The second time is different

[clevermanka]

Finished my re-watch of Guardian with mckitterick yesterday (his first time watching, poor thing). It was easier, but still rough. Whew. Bless the man for honestly enjoying the ride with me. I'm so lucky to have a partner who delights in my ridiculous fangirling and occasionally joins me in the squee. We're gonna watch it again with the results of solo 's subtitling project sometime later this year. This week's project is downloading the series from YouTube since nobody trusts it to stay available there once it's up on Vicki. A million thanks to naye for this incredibly helpful response to my request on that process. Apropos of nothing besides guardian!guardian!, qikiqtarjuaq posted this gif of an innocently-blinking Shen Wei in a comment thread and I'm just...nklfjdas l;jfahdlkh asdfiy wa

In non-Guardian news (what is that???) work is bananas. Today I got to run around the hallways of my building looking for a faculty member--any faculty member!--to be a warm body in a defense because one of the committee members failed to show. Haven't had to do that since my first year in this job so that was a nice throw-back. And I canceled my trip to visit my parents next week because students are coming to me with pleas to help them do things waaaaaay in advance (like scheduling exams and defenses for DECEMBER) and I can't tell them no. Since my mom won't be around the week after finals I'll travel to Indy sometime in June. I'm still taking the vacation days, though, because otherwise I'll just lose the hours--KU won't compensate me for more than 176 hours of accrued vacation time.

Fuck KU, for real. I could go on and on about the provost's and dean's insulting responses to complaints about my ~nonreappointment~ from students and faculty, but I'll limit myself to two examples that pretty much sum it up. At one meeting, the provost said "I hire and fire people all the time and I'll continue to do so" and at another meeting the dean just flat-out refused to answer any questions, claiming "personnel matters" despite the fact that people were asking general questions that weren't about me at all. I always knew higher admin was a circle-jerk of bureaucratic posturing but this just proves it beyond any doubt. What a bunch of douchebags. Own your bad decisions, you overpaid slime buckets. Stop with the platitudes and gum-flapping because you aren't fooling anyone.

I'm beginning to worry over the cost of individual insurance. Last time I looked (when I thought about leaving this job a few years ago) it was about $250/month for the minimum coverage. That was before the 2016 U.S. election, though, and now that number is around $400/month. My savings is gonna run out a lot faster with those numbers so I'm looking at having to find Actual Employment much sooner than I'd planned. Which might mean I can't do the 8-month herbalism apprenticeship program? I don't know. God, nothing's ever easy, is it?

Except watching Shen Wei's perfect fucking face which is so easy I've done it for about ten minutes now.

Comments

[clevermanka]

Oh! And I did make it to the grad student cookout on Friday night, drank half a bottle of champagne, slept terribly, and pretty much fucked myself for the rest of the weekend but it was great.

That's me and about a quarter of my students (which I guess was a pretty good turnout for one of their events?) I'm the one on the right with octagon glasses and clasped hands for new people here.

[write_out]

So glad you made it! You and your army- love it!!

[clevermanka]

My little lambs! God I'm gonna miss them so much. I need to find other ways to make sure I stay in regular contact with young people now that my job won't supply them.

[islenskr]

Ugh. I am SO SORRY about the health insurance thing. I just looked up your state just to see where it was with the ACA, and found this:
"When it comes to the Affordable Care Act, Kansas has maintained a stance of reluctance."

Source: https://www.healthinsurance.org/kansas/

CRAZY.

I really hope you can find employment somewhere where you're appreciated!! This just sucks right across the board.

[clevermanka]

This state is so terrible. I hate living here. HATE IT. If my BFFs didn't live here my partner and I would be seriously tempted to move. Seriously, they are the only thing keeping me here and I still only see them a few times a year because they're so busy with their jobs. Sometimes I wonder if it wouldn't be better to just pack it up...

[islenskr]

I would very much like to suggest Massachusetts if you're feeling like escaping your current situation. We have a statewide healthcare thing. It was the model for the ACA basically.
Also, we have a LOT of universities and colleges.

But I totally get wanting to not move because of friends and family!!

[clevermanka]

I'm such a Midwest girl...I really don't want to live on a coast, and my partner is better situated for writing workshops if we stay central. If we go anywhere, we'll likely look at Colorado. WHICH IS LOOKING MORE PROMISING BY THE MINUTE.

[islenskr]

D'oh!! Yes, Colorado is supposed to be a fantastic place to live! I forgot all about Colorado.

[riventhorn]

I'm from Colorado! Although I don't live there now and am uncertain about the healthcare situation. My parents still live there but are on Medicare which is a different situation.

