{Perpetual thread} Today, I learned ...

Post by **Kvetch** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 2:34 am

This is the most rarified I'll ever get. It is for my '4th year project' (I'm on a undergraduate masters course, so it is meant to be partially analogous to an MSc dissertation). In answer to the question, I will be entering the fourth (and final) year of university education, my 18th (and final, in all likelihood) year of full-time education. When I think that it was almost five years ago that a joined this site, I get a little frightened.

voralfred · Post by **voralfred** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 4:07 am

I'm not sure I understand the UK system. You say 18th year total, but that is, 11 till you graduate high school plus seven? Or 12 plus 6?
In the US system, if I understand correctly, after high school they have 4 years college, then graduate school, but MS is after two years and PhD is, normally, after four years of GS though getting one after three years is uncommon but not exceptional. At least that seemed to be the case 30 years ago when I was in Princeton.
You say it is your fourth and final year of "university". But certainly it did not take 14 years to finish high school, did it?
The French system I am also not so familiar with, because it seems to keep changing all the time. There was the one I took (I was among the last ones to go through that one), the one I saw my younger colleagues go through, and now my kids seem to have a still different one...

ChoChiyo · Post by **ChoChiyo** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 6:36 pm

Today I learned that my very good friend Michael got fired for a really bullshit unfair reason from a company he has been working for since he was 19. He is 51 now.

I'm very sad and very very angry.

mccormack44 · Post by **mccormack44** » Wed Sep 10, 2008 10:56 pm

Today I learned the (as yet unverified) family connections that explain why my grandmother was some kind of double cousins to the other relatives in her home town who were also close friends. (I haven't put this into my genealogy program yet, but I THINK they were both first and second cousins.)

Any way, this is really happy news for me â€” a whole chunk of missing connections to explore!

(It seems rather unfair that I have good news immediately following Cho's bad news. I feel sorry for Cho and her friend.)

Sue

ChoChiyo · Post by **ChoChiyo** » Thu Sep 11, 2008 10:15 pm

Today I learned that one of my male friends wishes that polygamy were legal so he could marry me too. I thought that was very sweet.

I advised him not to tell his wife that though....

lol

gpackin · Post by **gpackin** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 8:40 pm

Today I learned that my kitchen cabinets were put together pretty cheaply, and I'm not happy. This morning while I was making breakfast I noticed that one of my kitchen cabinet doors seemed to be a bit higher than it should be. I found that the entire cabinet had shifted very slightly and figured I would try to fix it later. Then later on this afternoon I was downstairs in our family room when I heard my wife scream and then an incredibly loud noise. I ran upstairs and found that the cabinet had basically fallen of the wall and just about all of our plates, bowls, and the such were all smashed on the kitchen counter and the ceramic tile floor. I bought my house brand new about four years ago, this kind of thing should not have happened. This could have seriously hurt one of my kids, thank god they were downstairs with me and not in the kitchen.

ChoChiyo · Post by **ChoChiyo** » Sat Sep 13, 2008 9:57 pm

Today I learned that someone from my past who really did a lot of horrible things has allegedly turned over a new leaf. I am not convinced this is true--but I hope it is.

EEEK about those cupboards. Thank goodness your kids weren't standing near them! Is your wife okay?

I'd go after the contractor for sure.

Post by **Kvetch** » Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:43 am

voralfred wrote:I'm not sure I understand the UK system. You say 18th year total, but that is, 11 till you graduate high school plus seven? Or 12 plus 6?
You say it is your fourth and final year of "university". But certainly it did not take 14 years to finish high school, did it?

The full breakdown is as follows (in small type to save people the effort of reading it):
I count it as entering education the year I turned 5. I spent 7 years in my primary school (that ended in the year containing my 11th birthday).

I then spent 5 years in my secondary school, ending with the year containing my 16th birthday. I gained my GCSEs (General Cerificates of Secondary Education, they used to be O-levels). That year was also the last year I was legally required to spend in full time education.

I then spent two years (ending in the year of my 18th birthday) in Sixth Form (the different terms for this part of the British education system are complex, but I'll just sidestep that issue.) - at the end of that, I gained my A-Levels (Roughly equivalent to the Inernational Baccalaureate or the German Abitur).

The next three years, ending in the year I turned 21 (the academic period 2007-2008, which we are almost out of) should in theory have been enough to give me a bachelor's degree, but instead I elected to remain another year at university, and gain a Master's degree instead.

So 12 years to the end of 'High School' + 6 years further education.

gpackin · Post by **gpackin** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:15 am

ChoChiyo wrote:EEEK about those cupboards. Thank goodness your kids weren't standing near them! Is your wife okay?

I'd go after the contractor for sure.

