Lily 18
The Captain shuts her office door after I enter. There's the first clue, she rarely does that.
With a smug look which says I told you so, she passes me a memo addressed to her from HQ. She is instructed to do whatever arrangements are necessary to do without me for a period of two weeks.
It isn't really all that hard; same as the one week vacation I was on. The library is in the same building as Finance and Admin, immediately next to it. As theft (at least of books) has never been a problem, patrons come and go. When they are ready, one of the clerks will check their books out. Anything returned will simply be stacked up; she offers me Esther if needed when I return.
That sorted, she passes the memo addressed to me, carbon copy to her. I am scheduled for an exam. Intention of this, to evaluate whether I should be doing a more responsible job in HQ library. They claim that the transcript forwarded from tech in Canada is vague and inconclusive.
To this I reply, come on, it was eight pages, every course covered in minute detail, including even which text books and how many hours devoted to each section.
Captain grins, yeah, and the last person who had to do a real library exam; found it was half a day. So, guess what?
What else?
These people are nothing if not overly heavy duty. I am even to remain in residence during each week, permitted out on weekend. Reason, the exams may take extensive time; might be difficult using transit each day.
Well, I show, discover I am the only person being so tested. Rules are it will be done on paper only. Handheld will not be allowed as there is always the possibility of cheating.
I have absolutely no way of knowing how many marks each question is worth. I am locked in a room each day, carafe of water and coffee handy, bathroom enclosed. Lunch will be brought.
Once I have completed each thing, I pass it out, am given a new topic. End of a day, must finish a topic, no carryover to next day allowed.
I laugh as I read the first. In 1,500 words approximately, describe the causes of the breakup of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. To each cause, apportion a percentage and defend in argument your choice of percent for that cause.
Now in argument with father, we isolated four obvious causes of this.
First, the USA would have you believe they are totally responsible for it. That is, the arms race buildup of Ronald Reagan pushed the Soviet economy into total collapse. True, but only partly so. Think of a parallel, outside of hurricane, how often does a strong wind blow over perfectly healthy trees? It picks off those trees diseased or dying. Had the Soviet economy been robust, the American pressure would have accomplished little.
Second, the very lack of any Soviet economic success. Life revolved around endless five year plans promising pie in the sky and a black market economy that was staggering. When you preside over an economy the size of the Province of Ontario, the slightest breeze tests your tree.
Third, think withdrawal of consent by the populace. Now one of the strong effects of the Viet Nam War on the USA, was a withdrawal by the people. A belief that the federal government now is lacking in legitimacy and therefore a fair target for things like mass protests, tax evasion, draft evasion and so forth. Now the Soviet manifestation of this was a little quieter, but real all the same. There were various means of avoiding Afghanistan duty when you were in the army. Similarly, there were also various means of terminating your Afghan hitch before its scheduled ending. History records Soviet soldiers went so far as to self-infect with hepatitis.
Fourth, think changing of the guard, the generations. Prior to Mikhail Gorbachev, there was an endless parade of old fogies, people who had been through World War Two. Their beliefs had become obsolete. What made sense at first, that is buffer states to protect against missiles, became more and more out of date as the range lengthened. What good is Bulgaria to defend against InterContinental Ballastic Missiles which fly 12,000 miles? Gorbachev, of the younger generation, saw this, realized changes were needed.
And now, the tricky part, how much percentage to give each? Go 20% credit for the USA, 25% due to the USSR economic failure, 40% due to withdrawal of consent of the Soviet people, and 15% to Mikhail Gorbachev being the first young man to take over since WW2.
I finish, pass it out.
It doesn't get any easier from there. Next question has two parts. First, what was the biggest success of Ariel Sharon during the War of 1948? Second, what actions, during his entire career, were least effective for Israel?
I opt to go with the establishment of Commando Unit 101 and the 1982-2000 occupation tactics in Lebanon, respectively. Ouch, wonder what marks that'll get?
