On Wednesday, Susan and I are heading to Dallas, Texas for this year's NABT meeting. I skipped last year since it was in Anaheim, California. Ten minutes from where I grew up. I wasn't in the mood to see the old stomping grounds. So we are to spend four nights in the Hyatt. The weather forecast is looking beautiful. Susan is planning on a long visit to the botanical gardens where they are having a Dale Chihuly blown glass exhibit. Saturday we are going to visit the Art Museum and Sculpture garden. I've spent the last few days perusing the schedule of presentations at the meeting and planning my schedule. This is the first year I have gotten an advanced look. Usually I get the program that day of and scramble to pick some meeting to go to. Unfortunately there are always 3 or 4 good talks going on at the same time so picking one to see is a minor league Sophie's choice.
Last week was a tragic time for a few people we know. My buddy John Carpenter lost his wife on Sunday. I had just seen them together the night before at the Covington County fair. Her funeral was yesterday. I don't know how to face him this week. Our neighbor, Tammy Puckett, lost her mom too. Her mom lived just on the corner. They had moved her here from Opelika a few months ago. We took care of Lucy for them while they were away.
My PHS 111 class had their second exam last week. Most of them did terrible as I expected. For weeks I had wondered why my grading program had their current grades so high. I found the error. I had miscategorized a group exam. Once I fixed that, the grades fell out to where they needed to be. I spent Friday morning printing out progress reports on the athletes for the coaches. They have two more exams at the end of the semester worth about a quarter of their total grade. I hope they are ready.
Weekends are such difficult times to do class prep. Today I was going to work on my geology assignment for Tuesday but it didn't happen. I did prep bio on Saturday though. I need to get back to leaving work at work and savoring my evenings and weekends.
The weather has turned chilly. Yesterday was the first day I wore a jacket out to walk the pups. Four months of this on the horizon. I know how happy I get in the Spring when I can finally put my coat away. I am rethinking my meds. I seem a little more stressed out and irritable. I'm also feeling lonelier.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Saturday, October 20, 2012
My School Week
Want to make a teacher and students a bit uncomfortable? Teach natural selection in the bible belt. I've done it every semester for years. I get few questions. This year I even threw in a few more Richard Dawkins vignettes for good measure (especially one that jabs at creationists by postulating whether his example shows a incompetent or heartless creator).
I have tried a half a dozen different natural selection simulations through the years. I found one I liked last year but it takes several hours of lab time to do. In my schedule I have one hour. So I went back to one I had done years ago. It has a nice combination of variation (mutations) and selection. Students evolve a "bird", actually a straw with two paper wings, to fly further. The problem is that each generation takes awhile to build and the students who throw the birds usually suck at it. So they only get a few generations into it and never get to a point where a significant flyer emerges. I thought about being the thrower for every group but I changed my mind. However, one group hit upon a beneficial mutation early on and got a bird that flew the width of the room. I kept it and showed my other two classes near the end of the labs.
I ran into a problem with straws. You just can't buy normal straight straws at stores anymore. They are all flexible. So if you want straight straws you got to go to a restaurant. I realized too late that I didn't grab enough from the local chevron so I had to resort to flexible ones (which worked okay btw) for my first class. Ruth, a very nice extra clean janitor who works in my building, went and got me a handful at Hardee's on Monday morning. I thought that was very sweet and thoughtful.
Although you would think that a quiz on science and selection would be simple, my students did terrible on it. I have come to expect it though. Either they think they know it or they blow it off more than usual. One surprise was two F students passing the quiz with C's. I know one went in for tutoring. I hope they keep it up.
The practice peer review went on as usual. I find it odd that some groups, although there are obvious contributors and coasters, rate each other identically. There were a few surprises out there on who is a major contributor. Two students who I hadn't expected turned out to be well respected by their groups.
Physical science is still going along. It's the class I stress about the most. Now that I am in geology, I want to do really well and I don't want to lecture too much. Unfortunately all the basics of geology require some lecture so I have gone through plate tectonics and rocks. We spent two labs going through the rocks. I did a lecture on relative dating but didn't make it all the way through. By having a weekly quiz and labs, my lecture time shrinks considerably. I have biostratigraphy to go through and then absolute dating (which I dread) before I can get them into landforms. Somehow I need to show them that you can demonstrate a really old earth without dealing with creationist shit about radiometric dating. My plan is to show them a recumbent fold in the Canadian Rockies and take them through the layers and then explain that folding requires depth and lots of time. If I can get them to understand that then there shouldn't be any stupid questions about fossil tautology or isochron dating. I got so behind in astronomy. I am running out of time. I've got to start weather in a few weeks.
