Sunday, January 07, 2007

Back to School

It must have been a busy week if I didn't have time to fillet Fr. Richard McBrien's latest carp on Bishop Bruskewitz and the Magisterium, and I was sorely tempted.

I am now enrolled at the University, and registered for classes. The five transcripts from various institutions of higher learning, though impressive in breadth, failed to amount to much transferred credit. I'm most miffed that the technical college I went to, for my AA in Audio Recording, is not considered accredited, and so none of the 70 credits were transferred. Bollocks. What a waste.

The math placement exam was humbling, with a frequent mantra of "oh, I USED TO know that." It's stunning how much one can forget in 15 years of disuse, and this shrivelled, grey prune of a brain is no exception. So, it's Math 101, College Algebra, for me this semester. Paired with a Technical Communication class, it looks like the grey prune is in for a workout.

So, I will be blogging less whilst studying more. That is, unless Fr. McBrien keeps baiting me..

2 comments:

Russ Rentler, M.D. said...

Audio recording? Like music for instance?
I'd like to hear what you did with that/
I will say a prayer for your studies.
God bless

Brother James said...

Yes, Music.

I wanted to make records, for my self and for others. I was in Communications in the USAF, so I figured it would be cool. We learned about microphones, audio recorders, digital audio systems, mixing consoles, live sound reinforcement, and the science behind audio, both electrically and acoustically. I had a great time there, cut an album's worth of angry music, and was salutatorian of my class. It was a thirteen month Associates degree program, and it was busy, Students were in school for four hours of lecture and 4 hours of lab per day, and the school runs 24/7, so you could have a lecture @ 9 am- 1 pm, then have a lab 9pm - 1 am.

After graduation, I got hired by the school to teach in the labs and work in the professional services studios. I would teach labs from 9 pm to 9 am in various facilities. I did that for a year, then the woman I love got reassigned from Hawaii to Nebraska.

I went to Omaha, and did temp work for a couple years until an radio audio engineering job came available, and I've been doing that for the last 7 years. No, it's not making records, and the music is poles apart from what I wanted to do, but I've got good benefits and a steady paycheck of a state employee.

But, the pay doesn't keep pace with the economy, the 2.5% annual raise only covers the 3% increase in health insurance premiums, and so the increases in food, fuel, and other things go uncovered. In reality, my paycheck is getting smaller. The state will not likely pay me much more for my services, so I'm doing what I should for the family, and getting a better degree, to make better money.

Well, that's the tale. As long-winded as it is, there's so much more, but I'll save it for the book ;-)