Minor victory thread

I'd call it language decay, more than empowering some sort of perceived culture that thinks rape is ok, however.

tl:dr rape is awesome
Right. It's also a bit insensitive, but that's not what he was talking about. He's doing more harm than good by going over the top on stuff like this.
 
This could all go in Awesome videos, but it's relevant here because it's all ABOUT minor victories. Also, considering this thread is supposed to be about minor victories but instead we're arguing over the use of the words rape and molest and whether or not those words were implied in the first place.... it needs some levity right now.


 
So, I got called to a meeting today with my principals today. If you recall, the school went down for renovation and the school decided not to pay me.

Welp, the final result after some negotiating is I'll get half of July, half of August and a little extra for some extra classes I did back in May. I'll call this a victory.

They also wanted me to sign some paper saying some negative things about my performance which I flat out refused (because it's not true--a face saving gesture for themselves--the principal went on for a few minutes about how awesome she was towards me..lawl). I was also promised a good reference letter--something I insisted on.

So all in all a victory. It's not everything, but it's way better than nothing.
 
So, I got called to a meeting today with my principals today. If you recall, the school went down for renovation and the school decided not to pay me.

Welp, the final result after some negotiating is I'll get half of July, half of August and a little extra for some extra classes I did back in May. I'll call this a victory.

They also wanted me to sign some paper saying some negative things about my performance which I flat out refused (because it's not true--a face saving gesture for themselves--the principal went on for a few minutes about how awesome she was towards me..lawl). I was also promised a good reference letter--something I insisted on.

So all in all a victory. It's not everything, but it's way better than nothing.
To be fair, if you got (most) of the money you asked for, and a good recommendation, shouldn't you, in CHinese culture, have accepted to give that face saving thingie? I mean, they're basically backing down and giving you (most of) what you asked for (and deserved!). That's a bit of a loss of face/honour/position, no? But I admit that's the sort of cultural thing I may be completely and utterly wrong about, basing myself off of stereotypes and prejudice...
 
To be fair, if you got (most) of the money you asked for, and a good recommendation, shouldn't you, in CHinese culture, have accepted to give that face saving thingie? I mean, they're basically backing down and giving you (most of) what you asked for (and deserved!). That's a bit of a loss of face/honour/position, no? But I admit that's the sort of cultural thing I may be completely and utterly wrong about, basing myself off of stereotypes and prejudice...
Even if that were true, weren't we in the Random thread just going over how a person shouldn't feel pressured by what's considered normalcy only for their particular culture?
 
Even if that were true, weren't we in the Random thread just going over how a person shouldn't feel pressured by what's considered normalcy only for their particular culture?
Emphasis mine. There's a difference between "how I feel my culture should be structured" and "how to behave in another culture". I think it's silly that Christians take off their hat in church, while (practising orthodox) Jews cover their head for the exact same reason, that Muslims take off their shoes in a mosque and so on adn so forth. That doesn't mean that, when I go to visit a mosque, or a church, or a synagogue, I don't try to conform to their cultural values adn their habits/uses/traditions.

Questioning your own culture is one thing. Questioning another culture as an outsider is another thing. Breaking traditions of other cultures and thereby insulting/offending people is yet another. This, as well, can be a perfectly rational and acceptable personal choice (say, a woman refusing to cover her head on vacation in Iran because she sees this as suppression of women as an inferior group of people,...), but it's one that has consequences you have to be aware of (in given example, probably either incarceration or deportation, or, at the very least, being shunned/insulted/considered impolite).

Anyway, my point wasn't necessarily "YOU HORRIBLE PERSON HOW COULD YOU", it was a question. Badly phrased, perhaps. It was me being curious about the differnce between cultures and so on.

Lastly, I'm afraid my stance over there wasn't clear, once again, apprently. I didn't say you "shouldn't be pressured by what is considered normalcy". Firstly, I don't think "not breastfeeding" is "normal". Secondly, I only stated that cultural r easons are less important than more general reasons (cfr the difference between the Universal Human Rights, and individual rights granted by specific states/countries. The US government could conceivably vote to abolish your Right to Bear Arms; if it was done by the right channels and so on, it would be perfectly legal. The US government could not vote to reinstate slavery; no matter what House, Congress and president would like to do, even if they wrote it into the First Amendment, it would still be against international law and go against your universal rights to be free and not be sold into slavery.

