Thurs. March 23rd

[Colliemom]

Morning,

March is moving right along here. One more week and into April we go. Nothing much doing here. Just waiting out the colder weather so I can get outside and putter around. Warming up starting today. Small RV show to look forward to, tomorrow.

Martha, hope the storm does pass by you, so you have a dry camping outing. Barbie, not as much fun, but you can make s'mores in the micro if you really get desperate I'm thinking about getting of those portable fire rings too as I have a lot of old wood around this property that I can burn. Beth, time to start planning to head north already, seems you just went south.

Time to head for the shower and get this day moving. Then off to town on some errands. Have a nice day everyone. Velda, how's Mel's foot?

[bluepinecones]

Good morning, looks like it is going to be a nice weather day here. Night time temps back in the 50s, a vast improvement over recent 30s and 40s. It has been pretty windy here all week. Others wanting to kayak but not fight wind.

Hard to believe I'm down to my last 3 days in FL. Will start northward on Sunday. All sorts of indicators saying it is time. Broke a tooth Monday night, one of hearing aids quit working Tuesday AM, laptop doing strange things and I'm almost out of several meds. Not looking forward to going home to do taxes or face all the pollen. Hope not to discover any damage from storms while I was gone.

My service appointment for Magic did not go as well as I anticipated. Had 3 major things and a few minor ones on list. Of the major things only one got done - that was installation of a slow rise shade on large dinning area window. For one reason or another they said could not replace TV antenna with the Magic Jack I wanted nor would they install my wireless back up camera. Most of the minor stuff did get done. Also glad I asked them to check tires - one of the rear duels was dangerously low.

Need to drum up some ambition to finish cleaning I started a couple days ago. Stopped because ran battery down on vac (any excuse, right?) but it is fully charged and ready to go again. A little bit of Nicky brushing and a long hot shower also on my list. Then wait for arrival of more friends expected late this afternoon.

[Othersharon]

Good morning! A bright, cold and sunny day here today. Well, it's supposed to get up in the 40's today so guess later I can say warm and sunny! It was 15 when I came downstairs earlier! But I love having the sun out finally! Sue, I'm with you and want to get outside and do some things! I had to make another appointment to get the dogs groomed the other day, cancelled last week because of the snowstorm and when I went out to start the car, after it sitting in the garage for a week, it wouldn't start. Luckily I have a battery charger so I pulled it out and left it on for a few minutes and it started. I took it in to the dealership later in the day and they checked it out for me and everything checked out okay. They said maybe the back hatch wasn't quite latched tight and that would have done it. Other then that who knows! It's a week shy of being a year old! So anyway, needless to say the dogs missed their appointment! And they both need clipped so badly! They did go for a ride to the dealer with me since they're pet friendly and they got lots of attention which they loved! I think they had cabon fever too! I did notice one thing while I was there, my younger dog usually shys away from people a bit whereas the older one wants the attention but the other day Rascal actually seemed to want the attention too. I'm thinking that since they camp with me and are around people more he's warming up to having people petting him. A step in the right direction!

Beth, can't believe it's almost time for you to be heading north! And Lyn, you are making tracks toward home! And all I'm doing at this point is dreaming! Trying to watch the weather and see when it'll be safe to dewinterize! Sad to say but even with April fast approaching we can still have more cold and even snow! And it has been a weird winter!

So enough rambling from here! Nothing exciting, same thing just different day! Hope you all have a good day and travel safe!

[avalen]

Good morning ladies
I'm still sorting and packing, outfitting the motorhome
with what I need so I can just get in and turn the key.
There really is a lot to do. I need to go to WalMart and
pick up some spring tension rods, and a few other items.
I've been using the motor home a little bit here n there
as I'm trying to get a general idea how far I can go on a
tank of gas. I filled it, set the trip meter and with city
miles I'll get a good estimate because we all know
highway miles are better.
Today I will concentrate on getting the front tv set up.
I'm starting to ramble on, so I'll just wish you all a great
day, be safe and be well.

[BarbaraRose]

Good morning gals!
Cold, cloudy and windy here today! Brrr! Not expected to get out of the 30's today. Supposed to get rain later on too. Better than snow tho.
The ice on the lake is slowly disappearing again. It was almost gone early last week but then it got cold and refroze. It has slowly been thawing again during the days this week and, with the wind and rain today, should be officially "ice out" sometime today or tomorrow. Looks nice to see open water again!

Got called into work last night to cover for a stylist who was sick. Was busy and I got good tips, so was worth it, plus I got paid more for "emergency shift".

I better get busy. Got a list of things to do yet before heading back to work later. Have a good day!

[JudyJB]

Up and done with some work and breakfast. Nice and cool today. Went out and ran some errands yesterday, then back home and did some laundry, except I had to ride my bike up a small hill to get to laundry room, and with the heat, I really wore myself out to the point where I was shaking and heart thumping away. I just cannot handle heat any more, so I need to be more careful. Blood pressure was good, but my premature ventricular fibrillation takes over when I am exhausted. I was told it was not dangerous, but it is disconcerting, nevertheless.

Got stuff to do for my two classes today and then should be done for this semester. New one starts Monday! (No papers due for almost three weeks, which is nice.)

[Acadianmom]

The weather channel forecast for here has reduced the % chance of rain so hope the storms stay away. Sarah, you better watch the weather when you head for home because you might be meeting this storm.

I don't think I would like a microwave S'more. My favorite part is the burnt marshmallow. I have managed to burn things in a microwave. Don't you know an exploded marshmallow would be a mess to clean up.

