Avoiding a Day Job

20 July 2001

You all will never guess what I just did this morning. Never, never, never. So you might as well give up, and I'll tell you.

A geometry proof.

Not, like, ten-dimensional non-Euclidian geometry. Heck no. You might have guessed that. Standard Euclidian statement-reason proof that two particular lines were of equal length given some other stuff. I actually proved two triangles congruent by angle-side-angle this morning.

How wacky is that.

If you're wondering, is she really that much of a geek? the answer is, of course, yes. But usually I'm a more advanced geek than this. The thing is, I'm doing this for a job. (Haha, Mr. Heminger! You were convinced you were just teaching us this stuff for the mental discipline! But no, it will earn me money!) I'm going to be tutoring in math and physics online. It's a pretty good deal: I can choose how many hours a week I work and when I'm free. They pay rates comparable to temping, but I get paid hourly, not per question answered. So. Even if I don't get enough freelance contracts, I don't have to go get The Dreaded Day Job. Woohoo! I'm not exactly sure how it'll work to tutor online. But they'll tell me.

The Day Job was taking on somewhat mythic proportions in my head, so I'm glad I don't have to fuss about it any more. I have freelancing stuff coming through, too--it's just that I get nervous.

However, in order to tutor people, I have to prove that I know stuff myself. Stuff like the definition of the derivative, and how to find the diagonal of a trapezoid. And amazingly, I do know that stuff. I thought I might have forgotten, might have to consult our calc book. But no. It's all here.

(Yes, we still have a calc book. Of course we have a calc book. Sometimes we need it.)

Other than that, well, not much going on. I may go with Timprov to fetch his new computer this afternoon. We will then have all of the necessary components for his computer to be connected and working in his room and have mine connected and working out here. This has not happened since we moved in, what with one thing and another, so it'll be interesting to see what work habits change for both of us. I also need to reset some of the default stuff on my computer now, since I liked the way Timprov's worked, and reorganize stuff that got saved in unusual places. Not a big deal, though...except that I'm not sure where the FTP program has gotten to, so I have to find it before I can post this journal entry.

Also, I have to make it let me see HTML files in something besides the browser, by default. The notepad dealy would work just fine. Also, I have to make the screen less purple.

See, the monitor cable is a wee bit, hmm, touchy. In the sense that a few of my extended family members are also touchy, where touchy means "totally insane." If it is not wrapped just so with electrical tape and positioned just so in the socket, white shows up lavender on the monitor. This is okay for a minute or two and totally intolerable for long-term work. Problem is, my arms are not long enough that I can both joggle the monitor cable and check to see how the screen looks. So I have to wait until someone wakes up to help me.

In the process of trying to do this myself, I have knocked over the Red Rose figurines, which is probably just as well. They are a dancing poodlish thing in a skirt and a little gray man in a suit and a top hat. The poodlish thing is all right, but the little gray man scares me. A lot. He's not a thing like the Grey Man from my books, which is something, I suppose. But Ray Bradbury ruined me for life. I can't look at this little gray man without freaking out a tiny little bit. Why, then, does he stay on my computer desk? Because I will not be conquered by the Red Rose Tea sculptors. I will not.

I will deal. And heck! If Mary Anne can invite birthday cards, it must not be gauche, right? Because Mary Anne could never be gauche. Right? So if any of you love both me and the postal service, we're at:

Marissa Lingen
625 Camellia Ct. #2201
Hayward, CA 94544

But e-mails really are just fine. (However, if you usually e-mail me and do not e-mail me for my birthday, I will assume that you now hate me. Just so you know. Unless you're planning to show up for the Birthday Party. In that case, if you wish to indicate that you hate me, you will have to sniff huffily at me, turn your back upon me, and walk away to talk to another, worthier birthday girl.)

(But I really wish you wouldn't.)

Doing geometry in the morning makes M'rissas a wee tiny little bit odd for the rest of the day.

You don't even have to say it, any of you. I know M'rissas are a wee tiny bit odd all the time.

Update: Oh goodness. I'm a happy birthday M'ris already. See, Dave and Lin evidently love me. Quite a bit. Otherwise they wouldn't send me Godiva. Godiiiiiiva. Do you know what I have, people? I have shapes. Leaves. Chestnut-shaped chocolates. Medallions embossed with knights on horseback and filled with something or other amazing, I'll find out what when I get to it.

Okay, I've had a happy birthday now. I know, I know, I'm not supposed to open presents until it's my actual birthday. But this one had dry ice in it. Had to be opened. No getting around it. But either Dave and Lin are very clever, or I'm very easy to please. Perhaps both.

Back to Morphism.

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Or the next one.

Or even send me email.