Went house-hunting today, looked at three houses.
Two were nice-ish, not the standard that we're living in currently but nice enough. Liveable.
The last one was appalling. There was a distinct lack of effort put into not only its upkeep but its initial development. Generally this wouldn't bother me but according to unipol this was a FIVE STAR property. What constitutes five star? Well decorated? Apparently not. Shower facilities for anyone over 5"6? Apparently not. Furniture that matches? Definitely not.
Never one to pick up on jobs I can't do myself, but its fair to say that I've wallpapered in the past and did a substantially better job than that offered by the landlord. I could do better aged 13 when all I was doing was applying paste in a vain attempt to help my Dad decorate the house.
As for the furniture issue, the modern age has allowed us to buy furniture that matches at EXTREMELY low prices. Why would people not take advantage of this?! Why oh why would anyone combine the curses of the cheap and the non-matching? Absolute nonsense.
They really need to establish a substantially better system of accounting for houses. The current one is too happy to give a rating that lasts a decade but never checks or re-checks the eventual hovel that people are paying a ridiculous amount of money for.
Wednesday 29 February 2012
Tuesday 28 February 2012
69
YES the title is 69,
I'm assuming you all want to know why.
Today, I received a result with feedback for an essay, which was graded at 69, the highest 2:1. I also received a lecture about how to write an essay. Counterintuitive at best. This is for two reasons.
1) I was one mark off a 1st. ONE MARK . I could have tried to ensure that I got that 1st, granted, but with such a level of work I struggle to see why I should be lectured on standards. I referenced correctly, I used a broad range of topics. It makes one ask the question 'why should I bother?' It creates a paradigm in which success feels like it is being punished.
2) Essay writing style is a very personal thing. You can't teach it. You can take issue with spelling; grammar; lexis; etc, but these issues are supposed to be ground out at school. Don't teach children how to spell, it will affect them in later life. As a self professed 'Grammar Nazi' I find it hard to work out how people can spell words incorrectly. Obviously I'm not saying that every word is easy, having studied the dhammacakkappavattana sutta last semester in world religions I know this as well as anyone, but you should be able to tell your variations of similar words apart (you're/your; it's/its). That said, if you haven't learned by now, will you ever? Should special dispensation be given to those who never acquired the ability to spell and hope that we do better with the next generation?
Well, no. We should have done it right in the bloody first place.
I'm assuming you all want to know why.
Today, I received a result with feedback for an essay, which was graded at 69, the highest 2:1. I also received a lecture about how to write an essay. Counterintuitive at best. This is for two reasons.
1) I was one mark off a 1st. ONE MARK . I could have tried to ensure that I got that 1st, granted, but with such a level of work I struggle to see why I should be lectured on standards. I referenced correctly, I used a broad range of topics. It makes one ask the question 'why should I bother?' It creates a paradigm in which success feels like it is being punished.
2) Essay writing style is a very personal thing. You can't teach it. You can take issue with spelling; grammar; lexis; etc, but these issues are supposed to be ground out at school. Don't teach children how to spell, it will affect them in later life. As a self professed 'Grammar Nazi' I find it hard to work out how people can spell words incorrectly. Obviously I'm not saying that every word is easy, having studied the dhammacakkappavattana sutta last semester in world religions I know this as well as anyone, but you should be able to tell your variations of similar words apart (you're/your; it's/its). That said, if you haven't learned by now, will you ever? Should special dispensation be given to those who never acquired the ability to spell and hope that we do better with the next generation?
Well, no. We should have done it right in the bloody first place.
Monday 27 February 2012
back to normal.
Back to uni today! Relatively excited. Naturally I have a stupid amount of work to do before I even start, just finished a reading on manipulating the human gene line, nice little topic to start the day. It is very interesting though. This is the beauty of religious studies, it is at the heart of so many debates and is why I love doing it.
This argument for example can turn about 38103108547 different ways in terms of arguments you can make. For those of you that don't know, manipulating the human gene line is just a fancy way of saying 'genetic engineering.' You can actually ask whether or not the human race is playing God, leading into a philosophical debate about the possibility of determinism (the idea that everything is pre-determined, thus questioning human free will) and then move into whether or not we should be allowed such power. You can then question if such power actually exists, does God exist? If God is allowing such suffering is he evil by making ground rules preventing the ideal of 'prevention rather than cure?' If we can make these changes to the human genome then is this pre-determined world one in which God is letting us do all this? Well not for me, but I'm an atheist.
Personally any arguments against the human genome on behalf of God will make Him seem petulant and thus will give Him a negative characteristic which will disprove Him. Americans will have bumper stickers saying 'God loves Huntingdon's disease' because by definition he must love it if he is omnibenevolent (all loving) but it is a foul disease that can, one would assume, be eradicated by this treatment along with proneness to certain cancers, and a list as long as my arm (and my arms are LONG).
How can any human being say that this is not a good thing?
I don't disagree with genetic engineering to make your children prettier (as if it were actually possible! ha!) For me, if technology becomes available to allow such characteristics to be brought to fruition then how is this different to cosmetic surgery? I think any parent would pay handsomely to get good looking offspring, as physical attractiveness along with brains is a great step to success. Also, having been brought into this world by a treatment which allows fertility I struggle to see the difference human genome therapy and IVF, for example.
As my title pertains, yes, this is back to normal.
