Toys!

Thanks to the arrival of the Christmas season in the retail universe, I've been running into more and more neat toys. While I'm not a consumer of random toys, I do collect the ones from Marvel comics. Even this category is so broad that I limit it to only Superhero Squad, Marvel Universe, and Mighty Muggs--and within those, only X-Men related figures. So what new X-Figs do we have today? The new line of Marvel Universe figures (H.A.M.M.E.R. Wave 1/MU Wave 6) collects Vision, (another) Spider Man, (another) Wolverine (mask-less in Jim Lee uniform), Jean Grey (Jim Lee uniform), Sunfire (Giant-Size uniform), and Warpath (X-Force uniform). I first saw them at Wal-Mart, but this news site has them for your viewing pleasure. I really want the Sunfire and Warpath figures, but we're saving up for our trip to Germany in December. There's the whole why factor that keeps me rethinking buying toys, but they sure are nice to look at. An $8 price tag makes buying them worse than groceries. Perhaps I'll just stick to superhero squad in the future, but who knows?

Speaking of such, I recently got the 2-pack with (Jim Lee) Bishop and (Jim Lee mask-less) Wolverine.



I can justify them more because the figures are cheaper and I could actually foresee letting a kid play with them. It's interesting that they're making so many figures with the Jim Lee (late 1980s, early 1990s) costumes. Perhaps Marvel and Hasbro are hoping to corner people like me who latched onto the X-Men during that time, but who knows? If I had a podcast about this kind of thing, I'd try to get a representative on there to interview about their decisions.

Either way, I know one thing for certain. The chances of me getting more Jubilee toys will be drastically increased when she comes back to the X-Men in Nation X #2 (Jan. 2010)!! WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I loved her short-lived miniseries, and her time in the New Warriors demonstrated her leadership abilities. Hopefully she'll join the lineup of one of the main X titles, but I think the best fit for her would be in X-Men Legacy. If the Carey plans to follow Rogue helping mutants, Jubes would totally work well with her experience both as a leader and an ex-mutant support volunteer (Generation M #2).

Oh and one more thing about toys and such, I heard that Jan. 2010 will mark the arrival of Lego Harry Potter (years 1-4) to the Lego video game series, which I have enjoyed greatly.

need to leave?

Perhaps I'm channeling my intense lack of interest in my research seminar on American road culture, but I've recently been pondering. This post is just sort of a mental adventure, and it sort of serves as the opposite of Elizabeth's post. Does the imminent desire to pack up and go adventuring suggest some form of idolatry? What I have isn't good enough, so I should give up everything to go find something better. I can appreciate the need to appreciate the world around me, but much of travel literature uses such romantic imagery that it vaguely (or sometimes, outright) suggests worship. Many motorists journey for spiritual goals, but perhaps rejecting our surroundings for personal growth is just another way to retard its development.

Then again, perhaps I just focus on personal contentment as the first step to spiritual development. Then again, part of development and growth is change, which often requires a catalyst. Maybe the act of journeying on the highway readies one for inner growth, and I'm just trying to throw the pejorative label of idolatry on travel to add further negativity to a class I dislike. Or possibly there's bits of truth within the idea.

School Shmool

Every time I feel somewhat content in my educational situation, something messes up. Let me explain a bit..

After two and a half years of coursework, I began work on my thesis. Unfortunately, after passing comprehensive exams and drafting three chapters, the project met with unexpected problems with one of my advisers. It turned out that the best option would be to switch to a new departmental "work around" and attempt to graduate through the non-thesis option. In this new option, I would have to take two research seminars--one American history, one European--and additional coursework to be determined by the graduate director. This fall I was scheduled to take the American research seminar and a class on the history of American religion that was handpicked by the director. Unfortunately the latter class failed to make, so I've now shifted back to an unsure position. The director emailed me directly to inform me that it was canceled and that there was no way I could take the class independently, but he failed to mention what alternate course I should take. I emailed him asking him but have yet to hear anything back. Perhaps I'm due for a campus visit.

Communication Malfunctions (ranting about the present and the past)

So recently, I've had to deal with a few annoyances. The root of the issues seems to be failures in communication.

My apartment was recently visited by a water leak and some damage to the master bath. Upon discovery, I went to report it to the main office their next business day. They assured me that people would come that day to see it. They did, and they said more people would come that day. A week later the people showed up to tear out the bathroom cabinet and the drywall in order to fix the leak and repair the damage. They did not inform us in advance when they would be coming, so there was tons of our toiletries and personal items that I had to remove in front of them (heck one guy started bringing hand-fulls of hair-ties and other items to the unloading zone). If you've been in our closet/bathroom you'd know there is barely standing room for three people, let alone three dudes standing around with me walking through them trying to carry stuff out of there. If they had called ten minutes before they got there, the entire experience would have been quicker and more comfortable for everyone involved. My previous apartment staff was much more responsible and organized. They called in advance, knocked, left receipts once done, and were amiable. My current landlords could learn something from them.

Once they completed their work with the leak and tearing out the damaged cabinets, they left and said people would come later. Two or three hours later, a man and a woman walk into the apartment without knocking. They panicked, as they claimed to have been told the apartment was empty--yet another example of poor communication. They install a new cabinet, one without drawers (that's not really so bad, but it's very inconvenient that we were not consulted on this decision or at least informed). At the end of the day, they said someone would be by the next day to finish the job.

That was two weeks ago. After they finished the job, they abandoned multiple strips of drywall and cabinet doors in my closet. I consulted the office that day, where I was told that again they would be come finish that day or the next. I set those items outside my door. They stood there up to and after the complex manager and her water damage consultant came through a week later. (Oh by the way I almost forgot to mention the leak that began when they re-installed our bathroom sink, they fixed it the day I found it, but ignored the stuff outside and the rest of the repairs.) After a week and a half I just lugged the left over materials to the trash compactor. Two and a half weeks later, I have no idea when they'll be back to work on the bathroom again. We went ahead and moved stuff back in, but the floor still looks ragged.