I got my spread sheet mostly done yesterday. Still need to look up some things and I'm missing a bank statement on one of the farm accounts. I hope the bank can just pull it up on their computer. Since I was trying to do paper work Annie was in my business all day. Leave it to a cat to figure out what would be the most aggravating thing to do. She's back on the arm of my chair touching me to pet her. I think she needs to go outside.

Since we live in the country and there is always something that won't start we have 2 battery charger/starters. The one I had for the boat I still carry in my RV. They aren't that expensive and I consider them a good piece of equipment to have.

I ordered an Instant Pot and it came yesterday. I got a 5 qt hoping it would be small enough to put in the cabinet of the RV but I think it's too big. It has so many functions that it will take some studying to figure it out.

Judy, they don't give you much of a break between semesters.

Martha

[JudyJB]

Martha, definitely not much time between semesters, and there are four condensed semesters each year. They took 14 week semesters and condensed them to 11 weeks by making classroom students attend more hours per week--four hours for a three-hour course. However, since my teaching pays for my motorhome and most of my travels, PLUS gives me something to keep my brain alive longer (I hope), I will not seriously complain. I am thankful to have this job I can do on the road!

[Bethers]

Time-wise, Judy, it sounds like they changed to quarters. But we still had time... except when I took 4 classes during the summer... 2 at a time, 4 hours each, 5 days a week, midterm Friday of week one, final the second Friday. Then start the next two classes. Like an idiot I took all graduate level classes. I survived it, though. I don't think I slept.

Beautiful weather today. Tomorrow I might head back to the Desert Museum for a final visit this season.

[JudyJB]

They are the length of quarters, but are really semesters and students get semester credit because they attend four hours per week instead of three for a three credit course. 14 x 3 = 42 and 11 x 4 = 44, except the last week is final exam, which is usually only two hours, so it is even. We left in all the same assignments in the 11 weeks that were in 14 weeks, so it made things a little rushed because often there are two assignments due each week. Which of course means some weeks I have to grade 2 x 50 assignments!! I teach a double class, so I normally have 50 students. They pay me for two classes, but put them all into one big online class so I don't have to post things twice. THAT would be really hard! But I've been teaching this same class for 27 years, so I have very little prep to do. They copy all my old lectures and online stuff for each new semester.

And because they condensed the length of semesters, there are now four semesters per year. They add on one week each semester they call "Syllabus Week," where we open the syllabus and let students decide if they want to take the class, except they have no choice with my class because it is mandatory, although they could take it is a classroom. So it is now 12 weeks times four semesters = 48 weeks. So we get about three weeks off from mid-December to early January.

Students can finish the last two years of a bachelor's degree in a year, but almost none do because nearly all work full-time. And many have spouses and kids. I once had a student who forgot to do the big final project because he was taking 6 classes and working full-time. He ended up flunking, but only after he tried to convince me he had really been working with his group on his presentation, except they told me they had never heard of him! (Six classes is equivalent of eight 3-credit hour semester courses.)

This schedule is REALLY hard on the 70% of teachers who teach in a classroom because they get no time off to take vacations. I taught for 13 years in a classroom and found it really hard to have to be there every Tuesday and Wednesday forever! Now they are moving to some classes meeting only half-time in a classroom and the rest of the time online--call it 2+2 for two hours in classroom and two hours online. Glad I am online only. I probably spend about four hours a night working, and can do it in my recliner while watching TV, so not bad.

What you did really sounds crazy! It sounds like you were in class 8 hours a day??? For two weeks? Horrible.

[dpf]

When I went to college we weren't considered full-time students unless we were carrying at least 16 hours a semester, most of the time we had 18. If you didn't graduate in 4 years everyone thought you were sluffing off and majoring in "Wild Life". Now 12 hours is considered full-time and most kids are in college for five years.

[Bethers]

When I went to college we weren't considered full-time students unless we were carrying at least 16 hours a semester, most of the time we had 18. If you didn't graduate in 4 years everyone thought you were sluffing off and majoring in "Wild Life". Now 12 hours is considered full-time and most kids are in college for five years.

I know, drives me nuts. And by doing that summer craziness, I graduated in 3 1/2 years... And most of that time I was working 30 - 50 hours a week (two jobs when it got to 50, 20 at the school, 25+ at a department store). No, I don't recommend that, but I was always an overachiever and I graduated with no debt. And I didn't work the summer I took those crazy classes.

Judy, first class 8-noon, 2nd 1-5. Often the professors shortened the classroom time to three hours a day because of how much we had to cover outside of class. Hours of reading at night. Two of the classes were micro and macro economics. Yikes lol... Not at the same time, one first 2 weeks, 2nd the next two weeks. I can't, off-hand remember what the other two were. These two were probably two of the most difficult classes I took all 4 years (for me), so looking back I'm glad they were in two weeks each... I had no choice but to put almost all my time and energy into them and oh, was I glad when they were over lol

[JudyJB]

But even 9 hours per semester is a lot for my students who are mostly working full time. Many are married and quite a few have kids. Some working mothers cannot do school work until after kids are in bed. Average age is 29 with some in 30s and 40s. Almost none have parents who pay their tuition. And most do well to graduate in 6 or 7 years with work schedules and families. Some have jobs where they have to travel which is why they take online class.

[dpf]

Judy, I was referring to traditional students. I can understand that a non-traditional student can't carry a full load.

[Bethers]

Judy, your students aren't full time. And some in that position are lucky to fit in one class per semester. I give them kudos for what they're doing.