In the spring of 2012, I took an Introduction to Permaculture Class in Australia and really enjoyed it. Ever since then, I've been excited to apply the principles to my own yard and life, but a little overwhelmed on where to start and what resources I have here in Alaska. I've often thought that I would like to take the full design course, which gives you a Design Certificate (you can use the certification as a credential when designing for others), but haven't had the chance yet, partially because it's a two week course and I'd have to take leave. Then this year, a cold-climate specific course opened up in Palmer, on one weekend a month, which is perfect! My first class was this weekend.
What is permaculture, some of you may be asking? I'm glad you asked! Permaculture is the design of a living system that works together harmoniously and abundantly for its components -- plants, animals, humans, and soil. (We had to come up with an "elevator speech" for one of our activities). It's a garden, but it's also incorporating aspects of your home, organics, sustainability, community, integration, self reliance, and no waste!
I'm sorry to say that I don't have any pictures from the weekend, but that should give you a clue that I was really busy and having a good time. We learned a lot, made sheet mulch ("lasagne" mulch), planted a cover crop (a.k.a. "green" manure), did soil tests, observed our environment, and started a major project to present to the Matanuska Experimental Farm sometime in February.
Part of the reason I joined this class is to meet new people who share my interest in organic gardening -- creating a group I can rely on for advice and resources and hopefully make some new friends! I enjoyed meeting everyone, and it was so nice to talk to people about the things I'm interested in (raising chickens, buying fruit trees, composting, etc) without feeling like a weirdo.
So, this was just the first weekend. What now? Well, I need to start some google docs for our project and share them (I'm actually really excited about this!). I want to get a journal and start spending more time observing my yard and my garden. I need to do some compost work, and lay down some sheet mulch for a native plant garden I want to grow next year. And, I need to keep in touch with my classmates so I can develop the community I'm looking for! A lot of work, but I'm definitely excited for the upcoming months.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Sunday, October 06, 2013
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Last Post of the Year
I thought I would do a quick review of my year, blog-style.
January: My cat died. We looked for a dog. I measured the electrical usage of all my household appliances.
February: We found said dog and adopted him. I finished one out of three of my mosaic tables.
March: We attended the Fur Rondy Reindeer Run and watched the recalcitrant reindeer return to the start. I went home for vacation and then on a business trip.
April: I stressed out about school and my parents comforted me. I also got my new fire boots and some business cards.
May: My parents sold my childhood home and moved to Florida. I talked about my CSA and eating locally. I started riding my bike to work again and made a public service announcement about rules of the road. I also started a garden.
June: We went on an awesome float trip down the Chulitna. We also went camping over Memorial Day and about froze to death. I whinged about blogging.
July: I got dispatched to my first fire, where my trainer nearly escaped death during lunch. We took Fievel hiking and he was a brat, so we stuffed him in the backpack. I complained about being weird.
August: I got dispatched to another fire, where I got rained out. I became obsessive over my lame garden.
September: We drove the Denali Highway with the dog. I had an awesome 31st birthday with great gifts from my husband.
October: I attended the Local Food Film Festival and posted way too much about it. I reviewed our 7th annual Crow Pass Hike, and harvested 3 lbs of carrots, putting an end to the garden posts.
November: I ignored the blog in favor of school.
December: I completed my Master's Degree. We had a graduation celebration and attended a Christmas party. Fievel liked his new Santa sweater but did not like the hat. I went cross-country skiing. We flew down to Toledo for Christmas, where we went on a wagon ride and visited some art museums.
So that's it for 2009. I hope 2010 is just as good and I wish all my blog readers the same!
January: My cat died. We looked for a dog. I measured the electrical usage of all my household appliances.
February: We found said dog and adopted him. I finished one out of three of my mosaic tables.
March: We attended the Fur Rondy Reindeer Run and watched the recalcitrant reindeer return to the start. I went home for vacation and then on a business trip.
April: I stressed out about school and my parents comforted me. I also got my new fire boots and some business cards.
May: My parents sold my childhood home and moved to Florida. I talked about my CSA and eating locally. I started riding my bike to work again and made a public service announcement about rules of the road. I also started a garden.
June: We went on an awesome float trip down the Chulitna. We also went camping over Memorial Day and about froze to death. I whinged about blogging.
July: I got dispatched to my first fire, where my trainer nearly escaped death during lunch. We took Fievel hiking and he was a brat, so we stuffed him in the backpack. I complained about being weird.
August: I got dispatched to another fire, where I got rained out. I became obsessive over my lame garden.
September: We drove the Denali Highway with the dog. I had an awesome 31st birthday with great gifts from my husband.
October: I attended the Local Food Film Festival and posted way too much about it. I reviewed our 7th annual Crow Pass Hike, and harvested 3 lbs of carrots, putting an end to the garden posts.
November: I ignored the blog in favor of school.
December: I completed my Master's Degree. We had a graduation celebration and attended a Christmas party. Fievel liked his new Santa sweater but did not like the hat. I went cross-country skiing. We flew down to Toledo for Christmas, where we went on a wagon ride and visited some art museums.
So that's it for 2009. I hope 2010 is just as good and I wish all my blog readers the same!
Saturday, December 05, 2009
The last of the school updates?
My final presentation to my committee was yesterday, and it went very well! Although I technically haven't received a grade, my committee members were saying congratulations and asking me if I will attend the hooding ceremony in May. So I take that as a good sign. :)
I know it may seem like I got a little dramatic there, but I was definitely concerned about my graduation for a while. My advisor wasn't happy with my results. Comments like "how can you present these results if you don't understand the statistics?" were made. I do not know if I was placing too much importance on what he said, but it certainly scared me.
Anyway, it's pretty much all over now. I have a few edits to make before turning in the final copy of my paper, and then I'm totally, really actually done!
I will close with a promise and a question: 1) I promise to blog more soon, in particular about our fresh Thanksgiving turkey and 2) Would you still read this blog if I switched it over to livejournal? Would you bother signing in to read posts that I designate as "friends-only"? Okay, that's two questions. But I am still thinking about what I want from this blog, and that will help me decide.
I know it may seem like I got a little dramatic there, but I was definitely concerned about my graduation for a while. My advisor wasn't happy with my results. Comments like "how can you present these results if you don't understand the statistics?" were made. I do not know if I was placing too much importance on what he said, but it certainly scared me.
Anyway, it's pretty much all over now. I have a few edits to make before turning in the final copy of my paper, and then I'm totally, really actually done!
I will close with a promise and a question: 1) I promise to blog more soon, in particular about our fresh Thanksgiving turkey and 2) Would you still read this blog if I switched it over to livejournal? Would you bother signing in to read posts that I designate as "friends-only"? Okay, that's two questions. But I am still thinking about what I want from this blog, and that will help me decide.
Monday, November 09, 2009
Sorry, sorry, sorry!
Well, my final draft presentation didn't go so well. There's data issues and communication issues, and I'm distinctly worried about my graduation possibilities. This is why it's been radio silence on the blog for a while.
Sorry I'm so lame. I'll know if I'm graduating or not by Dec. 4th, so I'll probably be 404: Not Found until then.
Sorry I'm so lame. I'll know if I'm graduating or not by Dec. 4th, so I'll probably be 404: Not Found until then.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
School Update
My first final draft (oxymoron, I know) is due November 4th, so most of my work will be done by then. That's in two weeks. Two weeks!!! Yikes. I am both excited and nervous. Is it actually possible that I might be graduating?
My other class is done the week before Thanksgiving. Is it actually possible that I might be graduating?
Fingers will remain crossed through the rest of the semester.
My other class is done the week before Thanksgiving. Is it actually possible that I might be graduating?
Fingers will remain crossed through the rest of the semester.
Monday, April 06, 2009
The Benefits of an Overly Educated Family
Well, I talked to my parents (both of whom have graduate degrees), and they were able to make me feel a little bit better, through reassurance and suggestions. Ethan has been very supportive, but he's not able to be quite as helpful because 1) he's never been through the process himself and 2) his career experience is a little bit different. My dad actually has a PhD in Geography, which you may think has nothing to do with meteorology, but the two are actually very closely related. Specifically, geography deals a lot with spatial data (think GIS), similar to meteorology. So Dad was able to understand when I was complaining about the fact that my advisor/college peers are engineers, who work more with closed systems.
Dad gave me a couple of suggestions for books and people to talk to for help, which was useful, especially since there is a language and science barrier between me and my advisor. Also, they both were reassuring in that I have an early start on my project (it's due in Dec), so I have a lot of time to work through these issues.
I'm still nervous, which my parents assured me will continue throughout this process, but they were encouraging, so I feel a little better.
And when I told Ethan that I felt like there was a distince possibility this project might not go through and I would have to quit my Master's program, he said that was okay. So I do not feel like such a loser for having difficulties.
Dad gave me a couple of suggestions for books and people to talk to for help, which was useful, especially since there is a language and science barrier between me and my advisor. Also, they both were reassuring in that I have an early start on my project (it's due in Dec), so I have a lot of time to work through these issues.
I'm still nervous, which my parents assured me will continue throughout this process, but they were encouraging, so I feel a little better.
And when I told Ethan that I felt like there was a distince possibility this project might not go through and I would have to quit my Master's program, he said that was okay. So I do not feel like such a loser for having difficulties.
Friday, April 03, 2009
One reason I've been AWOL lately
Okay, there's been a lot of interesting stuff going on here (volcanic eruptions, ski train, IMET stuff) but I feel the need for a cathartic post, so that's what you're getting instead.
I am really, really, worried about my final project for school. I don't think I posted on here, but in summary, I am comparing two different methods of forecasting relative humidity. This is something I am doing at work (with their approval), with the idea of determining which method is the best to use in the office.
The problem is, my advisor has a lot of questions about my data. Like, how can I compare two different seasons? And questions about my sampling techniques. Which basically are none -- I am using every possible data point because we just don't have that many. But I feel like I am not answering his questions in a satisfactory way. It doesn't help that he's from Taiwan and that there is a language barrier there. Sometimes I don't even understand what he's asking me.
I told my friend I feel like there is a 40% chance this project will not pass his interrogation, or the defense (there's still a defense, even though it's not a thesis). And 40% is a big chance, especially since if it fails, I'll be back at square one. Part of me totally wants to give up, except that I've dragged my whole office into this thing. I guess the good thing is that I will get results I can use in the office, regardless of whether the results are accepted for school or not.
Ugh. I feel sick.
I am really, really, worried about my final project for school. I don't think I posted on here, but in summary, I am comparing two different methods of forecasting relative humidity. This is something I am doing at work (with their approval), with the idea of determining which method is the best to use in the office.
The problem is, my advisor has a lot of questions about my data. Like, how can I compare two different seasons? And questions about my sampling techniques. Which basically are none -- I am using every possible data point because we just don't have that many. But I feel like I am not answering his questions in a satisfactory way. It doesn't help that he's from Taiwan and that there is a language barrier there. Sometimes I don't even understand what he's asking me.
I told my friend I feel like there is a 40% chance this project will not pass his interrogation, or the defense (there's still a defense, even though it's not a thesis). And 40% is a big chance, especially since if it fails, I'll be back at square one. Part of me totally wants to give up, except that I've dragged my whole office into this thing. I guess the good thing is that I will get results I can use in the office, regardless of whether the results are accepted for school or not.
Ugh. I feel sick.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Drips and Drabs
Well, I thought I would update since I haven't in a little while. Other than the dog, there hasn't been much to say. Fievel is getting along great, but we continue to work on training. He is figuring out how to sit, although he doesn't like it. My coworker suggested clicker training (positive reinforcement with a clicker) but in my laziness, I have not looked into it yet. We are happy with Fievel and are keeping him, though.
Let's see, what other projects/things have I talked about in the past?
Which leaves me to my final thing: a picture for today. I wanted to take a picture of the little birds that come to my bird feeder. They are mostly redpolls, although this picture only shows one with a really red head. They used to come twice a day. Now, though, my next door neighbor got a new bird feeder that they like, so they pretty much hang around all day. I have mixed emotions about it. It's cool to see the birds on her feeder, but there's a lot of crap (literally) all over my car. Anyway, here are some winter birds for you:
Well, off to enjoy some hot tea and an episode of Martha Stewart (oh, how the mighty have fallen)!
Let's see, what other projects/things have I talked about in the past?
- skiing: haven't done much lately, either downhill or x-country. I might go x-country skiing today though.
- family history: well, that took a back seat to school. Recently though, my dad sent me a list of funny sayings from my great-grandmother that he found in my great-aunt's house. I found one on there that I have picked up over the years "It's raining hard enough to make a lightered knot float". I guess a lightered knot was a heavy dense piece of wood they would use to start fires back in the day. If it was raining enough to make one float, it was raining really hard.
- mosaic tables: I have been working on the center mosaics. I picked out tiles, created a design, and glued the tiles to the board. In fact, I am almost finished with one, which I should be able to show off next week. That means one of my tables will be completely finished!
- school: Well after some red tape/drama surrounding classes being cancelled and me starting my final project, things are progressing again. I am working on a project in conjunction with work that has to do with the way we forecast relative humidity. The good thing is, my boss and a lot of my coworkers are on board. Of course, this doesn't remove the concern that the data is going to be crap, that my advisor won't like it, etc. But I guess that's what comes with the territory when you get your Master's.
Which leaves me to my final thing: a picture for today. I wanted to take a picture of the little birds that come to my bird feeder. They are mostly redpolls, although this picture only shows one with a really red head. They used to come twice a day. Now, though, my next door neighbor got a new bird feeder that they like, so they pretty much hang around all day. I have mixed emotions about it. It's cool to see the birds on her feeder, but there's a lot of crap (literally) all over my car. Anyway, here are some winter birds for you:
Well, off to enjoy some hot tea and an episode of Martha Stewart (oh, how the mighty have fallen)!
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Whinging (parenthetically)
Just a quick note to let you all know what's going on in my head, although I'm posting from work and I really shouldn't be. (I got a bad performance review that said my work ethic is inconsistent. Which, sadly, is true. So I've been trying REALLY hard not to goof off on the internet too much. But I miss my internet friends. Anyway.)
I am feeling kind of down about school right now. I'm trying hard not to complain about my legal class (and not succeeding, thanks Ethan for being patient with me) but it's boring and not very relevant to my job. My statistics class is not boring and very relevant, but it has a high workload AND since we're going to New Zealand at the end of November that means I'll have to finish all my homeworks and my take-home final before Thanksgiving. So I'm a little stressed about that.
But the big thing is that up until now, I had been counting on graduating in Dec 2009. Original plans were May 2009, until I realized that there was no fucking way I could take 3 classes a semester and not go crazy, so I pushed graduation back. Except that now, my school is not offering one of my required classes next spring (and it's a spring class). I really don't want to push graduation until 2010 for one stupid class. Plus, this is a class I don't want to substitute for something else (if I can even work that out with my advisor), because I thought it was going to be relevant and useful (unlike Legal, which makes me feel like I just lit $1000 on fire).
So I'm frustrated. And I feel disenfranchised by my school, who didn't tell me that they were only offering this class every other year. But I don't want to quit, because then I'll really feel like a loser who wasted a lot of time, effort, and money.
Bah. School sucks.
I am feeling kind of down about school right now. I'm trying hard not to complain about my legal class (and not succeeding, thanks Ethan for being patient with me) but it's boring and not very relevant to my job. My statistics class is not boring and very relevant, but it has a high workload AND since we're going to New Zealand at the end of November that means I'll have to finish all my homeworks and my take-home final before Thanksgiving. So I'm a little stressed about that.
But the big thing is that up until now, I had been counting on graduating in Dec 2009. Original plans were May 2009, until I realized that there was no fucking way I could take 3 classes a semester and not go crazy, so I pushed graduation back. Except that now, my school is not offering one of my required classes next spring (and it's a spring class). I really don't want to push graduation until 2010 for one stupid class. Plus, this is a class I don't want to substitute for something else (if I can even work that out with my advisor), because I thought it was going to be relevant and useful (unlike Legal, which makes me feel like I just lit $1000 on fire).
So I'm frustrated. And I feel disenfranchised by my school, who didn't tell me that they were only offering this class every other year. But I don't want to quit, because then I'll really feel like a loser who wasted a lot of time, effort, and money.
Bah. School sucks.
Friday, September 12, 2008
Updates
Things are starting to get really busy again here. I finished refinishing my coffee table (refinished?) and was disappointed with the results. One side turned out all blotchy, like the coffee table has some sort of disease. I don't know if I screwed it up when applying the stain, if I messed up the pre-stain stuff, whether I didn't sand it enough, or if it's just the wood. Ethan says it's just the wood. Comments like that are why I married him. I still have one more end table to strip and stain, but the weather is rapidly worsening. I am hoping I can get it done before things start freezing, but with my schedule I just don't know.
School has also started again. I'm taking Statistics for Management and Legal Aspects of Engineering (course titles are approximate). So far, it seems like Statistics will be useful, but the verdict is still out on the Legal course. Ethan says it will be really useful to understand contracts. However, I don't use contracts at work and as of yet, haven't really used them at home (and don't know when I will). Maybe he should take the course.
This weekend is supposed to be our annual Crow Pass hike. Unfortunately, our friends bailed and it looks like it's supposed to rain all weekend. Bummer. But I'm determined to do it -- it's a family tradition.
Work is also super busy. I have a paper to write, training courses to attend, and I have been given some new coordination projects I need to get cracking on. Of course, the result is that I'm procrastinating like mad. You think I would know better, but I don't.
That's it for now. I have a bunch of trips coming up (Vancouver, Louisville for a conference, and then New Zealand at the end of the semester). I know I promised you pics from Dutch Harbor and Cold Bay, and I'll get to them, I promise.
School has also started again. I'm taking Statistics for Management and Legal Aspects of Engineering (course titles are approximate). So far, it seems like Statistics will be useful, but the verdict is still out on the Legal course. Ethan says it will be really useful to understand contracts. However, I don't use contracts at work and as of yet, haven't really used them at home (and don't know when I will). Maybe he should take the course.
This weekend is supposed to be our annual Crow Pass hike. Unfortunately, our friends bailed and it looks like it's supposed to rain all weekend. Bummer. But I'm determined to do it -- it's a family tradition.
Work is also super busy. I have a paper to write, training courses to attend, and I have been given some new coordination projects I need to get cracking on. Of course, the result is that I'm procrastinating like mad. You think I would know better, but I don't.
That's it for now. I have a bunch of trips coming up (Vancouver, Louisville for a conference, and then New Zealand at the end of the semester). I know I promised you pics from Dutch Harbor and Cold Bay, and I'll get to them, I promise.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Tidbits
- Mom is slowly recovering. Recently, she broke her rib while coughing. They had to separate her ribs when they went in for the surgery, so it was already weak. But nothing was punctured, so it's not a terrible thing, just painful.
- We have decided to stop looking for a house right now. Of course, I'm terribly disappointed. But the housing market in Anchorage is still way overinflated and there is just too much risk to buy a house at this point. We're going to wait for 6 months to a year and reassess.
- My best friend in VA is having her baby today! Yay! They've had some difficulty with the pregnancy and decided to induce because he's underweight, so I hope all goes well.
- School is still going. I got an A in the one class I finished and am plodding through my second class.
- I have a painful toe which I think might be an ingrown toenail. I'm not really enthusiastic about getting surgery because I am starting to ramp up my running (I want to do the Mayor's 1/2 marathon again) and I'm supposed to wear open toed shoes to my sister's wedding in May. But it's not improving, in spite of antibiotic ointment and I'm afraid I'll have to go to the doctor.
So that's the news for now.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Stacking the Coins
So, surprise of all surprises, I am actually enjoying my Engineering Econ class so far. That is something I never thought I would say. We have been learning about how to calculate present value of loans, savings, etc. Well, it's more than just that, but that's the part I like because it applies to me. I finally realized that all that stuff I've been doing in Quicken you can do very easily with Excel. Which is what Ethan has been telling me, but if you don't know how to use the functions or understand what they mean (which I didn't until now), Quicken is a lot better. Also, Quicken is a lot purtier and it saves all your stuff in one place. But I still think it's neat that now I can put in my info to calculate my retirement savings and think "Ha! I know how they did that!"
----------
Oh, I forgot to tell you: yesterday I forecasted 4 to 7 inches of snow for Anchorage, and 6 to 10 inches of snow for the Valley (which is a snow advisory), and you know what? It happened! So I was all excited today. I was like, I am THE BOMB! But, it's important for me to not get a big ego. I have bombed waaaaay too many times to be The Bomb. Still, it's nice to be right for once (once!).
----------
Oh, I forgot to tell you: yesterday I forecasted 4 to 7 inches of snow for Anchorage, and 6 to 10 inches of snow for the Valley (which is a snow advisory), and you know what? It happened! So I was all excited today. I was like, I am THE BOMB! But, it's important for me to not get a big ego. I have bombed waaaaay too many times to be The Bomb. Still, it's nice to be right for once (once!).
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Bit and pieces, odds and ends
I got accepted to grad school, which is cool (although my school isn't very selective).
Classes are done for the semester. My grades come out next week.
Ethan tells me BP might start laying people off soon. Good thing my job is stable.
Leaving for California tonight! Woo!
Which means we take Gray to the kennel in an hour. I feel so guilty. (It's a nice kennel though, where she lives in a bedroom). I feel like a terrible kitty mama, especially when she cries the whole way there. Oh well. Vacation!
Classes are done for the semester. My grades come out next week.
Ethan tells me BP might start laying people off soon. Good thing my job is stable.
Leaving for California tonight! Woo!
Which means we take Gray to the kennel in an hour. I feel so guilty. (It's a nice kennel though, where she lives in a bedroom). I feel like a terrible kitty mama, especially when she cries the whole way there. Oh well. Vacation!
Thursday, September 13, 2007
The Digital Era
Now, I do not know if this is Alaska weirdness, or NWS weirdness, but we seem to have a disproportionate number of people with missing digits in the Alaska Region. Our current Science and Operations Officer (SOO) is missing part of his pinky finger, I think from a shop accident. The SOO in Fairbanks is missing several fingers from one of his hands (lawnmower accident). What makes it even weirder is that the SOO in Fairbanks actually had toes placed on the finger stumps so that he could work with his hand! So now he has missing toes and a weird foot-hand. When my other coworker told me this, I wondered aloud if that meant his hand smelled. I also wondered if missing digits were some kind of prerequisite to becoming a SOO. Fortunately the SOO in Juneau has all his digits. Because I don't know if I'm willing to become a member of the Yakuza just so I can get a SOO job.
In other news, the White Stripes canceled their American tour. Although that's a bit of a bummer, since they were supposed to come up here, I am slightly relieved that I do not have to decide whether I'm going to skip class and try to trade my shift to go to the concert. Yeah, I know, skipping class to go to a concert is college-freshman behavior. But we never get good bands up here, and the White Stripes are one of my favorites. So it's a good thing the decision was made for me.
The class I was considering skipping is my Management of Technical People class, which has been a little disappointing so far. Granted, I've only been to one class, but the teacher basically reviewed everything we've read so I didn't feel like I got as much out of it as I feel like I've been getting out of my other class. Also, the class itself just didn't seem to gel as well as my Engineers in Organizations class.
Another thing that annoys me about the M. of T.P. class is the amount of required reading. First of all, we had 7 required books. Seven! Give me a break. Four of them were these little pocket guide thingies, which I returned because I looked on the syllabus and we don't ever actually read them. At $10 a pop, that saved me $40! We also are required to purchase a case study of the Harvard Business School website, so I can use my $40 for that. This week, I have to read 3 chapters in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (which I have been unimpressed with so far), 3 chapters in Good to Great, and the case study. Again, give me a break! I guess I know how I'm going to be spending my weekend nights.
At this point though, I'm 3 weeks into the semester, so I really don't see myself dropping this class for another one. It's not terrible, and we have some interesting projects coming up, so I'll just stick it out. Hopefully I learn something useful (namely, how to speed-read). And at the very least, I can put it on my resume.
In other news, the White Stripes canceled their American tour. Although that's a bit of a bummer, since they were supposed to come up here, I am slightly relieved that I do not have to decide whether I'm going to skip class and try to trade my shift to go to the concert. Yeah, I know, skipping class to go to a concert is college-freshman behavior. But we never get good bands up here, and the White Stripes are one of my favorites. So it's a good thing the decision was made for me.
The class I was considering skipping is my Management of Technical People class, which has been a little disappointing so far. Granted, I've only been to one class, but the teacher basically reviewed everything we've read so I didn't feel like I got as much out of it as I feel like I've been getting out of my other class. Also, the class itself just didn't seem to gel as well as my Engineers in Organizations class.
Another thing that annoys me about the M. of T.P. class is the amount of required reading. First of all, we had 7 required books. Seven! Give me a break. Four of them were these little pocket guide thingies, which I returned because I looked on the syllabus and we don't ever actually read them. At $10 a pop, that saved me $40! We also are required to purchase a case study of the Harvard Business School website, so I can use my $40 for that. This week, I have to read 3 chapters in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People (which I have been unimpressed with so far), 3 chapters in Good to Great, and the case study. Again, give me a break! I guess I know how I'm going to be spending my weekend nights.
At this point though, I'm 3 weeks into the semester, so I really don't see myself dropping this class for another one. It's not terrible, and we have some interesting projects coming up, so I'll just stick it out. Hopefully I learn something useful (namely, how to speed-read). And at the very least, I can put it on my resume.
Friday, September 07, 2007
Fantasies
I've been to 2 classes so far of my Engineers in Organizations course, and I have to say, I kind of like it. Sure, it seems all boring when I read the book, but then when we talk about making plans in class, I get all nerdily excited. I love making plans! That's something I'm pretty good at. So maybe this project management thing will work out after all.
Yesterday, we worked on a problem in small groups: Stacy Engineer has just graduated with her engineering management degree. She is looking forward to having a life filled with excitement and happiness. Of course, she is excited about her new degree, but she isn't sure how to have a life filled with happiness. What she needs is a road map. How would you help her?
Well, my first instinct is to say: Relax, woman! You can't force happiness. Also, you might want to change your last name, because it's really dorky.
Of course, this is one of those stupid book problems that make the person sound all cheesy. What they were trying to do is to walk you through the planning process by making a life plan for this person. So that's what we did.
Now my teacher has assigned us the same problem for homework, but to apply it to ourselves -- in other words, make a life plan for ourselves. And again, I'm nerdily excited. Ethan and I make goals every year, so basically I'll be doing that to a large extent. I can't wait to think about all the things I want to do -- like going to Japan! And buying a house! And having a beautiful garden! Who doesn't like to fanatsize about their future life?
