Fun_People Archive
7 Nov
It could get better than this, but probably won't.

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Thu,  7 Nov 96 09:29:05 -0800
To: Fun_People
Subject: It could get better than this, but probably won't.

Forwarded-by: Keith Bostic <bostic@bsdi.com>
Forwarded-by: "Steve Fraser" <stevef@healthcare.com>
Forwarded-by: edward@milner.f.eunet.de (Ed Milner Jr)

Education proceeds in cycles. We're at the point where classes meet for
longer periods at less frequent intervals (85 min. on alternate days).  The
school system went through severe bureaucratic agony to reach this state,
having issued an edict a few years ago that we would have 7 periods daily
and no study halls. The objectives of having each of 7 classes meet half as
often for twice as long and the same number of times in a 5 day week couldn't
be met (something to do with 'primes'). So we went from 7 to 8 periods by
adding a 6th period "seminar", looks like a study hall, walks like a study
hall, quacks like a study hall, but we call it a "seminar". Oh well.

So this year we have "even" days with periods 2, 4, 6, and 8, and "odd" days
with periods 1, 3, 5, and 7. If Friday was even then Monday will be odd
unless it's a holiday in which case Tuesday will be odd, even if it's an
even date.

And the administrator says to the new teacher (no, in the best Dave Barry
tradition, I'm not making this up), "I'd like to come observe your 5th
period class today".

The new teacher responds "You won't be able to do that, this is an even
day."

"Oh, that's right," says the administrator, "Then I'll come observe your
3rd. period class."

"That's odd, too" says the new teacher.

"Oh, so it is," says the administrator, "Then how about if I observe your
6th period class."

"And what would you like to observe me doing in study, er seminar" asks the
new teacher?

And that's the way it is, this Friday the 13th. of September, an even day
in DoDDS.

© 1996 Peter Langston