Dysmey Post Archive > Pages for 2005 > Start of December 2005 Edition
The first month of my new job has kept me very busy. It has revolved around the libraries' public printers, which are in constant use and need frequent tending; and the iMacs, on which I have been trying to get to connect to the campus network through their AirPort wireless devices. I have had some luck with the latter, but until I can make other iMacs connect, I will not concede success.
Sidelines include occasional work on the servers, three of which I have shut down due to age and lack of use, and help with the technical support. And I am still doing a little of my original job, developer for the mobile project, inasmuch as I keep the mobile devices charged and have helped write an article about the project that will be submitted to an academic journal this month.
Ball State's Administration Building is the oldest on campus, built in 1898; indeed, for the first few years of its existence it was the campus, holding classrooms, offices and library. Today it holds the highest-level offices, including the presidency, business affairs and human resources. And it was here that I went during the last two Tuesdays in November for orientation.
The first Tuesday was benefit orientation, where I had to sign a lot of documents to make active various forms of insurance, including my health insurance, a "flexible spending account" (a pre-tax scheme to cover what my health insurance does not), and my retirement account. The last was with TIAA-CREF: the alternative was the teachers retirement fund, which the state legislature has the vile habit of using as a piggie bank and of which my sister the science teacher gripes about endlessly.
The last Tuesday was general orientation. I got a thick folder full of various brochures on various of Ball State and Muncie. I got a neat BSU pin. And I was given a form to fill out and sign after watching two videos, one on bloodborne pathogens and the other (a legal requirement) on a drug-free workplace. There was a third on Muncie, but after living in Muncie off and on for a quarter century I know more than I want to know about this whack burg, so I left.
It was a happy turkey day: I had the turkey and the mashed spud and the sage dressing and the corn. It was a truly delicious meal, and the family (folks, sisters, elder niece and her companion) behaved in a relatively civil manner. They must have gotten the gripes out of their system in the kitchen, which I wisely avoid. The civility may have been helped by the exhaustion of my sister Vickie (she's bearing a heavier-than-usual load of freelance editing this past month) and the absence of the other niece.
Mind you, afterwards my other sister Tina made a bizarre remark about those who sit around all day can't expect to learn a thing, or something like that. Amazed stares abounded after that non-sequitur comment.
Everyone is struggling to get their XMas lists in. I got mine done: some DVDs, a book, some pants and a Bluetooth dongle. I don't want much this year: Really, I already got my XMas present at the start of last month.