On to more current fantasy stuff: fantasy football starts this weekend. This year I joined the office team at the suggestion of my coworker, even though I was nervous because I don't follow NFL very much. One of my players is Reggie Wayne, who racked up a whole bunch of points last night in the Saints vs. Colts game. So that was encouraging! I think I'm going to enjoy this fantasy football thing, as long as the rest of my players don't suck.
Yesterday, we worked on a problem in small groups: Stacy Engineer has just graduated with her engineering management degree. She is looking forward to having a life filled with excitement and happiness. Of course, she is excited about her new degree, but she isn't sure how to have a life filled with happiness. What she needs is a road map. How would you help her?
Well, my first instinct is to say: Relax, woman! You can't force happiness. Also, you might want to change your last name, because it's really dorky.
Of course, this is one of those stupid book problems that make the person sound all cheesy. What they were trying to do is to walk you through the planning process by making a life plan for this person. So that's what we did.
Now my teacher has assigned us the same problem for homework, but to apply it to ourselves -- in other words, make a life plan for ourselves. And again, I'm nerdily excited. Ethan and I make goals every year, so basically I'll be doing that to a large extent. I can't wait to think about all the things I want to do -- like going to Japan! And buying a house! And having a beautiful garden! Who doesn't like to fanatsize about their future life?
On to more current fantasy stuff: fantasy football starts this weekend. This year I joined the office team at the suggestion of my coworker, even though I was nervous because I don't follow NFL very much. One of my players is Reggie Wayne, who racked up a whole bunch of points last night in the Saints vs. Colts game. So that was encouraging! I think I'm going to enjoy this fantasy football thing, as long as the rest of my players don't suck.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Daily Doldrums
Not much news on the home front, after the less than wonderful bike trip. I went on a business trip to Kansas City for a little under a week and about sweated to death, but did learn some useful computer stuff. 'Course, I was learning Python and Perl and PostgreSql, but found out that in a couple of years the Weather Service is planning to implement a new system based completely on Java. So in other words, my limited knowledge will be obsolete. Sigh. I love the way this job works.
I went to the State Fair on Monday, and took some pictures that I will share later. It was kind of a bummer this year, as last year I went with my friend S. and two years ago I went with Ethan. But this year, I was alone, so not as much fun. As I was wandering through the exhibits, I realized how much I really appreciate my husband, because he is willing to go through the flowers and the crafts with me and he doesn't complain.
This week, I'm starting classes. I missed my first class on Monday, due to the fair (hey, it was a work thing!), but tomorrow I go to my other class for the first time. I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure it'll be fine. I just hope they don't expect me to wear business clothes, since this is sort of business school. But it's run through the engineering dept, and after all, I'm a scientist in Alaska. We don't wear business clothes. In fact, they should consider themselves lucky that I don't show up in some weird outfit, like sans pants.
Uh, so that's it. Sorry for the boringness, but hey, it can't be muddy bike trails all the time! To make up for it, here's a nice webcam pic of east Anchorage at sunset:
I went to the State Fair on Monday, and took some pictures that I will share later. It was kind of a bummer this year, as last year I went with my friend S. and two years ago I went with Ethan. But this year, I was alone, so not as much fun. As I was wandering through the exhibits, I realized how much I really appreciate my husband, because he is willing to go through the flowers and the crafts with me and he doesn't complain.
This week, I'm starting classes. I missed my first class on Monday, due to the fair (hey, it was a work thing!), but tomorrow I go to my other class for the first time. I'm a little nervous, but I'm sure it'll be fine. I just hope they don't expect me to wear business clothes, since this is sort of business school. But it's run through the engineering dept, and after all, I'm a scientist in Alaska. We don't wear business clothes. In fact, they should consider themselves lucky that I don't show up in some weird outfit, like sans pants.
Uh, so that's it. Sorry for the boringness, but hey, it can't be muddy bike trails all the time! To make up for it, here's a nice webcam pic of east Anchorage at sunset:
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)