Class today was all about different ways of researching things. The various methods seemed scattered and disorganized; each one individually had its merits and obviously worked effectively enough for the organization to have success, but as a whole there seemed to be chaos.
It's the first day of substantive training, so I might not be surprised at this appearance, but another clue is in the repeated refrain that the thing to be taught was not any individual facts or even a large collection of them, but rather the ability to look things up. This sounded like a platitude, until the final hour which was a game of Jeopardy based upon typical questions. At first my team did poorly and I felt down; the other team was ahead more than two to one. However when one of my teammates expressed dismay, I felt obliged to make some encouraging noises, along the lines of this being our time to come back in the second half. Then the Jeremy on our team ( there were Jeremy's on both teams ) answer the question and when asked how he knew it, said he did not know it but he knew how to search on that website. Haha! I proceeded to answer a couple of questions based entirely upon selecting the correct search facility. It worked! Our team roared into the lead. When we got down to the last question there was some logic involved; we had had 5 instructors and since four of them had been answers to the other questions, I simply picked the remaining one and it had to be right!
Then there was Final Jeopardy! We were ahead, but not light enough to ensure victory without the right answer. The other team got the opportunity to read their answer first, and did so correctly. Then the judges turn to our team. How could we show we have the right answer, when nothing was written down? I simply turned my monitor around - I had not only found the right answer, my search had found found it on a little poster that they could see from up front. Yeah search!
I think this little game was both a confidence building and a team building exercise. We got to see the personalities of each other in a harmless a bit of adversity, & I got to see that lol did not think the overall structure was totally organized, the result was effective! There's a lesson here if I can figure it out.
Thursday, December 17, 2015
Thursday Jeopardy
Blogger On Phone
It just makes sense that a blogger would have a smartphone app. This is my first attempt using it, and it appears to be about as easy as one would expect. This will make it easier to use this log as a journal; note that the speech recognition autocorrect changed "blog" to "log".
Wednesday, December 09, 2015
Wet Wednesday
This morning I awoke to lightning and thunder, which is uncommon. The wind and rain made be glad to be under a good roof, and it didn't hurt that I'd given the trees a long-needed haircut. As it was, when I got outside I saw several small branches flung down, although perhaps they had been trimmed and just hadn't fallen.
The orange-and-white cat that sometimes harasses my cat at the front window appeared, and I felt some compassion for him outside, but since he was banging on the window bugging the long-haired fluffy one, it was my job to open the door and chase him off. The all-orange one, the more usual malefactor, came by later. It didn't seem like a good time to be outside, but there's plenty of shelter in the neighborhood so I guess they're o.k. - they won't let me approach anyway.
Yesterday I got a note from the IRS about the upcoming job, which was encouraging, and directions what to do if Congress doesn't pass a continuing resolution, which was less. We'll see.
After seeing my doctor earlier this week, I am now trying rauwolfia. It's supposed to be fairly harmless so again we'll see.
I took the evening off dancing to give the limbs a rest, but will go again tomorrow. Sure, I could exercise more intensely, but life is too short - at level 60 - not to enjoy the exercise!
The orange-and-white cat that sometimes harasses my cat at the front window appeared, and I felt some compassion for him outside, but since he was banging on the window bugging the long-haired fluffy one, it was my job to open the door and chase him off. The all-orange one, the more usual malefactor, came by later. It didn't seem like a good time to be outside, but there's plenty of shelter in the neighborhood so I guess they're o.k. - they won't let me approach anyway.
Yesterday I got a note from the IRS about the upcoming job, which was encouraging, and directions what to do if Congress doesn't pass a continuing resolution, which was less. We'll see.
After seeing my doctor earlier this week, I am now trying rauwolfia. It's supposed to be fairly harmless so again we'll see.
I took the evening off dancing to give the limbs a rest, but will go again tomorrow. Sure, I could exercise more intensely, but life is too short - at level 60 - not to enjoy the exercise!
