Category: Weekly Review (Page 5 of 6)

The weather has been mostly beautiful. Spring has sprung (and officially on Sunday).

MOOSE

I’ve been doing some work for MOOSE. This is the open-source project through Maine. I’ve participated in three of the training sessions and completed several of the training resources courses. I’m excited to be participating in the project. I’m on the Computer Science track, so there will be some learning for me. I’m excited to get the opportunity to create some materials. I hope to “cross-create” as well.

Baseball

Baseball is back. I’ve renewed my MLB subscription. I’ve watched at least parts of a couple of spring training games.

I also picked up some tickets to the Portland Sea Dogs game in April.

Book

I’ve started reading Barn 8.
The book so far focuses on a “what if” scenario. A young, adopted girl decides that she wants to visit her dad (she just found out that she is adopted and her father is alive). It doesn’t go well. Before she can return home, her mother is killed in a car crash. She meets up with a woman who knew her mother. Together, they start hatching a plan.

Tech Integrators

Podcast

The Podcast last week, Sap Risin’ Time, was a bit shorter than usual; under an hour. It’s always great to chat with Shawn.

Hazel

Our new puppy went off to daycare for the first time. Of course, she was put in “time out”. Apparently, she was basically herding many of the other dogs.
She continues to do well.

Events

World events continue to be frustrating. Russia is trying to take over Ukraine but is being met with heroic resistance. Frustrating that these conditions are still going on throughout the world. Make no mistake, this is not the only place with so much strife, but it is the one getting the news cycles.

Some of the January 6th traitors are now in the judicial system. I hate to say it, but the penalties seem really small for trying to overthrow the government.

Judge Jackson has been nominated for the Supreme Court. It is frustrating to listen to politicians who pushed through the nomination of another Judge (Amy Coney Barrett) push against the nomination of Judge Jackson. Instead of being a country of ideals, partisanship is obviously present. Now, I know that has always been the case. And I’m optimistic enough to hope that we shall rise above that partisanship in the end.

Social Studies is so important to our country. We’ve abused and lessened that importance in school and are now paying the price. We need rational, critical thinkers. This is more important than ever as corporations have gotten even better at manipulation.

Well, once again, I’ve fallen off the Weekly Note wagon. Let’s jump back on, shall we?

Week of Feb 21, 2022

Last week was a break from work. With the week off, I did some work around the house. Specifically, this week was the dining room.

I cut and installed some beadboard. The girls helped do the actual installation part. The beadboard and trim has been painted (white), while the top of the walls are Tostada (kind of a cafe au lait color). I still need to do a second color coat and paint the inside of the bookcases. Oh, and the beadboard cap will be installed after the second color coat.

Rm and I did take a day to head over to Norway, Maine. With Hazel in tow, it was a wonderful day. We visited Fiber and Vine and several other shops.

Week of Feb 28, 2022

Back to work. Lots to do and catch up on. One of the meetings was on changing from required masks to masks being optional. There was lots of discussion and perspectives on this.

Finished up much of the dining room. Everything was put back in place (with the exception of things on the bookshelf). Sunday was bookshelf painting day. One coat paint was actually one coat paint. Now to let it dry for a few days and then replace the treasures. (Only one bookshelf was painted.)

Also got a permanent crown installed. The procedure was quick and easy. I think of the generation of my parents. Both of my parents had dentures by this point in their life. Glad to not have to deal with that (at least yet).

My wife has been hard at work preparing for a vendor show at the end of March. She does such wonderful work. The things that she creates are truly unique and special.

Well, it’s been much more than a week.

Cape

There has been TONS going on. I’ve started the new job at Cape Elizabeth. I’m loving the job and the people. I’ve still got a lot to learn, but I’m enjoying the process of getting to know everyone.

I’ve been busy. I’m conscious of not pushing “we did this way back where I was”. Every place is different. Culture, skills, needs, and more dictate the right responses. So, I’ve been busy learning. Busy meeting people. Busy asking questions.

Maine

I do greatly enjoy the roundabouts. There is an elegance to these. An artfulness. I get why some people don’t like them, but I do. It seems like there needs to be a bit of communication. A bit of connection with the other drivers. (Speaking of which, Maine drivers are not exactly the best drivers.)

