Nice pick
This is a nice pick. A very nice pick. It makes me feel not quite so bad about having to vote for McCain…
-ghp
I’ve gotten this same request
I’ve just started getting this same request from my own little redheaded daughter. And she’s showing some amazing rationalization abilities in trying to justify my spending the money on getting her a laptop that, at this point in time (with her being a 5th grader and all…), she doesn’t need. She has all the computer access she needs using the family computer. She doesn’t like hearing that, of course, but it’s still the truth.
Anyway, I’m glad this strip gave me a reason to blog. Keeping up with my various/main vocations this week has been busy & rather trying - what with school starting back up for the kids and at work, teaching a class, and all the stuff that goes along with all of that. I feel more wrung out than usual…
-ghp
Class of 2012 Mindset List
For each of the past 11 years, Beloit College has released the “Mindset List” for that year’s incoming Freshman Class - i.e., the list of things that the kids in the class have always/never known. It’s always a fascinating read, guaranteed to fill you with amazement & consternation, as well as make you feel really, really old. This year’s list, for the Class of 2012, is no exception.
Of particular interest to me:
- Students entering college for the first time this fall were generally born in 1990.
- The Warsaw Pact is as hazy for them as the League of Nations was for their parents.
- Schools have always been concerned about multiculturalism.
- IBM has never made typewriters.
- The Tonight Show has always been hosted by Jay Leno and started at 11:35 EST.
- Lenin’s name has never been on a major city in Russia.
Fascinating stuff, both the things that kids can take for granted as “normal”, and how quickly we can assimilate changes & start to accept them as normal ourselves.
-ghp
Real life intrudes
For the first time that I can remember, since I started blogging that is, I’ve been busy enough that I’ve been disinterested in blogging. Real life has intruded, quite rudely, on my favorite self-indulgent habit.
Work has been busy, but that’s expected, as this is the time of year in higher-ed IT when you run fast to get things done that you can’t do during the regular parts of the academic year. Most folks think Summer is the “quiet” time, and that’s true if you only look at things like the number of people on campus. But for things like projects, improvements, purchasing new computers, moving all sorts of stuff around, and getting it all ready for the onslaught of the new school year? That’s what Summer, and particularly the first three weeks of August (after the Summer semester ends), is for. In addition to our usual stuff, we’ve had some extra chaos in the form of some construction & moves in our office space, plus a few new hires, as well as a maternity leave thrown in for good measure. Oh yeah, there’s also a major database (our student information system) conversion going on - thankfully my group has only been tangentially involved, but it’s still a 2+ year, multi-campus project coming into production. It’s all made for an atmosphere that is nice & ripe for stress, tension, and drama…
I’m also teaching a class for the first time, and I’ve got to finish getting things ready for that. There’s nothing like knowing you have to get your syllabus ready, along with making sure that everything is ready to go in the online course management system (it’s an online-only, distance learning course), to make me flash back to the days of doing homework & having projects of my own…
And then there’s the ongoing recovery from the chaos generated by the flood in our basement almost two weeks ago. Fortunately, things went very well with the cleanup (losses were limited mainly to particle-board type furniture & bookshelves, the carpeting, and a washing machine). The insurance company has been good to deal with thus far. The washer has been replaced, the carpeting has been ordered, a battery backup has been installed for the sump pump so that this won’t happen again, and we’ll probably hold off on the bookshelves until after we get the new carpeting.
We’ve also been watching the Olympics more than I thought we would. It helps that I’ve been recording them so that we can buzz through them to get to the good parts without having to deal with the dreck that NBC insists on subjecting us to. It’s been darned impressive & entertaining to watch the swimming events, especially - but certainly not only, as all the swimming events were good, both men and women - Michael Phelps’ quest to break Mark Spitz’ record by winning 8 gold medals in 8 events, which he did by setting 1 Olympic & 7 World records. The women’s gymnastics meet was also pretty good, and it was nice to see the Americans acquit themselves so well.
So, life’s been busy. It’s a reason, not an excuse. I’ll try to do better. I must find my muse…
-ghp
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