Things That Annoy Me, But Shouldn't

I may have mentioned it here before, but after a year of Korean at DLI... Korean, shit. This little midwestern white boy couldn't even have found Korea on a globe when he arrived there...

But after a year of Korean at DLI and the follow-on school that shall not be named, I was selected to go to a special program at a university near my duty station. A group of about twenty of us of mixed branches, all DLI grads, took Korean 301-302. The professor said we were ready for 501-502 (graduate-school level study) but the school wouldn't countenance giving grad school credits to a bunch of knuckle-dragging high school grads in uniform. He hinted that we might be getting instruction that was tailored to our abilities rather than the credits we'd receive, but I can't confirm that as I never went further with the language.

There was one young civilian student who was allowed to join the class, but they dropped out after two days. Thought it would be a good way to clear off some of their credit requirements in a rapid fashion as it was an accelerated course.

I guess it was accelerated. Not sure about US accreditation requirements, but in Japan a regular class has to be 90 minutes, twice a week, over fifteen weeks. That's equivalent to a three hour course in the US, so 45 hours of classroom instruction.

Sound about right?

Which would mean that the eighty hours of classroom instruction we got was slightly accelerated. Doing 90 hours of classroom stuff with all the associated homework in 80 hours might be a bit fast for the average civilian.

Did I mention that we did it in a month of Mon-Friday half-days?

Got to wear civvies though, which cut down on prep time in terms of ironing our boots and spit-shining our cammies and left the afternoons free for homework.

Compared to DLI, that was a vacation.

Spoiler

At DLI, you will get to the point where you try to iron your boots and spitshine your uniform. The fumes from the burning Johnson's Floor wax get to your head.

 

My slice of fun (I'm sure I've mentioned) was the TDY to Chicksands, the reason for that TDY, and the results, to include an MSM.

I miss you, Bryan. Gods, you were beautiful.

ETA: I'm outa'here before I get yelled at for threadjacking.

 

Interpreters who go around talking of ablatives and such and pointing out the errors of my ways.

 

Apps in general

 

I broke my first computer (a PC) when I was looking through the registry or something. I had and still have a burning hatred of Apple, so I went and deleted all the "applets" and "apps" on the suspicion that they were viruses implanted by Steve Jobs.

Did I ever claim to be smart?

 

I try to limit the apps on my phone. I have 0 games on my phone. I have Facebook, a banking app, a note taking app, and pandora (you know, the essentials, lol). But now i have to download an app for work (that doesnt even work to begin with!), a fitness instructor has me download HIS app. Then i have to download ANOTHER app to make a friggin payment. Had todownload an app for Zoom, had to download an app for a webinar (that froze my computer!)
Everything is functioning via apps now.

I hate it

 

I have no less than 13 apps on my phone just for communicating. Why the hell can't my kid's teacher and his soccer coach use the same app? What would be wrong with a group text in the first place?? Why do I have to have a second Facebook messenger app for business!? It's madness!!!

I also have 6 separate apps just to run the smart crap in my house. I can't even download updates right now. My 32GB drive is too full, and I don't even store pictures on it. They're on the SD card. It's all apps!

 

Yup. Three different employers, four different communications apps between them. WTF, over?

 

This entire thread makes me realize how little I understand what's going on in this century.

 

Framing this.

... aaaaaannnd... Framing this

Guilded frame... after my orgasm subsides...

Just, wow.

 

I love not having a smartphone. The reactions alone are worth it. People actually get pissed at me.

 

Really?
I don't have one either, and people think I am a technophobe.

 

I already spend enough time on the internet at home. I wouldn't want the temptation everywhere I go.

Plus, my phone slides open so I still get chicks.

 

That is the way I figure it, internet is at home, and my
mobile is just a phone.

I have a slider texting phone that is about 10 years old now.

 

I finally broke down and got a smartphone when checking the train schedules became a necessity. With one job it's not a problem, but when you're taking two or three different lines to get across the prefecture you need to know how tight your connections are.

 

Snobs. Can't you just let me enjoy something without trying to convince me that I shouldn't enjoy it?

 

I'm not proud of my smartphone ownership, just kind of a necessity these days in my job and environment. I think for my next one I might actually buy one of the ones that mimics an older version with the keypad and all. They still have the internet capability of a new phone, but they're smaller and lighter.

 

Hahaha! That last post was unrelated but I'm sure you already knew that I totally understand why smartphones are awesome and I'm sure I will reach a point where they will either stop making basic phones (although there will always be a market for burners with drug dealers) or I will be forced to upgrade because of a job or situation. I just want to prolong being another head staring at a phone in public as long as I can.

 

Actually the ones I was speaking of in Japan are colloquially referred to as "ojisan keitai". Literally "uncle mobiles" but really it means "grandpa (and by extension "grandma") phones for the older folks who just can't adjust to touchscreen phones.

I suppose in about twenty years Apple will be re-issuing the iPhone X for geriatrics like myself who can't cope with the by-then-standard touchless holophones.

 

Twenty years? Shit... We'll all be chipped by then. Just tap your wrist twice to initiate access.

 

Revelations 13:16 says you'll have the option of either right hand or forehead placement

 

stolen from a recent post.

 

Too recent.