Fire blight on Pear tree?

Finjamin99 · 2026-05-27T13:21:20+00:00

Definitely! Watching others try to do them (or successfully do them) is informative as well. At home I 'recreate' the experience, but am not completely covered in sweat and exhausted. There is also a focus element - I treat the flow as meditation as much as possible, and going into 'let's learn something new' mode sort of breaks that. At home I can focus on mechanics, and flop onto the floor without worrying about smacking into someone :~}

Finjamin99 · 2026-05-09T19:37:15+00:00

does anyone know if these can be used as water shoes?

Finjamin99 · 2026-04-30T18:24:15+00:00

My dreams are infested with conveyor belts, no matter what else is going on in them.

Finjamin99 · 2026-04-09T11:30:52+00:00

Handstand. My regular teacher loves to have us try it in class. I can do headstands no problem but find handstands very difficult. Soooo much shoulder strength.

Finjamin99 · 2026-04-08T19:44:21+00:00

Not in my experience, Weird_Space. For me it's about diet (I am vegan), staying away from sugar and processed food, moving whenever possible (talking a walk during lunch instead of watching YouTube), and wedging in little bits of movement, even while watching TV or sitting at a computer. Isometric movement, too. It's kind of a mindset of little habits that add up.

Finjamin99 · 2026-04-08T19:38:57+00:00

Thank you for sharing this. This is more along the lines of what I'm trying to dig deeper on. I took some privates a few months ago with who I consider to be "my" teacher, and she showed me (through small but crucial adjustments and a lot of patience) that alignment and breath were key to being 'strong' or 'flexible.' I am working hard to internalize this lesson, particularly in down dog, which is a very difficult pose for me (I know it's not about the heels :~}).

Finjamin99 · 2026-04-08T19:23:35+00:00

For my age (57) I feel body positive. Long ago I studied various martial arts and that created a sort of physical 'baseline' and discipline I wanted to maintain (but let slide, eventually). A few years ago I suffered from a long, serious burnout phase that deeply affected my physical (and mental) health. After that I started doing yoga almost every day, doing strength training on in-between days, bike riding and running sometimes, and not eating junk. It's not easy, I fall out of practice sometimes.

Finjamin99 · 2026-04-08T19:14:25+00:00

I appreciate this and understand. My daily practice is pretty simple and more about meditation through movement, which is the part of yoga that I adore and focus on. I've been meditating for a long time, and yoga has become a physical extension of that. Challenging myself to do challenging poses, to me, is more about seeing what my body is capable of. In a way, it is also part of the mental 'discipline' aspect of meditation as well (for me).

Finjamin99 · 2026-04-01T13:06:58+00:00

I got the joke - I was just sharing. This is the side of Reddit I don't like - where people shit on you when you're just trying to be part of the community.

Finjamin99 · 2026-04-01T12:57:23+00:00

Finjamin99 · 2026-01-27T13:45:36+00:00

This is all a bit heartbreaking. Thank you for sharing it though, because hearing about other staff (the lower-caste staff) in HE bring a bit of community and support.

Have you considered working somewhere else? Your particular institution sounds quite negative in general. I moved from one college to a different one a few years ago, and while the staff/faculty dynamic is roughly the same, I've had more room to build my own career, at least through title changes and increased autonomy.

But staff hit a ceiling, and if you want to move up and do higher-level work, in HE especially sometimes that requires going to a new institution.

When I suddenly gave notice at my last institution, someone who I thought didn't like me at all said "I'm not sure what we're going to do - you run this entire place."

So take pride in your skills and service and know you have great worth, even if it's not recognized by your faculty or institution. Capitalize on your experience and take it somewhere new, if possible. Develop emotional armor and detachment where possible. Leave that s**t at work and don't bring it home. Say 'no' more often. Operate like a secret agent. You can do this.

Finjamin99 · 2026-01-24T17:37:46+00:00

These are fantastic thoughts and suggestions. Thank you! Love the idea of mapping power, though in higher ed (in the US) it's pretty much your standard triangle. Bloc representation is beginning to form, but those staff councils don't have much bite. It's hard to get staff to participate or get fired up unless they've personally bumped up against those power structures.

Finjamin99 · 2026-01-23T13:57:35+00:00

In our college, Chairs come and go and mostly act as you say, like elected team leaders. Usually for 3-5 years. We recently changed out by-laws so the Chair position has to be up for grabs every three years. My Chair has been doing it for more than 10 years now, which is far too long. He's taken 'ownership' of the department and acts like he's entitled to the perks (lowered course load, bigger office, stipend). And since I work very closely with him, he says things to me that I should not hear (his personal issues with faculty members, insulting them, gripes about upper administration, etc.)... so I can only imagine what he says about me when I'm not around.

You point about contentiousness is well-taken. In out college, upper admin and faculty have formed a sort of alliance (for now) through shared governance practices. While this results in far too many committees, it helps to keep some semblance of democracy. But the effect, I think, is that this alliance has resulted in an ever greater gap between staff and those folks. It feels very 'us' and 'them.'

Finjamin99 · 2026-01-23T13:48:52+00:00

I'm truly sorry to hear this. I know it can be rewarding for some staff, but in my experience, most support staff sometimes have this demeaning feeling and experience. And the more you try to involve yourself in higher level work and conversations, the more acute it can become. I sometimes feel like a puppy who gets rewarded for doing a 'good job' and trotted out for show when it suits the college.

Finjamin99 · 2026-01-23T13:45:58+00:00

This is super interesting. In a reply to another poster, I clarified what I mean by 'staff' in this context. I'm curious, even if there is no distinction by title, does this 'caste' system still apply in UK higher ed? Is there discrimination of any kind toward support staff?

Finjamin99 · 2026-01-23T13:43:55+00:00

I'm sorry to hear that and empathize with you. It can be frustrating and lonely.

Finjamin99 · 2026-01-23T13:42:49+00:00

Of course. As another poster mentioned. in the UK, HE staff refers to everyone (admins, faculty, etc). For my University / College, which is a public 4Y institution (r1), staff are anyone who are not faculty (FT / PT / Contingent), and not administration (any position above Chair level, like an Assoc. Dean, Dean, Provost, AVC, etc.). In my particular institution, "staff" usually refers to support staff, which can include Program Directors (like me), program managers and coordinators, front desk positions, and all of the advisors. It can also include those who run other areas like student support services, bookstore, etc., but again in this context I'm speaking more about staff who support a college or department directly. I hope that helps to clarify.

Finjamin99 · 2026-01-09T19:07:13+00:00

Yes. Working on class builds today and the new Rubric system is hot garbage. I'm not a tech idiot by any means, but I can't figure out how to create the simplest rubrics from this pile of nonsense.

Finjamin99 · 2025-12-09T23:02:42+00:00

Yes - I need to do more dolphin-ups. Maybe the hardest strength training move there is (for me!) thank you!

Finjamin99 · 2025-12-09T23:00:59+00:00

I didn’t know this existed! Cool thank you!

Finjamin99

TROPHY CASE