Misunderstanding Words and Loving Vacuuming – Thoughts from October 9 and 12, 2023

October 9, 2023

For many years, I have misunderstood what “tenure” meant. Much of my life, I thought it meant when a teacher reached ten years of teaching. If they lasted that long, they couldn’t fire them. Recently, I heard some talk about getting tenure after two years. I told Patti about what I thought and she called me stupid. My ignorance stemmed mainly from a lack of interest. I never wanted to be a teacher, despite knowing it would have probably been the best job for me with my English degree. The only time I heard about it was when they had a hard time firing a tenured teacher. That’s why I thought it was ten years. It was to prevent older teachers from being fired just because they couldn’t do their jobs anymore. It sounds pretty stupid when I think about it.

There are phrases I would be better off not knowing. Mason-Dixon line is one of them. It’s a line that, among other things, separated the Northern and Southern states during the Civil War. History is filled with horrible things and this is one of them. If slavery didn’t exist, this line would just be another boring artifact. That anyone mentions it in modern times shows how slowly we are to embrace change. Many people in the South want different rules than the rest of America. They definitely want a different President. History is less about knowing facts than learning from our past. That’s not how it should be, but that’s how it is. As I say whenever I get a chance, what should be is not what is.

October 12, 2023

A-holes love to be on the phone. They love to walk and talk to people somewhere else while they ignore people right in front of them. It’s especially fun when they have their phone on speaker, and everyone gets to hear both sides of their stupid conversation. An only slightly less annoying version of this is people talking on their earpieces. In my sci-fi world of the future, people could legally grab the phone or earpiece away from your head and smash them on the ground. If you can’t use technology politely, you are not allowed to use it.

I had days off this week that weren’t in a row. I was off Tuesday, and I will be off Friday. It just seems unsatisfying. We have established a weekend for a reason. Of course, many people waste their weekends partying or going to church. Not this weirdo. I have things to do on my days off. Late at night, I watch videos and relax, but I’m usually working on my computer at the same time. This doesn’t prevent me from feeling guilty that I’m not creating something on my days off.

I continue to be the strangest person I can be on my weekends, so, of course, I really enjoy when I can vacuum the house. Patti has to be out of the house so I have to plan when to do it. I do it on her days at work. I’m usually off on Thursdays and Fridays and she is at work one of those days. She has said I can vacuum when she’s there, but I feel guilty if she’s home. I wouldn’t want someone vacuuming if I was home. In a house with four cats, vacuuming is essential and I’m good at it.