[lit-ideas] TRF Application

From: David Ritchie <profdritchie@xxxxxxxxx>
To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thu, 1 May 2014 11:18:22 -0700
Why TRF and not TR?  Person who designed the form liked it better.  A TRF 
application is an application for refund of time.  I had no idea these existed 
until I thought how apt they were for the contemporary world.  Mine this 
morning reads, "One hour for needless trip to Costco."  Explanation: we put in 
an order for contacts for E. and new glasses for me.  We received a robo-call 
saying that E.'s contacts were ready.  I thought, "Wait till the glasses are 
in, save fuel."  Second robo-call saying that order number 8639 was ready.  I 
assumed--and here I will admit fault--that because the wording was entirely 
different from the first robo-call, the reference was to my glasses order.  Ha! 
 Get there...no glasses.  The second call was a different way of saying exactly 
the same thing as the first call.

Item two on the application will be a yet hitherto counted amount of time spent 
gathering more information for [redacted] Medical School, photocopying 
information for [redacted]  Medical School, e mailing information to same.  J. 
said not to pay a tremendous amount of attention to the financial aid form I 
was sent because she was working in L.A. and had declared independence from 
parents.  Comes the response from the school--they expect L. and I to kick in 
fully a third of what we earn. Ha!  Phone call, phone call, phone call. 
Apparently they counted all our retirement funds as available for use and blah 
and blah...no independence allowed...please photocopy this, get that number, 
turn around three times and click your heels ...  I will say that the lady I 
spoke with was very pleasant.  I think she was used to people gaming the system 
and here was naive old me telling them that the Neverbudge was pretty much 
ready for ocean voyaging and really quite valuable.

Item three on the application will be for time spent...far more than I care to 
contemplate...writing and re-writing a self-evaluation.  Orwellian time it 
seems to me.  I expect this application to be denied--within normal limits.

When I was at work yesterday my chair stopped me and asked if I would speak at 
a retirement event for two colleagues.  "Of course," I said, wondering what I 
might say.  I have a week and a day to reflect.  But in the interim, I intend 
to work...if I'm not troubling the universe's bureaucrats too much.

In Costco I bought a new phone system to try.  The advantage is you can make 
cell phone calls on a house phone.  Since long distance is free-ish on our cell 
plan, I often talk to people on mine, but I have to have them repeat a lot.  I 
look forward to better sound.

Or to writing yet another TRF application about time spent returning a phone 
system to Costco, while collecting new glasses.

Happy Beltane.  Do carry on.

David Ritchie,
Portland, 
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[lit-ideas] TRF Application

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