Open Bar: We're going to build a bar, and make the drinks pay for it!

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I'm  really loving the Tucson summer so far. 

You're sick, Mister.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

One of my students was a Nigerian prince.

Well, whatever the technical term for a son of a chieftan is.

I think they actually call them princes, which is why there are so damn many of them. There are over 2000 "autonomous communities" in Nigeria, and each of them is ruled by a "king". The best I can figure, they actually own these little fiefdoms of land they let their "subjects" live and farm on. So there's just this utter fuck ton of low-level princes and princesses -- basically just the children of landowners -- wandering around Nigeria.

[Trivial]

One of my students was a Nigerian prince.

Well, whatever the technical term for a son of a chieftan is.

I think they actually call them princes, which is why there are so damn many of them. There are over 2000 "autonomous communities" in Nigeria, and each of them is ruled by a "king". The best I can figure, they actually own these little fiefdoms of land they let their "subjects" live and farm on. So there's just this utter fuck ton of low-level princes and princesses -- basically just the children of landowners -- wandering around Nigeria.

Not sure how you bring up the topic, but what does he think of the famous scam emails?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

One of my students was a Nigerian prince.

Well, whatever the technical term for a son of a chieftan is.

I think they actually call them princes, which is why there are so damn many of them. There are over 2000 "autonomous communities" in Nigeria, and each of them is ruled by a "king". The best I can figure, they actually own these little fiefdoms of land they let their "subjects" live and farm on. So there's just this utter fuck ton of low-level princes and princesses -- basically just the children of landowners -- wandering around Nigeria.

Not sure how you bring up the topic, but what does he think of the famous scam emails?

My new friend, or Cain's student? I haven't asked Prince Timothy about it yet. Maybe I'll come up with a way to raise it in conversation...

[Trivial]

One of my students was a Nigerian prince.

Well, whatever the technical term for a son of a chieftan is.

I think they actually call them princes, which is why there are so damn many of them. There are over 2000 "autonomous communities" in Nigeria, and each of them is ruled by a "king". The best I can figure, they actually own these little fiefdoms of land they let their "subjects" live and farm on. So there's just this utter fuck ton of low-level princes and princesses -- basically just the children of landowners -- wandering around Nigeria.

Not sure how you bring up the topic, but what does he think of the famous scam emails?

My new friend, or Cain's student? I haven't asked Prince Timothy about it yet. Maybe I'll come up with a way to raise it in conversation...

Meant Prince Timothy, though I'd be curious about Cain's student as well.

[Suu]

One of the hardest parts of being a graduate and relocating is finding work. Not that UNH doesn't hold clout on the West Coast, because it's a fairly well-known school and one of 9 land/sea/space grant institutions in the nation, it's that I'm up against local grads out of the very strong UC system who aren't going to get shipped off again in 2 years. 


I've successfully applied to all of the adjunct faculty pools at the community college districts in San Diego County. I can get a job in Los Angeles in a snap, but despite it being arguably close, it's not commute-friendly in the slightest.

We're not hard up for money, Jeff gets paid well, and my freelance work is picking up. There's plenty of volunteer work at major museums that can still be strong resume builders, it's just frustrating because I want to work. The USS Midway invited me in for a comped visit as a way to coax me into an unpaid research and archival position. If it was full time, I would have told them to cop a walk, but it was clarified that I would only need to do 4 hours of work a week. The museum cannot afford employees, because they can't get the grants needed anymore. Same thing happened with the digitization project at the other museum I applied to. They cut the position I put in for before they could fill it, because the grant came back less than anticipated. Unfortunately, this is a serious trend right now.

The MFA in Boston and the Metropolitan Museum of Art had to start cutting back staff because there's just no fucking money anymore. And stingy assholes finding out that most museums are a "suggested donation" versus actual admission is also a problem. Not being able to swing $20 and giving $10 isn't the issue, it's the jerks that drop a penny on the counter, and go "YOU HAVE TO TAKE IT" are the ones that need to DIAF. The nouveau riche with their endowments are long dead. The Boomers are such fucking tightwads they don't want to support the art and history community, and then the rest of us are broke. Museums are closing; Americans are getting dumber. We just lost the American Museum of Textile History. IT WAS PART OF THE SMITHSONIAN. 

[The Good Reverend Roger]

I've successfully applied to all of the adjunct faculty pools at the community college districts in San Diego County. I can get a job in Los Angeles in a snap, but despite it being arguably close, it's not commute-friendly in the slightest.

It is a horror that beggars description.  Seriously.  LA traffic isn't that bad, but San Diego to LA is like the road to hell except with more lawyers.  Between gas and getting new brakes every 6 months, you'd be better off just looking in San Diego.

[Suu]

I've successfully applied to all of the adjunct faculty pools at the community college districts in San Diego County. I can get a job in Los Angeles in a snap, but despite it being arguably close, it's not commute-friendly in the slightest.

It is a horror that beggars description.  Seriously.  LA traffic isn't that bad, but San Diego to LA is like the road to hell except with more lawyers.  Between gas and getting new brakes every 6 months, you'd be better off just looking in San Diego.

This is where I'm missing the Northeast's train structure. Yeah, I can take the Surfliner from SD to LA, but it's not designed as a commuter rail. It would take me 4 hours. Nope. However, the train is going to allow me to raise absolute fucking hell in LA when I want to.

[Suu]

In other news, I reactivated my Wyzant account from when I was doing tutoring and art lessons in Providence, and within 2 hours I had a family contact me looking for drawing lessons for their pre-teen daughter who loves the animays. They didn't bat an eye at my $50 an hour price, so I'm hoping to take them off-book from Wyzant so I don't lose my percentage to them, and just work freelance. It's not my dream job, but it's income. During summer vacation. If I can get them to agree to 4 hours a week, that'll give us a bit of a cushion for discretionary income.

[Pergamos]

I'm  really loving the Tucson summer so far. 

You're sick, Mister.

Hot and dry, it's like being in a sauna, but not the kind people have at home, the kind at a hotel where you aren't supposed to put water on the stove.  It feels theraputic.  I get heat exhaustion if I am not careful, but it's a fun process.

[Junkenstein]

As I'm fucking off the day today, I've been texting the wife the lyrics to "The hustle" a line at a time.

I never realised how much people hate the hustle.

[Suu]

As I'm fucking off the day today, I've been texting the wife the lyrics to "The hustle" a line at a time.

I never realised how much people hate the hustle.

What are you talking about? If my husband did this, I would make his pance come off at 30 paces. Of course if I sent HIM the lyrics, I'm sure we'd have the opposite effect.

[Junkenstein]

I don't get it either. Studies must be done.

Please slow text Kung Fu Fighting to your loved ones and report on results.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

As I'm fucking off the day today, I've been texting the wife the lyrics to "The hustle" a line at a time.

I never realised how much people hate the hustle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsoIJdOsPUc ?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I'm just sitting at home, waiting for Alty to finish a massage and come home so we can finish prepping for our trip to Alaska. I should probably be washing dishes or something.