Well the foundation funded my grant. So we'll be getting ceiling projectors in two classrooms in the administration building. I'm pretty happy about it. Thank goodness I went to the open forum last month and asked about it. I am going to have to thank Rene for her suggestion. This is the second time I have gotten funding. Does this count as a roll?
This week in biology is going to be pretty dull: cells and mitosis. I find it hard to spice up those topics. There is always cloning to spark interest in mitosis, but cell parts are lacking a cool factor. Maybe goblet cells making snot? I do get to pontificate on endosymbiosis though.
I was a bit shocked the other day when I walked into the library and saw that one of my lazy basketball players now works as a work-study for Susan. I made a joke about a spy in our midst. She has a test next week. Let's hope she does better on it than her previous exams. Now that she is working with Susan, I am rooting for her to pass.
I have tried a half a dozen different natural selection simulations through the years. I found one I liked last year but it takes several hours of lab time to do. In my schedule I have one hour. So I went back to one I had done years ago. It has a nice combination of variation (mutations) and selection. Students evolve a "bird", actually a straw with two paper wings, to fly further. The problem is that each generation takes awhile to build and the students who throw the birds usually suck at it. So they only get a few generations into it and never get to a point where a significant flyer emerges. I thought about being the thrower for every group but I changed my mind. However, one group hit upon a beneficial mutation early on and got a bird that flew the width of the room. I kept it and showed my other two classes near the end of the labs.
I ran into a problem with straws. You just can't buy normal straight straws at stores anymore. They are all flexible. So if you want straight straws you got to go to a restaurant. I realized too late that I didn't grab enough from the local chevron so I had to resort to flexible ones (which worked okay btw) for my first class. Ruth, a very nice extra clean janitor who works in my building, went and got me a handful at Hardee's on Monday morning. I thought that was very sweet and thoughtful.
Although you would think that a quiz on science and selection would be simple, my students did terrible on it. I have come to expect it though. Either they think they know it or they blow it off more than usual. One surprise was two F students passing the quiz with C's. I know one went in for tutoring. I hope they keep it up.
The practice peer review went on as usual. I find it odd that some groups, although there are obvious contributors and coasters, rate each other identically. There were a few surprises out there on who is a major contributor. Two students who I hadn't expected turned out to be well respected by their groups.
Physical science is still going along. It's the class I stress about the most. Now that I am in geology, I want to do really well and I don't want to lecture too much. Unfortunately all the basics of geology require some lecture so I have gone through plate tectonics and rocks. We spent two labs going through the rocks. I did a lecture on relative dating but didn't make it all the way through. By having a weekly quiz and labs, my lecture time shrinks considerably. I have biostratigraphy to go through and then absolute dating (which I dread) before I can get them into landforms. Somehow I need to show them that you can demonstrate a really old earth without dealing with creationist shit about radiometric dating. My plan is to show them a recumbent fold in the Canadian Rockies and take them through the layers and then explain that folding requires depth and lots of time. If I can get them to understand that then there shouldn't be any stupid questions about fossil tautology or isochron dating. I got so behind in astronomy. I am running out of time. I've got to start weather in a few weeks.
Well the foundation funded my grant. So we'll be getting ceiling projectors in two classrooms in the administration building. I'm pretty happy about it. Thank goodness I went to the open forum last month and asked about it. I am going to have to thank Rene for her suggestion. This is the second time I have gotten funding. Does this count as a roll?
This week in biology is going to be pretty dull: cells and mitosis. I find it hard to spice up those topics. There is always cloning to spark interest in mitosis, but cell parts are lacking a cool factor. Maybe goblet cells making snot? I do get to pontificate on endosymbiosis though.
I was a bit shocked the other day when I walked into the library and saw that one of my lazy basketball players now works as a work-study for Susan. I made a joke about a spy in our midst. She has a test next week. Let's hope she does better on it than her previous exams. Now that she is working with Susan, I am rooting for her to pass.