Yeah, everyone is fine. The site supervisor from when our house was built is coming by today to look at our cabinets. Hopefully he will see things our way.

voralfred · Post by **voralfred** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 9:33 am

Today I learned there is a book actually called Kvetch in French (English title: "Born to Kvetch")

Thanks for the explanation on the UK system- still not quite clear whether one should count higher education from the GCSE or the A-Levels since they are, as you say, the equivalent of international Baccalaureate, but your cursus with a BS three years afterwards and going into just a fourth one to get an MS does not fit our most recent french system, with BS 3 years after Baccalaureat and two more years for MS.. if I got it right! But in my time you could indeed get MS only four years after Baccalaureat, that is what I did, before going on to PhD.

sweetharleygirl · Post by **sweetharleygirl** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:06 am

Today I learned, from my son, that he's one of the quickest on his football team, even out of the 8th graders (he's in 7th) and he has a good shot at the starting line at their game tonight. (I'm so proud of him, cuz he's so small, the smallest on the team, and he's proving himself

)

the grim squeaker · Post by **the grim squeaker** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:13 am

Sweet, high five for him.

Today I learned that if you want to have a good shot at a career, you have to up and move your family to a city 400 miles away. Not complaining (my girlfriend is doing it for me) but I wish I could do the same job locally.

ChoChiyo · Post by **ChoChiyo** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 8:31 pm

Today I learned that my buddy Mike got a new job--at the most dreaded competitor of the unfair butt-head company that fired him.

Go mike!!!

ravenwing989 · Post by **ravenwing989** » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:46 pm

Today I learned that I REALLY should wear longer shorts to cross-country practice.

sweetharleygirl · Post by **sweetharleygirl** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 11:34 am

Today I learned that when I get my butt out of bed early and take the dog for a walk, I feel much better the rest of the day than if I lazed around untill I had to go to work.

ChoChiyo · Post by **ChoChiyo** » Tue Sep 16, 2008 9:51 pm

Today I learned that it does no good to set off for work 15 minutes early if the stupid McDonald's breakfast line is uber slow. I wasn't late, but I barely slipped in under the wire.

tollbaby · Post by **tollbaby** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 8:17 am

Yesterday, I learned "The Secret"

Today, I shared it with a few friends. I can't wait to read the book - the film alone was incredible!

moonwolf021 · Post by **moonwolf021** » Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:37 pm

I bet the secret is to laugh at people because they think theres an actual secret

.

I learned that wild blackberries are amazing and I'm surprised that considering the infestation that Oregon (and i'm sure the rest of everywhere) has of Himalayan Blackberries that I had never before picked them.

Post by **laurie** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 2:55 am

moonwolf021 wrote:I learned that wild blackberries are amazing and I'm surprised that considering the infestation that Oregon (and i'm sure the rest of everywhere) has of Himalayan Blackberries that I had never before picked them.

Come to my backyard, Moonwolf. I have 4 wild blackberry bushes growing next to my garage. No idea how they got there (birds? windblown seeds?) and I didn't even know what they were when they started growing three years ago. But they looked pretty so I let them keep growing. This summer they finally bore fruit -- lots of fat, juicy blackberries which my niece made into pies for all her relatives. Now she can't wait for next year!!!

Post by **gollum** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 6:00 am

laurie wrote:
moonwolf021 wrote:I learned that wild blackberries are amazing and I'm surprised that considering the infestation that Oregon (and i'm sure the rest of everywhere) has of Himalayan Blackberries that I had never before picked them.
Come to my backyard, Moonwolf. I have 4 wild blackberry bushes growing next to my garage. No idea how they got there (birds? windblown seeds?) and I didn't even know what they were when they started growing three years ago. But they looked pretty so I let them keep growing. This summer they finally bore fruit -- lots of fat, juicy blackberries which my niece made into pies for all her relatives. Now she can't wait for next year!!!

At least 14 different but closely related species of blackberry are naturalised in Australia.

Blackberry - Weeds Of National Significance (Australia) <== PDF

tollbaby · Post by **tollbaby** » Thu Sep 18, 2008 11:33 am

moonwolf021 wrote:I bet the secret is to laugh at people because they think theres an actual secret

Actually, I had decided NOT to read the book simply because I tend to shy away from trends, but we had to watch the film at a work retreat, and I was quite impressed. I highly recommend it!

moonwolf021 · Post by **moonwolf021** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 12:13 am

Today I learned that while you can try to not feel a certain way, life will slap you in the face and remind you that you can't always control your feelings.... and might just make them worse.

Well the thing is, my backyard is full of them I've just been paranoid about 'accidently eating the wrong berry' but when my teacher said it was okay I dove right in.

moonwolf021 · Post by **moonwolf021** » Fri Sep 19, 2008 12:13 am

tollbaby wrote:
moonwolf021 wrote:I bet the secret is to laugh at people because they think theres an actual secret
Actually, I had decided NOT to read the book simply because I tend to shy away from trends, but we had to watch the film at a work retreat, and I was quite impressed. I highly recommend it!

Do I have to read or watch it to fully understand 'the secret'?

SPetty · Post by **SPetty** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:09 pm

Today I learned that a quarter pound stick of butter (4 ounces) is a half cup (8 ounces) when measuring by volume. What's kind of boggling about it is that you consider butter to be a fairly dense food (solids are more densely packed than liquids, right?), yet it weighs less than an equal amount of water?

tollbaby · Post by **tollbaby** » Wed Sep 24, 2008 12:50 pm

fat is lighter than water... that's why it floats