Classes & Assistantship

School starts early here, so I've now had two weeks of classes. Since I currently have four emails in my inbox from friends wanting to know about my classes & my assistantship, I figured that I'd just put up a post for everyone...that way I only have to type it all out once. =)

So about my classes...

My Monday night class is basically the intro class for the program. While I really like the professor, I'm not particularly excited about the course itself. Like your typical Psych 101 course, the plan is to cover a lot of topics at a basic level, for the sake of general familiarity rather than depth. I'm sure I'll like it...but I'm definitely looking forward to tackling bigger things.

The Tuesday night class is going to be a fun one. It's about learning styles...so it's one of those classes where you get to take a lot of self-assessments and then talk about the results. And who doesn't like learning about themselves? After all, isn't that why there's some kind of quirky quiz advertised on the cover of every issue of Cosmo? There's also some interesting projects coming up that I'm looking forward to.

I haven't started my Saturday class yet, which is on Performance Consulting. It begins the second Saturday in September and meets for five Saturdays. I've heard lots of good reviews about the professor and this particular course, so I have high hopes.

And about my assistantship...

There was definitely no lag time in getting things rolling with the assistantship work...I feel like I've hit the ground sprinting.

The faculty are really into helping students to get published or to get opportunities to present at conferences. So, most of my work is aimed toward these goals. Two of my current projects relate to gathering information on a couple of different topics related to e-learning, with the hope/assumption that they will develop into full-scale research projects. And then I'm also a part of a third research project that was already in motion, but still has enough left to do that I'll end up being involved with the majority of it.

My other assistantship projects are more hands-on and practical. For instance, one involves helping to manage a professor's online class. I'm also in charge of writing material for a portion of the department's website. And I might get an opportunity to do a review of three products used for creating online learning courses.

My biggest challenge with the assistantship at the moment is prioritizing. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how much attention each project needs right away and whether there are certain things I should be dedicating more or less time to.

It seems like a lot at the moment...but it's only the second week...overall, I'm optimistic about the semester.

ack

ok well I just fininshed a very long post, then the computer crashed and I lost it.

AAARRRGGGHHH!

I'm too upset now to retype the whole thing.

Anyway.......... I just wanted to say thanks to everyone who posted comments. It's really nice to get some feedback to let us know you're all reading. Keep 'em coming. We really enjoyed them.

I'll try and get another post out during the week.

-kaz

New job and stuff

hey everyone,

Sorry it's taken me so long to post again. I recently just started my new job and I haven't had much time to do anything else. The job is cabinet installation. It's hard work. We install a set of cabinets a day, put down underlayment for vinyl flooring, and put on counter tops. Some of the guys are so fast they can put in two sets a day. We start very early and don't have set hours. Basically we work until the job is done. My first day I started at 5:30 am and got done at 8:00 pm. This first week has been really kicking my butt. However, I think I'm starting to get used to it. We'll see how the next week goes. Eventually when I get fast enough I'll be doing piece work, meaning I'll get paid for each cabinet I put up, each piece of trim, each sheet of underlayment, etc. If you are efficient and can be quick you can make a good chunk of money. Right now I'm paid hourly, and probably will be for a while since I'm so new to this. Fine by me though. It's going to take me a while to get really good.

At first I wasn't sure I wanted to do this because the hours can be just exhausting, but by the end of the week I was able to work fast enough and got done earlier. I was a little worried after the first day. If each day lasted until 8, I basically had to go home and go right to bed.

Anyway, I have to run some errands but I'll do another post this evening. I promise!

Ridiculous Safety Training

So my grad program is in the school of engineering. Today, late Friday afternoon, the school recently required all of its graduate students to attend a mandatory, two-hour safety training.

The students in attendance fell into two distinct groups: (1) those who would never step foot in an actual laboraty, such as those in computer science or my program; (2) those who would likely be involved in extensive lab work, which is basically the rest of the programs.

In an effort to present a "one-size-fits-all" training to all the students, we were forced to sit though an extremely irrelevant, dumbed-down lab safety presentation. Some topics included:

• MSDS sheets (not how to read one...just what it is)
• Safety gear (not what is required under specific circumstances...just some examples of what safety gear is...i.e. gloves, goggles, etc)
• Consequences of not using safe practices (not what, specifically, might cause a fire...but just the general idea that a fire is something that might happen)

There's more, but you get the idea.

All the information that was presented consisted of basic concepts I had been taught in high school and undergraduate science classes. Keep in mind that I only took the basic requirements for science. And keep in mind that we were all GRADUATE level students.

As I see it:

NON-LAB STUDENTS...like me...were forced to sit through training that was not only irrelevant to our activity on campus, but also implied that we had no common sense and had never ever taken a science course.

LAB STUDENTS...were forced to sit through training that they should have been able to present themselves. After all, if they're pursuing the sciences, wouldn't most have an advanced understanding of what lab safety entails? So nothing learned for them here. And for those who don't practice safety percautions at the most basic level...wouldn't the more likely issue here relate to their attitude toward safety rather than their ignorance about the subject?

Needless to say, I was furious about wasting two hours of my time on this.

post comments!

Oh, by the way. I don't know if anyone is actually reading our blog but if you are it would be nice to have some of you post comments letting us know how great I am. Or, at the very least I guess a 'hello' would suffice.

