Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Redbuds in Bloom
We had a short period of rain today and it now officially smells like spring. The redbuds are just gorgeous.
I emailed the city again this morning about the drainage blockage dating back to some construction behind us over a year ago. About an hour later, I saw a city car out front and had a nice conversation with people who seem to understand what needs to happen so that I'm not living in a swamp.
And there was the potential for more good news but the mud flaps I've been waiting 11 months for did not fit in an acceptable manner even to the GM service techs. There was double-sided sticky tape and gaps that would not only collect dirt and gravel and road debris but also encouraging the paint finish to get scraped up. So, back on went the generic mudflaps. The engineers have just had trouble resolving the new style running boards with the mudflap design.
Another situation is resolving itself and I am not left being the bad guy and have been in fact thanked for my extensive efforts on behalf of this organization.
I was able to get in some more heavy duty weedeating but will not head out to the farm given the hail possibilities. I had hoped to hunt for morels since they seem to be popping up all over. We're not supposed to get any super warm nights so maybe I can find them next week.
The best news from yesterday is that I finished all my grading even though it took me until after 7pm to do so. But I came home without that weighing on my mind. It's continuing to amaze me how students think grades are a debate and how students spend more time gaming the system and losing in the short term instead of understanding that the instructor operates on more than just raw points. But sending a 300-word email about less than 5 points is probably not a student's best option - but pointing that out to them only creates more havoc. So, I offered to do an entire regrade of all assignments and adjust all late papers instead of just this student's latest one. He's forgetting how much slack he has been cut and so arguing about 5 points that won't actually make a difference in the hundreds of points being offered is just not the best option. It's also interesting to see how some students think just by doing the work and meeting minimum standards earns them an A while most of us consider that average, or C.
I'm off to the Western Social Science Association meeting in Denver tomorrow. An econ colleague is going with me and two old friends and at least one new friend that I met at the OAH will be there.
Oh, I talked to Doc the other afternoon about Beau and Maggie. I pushed hard enough that he finally said he'd like me to get a puppy so that I have more influence in forming their personalities. It's made me think a bit more along with the advice he gave about how to check them out before I bring them home. I'm supposed to talk to their foster mom tonight and hopefully that will help me come closer to figuring out whether I am better as a one-dog house or a two-dog house. In any case, I have a room reserved for the first weekend of the month and will hang out with friends in St. Louis after I meet the dogs and do some thinking about what works best for everyone involved. This is so hard but worth it in the end. I can't believe I haven't had a dog at home for 5 months . . . it just doesn't feel the same - even though I'm trying to stay busier than usual.
I emailed the city again this morning about the drainage blockage dating back to some construction behind us over a year ago. About an hour later, I saw a city car out front and had a nice conversation with people who seem to understand what needs to happen so that I'm not living in a swamp.
And there was the potential for more good news but the mud flaps I've been waiting 11 months for did not fit in an acceptable manner even to the GM service techs. There was double-sided sticky tape and gaps that would not only collect dirt and gravel and road debris but also encouraging the paint finish to get scraped up. So, back on went the generic mudflaps. The engineers have just had trouble resolving the new style running boards with the mudflap design.
Another situation is resolving itself and I am not left being the bad guy and have been in fact thanked for my extensive efforts on behalf of this organization.
I was able to get in some more heavy duty weedeating but will not head out to the farm given the hail possibilities. I had hoped to hunt for morels since they seem to be popping up all over. We're not supposed to get any super warm nights so maybe I can find them next week.
The best news from yesterday is that I finished all my grading even though it took me until after 7pm to do so. But I came home without that weighing on my mind. It's continuing to amaze me how students think grades are a debate and how students spend more time gaming the system and losing in the short term instead of understanding that the instructor operates on more than just raw points. But sending a 300-word email about less than 5 points is probably not a student's best option - but pointing that out to them only creates more havoc. So, I offered to do an entire regrade of all assignments and adjust all late papers instead of just this student's latest one. He's forgetting how much slack he has been cut and so arguing about 5 points that won't actually make a difference in the hundreds of points being offered is just not the best option. It's also interesting to see how some students think just by doing the work and meeting minimum standards earns them an A while most of us consider that average, or C.
