Gender Inequality and Shopping

I came home from school and immediately came down with a cold. Candi came home yesterday after visiting her mother with a full-blown cold. She slept most of the afternoon and then slept most of the evening in her chair in front of the television. Then she slept all through the night, something that rarely happens. Today she looks better and I think she feels better than I do. Not fair. Females are definitely the stronger gender. If you don’t believe that, just ask one.

This is super Saturday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year. I did not leave the house and will not leave it until we go to the airport on Monday. I plan all Christmas gifts in October. I buy most of them online with free shipping. If anyone wants their presents wrapped, they can wrap them. I do not like crowds. I do not like trying to find what I want in a store where the aisles are so crowded you cannot get from one end to the other. Do you enjoy walking a half-mile from your parking spot to the store? I do not. This year may be an exception after Christmas. I also avoid stores the days after Christmas, the time for returns. This year we are going to see our grandsons for Christmas (and their parents too.) One is a teenager and one is almost there. Their major gift is to go shopping, by themselves, with Grandma and Grandpa to buy the one thing that they really wanted but did not get. I know they will like this. I know I should and hope I do. This is the last blog until we return after Christmas. Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

A little help from your friends

After the work to replace the disposal yesterday, I planned to take the day off and just do some editing. A friend needed assistance replacing an over the stove microwave that was also a light and vent hood. When I got there, he had everything well underway. The mounting bracket was on the wall and it looked like it was just put the microwave on the wall. Just about but not quite. We still needed to make sure the holes to screw the microwave to the cabinet were in the correct place. One side was correct and we could reuse the existing hole. The other side took a little measuring and the drilling, but we got it right the first time. Measure three times, drill once. With that we were able to put the microwave on the wall bracket and then put the bolt in that attached it to the cabinet. A little bit of work on the exhaust ducting and we were done. So much better than the day before. It really helps to have more than two hands on the job. Like most of life, everything goes smoother with a little help from your friends.

Home Repair

First, the dishwasher stopped working. We hope it is because the door springs don’t hold the door up anymore. I went online and ordered parts. They came and were the wrong parts. I called the supplier, and it turns out they don’t stock the correct parts, but that did not stop them from selling me the wrong parts. They went back for a refund. I went online to the dishwasher manufacturer and ordered the correct parts. Surprisingly, the parts from the manufacturer were cheaper than the parts house. The parts should be here this week.

After the dishwasher failed, the garbage disposal failed. I decided I could replace it. I had replaced a disposal before. Off to the big box home center. I found the same model as the old one and got it. Replacement with the same model should make the job easier! With my wife out of town, it was the perfect time to replace the disposal. I even read the directions. Since it was a replacement in kind, I got to skip 10 steps of the instructions. The first instruction was to turn off the power. No big deal, the breaker was marked and the switch was off. The second instruction was to remove the existing drain piping off of the disposal discharge. OK. Not so clear. On my piping, everything was interconnected. I had to remove all of the piping under the double sink to remove the one piece of piping connected to the disposal. Now all of this required getting down on my old and sore knees and working under the sink.

The next instruction was to rotate a ring on the disposal and support the disposal because it would fall when it came loose. The only way to accomplish this step was to lay on my back with my head in the cabinet, use the wrench as instructed, and turn the ring. They don’t tell you what to do it the ring doesn’t turn. So I got up and reread the directions. All the instructions showed the ring turning easily, no help. I thought maybe a hammer would free up the ring. What fun, laying on your back with your head in the cabinet under the sink and trying to hit the ring and nothing else. After 15 minutes of this, I tried turning the ring again. I would not budge. So I get up off the floor and think it is time for a break. But first, I started thinking. What do we normally do when something is stuck? Possibly heat or better yet WD-40. So I got the WD-40 and also picked up a torch. I figured less could go wrong with WD-40 than using a torch in the house under the sink. I sprayed the ring and then took a break. WD-40 needed time to sink and work, and I needed a break. After a break, I realized the little wrench that came with the disposal did not give much leverage. A big screwdriver with a wrench gave more leverage. This time the ring turned quickly. Too quickly for me to catch the disposal, and that is why there is a bandage on my finger. Next step, connect the wiring to the disposal. Not too bad, maybe electrician is more my thing than a plumber.

OK, back to the instructions. Just hold the disposal up to the sink and turn the ring. Let’s see hold the disposal up to the underside of the sink, laying on your back, head in the cabinet, the edge of cabinet killing your back, and engage three tabs on the ring with the part left connected to the sink. That sounds so easy. Not! Try, try, try, try and I cannot hold the disposal up anymore. Get up off the floor, not as easy as it sounds, and give the arm time to recover. Get back on my back, head in the cabinet. On about the fourth or fifth try, all of the tabs cooperated and engaged as they were designed to. Yea! Tighten the disposal, and put all of the piping under the sink back on, after remembering where it went and making sure all of the joints were tight and did not leak. It was about then I remembered that the last time I replaced a garbage disposal was about 30+ years ago. What was the song? May not be good as I once was, but I'm as good once, as I ever was. I think this could be considered a humble brag?

Editing Written Papers

I am back to feeling human again. I am back to editing. I am a comprehensive editor. There are three basic levels of editing, 1. Copyediting, 2. Proofreading, and 3. Comprehensive editing. Copyediting is your basic spell and grammar check on the written copy. The copy editor may also do a rewrite, if necessary, to fix problems this transitions, word use, and style. They may make a revision of the document. A proof reader reads the document after it is ready for publications. They look for minor errors in text and format. In order of difficulty, most people consider proofreading as the simplest task. Copy editing takes much more skill. Comprehensive editing (also known as substantive or structural or content editing) ensures that the structure of the document, content, language use, and presentation are appropriate for the intended purpose, publication route, and readership. A comprehensive editor incorporates the skills of the copy editor and proofreader. The comprehensive editor makes sure that the paper tells a clear and comprehensive story, that the paper flows, and it is easy to follow. Sounds easy enough, but you try it.