Tuesday, December 08, 2015
Chicken Feed: Best Kitty Litter
This may sound funny to people who are not responsible for cats - go ahead and snicker - it sounds funny to me too!
However, if you're responsible for an indoor cat (...I hesitate to say "owned" since it's not always clear who owns whom...) you may be looking for a better pooping solution. Keeping cats indoors prolongs their lives, plus that of the songbirds, but everything comes with a cost, and for cats that means kitty litter.
I've never liked the most common solution - clay. It's messy and so heavy that I've had to go up a size in my garbage bin just because clay for six cats exceeded the weight of the smallest bin! The greyish clay pellets smell off to me and feel ucky when you tread on them in bare feet. Intellectually I know that the clay pellets that scatter are clean because they aren't clumped, but my uck reflex does not care.
Chick Starter, in big bags from the feed store, is much better. Its basic odor is the clean hay smell of a clean barn. It's light and its particles are small, so it doesn't fling far and its barely noticable when trod upon. It also performs as well as clay: it clumps well and scoops normally. It seems reasonably environmentally responsible as well as non-toxic.
I have tried other alternatives to clay. Mostly these were pelletized from newspaper, pine and bamboo. The cats hated the pellets; they avoided pooping in pans of pellets until they'd been broken down by pee. There was a wheatgrass-based product that seemed to work ok, but it was somewhat more expensive than chick starter and did not perform any better.
Chick starter seems to do the trick at a good price; just make sure it's unmedicated, because you don't want to use unnecessary antibiotics or whatever. I've tried it for a month, and don't see why I'd go back. It's fun to go to the feed store, too. You can get all sorts of stuff, such as hay bales and bird seed in bulk - but that's another issue for another day.
Sunday, December 06, 2015
Free Continuing Legal Education - as of December 6, 2015 #4freeCLE
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Saturday, December 05, 2015
Saturday Barre, Yard and Hexacat
This morning I went to the Barre Basics class, now taught by Adela, at the Fauntleroy Y. She does things in a different order than Molly did, but both are or were excellent leaders: I always finish class well warmed, stretched out and worn.
The rest of the day was maintenance around the house, which is a great thing to do when it is so very soggy out. The branches in my yard seem to be settling into a Pacific Northwest look that is very different from that of a typical grass yard, and I look forward to seeing how it all shakes out.
Having finished Deep Space Nine, I don't especially feel the urge to watch more TV; it was fun but I have other interests. It's nice to have the option, I suppose.
We discussed giving a home to another cat. After all, we had no trouble supporting six cats, so now that Michelle has gone to live with Kris, there is room for one more - and one needing a home has been found. This is not a problem but it's nice to have adult family discussions on things - a bit of a new experience for me, but I could get used to it.
The rest of the day was maintenance around the house, which is a great thing to do when it is so very soggy out. The branches in my yard seem to be settling into a Pacific Northwest look that is very different from that of a typical grass yard, and I look forward to seeing how it all shakes out.
Having finished Deep Space Nine, I don't especially feel the urge to watch more TV; it was fun but I have other interests. It's nice to have the option, I suppose.
We discussed giving a home to another cat. After all, we had no trouble supporting six cats, so now that Michelle has gone to live with Kris, there is room for one more - and one needing a home has been found. This is not a problem but it's nice to have adult family discussions on things - a bit of a new experience for me, but I could get used to it.
Wednesday, December 02, 2015
Wednesday Welcome News
The WSBA World Peace Through Law Section has an ongoing problem: most of our members cannot participate in meetings during the usual business day, even by teleconference. Most of them can't attend meetings in Seattle at al, or in any other particular location, because they live or work too far away - our Executive Board has several members who aren't even in Washington State!
Most sections must have this problem, of course, but at least their practice orientation rewards event attendees more directly than ours does; there really isn't much immediate financial advantage to uderstanding how law and peace can work together.
As a result, Section membership is small and not growing. Why would it? we aren't able to do much. I am personally unwilling to invest time in events that cannot be attendd by 90% or more of our ptential audience. If someone else wants to do the work, I'll support them and help as I can, but no-one has volunteered - perhaps I have been uniquely foolish in pursuing this windmill.
The final straw was my new gig starting December 14: I simply can not take time off work to do section events.
Resolved to see the positive side of this, I proposed to our Executive Board that we run meetings virtually, using the new forum as infrastructure. This would require a small procedural change, and I had hoped to pass this at the next Board meeting; but of course, there is no single time at which the Board's members can all meet, even by teleconference.
This is not such a bad thing, as it impelled me to write up the rule for the irtual meeting, and propose it. I'll give the Board a week to comment on it, and then propose it at the first sitting of the December meeting. Since the bylaws don't specify any particular quorum, I shoul be abe to get it passed with no organzational hurdles.
Whether it works in practice remains to be seen, but it's a reform with great promise. Let's hope for the best!
Most sections must have this problem, of course, but at least their practice orientation rewards event attendees more directly than ours does; there really isn't much immediate financial advantage to uderstanding how law and peace can work together.
As a result, Section membership is small and not growing. Why would it? we aren't able to do much. I am personally unwilling to invest time in events that cannot be attendd by 90% or more of our ptential audience. If someone else wants to do the work, I'll support them and help as I can, but no-one has volunteered - perhaps I have been uniquely foolish in pursuing this windmill.
The final straw was my new gig starting December 14: I simply can not take time off work to do section events.
Resolved to see the positive side of this, I proposed to our Executive Board that we run meetings virtually, using the new forum as infrastructure. This would require a small procedural change, and I had hoped to pass this at the next Board meeting; but of course, there is no single time at which the Board's members can all meet, even by teleconference.
This is not such a bad thing, as it impelled me to write up the rule for the irtual meeting, and propose it. I'll give the Board a week to comment on it, and then propose it at the first sitting of the December meeting. Since the bylaws don't specify any particular quorum, I shoul be abe to get it passed with no organzational hurdles.
Whether it works in practice remains to be seen, but it's a reform with great promise. Let's hope for the best!
Tuesday, December 01, 2015
Tuesday: In Cider Ceritas
Most of the day I spent organizing for massive changes in support of my new gig. The mail included a letter from the Feds to my ex, which I figured was worth breaking radio silence since it might be important - it was easy enough to text her a photo. She asked to see it.
After another most excellent zumba session at Fauntleroy, I met Kris at the "Super Deli Mart" which is presumably next to her apartment building (officially I don't know where she lives) and gave her the envelope. It appears to be part of an investigation of me in connection with employment, which makes sense; she promised to fill it out accurately. We then talked over sandwiches, with a beer for her and a cider for me, mostly about her current suite of problems. She hasn't changed, which I suppose is reassuring for me.
After another most excellent zumba session at Fauntleroy, I met Kris at the "Super Deli Mart" which is presumably next to her apartment building (officially I don't know where she lives) and gave her the envelope. It appears to be part of an investigation of me in connection with employment, which makes sense; she promised to fill it out accurately. We then talked over sandwiches, with a beer for her and a cider for me, mostly about her current suite of problems. She hasn't changed, which I suppose is reassuring for me.
Monday, November 30, 2015
Getting Organized Monday
In two weeks I'll be starting a new position, which will require radically revising my business model. It's going to work out great, but I have a lot of re-organizing to do. I'm re-thinking the use of every room in the first floor of this house, which projects I give priority to, and so forth. For example, no more meetings of any sort will be possible during normal business hours, so I need to figure out how to do the work of the World Peace Through Law Section and so forth in other ways.
It's a challenge and a puzzle, and I guess that's a good thing.
It's a challenge and a puzzle, and I guess that's a good thing.
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