Fall Weather
The start of jacket weather is almost here. I don't really look forward to it. In fact, in the Spring I'm excited when I can hang it up for good. Tonight is the Covington County Fair. Susan and her best friend Candace go every year to visit and mosey through at a snail's pace. I have become quite picky and am really only interested in the art and food. So I meet them there, see what I want to see, and go home. I have a feeling that this year will be a short visit.
Last year we watched the fair's beauty pageant. No talent, swimsuit or interview competition, just teenage women in fancy dresses standing and smiling while a woman read off their CV's. Three women judges picked the winner while families gathered around their contestants for support. It was very odd and there were some tears of disappointment among the also rans. I still don't understand why pageants are still around. LBW has one and they give out a scholarship for the winner. Why should your looks determine if you get your college funded? It is almost as bad as getting free schooling for dribbling, or hitting a ball. What has any of this have to do with academics?
Last year we watched the fair's beauty pageant. No talent, swimsuit or interview competition, just teenage women in fancy dresses standing and smiling while a woman read off their CV's. Three women judges picked the winner while families gathered around their contestants for support. It was very odd and there were some tears of disappointment among the also rans. I still don't understand why pageants are still around. LBW has one and they give out a scholarship for the winner. Why should your looks determine if you get your college funded? It is almost as bad as getting free schooling for dribbling, or hitting a ball. What has any of this have to do with academics?
Saturday, October 6, 2012
Midterm
Susan came down with my cold I caught two weeks ago. She is still asleep upstairs. I lived on Nyquil for three days and slept through most of it. I still have the cough though. Mucinex has helped some but it hasn't gotten rid of it.
My bio classes heard about mutations this week and were brutally beaten by a fairly innocuous quiz. I was shocked how many still couldn't transcribe a gene. Anyway, the ordeal continued when I hurt their brains with the hemoglobin B-chain gene. I love it because it sums up everything we covered in nucleic acids. Plus, they get to see a real-life gene. The part that makes me smile is their discovery of introns. All of a sudden the gene skips a huge section that isn't translated. Plus the gene makes this weird shift between reading frames. It is a struggle. By the end they are worn out and fried. I had one group bail five minutes before the end of class but I talked them down. The test is on monday and tuesday: 77 questions. It is easier than the quizzes. I've already had a few students ask me if there is any hope for them getting a C (one just wants a D--Pell Grant). Hard to say after just one exam. But there is a trend that exam scores run about the same throughout the semester. I've been really trying to push the idea that they need to study 5-10 hours a week outside of class. Apparently they don't believe me.
Physical science had their midterm this week. Fifty terms to match with their definitions. I had a couple of 100's and a few in the teens. Fortunately for the unengaged students, I didn't weigh the midterm very much so although they failed two exams they are still in the passing range. I guess the rest of the semester will sort of be like a balloon payment. They have a unit exam in two weeks. I really hope my athletes get their acts together by then. Three came late to the midterm so it cut my lecture time in half so instead of starting fresh with geology on Tuesday I will be finishing astronomy.
I was successful on my reshuffling of courses for Spring. They had A&P I down as a hybrid on our campus. I think that is really unfair for students. They do much better and are happier in a traditional course. If they want a hybrid, they can go to MacArthur where all they have is hybrids.
My math colleague Pat Senn and I put in Foundation mini-grant applications for ceiling mounted projectors in two classrooms. For years the math folks have wheeled portable projectors down the hall to teach their classes. I hope we get at least one down in the math room on the first floor. They are about $2000 a piece.
I have returned to my long-range plan of teaching BIO 103 as a PBL class. PBL stands for problem-based learning and looks like a more effective and interesting way to teach. My goal is to cover four units during a semester. So far I have two units mapped out: malaria and milk. By exploring these two topics, students will hit upon the major principles of general biology. It will also help them focus more directly on the goals of college: reading for understanding, writing to communicate, logical reasoning and critical thinking. I would really like a two more units, preferably one dealing with photosynthesis and another dealing with reproduction and inheritance.
I had an epiphany yesterday when I realized that I needed topics that repeated the same general principles in their own way. So by encountering the same principles four times, hopefully, learning will be reinforced. That took a lot of the pressure off.
My big obstacle right now is what to do about the labs. It has taken me years to develop lab activities that reinforce and expand upon material covered in lectures. By eliminating lectures and the traditional slog through the book, what will the lab consist of?
