Best Job in College

[Roofpig]

Oh man, you got a computer lab monitor job? That's the best job you can hope for in college! Well, second best. I had a computer lab monitor job my freshman year, and it was in a lab that nobody used because nobody knew it existed. Seriously, I think 2 people came in the entire year I worked there.

My job after that was even better. I worked in an audio/video lab where I had a hodge-podge of duties, but most of the time I spent sitting around and downloading Simpsons episodes. That is until my coworker brought in his Dreamcast. Yes, I got paid to play Dreamcast.

Man, sometimes I miss college...

[Eheheh]

Meh, that's nothing. My current job is in a lab that got put into a sort of suspended animation for a while. Used to do water testing, then got changed to soil testing, only we were banned from doing any more water testing and until recently didn't have any of the equipment needed to do the soil testing - so for several months this year I got paid $1200 a fortnight to sit around and read webcomics 7 hours a day, 5 days a week. Even these days there's a lot of down-time due to not having the right equipment for some tests and the tests we can run involving a lot of 'leave it sitting for x hours', so I still spend the greater part of most days doing very little and being paid for it. It's pretty boring actually.


Incidentally, NJ said something about her current college being 'university' and therefore different to her past college experience, or something. So what's the difference? I thought in America 'college' was the general term for what in Australia we refer to as 'university', different name, same type of institution. Is that not the case after all?

[EmergencyExit]

Well technically, either term can be used for anything. But specifically a University is like a section of a city that is full of smaller colleges, devoted to specific areas. Usually very big, like a universe. In my past college, it was just a community college. It was basically one large building for a small bit of all subjects, very limited. You could refer to a university as a college..but you couldn't really refer to a college as a university..confusing a bit.

See I am a University of Oregon student, technically enrolled in the Art College there. Had to apply to both areas and such.

So yeah, for me it's pretty different just how huge the campus is and how many students. One of my classes is so big it's like 100 students and we sit in a theater like room with stadium seats and stuff. Parking on campus costs like around $800 a term. They hate cars at my school, I have learned the ways of the bus, which is another new feature to me.

But yeah, my job rocks. I did my first three hours today. Got tomorrow's comic almost completely finished, need to do a tiny bit more colouring since I failed to charge the laptop fully and ran out of battery power. I got the next comic inked, read my book and used the net on the computers a bit. Yes I did sooome actual work. I'm mostly there for students and teachers to ask questions and go around once in a while and restart computers. it's a fairly small lab, about 13 macintosh's. It's in the College of Dance and Music, so mostly Music students use it for Midi file stuff and the like. I had to reload paper in the printer once. I'll even be able to do homework at it, though I don't seem to have much besides Japanese which I do quickly cause it's my favourite. I was very happy to get a job that wouldn't take much time away from comicing. I still am looking forward to the schedule change though, I'm still out and about for 8 or so hours a day so I get tired when I get home. But University has turned out to be less frightening than I thought.

Right now Orion and I are struggling to find some freaking chicken wire, we can't seem to find the store my design teacher suggested. I neeeds my wire, to make my armadillo. How? I have no idea but I am sure going to try.

EDIT: We gots chicken wire!

[Eheheh]

Well, the college/university system in America seems a whole lot more complicated than the one here. Some similarities, but sounds like a lot of differences too. So much more straightforward over here.

I went to Sydney Uni. One big main campus in the middle(ish) of Sydney, and several specialised campuses located elsewhere in or outside of the city. I was based on the main campus, which had different buildings and areas dedicated to the different 'schools' and faculties (eg arts faculty, science faculty). First year classes tended to be big (well, for me anyway, first year science students all had to do the same basic courses), then got smaller in the next couple of years as people took more and more specialised classes.

I think most uni's hate cars - certainly all city-based campuses I've been to have few and expensive parking areas. Wasn't a problem for me, I lived on campus. Well actually, it wouldn't have been a problem for me anyway 'coz I didn't have a car then and I still refuse to drive in Sydney traffic, so if I'd lived off campus I would have had to use public transport - which was one reason why I chose to live on campus. City people don't seem to understand how absolutely terrifying public transport is when you're not used to it. It's scary, it really is, but you say to someone you're afraid of the buses or trains and they look at you like you're strange.

And yay! for scoring a job that allows you to work on the comic, that was a stroke of luck

As for finding chicken wire, good luck. My sister has a similar problem, she's studying fashion design and so needs to buy all sorts of things all the time (including stuff you wouldn't think a fashion student would need), and she has a hell of a time getting stuff. I think that 'being unable to find the store the teacher recommended' is a common occurence, maybe they do it on purpose?

Eh-heh, long self-involved post. Sorry.

[Roofpig]

Parking on campus costs like around $800 a term. They hate cars at my school, I have learned the ways of the bus, which is another new feature to me.

Holy jumpin' weasel fritters on a hot cross bun!! $800?? And to think I grumbled about paying $60 per semester...

And yeah, I simplify the whole college/university thing this way - community college = small, college = big, university = bigger, California State University of Long Beach (where my wife is getting her master's) = may as well be a city.

[Eheheh]

Okay, so at leats some of your univeristies are a heck of a lot bigger than ours. I can't think of any Australian uni's that could be described as being like a town or city.

[EmergencyExit]

Used my laptop during a very boring class today, I am so thankful for that thing. Though my battery drains quickly, but that's not a big surprised, it's a used laptop. I think it holds two batteries, might buy one to add to it.

Working with wire hurts, spent three hours in my Design class working on the chicken wire model. It's fairly armadillo shape, almost looks like a mouse though. Will probably be buying more wire of a different kind, orion had a good idea for how to make the armor shell. My hands are full of little holes!

[Eheheh]

1) Yay for getting hold of some wire.
2) I suggest a pair of light-weight gardening gloves. Not the really heavy-duty sort that can stop rose thorns but don't allow for much dexterity, but the lighter ones that are pretty much only suitable for potting up, but allow a greater degree of movement while still protecting your hands a bit. Might help.

[EmergencyExit]

At work currently. Supposed to be colouring Saturday's EE, but noo my laptop wigged out on me. It needs a activation code or else it claims it's unlegit and won't let me do anything. Pretty sure I have the code with the laptop, so should just have to enter it. However now my laptop is frozen or something, won't do anything but a black screen but won't let me turn it off. I'm currently waiting for Orion to come over here so he can take the battery out cause I can't figure it out nor do I think I have the tool for it. Then I should be able to activate the damn thing. This is just me complaining again, yes. Nyar. Plus these Macs don't have Adobe, lame neh? What I get for working in the Music Department.

Should be able to update it in time though either way.

[EmergencyExit]

Ok, what is even the hell? I have the product key but it claims not to work. So, Orion took it home and is going to see what he can do, I also e-mailed the guy I bought it from to see if he has a different key. Though just heard from him as I was typing this and he isn't having much luck : /. So that's three hours of my day wasted. I have to go to my parent's house tonight as my dad is leaving the country tomorrow. Again. Don't even get me started on all that. So sadly the comic may be up late, will be announcement on site in regards to it. Stupid laptop why you defy me.

According to Orion unless the guy who sold it to me can help, it'll cost $260 to get a code for the thing. I don't have this kind of money damnit. Might have to lower production of EE for a while : /.