I review submitted papers for several information systems journals. If a paper is not well written (not copy edited), I reject it out. Don’t waste anyone’s time reading a paper that is full of errors. I suspect there are a number of people out there that hate me for the rejection. Resubmit after you get a proper copyediting of this work. As you might suspect, writers that do not have English as a first language have the largest problem, and should always have their work edited before submitting it.

I do comprehensive editing for my colleagues that are working to get tenure and need to publish in high level journals. As a professor of practice, I do not need to publish much research. My contribution to the research interests of my department is to get the junior faculty (without tenure) published so they can get tenure. In the last two years, three papers I edited were accepted at A+ level journals. Two others are under review. I just completed another paper this morning and am expecting one this afternoon. No, I do not charge faculty in my department for editing. I consider it a service. Outside our department is another story. And at $100 per hour, I still have requests for my service. Life is good.

I cannot leave this without thanking Dr. Angela Eaton, the best teacher of editing the English language.

Having a Cold Sucks

Having a cold sucks on a variety of levels. If you say, I don’t feel well. And follow that with, I have a cold, you get no sympathy. Here take this or that cold medicine. Suck it up. It’s not fatal. Or in some cases, a sarcastic “poor baby.” Yes, you don’t sleep well. I slept on a recliner in the family room last night, so my better half could get a decent night’s sleep, undisturbed by my uncontrolled coughing and sneezing. It made me feel like a better person (I started to put hero here, but that is probably an overstatement.) My reward was the best biscuits and sausage gravy in the world, made by my dear wife. Who else puts a full pound of sausage in the gravy and just for the two of us!

I did manage to accomplish a few little things today in spite of my severe illness. I bought a new garbage disposal after wandering through Lowe’s forever. Who knew they were in the plumbing department? I didn’t, and like any self-respecting male did not ask. If Candi had not asked, I would probably still be at Lowe’s wandering around looking for them. We did stop and get more cold remedies, some real and some homeopathic. She believes in the latter.

Tomorrow is the deadline for getting Fall semester grades into the system. My grades were in for all classes last Thursday, and today is Tuesday. Hopefully, it is the end of requests for extra credit to get someone from 88% to 90%. I answered several of those today with the reply, “The semester is over. Take what you learned and apply it to future classes. The time to be concerned about your grade is at the beginning of the semester and not when it is over.” Will they? Some will and many won’t. Sad but true.

Away and Ill

Finally, away from campus and home. The first thing that happens is I have a cold. None illness the entire semester, even though it seemed like we had epidemics on campus. It makes it difficult to get excited about the projects that seem to have piled up. These are projects like replacing the door springs on the dishwasher. I ordered parts and they sent me the wrong parts. When I called to inquire, I found that they don’t even stock the correct part. Now the parts have to go back and new parts ordered. I can’t get enthused because the dishwasher now won’t reset. So it may need more parts or replacement. I hate to think about replacement because it is only six years old and it is a Bosch. Then later today the garbage disposer decided to die. It is over six years old and only had a two-year warranty. So it is not an unexpected replacement. Tomorrow we will get a new disposer at one of the two home repair stores in Brenham. Maybe we can get that all done and still have time to see a movie in the afternoon. It is dark, cold, and windy outside. Days are still getting shorter. We still have five days until the shortest day of the year. Stay warm!

Higher Education Cost Breakdown

If you are concerned about the cost of higher education, the first thing you focus on is tuition. Tuition is the cost of education or what you have to pay for classes. Yet it is the smallest part of the cost you will pay to send someone to college. The university has what they call block tuition, which is the cost for 14 to 18 hours per semester. It is based on 15 hours per semester and includes both fees and what you pay for classes. This year's block tuition is $4509 per semester. The mandatory fees are $122.50 per credit hour or $1830.75 for 15 credit hours. Subtracting the mandatory fees from the block tuition gives the cost of classes for 15 credit hours of $2678.25. On top of the block tuition, you will pay Academic Service fees. For the business school, these fees are $105 per credit hour or $1575 for 15 credit hours.

Also, you will pay housing or dorm costs of approximately $3500 per semester and a meal plan of $1550 to $2275 per semester. The total cost for one semester is broken down as follows:

Tuition	$2678.25
Mandatory Fees	$1830.75
Academic Service Fees (mandatory)	$1575.00
Housing	$3500.00
Meal Plan Average	$1912.50
Total Cost for 1 semester	$11,496.50

So the annual cost for one year is $22,993. Where can the costs be lowered? Fees are a place to start. Over $3400 per semester in Fees to support the bloated administration seems exorbitant. Housing and meals can be reduced off-campus. I know of several parents that bought a three-bedroom, two-bath house and paid the monthly mortgage payments from the two roommates. I also know of a student that got room and board free by working as a resident associate/mentor. She got scholarships to cover all fees and tuition. This does not just happen. She worked at it, got to know her professors, got great recommendation letters, and created a great resume. I am one of her professors and very proud of her. Next, she is going for a master’s degree in film making.

Why does higher education cost so much?

I teach at a land grant university. These were universities created originally under the 1862 Morrill Act. The Act gave the states land to create colleges that taught agriculture and mechanical arts. If you are interested in the history of land grant colleges, it can be found here: https://www.nap.edu/read/4980/chapter/2.