[clevermanka]

Well it's GOTTA be better than Kansas, for a NUMBER of reasons.

[kazoogrrl]

I wonder if you'd like Madison, WI? Though, if I remember correctly, cold is not your thing?

[clevermanka]

Cold is not my thing, but McKitterick is from up north and wouldn't mind moving that way. I've told him I'll live as far north as he likes as long as I never have to leave the house for a day job. =D

[kazoogrrl]

A bonus is close proximity to WisCon!

[clevermanka]

Something he and I have talked about attending for a long time!

[moodsong]

May I suggest sitting down with your BFFs and letting them weigh in on the situation. You all together might come up with options that you alone might not have thought of.

[clevermanka]

The nice thing is, if we moved to Colorado (really the only Midwest option), it'd be easy enough for me to visit every couple months--especially if I'm not working full-time.

[moodsong]

Colorado is also beautiful isn't it? (I've seen some pics but I don't know if they are representative of the state as a whole.)

[clevermanka]

Most of the state is actually plains, which have their own grandeur, and have much cheaper land prices than Denver and the eastern slope areas. Big open sky certainly lends itself to astronomy, which would make McKitterick very happy.

[kazoogrrl]

It's so sweet that McKitterick will hang with you to share your fan love. J will do that to a point, especially if I say it's important to me. He does enjoy wandering in during my kdrama watching and getting my convoluted one sentence synopsis.

ETA: How did your watching change the second time around?

HOLY FUCK THAT GIF!!!!!

The higher ups at KU are shitlords.

DID I MENTION THAT GIF IS PERFECTION?!?!?!?!

[clevermanka]

It's so interesting how my viewing it changed the second time around.

For one thing, I was so much less critical. Like, I'm kind of embarrassed at how harsh I was at first? How was I not completely suckered in by the taxi scene? I mean real talk, that lingering handshake should've been enough to pull me under. I do not know what my problem was.

I noticed so much more of the physical acting and cinematography because I wasn't as reliant on catching all the info in the subtitles. Both were amazing and there were a couple times I had to pause and/or rewind something to point it out to McKitterick.

Also the narrative at the beginning was so much more than monster-of-the-week stuff, it's just that's not as apparent when you don't know the whole scope of the story.

So anyway, yes, a re-watch was great. 10/10 recommend.

[kazoogrrl]

From talking to people who watch Kdramas, I've heard that a lot of people have trouble switching to Cdramas, even when they are familiar with Asian media. The fact that this was not a high budget show could probably add a layer, though I don't think it was badly made. I know for myself, too, sometimes I'll keep my distance to avoid being disappointed my something, and then eventually I'll give it my all.

The monster-of-the-week is ANOTHER thing that reminded me of Hannibal, how it was a crime-of-the-week show, except those crimes were there to underscore the overall narrative just like in Guardian.

I am interested to rewatch now that I know how the time travel meeting works out, I think it'll add an extra layer/emotional gut punch to the show.

[clevermanka]

I think it'll add an extra layer/emotional gut punch to the show.
BOY HOWDY DOES IT.

There's a scene where Shen Wei and Zhao Yun Lan are in his apartment talking and ZYL says something about ...I don't remember, staying? or being there? for someone and SW gives this tiny little *huff* of sarcastic amusement and it about killed me on the rewatch.

[kazoogrrl]

Why feelings, WHY?!?!

[clevermanka]

[write_out]

The amount of bullshit around this whole situation is so amazing. I'm almost impressed at the depths TPTB keep sinking to. ALMOST. I really just want to smack some heads together. I feel like a broken record, but I really am so sorry this is something you have to deal with on top of everything.

BREAKS?? HELLOOOOOOO??? WHERE ARE YOU?

On a happier note, it's awesome that McKitterick has joined in your Guardian adventures. Does he read fanfic too?

[clevermanka]

McKitterick does not read fanfic, but he will watch vids with me. =D

TPTB can suck my left tit, for real.

[seascribble]

Ugh, ugh UGH. I am sorry you have to deal with the insurance market on top of it. What bullshit.

[clevermanka]

It is bullshit. This country (and this state in particular) is The Worst.

[splix]

Fuck administration. Fuck the provost in particular.

Given all your physical issues, would disability figure into your situation at any point?

[clevermanka]

I don't think so, no. I'm doing pretty okay these days and have been cleared to work full-time since January. But I did contact the ADA at KU this morning after numerous people suggested I contact them to see if they want to look into my being chosen for non-reappointment due to my health history.

Don't think anything will come of it, but...