My second problem is dealing with evaluations. How are the students going to demonstrate their comprehension of the material? Exams and quizzes will still be in there but they will also have to be revised. The writing component plagues me the most. Lately, I have been extremely impressed with graphic novels. Since biology is such a visual topic, I thought it would be great for each student group to illustrate their findings as "graphic non-fiction". A few months ago I read about a wonderful library in NYC where they hand out blank sketchbooks. People can fill them with anything. The one caveat is they must donate it to the library. So now they have a growing collection of hand-drawn works. I thought of making my own learning journal when I watch my teaching company course on the weather. So I picture my student groups making their own "graphic biology book" for each unit.
What I will need to do before all of this comes to pass is to work out one unit completely and see if it is possible. I am also considering teaching one course where we would have one unit the first month and then the remaining three as traditional just to see how it works. I am really excited about all of this. I wish I could find some kindred spirits who I could exchange ideas with. I am sure there are other PBL fans out there teaching biology.
My bio classes heard about mutations this week and were brutally beaten by a fairly innocuous quiz. I was shocked how many still couldn't transcribe a gene. Anyway, the ordeal continued when I hurt their brains with the hemoglobin B-chain gene. I love it because it sums up everything we covered in nucleic acids. Plus, they get to see a real-life gene. The part that makes me smile is their discovery of introns. All of a sudden the gene skips a huge section that isn't translated. Plus the gene makes this weird shift between reading frames. It is a struggle. By the end they are worn out and fried. I had one group bail five minutes before the end of class but I talked them down. The test is on monday and tuesday: 77 questions. It is easier than the quizzes. I've already had a few students ask me if there is any hope for them getting a C (one just wants a D--Pell Grant). Hard to say after just one exam. But there is a trend that exam scores run about the same throughout the semester. I've been really trying to push the idea that they need to study 5-10 hours a week outside of class. Apparently they don't believe me.
Physical science had their midterm this week. Fifty terms to match with their definitions. I had a couple of 100's and a few in the teens. Fortunately for the unengaged students, I didn't weigh the midterm very much so although they failed two exams they are still in the passing range. I guess the rest of the semester will sort of be like a balloon payment. They have a unit exam in two weeks. I really hope my athletes get their acts together by then. Three came late to the midterm so it cut my lecture time in half so instead of starting fresh with geology on Tuesday I will be finishing astronomy.
I was successful on my reshuffling of courses for Spring. They had A&P I down as a hybrid on our campus. I think that is really unfair for students. They do much better and are happier in a traditional course. If they want a hybrid, they can go to MacArthur where all they have is hybrids.
My math colleague Pat Senn and I put in Foundation mini-grant applications for ceiling mounted projectors in two classrooms. For years the math folks have wheeled portable projectors down the hall to teach their classes. I hope we get at least one down in the math room on the first floor. They are about $2000 a piece.
I have returned to my long-range plan of teaching BIO 103 as a PBL class. PBL stands for problem-based learning and looks like a more effective and interesting way to teach. My goal is to cover four units during a semester. So far I have two units mapped out: malaria and milk. By exploring these two topics, students will hit upon the major principles of general biology. It will also help them focus more directly on the goals of college: reading for understanding, writing to communicate, logical reasoning and critical thinking. I would really like a two more units, preferably one dealing with photosynthesis and another dealing with reproduction and inheritance.
I had an epiphany yesterday when I realized that I needed topics that repeated the same general principles in their own way. So by encountering the same principles four times, hopefully, learning will be reinforced. That took a lot of the pressure off.
My big obstacle right now is what to do about the labs. It has taken me years to develop lab activities that reinforce and expand upon material covered in lectures. By eliminating lectures and the traditional slog through the book, what will the lab consist of?
My second problem is dealing with evaluations. How are the students going to demonstrate their comprehension of the material? Exams and quizzes will still be in there but they will also have to be revised. The writing component plagues me the most. Lately, I have been extremely impressed with graphic novels. Since biology is such a visual topic, I thought it would be great for each student group to illustrate their findings as "graphic non-fiction". A few months ago I read about a wonderful library in NYC where they hand out blank sketchbooks. People can fill them with anything. The one caveat is they must donate it to the library. So now they have a growing collection of hand-drawn works. I thought of making my own learning journal when I watch my teaching company course on the weather. So I picture my student groups making their own "graphic biology book" for each unit.