I started thinking about this because United States universities have lost their way. They have become very expensive. When students graduate with over $100,000 in student debt, there is something wrong. What is wrong is very apparent when you look at the organization of the university. 50 years ago, the primary purpose of the university was education. Yes, I can speak authoritatively about this because I graduated with an engineering degree 50 years ago next month. Students were expected to do homework and were given work that would require two to three hours of effort for every hour in class. But the biggest difference is the number of administrative employees of the university. 50 years ago, the ratio of administrative and staff employees to teaching faculty was 1:1 or less. We had more faculty than staff and many administrators taught classes. The college deans taught classes. I took a class that was taught by the head of the math department.

Today, Deans attempt to raise money from alumni and don’t teach. The ratio of administrative personnel to faculty is more than 3:1. The administrative structure is very hierarchical, meaning that oftentimes, an administrator has only two or three direct reports. Thirty years ago, industrial organizations started working toward a flat organization. The result was each administrator/manager had 8 to 12 direct reports. The flatter organization gained by giving the people doing the work the authority to do the work with minimal oversite. There were significant cost savings. More tomorrow on the cost of higher education.

Dentist office

Last Friday evening, I had a crown come off. I pushed it back on, and it stayed, but I thought that I really needed to get it cemented or glued back on. Monday, I called a local dentist's office to get an appointment. She was in-network. I was told that it would be two weeks before they had an opening. I told them that if they could not get me in Tuesday or Thursday to forget it. The office called back later that day and had two openings. I took the one on Thursday, which was yesterday. They asked me to come 15 minutes early to complete their paperwork. I did and they called me in only 10 minutes after my appointment time. I was thinking that for a dentist they were sort of on time. The hygienist then did an around the head x-ray. We went into one of the treatment areas where she did two additional x-rays, one with the crown on and one with it off. The hygienist left and no one came back for an hour. Someone would occasionally pop their head in and apologize for the wait. The dentist finally showed up and commented that I was patient. It took about a minute to glue the crown back on, and then I bit down for three minutes. I guess that was for the glue to set. The dentist then scraped the excess glue off and left. The hygienist took another x-ray. She said it was to see if the crown was properly glued on. That made no sense. The low level x-rays the dentist’s office uses cannot see through the gold crown. After the hygienist left, no one came back. While I was there the room next to me had two people come and leave, before I was seen. After more than 10 minutes with no one returning, I took the bib off and gathered my book and walked out to the front desk. The people working at the desk, there were three of them, looked at me funny. I guess they are not used to people coming out unescorted. I told them that I had been abandoned. I thought I must be done and needed to pay them. One of the people asked over her microphone if anyone could tell her anything about me. The hygienist came out and said that there was more excess glue to scrape off. I told her I was done. When the hygienist tried to get me to come back, One of the other women there looked at her and said, “didn’t you hear him. He is done.” At least someone listened to me. It was strange that no one asked if I wanted to make an appointment to get my teeth cleaned since I was a new patient. I don't know how I would have replied to that question. I know that the office was busy, had a person out sick, and I heard that there was an emergency. However, these people really need to work on their communication skills. At least I found time to meditate yesterday.

Out of Dodge

It is time to get out of Dodge. What does that mean? From the online Urban Dictionary,

"Get the hell out of Dodge" is a reference to Dodge City, Kansas, which was a favorite location for westerns in the early to mid 20th century. Most memorably, the phrase was made famous by the TV show "Gunsmoke," in which villains were often commanded to "get the hell out of Dodge." The phrase took on its current meaning in the 1960s and 70s when teenagers began to use it in its current form.

Awesome. We're done here, so let's get the hell out of dodge!

In my case, it means that it is time to go back to Texas and see my better half.

I apologize in advance because I have been watching the Judiciary hearings. Yes, I know that I swore off the cr*p coming out of Washington, but I am weak. I keep going back to the constitution. I reread it this week. I recommend it as mandatory reading at this time in our nation’s history. (https://billofrightsinstitute.org/founding-documents/constitution/?utm_source=GOOGLE&utm_medium=SEARCH&utm_campaign=EVERGREEN&utm_term=CONSTITUTION&utm_content=TEXT1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI5tzA9pix5gIVU5JbCh1lpQsjEAAYASAAEgJJKfD_BwE) I keep coming back to the oath that all in Congress swore: “to uphold the Constitution of the United States of America.” The Republicans are going to have to decide, “are they Republicans or Americans?” I do not understand why Republicans are so afraid of Trump and his base. So afraid that they continue to defend his lies and falsehoods and defamation of character tweets.

I hope to be through with political comments, but I thought that earlier. Maybe it will be so, this time. Or, maybe not?

End of semester

Today is my last final exam for the semester. Three of the four classes have been graded, and the grades posted. There should have been no surprises, but there are always students that just woke up and realized they had not looked at their grades the entire semester. Oh, we were supposed to do the quizzes in the book? I never purchased the book. You also did not read the syllabus. Why should we read the syllabus? I saw that there was a quiz over the syllabus, but I did not do it. Can I do some extra credit? There was extra credit available, but the deadline for doing it was last week. I forgot to turn in some assignments. Can I turn them in now? No, there is no late, as stated in the syllabus that you did not read. I did not see that the file I turned in was corrupted and could not be opened. Can I send it to you and get a grade? That assignment was due four months ago, and the syllabus says that you have seven days after a grade is posted to appeal it. No, do not send me any assignments. The semester is over and your grade is posted. I will not change it. I know it sounds like I am harsh and a martinet. Please understand that I have 800 students across four sections. Many are first-semester freshmen. My class is the first core business class that the students take. My department chair calls it “the welcome to college class.” I love teaching, but it is time for a break and a renewal.