To me, there are several layers of needs/wants/... ; one trumps another. I'm perfectly within my rights to say that, within my house, nobody is allowed to smoke. I can also say that everyone is free to smoke as much as they want. However, if my state suddenly makes a law forbidding all smoking indoors, I don't have the right to decide anymore whether or not someone smokes in my house. If the national government decides this sort of law is oppressive and makes a law stating states can't decide, hey, back to me. And so on.
Similar for cultural values. Whether or not I like people to behave a certain way is one thing. Whether or not that behaviour is accepted in my culture* is another. Whether or not this behaviour is generally considered acceptable is again another.
A person may think it's perfectly OK to have 3 wives. In some cultures this would be accepted, in others, not so much. Conforming to the culture around you is an unfortunate necessity for the organisation of a society. Mind that "a working society" isn't necessarily a personal or cultural value; some people just want to watch the world burn :csi: .

*This can be broken down further. There are general Western values, there's typically Belgian things, there's typically European things, there's typically Brussels things,....

And I'm once again rambling at 6am, why oh why do I do this.....
 
Today, I had the day off with nothing pressing to do.
It is now 12:06am the following day.
I can now officially say that I managed to go the entire day without ever donning pants.
Life is good.

--Patrick
 
To be fair, if you got (most) of the money you asked for, and a good recommendation, shouldn't you, in CHinese culture, have accepted to give that face saving thingie? I mean, they're basically backing down and giving you (most of) what you asked for (and deserved!). That's a bit of a loss of face/honour/position, no? But I admit that's the sort of cultural thing I may be completely and utterly wrong about, basing myself off of stereotypes and prejudice...
Actually Bubble, had I signed such a document which read at the bottom that by signing I had no objection to the contents of the letter, I would have waived any right or complaint I had about the school either to the company itself of the Labour Bureau. Face saving or not, it would have been legally idiotic of me to sign something that I neither agreed with or believed was true. Face saving as it was, Chinese law wouldn't take that into account.
 
Actually Bubble, had I signed such a document which read at the bottom that by signing I had no objection to the contents of the letter, I would have waived any right or complaint I had about the school either to the company itself of the Labour Bureau. Face saving or not, it would have been legally idiotic of me to sign something that I neither agreed with or believed was true. Face saving as it was, Chinese law wouldn't take that into account.
Ah, I see. Well, that's a good reason not to sign, obviously :p I was just wondering about the different dynamics at play, is all - wasn't trying to imply you were being impolite or whatever (which ot sort of comes off as, rereading my message. Didn't mean that!).
 
Guys, GUYS!!

I just finished the first draft of my book.....I can't even...

So, it capped out at 66,283 words. Now it's time to flesh it out and then trim out the fat! I'm so excited I just....weee!

And then...PUBLISH! Wait for me to post in the Epic Win thread that it is getting published. Ha! (I'm know I'm being over confident about this, but still..I'm going to work hard to get this puppy out there.)
 
Guys, GUYS!!

I just finished the first draft of my book.....I can't even...

So, it capped out at 66,283 words. Now it's time to flesh it out and then trim out the fat! I'm so excited I just....weee!

And then...PUBLISH! Wait for me to post in the Epic Win thread that it is getting published. Ha! (I'm know I'm being over confident about this, but still..I'm going to work hard to get this puppy out there.)
How do you find the time to do all this!?
 
How do you find the time to do all this!?
Haha, seriously, I have no idea! Mostly, it's because I've been working on it for so long. About 3+ years. And it really spawned when I worked at a movie theatre. As closing projectionist, I had to wait until all of the movies got out (wait by myself mind you), which is a solid hour (two hours when Dark Knight was there..) of doing nothing. So I wrote.

It helps that I'm a crazy person. I take a composition notebook, and sketchbook, with me everywhere. Anytime I get a thought or idea,I jot it down regardless of where I am.

And then my favorite: writing on Sunday. I can generally write up to 8 pages on Sundays and I'm uninterrupted, which is the best.

I'm honestly still freaking out that the first draft is actually, for real, done.
 
So, I got called to a meeting today with my principals today. If you recall, the school went down for renovation and the school decided not to pay me.