What I will need to do before all of this comes to pass is to work out one unit completely and see if it is possible. I am also considering teaching one course where we would have one unit the first month and then the remaining three as traditional just to see how it works. I am really excited about all of this. I wish I could find some kindred spirits who I could exchange ideas with. I am sure there are other PBL fans out there teaching biology.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Off the Meds
I stopped taking my anti-depressants seven weeks ago to see if I really needed them. I began them almost ten years ago when I started have thoughts of suicide. A few years later the Lexapro stopped working and I lost interest in most everything and wanted to sleep all the time. My therapist Fonda noticed the change and got me into Dr. Harwood. I got my meds sorted out but after years of being an easy patient, I wondered if I still needed them so I stopped. So far so good. I haven't had any bad blue days and I still have lots of interests. I'm a little more joyful at times and today a bit serious. The biological imperative has gotten stronger though.
Mid-term is next week and I am right where I want to be in biology but I am a week behind in physical science. I finish astronomy this next week and then onto rocks! I may never make it to weather. They have turned room 224 into a physics lab. It has some beautiful benches, a front lab desk and soon electrical outlets. Good news for bio since we could use it if there is ever a lab conflict.
I spent several hours Thursday afternoon and Friday morning revising the Spring semester schedule for Abbie and me. I worked it out so Abbie could teach A&P I as a traditional course instead of as a hybrid. I finally understood why Abbie teaches so many hybrids. Her family demands and commute from Greenville are complicated. I hope Mary Ann goes for it because it accomodates Abbie and is 100% better for our students.
I had one major faux pas this week. I had scheduled a stargazing activity for Tuesday night. I had checked the weather channel forecast the previous night and it said Tuesday night would be cloudy. I checked it Tuesday morning and it had changed to clear. Well, I went out at 4PM to calibrate the telescope and the clouds came in. At 5 I decided to cancel so I send a teacherease email out to my students. Kind of a late notice but I hoped they would spread the word. I put a note on the door just in case. I felt terrible. I should have warned them when I announced it to check their emails for any unforseen changes.
I finally got an expectorant for my cough and it seems to have helped. I have also been enjoying a beer during my evening shower. So far I've been drinking Miller High Life and last night I had a Sam Adams. No heartburn yet but man mix that with a antihistamine and reading before bed is impossible.
On my drive up the Montgomery yesterday I popped in my new Mark Knopfler CD Privateering. It is a double album. I haven't liked his last three albums so my hopes weren't too high for this one. I was pleasantly surprised. I could hear his old styles from Brothers in Arms, Golden Heart and Ragpicker's Dream plus some more blues-driven stuff.
After my appointment with Dr. Harwood, I bought some new underwear and socks (real exciting) at Target, ate a veggie burrito at Moe's (next time I am ordering a bowl of chili con queso), and bought dog food and dog bones at Earth Fare. They are great big cow cannon bones (toe bones) that Mr. B and Lucy girl love to chew the ends off. Basil was so thrilled when Susan gave him one. He pranced around and would come up to us to show it off. He whittled it down in no time.
The season premiere of Big Bang Theory started Thursday. We have it Tivoed but haven't found the right moment to watch it. So far I have enjoyed only two new shows this season: Go On and Ben & Kate. I tried the New Normal and the Mindy Kaling Project. Too preachy and too awful. Why does everyone in TV need a prestigious occupation? Why not just retail drone, office minion or service worker? After the pilot, the job part disappears pretty quickly.
We watched the season premieres of The Middle and Modern Family. Although Modern Family gets all the awards, the Middle is a much better show. The first episode of the Middle was excellent and went deep right off the bat into the family dynamic. I keep thinking about Axl playing college football. What a waste of college scholarship! He hates academics. I wonder if Frankie or Mike ever went to college? Probably not. Party on Garth!
Mid-term is next week and I am right where I want to be in biology but I am a week behind in physical science. I finish astronomy this next week and then onto rocks! I may never make it to weather. They have turned room 224 into a physics lab. It has some beautiful benches, a front lab desk and soon electrical outlets. Good news for bio since we could use it if there is ever a lab conflict.
I spent several hours Thursday afternoon and Friday morning revising the Spring semester schedule for Abbie and me. I worked it out so Abbie could teach A&P I as a traditional course instead of as a hybrid. I finally understood why Abbie teaches so many hybrids. Her family demands and commute from Greenville are complicated. I hope Mary Ann goes for it because it accomodates Abbie and is 100% better for our students.
I had one major faux pas this week. I had scheduled a stargazing activity for Tuesday night. I had checked the weather channel forecast the previous night and it said Tuesday night would be cloudy. I checked it Tuesday morning and it had changed to clear. Well, I went out at 4PM to calibrate the telescope and the clouds came in. At 5 I decided to cancel so I send a teacherease email out to my students. Kind of a late notice but I hoped they would spread the word. I put a note on the door just in case. I felt terrible. I should have warned them when I announced it to check their emails for any unforseen changes.
I finally got an expectorant for my cough and it seems to have helped. I have also been enjoying a beer during my evening shower. So far I've been drinking Miller High Life and last night I had a Sam Adams. No heartburn yet but man mix that with a antihistamine and reading before bed is impossible.
On my drive up the Montgomery yesterday I popped in my new Mark Knopfler CD Privateering. It is a double album. I haven't liked his last three albums so my hopes weren't too high for this one. I was pleasantly surprised. I could hear his old styles from Brothers in Arms, Golden Heart and Ragpicker's Dream plus some more blues-driven stuff.
After my appointment with Dr. Harwood, I bought some new underwear and socks (real exciting) at Target, ate a veggie burrito at Moe's (next time I am ordering a bowl of chili con queso), and bought dog food and dog bones at Earth Fare. They are great big cow cannon bones (toe bones) that Mr. B and Lucy girl love to chew the ends off. Basil was so thrilled when Susan gave him one. He pranced around and would come up to us to show it off. He whittled it down in no time.
The season premiere of Big Bang Theory started Thursday. We have it Tivoed but haven't found the right moment to watch it. So far I have enjoyed only two new shows this season: Go On and Ben & Kate. I tried the New Normal and the Mindy Kaling Project. Too preachy and too awful. Why does everyone in TV need a prestigious occupation? Why not just retail drone, office minion or service worker? After the pilot, the job part disappears pretty quickly.
We watched the season premieres of The Middle and Modern Family. Although Modern Family gets all the awards, the Middle is a much better show. The first episode of the Middle was excellent and went deep right off the bat into the family dynamic. I keep thinking about Axl playing college football. What a waste of college scholarship! He hates academics. I wonder if Frankie or Mike ever went to college? Probably not. Party on Garth!
Saturday, September 22, 2012
BBQ and Froyo
Today is the Autumnal Equinox and Summer is over. The Earth will be tilted away from the Sun for the next 6 months. It is time to get pasty people!
Basil and Lucy, or as I like to call her, Lemon Drop, just got me up from a food-induced nap. They are an hour early for their trek to the golf course. LD is particularly persistent using her sharp claws to poke you. Susan and I had a nice lunch at Green's BBQ just north of us in Gantt, Alabama. In a role reversal, I ordered a BBQ sandwich and onion rings off the menu while Susan hit the buffet. The BBQ was excellent and though I know better, the onion rings are great but rough off on the stomach. Susan got her fill of fried okra (I don't get the appeal myself), maters, slaw, tater salad, and scalloped taters.
Ms. Susan needed to drop off some donations at goodwill and afterward we hit the new froyo place on the square. I got lemon ice box with graham cracker sprinkles (very good) and Susan opted for strawberry with fresh strawberry. We walked around the square for a bit, staring into the old CCB building, Wards, and Timmerman building. I discovered that the Timmerman building is built of fossiliferous limestone. I found some beautiful bryozoans embedded in it.
On the drive home a katydid hitchhiked on my window. Susan tried to take a photo of it through the glass but the camera kept focusing on the landscape behind. I enjoyed watching to breathe through it s thorax and first few ab segments. We dropped it off in Susan's favorite neighborhood.
One more week of September left. I am on stars right now in PHS 111 so I will need to repair the telescopes if I am going to take them out this week. Like an idiot I discovered that we have missed the evening planet window. If you want to see Jupiter you gotta wait until the early AM. Saturn just moved to days entirely. Just the moon and stars are on tap this semester. I invented a constellation lab and tried it out Thursday. I kept wondering why the planispheres didn't match the website printout I had used. Shane the idiot thought 19 hours was 9 PM. Nope, it is only 7 so my students were struggling. I forged ahead acting like nothing was wrong. I've got to admit my error on Tuesday.