Another Day

I am thankful for another day. It is not like I have anything wrong with me, just the normal aches and pains that tell us we are still alive. An occasional cramp in my hand, especially after hours on the computer with too much mouse use. A sore ankle for which I have no idea how I might have hurt it. When that happens, I tend to worry about Alzheimer’s, but then realize that if I can worry about it, I probably don’t have it. I suppose I could go to a doctor and get checked out, and maybe I should, but it has been almost 15 years since I have seen a doctor. I take no drugs unless you count adult beverages. (I am really looking forward to visiting many Irish pubs this coming Summer.) I figure that if I go to a doctor, they will want to prescribe several types of medications for real or imaginary ailments/diseases. When I read the fine print in all of the ads for drugs on TV or online or in print, the side effects of the medications are worse than what they are trying to cure. So as long as I can sleep well, even if I wake at four am because my mind has started working, I will stay far far away from the medical community. I always figured that when my time on this turn in life is over, it will be over. For now, I will start to think about the next thing and try to keep from watching the news coming out of Washington. I think the next thing is some meditation and trying to keep awake.

Boss

Have you ever stopped to think about the people you have worked for, your boss? I have learned a lot from the really good bosses I have had. My current boss is outstanding; so outstanding that when he decides to retire, about half of my department will likely retire. Rick is our department chair. He said the other day that he was going to retire in eight years. Dave immediately said it was 6 for him. That would give him 20 years in the air force and 20 in academia. I am retired and teaching because I enjoy it. When it stops being fun, I am out of here.

I think I learned the most from the bosses I had that were not good. I had one that was retired in place and sent any problems to me. I complained to his boss and that went nowhere. I left shortly after. My next boss delegated everything. So he stayed out of my way, and I was able to accomplish a lot. My next boss was unethical and embezzled from the company. When it was reported, he got promoted. I learned a lot about what not to do as a leader from the poor bosses. It made me stop and think about the people working for me and how we can accomplish things cooperatively. I learned that people should have no more than four to five goals per year, and three is probably better. Any more than that and nothing will get accomplished. When I was a plant manager, every department had the same goals. We all succeed or fail together.

End of the semester

Next week is the final exam for each class/section. This weekend was spent reviewing all grades and grading extra credit. And answering emails and more emails and more emails. I have to manually transfer the end of chapter quizzes from the ebook to our learning management system, Canvas. After I did that, the deluge of emails started. Most were along the lines of “I didn’t know they were required.” The only reason for not knowing that was that they did not read the syllabus. And yes, I give them a quiz over the syllabus at the beginning of the semester, which many do not take or fail. We write detailed syllabi for just this reason. Go ahead and protest the grade. If it is explicitly stated in the syllabi, it is gospel. However, this does not mean that we do not receive detailed explanations of why we need to make an exception. This time of the year makes me wonder about my choice of teaching. However, the complainers and those who don’t read the syllabus raise my stress levels are more than overcome by those who thank us for a great class and feel they have learned a lot. Those students are the reason I keep doing this.

Politically correct and community.

Last evening was the annual department “Winter Appreciation Dinner.” It is called that since we got politically correct, long before I got here. It used to be called the Christmas Party. We are discouraged from withing anyone Merry Christmas in the attempt to be politically correct. I kind of avoid it by wishing everyone “Mele Kalikimaka.” Hawaiian for Merry Christmas, but no one in Oklahoma knows what it means. What is wrong with saying “I wish the best for you and your family at this time of year.” And why do we have to reserve these thoughts for the month of December? Aren’t they appropriate for any time of year?

We had a scare this morning, or perhaps I should say that my wife did. I only heard about it when she called. A neighbor came by to ask if she had our next-door neighbor’s phone number. Our next-door neighbor is a widow in her 80’s. The yard maintenance people had come and were not able to contact her. The police were contacted; a friend with a key was found and came to open the house. She had fallen and was not able to reach a phone. Everything worked out, and she is ok. It shows the importance of the community. We are going to make sure we have contact information for all of our neighbors and they have our next of kin’s contact numbers. If it had not been for the yard maintenance people, who knows what the outcome might have been.

Scooters and other methods of transportation

Last year electric scooters showed up on canpus. They were everywhere. People would just leave them wherever it was convenient for them. There were many accidents. I had a student suffer a broken leg when another student on a scooter ran into him while he was riding his bicycle. The university banned scooters as dangerous and forbid them from being on university property.

This fall, the electric scooters are back with university approval, approved parking spots, and a new vendor. It is likely that the university is getting a fee from the new vendor; a fee is a polite way of saying “kickback.” The electric scooters are still dangerous. No safety equipment such as helmets is required to ride them. The university police report does not specifically break out accidents involving scooters. Anecdotal evidence says that the scooters are still dangerous, but the university looks the other way, since it is now a source of income. Look both ways twice before walking anywhere on campus. Just walking is more dangerous today than it was a year ago.

Walk, text, and chew gum.

Most people have trouble doing two things at once, like walking and talking or walking and chewing gum. Now everyone can walk and text. Do you really believe that? I saw two students walk head-on into each other while walking and texting. I saw a professor fall off of a curb while walking and texting, yes flat on his face and no he was not a young person. Last week I saw a student walk into a light pole while walking and looking at his phone. Hello, we are not made to do more than one thing at a time. Multi-tasking does not exist. It is serial tasking, and we are not good at it. Before class, I see an entire row of students all on their phones, and I wonder if are they texting each other. One day I asked a couple of guys that were busy on their phones if they noticed the drop-dead gorgeous young lady sitting between them. OMG! They had not even looked at her. I don’t understand. Smartphones and texting seem to be destroying the art of conversation and personal interconnections. What is next? Meeting in virtual reality with an avatar? I wonder where all this is leading? Of course, we have a president whose primary method of communication is tweeting. Not every student is consumed with electronic media. I received a very nice, handwritten thank you note from a student this week, thanking me for being her professor. It is things like this that make a professor’s year.