Welp, the final result after some negotiating is I'll get half of July, half of August and a little extra for some extra classes I did back in May. I'll call this a victory.

They also wanted me to sign some paper saying some negative things about my performance which I flat out refused (because it's not true--a face saving gesture for themselves--the principal went on for a few minutes about how awesome she was towards me..lawl). I was also promised a good reference letter--something I insisted on.

So all in all a victory. It's not everything, but it's way better than nothing.

Oh yeah, new update. Had a meeting with company HR today. That legal letter I gave the principals? Spooked the hell out of them. The Head Principal (Principal of principals, if you will), originally wanted to side with the kindergarten. The HR head, Li 老师 told her that I'd been in China long enough and speak enough Chinese to successfully sue the company--(I'd have to sue the company itself, not the kindergarten) because what the kindergarten was doing was illegal. It could jeapordize their ability to give out legal foreign expert certificates to working teachers thus leaving them unable to legally hire. They basically told the princials to pay up. So, I guess the system works. Yay.
 
The proof copy for the novel will be in my hands shortly.

Also, 30+ fairy tale books showed up at the door the other day, much earlier than I was told--which is good. Now I just need to not have them anymore by the end of the month. Luckily my wife is good at selling things.
 
Got in my luggage tags and check-in booklet for our Walt Disney World trip today! Also, got in the Photo-Pass Plus packet that we bought to use on the trip! Disney in 33 days!
 
rightstuf sale?

I am considering it, not so much because I love inuyasha, but that for that price its a steal.

Yeah it was from rightstuf.

I have only seen a few episodes of InuYasha before but it seemed like a decent enough show (although I know a lot of anime fans are polarized about it) but I figured I would probably never get this good of a deal for the series again and I am certain that I will get more my money's worth of enjoyment out of the series. Besides I have spent more money on worse purchases in the past.
 
Minor victory for me:

I logged into Halforums for my routine daily peruse and see this little thread at the top of my "what's new list, " and my little icon by it. Since it's more and more rare that I even post theses days, my little minor victory is at least seeing something I started is still alive.


.... what can I say, I've been in a really down spot and can use any minor victories I can find right now.
 
Got a job.

Minor victory because it's only a post-delivery job for 10/15 hours a week. But I can't get anything else, so...it'll do, for now.
 
Got a job.

Minor victory because it's only a post-delivery job for 10/15 hours a week. But I can't get anything else, so...it'll do, for now.
I know that feel bro. After just one contract actually in the animation industry, I'm retooling my resume right now to apply for a call centre job at a bank cause I can't find any more animation work right now.
 
In an hour, I'm leaving for Creemore to spend the weekend with my girl. It's also the 25th anniversary Copper Kettle Beerfest at Creemore Springs. All Ontarian forumites are welcome to join me. :)
 
Yeah it was from rightstuf.

I have only seen a few episodes of InuYasha before but it seemed like a decent enough show (although I know a lot of anime fans are polarized about it) but I figured I would probably never get this good of a deal for the series again and I am certain that I will get more my money's worth of enjoyment out of the series. Besides I have spent more money on worse purchases in the past.
I ended up ordering too, were you able to get it? my order is sitting in back-order status.
 
I ended up ordering too, were you able to get it? my order is sitting in back-order status.
Mine is sitting in back-ordered status as well. I am pretty sure I will still get it, it will just be a matter of when. I have had fairly good luck with RightStuf getting me my back-ordered items (although sometimes it seems to take forever)


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*edit*

It just shipped
 
Finally starting to hear back from some of the jobs I've been applying to. Man... just in time too. Have to set up a skype interview for sometime in the next few days, and have an interview in Toronto next Tuesday. Neither are very high paying gigs, but a job is a job, and I don't have one right now.
Applied for a call centre job at the bank too, but haven't heard back from them yet.
 
Have to set up a skype interview for sometime in the next few days.
If you've never done this before: look into the camera (not at the monitor) for most of the interview. It's the equivalent of looking into their 'eyes'. If you look at them on the monitor, they see an image of you looking slightly down, like you're not giving them your attention. Video interviews are weird.
 
Verizon just rolled out 4g in this back woods town I work in. Now, if they just roll it out 20 miles from here where I live...
 
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