The biological imperative has been extremely persistent of late. I don't know if it is normal or due to my brain becoming med-free. It is going to get me in trouble. I am sure the BD wish from Surfbabe hasn't helped. Party on Garth!
Basil and Lucy, or as I like to call her, Lemon Drop, just got me up from a food-induced nap. They are an hour early for their trek to the golf course. LD is particularly persistent using her sharp claws to poke you. Susan and I had a nice lunch at Green's BBQ just north of us in Gantt, Alabama. In a role reversal, I ordered a BBQ sandwich and onion rings off the menu while Susan hit the buffet. The BBQ was excellent and though I know better, the onion rings are great but rough off on the stomach. Susan got her fill of fried okra (I don't get the appeal myself), maters, slaw, tater salad, and scalloped taters.
Ms. Susan needed to drop off some donations at goodwill and afterward we hit the new froyo place on the square. I got lemon ice box with graham cracker sprinkles (very good) and Susan opted for strawberry with fresh strawberry. We walked around the square for a bit, staring into the old CCB building, Wards, and Timmerman building. I discovered that the Timmerman building is built of fossiliferous limestone. I found some beautiful bryozoans embedded in it.
On the drive home a katydid hitchhiked on my window. Susan tried to take a photo of it through the glass but the camera kept focusing on the landscape behind. I enjoyed watching to breathe through it s thorax and first few ab segments. We dropped it off in Susan's favorite neighborhood.
One more week of September left. I am on stars right now in PHS 111 so I will need to repair the telescopes if I am going to take them out this week. Like an idiot I discovered that we have missed the evening planet window. If you want to see Jupiter you gotta wait until the early AM. Saturn just moved to days entirely. Just the moon and stars are on tap this semester. I invented a constellation lab and tried it out Thursday. I kept wondering why the planispheres didn't match the website printout I had used. Shane the idiot thought 19 hours was 9 PM. Nope, it is only 7 so my students were struggling. I forged ahead acting like nothing was wrong. I've got to admit my error on Tuesday.
The biological imperative has been extremely persistent of late. I don't know if it is normal or due to my brain becoming med-free. It is going to get me in trouble. I am sure the BD wish from Surfbabe hasn't helped. Party on Garth!
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Virus Defense Mode
I woke up with a head cold yesterday so I didn't work or drive Montgomery for my quarterly appointment with Dr. Harwood (he's my psychiatrist who manages my depression meds). I spent most of it sleeping, sneezing and coughing in between hits of nyquil, advil and sudafed. Today I am mostly just coughing. My back is pretty sore from laying around so much.
American Airlines, after a month, found and Fedexed my bag. It was a complete surprised. I had filed a claim and was just sitting around waiting for my check when it showed up on my doorstep Thursday morning. I had replaced a few things but I was so happy to see my favorite shirts, pants and underwear. The best part were all the cool things I bought at Capitol Reef National Park: geo maps, t-shirts, postcards and a book on rock art for Susan.
Two women basketball players came by on Thursday to tell me they were from now on going to be respectful and work hard in class. I had made the mistake of threatening to talk to their coach earlier in the day. I still wonder what brought it on but I was very touched.
My first exams in bio are this coming week. It is always bittersweet. I made the mistake of looking at my afternoon 103 scores from spring semester to see how many passed: only one-third. Should I share the news? Tough call.
American Airlines, after a month, found and Fedexed my bag. It was a complete surprised. I had filed a claim and was just sitting around waiting for my check when it showed up on my doorstep Thursday morning. I had replaced a few things but I was so happy to see my favorite shirts, pants and underwear. The best part were all the cool things I bought at Capitol Reef National Park: geo maps, t-shirts, postcards and a book on rock art for Susan.
Two women basketball players came by on Thursday to tell me they were from now on going to be respectful and work hard in class. I had made the mistake of threatening to talk to their coach earlier in the day. I still wonder what brought it on but I was very touched.
My first exams in bio are this coming week. It is always bittersweet. I made the mistake of looking at my afternoon 103 scores from spring semester to see how many passed: only one-third. Should I share the news? Tough call.
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