Live or die

This time of year makes me think of death and dying. I am not sure why. It could be the days are getting shorter, the trees have lost all their leaves, and all of the grasses are dormant and brown. The people I have lost come to mind, both friends and relatives. My friend Jeff that died all too early at only 48 years old. My mother and grandfather who both died at age 86. My mother-in-law is recovering from cancer surgery, and my wife is there to keep her focused on living and not giving up. I wonder how much time I have left. I remember  Dylan Thomas,

“Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.”

All of the news channels have specials on who we lost this year. We, my wife’s famiIy, lost Walter and Marie this year. Walter was 101 and Marie was 97. They had a long, happy life. I think we (I) need to stop thinking about the end of life and concentrate on living life every day. I am working on this, but it is a work in progress. Please join me for the journey.

Too much news

I tried to swear off watching news, especially political news. I failed. I watched too many of the hearings and too many talking heads. They are on the television constantly and almost impossible to avoid. Yes, I could have turned off the television and notifications on my smartphone and Ipad. I failed at that also. The other night I had a dream or was it a nightmare? After weeks of hearing the President rail against the hearings as fake, as improper, as ignoring his perfect call with the Ukraine President, I went to bed. I dreamed that the President was criticizing everyone who was out to get him, so he declared himself the King of the USA. When he did that, the Senate voted unanimously to impeach him. When they went to swear in the Vice-President, he resigned, saying he did not sign up for that job. Then they swore in the Speaker of the House as the President. The former President, now the self-proclaimed King, refused to leave the White House and surrounded himself with white supremacists to protect the king and what he now called the White Castle. They were serving everyone little square hamburgers. Thank goodness, I woke up. The first thing I did was to go online and check the news and see if it really was a dream. I am still trying to ignore what is going on in USA politics, just still not very successfully. If you can do that successfully, please let me know your secret.

Last week of school

Today was the start of dead week. Based on class attendance, today may be an extension of the Thanksgiving weekend. Based on my email inbox, it is also the first time many of the students looked at their grades. Regardless of how many times I tell them that the time to be concerned about grades is the first day of class and not the last week of class for the semester, they don’t listen. I received over 50 emails just today, and over 150 over the weekend. Yes, there is extra credit and it is posted online, exactly where it was the first day of the semester. Yes, the quizzes in the book count toward your quiz grade. No, late or missed assignments cannot be turned in for credit. Read the syllabus; there is no late. I have learned that you cannot get everyone to do the work so that they pass the course. Many are outstanding students and understand that to get a good grade all that is required is to show up and do the work. Since I have many freshmen, I can see that many are not ready to be taking university classes. It makes me wonder if we had universal military service like Germany, Israel, Turkey, and Korea, to name a few, would that extra time and discipline make more students ready for college. I don’t expect we will ever find out. I can tell you that the ones that did military service before college are outstanding students.

Long Day

Yesterday was a long day. I spent way too long driving from Brenham to Stillwater. Having to deal with the Thanksgiving traffic, I chose to drive on Saturday instead of Sunday with the belief that the traffic would be less on Saturday. My wife reminded me to go slow and with the flow. I promised to try. Reminds me of Yoda, “There is no try, just do.” The drive was normal until I got to Waco (pronounced wacko). There I got into I-35 traffic and there was a lot of traffic. As is often the case, the right-hand lane out of three was the fastest. I am not sure I understand that, but I have found that to be the case in many states, not just Texas. Traffic was heavy going into Fort Worth, but it was not bad. The express laves through Fort Worth are worth the toll. Then I got to Dennison, where I-35 East and West join back into one. That intersection was a mess, and for all the way to the Red River, it was go fast, then go slow for no apparent reason. You definitely needed to be aware and concentrate on driving. Unfortunately, many were not paying needed attention to driving and more to their smartphones. I was forced onto the shoulder twice by people changing lanes into the side of me. Honking results in a startled expression, “Oh, where did you come from.” Oklahoma was not much different. Waze directed me around a construction zone. I sat through three miles of stop and go traffic due to an accident. The accident was on the other side of the highway. My side was a gaper’s block. I finally got to OKC and through it without incident. From OKC to Guthrie, the traffic speed varied from 30 to 60 mph. There was no apparent reason for the variation or slow speed. When I finally left the Interstate highway, Traffic was just like a normal day, until I reached Stillwater. The OSU – Okstate game (known locally as Bedlam) had already started, and I had anticipated that traffic would be light. I had neglected to consider all of those that did not have tickets to the game but were there just to tailgate and had run out of beer. The traffic between the campus and the beer store was the worst. I was very happy to make it back to Stillwater for the last two weeks of the semester and in one piece. I do not want to know how bad the traffic was today (Sunday). This is my excuse for not posting yesterday, and I’m sticking with it. And on top of everything else, I did not call Candi when I got to Oklahoma, so now I am in that dog house. Hopefully, the Leonidas chocolates I ordered will get me a reprieve.

Black Friday

Today is Black Friday, and Monday is Cyber Monday. The busiest shopping days of the year according to the news. I remember, as a kid, going with my father to shop for mom’s Christmas gift on Christmas eve. It always struck me that a gift for mom seemed to be an after-thought. I know that many years, his gift was exchanged after Christmas. He couldn’t be upset considering how much thought he put into it. I suspect this is why I start thinking about Christmas gifts in October. Perhaps it is a little bit of an over-reaction. 

