Fantastic Fun Friday

I knew going into Friday I would have a very long day ahead of me. I had errands I needed to run first thing in the morning, so I planned to be late to work.  I stayed up past my usual bedtime, keeping my husband company.  We watched the inaugural episode of the new Amazon series “The Tick”, which is a remake of the two other Tick series from the 90s and 00s.  We also watched the latest episode of “Salvation,” which is shaping up nicely.  Not enough science, but plenty of political and personal interactions to keep the layman interested.

I forgot to turn off my alarm but didn’t mind getting up at my normal time of half past five. I did a few minutes of exercise on our elliptical and ran myself through the shower. I avoided logging in to work so I wouldn’t distract myself from the errands I needed to complete. In honor of Monday’s total solar eclipse, I wore my commemorative T-shirt produced by the Astronomical Society of Kansas City. I made sure to grab my ASKC name badge and place it in my car as I would need it for the final event on my Friday schedule.

At half past seven, I left and headed north, with a quick side trip through the car wash, which was surprisingly unbusy so early in the morning. I continued north through Lansing and most of Leavenworth until I reached the old county courthouse. I parked in the Justice Center’s parking lot and serendipitously ran into one of my book club friends on her way to work.

I walked the block back to the old courthouse and grabbed number 45 from the dispenser with about ten minutes wait time before the Treasurer’s office opened. I decided to pay the taxes and fees for my newest vehicle the old-fashioned way – in person and with a handwritten check. The number displayed as being served was 41 so I knew I wouldn’t have long to wait. I made myself comfortable on the old pew-like wooden bench and continued listening to the Dreamsnake audiobook I’d recently checked out via Hoopla.

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Modesitt on the Fallacy of Undergrad as Vocational Programming

I am guilty of advocating more women pursue STEM degrees, but I’m also one hundred percent behind my daughter’s choice of career in vocal performance. At one point in her life, she was perfectly happy to pursue a STEM related career in zoology or chemistry. But her talent and love of music won the battle for her vocation. I have a career, more aptly referred to as just a job, in technology, but I can in no way begin to claim it is a calling or satisfying as a true vocation would have been. Ah, the regrets.

Recently, a semi-prominent president of an educational institution told a group of music professors that they shouldn’t complain about the fact that they were paid less than professors in other disciplines or that they were required by the institution to work longer hours and more days than most other professors because they “knew what they…

via The Education/Business Fallacy — L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website

Why “Higher” Education Isn’t the “Solution”… « L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website

http://www.lemodesittjr.com/2015/01/20/why-higher-education-isnt-the-solution/

I just depressed myself reading this article.  My daughter completed her Masters in Vocal Performance last year. Everything Modesitt mentioned is true only he paints an even more daunting and brutal career landscape than I imagined.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

The Non-Integrated Society « L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

http://www.lemodesittjr.com/2014/11/18/the-non-integrated-society/

Couple of good excerpts from Modesitt’s latest blog item (link above):

According to poll after poll, around 90% of all Americans are displeased, if not furious, with the American Congress. Yet in the last election, over 96% of all incumbents were re-elected. A little bit of cognitive dissonance there?

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As I’ve noted more than a few times, all too many businesses seem unable or unwilling to integrate data and events that indicate that the insistence on higher short-term profits puts them on a long-term course for disaster and lower profits. GM’s faulty starter switch was a perfect example. Saving less than a dollar a car by installing substandard switches in roughly 30 million cars for more than ten years “saved” GM something like $30 million. GM has already paid the National Highway Transportation Board more than $35 million in fines and faces more than one billion dollars in costs, not including additional lawsuits by almost a thousand claimants.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Crimes of Education (via Whatever)

Crimes of Education I’ve been getting a lot of e-mail asking for my thoughts about Kelley Williams-Bolar, the woman here in Ohio who was recently sentenced to to ten days in prison (of which apparently she served nine) and now has a felony record because she and her father listed the father’s residence as the primary residence of her children, in order that the kids could go to school in a better school district. As I understand it, idea here is that because she did … Read More

via Whatever