Random Thoughts XII - This Thread Delivers

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Yup, and these folks are historians. They've likely scattered, too.
The ad actually didn't list a contact person, so I'll e-mail their department chair. She'll probably answer quickly, or forward it right away to the search committee chair.

I'm looking at their faculty page and seeing where they all went to school. All Ivy League and top-end state schools. It reminds me that this place is beyond my reach right now for a FT job, but maybe this temp thing works out. On the plus side, I have actual cutting-edge research.

https://history.olemiss.edu/faculty/

Not to cave this, but some really dumb people in politics went to Ivy League schools.

Probably matters less for visiting job and if nothing else the gig would give you experience.
 
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I think they will understand this. It seems common in academia.

Son’s prof goes to Germany for a month during summer. Another on dissertation committee is in Russia for a month. That and shorter time deadlines are why he didn’t try to finish out this summer now that he has a couple of publications as primary author. He is king of the lab with prof gone.

Oh, and that's actually how we picked the date 2 weeks ago.
One prof heading to Iceland without Internet (for the most part), so she had a cutoff date.
Another returning from Germany. He preferred later in the week just in case of travel problems.

Thursday at 9 fit the schedule for the dean serving on the committee and met those requirements, so there we were.
 
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Not to cave this, but some really dumb people in politics went to Ivy League schools.

Probably matters less for visiting job and if nothing else the gig would give you experience.

And they're not necessarily smarter than I am, but a lot of search committees stop looking when they don't see that name.

I'm counting on the visiting part and the "what the hell did he research again" fascination thing to help out.
Sent the e-mail, so we'll see. One thing they want for the upload is a syllabus and course evals. I have that ready, so whatever.
 
And they're not necessarily smarter than I am, but a lot of search committees stop looking when they don't see that name.

I'm counting on the visiting part and the "what the hell did he research again" fascination thing to help out.
Sent the e-mail, so we'll see. One thing they want for the upload is a syllabus and course evals. I have that ready, so whatever.


So maybe grab a degree from Cornell in (whatever town that is) Iowa and see if they don’t notice?
 
Oh, and that's actually how we picked the date 2 weeks ago.
One prof heading to Iceland without Internet (for the most part), so she had a cutoff date.
Another returning from Germany. He preferred later in the week just in case of travel problems.

Thursday at 9 fit the schedule for the dean serving on the committee and met those requirements, so there we were.
DecimalInformalHoatzin-size_restricted.gif
 
I'm going to rant a bit here so keep scrolling if you're not into that kind of thing. I'll include a TL;DR at the end so you can get the gist.

I mentioned that I blew a brake line on my car on Thursday of last week. My first choice of mechanic was a family friend but he wasn't available. My second choice was a mechanic that is a block away from where I work. They had a towing company also and I figured I'd do my part in supporting the local businesses. I called them Friday afternoon and the guy said that he was swamped today but call back Monday morning and he should have it in and out the same day. Okay fine, I can wait over the weekend. I called Monday morning and he said he would have time to work on it. We have Verizon Roadside Assistance on my phone line so the tow was covered by that. I was in the process of setting that up and a representative from Verizon called and said that they didn't have any towing companies on record so could I recommend one. I happily recommended the mechanic I planned on taking my car to, since it was going to his shop anyway and I was supporting the locals even more by giving him Verizon's future towing business. I stopped in the shop after it had been towed and the guy I talked to said that they would take a look at it as soon as a bay opened up so they would have it done for sure tomorrow (Tuesday). I hadn't been holding my breath that they would actually be done on Monday so Tuesday was still good enough for me. I also mentioned that I had a check engine light on and I specifically said, "If you aren't too busy when you are done with the brakes, could you take a look at the light and see what is causing it to come on? I don't want it fixed necessarily; I would just like to have an idea of why it is on." I didn't hear from them on Tuesday so I called right at closing time and the guy said that he got the brake line changed but he was having trouble bleeding the system since it is a Cadillac and he has to hook the computer up to it and reset all of the sensors in the process. Keep in mind I'm leaving for Kansas City at noon tomorrow so I'm getting a little nervous at this point. I didn't hear from them yesterday and I got busy at work and didn't have time to call them. I just got off the phone with them and the guy said that the guy that was working on it yesterday got busy trying to figure out the check engine light so he didn't get the brakes finished and guess what!? It's his birthday today so he took the day off. So it will be done for sure by tomorrow evening. Uh, wrong answer; I'm leaving tomorrow at noon for KC. He then said that a local gas station got water in the gas tank last weekend and a bunch of tourists (I live in the Okoboji area) are stranded with watered down gas in their tanks so they have been focusing on fixing their cars all week. It's nice to know that the one-time tourists get prioritized over the locals that will be bringing in recurring business. Seems like a pretty backwards way to run a business if you ask me. So I told him that I needed my car by tomorrow noon no matter what and he said, "Okay, we'll call you tomorrow at noon and let you know how far we got on it." Safe to say he has officially lost my business. I'm an extremely non-confrontational guy, to a fault in some cases, but I think over my lunch hour I'm going to stop by and make sure they know that tomorrow at noon I'm driving my car out of the shop and it better be ready when I do.

