Work Woes (Sort of)

Things are so weird right now, and I must admit I'm tired and tense (and... yea, scared a bit).

College work is okay, which is not normal. In my years of teaching, there's always been one thing that was negative (be it the one student who tried my patience or the merry war between two offices - war that started in the '60s, and that was still being kept active by people who were barely born when it started). Of course, I've got the classroom management snafu, but I do wonder if I should be prepared to face some kind of storm soon...

I tried to find a complementary teaching position, and I'd found something that could be nice... Too bad that the online recruitment form wanted to know so many private things that I had to withdraw my file.

I don't mind answering work-related questions, but they were being properly nosey about things that were completely unrelated to the (temporary!!!) position.

Has it become the bloody norm? Do potential employers want you to give away your soul with a contract signed with your own blood now?

I'm not built for that.

We're still in the process of launching our company, and... specialists (the guys who get paid to register what needs to be registered) don't even know what to tell us, where to send us, or what bumph they need from us... I'm going to end up with an ulcer, and my cousin is considering upping her stress meds.

We had to choose a particular status. It exists. It's on paper. We've read pages and pages on the net about that (yes, rather new) status. The specialists look at us as if we were speaking Etruscan.

It's exhausting.

My cousin's in charge of the bumph, and I think she's planning to send everything we've got to the appropriate office and tell them to deal with it and contact her if they need anything else. I can't blame her.

The whole situation really feels like this:

May we avoid Bedlam...
ô.O

It Would Be Funny If...

... it were not so sad.

My cousin and I are spending a few days with our friend DeForest.

We've been observing the world together and trading plot bunnies, and it's been great.

And then the world's nuttiness caught up with him.

Nothing bad, but it makes you wonder how silly bipeds can be...

For a few months, some idiot in California has been giving De's address to several companies (Microsoft, Netflix, a dating site, a car seller, etc). He even gave De's address to a charming woman apparently quite fond of him, who contacted De (being the gentleman that he is, he pointed out the mistake - and didn't even get a "Thank you!").

De's address is "yadda" dot "yadda" dot "yaddayaddayadda" @gmail.com, and since the bloody geniuses at Google don't care about the dots and they don't make any difference, De's been getting messages sent to yaddayaddayaddayaddayadda@gmail.com, which is the address that the Californian idiot has been distributing around.

Seriously, that bloke's lucky that my friend's nice or he could have completely messed up with his dating profile since the company had sent the non-encrypted password to De.

After getting yet another message from the car selling company, De blew a fuse and e-mailed them to point out the mistake made by that guy.

He quickly got an answer... with an offer to help him if he wants to buy a car (he'd said that he isn't in the US!).

Gosh! He turned the sarcasm font on, answered the message, and unsubscribed himself from everything he ever received from that company (they're one sandwich short of a picnic in my book).

I'm a good friend. I gave De a plot bunny inspired by the incident, and he's having fun on my laptop...

We're writers. We turn the strangeness of the world into stories.

Bonus for me: I get to edit the story, and he'll probably never spot this post since he's mostly only reading newspapers online... *mwaha* (if he spots it, I'll give him another plot bunny... ^_^)

Who Wrote THAT?!!! [Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders s01e05]

I am not going to do a full necropsy of the plot (like I did for this unfortunate episode of NCIS), but too many things bugged me, and I need to growl.

When I read about the idea for this series, I was quite happy, and the casting's really fantastic.

The first episodes were rather nice (even if the studio "make-up" for the lots during the few outdoor scenes can be somewhat clumsy), but when they gave us an episode in "Paris", I started growling from the start.

Spoilers from now on, and I'll just make a list of the things that need work (Oh, and yes, I would do better, because I avoid clichés, and I always do my homework. Ta. Muchly.).

- Stop showing massive landmarks like the Eiffel Tower or the Champs-Élysées. Have "Paris" written on screen and go for something more original.

- Stop using accordion music. In everything that's supposed to be French. Always.

Do you know where one can listen to accordion music in France? In places that are tourists' traps because the (non-native!) musicians know that this is what tourists are expecting.

Accordion music is a bloody cliché.

- Stop using songs by Joséphine Baker or Edith Piaf.

CLICHÉ!!! (Oh, and there's good French music that was released... since the end of WWII - sheesh!)

- Stop using that bridge in Los Angeles. You know, the one that's so conveniently right behind the studios. It's supposed to be approximately all over the world.

You can't afford to travel, we understand, but that bridge is becoming ridiculous. Find something else.

 - Hire French people to play French characters.

Some in the cast were okay, but others would have made me die with laughter (if it were not so pathetic) the moment they spoke and pretended to be French.

- If you're going to show something written in French, don't use the Internet to translate it from English.

I didn't read everything that was supposed to be in the French ME's report, but I did catch a "femelle" translating "female". Sorry, guys, but "femelle" is for a non-human animal; it should have been "femme".

I know it's just telly, but that series could be a good way to educate people about other places, cultures, and traditions. 

If the writers don't do any research and listen to their grandads' souvenirs of their time in Paris in 1945, the festival of cliché is no longer a surprise - but it's a pity.

The conclusion that Paris is a lovely city was cute, but some other things leave a nasty condescending taste around.

Expect a potential additional growl when they go to London... and other places I know.

Dru in April

Life's properly nutty here, but I'm taking a moment to wave and say "Hello!"...

We're approaching exam time for my students, and that's a proper time-thief.

As well, the launch of our publishing company needs us to be involved in time-consuming and bumph-creating things (but things are taking shape). Chi va piano, va sano, e va lontano... Ne?

Our family's rather addicted to Lucifer (the series on telly - start breathing again, for Merlin's sake), and we really hope it's going to be renewed.

By chance, our cousin Jacky lent us her copy of Kingsman - the Secret Service, and it's awesome (the pub fight scene made my month!!).

I have predictions about Kingsman II (well, at least, I know where I'd like it to go on a couple of points).

The casting people must still be giggling (if they're not, what's wrong with them?).

I also watched Lilting (and cried a river), and now I've got this stuck in my head:

Lovely song...

In completely unrelated news, apparently, my hair's turning quite light grey/white.
Just last week, a lovely lady (a pensioner!) gave me her seat on the bus. I may look a bit tired, but I think the hair colour's doing something to the way people interact with me.
Honestly, I hesitate between:
- doing nothing because I don't give a fig
- turning to blond henna (but that's a lot of work)
- trying to turn all my hair white and be done with it forever (recipes that wouldn't kill my hair more than welcome)

I'm going to post a specific post about the latest (as I write) episode of Criminal Minds: Beyond Borders, coz I need to growl... and I think that's about it.

If I'm silent again, it'll be that I'm launching a company, making books, or writing them...

Cheers!