The House

Hopefully, we are making progress on the garage. The permit has been pulled. I’m meeting with the inspector tomorrow to hopefully get approval and start things rolling. No additional painting.

Shelves

I did get an opportunity to help Kristin build some shelves. I think that she is very happy. We got 5 out of the 8 shelves installed. Now that we have the process down, things are going well. Naturally, this will encourage additional book purchases.

9-11 Anniversary

This year is the 20 year anniversary of the attacks on the US on 9-11. I was an Assistant Principal at Woodworth Middle School when this happened. We had a half-day of school that year. I remember pulling TV’s out to watch the news. We were struggling to understand what was happening (as was everyone else).

I really remember our concern about the community and the kids. There were people threatening to come to Dearborn to “blow up the Arabs”. The community was on high alert. Thing is, the members of the community were actually more “American” than those making threats.

The kids were terrific. They were able to focus on school even with everything else going on. I’d ask, and many of these middle school kids would respond, “It’s cool Mr. Patterson. School is different. We’re safe here. We’re here to learn.” Talk about maturity and rising to the occasion.

Last week was great in at least one way, my oldest daughter was able to come for a visit. It was nice to spend time together and see her (mostly masked) face. Unfortunately, it was also a time of lots of work. I ended up working most of the weekend. One unfortunate side effect of that was that the tile floor did not get grouted. Guess I’ll be doing that on my own.

We’ve seen a lot of “Support Dearborn Police Department Sign” around. Disappointing that on one hand, the City has removed the statue of Mayor Orville Hubbard, yet on the other hand, continues many of the believes that he espoused. (Those of you not from the area, Mayor Hubbard was most famous for the slogan “Keep Dearborn Clean”. This meant “Keep the Black Folks out of Dearborn”.) The saying, however, isn’t blatant enough for all to unequivocally acknowledge what it means, it allowed for some to focus on picking up the trash on a timely basis.

Do we support the Police? Of course. But I was also raised to believe that “all men are created equal”. America has always had that as a founding principle, but has yet to live up to that motto. It is only through dilegent effort that we can ever hope to truly bring that to America. Currently, the way that we train, equip and write laws for our police do not let us live up to that standard.

Well, that turned pretty serious. The reality is that we all need to address where we stand though. For many members of our community, that isn’t just a choice to be serious, but a way of live every waking moment.

Fall is coming. Hopefully, work will slow down as I have some personal projects that I’d like to work on.

Music

I’ve been listening to Josh Ritter quite a bit lately. Great music, great lyrics. I’ve really had “Joy to You Baby”, “Hopeful”, “All Some Kind of Dream”, “Showboat” and more playing on a regular rotation. Josh Ritter’s music brings me true joy.

Josh manages to remain ever hopeful and positive even when life seems tough. He has largely avoided a political stance until recently. The events, the mood of what is going on, has called him to action. Was It All Some Kind of Dream is his response to being human in our current environment. A few of the powerful lyrics from that song:

There was a time when we were them
Just as now they all are we
Was there an hour when we took them in?

There was a time when we held them close
And weren’t so cruel, low, and mean
And we did good unto the least of those

There was a time when we chose our sides
And we refused to live between
We rose to fight for what we knew was right

Generally, though Josh Ritter speaks on a more mundane, personal level. He has certainly seen his share of strife (a well publicized marriage and divorce), but remains a positive force in the world. Give his music a listen.

I’ll be heading off to see his “A Book of Gold Thrown Open” tour in a month, I really wish it was coming to a venue closer to me, but it will be worth the trip.

Big Brother is Watching…

I had the opportunity to go to a presentation on “Big Brother is Watching, But Should He”. This was focused on schools and camera surveillance. Interesting times that we live in. The jist of the presentation was that we don’t really have a choice. Cameras are here to stay, but we should be wise and in control of where and when those cameras are available.

