iPhone
9
Apr 11
Bureaucratic efficiency in action
Ask a question of one person, get passed to another. That second person also can’t provide you with the piece of paper you seek. Instead, she sends you to another building/department. The person there who tries to help must ask another person.
And then you must fill out a form. The purpose here is to make sure there is A File so that the paperwork monster can be satisfied.
I came to this second building for a piece of paper. The purpose of this piece of paper is so that I may return to the original building to get the actual piece of paper I need. After filling out the form I am told to Wait. I’m given a beeper, like it is Friday night at the steakhouse.
When the thing buzzes I look around for the person who’s turn it is to try and help me. That’s down a hall, around a corner and down another hall.
“It is kind of confusing,” a regular says.
More paperwork is filled out. The net result is zero. Seems all of this paperwork can’t improve on the situation. But!
At this point I make phone calls because, really, verification is needed.
I learn I can download a form. If it is filled out, faxed off, filled out by others and faxed back to me I can then take it to a third building across town.
You might think I’m trying to replace a birth certificate and social security card simultaneously. I am not. Comparatively this is nothing that traumatic. Or it shouldn’t be. I can’t imagine the chore a task like that must be.
And, now, a picture of a man who can’t park:
7
Apr 11
Photo day — Thursday
“The Interstate Highway System wound a key and then released a perpetual motion machine.” — On the Move: Transportation and the American Story
We drove on a $28.7 million work project today. That one and two others within 20 miles. It is a bumpy, rutted and full of stop-and-go traffic. To be fair: they’ve only just begun the repair work. To be thorough: the project will replace one badly failed style of roadway with … the same style of roadway. The difference is that the present construction is 52-foot long sections of concrete. Those sections are eight inches thick and reinforced with steel. The new roadway will use shorter sections of plain concrete that will be 14 inches thick:
That stretch of interstate, which carries more than 115,000 vehicles a day, was built in 1981 with continuous reinforced concrete in an attempt to save money on concrete.
“It didn’t work,” Davis said.
So let’s do it again! The repair work runs under three miles. Do the math yourself, the simple division depresses me. The comments to that story are amusing, at least.
6
Apr 11
Photo day — Wednesday
“April prepares her green traffic light and the world thinks ‘Go.'” — John Mistletoe
Busy day, so you’re only getting this photographic meditation on spring. We’ve reached that point where sticks in the trees are no longer the standard view, but where the finery decorations of nature are still a bit surprising after a few months without. You can’t beat the South in the springtime.
5
Apr 11
I must research distractedness — I’m sorry what was I saying?
On the road, here’s my self-portrait. That’s an empty section of road, and I’m somewhere in the shadow.
Dissertation meeting today. Spent a few hours with my adviser, talking about my literature and what else needs to go in it. “Add this, don’t forget that, have you considered this other thing?” And then there’s the method. Always there is the method.
My adviser is very good, and very sharp. If you looked just at his vita you’d wonder how he does all of the things he does. And then when you speak with him a few times you see how. It is possible that he is thinking of two or three hefty things at one time.
So that was the morning. And then I held class in the afternoon. The students were finishing up the last of their presentations. These were their presentations on a media outlet they’ve chosen to follow and write about all semester. Their talks have been very good.
After class I had a meeting with next year’s ad manager. She’s very enthusiastic. Also I met for a few minutes with next year’s editor-in-chief. These early conversations with the new students every year are always a lot of fun. There’s always a lot of energy and ideas, and it is neat to see them grow into the jobs.
One more shot from the day’s travels:
