The update
The bed is here! It's soft! It's comfy! It's calling to me! Unfortunately, I still have tons of work to do first. Miles of homework to grade before I sleep.
I threw the cats into the laundry room while the delivery dudes were bringing the bed in and setting it up. That must have made Mama Cat mad, because when I opened the door she ran out and Son Cat was hiding between the hot water heater and the wall. He came out a couple minutes later and ran right under the bed. It took him a few hours to venture onto the bed, but once there (as Youngest Daughter was snuggling in to try the bed out for herself) he was very happy and curled right up for a nap.
As YD said, the bed is "YD tested and Son Cat approved". LOL
Sears is coming Friday to take a gander at my warm refrigerator.
The maintenance dudes showed up a bit early and checked out the ceiling (which, of course, is dry now). They said something about getting the "roofing dudes" to look a little closer at the roof and eaves. Okay. Don't know when that's going to happen.
I put the laptop table together but I can't use it while sitting in my usual chair because it's too tall, and because the chair isn't far enough off the floor. The long leg that is supposed to go under the chair gets pinned, and then I can't move the table back. That's okay. It works great with the bed!
Paid the car mechanic, only $84 which is fantastic considering that's for two cars.
On a frustrating note, one of the cats (I suspect Mama Cat) peed on YD's suitcase that was left by the front door. What does NOT work for removing cat pee smell? Oust spray, laundry detergent, or room spray. Vinegar and water gets some out. Now I am trying the deskunker recipe, H2O2 plus a bit of detergent and baking soda. Hope that works, because otherwise I am going to have to chuck that suitcase.
Back to lecture prep!
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Okay, *now* what?
Youngest Daughter said last night that maybe we are snake bit with this condo. I am beginning to think she may be right. First was the Refrigerator from Mordor. Its replacement: a low end Sears model that freezes just fine, but the refrigerator part isn't staying as cold as I would like. Milk keeps turning into cheese.
Second was the missing bolt for the fourth dinette chair. Haven't been able to find a replacement, and of course the thing was made in Malaysia so there's no way to get a replacement. We make do with three chairs.
Third was the dishwasher swamp. Granted, that was caused by the garbage disposal installation (they blocked the drain for the dishwasher). But I was without a dishwasher for at least a week.
Fourth was the leaky airbed. I've been sleeping on the floor now for quite a few nights. But today that gets fixed when my new REAL bed comes.
Fifth is what I just discovered. While straightening up the place in anticipation of the nice new soft comfy bed, I saw a spider on the ceiling in the living room. I grabbed one of the dinette chairs and a paper towel to smush the beast. When I got up on the chair I saw four large drops of water hanging from the ceiling, and a distinct trail of wet on the plaster. We've been having copious amounts of rain lately. If I had a flashlight I'd go up in the attic and see if there's a leak.
Sigh.
To top it off, last night I thoroughly confused my students--I even confused myself. And my other class is completely disorganized and I am debating putting off the midterm for a week because I don't feel ready, and so I bet the students don't either.
Oh well. Time to call the mechanic who fixed my car last week. He didn't leave a bill, and I've been trying to get a hold of him for a couple of days to find out what I owe him. And then I'll call the landlady and tell her about the warm refrigerator and the leaky ceiling. Fun, wow.
Youngest Daughter said last night that maybe we are snake bit with this condo. I am beginning to think she may be right. First was the Refrigerator from Mordor. Its replacement: a low end Sears model that freezes just fine, but the refrigerator part isn't staying as cold as I would like. Milk keeps turning into cheese.
Second was the missing bolt for the fourth dinette chair. Haven't been able to find a replacement, and of course the thing was made in Malaysia so there's no way to get a replacement. We make do with three chairs.
Third was the dishwasher swamp. Granted, that was caused by the garbage disposal installation (they blocked the drain for the dishwasher). But I was without a dishwasher for at least a week.
Fourth was the leaky airbed. I've been sleeping on the floor now for quite a few nights. But today that gets fixed when my new REAL bed comes.
Fifth is what I just discovered. While straightening up the place in anticipation of the nice new soft comfy bed, I saw a spider on the ceiling in the living room. I grabbed one of the dinette chairs and a paper towel to smush the beast. When I got up on the chair I saw four large drops of water hanging from the ceiling, and a distinct trail of wet on the plaster. We've been having copious amounts of rain lately. If I had a flashlight I'd go up in the attic and see if there's a leak.
Sigh.
To top it off, last night I thoroughly confused my students--I even confused myself. And my other class is completely disorganized and I am debating putting off the midterm for a week because I don't feel ready, and so I bet the students don't either.
Oh well. Time to call the mechanic who fixed my car last week. He didn't leave a bill, and I've been trying to get a hold of him for a couple of days to find out what I owe him. And then I'll call the landlady and tell her about the warm refrigerator and the leaky ceiling. Fun, wow.
Sunday, September 24, 2006
The Compleat Syllabus
Last night I got the first regrading request of the quarter. A student got an 8.5 out of 10 possible points in an assignment that represents about 4% of his total grade. He sent me an email asking me to reconsider his grade, insisting that he had indeed answered the questions posed in the assignment. He hadn't. I sent him a very polite reply, pointing out where he had not met the requirements and assuring him that his less-than-perfect score in this assignment would not significantly affect his final grade.
I also tried to write that regrading an assignment could just as easily result in *lowering* his grade if I found problems I had overlooked the first time, but I couldn't figure out how to word that without making it sound threatening. The thing I neglected to do, and that would have made it easier for me to make that point, was to include such a statement in the syllabus.
The syllabus, as a somewhat formal contract between professor and student, has turned out to be much more than the typical listing of topics, exam dates, and general course information. More and more, it's morphing into a long document that tries to anticipate and proactively mitigate just about every issue we've run into in past classes. For instance, my syllabus for the programming class I taught at my alma mater included the statement that oversleeping was NOT a valid excuse for missing an exam. Odd? Well, yes, except that I had that very issue with a student in an earlier class and figured I'd run into it again--only this time I would be prepared. Sure enough, a student in my programming class overslept and missed the final exam (which took place at 1:00 in the afternoon). When he finally woke up, realized what he'd done, and contacted me to try to arrange a makeup, I was able to point him to that exact statement in the syllabus.
Another such situation is the request for an incomplete. My predecessor for the programming course and three others I taught at my old school used to hand out incompletes like candy, may he rest in peace. While that practice was nice of him, it made following after him an absolute nightmare as I tried to keep track of who was finishing the course and who was taking it over and who was taking it for the first time. My solution was to add the university's guidelines for incompletes to the syllabus. When the students, who assumed I would follow Tom's liberal application of the guidelines, came in the last week of class asking for an incomplete to avoid failing (because they usually had submitted none of the projects or homework) I would simply read them the relevant portion of the syllabus and express my regret that they would have to receive the grade they had earned.
One goodie that cropped up this quarter was submitting homework from another class. In this case, I am giving the student the benefit of the doubt that he made a mistake and submitted the wrong file. It's kind of mindboggling otherwise. And of course, he immediately protested that he was an honorable person who would never plagiarize or cheat. Okay, that's probably true, but if he had opened this file at all he would have seen that 1) it wasn't the right homework, and 2) it had a very large header with a June date listed. So, just in case, the next iteration of my syllabus will have a statement about reusing assignments added to the academic integrity section.
The creativity of students trying to manipulate or beat the system is astounding. I got a request once from a student to increase his final grade from a B to a B+ so he could stay in the graduate program. He had taken my class the previous YEAR. And four months after I had left my alma mater I received an email from the undergraduate dean asking me to revisit the grade of a programming student who was SURE his C- was undeserved (actually, he should have gotten an F; a slow-grading TA didn't catch the student's second plagiarized assignment which, according to the syllabus, would have earned him an F in the course). Result? A statement in the syllabus that no regrading requests will be considered after one week from the date the assignment was returned to the student. And a drastically lower opinion of that undergrad dean.
If my syllabus keeps growing at this rate, it's going to be book-sized before too long. I already require students to formally acknowledge that they read and understood the document; pretty soon I'll have to take an entire class period to go through it. Sigh.
On a non-academic front, my air bed has sprung a leak. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to find myself sleeping on the floor while the mattress billowed around me. So I stopped in at a local mattress place and bought a mattress set, frame, and headboard. Tomorrow I have to call to set up the delivery; it can't come too soon. I figure the air bed is good for about 4 hours before it's too deflated, then I can come out to the living room and sleep in the chair for a while before I get too uncomfortable. It's going to be a long couple of days.
Last night I got the first regrading request of the quarter. A student got an 8.5 out of 10 possible points in an assignment that represents about 4% of his total grade. He sent me an email asking me to reconsider his grade, insisting that he had indeed answered the questions posed in the assignment. He hadn't. I sent him a very polite reply, pointing out where he had not met the requirements and assuring him that his less-than-perfect score in this assignment would not significantly affect his final grade.
I also tried to write that regrading an assignment could just as easily result in *lowering* his grade if I found problems I had overlooked the first time, but I couldn't figure out how to word that without making it sound threatening. The thing I neglected to do, and that would have made it easier for me to make that point, was to include such a statement in the syllabus.
The syllabus, as a somewhat formal contract between professor and student, has turned out to be much more than the typical listing of topics, exam dates, and general course information. More and more, it's morphing into a long document that tries to anticipate and proactively mitigate just about every issue we've run into in past classes. For instance, my syllabus for the programming class I taught at my alma mater included the statement that oversleeping was NOT a valid excuse for missing an exam. Odd? Well, yes, except that I had that very issue with a student in an earlier class and figured I'd run into it again--only this time I would be prepared. Sure enough, a student in my programming class overslept and missed the final exam (which took place at 1:00 in the afternoon). When he finally woke up, realized what he'd done, and contacted me to try to arrange a makeup, I was able to point him to that exact statement in the syllabus.
Another such situation is the request for an incomplete. My predecessor for the programming course and three others I taught at my old school used to hand out incompletes like candy, may he rest in peace. While that practice was nice of him, it made following after him an absolute nightmare as I tried to keep track of who was finishing the course and who was taking it over and who was taking it for the first time. My solution was to add the university's guidelines for incompletes to the syllabus. When the students, who assumed I would follow Tom's liberal application of the guidelines, came in the last week of class asking for an incomplete to avoid failing (because they usually had submitted none of the projects or homework) I would simply read them the relevant portion of the syllabus and express my regret that they would have to receive the grade they had earned.
One goodie that cropped up this quarter was submitting homework from another class. In this case, I am giving the student the benefit of the doubt that he made a mistake and submitted the wrong file. It's kind of mindboggling otherwise. And of course, he immediately protested that he was an honorable person who would never plagiarize or cheat. Okay, that's probably true, but if he had opened this file at all he would have seen that 1) it wasn't the right homework, and 2) it had a very large header with a June date listed. So, just in case, the next iteration of my syllabus will have a statement about reusing assignments added to the academic integrity section.
The creativity of students trying to manipulate or beat the system is astounding. I got a request once from a student to increase his final grade from a B to a B+ so he could stay in the graduate program. He had taken my class the previous YEAR. And four months after I had left my alma mater I received an email from the undergraduate dean asking me to revisit the grade of a programming student who was SURE his C- was undeserved (actually, he should have gotten an F; a slow-grading TA didn't catch the student's second plagiarized assignment which, according to the syllabus, would have earned him an F in the course). Result? A statement in the syllabus that no regrading requests will be considered after one week from the date the assignment was returned to the student. And a drastically lower opinion of that undergrad dean.
If my syllabus keeps growing at this rate, it's going to be book-sized before too long. I already require students to formally acknowledge that they read and understood the document; pretty soon I'll have to take an entire class period to go through it. Sigh.
On a non-academic front, my air bed has sprung a leak. I woke up at 5:30 a.m. to find myself sleeping on the floor while the mattress billowed around me. So I stopped in at a local mattress place and bought a mattress set, frame, and headboard. Tomorrow I have to call to set up the delivery; it can't come too soon. I figure the air bed is good for about 4 hours before it's too deflated, then I can come out to the living room and sleep in the chair for a while before I get too uncomfortable. It's going to be a long couple of days.
Friday, September 22, 2006
I have cake!
Yesterday I met Son and Youngest Daughter for lunch at one of the campus cafeterias. This eatery also has a small convenience store where I usually buy a can of pecans to munch on in my office.
Youngest Daughter, who is on a baking binge, decided to buy a box of angel food cake mix. As the two of us were walking back to my office, we ran into the new interim dean for my college, a very nice lady who I've worked with on a grant over the last year. I introduced YD to the Dean, and YD very politely says hello and shakes hands--then pulls the cake mix out of the bag, shows it to the Dean, and says "I have cake!" The Dean very graciously says how nice, we exchange a few more niceties, and we go on our way.
I still don't know what prompted YD to display her cake mix.....actually, to be completely accurate she should have said "I have pre-cake!" But I am having a lot of fun teasing her that if I don't get tenure I am going to blame it on the cake incident.
Since we don't have an angel food cake pan, we still haven't made the pre-cake. Maybe when we do, we should save a piece for the Dean!
Yesterday I met Son and Youngest Daughter for lunch at one of the campus cafeterias. This eatery also has a small convenience store where I usually buy a can of pecans to munch on in my office.
Youngest Daughter, who is on a baking binge, decided to buy a box of angel food cake mix. As the two of us were walking back to my office, we ran into the new interim dean for my college, a very nice lady who I've worked with on a grant over the last year. I introduced YD to the Dean, and YD very politely says hello and shakes hands--then pulls the cake mix out of the bag, shows it to the Dean, and says "I have cake!" The Dean very graciously says how nice, we exchange a few more niceties, and we go on our way.
I still don't know what prompted YD to display her cake mix.....actually, to be completely accurate she should have said "I have pre-cake!" But I am having a lot of fun teasing her that if I don't get tenure I am going to blame it on the cake incident.
Since we don't have an angel food cake pan, we still haven't made the pre-cake. Maybe when we do, we should save a piece for the Dean!
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Semi-done
Finally finished the lecture and uploaded it. Finished the ASEE presentation and sent it on to get posterized. Towels are washed and dried, although not put away. Garbage is mostly out, two small bags to go. The car is not done yet, but it should be done tomorrow. Answered lots of emails and took Son and YD to the store to get data storage stuff.
I'm giving myself 45 minutes of downtime and then tackling the data mining homework grading. Tomorrow I will need to write the second half of the data mining lecture and figure out the next homework assignment. I'm just barely keeping ahead of that class, so I need to work a little faster. It didn't help that I got no work done last weekend. I can't do that again.
Have tea, will relax. For a while.
Finally finished the lecture and uploaded it. Finished the ASEE presentation and sent it on to get posterized. Towels are washed and dried, although not put away. Garbage is mostly out, two small bags to go. The car is not done yet, but it should be done tomorrow. Answered lots of emails and took Son and YD to the store to get data storage stuff.
I'm giving myself 45 minutes of downtime and then tackling the data mining homework grading. Tomorrow I will need to write the second half of the data mining lecture and figure out the next homework assignment. I'm just barely keeping ahead of that class, so I need to work a little faster. It didn't help that I got no work done last weekend. I can't do that again.
Have tea, will relax. For a while.
Plod on, plod on, plod on
So it's the middle of Week Three. Not that anyone is counting.....anyway, I've got several things I need to accomplish today.
On the home front, feed the kitties (done), wash the towels (in progress), clean the kitchen (mostly done--the dishwasher has to be emptied but that's YD's job), put the garbage out (tonight). Also check on the progress of car repairs.
On the work front, finish the ASEE presentation, write and upload tonight's robust design lecture, grade the data mining homework, and write tomorrow's data mining lecture. Oh! And get the ball rolling to register for the INFORMS conference, book the hotel, etc.
If I have any oomph left, write another page for INFORMS.
Work, work, work. Just like Cinderella!
Last night the kitties were sleeping next to each other on the chair in the living room. They don't usually sleep anywhere near each other, so that was both memorable and cute. I warned YD about Kitty Son's jumping on the stove so she is careful with hot burners.
Kitty Son is wandering around meowing mournfully because the washer is going and he hates it.
Well, I'd better stop procrastinating and get something done. It's almost 11:00!!
So it's the middle of Week Three. Not that anyone is counting.....anyway, I've got several things I need to accomplish today.
On the home front, feed the kitties (done), wash the towels (in progress), clean the kitchen (mostly done--the dishwasher has to be emptied but that's YD's job), put the garbage out (tonight). Also check on the progress of car repairs.
On the work front, finish the ASEE presentation, write and upload tonight's robust design lecture, grade the data mining homework, and write tomorrow's data mining lecture. Oh! And get the ball rolling to register for the INFORMS conference, book the hotel, etc.
If I have any oomph left, write another page for INFORMS.
Work, work, work. Just like Cinderella!
Last night the kitties were sleeping next to each other on the chair in the living room. They don't usually sleep anywhere near each other, so that was both memorable and cute. I warned YD about Kitty Son's jumping on the stove so she is careful with hot burners.
Kitty Son is wandering around meowing mournfully because the washer is going and he hates it.
Well, I'd better stop procrastinating and get something done. It's almost 11:00!!
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
Cars, cars---can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em
Saturday's quilt show was amazing. The quilts were beautiful, with some just simply breathtaking. But the highlight of the show was the church's sanctuary--where the pulpit, the communion table, and every single pew was draped with colorful quilts made for newborns and sick babies. It was a profusion of color and love that was absolutely amazing.
Sunday the "check engine" light came on again, but went off later in the day. Son met us at the ice skating rink for a few minutes, which was nice. But later, he called me to tell me his brake light went on. So yesterday I picked up his car and drove it to the shop. The light turned out to be a slack emergency brake cable, thank God. I also had them check out his battery and figure out why his car bucks around 45 mph. The general consensus is that the battery and charging system are fine, and that the tires need balancing. I'm glad that it's only routine maintenance stuff that needs to be done. We swapped cars and now mine is in to figure out what's going on with the engine light. Hopefully it's nothing but the effects of lots of rain.
I woke up at 6:30 this morning to the sound of Kitty Son puking. Got up and threw him into the bathroom just in time to avoid vomit on the carpet. Whew! Afterwards he came out to the kitchen while I was loading the dishwasher and sat on the stove, INSIDE my formerly clean frying pan. Bad, bad Kitty Son. Kitty Mom is busy annihilating a green toy mouse.
Today is groundbreaking for my college's new building. I'll go as long as it's not raining, but it looks threatening right now.
Saturday's quilt show was amazing. The quilts were beautiful, with some just simply breathtaking. But the highlight of the show was the church's sanctuary--where the pulpit, the communion table, and every single pew was draped with colorful quilts made for newborns and sick babies. It was a profusion of color and love that was absolutely amazing.
Sunday the "check engine" light came on again, but went off later in the day. Son met us at the ice skating rink for a few minutes, which was nice. But later, he called me to tell me his brake light went on. So yesterday I picked up his car and drove it to the shop. The light turned out to be a slack emergency brake cable, thank God. I also had them check out his battery and figure out why his car bucks around 45 mph. The general consensus is that the battery and charging system are fine, and that the tires need balancing. I'm glad that it's only routine maintenance stuff that needs to be done. We swapped cars and now mine is in to figure out what's going on with the engine light. Hopefully it's nothing but the effects of lots of rain.
I woke up at 6:30 this morning to the sound of Kitty Son puking. Got up and threw him into the bathroom just in time to avoid vomit on the carpet. Whew! Afterwards he came out to the kitchen while I was loading the dishwasher and sat on the stove, INSIDE my formerly clean frying pan. Bad, bad Kitty Son. Kitty Mom is busy annihilating a green toy mouse.
Today is groundbreaking for my college's new building. I'll go as long as it's not raining, but it looks threatening right now.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Up and down, up and down
I used to think being a grad student was like being on a rollercoaster. So is being an academic, but then again so is life in general.
Up: Dishwasher is fixed. The drain was blocked by the garbage disposal, which is what I suspected because the dishwasher was working just fine until they installed the disposal.
Down: After the plumber left, I went to pick up YD from her class. Turned the car on, backed out, started driving down the street, and saw that the "Check engine" light was blinking. I immediately pulled over and stopped the car. Waited a minute or two, then turned it on again. This time the light was on, but steady. The car wasn't running rough (although it had shuddered once when I first started driving it) and I know it's okay to drive with the steady light on, so I went ahead and got YD. When I came home, I called the mechanic I usually go to--only to find out he's closed until Tuesday. So then, I called the mechanic we took Spouse's car to (also for a "Check Engine" light) and he said he couldn't look at it until Monday. I was bummed, because it cost $163 for Spouse's car, and I would like just ONE MONTH without car repair bills.
Up: Mom and I made plans to go to a quilt show on Saturday, and she is going to drop me off at Uni so I can pick up Son's car to use while mine is being fixed.
Down: Spouse called, and his "Check Engine" light went back on, an hour before mine did. We hypothesize that somehow the cars have a disease they are catching from each other.
Up: Took YD to her voice lesson. She did good, and liked it. I took my computer with me and wrote a page of the conference paper while I was waiting.
Down: Parked in the parking garage near the music school and THEN realized between us we have not one red cent to pay for the parking fee. I really need to start carrying some cash.
Up: They take Visa.
Down: YD has to buy an expensive book on singing. And an Italian-English dictionary.
Up: Parking is free after 5:30! And, while driving YD back home (with stops at the gas station ($$), bookstore ($) and the grocery store ($)) I realize the Check Engine light has gone off!!
So we ended yesterday on an Up note. Life is good.
I used to think being a grad student was like being on a rollercoaster. So is being an academic, but then again so is life in general.
Up: Dishwasher is fixed. The drain was blocked by the garbage disposal, which is what I suspected because the dishwasher was working just fine until they installed the disposal.
Down: After the plumber left, I went to pick up YD from her class. Turned the car on, backed out, started driving down the street, and saw that the "Check engine" light was blinking. I immediately pulled over and stopped the car. Waited a minute or two, then turned it on again. This time the light was on, but steady. The car wasn't running rough (although it had shuddered once when I first started driving it) and I know it's okay to drive with the steady light on, so I went ahead and got YD. When I came home, I called the mechanic I usually go to--only to find out he's closed until Tuesday. So then, I called the mechanic we took Spouse's car to (also for a "Check Engine" light) and he said he couldn't look at it until Monday. I was bummed, because it cost $163 for Spouse's car, and I would like just ONE MONTH without car repair bills.
Up: Mom and I made plans to go to a quilt show on Saturday, and she is going to drop me off at Uni so I can pick up Son's car to use while mine is being fixed.
Down: Spouse called, and his "Check Engine" light went back on, an hour before mine did. We hypothesize that somehow the cars have a disease they are catching from each other.
Up: Took YD to her voice lesson. She did good, and liked it. I took my computer with me and wrote a page of the conference paper while I was waiting.
Down: Parked in the parking garage near the music school and THEN realized between us we have not one red cent to pay for the parking fee. I really need to start carrying some cash.
Up: They take Visa.
Down: YD has to buy an expensive book on singing. And an Italian-English dictionary.
Up: Parking is free after 5:30! And, while driving YD back home (with stops at the gas station ($$), bookstore ($) and the grocery store ($)) I realize the Check Engine light has gone off!!
So we ended yesterday on an Up note. Life is good.
Thursday, September 14, 2006
I have survived Week Two
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Eight weeks to go.
It's been an eventful week. Monday night I brought a brand new microwave that we bought at Sam's to my robust design class. We were going to make eight bags of popcorn for an experiment. Four bags later, the popcorn wasn't popping and the oven was getting hot. At the fifth bag, it shut down completely. So much for my popcorn experiment! I posted the data from last year and gave up on it.
My data mining course is going okay, we do have some fun although today a kid in the second row just put his head down on his notebook and nodded off. At least I finally got access to the Blackboard site so I can post datasets and homework descriptions etc etc
Kitties are doing well, and MamaCat, other than one abortive run at the front door, has not tried to get out. She is treating SonCat better, especially since we got her some cheese mice to play with.
Youngest Daughter is taking college-level Italian and is finding the pace quite a bit faster than she expected. She starts her voice lessons tomorrow night, with the mom of a famous opera star! We are so excited! It's going to cost an arm and a leg!
Other news--while the new refrigerator is working just fine, the dishwasher decided to stop draining. Tomorrow the plumber comes to fix that, hopefully. Spouse's car is fixed and inspected. Eldest Daughter's glasses broke which is a pain because she is no longer covered under our insurance.
Tomorrow is write and research day. I need, need, need to get a lot done for that conference in November. If you see me online, tell me to get to work!!
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Eight weeks to go.
It's been an eventful week. Monday night I brought a brand new microwave that we bought at Sam's to my robust design class. We were going to make eight bags of popcorn for an experiment. Four bags later, the popcorn wasn't popping and the oven was getting hot. At the fifth bag, it shut down completely. So much for my popcorn experiment! I posted the data from last year and gave up on it.
My data mining course is going okay, we do have some fun although today a kid in the second row just put his head down on his notebook and nodded off. At least I finally got access to the Blackboard site so I can post datasets and homework descriptions etc etc
Kitties are doing well, and MamaCat, other than one abortive run at the front door, has not tried to get out. She is treating SonCat better, especially since we got her some cheese mice to play with.
Youngest Daughter is taking college-level Italian and is finding the pace quite a bit faster than she expected. She starts her voice lessons tomorrow night, with the mom of a famous opera star! We are so excited! It's going to cost an arm and a leg!
Other news--while the new refrigerator is working just fine, the dishwasher decided to stop draining. Tomorrow the plumber comes to fix that, hopefully. Spouse's car is fixed and inspected. Eldest Daughter's glasses broke which is a pain because she is no longer covered under our insurance.
Tomorrow is write and research day. I need, need, need to get a lot done for that conference in November. If you see me online, tell me to get to work!!
Monday, September 11, 2006
Sunday, September 10, 2006
Kitty follies
Oh this is fun. Kitty Son got himself shut up in the utility room and I heard this stereo meowing going on around 5:30 a.m. We had put Kitty Mom in the second bedroom because she was hissing and charging at Kitty Son (we've been squirting her with water when she does that, and it's kind of funny to hear her stop mid-hiss. Then she looks around to see where the water came from. So far, she's not found out). So he's across the hall meowing and she's echoing him.
I let them out and sat at the table to work on lectures since I was awake anyway. All of a sudden I realized it was very quiet--and I had no idea where they were. I looked in the utility room and saw Kitty Son curled up on a scrap of carpet next to the dryer, and Kitty Mom curled up a foot away, wedged between the hot water tank and the furnace. Ooooooooooooookay.
After venturing out for some post-cereal milk treats, they've both gone back to their hideouts. At least Kitty Mom isn't snarking at Son.
But now I'm REALLY sleepy, having not gotten either a full night's sleep or a restful partial one. YD has skating this afternoon, so I suppose I should bestir myself and get cleaned up, then start frying the Italian sausage we are going to have for dinner afterwards. Dang, I forgot to bring Spouse's handheld TV back with me. That means I miss the football game! NOOOOOOOOOO!
The pants to my summer jammies came out of the dryer with a huge, long rip that is unfixable. Sigh.
Oh this is fun. Kitty Son got himself shut up in the utility room and I heard this stereo meowing going on around 5:30 a.m. We had put Kitty Mom in the second bedroom because she was hissing and charging at Kitty Son (we've been squirting her with water when she does that, and it's kind of funny to hear her stop mid-hiss. Then she looks around to see where the water came from. So far, she's not found out). So he's across the hall meowing and she's echoing him.
I let them out and sat at the table to work on lectures since I was awake anyway. All of a sudden I realized it was very quiet--and I had no idea where they were. I looked in the utility room and saw Kitty Son curled up on a scrap of carpet next to the dryer, and Kitty Mom curled up a foot away, wedged between the hot water tank and the furnace. Ooooooooooooookay.
After venturing out for some post-cereal milk treats, they've both gone back to their hideouts. At least Kitty Mom isn't snarking at Son.
But now I'm REALLY sleepy, having not gotten either a full night's sleep or a restful partial one. YD has skating this afternoon, so I suppose I should bestir myself and get cleaned up, then start frying the Italian sausage we are going to have for dinner afterwards. Dang, I forgot to bring Spouse's handheld TV back with me. That means I miss the football game! NOOOOOOOOOO!
The pants to my summer jammies came out of the dryer with a huge, long rip that is unfixable. Sigh.
Saturday, September 09, 2006
There be felines here
We brought the kitties here today. Originally, we were going to Youngest Daughter's voice audition and then heading back to hometown to spend the night. We planned to bring the cats back on Sunday afternoon and then YD has skating lessons.
BUT, Spouse's car has a "Check engine soon" light on, and could not get his car inspected because of that warning light. So we drove it back here and dropped if off at my dad's favorite repair shop. Therefore, kitties are now here.
Mama Cat has discovered the sliding glass doors and is staring outside into the dark. Son Cat is hiding in the closet behind my cello. So far, so good. :-)
The new refrigerator is very nice and we bought a microwave too so we are pretty much set for appliances although I am coveting a rice cooker. YD made brownies yesterday and they are very yummy albeit almost gone.
I am more tired than I really should be. However, I need to get moving on this week's writing: three lectures (two data mining, one robust design), some work done on that conference presentation, and at least half a page on the XML paper. Crack that whip!
BTW Happy Anniversary to my two friends who are celebrating today. Congrats!!
We brought the kitties here today. Originally, we were going to Youngest Daughter's voice audition and then heading back to hometown to spend the night. We planned to bring the cats back on Sunday afternoon and then YD has skating lessons.
BUT, Spouse's car has a "Check engine soon" light on, and could not get his car inspected because of that warning light. So we drove it back here and dropped if off at my dad's favorite repair shop. Therefore, kitties are now here.
Mama Cat has discovered the sliding glass doors and is staring outside into the dark. Son Cat is hiding in the closet behind my cello. So far, so good. :-)
The new refrigerator is very nice and we bought a microwave too so we are pretty much set for appliances although I am coveting a rice cooker. YD made brownies yesterday and they are very yummy albeit almost gone.
I am more tired than I really should be. However, I need to get moving on this week's writing: three lectures (two data mining, one robust design), some work done on that conference presentation, and at least half a page on the XML paper. Crack that whip!
BTW Happy Anniversary to my two friends who are celebrating today. Congrats!!
Friday, September 08, 2006
Waiting, waiting, waiting
For the new refrigerator. And for my baked potatoes to get done. Today the maintenance guys came and fixed the sticky door, caulked the sink, and installed a new garbage disposal. AND they hauled away the stinky refrigerator. Yay!
Minor annoyances: I realized that Youngest Daughter's skating lessons, which start Sunday, will interfere with my major fall entertainment: football. Will have to grab hubby's small handheld TV and take it to the rink with me to watch my guys while she skates. 2) I tried to register my car and buy a reserved parking permit on the new parking office website. Got all the way to the very last screen and got an error. So now, when I log back in, my car is not registered and it doesn't show the payroll deduction payment choice. Grrrr! 3) I got a lecture done today but no research, which is the main reason for not going to the office on Fridays.
Tomorrow we go back to the home city after YD's voice audition. I need to pack up some more things to bring here, including the kitties. Spouse thinks bringing Mama Cat is a bad idea, because she is an outdoor kitty right now (and has been one for all of her 10 years). My concern is yes, she won't adapt well to being indoors all the time, but on the other hand the neighborhood kids are going after her. A couple weeks ago one started chasing her down our driveway WHILE I WAS WATCHING, and when I told him to leave her alone he responded with "F***ing Honky!" So I would much rather get her out of that area. We'll see.
Here's hoping Ralph Phillips, the cop-killer, gets caught today, dead or alive.
For the new refrigerator. And for my baked potatoes to get done. Today the maintenance guys came and fixed the sticky door, caulked the sink, and installed a new garbage disposal. AND they hauled away the stinky refrigerator. Yay!
Minor annoyances: I realized that Youngest Daughter's skating lessons, which start Sunday, will interfere with my major fall entertainment: football. Will have to grab hubby's small handheld TV and take it to the rink with me to watch my guys while she skates. 2) I tried to register my car and buy a reserved parking permit on the new parking office website. Got all the way to the very last screen and got an error. So now, when I log back in, my car is not registered and it doesn't show the payroll deduction payment choice. Grrrr! 3) I got a lecture done today but no research, which is the main reason for not going to the office on Fridays.
Tomorrow we go back to the home city after YD's voice audition. I need to pack up some more things to bring here, including the kitties. Spouse thinks bringing Mama Cat is a bad idea, because she is an outdoor kitty right now (and has been one for all of her 10 years). My concern is yes, she won't adapt well to being indoors all the time, but on the other hand the neighborhood kids are going after her. A couple weeks ago one started chasing her down our driveway WHILE I WAS WATCHING, and when I told him to leave her alone he responded with "F***ing Honky!" So I would much rather get her out of that area. We'll see.
Here's hoping Ralph Phillips, the cop-killer, gets caught today, dead or alive.
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Mordor has fallen!
Today I called the property manager to tell her about the refrigerator and the sticky door. She didn't sound too surprised that the Refrigerator From Mordor smelled badly, and came over around 3-ish to check it out. And out it went, onto the lawn to await disposal. THE STENCH IS GONE! YAY!!
But I won't get a new one until Friday, so it's ice and cooler time for another couple of days. They are going to fix the door, caulk the sink, and install the garbage disposal then too.
So, on the work front: one of my students in the M-W class asked if we could go to a one-day-a-week format (4 hours on Monday) because of a conflict he had with another course. He is an adult student trying to finish his Master's degree in the spring, so if he couldn't take the two courses this quarter he would not be able to finish until next November. I asked the others if that was okay with them, and most said sure. One student said he would prefer the original schedule, but if he was the only one to balk, that he would bow to the majority opinion. I didn't want to do anything that didn't suit the whole class, so I thought about the issue and decided to go with a blended course.
A blended course has a mix of face-to-face meetings and online components. The online part can be synchronous or not. The advantage to this setup is that we are moving this set of courses to an online venue anyway, to increase the available audience, and thus I can test out what works and doesn't work online. The other advantage is that I won't have to be teaching four evenings a week. Plus, both students who voiced concern over the schedule are accommodated. I think this will work out well.
My data mining class started tonight, and it seemed to go okay. They laughed at my jokes, but that could have been out of pity!
Bad news: it's only the second day of the quarter and I am already tired, ha ha.
I miss Eldest Daughter, who went home today to the State Too Very Far Away. It was so wonderful to have her here.
Today I called the property manager to tell her about the refrigerator and the sticky door. She didn't sound too surprised that the Refrigerator From Mordor smelled badly, and came over around 3-ish to check it out. And out it went, onto the lawn to await disposal. THE STENCH IS GONE! YAY!!
But I won't get a new one until Friday, so it's ice and cooler time for another couple of days. They are going to fix the door, caulk the sink, and install the garbage disposal then too.
So, on the work front: one of my students in the M-W class asked if we could go to a one-day-a-week format (4 hours on Monday) because of a conflict he had with another course. He is an adult student trying to finish his Master's degree in the spring, so if he couldn't take the two courses this quarter he would not be able to finish until next November. I asked the others if that was okay with them, and most said sure. One student said he would prefer the original schedule, but if he was the only one to balk, that he would bow to the majority opinion. I didn't want to do anything that didn't suit the whole class, so I thought about the issue and decided to go with a blended course.
A blended course has a mix of face-to-face meetings and online components. The online part can be synchronous or not. The advantage to this setup is that we are moving this set of courses to an online venue anyway, to increase the available audience, and thus I can test out what works and doesn't work online. The other advantage is that I won't have to be teaching four evenings a week. Plus, both students who voiced concern over the schedule are accommodated. I think this will work out well.
My data mining class started tonight, and it seemed to go okay. They laughed at my jokes, but that could have been out of pity!
Bad news: it's only the second day of the quarter and I am already tired, ha ha.
I miss Eldest Daughter, who went home today to the State Too Very Far Away. It was so wonderful to have her here.
Monday, September 04, 2006
Do I HAVE to get up?
It's Labor Day. It's a holiday. Can anyone explain to me why my school is starting classes on a federal holiday? I probably shouldn't be surprised; one colleague told me that a couple of years ago the school scheduled classes on the 4th of July and the provost expected that professors would be teaching that evening. Are they nuts?
Anyway, we are sort of moved in to the condo, with a few glitches here and there. The big glitch is the Refrigerator From Mordor. I say Mordor because Hell only smells like brimstone, and this appliance smells much worse than that. I have washed the insides (or as much as I could stand to do without barfing). I have draped citrus-scented cleaning wipes all over the freezer and refrigerator. I have put in boxes of baking soda. I bought activated charcoal. I've even tried the pan of vinegar trick. It just smells worse and worse. The only thing I left in the refrigerator was the gallon of milk. Last night I pulled that out, washed off the outside of the container (which smelled like Mordor), and plopped it in the cooler I brought from home. Unfortunately, I won't be able to call the management company until tomorrow--so I will have to get more ice today. I refuse to open that appliance and release that poisonous fume again. Gag.
The other glitches are relatively minor. 1) We are missing a screw for one of the dinette set chairs. We tried to find a replacement at Home Depot, but they didn't have the right size. I'll probably run over to Lowe's and see if I can find one there. 2) The vertical blinds on the patio doors are jammed and I can't rotate them, but that's no biggie. 3) The garbage disposal is missing, but I got a note from the management company rep (left on my door Sunday) that they want to come in and install a new one, plus recaulk the bathroom sink. 4) The door to my bedroom sticks and is difficult to close. And 5) I think I blew out the baffles on my airbed because while I was filling it I ran out to the truck to look for my phone and I think it overfilled while I was not paying attention to it (dumb, dumb, dumb). This morning it was very low on air. Hopefully it will be okay because I really don't want to buy yet another airbed, and I don't have money to buy a mattress set.
Today Youngest Daughter starts her Italian classes at my uni. I have a class scheduled at 6 p.m., but all I am going to do is hand out the syllabus and send them home. It's a holiday, for Pete's sake.
Oh, something strange--we got the final instructions for the ASEE conference in Brazil. It's a POSTER session, not a paper presentation. Okay, I knew it said poster session all along, but what was weird to me was that they required a full, peer-reviewed, paper. I've never seen that. Poor colleague was all upset but I think we can just take the presentation he'd put together, finish editing it, and use that for the poster. He is meeting me Wednesday to talk about it. It's bizarre, but then again I've not been impressed with ASEE so maybe it's par for the course.
It's Labor Day. It's a holiday. Can anyone explain to me why my school is starting classes on a federal holiday? I probably shouldn't be surprised; one colleague told me that a couple of years ago the school scheduled classes on the 4th of July and the provost expected that professors would be teaching that evening. Are they nuts?
Anyway, we are sort of moved in to the condo, with a few glitches here and there. The big glitch is the Refrigerator From Mordor. I say Mordor because Hell only smells like brimstone, and this appliance smells much worse than that. I have washed the insides (or as much as I could stand to do without barfing). I have draped citrus-scented cleaning wipes all over the freezer and refrigerator. I have put in boxes of baking soda. I bought activated charcoal. I've even tried the pan of vinegar trick. It just smells worse and worse. The only thing I left in the refrigerator was the gallon of milk. Last night I pulled that out, washed off the outside of the container (which smelled like Mordor), and plopped it in the cooler I brought from home. Unfortunately, I won't be able to call the management company until tomorrow--so I will have to get more ice today. I refuse to open that appliance and release that poisonous fume again. Gag.
The other glitches are relatively minor. 1) We are missing a screw for one of the dinette set chairs. We tried to find a replacement at Home Depot, but they didn't have the right size. I'll probably run over to Lowe's and see if I can find one there. 2) The vertical blinds on the patio doors are jammed and I can't rotate them, but that's no biggie. 3) The garbage disposal is missing, but I got a note from the management company rep (left on my door Sunday) that they want to come in and install a new one, plus recaulk the bathroom sink. 4) The door to my bedroom sticks and is difficult to close. And 5) I think I blew out the baffles on my airbed because while I was filling it I ran out to the truck to look for my phone and I think it overfilled while I was not paying attention to it (dumb, dumb, dumb). This morning it was very low on air. Hopefully it will be okay because I really don't want to buy yet another airbed, and I don't have money to buy a mattress set.
Today Youngest Daughter starts her Italian classes at my uni. I have a class scheduled at 6 p.m., but all I am going to do is hand out the syllabus and send them home. It's a holiday, for Pete's sake.
Oh, something strange--we got the final instructions for the ASEE conference in Brazil. It's a POSTER session, not a paper presentation. Okay, I knew it said poster session all along, but what was weird to me was that they required a full, peer-reviewed, paper. I've never seen that. Poor colleague was all upset but I think we can just take the presentation he'd put together, finish editing it, and use that for the poster. He is meeting me Wednesday to talk about it. It's bizarre, but then again I've not been impressed with ASEE so maybe it's par for the course.
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