Well, I guess it serves me right. I start whining about Admin being repetitive and tedious (which it totally is), and Labour decides to raise the stakes and make its presence known. I have never regretted taking a course more than this one - the readings, while copious and far less succinct than they should be, provide a general picture of the topic at hand. And the professor knows the subject inside and out, being a member of the Labour Relations Board. And, to his credit, he seems to hold the subject in an inexplicably deep and abiding affection exceeded only by Rollie Thompson's love for and understanding of Family law. The wheels fall off, however, in class when the overhead projector (with high-tech transparencies and everything) comes on and the prof starts talking. Bafflegab. Rabbit trails. An almost inhumane lack of classroom awareness. Such great topical enthusiasm that he forgets to adequately teach the basics before running off into neverland and asking advanced questions like "what would happen if [brand new, complicated topic] were amended and replaced with [an obscure variation that only 3 people have ever heard of, and only 2 of which understand] by way of court ruling rather than Labour Board decision?" The resounding answers, of course, are "who cares?", "is it dinnertime yet?" and "what are you talking about again?" carefully concealed by the sound of crickets outside and the droning hum of the overhead.
I come into each lecture having done the readings in advance, and with some understanding of the issues. I leave each lecture far more confused than when I entered, and with a growing sense of frustration and hostility. Asking questions, rather than giving clarification, only wastes time and intensifies the confusion. I know I'm far from the only one with these problems, and thankfully other, brighter, students having gone before have prepared CANS on which I'll be relying more than I'd like. I have nothing against the prof personally, just professionally. To make matters worse someone scheduled this battle of wills during afternoon nap time, and it's 90 minutes without a break. Time really flies though when you're reading the Globe and Mail online during the lecture - I did an experiment and found that after 3 articles not only was he still on the same topic, flogging an unfortunate equine long deceased, but still had yet to say anything substantive or that wasn't tangential or hypothetical. I try to listen for keywords and important phrases during the lecture, but my class notes file is increasing by a smaller amount each week. I'm not going to give him the satisfaction of cracking, but I'd much rather take another two tax courses than sit through this slog.
Racheal had her first pre-natal at the IWK hospital last week, right during Tax. I asked if it could be moved to spare Tax and bump Labour instead, but alas, no dice. Luckily the appointment (and lineups and wait times) intervened and I was able to legitimately miss both classes rather than just the good one. I asked around, and surprise surprise, I didn't miss anything of substance during that time. Imagine my delight!
Life is more than just Labour law and the comparative joy that is Tax, however. There's also Crown law (surprisingly humane for a Monday morning class), Admin (which while tedious at least makes sense, and for which I wrote an optional midterm that will reduce my final exam's weight and length), Criminal Law Problems (the major paper class which is a discussion seminar led by a young and talented Crown prosecutor from my summer with PPS), and of course Canucks hockey. True, of late they've been rather mediocre but I'm willing to endure a slow start as long as they keep pace with most of the pack and ramp up their efforts for another playoff run. The best thing is I've got my antenna deployed and can now pull in Hockey Night In Canada on CBC in high definition, rather than having to watch online only. It's doubly satisfying when the Maple Leafs lose the early game of the doubleheader, but it's relaxing and pleasantly distracting to put aside the readings for a bit and enjoy a good game in full clarity.
My workload is heavy but manageable, and I'm able to have some time with Racheal. I'm putting off writing my major paper (most of the research is done however) until the end of November so I can focus on getting the readings out of the way in advance of my brother Chris coming to visit Nov 23-27. We don't often get to see family, let alone in person, and to be able to set some time aside to reconnect is a much needed deep breath in advance of the major paper and final exam crunch going into December. I expect this semester, with all its coursework and pregnancy drama, to increase my quota of grey hair somewhat. I've worked hard for each one, but can't begin to tell you how much I'm looking forward to down time and a trip back West come Christmas break to regain my humanity.
Racheal will be returning soon from Kingston where she's taking some vacation time to visit Ben & Julia & Silas. Hopefully the time away does her some good while giving me some headroom to work ahead. I'm sure she'll have pictures and stories to share, much more entertaining than the shortcomings of law courses.
Until next time,
A.