Candi and I stopped exchanging gifts years ago. If we need or want something, we buy it and don’t wait for a holiday. If we haven’t thought of it, we likely don’t want or need it. Our kids give us a gift list, normally Amazon or they get a gift certificate. The grandchildren are getting older, and it is difficult to know what they want. I came up with a solution this year. Since we will be there over Christmas, they will have a small gift under the tree, and we are giving them a shopping trip after Christmas. They will know what they got for Christmas, and we can take them to get what they wanted but did not get. We will see how it works. One reason I thought of this was that one year, I got a blanket for Christmas from my Grandparents. I don’t remember what I wanted that year, but I know that as a ten-year-old, it definitely was not a blanket. What I want for this Christmas and Christmases future is to make shared memories.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving is a time for large meals with family and friends. Do you have turkey, or ham or both? What type of dressing, cornbread or bread? Do you have cranberries, jello from the can, homemade cranberries, cranberry-orange, or some other traditional cranberry recipe? Do you have the traditional (thanks to Campbell’s soup) green bean casserole? Are you one that must have a mac and cheese dish? Do you fix potatoes, sweet potato or white potato mashed or baked, or both? What about pie, pecan or pumpkin or both? Just think of the time to prepare the feast and then how fast it disappears. Do you think that leftovers are the best part of Thanksgiving dinner? Turkey or ham sandwiches are great the next day.

This year, we went totally unconventional for Thanksgiving. There are just the two of us. Friends celebrate with their family and our family is many miles away. Yesterday, I smoked a rack of ribs. One rib is already gone to a taste test. Charro beans, potato salad, and broccoli finish out the dinner. And of course, no meal is complete without Blue Bell ice cream.

With the storms crossing the country, we hope that everyone’s loved ones are safe and warm and home for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving memories

We were remembering Thanksgivings past. Our first Thanksgiving after our wedding, we lived about 250 miles away, and both mothers insisted we eat Thanksgiving dinner with them. Think about how full you feel after one Thanksgiving dinner, and then multiply that by two. We did that again the next year. The third-year, we told our mothers that we would eat Thanksgiving dinner with one family and Chrismas dinner with the other. It was up to them to get together and negotiate where we would eat for Thanksgiving and Christmas. If they could not agree, we would not come for either holiday. That worked. It could have had something to do with the fact that by then, we had the first grandchild in either family. After another three years, we moved over 800 miles away, had two more kids and going home for the holidays was next to impossible. The next time we went away for Thanksgiving was to my grandfather’s. A twelve-hour drive. We did that for about 12 years. Our children still remember their great grandfather. We are glad that we allowed the kids to make those memories. They still talk about it at Thanksgiving time. Great-Granpa passed 24 years ago, but they still remember him.

Holiday Shopping

OMG! How does anyone survive shopping during the holidays? We are not even to Thanksgiving and the following infamous Black Friday sales. People are driving crazy. Oh, I was supposed to stop at that red light? What speed limit? You want me to signal abrupt lane changes? The only place that was not crazy was the liquor store. Just wait until tomorrow, the day before Thanksgiving. We needed to stop at the grocery store — what a zoo. Two people slammed into my shopping cart, and they were store employees that were pulling groceries for pickup orders. Do they really have to do this during the busiest times of the day? I am done. I am not shopping until late in January, well, maybe the middle of January when I go back to school. The only way I will shop is online and for delivery. Thank goodness for free delivery. Maybe I will take the pledge, no shopping unless online, forever. Even my significant other has learned not to take me shopping. Shopping is a gender thing. Males, needing something, walk into a store, find what they need, and leave. Females can shop for hours and never buy anything. It is a mystery!

Great Break

We are working to move everything out of the Ohana so that the contractor coming today will be able to visualize what he needs to do. There is a lot of stuff in the Ohana. I have wisely tried to stay out of the way and let my better half make all the decisions. Not an easy thing to do, but I mostly succeeded and only got yelled at a couple of times. Only a little more work to finish tomorrow. It was time for a reward, a trip to Blue Bell. Their triple chocolate is outstanding. It is not available in the grocery stores, only in ice cream parlors. Are there any of those left? It is available at Blue Bell in the tasting room. You cannot beat a cup of the best ice cream in the country for only $1. An older Blue Bell add said, “We eat all we can and sell the rest.” If you ever make it through Brenham, Blue Bell is a mandatory stop. I hope I do something good tomorrow to earn another trip to Blue Bell. Almost enough to be good until Christmas.

Is Sunday a day of rest?

I always heard that Sunday is a day of rest. In whose life is that even slightly true? We are cleaning everything out of our ohana (the place where family and friends live when they come to visit.) It is complete with a mini-kitchen and has a bathroom just outside the door. Why move everything out? Everything is moving out because it has not yet been remodeled. It is the only part of the house that is the same as when we moved in. I think this part is essentially the same as when the house was built in 1978. The only thing we know that was changed in the last 41 years was the carpet. My spouse, of almost 50 years, has decided it is time to remodel, which was energized by part of the acoustical ceiling starting to come loose and fall down. We have a contractor coming to look at it tomorrow, and she wants to show him a clean slate to work on. In between, I managed to complete syllabi for next semester. I think it is time to have a beer and continue on the projects tomorrow.

It is a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Remember Mr. Rogers? I remember my children watching him. If you are too young to remember him, see the movie with Tom Hanks playing Fred Rogers. We need more kind people. We need people to be supportive of others. We need people to tell others, “yes, you can.” We need people that can work with others even though they don’t agree on some issues.  Yes, that is a strange word called compromise. It hardly seems to exist in this country anymore. (Although the House Judiciary Committee voted two to one in favor of decriminalizing marijuana at the Federal level.) Syracuse University has been in the news because of the hate that exists on campus. Racial epithets, swasticas, religious hate make the students feel afraid. Yesterday morning on my way to Max Donuts, I passed a house that had three flagpoles in the front yard. One had an American Flag. One had a Texas Flag. One had a white supremacist flag. I would not have recognized it if I had not seen it on the news about several white supremacist rallies, or was it during one of the president’s rallies. I live in Texas, which is a very conservative state. Still, it was startling to see such a blatant and public demonstration of a desire to discriminate.

