Aced The Test

I got my test back in my French class. It's actually our second test, the first one was that pop quiz I think I mentioned. I only got 76% on that one but on the real test I got 92%. A large improvement but there were extenuating circumstances that prevented me from being at my best for the first test.

I actually had to fight a little to get my mark up to 92%, something I never did in school previously. Now I need every mark I can get so I can finish this certificate with straight As. If I can get high enough marks in this program I can use that to get back into another University. My marks during my three years at UTM are not high enough to get me back in. I need to prove myself by excelling in university courses. That's why I actually care about my marks, for possibly the first time ever in my life. Anyway I actually got only 91% at first on my test.

I would scan the test and post it but the University won't let us take the tests home with us. We're allowed to look them over in class but we have to give them back, I assume it's so we don't post the thing for other students to see. Lazy school, how hard is it to write new tests every year?

One of the sections on test was read a paragraph about three camps and then fill in a chart below the paragraph. The chart wanted to know the activities the camp offers, and the months it's open, that sort of thing. It was a section devoted to reading comprehension. So the grid itself on this chart is 3 by 4, which makes 12 squares. The section is only out of 10. I start filling them all in, la la la, and I get to one that asks for something that isn't really clear in the paragraph. It was the length of stay, I couldn't really tell if the camp was a day camp open certain days or if it was open for the entire summer. I actually began to write down an answer and then I realized that this particular grid didn't have a number in it. Every other box had a 1. or 3. all the way up to 10., but two squares were blank. Since the section was out of 10 and there were 10 numbered boxes I figured I didn't have to fill in the other two squares. I finish the test and leave.

When I next see the test I've only got 9 out of 10 on this section. I look and the prof has highlighted the very section that confused me and then drawn and arrow to the blank box (the box I had written something in then scratched out). So I think that because something was written in the box the prof thought the same thing as me, that the information was spotty at best but still there, and she took one mark off of ten. She didn't add up all the correct answers, which would have added up to 10.

After class I bring my test to hand in and ask her about it. She's a very nice lady and of course agrees with me and states that now she'll have to check everyone's test. I apologized for that. I think she'll find that only my test has the problem because I'm probably the only fool that wrote in something in the blank square and then crossed it out. Even if I had left the information I probably would have got 10 out of 10, even though I would have given 11 answers.

So that's the story of the first time I ever fought for a mark, and I won! Yay for me. Too bad I can't fight for more money. It would be easier for me to goaltend the Islanders to a Stanley Cup final next year. I'm sure I could get them into the playoffs and maybe even into the 2nd round but it gets hard after that. Crosby and I'm sure the Leafs will be kicking around in the 2nd round next year too.

Our plans to visit Dunville (aptly nicknamed Funville although I've never been there so I can't really attest to that) this weekend have be cancelled. Particularly because my buddy Eric, who is from Funville, is off to PEI for a job. Not fishing or oil, Eric works in the film industry. I'm quite happy for him, he gets to travel to PEI for at least a part of the summer and he's been living his dream for a couple years now at least. It's really a great story, he worked in an office and hated it until one day he said screw this and started working in the film industry. I know it was tough for him at the start but now he's getting steady work and he's even got a house in The Hammer, Hamilton. The other reason we can't hook up for a trip to Funville is because we were going to go for a festival called Mudcat. Turns out the festival is not this weekend but next. Oops. Well it don't matter none anyway cause Eric will be in PEI. Our mutual friend is getting married in a couple weeks in TO, which reminds me I have to email him and ask what he wants. We'll have plenty of time to catch up and plan a trip out to Hamilton. Yay.

So now we have a free long weekend, Kate has Friday off in lieu of all her great Calgary work and I have vacation days coming out my left ear, the right is blocked with wax so there's nothing coming out or going out of that one. We were debating camping, as noted in my last post, but I think we've got a new plan. A couple friends of ours who enjoy having fun as much as the next guy want to come down next weekend so we're going to use this long weekend to relax in the summer sun at home and take our second trip to the farm. Friday will be patio, sun and beer day, possibly a run in the morning but let's try not to remind Kate that we're supposed to be running. We'll hit the farm Saturday cause there are fewer volunteers on the weekend. It seems the people who volunteer or younger and have nothing to do all week but on weekends they party it up or whatever. We, well me, are old so weekends don't mean as much anymore. Something I was noting just yesterday. When I was younger the week sucked and the weekends ruled. Yesterday I was happy to have a day off Wednesday, today. I'm still at work but after work I don't have anything to do, no softball, no guitar, no french. Other than the weekend days Wednesday is the only day I don't have anything so it feels like a day off, even though I have to go to work still. Perhaps that I can post to my blog and surf the web all day contributes to my feeling of having the day off. I can't help it, I'm not suited for this office life, I need to work with my hands. Having an Xbox controller in my hands would be ideal but really I think office life sucks.

Computers are ok, writing is fine, but going through hundred of folders that people have created and then never used is pain. It's sooooo boring. That's the thing with an office job, they're not hard to do, they're boring as hell. Maybe not all of them, but most of them look pretty boring. Mine is probably one of the less boring jobs and it bores me big time. I look forward to sinks clogging and chairs falling apart so I can fix them it's so boring. People think I'm being this great guy cause I'm fixing their chair or taking old batteries to the hazardous waste facility. Nope not nice, just bored. For any co-workers or specifically my boss, I'm just kidding to make the blog more interesting.

I guess I've rambled on enough for now.