's been a while since i've found something that irked me enough to post here. But now I have. It's to do with foxes.

There was a news story in a paper that a fox attacked a month old baby in London. The poor kid had it's finger ripped off and was smacked against the doorframe. Now, I feel sorry for the four week old kid, I really do, BUT...

The back door was open.

The month old child was left by itself in the room that led outside.

And they knew there were foxes living around their area.

Now, why, just why the heck would you leave the backdoor open, especially in these freezing temperatures?

Why leave the door open, when they knew there are large predatory animals around?
Their excuse was that the council wouldn't come round and fix the broken lock. So put something in front of it to keep the door closed.

And finally, why, oh why, would you leave a child that young unattended at all, never mind with the door open with the weather in it's current damp and freezing state????

But no, it's the foxes fault. In fact it's so much the foxes fault that the paper in question is calling for a cull of all foxes in that area. Of course, certain people are going to support this, mainly the ones who want to use it as an excuse to go fox hunting. In the country. Where it'll have zero effect on the urban fox population. But that's a whole other rant.

When people stop being stupid, opportunistic animals will stop taking advantage. But I doubt that'll ever happen.

I am surrounded by idiotic fools&#33;