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Panic

docoflove1974

Entry posted by docoflove1974

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Don't you love it when you hear a song that you love, and it happens to fit your life in some way or another?

 

I was driving to work this afternoon when that lovely Smiths song came on. The funny thing about the Smiths (and Morrissey) is that I never am totally sure what the title of the song is, but I always end up singing the damned thing. Very good songs, very catchy...and very silly.

 

"Panic on the streets of London

Panic on the streets of Birmingham

I wonder to myself

Could life ever be sane again ?

The Leeds side-streets that you slip down

I wonder to myself

Hopes may rise on the Grasmere

But Honey Pie, you're not safe here

So you run down

To the safety of the town

But there's Panic on the streets of Carlisle

Dublin, Dundee, Humberside

I wonder to myself

 

Burn down the disco

Hang the blessed DJ

Because the music that they constantly play

IT SAYS NOTHING TO ME ABOUT MY LIFE

Hang the blessed DJ

Because the music they constantly play"

 

So...we have a virus which is killing people off...and making most others just sick. How is this different than every other winter where we have a particularly nasty strain of influenza?

 

The 'powers that be' are asking us to really push early registration for our students. They'll be making their decisions earlier about which classes will be closed for Fall Semester...and doing this in June. So we instructor types are panicking (legitimately, I think), because if we don't get students to enroll early, the class could be cancelled. For full-time faculty, that means you have to make up those units somehow--use extra units you've banked, teach more in the Spring, take a class from a part-time instructor. For us part-timers...yep, you guessed it. Loss of income...no chance to make that up. Right now I'm praying that my 2 courses fill up soon...I cannot afford to lose even one of them.

 

Many of my (middle-aged) students are panicking at the financial situation...particularly that they were in school to switch careers, and now aren't sure if they'll have the opportunity to make that switch. Will there be a job for them when they finish? I'm thinking to myself: I have friends who are finishing up their doctorates who are thinking the same thing, let alone the millions of college grads who are now going through the same thought process.

 

But honestly...what the hell are we going to be able to do about it??? Just live your life as best you can, take the opportunities as they line up before you...and plow on through. Generations upon generations of our ancestors have done the same thing; what makes you think you'll be any different?

 

(But don't hang the DJ...he doesn't deserve it.)

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Primus Pilus

Sorry to hear that Doc...

 

Oddly enough, our local community college (where my brother happens to work) is overloaded with registrations. Of course, the fees aren't nearly on par with the university level, but if I understand it correctly the education industry is experiencing a bit of a mini-boom state wide. Then again, a hefty percentage of the population here is out of work and has received various incentives (corporate buyouts and government) to re-educate. (circumstances, shmircumstances I guess)

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docoflove1974

Well, it sounds more dire than it could be...thing is, we just don't know. Because the CSU and UC system have cut their admittances, we expect to be hammered by registrations for Fall 2009; thing is, administrators need to make their decisions early.

 

You're right about the mini-boom; every time there's an economic downturn, historically the community colleges fair the best. People go back for re-training, additional classes, change of career, etc. Thing is, since the colleges can't predict how much money they will gain, they have to be conservative and hope for the best. And there's one more element: property values. In most states (and California is no exception) much of the money that a given college or district gets is based off of property taxes. So with values down, well, you get the picture. The very glimmery silver lining is that the three districts I'm associated with (including the main campus I teach at) should do ok; but one never knows. And it's that not-knowing that's causing the panic.

 

Trust me, if I have to flip burgers, then so be it. I will be fine :clapping:

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Gaius Paulinus Maximus

That's a great song Doc, and BTW the song is called "Panic" I like it because Leeds (where I live) gets a good few mentions. :clapping:

This song is actually about Margaret Thatcher's Tory britain. The DJ is the the Prime Minister (Thatcher) and the disco is the (political) Party, the Tory( Conservative) Party.

 

The Smiths were a great band it was just a shame they split up so soon. Have you heard any of Morrissey's new stuff? Personally I'm not that keen on it.

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docoflove1974
That's a great song Doc, and BTW the song is called "Panic"

 

*points to the title of the entry* ;) ;)

 

This song is actually about Margaret Thatcher's Tory britain. The DJ is the the Prime Minister (Thatcher) and the disco is the (political) Party, the Tory( Conservative) Party.

 

Now this I didn't know...and was always curious as to the context. Makes sense, given their quite liberal tendencies.

 

The Smiths were a great band it was just a shame they split up so soon. Have you heard any of Morrissey's new stuff? Personally I'm not that keen on it.

 

I have...and you're right, I'm not big on it, either. The funny part about Morrissey's earlier solo stuff is you could hear Johnny Marr still on the tracks...the later stuff, not so much. That, and anyone who throws a fit just because they smell pork butts roasting on an open fire, I don't care how staunch a vegetarian you are, dude, fuhgedabawdit.

 

Right now what has me irked as hell: Elvis Costello's playing nearby (Wente Winery, which, before you joke, has garned quite the reputation for summer concerts). The lowest-priced ticket is $90. No effing way I'm paying that...'scuse the phrasing, but that pisses me off to no end. We're in a down economy, and you're charging prices like that? (And I think the artist/agency and the venue and the promoters are all to blame.) So I'm not gonna see him, regardless of my financial situation.

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