I'm off to the Western Social Science Association meeting in Denver tomorrow. An econ colleague is going with me and two old friends and at least one new friend that I met at the OAH will be there.
Oh, I talked to Doc the other afternoon about Beau and Maggie. I pushed hard enough that he finally said he'd like me to get a puppy so that I have more influence in forming their personalities. It's made me think a bit more along with the advice he gave about how to check them out before I bring them home. I'm supposed to talk to their foster mom tonight and hopefully that will help me come closer to figuring out whether I am better as a one-dog house or a two-dog house. In any case, I have a room reserved for the first weekend of the month and will hang out with friends in St. Louis after I meet the dogs and do some thinking about what works best for everyone involved. This is so hard but worth it in the end. I can't believe I haven't had a dog at home for 5 months . . . it just doesn't feel the same - even though I'm trying to stay busier than usual.
Labels: adoptions, city, classes, conferences, Denver, dog, dogs, drainage, grading, students, teaching, weedeating
Monday, April 07, 2008
Sunday in the woods
More morel hunting yesterday but later online research indicates we need some more warm days before they will pop. So, maybe next weekend will be a fruitful harvest of morels.
I spent a few hours at the humane society again. The university's biology club was there to walk dogs and play with the animals - it was a great day to get them outside. I also helped the shelter put their upcoming mall adoption dates on their website. Hopefully these will be more and more successful when people see these great animals just looking for a home. Andy, the Cairn Terrier, let me sit and pet him for awhile although he didn't want to know he liked me. Most impressive, however, was Dr. Pepper's peering out at me when I was sitting with several groups of dogs in the middle glassed in area between the main office and the kennels. I asked Aaron about getting Dr. Pepper out and he said he had probably been overstimulated already. But, just before I left, Dr. Pepper let me pet him through the kennel gate door. What a sweetie.
It was also a great day to do some outdoor work so I mowed for the first time and took my second big stab at the heavy duty blade weedeating along the back fenceline. My second trip to get gas (this time for the weedeater) proved to be very beneficial as I ran into my plumber who was able to get me connected on some other repair problems I'm dealing with. He does a great job - he sends people in an emergency right away and, in return, I give him a window of opportunity when I do things like poor a burned batch of candy I'm making down the sink and ruin the garbage disposal (at least it was 15 years old and not brand new).
This morning has been spent grading given that I am apparently not enticing the grading fairy to show up.
P.S. I'm actually beginning to feel like I have actual weekends like the real world and don't feel overwhelmed with working the whole time (although grading was bearing down on me - but everyone needs occasional breaks - esp. given the breakneck pace of last week. . or it could just be because weekends are a normal expectation of a working adult . .. ;-) )
I spent a few hours at the humane society again. The university's biology club was there to walk dogs and play with the animals - it was a great day to get them outside. I also helped the shelter put their upcoming mall adoption dates on their website. Hopefully these will be more and more successful when people see these great animals just looking for a home. Andy, the Cairn Terrier, let me sit and pet him for awhile although he didn't want to know he liked me. Most impressive, however, was Dr. Pepper's peering out at me when I was sitting with several groups of dogs in the middle glassed in area between the main office and the kennels. I asked Aaron about getting Dr. Pepper out and he said he had probably been overstimulated already. But, just before I left, Dr. Pepper let me pet him through the kennel gate door. What a sweetie.
It was also a great day to do some outdoor work so I mowed for the first time and took my second big stab at the heavy duty blade weedeating along the back fenceline. My second trip to get gas (this time for the weedeater) proved to be very beneficial as I ran into my plumber who was able to get me connected on some other repair problems I'm dealing with. He does a great job - he sends people in an emergency right away and, in return, I give him a window of opportunity when I do things like poor a burned batch of candy I'm making down the sink and ruin the garbage disposal (at least it was 15 years old and not brand new).
This morning has been spent grading given that I am apparently not enticing the grading fairy to show up.
P.S. I'm actually beginning to feel like I have actual weekends like the real world and don't feel overwhelmed with working the whole time (although grading was bearing down on me - but everyone needs occasional breaks - esp. given the breakneck pace of last week. . or it could just be because weekends are a normal expectation of a working adult . .. ;-) )
Labels: animal shelters, dogs, farm, humane society, hunting, lawn, morel, mowing, mushroms, resuce dogs, weedeating, woods
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