Blackbird's SS Journal - Country to City

[Wildsky]

Thanks..
8.5 acres isn't bad. What I really need to do is buy some land up north, I do have enough money for a couple of acres. Doubt I could live in a tipi in the winter though..

Look in South Dakota perhaps, lovely there............ the black hills area is really pretty.

I saw an article a while back - it could have been in Mother earth news, houses out of old Silo's. I didn't read it from start to finish, but they used two Old silos - one inside the other with insulation inbetween. Neat looking places!

 

[Occamstazer]

Small piece of unsolicited advice:
When the school screws something up and you're stuck in a red-taped administrative nightmare, don't hesitate to be a huge pain in the ass until things are made right.
U of A was terrible about this kind of thing, and if you were polite they'd just shuffle you around until you gave up. My husband's tuition was supposed to be paid by Uncle Sam because he's a veteran, but every semester *without fail* the school would lose his paperwork somewhere. That left him with a huge balance, and then they'd cancel his schedule for non-payment. Every single semester. He'd then have to go down to the appropriate office and be incredibly demanding and obnoxious in order to get it fixed and his schedule restored.
I had similar stupidness a couple times but his was definitely the worst.

 

[Blackbird]

Making pesto today!

-Basil and garlic from home that I planted
-Chevre that I made on Monday
-seasalt and freshly ground pepper
-extra virgin olive oil
-And unfortunately walnuts from the store.
But not bad if I do say so myself.

Correction: The best darn stuff I've had in a long time.

 

[urban dreamer]

Yummy! Closer to scratch than I have gotten!

 

[noobiechickenlady]

Mmmmm

 

[freemotion]

Oooooh! I never thought of making pesto with.....feta!!!! Ooo-ooo-ooo!!!

 

[Blackbird]

After a week of phone tag and an employee not answering my calls, I got my schedule straightened out, and my books ordered, just to have them call on Tuesday and tell me that they were changing my schedule. so I am yet again, stuck with a class that I do not need and do not want.

Furthermore, several assignments in one of my past classes have not been graded at ALL (this is that first class that I was thrown into) and so they gave me an F! The class is over.. I don't know how I can make them grade those missed assignments and change my grade. I KNOW I did them!

Can you all tell me a bit more about trade schools?

Neither of my parents went to college, so my mom has this idea in her head that I must go to college so I do not end up slaving all my life at a low paying job. And she has a point, she really does, but money isn't everything. Money has rarely gotten me happiness. But she wants me to go somewhere.. She said if I can get these next classes straightened out, then after that we should find somewhere else.

 

[kcsunshine]

You must assert yourself. Find out who is in charge and go straight to that person. There's no point in taking/paying for more classes if they're not going to grade your work and give you F's. That's just throwing good money after bad.

As for trade schools, look in the phone book yellow pages, go to the library, or just search on-line. You probably can't do a trade school on-line (maybe parts of it) but you'll have to attend class to get the hands on unless you can find one where you can work for the hands-on experience.

If you do decide to keep on with this school, be sure if you send your assignments on-line to keep some kind of record of what and when you sent them in. You should get some kind of confirmation it was sent/received.

Don't take this laying down - fight for what's right. (Pep-talk from one of your adopted grannies - priceless).

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

here's some more unsolicited advice.. from..ahem.. your adopted "slightly older sister" (HA!)

so the thing with school... give it a go if you can. the thing is, it gives you more opportunities. if you take them thats up to you. there are a lot of jobs you cant get b/c you DONT have a degree... but if you have one then you can make that decision for yourself.

unfortunately its just the way the world works. my sis didnt go to school when she was young and has always regretted it. she did the exact same work as other people, but bc they had the degree, they got paid more. no its not fair, but its the way of things.

she finally got her degree while working full time, being a mom, AND taking night classes. its just easier while you dont have a ton of responsibilities.

waste of time? not if you make the most of it. but might as well open as many doors as you can. and you never know what new path you might take.

also - what else are you gonna do while you're young? you have your whole life to work some job (or not)... might as well meet some new folks, learn a few things, pay a fee and get your degree. you might also want to see if you can do "abroad" programs to live/learn in other countries. use your school time to see other places...and dont rule out summer school in hawaii. i'm not kidding.

 

[lorihadams]

I agree....you could always do some sort of exchange program in another country, that would be cool.

As far as trade schools go, there are lots of things for mechanical work like electrical, motorcycle and auto repair, boat repair, plumbing, all kinds of stuff. You could always try to get a job somewhere as a ranch hand or something like that.....take a look at some ads in different states and maybe you could take a year to just work and figure out what you want to study.

I went to college and I am one of those people that enjoyed learning, going to classes, writing papers and such. I just didn't get a lot out of it. You never know where life will take you....sometimes it works out for the best and sometimes not.

My husband was lucky to get a job with Verizon and he has 3 yrs of college but no degree. He makes $30 an hour and has great benefits.

Another route you could take is to try to get on with the fish and wildlife dept. Do something like that.

You're young....you've got time. If you take a yr off to figure out what you want to do you can always go back. Just a thought.