Mild Panic Sets In

as I realize that 1) I've had a terrible cold for nearly a month, and 2) I need to have a class ready to go by Saturday!

So much for the winter break.

I guess one of the things I really like about being a professor is the intensity of the cycles-when school is in session it's one deadline after another. When it's not, it's nice lazy days of reading (I just finished William Gibson's Neuromancer - I don't know why I didn't read it sooner).

Well those days are now behind me, the Christmas tree is down, the leisure reading books are put away and now it's time to put together syllabi and get cracking!

Happy New Year, and happy new semester fellow profs!

End of one semester, beginning of another

I was having a brief conversation with a woman during the coffee hour at church, about where this supposed "break" that we have goes.

I've already been back to work-reading Darren's dissertation, trying to figure out what I'm doing with my database class for my doctoral students, trying to figure out what will happen now that my dean is stepping down. And hoping that next year we get a raise, however small-my health insurance increased by 50%, our heating bill is outrageous, our taxes are going up (again!) and both of us are living on "fixed incomes" which is not how it was supposed to be-I at least was supposed to be getting some kind of raise. Oh well. At least I have a job. But as I'm fond of saying, if I knew that I was going to work this hard for this little money I'd probably have stayed in corporate America. Now it's too late-I'm too old for them to take me back.

I am thinking about what else I can do to supplement my salary-maybe revive my consulting practice, maybe do some corporate training, something so that I don't feel as though I'm falling behind.

It's going to be an interesting year, that's for sure! I wish all of us peace, health and happiness in 2008.

Social Networking and Schools

So here I am, so clever (!) getting ready to develop a Web 2.0 class for my doctoral students, only to discover that blogs, social networking sites and some wikis are blocked by their schools and school districts! Who knew?

I actually wondered, since when I gave a presentation on social networking at Good Counsel Academy in November there was much tittering when I suggested that the causes section on Facebook would be a good way to identify folks who might share some of the same interests that the students have.

Oh well-that's what happens when you fall in love with the technology and don't always see the dark side. Just another challenge!

Social bookmarking

Okay so now I'm thinking about setting up a del.icio.us account-maybe this is another great "user" of time but at least I'll learn what others are doing.

I was attending the POD Conference - Professional and Organizational Development Newtwork for Higher Education - and one of the sessions was on wikis, podcasts and blogs. The presenter also talked about social bookmarking and of course I was intrigued.

Now if I could just figure out how to get work done while keeping my LinkedIn profile current, my Facebook page up to date, my Twitter status accurate, and my blogs full of interesting posts!

Fakebook?

Okay, so like many other "adults" I've discovered Facebook (and LinkedIn, too, but that's another story for a different day). I think it's fun, and maybe it does make me feel like a young person again. But I was really surprised by the Op-Ed piece in this Saturday's New York Times The Fakebook Generation. I didn't realize that my idea of fun would be someone else's idea of, well, comedy, entertainment, distraction.
Live and learn!

iMacs

Last spring I spilled a glass of water on my iMac keyboard at the office. I know, I know-I shouldn't have been drinking water near my keyboard, but in 20+ years I've never spilled anything on it.

So that was that-the keyboard was shot. I went to Tekserve, the wonderful Mac guys on 23rd Street in New York City, and got a new keyboard for $31 and change. I'll order Mac OS 10.4, Tiger, and my five year old iMac at the office will be "just like new." I'll bet that sucker will last another year.

All that power for around $2000. Hard to believe, isn't it?

Obsolete equipment

I'm updating this blog on my 5 year old iMac, which works like a charm even after being loved to death. This is my fourth Macintosh computer in 23 years. I average between 5 and 6 years per Mac, starting with the first Mac that I bought in December of 1984. I replaced that with a Mac Plus in around 1990, then a Performa (who even remembers them?) in 1996, and then my iMac in 2002.

Sure wish I could say the same for the Dell laptops that my university provides me with for my classes and research. They are outdated in just 3 years.

Ahh, love the new technology. Now if I could just get my 5 year old Palm Pilot to work.....