WRITING 158: GAMES WE PLAY, 5

DESPITE MY CONTRACT FOR 4, THE BOSS HAS UNILATERALLY INCREASED MY WORKLOAD TO 4.5 FOR THE PAST FOUR YEARS. THIS IS BLATANT BULLY: HE KNOWS I AS JUNIOR CANNOT ARGUE AGAINST THIS INJUSTICE.

BUT NOW IT IS A DIFFERENT TIME. I HAVE MY SECURITY AND I WON’T PUT UP WITH THE BULLY ANY LONGER. ALSO, NOW IS A GOOD TIMING. ALREADY, HE IS CHARGED FOR SEVERAL VIOLATIONS. LACK OF SUPPORT, HE IS IN A PRECARIOUS STATE, WORRYING THAT HE MAY LOSE THE POSITION. SO, PUT IN HIS SHOES, THE LAST THING HE WANTS IS ANOTHER COMPLAINT/CHARGE FILED AGAINST HIM.

OF COURSE, HE MAY STILL PLAY NASTY. AFTER ALL, HE HATES ME SINCE DAY ONE. THE WORST OUTCOME IS THAT HE REFUSES, FOR HE DOES NOT WANT TO LOOK WEAK STILL. AGREEING ON MY TERM WILL ANGER THE REST: AFTER ALL, WHY THEY SHOULD TEACH 4.5?

BUT HE WILL ALSO HAVE TO CONSIDER, WITH FAIR CERTAINTY, THIS TIME I WILL NOT LET IT GO WITHOUT PUTTING UP A FIGHT—I WILL SURELY FILE THE CHARGE, THE ACTION I AM READY TO TAKE.

WITH THAT CONVICTION, I EMAIL HIM TODAY. NOW THE BALL IS IN HIS COURT. LET’S SEE HOW HE PLAYS THE GAME.

—-
DEAR Y,

I HOPE YOU ARE DOING WELL.

I AM WRITING REGARDING MY TEACHING LOAD. MY CONTRACT SPECIFIES THAT

“YOUR TEACHING LOAD WILL CONSIST OF THREE QUARTER COURSES IN THE FIRST TWO YEARS OF YOUR APPOINTMENT AND FOUR QUARTER COURSES BEGINNING IN YOUR THIRD YEAR WITH SUBSEQUENT REVIEW OF TEACHING LOAD AT EACH MERIT REVIEW.”

THE UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN ME AND THEN DEAN DS IS THAT, AS LONG AS I PASS MY MERIT REVIEW, MY TEACHING LOAD REMAINS FOUR.

SINCE I GOT MY PROMOTION (EFFECTIVE FROM JULY 1, 2015), ACCORDING TO THE CONTRACT, MY TEACHING LOAD SHOULD BE 4, NOT 4.5, FROM YEAR 15/16 TILL NEXT MERIT REVIEW. I HOPE THE SCHOOL MAKE THE CORRECTION.

YOUR CONSIDERATION IS MUCH APPRECIATED.

BEST REGARDS,

ACTION415

[KEY WEST, FL, MARCH 2015]

WRITING: NOTES ON AO

This morning I had a discussion with A, mainly on the pooling equilibrium.

The basic model is as follows. The supplier S has two distribution channels: direct sell to the end consumers, and through a retailer R. The retailer is more efficient in retail operations with less retail cost. However, the retail channel suffers efficiency loss due to  double marginalization (DM) (we assume that the channel is managed by the wholesale price contract). In addition, the supplier’s type of retail cost is his private information, high or low. The consumer demand is linear. Both parties are risk-neutral and profit maximizing.

We frame the problem as a signaling game. First, S learns his type and sets wholesale price . Second, R orders quantity . Finally, S delivers and sells directly to the market. Hence the market clearing price is . The payoffs for R and S are
and , respectively.

A will have a draft this weekend. Afterwards I need one more week to finalize it.

[Key West, FL, Spring, 2015]

WRITING: ON HABITS, 2

Habits are self-reinforcing. The actions taken now affect not only today, but also future. Once we form a habit, its repeated nature will set you on an auto-pilot mode to the destination.

Therefore, habits are self-fulfilling prophecies: once you set the direction, the mere belief will eventually lead to that very predicted outcome. This mechanism implies that, to develop a habit, we may first talk ourselves into believing its rosy outcome. Then the very belief will set offs chain of repeated actions fulfilling that prediction.

[Seven Mile Bridge (featured in movie True Lies), Key West, FL, March, 2015]

Day 97, 7pt, 12.23W:

jog: 3m;
learn: 0;
swim: 21r;
pay Cox cable $188 ($100 installation), cancel it if no more watching;
set up Cox auto pay $90;
set up utility auto pay $26;
received the FasTrack device for the toll road;
GC: submitted all the documents, 5pm-8pm;

Plan for Day 98,
1. TYM: day2 writing;
2. enroll healthcare online;
3. clean up mails;

[Key West, FL, March, 2015]