Battle Kitten: Ascension

[fleaball]

On 9/30/2016 at 2:07 PM, Jarric said:

 

Late to the conversation, but totally agree with this. I think if you give an excuse you're effectively saying "I'd love to but I can't because...", at which point you've given the other person a problem to solve (whether they're trying to be helpful or just trying to bend you to their will). And if you lie then you're setting yourself up for loads more trouble down the line when the truth comes out.

 

Also, it's not really anyone else's business why you don't want to/can't do something unless you want to share it.

 

On the language thing, I can accept that language evolves (to a point) as long as the message is clear. Where I work 90% of my communication with clients is by e-mail, so I have to be absolutely clear and unambiguous, but it amazes me how poorly some so-called "professionals" write their e-mails (especially when I have to go back and ask them what the hell they mean!).

Much wisdom here. Boo on your clients though. That's lame sauce. 

 

21 hours ago, Bookish Badger said:

 

My cat does this daily! Except he's more emphatic about it and usually goes for the eyeballs. Fortunately for me he was declawed by the previous owner so my vision remains unimpaired (at least by cat percussive interventions - age is doing its own number on my sight).

Neither of mine (my parents' but whatever) do it and it sort of made sad that they aren't as cuddly as cats on the interwebs, but one has hella sharp claws and yeah I definitely prefer keeping my eyeballs and skin intact. I guess it's a tradeoff.

 

15 hours ago, Owlet said:

Speaking of language (yes I'm hijacking your thread) we are voting on mayoral candidates at the moment and wow, there are some interesting bios... I refuse to vote for someone who switches between 3rd person and 1st person multiple times within a 1 paragraph description of themselves. 

 

Buu for weekend classes! No fair.

Ouch. Yeah, please be consistent. That's obnoxious.

 

15 hours ago, Owlet said:

Oh and as for the pants, I think the solution is get new ones sorry

D: Nooo I like these pants. Maybe I'll just ignore it and start wearing long shirts/sweaters/coats. >>

[Countess D'If]

Yeah, I agree. Get new ones or cover that vag. Sorry. There should be a better option. Maybe a man's dance belt? That might feel super weird, though.

 

P.s. this phone always autocorrects "vag" to "bag". Not sure what it's trying to tell me, there. . . ?

[fleaball]

8 minutes ago, Countess D'If said:

Yeah, I agree. Get new ones or cover that vag. Sorry. There should be a better option. Maybe a man's dance belt? That might feel super weird, though.

 

P.s. this phone always autocorrects "vag" to "bag". Not sure what it's trying to tell me, there. . . ?

That's what I read at first too. Aren't phones supposed to learn things you say all the time?

[Countess D'If]

SRSLY, I say vag a lot in text. This phone should know me by now. . .

[fleaball]

Fun adulting today. I need new glasses (boo) and have no time to get them since Costco didn't have frames I liked (more boo). I also need to prepare 4 copies of my resume and 4 cover letters to apply for 4 different capstone classes, except basically everything is going to be mostly the same because they're all related topics?? This is where I should have gone to the career center, except for the fact that in my experience (and that of everyone I've talked to who's ever gone there) they never actually make changes beyond like, using a different font or something. Pretty much every time you go in they're like "yeah this looks good. You're doing fine." And then you never hear back from anywhere you've applied to.  Each class has a different prof but there's one committee who reads everything as well. Arrrrrgh so much crap. And if I don't get into one of these, I either write a thesis or push back graduation until August. Whee. 

[fleaball]

So far I've started homework that can absolutely be done at another time, watched an episode of Ghost Adventures and it was a terrible idea while home alone, and now I'm on my third fanfic. One that I've already read. Good to know the birth control hasn't gotten rid of all my anxiety. I'm not sure how I would handle being a fully-functional human being.

[fleaball]

I told the friend I spent last weekend with that I'm busy freaking out about these resume/cover letter deals. She offers to help so I send her the project descriptions. And she says "Email me a rundown of your studies abroad and your class experience with rough dates. Maybe toss me your resume as well. Focus on that. I'll have these for you no later than 4pm tomorrow."

 

And I just... what? I asked whether she was offering to write them for me and she was like "will it make you less stressed? It's just a cover letter." I feel like I should somehow be offended but also I may be overreacting. Idk. I'm not taking her up on it. I need to do it myself so that if I get rejected by all of them I know it's my own fault but if I get in I'm not constantly second-guessing whether I deserve to be there. (Honestly I think I should probably get in to one. I've talked to 3 of the profs on the phone and they seemed to like me and two said my degree/studies will come in handy since their projects aren't actually in my field. Mostly it's a numbers game because they cap each class at 10-15 people.) But I don't know. I know she's trying to help but essentially saying "here let me do the hardest and most crucial part of this application for you when I have no familiarity with the subjects or with your experiences" is just rubbing me the wrong way. 

 

I'm really trying to stop just complaining about my life on here. But you wouldn't know it. 

[Lara]

9 hours ago, fleaball said:

I know she's trying to help but essentially saying "here let me do the hardest and most crucial part of this application for you when I have no familiarity with the subjects or with your experiences" is just rubbing me the wrong way.

Yes, she's trying to help. I don't think you should get offended. You're stressed, someone is offering you some help. Maybe it's supereasy for her to do those letters and she does them in a minute. You don't even need to send them as is, you can change what you want once she's done the core of the thing.

 

9 hours ago, fleaball said:

I need to do it myself so that if I get rejected by all of them I know it's my own fault but if I get in I'm not constantly second-guessing whether I deserve to be there.

