In class

Class rocks! more later

In Ireland

So, I'm in Ireland for a couple of weeks. The first thing I saw was a Coke machine. For some reason that suprised me. There are so many of our products here - Frosted Flakes, Pringles, etc... Not that they don't have some of their own stuff, but it was a surprise. Things are SOOO expensive here. Food seems double. And gas? Goodness gracious, it's $7.75 a gallon!

I'm heading to England tomorrow to check their gas prices.

There is no good water pressure here (you have to turn the shower on or something to get the hot water).

The weather is so cold - I've been freezing since I got here. Of course, it was in the 100s when I left, so weather in the 50s and 60s is a shock. No rain, though, which I hear is a shocker.

Customer service kinds of stinks. My bags didn't make it on my flight. They told me at the airport yesterday that they'd be delivered today. I made my first call at 6:30 am. They are so damn lazy. They decided that they might get them to me tomorrow. Are you kidding me? I had no clothes, no toothbrush, etc. I told him (nicely) that that would not be acceptable. He said he'd "make some calls." Three hours later, I called back. He hadn't made a damn call. He said - oh, yes... your bags just arrived. I said, no - they arrived at 6:30 this morning. That was three hours ago. I had a 5pm event and I got my bags (by meeting the guy across town) at 4:15. I got the run around all day. My sister in law said that they'll tell you any bullsh*t to not be bothered (and she's from here). Every time I called, they changed their story. I was just disgusted. That's a minus in the Ireland column.

Sooo... I'm hating WebCT right now

Things have been so busy. I've made some progress on the dissertation - but basically decided to write a new version instead of an edit. Same idea, but from scratch. I think it's coming along.

Anyway, so I let my advisor know that for a couple of weeks, I'd be swamped. It's very true. I am grading final exams (papers) and need to get them done today. I was making GREAT progress when WebCT went down.

Okay, I'm sure this isn't necessarily a WebCT thing - it's really a network issue with the University, but so frustrating.

Even without network issues, WebCT has been a bear to deal with this semester. Actually, problems started once we went to CE6. I used to be the BIGGEST supporter of WebCT on my campus. Now I'm not sure I'll bother using it next semester. There are just too many bugs.

I won't go into details, but every time I call the administrator, she lets me know she's adding it to the list. Now, I'm tech-savvy. I used to be the WebCT administrator myself, so I'm not making ID-10-T errors.

Now that Blackboard has bought out WebCT, I wonder if it will be better. Honestly, I think I might program my own system just for my class next time. It's not hard to do for what I want - messages, file uploads, grades. I think my life will be easier.

Coast to Coast AM

Okay, I have to say that I'm just addicted to this show! I listen on WRNN FM 99.5 in Myrtle Beach. It's too bad I don't work nights or anything! I usually only get to listen a few minutes in the middle of the night if Indy or Harley get up to go potty. I do get the earlier show on the weekends. Also, the good thing is that our station doesn't have anything between 5am and 6am on the weekends, so they replay the first hour over again.

It's pretty funny. I INSIST on having an MP3 player with an FM tuner so I can get my show. I fall asleep probably 4 nights a week with the headphones in my ears and I fall asleep listening to the show. I wake up when I hear the closing song.

To the Teachers Who Inspire

Good LORD! This dissertation is killing me. I wanted to get this last bit in weeks ago. I'm on the final stages and working hard. I had a conversation with my sister today and she met one of the teachers from one of my old high schools. I started thinking about all of the teachers who have have a positive influence on me.

What can I say, except to include all of the teachers of St. Mark's Catholic School in Dorchester, Mass. The Nuns DO make a difference in education. Though, at home, we had no heat, water, or phone, we had a good education. The teachers (Nuns and Lay teachers) at that school were performing miracles!

I don't really remember any teacher names from DuBose Middle School in Summerville, SC, Summerville High in Summerville, SC or Watertown High in Watertown, MA. I remember friends from Summerville high, but that's about it.

Southie High, in South Boston, MA, was the school from which I graduated. I still keep in touch with Mrs. Colbert, my English (and I thought History) teacher from time to time. Othe favs were Mrs. Jennings (Math), Mrs. Lemmon (Art), and Mrs. Lydon (Chemistry).

There really aren't any undergrad profs I remember, though the grad assistant was great. I remember one really inspiring professor in my MBA program, but I can't remember her name.

As for the Ph.D., it's got to be my ever-patient advisor, Dr. Hafner. Also, kudos to the prof who teaches one of my favorite subjects, Dr. Ellis. Inspiring to say the least is Dr. Cannady.

I hope I can inspire some of my own students! Okay, now back to the dissertation!!!

PS - My sister sent this to me: http://www.taylormali.com/index.cfm?webid=13

Slow but Steady

So I've got several parts of my document done, but I'm so behind schedule. I need to stop checking the Lost boards since the show doesn't even start again until the end of January. Today, I finished my Problem Statement & Goal section, the Milestones section, and the Resources section. I'm trying to get everything done by day after tomorrow. I still have the "Relevance, Significance, Brief Review of Literature" and the "Barriers and Issues" sections to go. The first is more difficult. I'm working on the Barriers and Issues section now. That will be done before I go to bed tonight.

I still haven't read the other articles yet. BAH!

The puppies have been good girls all day. They've let Mama study!!

So much for my diet. I'm drinking a coke :(