The Fora: A Higher Education Community

Quote from: Puget on November 28, 2024, 10:14:08 AMHappy thanksgiving everyone! I'm having friends over on Sunday instead of today, so using today to get some work done and a bit of just relaxing. It is raining hard but that's OK -- we really need it after a fall drought, and I'm cozy at home with the fireplace on and the cats lounging.

I got the chance to have lunch at some friends' house after church on the Sunday before.  They live out in the country, in one of the prettier spots of the county, and it was a beautiful day.  We had lunch outside.  Only problem was, it was rather blustery, so you had to watch your plate and napkins.  We had about a dozen people there, even with some invitees unable to make it.

Thanksgiving Day was just me and Mom and Dad.  It was nice.  They're doing well.  We had a long talk with my distant out-of-state brother by phone that afternoon.  He told us about how after the neighborhood had pulled itself back together after the hurricane, he and his wife went ahead with pre-existing plans to kill a pig and invite the neighbors to a pig roast.  They had about 50 people there.  Looks like it will become an annual neighborhood event.

We've actually been having frosts in recent days, with more forecast in the days to come.  I'm surprised that the weather has felt that seasonal.  Almost no clouds, though, and still not a drop of rain in sight, after weeks of nothing.

Saw a formation of geese fly right over me this morning while walking to work.  That's always a great sight.  We've generally seen fewer of them passing over town in recent years.  Looks like their migration routes may have shifted a bit.

I made a video walking through the steps of how to download data, reformat, upload, and analyze.  Posted on the class LMS for the students & sent an announcement.
There are also typed instructions with screenshots in the lab manual, which is in the lab and posted online.

Here's part of our last TA meeting:

[new TA] "my students are having a really hard time with this"
[Me] "ok, did they watch the video?"
[new TA] "what video?"
[other new TA] "the one she posted last week"
[new TA] "I think it would be better if there were like screenshots or something"
[other new TA] "really?!"
[new TA] "do the students get to see the rubric? I think that would help"

You can guess where this is going . . .

I wish I could give a raise or bonus to my awesome TAs. And insist on some sort of remedial training for the ones who simply refuse to be prepared.

While at my parents' house for Thanksgiving, I got to accompany Dad into town for his usual morning errand-running.  He always takes their dog.  A day just isn't right for the dog when he doesn't get a ride into town.  Dad has been known to take him into town on mornings when there weren't any errands to run.

Anyway, the dog seems to consider himself Dad's co-driver.  He tucks himself into Dad's left elbow and stares intently at the road.  Occasionally he's rewarded with a glimpse of a deer or another dog.  If I stay in the vehicle with the dog while Dad is inside with an errand, he stays alert and takes in all the coming and going traffic.  He also loves it whenever they go through a drive-through window.

Quote from: bio-nonymous on Today at 06:42:05 AM

Quote from: Parasaurolophus on November 27, 2024, 10:55:52 AM

Quote from: bio-nonymous on November 27, 2024, 07:06:10 AMVehicle transmission stopped functioning in the middle of a super-busy intersection during rush hour last night. Ugg. Now the shop tells me they can't even look at it until next Thursday. Oh well. I keep trying to find the bright side in everything but I can't help bitching about all the things that went wrong over the past few days, this breakdown was just the icing on the cake. At least I am still alive! :)

Ugh, that's awful. It happened to me and the hatchling last year. I somehow managed to get the car parked on the side using just my momentum (I was going uphill when it happened, and I noticed before I started going back). It ended up having to get rebuilt, which was hella expensive.

Update! They got my vehicle in early to diagnose and sure enough I need a new (rebuilt) transmission. $7000.00! VENT #45^&#, %^$#!!!@ Vent!

Happy holidays mechanics. Gulp... Oh well, I keep telling myself thank goodness we are in a position where I can get it fixed, but I am alternating with feeling sorry for myself. There are so many other things I would rather spend that money on... :)

Oh wow @bio-nonymous, that's quite an unexpected whack. My commiserations. Did they recommend getting a new car instead?
Genuinely glad that you can get it fixed though.
Hope your bad 'car'ma is all done and all else is smooth sailing.

Quote from: mythbuster on December 01, 2024, 05:08:20 PMPoiuy, since its before the deadline, it might be time for the all class "reminder" about the AI policy. Maybe some will submit a new assignment? At least it might head off a few at the pass.

Thanks for the thought @mythbuster. I had done that for the previous assignment after catching some of the plagiarists then, and stupidly thought that would have been enough for the semester.
Yeah, I should do the announcement again.

Interesting that after we had this thread discussion last week I had my citation count downgraded by 1. Why? IDK? It doesn't really matter for my career, but I thought it was funny that it just happened to me too!

Quote from: Parasaurolophus on November 27, 2024, 10:55:52 AM

Quote from: bio-nonymous on November 27, 2024, 07:06:10 AMVehicle transmission stopped functioning in the middle of a super-busy intersection during rush hour last night. Ugg. Now the shop tells me they can't even look at it until next Thursday. Oh well. I keep trying to find the bright side in everything but I can't help bitching about all the things that went wrong over the past few days, this breakdown was just the icing on the cake. At least I am still alive! :)

Ugh, that's awful. It happened to me and the hatchling last year. I somehow managed to get the car parked on the side using just my momentum (I was going uphill when it happened, and I noticed before I started going back). It ended up having to get rebuilt, which was hella expensive.

Update! They got my vehicle in early to diagnose and sure enough I need a new (rebuilt) transmission. $7000.00! VENT #45^&#, %^$#!!!@ Vent!

Happy holidays mechanics. Gulp... Oh well, I keep telling myself thank goodness we are in a position where I can get it fixed, but I am alternating with feeling sorry for myself. There are so many other things I would rather spend that money on... :)

Morning cathwen!

QBw2LL last words abide(d). LB jorts-squeamish. Yes, quite the portmanteau!

Happy solving!