I know the feeling, but a resume has nothing to do with whether you deserve to be there or not. It's just a resume. You could get rejected with a good resume or accepted with a less good one, and it wouldn't mean anything about your value.

[fleaball]

What i meant by deserving to be there is more like "did I get in on my own or is it only because my friend wrote me this letter?" 

 

Im so frustrated right now. I left my house super early and took an uber instead of the bus because it was supposed to be faster. The point of that was getting into the office early to work on my shit. And no. Instead of 8:03 as uber promised, im walking in at 8:28.  Fml. 

[Bookish Badger]

Take her up on the offer & let her write the letters. She's trying to help you by taking at least one time-consuming, thankless chore off your plate. "I wish there was something I could do to help Flea but it's not like I can do her homework for her - hey, cover letters! I'm good at those!"

 

And given the list of background materials she requested, it sounds like she knows what she's about. Cover letters are about good packaging, not in-depth expertise. Some people have a flair for that sort of thing. (If she is one of them, cultivate this connection for all it's worth!) Even if you hate the results, rewriting existing letters is easier than coming up with them from scratch. As @zenLara pointed out, the application materials have little to do with whether you "deserve" to be in the class or not.

 

I'm a little baffled about the feeling-like-you-should-feel-offended reaction. Unless you're somehow trying to rationalize turning her down? But whether you take her up on it or no, they really are "just cover letters." The situation isn't worth emotional investment. *hug* Deep breath.

[NeverThatBored]

I disagree. You could certainly let her EDIT the letters for you and give you advice, or even reword them heavily after you write them, but they're your cover letters and nobody else should write them for you. 

 

But I don't think you should be offended that she offered. She's just trying to help.

[Sylvaa]

2 hours ago, fleaball said:

What i meant by deserving to be there is more like "did I get in on my own or is it only because my friend wrote me this letter?" 

 

Im so frustrated right now. I left my house super early and took an uber instead of the bus because it was supposed to be faster. The point of that was getting into the office early to work on my shit. And no. Instead of 8:03 as uber promised, im walking in at 8:28.  Fml. 

 

I get this thought process. But I disagree with it. I feel like in general, cover letters get much more emphasis than anyone ever makes on them. Your accomplishments make your cover letter what it is, just remember that.

 

FWIW, I write my husband's cover letters when he needs them. He's not going for a job including writing after all. 

[fleaball]

Thanks for the input everyone. I guess I'm just touchy between stress and being frustrated with this girl in general. 

 

It's too late now to let her do it bc I already said no last night. (And she hasn't responded to my unrelated texts this morning so I assume she's busy.) And in another spectacular case of Flea is a Giant Hypocrite, I feel like I have to do them myself or it's cheating. I don't give a shit if anyone else's are written by someone else, but I am a special snowflake with a different set of rules.  

[Owlet]

Hugs! Stress and pressure make us do strange things and think the worst of others. Don't beat yourself up over it (ha, says the Queen-of-beating-self-up-over-things) Still, short deadline means you have no choice but to move on quickly eh? Good luck with everything else! 

[fleaball]

I can't tell if this prof hates me or if she's just super high strung. 

 

But it I fucking loathe this class y'all. So much. 

[Countess D'If]

Get on my sissor sisters level. Them Bitches fix EVERYTHING.

[fleaball]

23 minutes ago, Countess D'If said:

Get on my sissor sisters level. Them Bitches fix EVERYTHING.

I have no idea what this even means?

[Countess D'If]

35 minutes ago, fleaball said:

I have no idea what this even means?

 

 

WHAAAAAAAAAT!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fleaball]

Haven't watched the videos but they totally don't ring a bell. Will watch tomorrow. 

 

Right now I'm going to tempt fate and go to bed without getting my shit done because I cannot keep my eyes open. Pray for me. 

[fleaball]

Today's objectives:

 

- don't faceplant at my desk

- don't vomit on my desk because I'm so tired I'm nauseous 

- finish at least one application so I can apply for something

- stop doing every assignment as soon as I get it because that is half my problem at work

- wallow in disappointment over another pair of comfy pants not fitting right

[Sylvaa]

Admiral admirable objectives for the day. 

 

Side note: what size are you in - I might have some comfy work-style pants I can send your way!

[fleaball]

I'm sure there are plenty of fun navy gifs I could put here if I weren't on mobile. D:

 

I'm somewere between 16 and 18. Because I can never do anything the easy way and just pick a size lol. 

[fleaball]

One set of documents done. 

 

Lol nope as soon as I typed that I realized I left out a section on my resume. Fuck me. 

 

Anyway. I'm not 100% thrilled with my cover letter but we know I hate everything I write so I'm over it. The resume will barely change for the other two projects (I know you're supposed to tailor it but it's not like I have a wealth of relevant experience to choose from?) so then I guess I'm just tweaking two more versions of a cover letter. They're due at 5 and I'm shooting for 3 because who the fuck knows here. 

 

Pray for me. 

[Sylvaa]

44 minutes ago, fleaball said:

I'm sure there are plenty of fun navy gifs I could put here if I weren't on mobile. D:

 

I'm somewere between 16 and 18. Because I can never do anything the easy way and just pick a size lol. 

 

I was disappointed by the choices I found upon quick Google search.

 

I will report back to you when I get home on pants. 

[fleaball]

If anyone could see the faces I'm making while writing these cover letters they'd probably think I'm possessed. They're mostly "what the actual fuck am I writing?" But hey, two down, one to go. Objectives for the day already achieved yay. Because I keep getting work thrown at me but that shit can wait.