At least some of that ranting could have been avoided by improved communication. If the apartment staff could give better estimates, update me on changes, and call in advance, I'd be much more content. And I'd venture to say that their overall service to their residents would be improved.

It sort of reminds me of another communication failure. When I was in Junior High, I was friends with two older guys who were my brother's age. As we grew better friends, we started talking about life, the universe, and everything. Two of us ended our friendship with the other because we were weirded out by some of those conversations with him. What went wrong? I mean, sure, people grow apart, but dropping a close friendship over a few conversations without any discussion is rude and cruel. A year or so later, I apologized to the other guy and he expressed his disappointment with our failure to let him know that we had been bothered by him in any way. He could have been like any other friend who avoids disturbing friends by avoiding certain topics. We all try to focus on the things that bring friends together. Divisions can be overcome by changing what one discusses or how one behaves, but only with communicating issues. To this day, the two remain non-friends. In fact, it has developed into overall dislike and enmity. I think they could be friends and have a good time, if only they could make up. This, however, would require the wrong party to apologize. Sadly, that is unlikely. Time heals all wounds--except of course the wounds that fester and develop into permanent damage. People should just be clear and honest to begin with.

Emails of a Professional Sort

Dr. [thesis advisor],

Thank you so much for your help and patience over the last few years. You have been a great help in guiding me towards certain research topics, resources, and people. Recently, though, I have decided to fully pursue the new non-thesis option as its demands meet my needs the best. I’ll be continuing coursework to fulfill the new program requirements, and will be setting aside the work I have done on my thesis for the time being. Thanks for letting me borrow the two books on popular religion, and I’ll be getting them back to you in the next couple of weeks. Again I’m sorry for any negative feelings that may have risen from our experience. I wish you the best of luck on all your pursuits and thank you for your help getting me here.

Sincerely,

-----------------


Dr. [second reader],

As you know, I’ve been a bit busy with life outside of school, but hopefully you aren’t offended by my lack of correspondence. Dr. [potential new reader] contacted me about my thesis, and perhaps his comments combined with the time I had spent thinking about everything BUT my thesis allowed me to sense that my work thus far has been subpar and unsatisfactory. That being said, he suggested that the earliest that I would be able to graduate with his involvement would be the fall semester of 2010. Taking into account my negative feelings toward the project and that new potential date of completion, I have decided to fully pursue the new non-thesis option. I will be enrolled in two more semesters of coursework, and Lord-willing, I will graduate in May 2010. I don’t see spending another full year or more working on the thesis to be as helpful as taking a few courses and getting my degree several months sooner.

Thank you so very much for your help and support. I know that you may view your assistance as merely your professional duties, but I feel a very personal level of friendship and thanks for your efforts. Thanks for all that you’ve done, and I’m sure that I will see you in the fall because one of the three classes I need to take is your seminar on American religion.

Sincerely your student,

random blogging notes

I've been trying to keep a little moleskine with me wherever I go, so I can jot down notes about this and that. One thing I use it to remember is random weird things I can comment about in this blog. Today's topic: the retail zombie.

Recently, I was in Target with my wife shoe-shopping. She was perusing merchandise and I was walking down the main shopping lane looking for her down the little aisles. To my surprise, not only did I pass one Target employee, but I passed three or four. They were not clumped together or even very close to each other. Each one was separate, but they all had one thing in common. They looked at the ground in front of them as they walked. They did not care enough about where they were to look around to see there surroundings, but it also seemed like a conscious effort to avoid eye contact with customers in order to avoid having to actually do something.

Now, I have lots of retail/customer service experience, and I know lots of customers are unpleasant (and some are downright awful). Their needs and desires, though, are certainly the business of employees, and to ignore random passersby by staring at the floor with neutral (or harumph-y) expressions is failing at their job. Retail involves plenty of tasks separate from customer relations, but helping the customers is the root of any job on the sales floor. You may have to stock something, or may need to go report for duty somewhere, but as a sales associate of any sort, you have a responsibility to be aware of what's going on in the store and to help whomever may need it.

I also acknowledge that everyone has bad days--heck, one might argue that retail employees have more than others. Such negativity, though, must be tamed by a willingness to do the job for which you are being paid. You don't have to bend over backwards or talk a customers ear off, but please, Mr. Retail man, do your job and give a crap.

the desparate search in a desperate time

So I've been applying to all sorts of jobs around town here. I feel like a horrible partner to my new wife, who is working hard to provide for us. She's very, very understanding, but I still feel a bit bad for my lack of income. At least the money gifts we received for our wedding will help cushion us until someone hires me. I started looking for "real" jobs (i.e. skilled work for ppl with education), but as that led nowhere, I focused on dead-end retail sales and assistant management positions. Today, my friend Kristen advised me to try banks, so I've been applying to them for the last few hours. I don't have bank experience, but I like math, can count back monies, and have maintained cash drawers at many jobs.

Only Best Buy has called me, but they want me for a seasonal (summer) job from July to August. I wouldn't mind that, but after the conversation with whomever I spoke, she told me she'd pass my application on to the next stage. The only calls for jobs that I have received previously were requesting interviews. The call from Best Buy was just a conversation asking for information on work experience, which I had already outlined in my application. Hopefully, I'll get some job soon. I'm pretty confident that I can charm my way into a job as long as I get an interview.

My apologies for the scatter-brained-ness of this post. My syntax was far too conversational and sloppy. Thanks for reading.