This argument for example can turn about 38103108547 different ways in terms of arguments you can make. For those of you that don't know, manipulating the human gene line is just a fancy way of saying 'genetic engineering.' You can actually ask whether or not the human race is playing God, leading into a philosophical debate about the possibility of determinism (the idea that everything is pre-determined, thus questioning human free will) and then move into whether or not we should be allowed such power. You can then question if such power actually exists, does God exist? If God is allowing such suffering is he evil by making ground rules preventing the ideal of 'prevention rather than cure?' If we can make these changes to the human genome then is this pre-determined world one in which God is letting us do all this? Well not for me, but I'm an atheist.
Personally any arguments against the human genome on behalf of God will make Him seem petulant and thus will give Him a negative characteristic which will disprove Him. Americans will have bumper stickers saying 'God loves Huntingdon's disease' because by definition he must love it if he is omnibenevolent (all loving) but it is a foul disease that can, one would assume, be eradicated by this treatment along with proneness to certain cancers, and a list as long as my arm (and my arms are LONG).
How can any human being say that this is not a good thing?
I don't disagree with genetic engineering to make your children prettier (as if it were actually possible! ha!) For me, if technology becomes available to allow such characteristics to be brought to fruition then how is this different to cosmetic surgery? I think any parent would pay handsomely to get good looking offspring, as physical attractiveness along with brains is a great step to success. Also, having been brought into this world by a treatment which allows fertility I struggle to see the difference human genome therapy and IVF, for example.
As my title pertains, yes, this is back to normal.
Sunday 26 February 2012
PLACEMENT
I've just finished my placement for my second year at uni. This consisted of six weeks, or what should have been six weeks, in a specific workplace of our choice. Or at least it was our choice if we wanted it to be our choice, we could put this time of our lives in the hands of the professionals if we so wished. This left me with a dilemma. Do I stay or do I go? Not knowing any schools in the Leeds area meant that I could either pay rent in Leeds but live in Thornaby (my hometown) or alternatively ask the office to assist me so I could find a school in Leeds that would take me for five weeks (because week six was half term). I opted for the latter. Bad. Move.
What eventually happened was that I had seven days to find a placement. After asking the office for help they spent three months chasing shadows. THREE MONTHS. It took me one week to do the same job, in fact one day, a tank of petrol and a panicked expression on my face, to be precise. You see, for me, if 75% of students that apply for a placement through your office actually get a placement, you shouldn't plug this as a good thing. This leaves an excess of
25% of students still seeking a placement after the deadline has passed. Not acceptable.
So the placement started. Good times! At my old school, wearing a shirt with elbow pads and a woollen tie, I looked like a throwback from 1960s geography. This, along with my height, did not go unnoticed. I challenge anyone to walk into a room full of 11-12 year olds wearing ANYTHING out of the ordinary, or being interested in anything out of the ordinary, or just looking out of the ordinary. Here stands a six foot seven man who loves R.E, like I said, out of the ordinary. They will pounce on it, you have to be witty. In a classroom you NEED to be witty. Those lacking wit will lose the respect of the students almost immediately. The second they feel they can walk all over you is the second they grasp the nettle and do so.
Three weeks passed in a heartbeat. Sixth form placement began. Teaching students little more than two years younger than oneself is an interesting turn of events. You realise how much you've learned since you were in their shoes. You learn how much you have grown up. Socially, academically, generally. A level students are like a lite version of university students. The problem is, like with any lite version, there is still a vast amount of the finished article hidden beneath. The challenge is to know everything they need to know. I had a weekend to learn this, and did. Well done Larry.
Anyway, back to normal life. Just spent the last fortnight drunk or hungover (alongside a 3000 word report for the contents of my placement). Wish me luck.
What eventually happened was that I had seven days to find a placement. After asking the office for help they spent three months chasing shadows. THREE MONTHS. It took me one week to do the same job, in fact one day, a tank of petrol and a panicked expression on my face, to be precise. You see, for me, if 75% of students that apply for a placement through your office actually get a placement, you shouldn't plug this as a good thing. This leaves an excess of
25% of students still seeking a placement after the deadline has passed. Not acceptable.
So the placement started. Good times! At my old school, wearing a shirt with elbow pads and a woollen tie, I looked like a throwback from 1960s geography. This, along with my height, did not go unnoticed. I challenge anyone to walk into a room full of 11-12 year olds wearing ANYTHING out of the ordinary, or being interested in anything out of the ordinary, or just looking out of the ordinary. Here stands a six foot seven man who loves R.E, like I said, out of the ordinary. They will pounce on it, you have to be witty. In a classroom you NEED to be witty. Those lacking wit will lose the respect of the students almost immediately. The second they feel they can walk all over you is the second they grasp the nettle and do so.
Three weeks passed in a heartbeat. Sixth form placement began. Teaching students little more than two years younger than oneself is an interesting turn of events. You realise how much you've learned since you were in their shoes. You learn how much you have grown up. Socially, academically, generally. A level students are like a lite version of university students. The problem is, like with any lite version, there is still a vast amount of the finished article hidden beneath. The challenge is to know everything they need to know. I had a weekend to learn this, and did. Well done Larry.
Anyway, back to normal life. Just spent the last fortnight drunk or hungover (alongside a 3000 word report for the contents of my placement). Wish me luck.
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