A shot through a natural hole in a tree within the city's cemetery.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
My Office
Just a quick post with a pic of my office.
Quite small, but plenty large when you consider that I didn't have any office for the first 8 weeks of the first quarter.
Today I had my first student come find me in my office for a make-up test.
Yeah, it was cool. :)
Monday, March 19, 2007
The Day of Finals
Time: 9:18 a.m.
Location: My office
Mood: Half-awake, but feeling good.
While I'm waiting for my Psych final to finish copying, I will take a few minutes to catch up for the past few days.
The last day of classes was Wednesday. I had a few students who scheduled early finals with me because they had scheduling conflicts, either University Athletics or something and one student was leaving for Panama soon for the U.S. Army.
The Reservist was very straight-forward about his request and told me weeks a head of time so there was no problem accomodating him. A few people who had asked me if they could reschedule never emailed me to confirm their request so I'm going to assume that they'll be there this morning. The Atheletes, however, are another story. Early on Friday afternoon, I get an email from her demanding to know where her final exam is and that she's going to be late for a game. Then I get a phone call from the University (our department) saying that she's yelling at them and insisting that they produce the quiz.
The student hadn't spoke to me prior to Friday other than "I might have to take the final early" a week earlier. Since there was no confirmation, I accepted that things had changed or that she had worked them out.
When I got to campus and dropped off the quiz, she was all smiles and appologetic (she was waiting for me) and explained that she was stressed out due to their hectic game schedule. Without getting into her behavior too much, I reminded her that she had not emailed me prior to that morning; a fact that she contested until I told her that I could check my email right there and make sure that I didn't miss anything.
When I got to my department, they were definately wanting to make sure that I had handled that student. She was rude and ingratious to say the least.
So then I began to think: "What if she was lying about the game or even if she was on the team?" She was already taking the test but if I caught her in a lie to that magnitude, I'd drop her grade a letter and write a complaint to her file about academic dishonesty.
Well, that problem eventually worked its way out and I spent the weekend preparing the Soc final and working on some house projects. The only big house project that is scheduled is the construction of a portico in the back yard to shield my car from the weather. It's little more than a roof on beams,but it could also, eventually, be turned into a back patio of sorts if I were to put down a floor (other than gravel) and screen it in.
There are no plans or prints for the basic design yet (which bugs me), but I'm starting to draw them up just so I know what's being built and how. My grandfather, who's helping me build this, doesn't need any blue prints (accurate, but not exactly helpful for those like me who can't build an arc with a pocket knife), but when I started to put things together with measurements and diagrams, he latched onto the idea to see exactly how it was going to come together.
Today is mostly for finals. I'm going to be on campus all day long with little to do other than sit through the tests and grade them. Tomorrow, I have to swing by and pick up some make-ups for those students who had scheduling problems today and that's about it.
Once the weather warms up I'll start to dig the holes for the support-posts in the back yard.
Oh well, it's 20-till so I'll end this and start to get myself together to walk to the quiz.
-Tom
Location: My office
Mood: Half-awake, but feeling good.
While I'm waiting for my Psych final to finish copying, I will take a few minutes to catch up for the past few days.
The last day of classes was Wednesday. I had a few students who scheduled early finals with me because they had scheduling conflicts, either University Athletics or something and one student was leaving for Panama soon for the U.S. Army.
The Reservist was very straight-forward about his request and told me weeks a head of time so there was no problem accomodating him. A few people who had asked me if they could reschedule never emailed me to confirm their request so I'm going to assume that they'll be there this morning. The Atheletes, however, are another story. Early on Friday afternoon, I get an email from her demanding to know where her final exam is and that she's going to be late for a game. Then I get a phone call from the University (our department) saying that she's yelling at them and insisting that they produce the quiz.
The student hadn't spoke to me prior to Friday other than "I might have to take the final early" a week earlier. Since there was no confirmation, I accepted that things had changed or that she had worked them out.
When I got to campus and dropped off the quiz, she was all smiles and appologetic (she was waiting for me) and explained that she was stressed out due to their hectic game schedule. Without getting into her behavior too much, I reminded her that she had not emailed me prior to that morning; a fact that she contested until I told her that I could check my email right there and make sure that I didn't miss anything.
When I got to my department, they were definately wanting to make sure that I had handled that student. She was rude and ingratious to say the least.
So then I began to think: "What if she was lying about the game or even if she was on the team?" She was already taking the test but if I caught her in a lie to that magnitude, I'd drop her grade a letter and write a complaint to her file about academic dishonesty.
Well, that problem eventually worked its way out and I spent the weekend preparing the Soc final and working on some house projects. The only big house project that is scheduled is the construction of a portico in the back yard to shield my car from the weather. It's little more than a roof on beams,but it could also, eventually, be turned into a back patio of sorts if I were to put down a floor (other than gravel) and screen it in.
There are no plans or prints for the basic design yet (which bugs me), but I'm starting to draw them up just so I know what's being built and how. My grandfather, who's helping me build this, doesn't need any blue prints (accurate, but not exactly helpful for those like me who can't build an arc with a pocket knife), but when I started to put things together with measurements and diagrams, he latched onto the idea to see exactly how it was going to come together.
Today is mostly for finals. I'm going to be on campus all day long with little to do other than sit through the tests and grade them. Tomorrow, I have to swing by and pick up some make-ups for those students who had scheduling problems today and that's about it.
Once the weather warms up I'll start to dig the holes for the support-posts in the back yard.
Oh well, it's 20-till so I'll end this and start to get myself together to walk to the quiz.
-Tom
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
From the office
Hi,
Just got my PDA sync'd with the computer in the new office and thought that I'd post a small update.
Today is the last class of the term and Monday is the final.
I should have a picture posted of the new office soon. I would do it now but there's no card reader on this computer.
-Tom.
Just got my PDA sync'd with the computer in the new office and thought that I'd post a small update.
Today is the last class of the term and Monday is the final.
I should have a picture posted of the new office soon. I would do it now but there's no card reader on this computer.
-Tom.
Friday, March 9, 2007
More Gear
Speaking of gear...
The last post about my field bag got me thinking about one of the "bad places" I go to on the internet. I consider ThinkGeek.com a "bad place" in much the same way I consider Amazon.com and John Neal bad.
I could spend way too much money there if I had it to spend.
From: www.ThinkGeek.Com
Don't go adventuring without it.
The ToolLogic Firesteel Knife features a razor sharp blade and emergency signal whistle plus a premium magnesium alloy fire starter. The Swedish made Firesteel combined with a special notch on the blade delivers an intense shower of sparks at nearly 3000ยบ. It will even spark when wet! At just 2.7 oz it's perfect for a wide range of uses and it deserves a place in your backpack or emergency survival kit.
Brilliant Thinking, Brilliant Flashlight
While other LED flashlights are little more than LED technology force-fit into conventional products, the X5 is the result of an unrestricted flow of innovative engineering. Nothing is compromised or superfluous. Every choice- in optics, electronics, materials, thermal and power management, durability and usability- has been driven by performance criteria. Here lies the reason behind X5's unique visual statement.
The last post about my field bag got me thinking about one of the "bad places" I go to on the internet. I consider ThinkGeek.com a "bad place" in much the same way I consider Amazon.com and John Neal bad.
I could spend way too much money there if I had it to spend.
From: www.ThinkGeek.Com
Don't go adventuring without it.The ToolLogic Firesteel Knife features a razor sharp blade and emergency signal whistle plus a premium magnesium alloy fire starter. The Swedish made Firesteel combined with a special notch on the blade delivers an intense shower of sparks at nearly 3000ยบ. It will even spark when wet! At just 2.7 oz it's perfect for a wide range of uses and it deserves a place in your backpack or emergency survival kit.
Price:
$29.99 Link
Brilliant Thinking, Brilliant FlashlightWhile other LED flashlights are little more than LED technology force-fit into conventional products, the X5 is the result of an unrestricted flow of innovative engineering. Nothing is compromised or superfluous. Every choice- in optics, electronics, materials, thermal and power management, durability and usability- has been driven by performance criteria. Here lies the reason behind X5's unique visual statement.
Price:
$39.99 Link
Also,
Since I'm a book-person, (can someone come out of the book-closet?) I have explored many options to face my addiction and come across a cheap supply of good, small, sketch books.
LEATHER ETC. Permanent Bound Sketch Book
These permanent bound, hardcover sketch books contain 160 pages of 80 lb., acid free neutral pH, bright white paper. Each book also features a pencil loop sewn onto the inside edge of the back cover.
Also,
Since I'm a book-person, (can someone come out of the book-closet?) I have explored many options to face my addiction and come across a cheap supply of good, small, sketch books.LEATHER ETC. Permanent Bound Sketch Book
These permanent bound, hardcover sketch books contain 160 pages of 80 lb., acid free neutral pH, bright white paper. Each book also features a pencil loop sewn onto the inside edge of the back cover.
Leather Etc. Permanent Bound Sketch Books are available with black or red covers. Red bound books come with a black contrast loop that also acts as an elastic closure.
Price: $3.14 Link
You've all wanted to know
The rumors have been circulated for many years. "What does Tom carry in his bag?" The simplest answer was usually "Whatever's needed", and on many occasion it has proven to be just that.Well, when I was digging in my field bag lately, I decided to see what was actually in there (because sometimes I forget what ends up within the thing) and grab a picture. I do believe, however, that similar to trying to take a picture of a black hole, this is just the contents of the bag at this time.
Contents:
1. Digital Camera (inside case)
2. Folding hair brush
3. Razor
4. Scotch Tape
5. Pill case
6. Nurses Sheers
7. Ipod and case
8. Notebooks (Primary, Secondary and Tertiary)
9. Sewing Kit and scissors
10. Cigarette Lighter
11. Waterproof Match Case
12. Map Magnifying lense
13. Toothpaste
14. 512 Mg Flash Drive
15. Cord 50'
16. Hot spark kit
17. Flat roll of Duct tape
18. Shake-light
19. Pens, Pencils and Highliters
20. Glue stick
21. Ruler
22. Screw driver
23. Cloth ruler
24. Cough Drops
25. Drink mix
26. White Chalk (because ya just never know)
27. Dice bag (because ya just never know)
28. Backup Spare, reserve pair of sunglasses
29. Clip knife
30. Nec Mobile Pro (Portable Text-Portal)
And this would be considered a "light" load for adventuring and Bigfoot hunting.
Thursday, March 8, 2007
Water Color Journal Pages
I love the look of water color journals. Random yet clean.I really would like to learn how to paint like this.
From here
My Second
10:21 a.m.
Yesterday was not a great day.
Yesterday I found out that I lost a student; my second.
Monday evening, about three hours after my Sociology test, a young student crashed his motorcycle into a telephone pole out in Adams County.
During the test, he was distracted and unable to focus. For almost an hour he continually glanced around the room, played with his hair and shuffled in his chair until he finally had enough answers on the page to turn it in.
He had come to me previously asking for some assistance and I referred him to student services for tutoring and to learn better study skills but he didn't seem exactly thrilled at the idea.
He left around 3 p.m. in a huff; aggravated with himself about his performance. I asked him if he wanted to talk, but he just left and told me to "leave him alone".
When I got an email from a student, one of his friends, telling me of his death I didn't believe it. I thought that this was some kind of lame-ass attempt to cover for him if he was going to be absent from the rest of the class. Immediately I began to dig and found out that she was telling the truth.
"Stunned" was the only thing I could use to describe how I felt.
Man killed in crash on Ohio 348
OSHP seeks motorcycle crash witness
I went through the regular day on Wednesday and tried to find out more answers and alerted the University just to be sure. I tried to blog, but didn't know what to say.
On a hunch, I thought that I'd look through myspace.com to see if the student had a page and it turned out that he did.
Sean
The most odd thing was to see the number of posts on his Myspace page from his friends who were sending him a message as though he had moved away.
Academia is what I want to do with my life. I've lost two students so far. One to violence and one to an accident. I have a feeling that they will not be the only ones I will lose.
Yesterday was not a great day.
Yesterday I found out that I lost a student; my second.
Monday evening, about three hours after my Sociology test, a young student crashed his motorcycle into a telephone pole out in Adams County.
During the test, he was distracted and unable to focus. For almost an hour he continually glanced around the room, played with his hair and shuffled in his chair until he finally had enough answers on the page to turn it in.
He had come to me previously asking for some assistance and I referred him to student services for tutoring and to learn better study skills but he didn't seem exactly thrilled at the idea.
He left around 3 p.m. in a huff; aggravated with himself about his performance. I asked him if he wanted to talk, but he just left and told me to "leave him alone".
When I got an email from a student, one of his friends, telling me of his death I didn't believe it. I thought that this was some kind of lame-ass attempt to cover for him if he was going to be absent from the rest of the class. Immediately I began to dig and found out that she was telling the truth.
"Stunned" was the only thing I could use to describe how I felt.
Man killed in crash on Ohio 348
OSHP seeks motorcycle crash witness
I went through the regular day on Wednesday and tried to find out more answers and alerted the University just to be sure. I tried to blog, but didn't know what to say.
On a hunch, I thought that I'd look through myspace.com to see if the student had a page and it turned out that he did.
Sean
The most odd thing was to see the number of posts on his Myspace page from his friends who were sending him a message as though he had moved away.
Academia is what I want to do with my life. I've lost two students so far. One to violence and one to an accident. I have a feeling that they will not be the only ones I will lose.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Kerblechistani Karma
8:50 a.m.Well, the car's in the shop and I'm on campus printing out a test with half-numb fingers. Friday afternoon, after hearing that I've been confirmed to teach three classes next quarter (I'm still trying to confirm the possibility of an office), my car started to act up. The battery light came on and the power-steering went out. My first thought was that the serpentine belt had finally gave up and broke. When I got the car home and checked it, I saw that the belt was still there just very very loose. By this time, none of the garages were open so I couldn't take it down to get it fixed.
Saturday they weren't open for some reason so I had to drop it off today and hope for the best. Everyone I know, in the area, is going to be out of the area today so there's no ride home if they can't fix it quickly. So I gave Jim a call and he's going to give me a ride home at least. I'll figure out a way to get back down to the garage tomorrow if I have to.
Ahh, feeling is returning to my fingers. Once I get the Psych test copied I'm heading over to the department office to staple them together and get the materials ready. I love test days. I really don't have anything to do but make the copies and check my email a few times to make sure I don't have any stragglers for make-ups. I think I have one, so far, for a doctor's appointment.
9:25 a.m.
The test's copied and I've found out that I DO get an office next quarter; room 124. I'll be sharing it with two other people but one is not teaching next quarter and the other doesn't teach until the late evenings; around 6 p.m. I believe. So Sandi's going to send in a key request as soon as possible and I'll pick up my key before the end of the quarter.
Boo-yah!
2:07 p.m.
Well, the test has been handed out for Soc and everyone's working on their test and essay. I've gotten no word from the garage yet; I called around noon but they were all out to lunch. I'll try again once everyone's done with the test. Hopefully it won' t be too expensive. I hope they don't have to order some part from Kerblechistan to fix it either.
Only three more classes left until finals. The students are nervous and eager to finally apply some effort towards their clases now. The smell of fear and dread has begin to sink in to the campus now that finals week is only a short bit away.
Friday, March 2, 2007
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