Update Frustrations

Mac

I updated a Mac. The process took while. Then, then, then, a problem. The update wouldn’t complete. A bit of digging let me know that a memory module was bad. Ah, but which one. The notice seemed to indicate slot 2 was bad ( I have 4 memory slots in that computer). So, I pull the memory module from slot 2. Restart. Run update. Nope. Replace memory in slot 2. Remove memory from slot 3. Run update. Nope. Replace memory in slot 3. Remove memory from slot 4. Run update. Nope. Replace memory in slot 4. Remove memory from slot 1. Run update. Success. Now, remember each of these steps take several minutes to accomplish. I’m doing this in between meetings and other responsibilities. This turns into a two day process.

PC

Naturally, I couldn’t just update my Mac. I also had to update my PC. Oh, and also my Virtual Machine PC as well. (I find it most efficient to generally use my Mac and a PC on a Virtual Machine within the Mac, but I have a separate boxed PC to use as well). I ran into several issues with the PC update as well. However, I mostly just deleted the PC and reinstalled from FOG.

The 1930’s

I’ve been reading lots of articles relating to comparisons between today and the 1930’s. If you aren’t familar with the history of the United States and the world in the 1930’s, please take some time to review. The 1930’s led to the growth of fascism. This also led to the literal destruction of a vast number of real human beings. People died by the millions. It wasn’t a singular event that led to that result, but a slow drip of decisions. Obviously, today is not a perfect corrolary to the 30’s. Times are different. The economy of the United States is in a different place (though there is concern about the amount of debt). But many attitudes are scarily similar.

Spelling

I’m working on a write up for spelling within Moodle. I hope to have this done soon. The key here is to free up teachers and empower students to take control of their learning.

Oscar Shorts Nominations

I went to see the Oscar Nominated Shorts. Much easier on they pyschice than last year. I already wrote that up as a separate post.Oscar Nominated Shorts

What a week. Lots going on.

Washer Repair

The washer decided that spinning was completely optional. After a bit of Youtube searching, the issue came down to a couple of things. The easiest to fix was the lid switch. Given the symptoms (agitating but not spinning), the lid switch was the most obvious answer. That was replaced. I also learned that the motor puts out codes on the LED. That is, there is an LED light that blinks according to a variety of codes. With the lid switch replaced, I also needed to reset the motor codes.

This is one of those areas where things have changed drastically for me. Having the ability to search Youtube videos and find similar symptoms and experts resolving the issue is much more efficient and powerful.

No Coffee Until 08:49

Any day (that isn’t the weekend or vacation) where I don’t get coffee until 08:49 is not a good day. We had a network issue that required my attention to resolve. With a bit of work, we were able to get the issue resolved, but not until after 8:30. Thus, no coffee for me until 08:49.

Seed Room Project

My daughter presented me with an interesting problem. She works with a seed room. The problem is that people going to the seed room need to know if they need to go get the key or if someone is in the seed room. I designed a wonderful web page for her. Then, I realized that the page that I designed was browser, not server-based. Thus, the wonderful web page ALWAYS starts in the same condition. This doesn’t help her at all.

So, I need to go back to the drawing board on this one. I’ll need to create a database with the current condition and then adjust that. I didn’t see any quick and easy answers though.

Moodle Moot Japan

Chris Kenniburg was invited to present the keynote at the Moodle Moot Japan. Due to family obligations, he has passed on this opportunity. He would’ve done an absolutely wonderful job. I would be totally interested in presenting the keynote to the conference. (Maybe the recent awarding of the Particularly helpful Moodler will sway them to offer.)

Bathroom Remodel

We are currently in week 4 of the two-week bathroom remodel. There is progress as we now have a but installed and drywall. Tile should be installed this week.

Concert on a School Night

This last week we went to see the wonderful Brendan James. The concert was terrific. We went on a Thursday evening. I made a remark along the lines of “it sure would’ve been nice if you could’ve joined us at the concert last night” at a Friday morning meeting. One person responded, “Oh, it’s so hard to go out on a school night”. I was saddened. Going out and enjoying an evening should be celebrated and, well, enjoyed. Once the kids are gone, work should not be so overwhelming that one can’t go out and have a good time. Even on a school night. Heck, if you aren’t going out, staying out late and having a good time every once in a while- especially on a school night, well, I find that kind of sad. Enjoy yourself. Do silly things sometimes. Stay up late. Live. Love life. I’ll be going out on school nights.