TL;DR: The mechanic I took my car to to get the brakes fixed has been giving me the runaround and now I might have to miss a trip to Kansas City that I won't be able to reschedule.

/end rant
 
I'm going to rant a bit here so keep scrolling if you're not into that kind of thing. I'll include a TL;DR at the end so you can get the gist.

I mentioned that I blew a brake line on my car on Thursday of last week. My first choice of mechanic was a family friend but he wasn't available. My second choice was a mechanic that is a block away from where I work. They had a towing company also and I figured I'd do my part in supporting the local businesses. I called them Friday afternoon and the guy said that he was swamped today but call back Monday morning and he should have it in and out the same day. Okay fine, I can wait over the weekend. I called Monday morning and he said he would have time to work on it. We have Verizon Roadside Assistance on my phone line so the tow was covered by that. I was in the process of setting that up and a representative from Verizon called and said that they didn't have any towing companies on record so could I recommend one. I happily recommended the mechanic I planned on taking my car to, since it was going to his shop anyway and I was supporting the locals even more by giving him Verizon's future towing business. I stopped in the shop after it had been towed and the guy I talked to said that they would take a look at it as soon as a bay opened up so they would have it done for sure tomorrow (Tuesday). I hadn't been holding my breath that they would actually be done on Monday so Tuesday was still good enough for me. I also mentioned that I had a check engine light on and I specifically said, "If you aren't too busy when you are done with the brakes, could you take a look at the light and see what is causing it to come on? I don't want it fixed necessarily; I would just like to have an idea of why it is on." I didn't hear from them on Tuesday so I called right at closing time and the guy said that he got the brake line changed but he was having trouble bleeding the system since it is a Cadillac and he has to hook the computer up to it and reset all of the sensors in the process. Keep in mind I'm leaving for Kansas City at noon tomorrow so I'm getting a little nervous at this point. I didn't hear from them yesterday and I got busy at work and didn't have time to call them. I just got off the phone with them and the guy said that the guy that was working on it yesterday got busy trying to figure out the check engine light so he didn't get the brakes finished and guess what!? It's his birthday today so he took the day off. So it will be done for sure by tomorrow evening. Uh, wrong answer; I'm leaving tomorrow at noon for KC. He then said that a local gas station got water in the gas tank last weekend and a bunch of tourists (I live in the Okoboji area) are stranded with watered down gas in their tanks so they have been focusing on fixing their cars all week. It's nice to know that the one-time tourists get prioritized over the locals that will be bringing in recurring business. Seems like a pretty backwards way to run a business if you ask me. So I told him that I needed my car by tomorrow noon no matter what and he said, "Okay, we'll call you tomorrow at noon and let you know how far we got on it." Safe to say he has officially lost my business. I'm an extremely non-confrontational guy, to a fault in some cases, but I think over my lunch hour I'm going to stop by and make sure they know that tomorrow at noon I'm driving my car out of the shop and it better be ready when I do.

TL;DR: The mechanic I took my car to to get the brakes fixed has been giving me the runaround and now I might have to miss a trip to Kansas City that I won't be able to reschedule.

/end rant

I gave up on servicing my cars at small shops up here a long time ago. This would dilly dally around, not get parts on time, not get repairs done on time and not stand behind their work. Been a dealer guy since.
 
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Random Topical:

I should have been in the Class of 1970 and not the Class of 1969. For sure. No doubt. My parents kinda ****** that one up.

Random Non Topical:

I am getting stray white hairs in my eyebrows. Do not like.

Also getting a bikers version of a farmer tan. Less the John Deere hat sharp tan line across the forehead. :rolleyes:
 
Random Topical:

I should have been in the Class of 1970 and not the Class of 1969. For sure. No doubt. My parents kinda ****** that one up.

Random Non Topical:

I am getting stray white hairs in my eyebrows. Do not like.

