architectural treasure trove

If you like your beer warm and foamy then you may have an unabated affection for Social Realism as well... you know, the socialist architectural overhaul in the east during the 50s, 60s and 70s... the innovators of the panelaks.

Well, open up your google translate and copy this link in - or not. You may just like the pretty pictures.

And yes, a number of the local buildings are still standing. They may be ugly and the panels falling off but the damn buildings just wont fall down.

Zack Wahls and his moms

Here's a clip I love. Love. Love. Love. Tears to my eyes love.

Free football for all fans

Apparently a top Euro court issued a revolutionary ruling today... EU nations are now allowed to ban pay-channels from being the exclusive providers of the World Cup and European Football Championship matches in order that a larger percentage of the public may appreciate the skills and the sport for free on public channels.

Love it.

student remarks

Today during our break the students went a bit off-topic for a bit. It happens frequently, but it's not too often they make me laugh.

Somehow, I'd come back from break and missed the segue in to this, but somehow one guy was talking about not being religious - and since he's not, if there's a heaven and a hell he'll end up in hell when he dies but he'll be ok with that since he loves Bush - and Bush and Cheney and a few other of his idols will be there too... I missed the logic behind it and there was some debate about Bush as he's so religious, blah blah blah... I really had sorta tuned it out for a bit, until the other guy (yes, there are 2 men and 2 men only - if you want to meet a cute smart girl in this city that will have to engage with you in a friendly interactive and intellectually stimulating environment to you I suggest you contact me asap) the other guy chimed in, "Bush is not going to hell. Bush is retarded. He can't be held accountable for anything." It was said with such a matter-of-fact you silly boy sort of attitude I couldn't help but laugh.

It's interesting as the make-up of the class is so culturally and geographically diverse there's not one student that shares a similar socio/cultural/political reference point with another and I am never quite sure if their comments are meant to incite others (about half are, I think), or devil's advocate statements (maybe 1/4) or are actual reflective of their beliefs (maybe, possibly the remaining 1/4 but a portion of this percentage could very well just be students running at the mouth to take up time and avoid classwork, speaking for the sheer pleasure of hearing the sound of their own voice, talking to fill time while struggling to find their train of thought, and things like that). However, today I believe both boys made heartfelt statements.

haunted?

Last night, about 3 am I was woken to a cacophony of sounds - I couldn't figure out what was going on but there so many voices and noises and thumps and bumps and clashing snippets of music... I didn't really want to know. BUT it was in my house. Downstairs. Where the kid's room is. So I got up to investigate.

My laptop - which was closed, locked and sleeping - had suddenly triggered every stored movie/tvshow that had been streamed and paused (there were a lot... we tend to find the shows we like once or twice a week and load all the new ones we need to catch up on so they're ready when we're ready). Every single episode was playing... on a closed laptop at 3 in the morning. I found myself looking at the latched black triangle, wondering what in the hell happened and then thinking... I don't really, not really, want to know.

I had to open my laptop, unlock it, and stop each video. It was tremendously loud and totally freaky. A locked and sleeping computer should never spontaneously start playing stored data. Not ever never.

While I was sitting on the couch pausing all of these screens and trying to calmly think about the freaky happenings so late at night/early in the morning, from the far end of the room came the cascading sound of glass. The neatly stacked and washed dinner dishes that had been securely set to dry collapsed in to the sink. There wasn't a strong wind, it's freezing out and the windows are closed (although based on the reason I was down there to begin with things being closed don't seem to matter) and there weren't any little pets or pests running around. The dishes spontaneously moved after I came downstairs to check the computer that was spontaneously spitting out sounds.

I didn't sleep very well last night.

resistance to rules

A lot of my time is spent rewriting and refining rules. Many of the rules were created impetuously without any consideration to the web of other rules in which it must exist. That leads to a lot of confusion and resentment about all of the rules as so often the rules are restricting, contradictory and unclear.

Go figure. People hate rules.

Unfortunately there's a lot of resistance to new rules. The helpful rules to ensure continuity and support our staff are being rejected out of hand - simply because they're more rules. And not every individual has had the face the area that's being addressed so they don't see the value in having the rule in effect.

I wish that more people understood that rules don't necessarily need to rectify a situation but can be put in place to prevent the need for rectification. I'm not trying to hobble you. In fact I'm giving you more support and ensuring that you're not faced with what the guy next to you had to go through.

medical recommendations, please

If you've been reading for a while you know I get sick a lot. There's now a medical crisis looming over this country with thousands of doctors prepared to walk out - permanently - in a few weeks. According to my physician I have to find an immunologist, a rheumatologist and an endocrinologist before that happens. I've been looking and calling but English speaking specialists aren't the easiest things to come by.

If you have any recommendations please leave them for me in a comment - comments aren't automatically published, and I won't publish them, in this instance, if you don't want me to. If you'd like to leave a comment and the information share for others who may be interested that's always cool too :)