At lunch today, Andrew mention that when he lived in Seattle he was very impressed with the way the government provided online support and information for things like the DMV, the tax office, etc., but how that when he walks into the office or call on the phone to get help, there is either none or it is surly, lazy, and passive/aggressive. With North Carolina, it is just the opposite. Online infrastructure is not so great, but the people at the counter or on the phone are happy, helpful, and kind. Amazing. It is absolutely true and I prefer the latter most of the time.
Day: December 9, 2011
Day 109 of 1000 (212.8 lbs.)
Stepan and I continue to talk in the mornings when we arrive at work. I am going to miss that a lot when I switch jobs next week. He told me another Russian proverb today: The greedy man pays twice. He says that not only applies if you buy cheap, shoddy stuff, but also in life. That is certainly true. I do not know whether my recent travails with Kelly’s and Christian’s classes have anything to do with that, but it certainly might.
I signed Lorena, Christian, and Kelly up for spring semester classes at Wake Tech, but in the confusion and busyness associated with my job change, I forgot to pay for them on the specified day. We were able to get both of the kids into Linear Algebra at Wake Tech with their favorite math teacher, Kelly was able to get her Macroeconomics class, and I was able to recover a couple of classes that had filled up by signing the kids up for two distance education courses each at Central Carolina Community College. I had to switch Kelly from Astronomy to Physical Geology, but that all worked out OK. The big problem was that Differential Equations and Physics II were both full.
It took about three weeks of pain and frustration, but I finally have him signed up for both classes at Johnston Community College. Lorena want to drive over there with him, so I signed her up for a couple of classes, too. To say it is a relief to have all this done is a wild understatement.
Update: When it rains it pours. They have Lorena as an out-of-state student and want here to pay more than three times as much for her six ours of classes than Christian paid for his seven hours of classes.