Crochet Friends

We did a bit of work on Crochet Friends too. These make great gifts for adults and kids. Some of our friends who have found “forever friends” have traveled far and wide. Crochet Friends can bring great joy to many. Some use them like a “comfort animal”. Some just enjoy the heck out of them. There is still time to order for Christmas as well.

So, it’s been a while since I posted a weekly review. There has been much going on. My father-in-law passed away. That was an emotionally overwhelming experience.

My daughter has a commentary that she worked on with her advisor published. I remain proud of and impressed by both of my daughters.

As noted in a previous post, I was also honored with a Particularly helpful Moodler badge. I’ll admit that I was a bit surprised by this. I am glad that I can help though.

I presented on online security and some Google tips. I’ll be developing more online security material for my day job as well.

Some friends went with us to see John Heffron. He always does a great show. Go see him. Support live entertainment where you are.

Shoe buying

So, let’s say, hypothetically, that you are buying shoes. Someone says “What size are those?” Then proceeds to say, “I ordered and paid for those.”

Now, understand that you’ve been shopping for a bit. You’ve tried on a few pairs. These shoes were just in the bin. You’ve spent quite a few minutes trying on shoes. The other person has likewise been there for a while. Not a word.

Where does the outrage over “I deserve this over you” foster and grow? These were not special shoes for a special occasion. Rather, these were pretty generic shoes.

Now, we could’ve said, “Go ahead, take these”. But we didn’t. Quite frankly, I didn’t see any reason to. The other person wasn’t polite about this. There wasn’t a friendly discussion. Just the accusation that somehow we were taking something ¹ that she felt the right to.

Hamilton – Round 2

I ushered for Hamilton a second time. Not only was it just as enjoyable as the first time, but even better. The second time (my third time seeing the play), I picked up additional nuances. If you haven’t seen the play and have a chance to see it, go.

Pens

I have a couple of fountain pens. I enjoy them tremendously. I really like using the proper tools. A fountain pen just feels different. Writing becomes more a joy.

I took a few minutes to clean out my pens. Sadly, I didn’t re-ink them all. (I really use them on a limited basis. No need to have a ton of pens inked.) I generally keep three pens inked and ready to go. I carry these three pens in a wonderful pouch that one of my daughters made for me.

Sometimes it is simple things that bring joy.

Badge

I earned a badge. I have been participating in the MoodleNet project. I have come to understand how important and powerful badges can be.

Read Seed

I’ve had the opportunity to work with Justin Hunt on Read Seed. Actually, one of my co-workers has done most of the work. It fun to be a part of a great project. Read Seed will allow teachers to markup the reading of students.

Here’s roughly how it works. A student reads a passage in Moodle (we integrate with Moodle, but it can work outside of Moodle as well). The teacher gets to identify the passage. The student works independently reading the passage. Read Seed will then grade the passage using Artificial Intelligence (AI). The teacher get the recording of the student and the grading of the AI. Then, the teacher can also mark up the types of mistakes that the student is making. This is great and powerful stuff.

Read Seed is currently available for free for 365 days. You read that right – 365 days free. Check it out.

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¹ Turns out, these were not the shoes that said person thought that she had ordered. Still, no need to be rude.

Opening Day

The Toledo Mudhens opened up the season. We had to dress more like a football game than a baseball game, but there is a certain excitement to opening day. It’s always important to dress in layers and keep your toes warm. Misson accomplished on that.

We made the better part of a day. HomeSlice pizza for dinner. A short walk over to the “Welcoming Tent” (for a free brew).

The game itself was a winning effort by the Mudhens. All in all, a very enjoyable, albeit cold, start to baseball season.

Hotel Mumbai

We went to see Hotel Mumbai. This is a powerful movie. This is based on the real life 2008 attack on the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in Mumbai. The hotel was part of a coordinated attack throughout India. The attack was carried out by teenagers who were trained to kill and die.

Lights

Ah, the joys of home ownership. A set of lights that I had installed decided to give up the ghost. A quick trip to the attic, replacing the canisters and re-wiring did the trick. Now, all of the lights once again light.