Monday, February 20, 2006
Congratulations
Congrats to the newly wed and happy couple, B & N! We had a blast in Tempe with all your wonderful friends and fam. Hopefully they'll be some excellent pics to remember the event by.
Monday, February 13, 2006
It only took 8 years
So 8 years after transitioning from the trunk rack to the roof rack, I finally ran my bike into something....my garage. My brother's done it and you here lots of people say they've done, but I'm so careful about my bikes that I never really thought I'd forget they were up there.
The story:
I'm pulling into the garage and I hear a crunch. Of course I immediately recall that my bike was up there. I look up through the sunroof and think, huh, maybe it's not so bad, the front wheel is up against the door. I back up and I watch my bike fall to the side and dangle by the wheels...maybe it is bad! hmmm...maybe I can buy a new bike! Mind you lil-M is in the car.
I hop out to inspect. The arm that holds the downtube slipped completely off, but the straps were still on the two tires. I look inside, looks like M is falling asleep, so I actually have a minute or two to fix my problem. I go to take my bike off and the back wheel comes free. It's a bit difficult because I'm holding the bike sideways while undoing the straps. On to the front wheel. This one is totally jammed. Now I'm really stuck. The rack is mangled, so I can't put the bike back in, I can't easily let it go unless I want it to dangle against the car by the front rim. Oh yeah, the car is partially into the garage, so I'd have to let go to move it to close the door and not let all the freezing air into the house.
At this point I need help. I call all my neighbors and of course no one answers. Fortunately big-m is on his way home and lil-M was sleeping by now. Big-M to the rescue. We separated the wheel from the bike so we could move the car into the garage. Then with some pliers were able to free the front wheel as well.
The net was amazingly good:
The car is fine.
The crossbars are fine.
The tray (that the bike sits in) is a mess, but the other rack parts are salvageable.
My bike appears to be okay, worst case is I'm looking at a new front wheel.
Lil-M slept through it all.
And my gracious husband has been way kind about (much nicer than I would have been to him) and hasn't harassed me at all!
The story:
I'm pulling into the garage and I hear a crunch. Of course I immediately recall that my bike was up there. I look up through the sunroof and think, huh, maybe it's not so bad, the front wheel is up against the door. I back up and I watch my bike fall to the side and dangle by the wheels...maybe it is bad! hmmm...maybe I can buy a new bike! Mind you lil-M is in the car.
I hop out to inspect. The arm that holds the downtube slipped completely off, but the straps were still on the two tires. I look inside, looks like M is falling asleep, so I actually have a minute or two to fix my problem. I go to take my bike off and the back wheel comes free. It's a bit difficult because I'm holding the bike sideways while undoing the straps. On to the front wheel. This one is totally jammed. Now I'm really stuck. The rack is mangled, so I can't put the bike back in, I can't easily let it go unless I want it to dangle against the car by the front rim. Oh yeah, the car is partially into the garage, so I'd have to let go to move it to close the door and not let all the freezing air into the house.
At this point I need help. I call all my neighbors and of course no one answers. Fortunately big-m is on his way home and lil-M was sleeping by now. Big-M to the rescue. We separated the wheel from the bike so we could move the car into the garage. Then with some pliers were able to free the front wheel as well.
The net was amazingly good:
The car is fine.
The crossbars are fine.
The tray (that the bike sits in) is a mess, but the other rack parts are salvageable.
My bike appears to be okay, worst case is I'm looking at a new front wheel.
Lil-M slept through it all.
And my gracious husband has been way kind about (much nicer than I would have been to him) and hasn't harassed me at all!
Sunday, February 12, 2006
Snow and dog licks
Two news for lil-M this weekend, touching snow and a dog's tongue. Actually I'm sure she's experienced both before, but both were prior to her being able to clearly voice her opinion in both "words" and actions. She was a bit stunned at both of them, but all-in-all positive experiences!
I loved this snow, beautiful, but not disruptive.
I loved this snow, beautiful, but not disruptive.
Friday, February 10, 2006
Pareto's Law in real life
Pareto's Law of Economics roughly states that 85% of the world's wealth is owned by 15% of the population. It is often generalized and referred to as the 80:20 rule.
It has MANY applications:
In manufacturing and production, 80% of the production is accounted for by 20% of the products.
80% of the world's polution is caused by 20% of the population
80% of my time in my house is spent in 20% of the space (the kitchen and bedroom!)
80% of a group project is done by 20% of the group's members.
N used it once in a class presentation and got harassed by an unsuspecting international student who was later "destroyed" by the rest of the class.
So why blog about it, I came up with another yesterday that is a bit depressing. Teaching this one class accounts for 80% of my work time and only 20% of my income.
Feel free to add to the list.
It has MANY applications:
In manufacturing and production, 80% of the production is accounted for by 20% of the products.
80% of the world's polution is caused by 20% of the population
80% of my time in my house is spent in 20% of the space (the kitchen and bedroom!)
80% of a group project is done by 20% of the group's members.
N used it once in a class presentation and got harassed by an unsuspecting international student who was later "destroyed" by the rest of the class.
So why blog about it, I came up with another yesterday that is a bit depressing. Teaching this one class accounts for 80% of my work time and only 20% of my income.
Feel free to add to the list.
Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Classroom management 1000
Semester group projects. Is there anyone out there who actually prefers to have had the professor select the groups? As a student I hated being assigned groups. You always get at least one slacker who barely contributes and really just makes it more difficult for you. So here I am on the other side about to assign groups instead of letting them select their own.
Why?
1. Because if I don't the groups will end up along the lines of ethnicity, gender, GPA, or some combination of these. The GPA is the one that worries me. I don't want one or two groups of slackers. They won't have a clue. Every group needs at least one person who knows a little or the whole thing falls apart.
2. In 99% of the jobs these students will take, they will have to work in teams where they don't like others and they don't get along, or even more annoying, they will carry the weight of the slackers on their team. The other 1% won't ever get a job.
Academics have come up with all kinds of crazy schemes for forming student groups. Some will give personality tests and try to get a spread of personalities in any one group, or mess with them and for experiments sake put all of one personality together. Seems over the top to me.
Any opinions from the regular people out there.
Why?
1. Because if I don't the groups will end up along the lines of ethnicity, gender, GPA, or some combination of these. The GPA is the one that worries me. I don't want one or two groups of slackers. They won't have a clue. Every group needs at least one person who knows a little or the whole thing falls apart.
2. In 99% of the jobs these students will take, they will have to work in teams where they don't like others and they don't get along, or even more annoying, they will carry the weight of the slackers on their team. The other 1% won't ever get a job.
Academics have come up with all kinds of crazy schemes for forming student groups. Some will give personality tests and try to get a spread of personalities in any one group, or mess with them and for experiments sake put all of one personality together. Seems over the top to me.
Any opinions from the regular people out there.
Tuesday, February 07, 2006
does everyone hate skaters?
Ok, I know it's been forever, so if anyone is actually reading this, thanks for not writing me off completely.
So I have this in-class assignment in which the students had to pick an item and create some IE type charts regarding how the item would be produced. I gave them three choices, a hamburger, a skateboard, or an item of their choice. Just to make it easy, I brought my skateboard so they could see how it is constructed. All five groups selected the hamburger. I see a few possible explanations:
1. They were all hungry (the class is at 12:20).
2. There is not a single creative soul in my class....might be a long semester
3. No one wanted to 'kiss-up' to the teacher...can you really have a class without a few tools?
4. They all hate skaters.
Monday I made them talk about the logistics of the Tour de France, so maybe they just think I'm a lunatic and that's why they didn't pick the skateboard.
So I have this in-class assignment in which the students had to pick an item and create some IE type charts regarding how the item would be produced. I gave them three choices, a hamburger, a skateboard, or an item of their choice. Just to make it easy, I brought my skateboard so they could see how it is constructed. All five groups selected the hamburger. I see a few possible explanations:
1. They were all hungry (the class is at 12:20).
2. There is not a single creative soul in my class....might be a long semester
3. No one wanted to 'kiss-up' to the teacher...can you really have a class without a few tools?
4. They all hate skaters.
Monday I made them talk about the logistics of the Tour de France, so maybe they just think I'm a lunatic and that's why they didn't pick the skateboard.
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