Also getting a bikers version of a farmer tan. Less the John Deere hat sharp tan line across the forehead. :rolleyes:

Smooth humble brag;), looking like more rain here, wasn't supposed to but looking more like it by the minute.

Other subjects, one of 3 August B-days in my class, main drawback not getting your license till after everyone else. The athletic part never would have mattered.

Swung back home to get something out for supper now to time go finish stuff up.
 
Smooth humble brag;), looking like more rain here, wasn't supposed to but looking more like it by the minute.

Other subjects, one of 3 August B-days in my class, main drawback not getting your license till after everyone else. The athletic part never would have mattered.

Swung back home to get something out for supper now to time go finish stuff up.

Even with the ****** weather this spring/summer I've managed to get in 400 miles biking. Going to squeeze a ride in early afternoon than drop bike off for a tuneup. Whether that's a good idea or not is being debated by my achy hips and knees. Going to be hot tomorrow (forecast 99) , rainy Sunday and I got a medical procedure thingy that will knock out the beginning of the week.
 
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Random Topical:

I should have been in the Class of 1970 and not the Class of 1969. For sure. No doubt. My parents kinda ****** that one up.

Random Non Topical:

I am getting stray white hairs in my eyebrows. Do not like.

Also getting a bikers version of a farmer tan. Less the John Deere hat sharp tan line across the forehead. :rolleyes:
My beard is more white than whatever color it used to be. My former BIL started going gray in high school - not just a couple gray hairs like I had, but actually going gray. He was totally gray by his late 20s just like his father.

Also:



This song is not about 1969 (when Adams would have been 10) and more about summer of sex.
 
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Even with the ****** weather this spring/summer I've managed to get in 400 miles biking. Going to squeeze a ride in early afternoon than drop bike off for a tuneup. Whether that's a good idea or not is being debated by my achy hips and knees. Going to be hot tomorrow (forecast 99) , rainy Sunday and I got a medical procedure thingy that will knock out the beginning of the week.
Not just hot, but humid. Heat index is supposed to exceed 110. Should probably go ride by the northshore...
 
Visiting prof job open at Ole Miss for someone to teach 3 sections of the US History to 1877 survey. Very few supplemental questions. In this case, where did you hear of the job (the ad effective question) and will you have a PhD at the time of appointment?

The only thing that's going to give me trouble here: They don't want references. They want the actual letters enclosed in the packet. One of mine is in Iceland, one out East trapsing through archives, and the other is our department chair, so he's probably around.

I think they'll get an e-mail asking if I can have a couple of people e-mail letters to them.
Most places work around this by having you include your reference info on your CV or in its own document. I finally found someone who wants the actual letter, and they post a job during the summer when historians scatter.
OK. I'll email a letter to them.

Dear Ole Miss History Department,

Erik knows more about pre-1877 US History than almost anybody I know. Even more than my history teacher friend that went to Harvard for grad school and probably more than my history teacher friend that quit teaching history and is now selling insurance.

If you want assurance that I'm a good reference, here are my credentials.

1. My kids' high school also goes by the nickname Rebels so you and I are practically brothers.
2. "The Blind Side" is one of my wife's favorite movies so I've seen it multiple times and understand the culture of your school.
3. I hate Alabama, too.

Sincerely,


JCyclonee
 
OK. I'll email a letter to them.

Dear Ole Miss History Department,

Erik knows more about pre-1877 US History than almost anybody I know. Even more than my history teacher friend that went to Harvard for grad school and probably more than my history teacher friend that quit teaching history and is now selling insurance.

If you want assurance that I'm a good reference, here are my credentials.

1. My kids' high school also goes by the nickname Rebels so you and I are practically brothers.
2. "The Blind Side" is one of my wife's favorite movies so I've seen it multiple times and understand the culture of your school.
3. I hate Alabama, too.

Sincerely,


JCyclonee

They'll probably change it from a one-year deal to an offer of tenure with that.
 
OK. I'll email a letter to them.

Dear Ole Miss History Department,

Erik knows more about pre-1877 US History than almost anybody I know. Even more than my history teacher friend that went to Harvard for grad school and probably more than my history teacher friend that quit teaching history and is now selling insurance.

If you want assurance that I'm a good reference, here are my credentials.

1. My kids' high school also goes by the nickname Rebels so you and I are practically brothers.
2. "The Blind Side" is one of my wife's favorite movies so I've seen it multiple times and understand the culture of your school.
3. I hate Alabama, too.

Sincerely,


JCyclonee
#HottyToddy
 
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