House impeachment inquiry

I normally try to stay away from politics, but with everything going on in Washington, it is difficult, especially with the degree of misinformation coming out of the representatives sitting on the Security Committee. What they are conducting is an inquiry. I would compare it to a grand jury investigation. Next, the committee needs to decide if they are going to write articles of impeachment. If they do, it then goes to the Judiciary Committee. They are free to drop the matter, or they can finalize the articles and send it to the House for a vote. If the house votes for the articles of impeachment, they go to the Senate for a trial. Hey, Jim Jordan, it is only at that time that there is a trial. This process is laid out in the Constitution of the United States of America. 

I do enjoy watching the late-night comedian-hosts comment on the day’s testimony. Jimmy Kimmel made a comment that made me think. He said something like the Republicans are going to have to decide if they are Republicans or Americans. If I were running for congress against an incumbent Republican that had voted against the articles of impeachment, I would be pounding him with that, over, and over, and over. It really seems like the Republicans are afraid of Trump and his base. Like they are afraid to have an independent thought. Which comes down to, the house will vote on the articles of impeachment along party lines and send them to the Senate. The Senate will vote against impeachment, again along party lines. Why did we send these people to Congress to do nothing? I think we should change all of them out, maybe for a group that will vote for term limits for Representatives and Senators.

End of the semester

Yesterday was the last day of teaching for the Fall semester. Today I travel home to Texas for Thanksgiving. Officially the university has classes Monday and Tuesday of Thanksgiving week. I don’t and never have had classes that week. The university has finally heard what many of us have been saying. Next year everyone gets the entire week off. Thanksgiving is so late this year that we only have one week after Thanksgiving before finals. I use one class day to review for finals and then give the students the option of taking the final during dead-week or during the time the university schedules for finals. I started doing this last year. The students like having the choice, and it might have even helped my course evaluations. It is a seven and a half-hour drive from Stillwater to home. I will be returning on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. Saturday after Thanksgiving is the annual Oklahoma State – Oklahoma football game (referred to as Bedlam) in Stillwater this year. The game is always sold out with as many more as fit in the stadium, continuing to tailgate. I never go out on football weekends because driving is too hazardous, and every place in town is a zoo.

More ways to protect yourself on the Internet.

Do you know anyone that lives in Africa? Probably not. Don’t send any information to that person that asks for your help getting money out of Nigeria or any other country. Check out this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QdPW8JrYzQ&feature=youtu.be. Don’t click on a link in any email. No legitimate company will ever send you a link. If you get a request from a friend to send them money, be very wary. They might have gotten hacked, and someone is spoofing their email. Spoofing means that the sender’s email address is legitimate, but the request is not. One of the latest is called whaling. Someone will spoof a CEO’s address by hacking the CEO’s kid or wife and sending the CEO a pdf, perhaps a request for approval for a school trip. When the CEO clicks on the pdf, they have been hacked. The hacker then sends accounting a request for a money transfer from one account to an outside account. The person in accounting just does as asked most of the time; after all, it was from the CEO. Companies have lost millions of dollars to this type of attack.

I always tell my students never to leave their computers logged in and unattended. Also, don’t write down your password on a sticky note and put it on the computer screen or the underside of the keyboard (see the previous post about passwords). Don’t leave your computer logged in when you leave your office or any public place, like the library. This semester I suggested that if they walked through the administration building at lunchtime, they could get into the university system through several computers. A couple of them did that and were successful. Don’t think that I will mention that in the future. Password protect and encrypt all of your devices, your computer, your tablet, your phone, your modem, your router, everything.

Are you safe on the Internet?

Short answer: No, of course not. If someone with very good hacking skills specifically targets you, you’re hacked. However, that is very unlikely to happen. You are most likely to get hacked by a bot that someone broadcast across the internet. But it is really easy to protect yourself by doing a couple of things. First, make sure that auto-update is turned on. This will make sure that you have the latest security patches. The Experian hack happened because they were one patch behind. The second is to have strong passwords. Use passwords with upper and lower case letters, numbers, symbols, and more than ten characters long. Use a different password for every site that requires a password. Why should you use different passwords? Let’s suppose you use the same password for your Target account and your bank. When Target hot hacked, the hackers also got access to your bank account. Do not extend that kind of trust to anyone. I currently have 57 different passwords. Do I memorize all 57? Of course not. I only memorize one. I have a password safe app on my phone. That is the only password I need to remember. And the app is free. There are several other things you can do to help protect yourself. I will talk about those in another post. Oh yes, one last word about passwords, never, never share them with anyone.

More retirement thoughts

After I was downsized, I did some consulting. I realized to succeed as a consultant, I needed more education. I went back to school for an MBA at Texas Tech. After the MBA, I just kept going and got my Ph.D. in Management Information Systems. Teaching at the university level seemed like a good gig. A month off at Christmas, and Summers off. I am currently on my third university and have found a home. I am what is called Professor of Practice or the older term clinical faculty. That means no tenure, but little to no pressure to publish in high ranking journals. Yes, age discrimination is alive and well at the university level.

I teach three face-to-face classes and one online class. I worked with my colleagues to revise the curriculum, so it is relevant to our students. I have about 800 students this semester. My class is a core class, which means that all business students take it. Large sections make teaching more like performance art. I never thought I would like it, but I love it. It is very rewarding when students return, and thank you and tell you how much they use the things you taught them. Will I ever retire from teaching? If I do, it will be a move to a new career. I am thinking about travel writing. Or maybe teaching English in a foreign country (although some parts of this country could use an English teacher.) Or maybe flameworking glass. For me, there is no such thing as retirement, only career change.

Ready for retirement?

I have and have had a number of colleagues that are considering retirement. I always ask them, “are you ready for the next 20 to 30 years of your life?” I have an Excel assignment in my class related to retirement, which to some, might seem strange to teach to college freshmen and sophomores. Joe starts saving $250 per month for retirement at age 24 and saves for 13 years. He then stops saving but leaves the money in his retirement account. Harry starts saving for retirement at age 35 and also saves $250 per month. Both get 7% interest over their lifetimes. Who has the most money at age 65? It is for several lessons. First is the power of compound interest. Second is the need to start saving for retirement early. I talk about the value of an employer 401K. The third is about the idea that we will have many careers in our lifetimes. This leads back to the first question I asked, “what are you going to do with the next 20 to 30 years of your life?” I would like to hear your comments, especially if you are retired or getting close to retirement. I will post more thoughts about this in later posts.

IOT

IOT or the internet of things refers to all of the devices we have connected to the internet. We have doorbells that can call us when someone is at the door. We have thermostats that can recognize when we leave and adjust the temperature to an away level. We have cameras that can monitor our homes and alert us to break-ins. We can open our home doors and raise our garage doors from our cell phones over the internet. I have a friend that has his washer and dryer connected to his intranet to let him know when it is time to move the laundry. (If you do not know the difference between intranet, internet, and Internet, that will be a subject for another post.) We have our televisions connected to the Internet so we can stream video. You can get an internet-connected watch that will monitor your heart rate and/or EKG. You can get a device that will measure your EKG, connect with your phone, and the app will send the EKG to your cardiologist. You can get connected insoles for your shoes that are heated to keep your feet warm while monitoring and reporting on how you walk, run, or cycle. Are our brains internet connected through all of our connected devices? We text rather than talk. Is this progress?

OMG!

I don’t often take time to watch the news as it is happening. Most of the time, I read about it later, and I am probably subjected to some kind of partisan drift depending on the news source. Today I watched Ambassador Maria Yovanovitch’s testimony in real-time. OMG. I could not believe that the president (notice lower case type) would attempt to bully her during her testimony. Have we really dropped so low that we can think this is alright? I do not know what we need to do to fix this country, but I know it needs to be fixed. Can we just be nice to each other? Can we say that I disagree with your position, but I defend your right to have it? Can we make compromises a good thing instead of my way or the highway? I don’t know if we as a nation can. I know that I will in all my interactions with collegues and students. I pledge to think about this in all my interpersonal interactions. How about you?

Retire outside the USA?

The USA has been getting more and more polarized and violent. We have had synagogue shootings, church shootings, school shootings, Walmart shootings to name just a few. We are one of the few “advanced nations” without universal healthcare. So, I did some research on the best places to retire. Costa Rica was at the top on most lists. I contacted a highly rated travel agent located in Costa Rica. (If you want to see Costa Rica without a tour group, give them a very high recommendation. Contact me for the name.) We arranged a tour using shared shuttles for transportation. We stayed at a surf camp in Tamarindo on the Pacific coast, Monteverde in the mountains, Arenal at the Volcano with hot springs, Puerta Viejo de Talamanca on the Carribean coast and two nights in San Jose on the way home. Costa Rica has many pluses, but also some minuses.

The country has free medical care, and retirees can join the system for a small monthly fee. We saw a protest march by government employees in San Jose. Even though the government employees make 70% more than private-sector employees, they were protesting the government’s attempts to control costs. Costa Rica needs infrastructure improvements. It wasn’t until 1949 that blacks were given citizenship. There are still racial problems, but not as bad as in the USA. They have a major immigration problem from people fleeing Venezuela and Nicaragua. Costa Rica has the highest percentage of immigrants of all the south and central American countries, which is putting a strain on the economy. The economy is based on tourism and agriculture. Like many countries, there is a substantial gap between the very rich and the rest of the population, which is growing. We really enjoyed our time in Costa Rica, but are not going to pack up and move there.

Public Impeachment Hearings Start Today. Does anyone care?

It is 51 weeks until the election for president, all representatives, and a third of the senate. Today is the first day of the open hearings on impeaching the White House bully, who attacks everyone who dares to disagree with him, calling them names, belittling them any way possible. Yet most polls say that 70% of potential voters have made up their minds about impeachment and question how many will even watch the hearing. It seems that the nation is the most polarized since the McCarthy era. The polls say that those that support the president will stand with him regardless of anything he does. I do not understand supporting a bully. It appears that most of the Republican house members and senators are afraid of the president and his supporters. This means that regardless of any impeachment in the House, the trial in the Senate is a foregone conclusion. There will be no conviction, and the bully remains until the next election. The race for the Democratic nomination for president is a joke. It reminds me of what Will Rogers said. "I'm not a member of any organized political party.... I'm a Democrat." Amazing how things stay the same. I doubt if any Democrat can bring the party together and get enough independent vote to get elected. I expect that we will have a dysfunctional government in Washington for at least five more years. Perhaps, even more dysfunctional than now. I keep thinking about moving out the Estados Unidos, but more on that tomorrow.

In the present or not?

I try to live in the present, seeing everything around me and experiencing the day. I don’t often succeed. Most of the time, we live between our ears and in our conscious mind worrying about so many things. We worry about what might happen and forget that the only place we can be is here, right now. We forget to project our conscious out away from our mind and take in all of the wonders around us. The kinetic sculpture I pass every time I go to class. Yesterday I stopped in front of the sculpture (titled Tai Chi) and was mesmerized as it danced with the wind. Leaves are blowing everywhere. You can see the structure of the trees. If only it were not so cold.

It just popped into my mind!

Do you have thoughts that just show up uninvited? It happens to me all of the time. Yesterday the name of a friend that I had not seen for several years showed up in my conscious mind. I emailed Robert. He is well and finishing his EdD. Then I thought of another friend I had not talked to in several years, probably because I met both at the same time, at my first university job. I asked Robert about her and found out she retired in 2016. I Googled her and found her obituary. She died in 2018. Now I will never see her again, and it makes me sad. We collaborated on several articles and received two best paper awards.