End of the month

We have reached the end of another month. This one was more interesting then most because I became another year older. Next month will also be a good month because my bright, beautiful, and generous baby sister has her birthday.

Birthdays, anniversaries, deaths, births, graduations, are all way points that effectively breakup our normal day to day patterns of living. In the movie "Last Holiday", we hear a great soliloquy on how we end up in our normal rut. The funny thing is that each New Years Eve, we resolve to break out of that rut, but most of us never do. Why is that? I think it is fear of change. Personally I don't handle change well at all. Major changes scare the dickens out of me! What do you feel is holding you back? Let me know, let's compare and contrast.

Collage Classes

Busy, Busy, Busy. I never thought at this age that I would be up to my neck in school work. I am helping a friend get an associate degree in Logistics/Supply Chain Management. That's quite a mouthful. Much of this degree has been done by "distance learning". I am not at all impressed with its execution at Ivy Tech. My friend is taking four classes this semester, all over the Internet. I'm sorry but this is not the way to learn. I might be able to accept the class if it had a set meeting time online using a video conferencing / video chat facility where at least you could interact with the "professor". The way the classes are currently constituted, the teacher posts a syllabus at the beginning of the semester, class assignments, discussion boards, and tests are listed along with the method of posting desired. The student does the work and posts the material in the proper place. At some point the teacher reviews the work and leaves comments. But there is no real interaction, no real give and take student to student, or student to teacher. This method might be OK for large freshmen survey classes, but it should just not be allowed for core courses.

The day after

Well Valentines day has come and gone. I'm far enough away from the death of my wife so that I didn't turn into a pool of jello. But, for the time being it's just not the same. No giddy rush to buy flowers my wife didn't want (she loved getting them but would never admit it). No finding the perfect chocolate bark or chocolate cherries. No stuffed bear.

My father was blessed by finding love again after my mom passed away, so I hold out the hope that I will not old alone!