Last year, my wife and I regularly taught a group of 8- and 9-year-old children. Many of these kids had read the book “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” seen the movie, or wanted the book for their birthday.
To better connect with our kids, my wife suggested that we go and see the movie. I, however, was reluctant, and she had to do some serious persuading before I agreed to see it.
Some of you may recall an 80s TV show of that name, and I just want to say that has nothing to do with the topic of this blog. Ah, Gary Coleman at his finest, may he rest in peace…
In a recent discussion, a friend revealed that his father had suffered a stroke at a surprisingly young age. Despite a small loss of motor control, his father could still get around well.
Several years ago I got into a conversation with one of my coworkers, “Carol,” about Utah drivers. She had lived in several other states and countries, and had experienced the driving habits of drivers in each of those places. Her dearly held opinion was that Utah drivers were the worst. I agreed, but asked what her reasoning was. So Carol mentioned that she knew someone who did not use his blinker. When confronted, that person mentioned that if he were to use his blinker, it would “burn out more quickly.”
Really? What on earth is the blinker for, if not to signal that a person is changing lanes or turning a corner? As a different coworker of mine mentioned a few weeks ago, “Driving is more than getting from point A to point B; it's getting from A to B in a predictable way.”
Recently I gave my students an exam. The students had spent all semester next to the same people, with whom they likely studied. So, the first thing I did for the exam was rearrange the classroom. I didn’t want people to be comfortable enough to cheat. I also encouraged students to spread out a little bit. Several seats were available in the back of the room.
Three students arrived late. I handed the first one a test and told him to sit in the front because one large gap was available there. I then handed tests to the other two and told them to go to the back of the classroom.
And I owe a debt of gratitude to Jim Davis’ Garfield.
Monday, just over a week ago, I had a series of unfortunate and horrific events. They all started Monday morning when I went to work and forgot to take my benefits documentation with me.
I started a new job at the beginning of last month. As with most companies, they gave me about 30 days to make a decision with regard to my opt-in benefits. However, my wife and I have been incredibly busy this last month. We had not taken any time to consider our options, and, despite an email reminder the Friday before, I forgot to look at the documentation over the weekend and bring it to work Monday morning.
My earliest mortifying moment came when I was quite young. In fact, I don’t remember the experience, but my mother is rather fond of the retelling of it…
My parents met inside a computer. My dad was tutored Fortran. Three years later, after their marriage and my birth, they still worked in that computer—yes, literally, inside the computer. (And no, this is not a Zoolander reference.)
Back in those days, computers filled entire rooms—rooms that were equipped with false floors in addition to the standard false, tiled ceilings. The floor was tiled to allow workers to get under the computer and fix wiring problems. The tiles had holes in them so that the room’s dedicated air conditioners could pump cool air in through the floor to keep the computer from overheating. The sheer volume of heat that these machines generated required a tremendous cooling capacity, and the consequent flow of cool air generated a lot of noise.
I have a new job teaching. I get to interact with students and help them learn new topics and ways of thinking. I love it.
Yesterday in class, I held a small discussion on how to design alarm clocks. I was trying to help the students learn how to identify the difference between requirements (what results are needed) and specifications (particular approaches to gain the results).
As part of this discussion, we talked about how the alarm clock needs to wake a person up. This is a requirement. A buzzer, on the other hand, is a specification. Other ways of waking a user up might include a radio, blinking lights, MP3 player, or throwing water on someone.
In the process of generating ideas about potential approaches to waking people up, a student piped up “it could shake the bed.” Great idea! Not wanting to spend much time writing so we could continue to discuss options, I turned around at the whiteboard and wrote a succinct summary:
