Shallow Thinker

Our valuable tax dollars were well spent in the state of Georgia’s legislative session, which ended at midnight last night.

From the Macon Telegraph:

Senate Bill 474: Makes it clear that people can keep the body of a wild animal killed by a motor vehicle, unless it’s a protected species. Anyone keeping a bear carcass, though, must notify local law enforcement.

Well, thanks for clearing that up.  You don’t know how many times I’ve wanted that rotting squirrel carcass, but thought that I might get in trouble for taking it home with me.

I visited the orthopedist today to finally get something done about the pain when I run.  I was afraid that he was going to tell me that I’m getting old and that I should just shut my trap.  As luck would have it, there is a perfectly good explanation for my constant crying.  Actually, there are two explanations.

My knees - So, the doctor that diagnosed me with arthritis when I was 24 was probably a little off.  It looks like the real problem is Chondromalacia Patella.  The prescription is physical therapy.  (Wow, that’s going to be expensive.)  I’ve been doing some strength training, but apparently, I haven’t isolated the muscle enough.  What I really need is to find a physical therapist to just show me what to do and I can do them for free on my own.

My shins - The short answer here is shin splints.  The long answer is that everything I had been told about them before didn’t really apply to what I’m experiencing.  Essentially, I have “high arches” and the shoes that would normally work for my foot shape aren’t what I need.  I was prescribe custom arch supports.  So, I meandered on down to the place and found out that they cost $290 for a pair.  Yowza!  Now I’m wondering if I should try to buy some different shoes from the running store.  Those would only set me back about $100.

Crap.  Now I kind of wished he would have told me that I’m getting old and to shut my trap.

Class #8 of 10 is now complete.  My final lecture of the course was last night.  The professor was nice enough to give us our final exam two weeks ago so we all showed up tonight hoping to get our graded finals.  (We got them.)  Class #9 comes to a close tomorrow evening with our final webchat of the semester.  My final assignment for the course is due at the same time that our class starts.

This final assignment has been a bit different.  We are supposed to make a presentation to justify a department within a fictional organization.  I worked through my rough draft last week and have been struggling with my final draft this week.  As I worked on some details this morning, I decided to go back and calculate what I need to make on this assignment in order to get an “A” in the class.  I need a 70.  Not bad.  But what do I need in order to have a “B” in the class? I need a 3. No, not a typo.  It’s a single-digit.

Well now, that takes the pressure off.  Instead of struggling through the assignment in order to make it perfect, I’ve decided to just add some pretty pictures.  Want to see my first slide?

You see that awesome logo at the top?  Yeah, I made it myself.  Because that’s what it takes to earn a 3 in graduate school.

One of the funnest parts about being in grad school is being included on e-mails like the ones below.  You know there’s some kind of story behind this…

I forwarded this out to some of my coworkers for a laugh and, as is likely to happen with engineers, I started a pun war.

From: Brian
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 9:07 AM

Yeah – something’s definitely afoot.

From: John
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 9:08 AM

We could take this story and run with it.

From: Brian
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 10:07 AM

If they’re caught, the thieves won’t have a leg to stand on.

From: John
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 10:08 AM

The police wanted to investigate, but the thieves already had a leg up.

From: Brian
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 10:10 AM

Students on campus are wondering if the community will be able to heel after such a heinous crime.

From: John
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 10:11 AM

Crime certainly has a toe-hold in that area.

From: Brian
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 10:13 AM

These foot puns are getting really corn-y.

From: Jonathan
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 10:13 AM

I’m sending this thread to the guys whose project this was. He’ll get a kick out of it.

From: Andy
Sent: Tuesday, April 27, 2010 1:48 PM

How could ya’ll be so callus?

I’m back to having nothing to write.  How about some free songs as a consolation prize:

Free Mp3s From Amazon

If the link doesn’t work, maybe I can just sing you some songs.

Last night I took my final exam for class #8 in the 10-course master’s program.  I have three weeks and two assignments due in order to complete course #9.  So, in theory, I could finish my degree this summer.  In theory…

I checked the website for the master’s program and they are indeed offering a course this summer.  A course that I have already taken.  In the fall, they will be offering three courses…none of which have been offered since I started the program.  Isn’t that awesome?  So my options were to either wait until the fall and have an abundance of choices or to….well, actually, that was my only choice because I’d already had the summer course.

Seeing my option in front of me, I did what any man would do.  I wrote an e-mail to the program directors and begged for some help.  I realized that it’s difficult to try to curry favor by praising a program while also explaining that you want out as soon as possible.  Either I was articulate, the director had pity on me, or they have contingencies for situations like this.  Whichever it was, I have been allowed to do an independent study for the summer session.

I now have 10 weeks in the summer to do a research project and write a paper.  My course advisers are interested in the topic and have already indicated that the paper could be published.  Now that’s some pressure.  Well, not for me.  It’s pressure for Kelley because she’s going to have to edit this thing.  I hope she makes me sound smart!

I am a sorry excuse for a blogger.  Look at this, I haven’t updated this blog in over a week.  I got on a roll there for a bit, but now I’ve fallen right back off the wagon.

There’s only one way to remedy this situation.  Find something interesting to write about.  But the trouble is, I am not really inspired at the moment.  Perhaps my muse has left me.  Or perhaps my brain is busy with other things.  Or perhaps, deep down inside, I am actually aware of how boring my life is and it causes my brain to subconsciously keep me from writing. Either way, I have been silent for far too long.  So, I break this silence to let you know that I am aware of the silence and that I intend to think of something that will help me prevent similar occurrences.  Unless my brain subconsciously informs me that this is a terrible plan.  Then I’ll have another pointless post.  Like this one.

Have I complained about graduate school in a while?  Probably.  But eh, why not go some more.

If all goes according to plan, I will have one course remaining after I finish this semester.  Conveniently, the illustrious university that I am attending offers a course in my field of study during the summer.  Unfortunately, it is one that I have already had.  So, I e-mailed the director of the program to see what my options are.  There are two.  (1) Wait until the fall and take a different course or (2) do an “independent study.”

Seeing as I’m one of those types that likes to do things immediately and get them out of the way, the independent study seems like a great idea.  The problem is that I will probably have to derive the course description, content, and grading scheme.  I’m all for teaching and grading myself, but doing so in a manner that is approved by the university will probably prove difficult.  So, I have come up with some ideas for my course topic.  See what you think, or add your own in the comment section.  Remember that my degree will be in Engineering Management.

• MWA-605 - (Management by Walking Around) - The course would detail how to walk around an office, make generic statements, and appear way more important than I actually am.
• MCP-514 - “Management Catch Phrases” will work on extending my vocabulary to include the parts of managerial speech that so often eludes the common fold.  From “Strike while the nose is on the grindstone” to “Think outside the mousetrap.”
• MCP-515 - The advanced level of MCP-514 will center around high-level management phrases like “Team Construct” and one of my all time favorites “Hierarchical Analysis“
• ELS-635 - This course details how to utilize extended lunches in order to create a sense of entitlement.
• PTE-538 - People who do crappy work are eventually assigned menial tasks that don’t matter.  Those who excel have more and more work assigned to them.  This is a course in how to continually punish those who excel.

Any other ideas on how to improve my managing skills?