With a smug look which says I told you so, she passes me a memo addressed to her from HQ. She is instructed to do whatever arrangements are necessary to do without me for a period of two weeks.
It isn't really all that hard; same as the one week vacation I was on. The library is in the same building as Finance and Admin, immediately next to it. As theft (at least of books) has never been a problem, patrons come and go. When they are ready, one of the clerks will check their books out. Anything returned will simply be stacked up; she offers me Esther if needed when I return.
That sorted, she passes the memo addressed to me, carbon copy to her. I am scheduled for an exam. Intention of this, to evaluate whether I should be doing a more responsible job in HQ library. They claim that the transcript forwarded from tech in Canada is vague and inconclusive.
To this I reply, come on, it was eight pages, every course covered in minute detail, including even which text books and how many hours devoted to each section.
Captain grins, yeah, and the last person who had to do a real library exam; found it was half a day. So, guess what?
What else?
These people are nothing if not overly heavy duty. I am even to remain in residence during each week, permitted out on weekend. Reason, the exams may take extensive time; might be difficult using transit each day.
Well, I show, discover I am the only person being so tested. Rules are it will be done on paper only. Handheld will not be allowed as there is always the possibility of cheating.
I have absolutely no way of knowing how many marks each question is worth. I am locked in a room each day, carafe of water and coffee handy, bathroom enclosed. Lunch will be brought.
Once I have completed each thing, I pass it out, am given a new topic. End of a day, must finish a topic, no carryover to next day allowed.
I laugh as I read the first. In 1,500 words approximately, describe the causes of the breakup of the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. To each cause, apportion a percentage and defend in argument your choice of percent for that cause.
Now in argument with father, we isolated four obvious causes of this.
First, the USA would have you believe they are totally responsible for it. That is, the arms race buildup of Ronald Reagan pushed the Soviet economy into total collapse. True, but only partly so. Think of a parallel, outside of hurricane, how often does a strong wind blow over perfectly healthy trees? It picks off those trees diseased or dying. Had the Soviet economy been robust, the American pressure would have accomplished little.
Second, the very lack of any Soviet economic success. Life revolved around endless five year plans promising pie in the sky and a black market economy that was staggering. When you preside over an economy the size of the Province of Ontario, the slightest breeze tests your tree.
Third, think withdrawal of consent by the populace. Now one of the strong effects of the Viet Nam War on the USA, was a withdrawal by the people. A belief that the federal government now is lacking in legitimacy and therefore a fair target for things like mass protests, tax evasion, draft evasion and so forth. Now the Soviet manifestation of this was a little quieter, but real all the same. There were various means of avoiding Afghanistan duty when you were in the army. Similarly, there were also various means of terminating your Afghan hitch before its scheduled ending. History records Soviet soldiers went so far as to self-infect with hepatitis.
Fourth, think changing of the guard, the generations. Prior to Mikhail Gorbachev, there was an endless parade of old fogies, people who had been through World War Two. Their beliefs had become obsolete. What made sense at first, that is buffer states to protect against missiles, became more and more out of date as the range lengthened. What good is Bulgaria to defend against InterContinental Ballastic Missiles which fly 12,000 miles? Gorbachev, of the younger generation, saw this, realized changes were needed.
And now, the tricky part, how much percentage to give each? Go 20% credit for the USA, 25% due to the USSR economic failure, 40% due to withdrawal of consent of the Soviet people, and 15% to Mikhail Gorbachev being the first young man to take over since WW2.
I finish, pass it out.
It doesn't get any easier from there. Next question has two parts. First, what was the biggest success of Ariel Sharon during the War of 1948? Second, what actions, during his entire career, were least effective for Israel?
I opt to go with the establishment of Commando Unit 101 and the 1982-2000 occupation tactics in Lebanon, respectively. Ouch, wonder what marks that'll get?
posted by afghangirlscifi @ 10:53 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home