Here's how you do it. At the bottom of each post there is a time stamp and to the right of that a link that says 'comments'. Click on that link. This will bring up a seperate window. In the text box you can write a message. When you are done there are options below the box to let us know who posted. You can either post anonymously or as 'other'. If you pick the 'other' option another box opens for you to put your name in.

So now that you know how to post comments we had better start seeing some feedback or there is going to be hell to pay. I swear to God there is.

Anyway, hope to hear from you soon.

-kaz

frisbee golf!

hey everybody

here are some photos of Shelley and me, well I guess just me, playing frisbee golf. There is a really great course at the park just 2 blocks from us. Also, at the end there is a picture of what my legs looked like after I had to fish a frisbee out of the water several times.

There is also a course a half an hour from here in the mountains. It's part of, or near to, a ski resort. This weekend I'd like to check it out.

That is if we have enough time after the RODEO! Woo! There is a rodeo going on from thursday to saturday. Only $5-$9 to get in! Whatever that means. Anyway, I've never been to a rodeo and neither has Shelley. It sounds pretty cool though.

I'll fill you in after we get back. See ya

-kaz

Crazy 20 Minute Smoke Storm!

So the other night, we experienced this really strange wind-smoke storm...for about 20 minutes.

Winds of 55+ mph...no rain...not much for clouds...lotsa smoke in the air, making it nearly impossible to see a block ahead...strong smell of fire...no thunder...no lightning...random stuff flying everywhere.

According to News Channel 7, there was a thunderstorm heading west from Oregon through northern Idaho. Although the storm itself didn't venture down into Boise, the winds did. There are three major wildfires ablaze along the Idaho-Oregon border, so with the winds came their thick smoke. The dramatic effect all of this had on Boise seems really crazy to me, given that Boise is in southwest Idaho.

The sky looked cool...I should've taken a couple pictures (the one above came from the local paper's website).

As with other western states, wildfires are a major issue here. There are currently a handful of wildfires running rampant throughout the state. They have interesting, and sometimes cutesy, names.

• Potato Fire
• Paddy Cake Fire
• Bushy Fire
• Dunce Fire
  
• 4 Wheel Drive Fire
• Burnt Fire
• Lick Creek Fire
• Rainbow Fire
  

We first heard about the great Potato Fire on the radio as we were driving into Idaho from Montana when we moved here.

Kaz and I have always liked the Paddy Cake Fire. Although, the quirkiest name has to be the 4 Wheel Drive Fire.

How Teens Get Beer in Boise

While Kaz and I were watching the news last night, there was a story on how the clever teens in Boise were getting their beer.

They call taxis!

In addition to driving people around town, it's common for taxi companies to pick up things for customers and deliver these items to their homes - prescriptions, something from the store, restaurant food, etc.

So area teens figured out that taxi drivers would also be willing to pick up beer. The drivers buy it for the customer and then deliver it to the home...never asking for an adult or an ID.

Brilliant!

Is this stroke of genius is unique to Boise, or is this an issue in other cities too?

The police managed to bust eight area taxi companies, a pizza place, and a chinese place on this charge.

On a related note, the crew from COPS (that's right, the sleazy Fox cop show that features hero officers and really, really stupid citizens) just started filming in Boise and plans to be here for the next couple of months.

Taco Time is the spawn of the Devil

Hey everybody.

Recently Shelley and I decided to go out to eat. On a whim we decided to stop at Taco Time. I'd seen ads for it on television and noticed that they had several restaurants around town. It seemed that they must be something like Taco Bell. We went in and ordered. I got the nachos grande and a crispy taco. Shelley got something else, I don't remember exactly what. A taco salad I think. Anyway, despite what I ordered what I got was pure evil. Let's start with the nachos. Now normally when you go into a fast food restaurant you know that what you order is not going to look the same as the picture on the menu. However, my nachos looked like someone had taken a plate, set it on a counter and then thrown each ingredient at it from across the room. That's not that bad though, I'm usually not one to complain about aesthetics. How a dish looks doesn't necessarily tell you how it's going to taste. This time, however, it turned out to be true. My chips were apparently dipped in water before being tossed at the serving plate to ensure that authentic gummy texture. The beans were microwaved to perfection, ensuring no annoying moisture was left in them, leaving a dry and crusty lump. The cheese was clumped artistically about. In some places sprinkled and others mashed into a ball. Most of it was melted but I sometimes came across large hard blobs. The salsa also tasted slightly off. Basically the whole thing tasted like it had been made days ago and when some idiot actually ordered it they took it out of cold storage and popped it in the microwave.

I didn't get very far with the nachos so I decided to try my hardshell taco. It certainly looked delicious. However, what I wasn't aware of was Taco Time's patented taco meat preparing techniques. Each batch of ground beef is lovingly seasoned, cooked to perfection, then spread on cookie sheets and set outside for at least two days to dry in the sun. After the allotted time has passed a licensed quality control technician is blindfolded and given a bowl of the taco meat and a bowl of finely shredded cardboard. If he can't tell the difference he gives his 'thumbs up' and the meat is vigorously scraped into large microwavable bowls. Meanwhile, the technician no doubt has to be taken to a sitting room and rehydrated because as soon as you eat some of the taco meat it immediately sucks up all moisture around it on the way to your stomach. To make sure that the meat never loses its signature Taco Time treatment it is microwaved every half hour. This prevents any moisture in the air from inadvertently reinvigorating it.

Totally oblivious to all the work that had gone into my taco I took a bite, and immediately spit it out. I just couldn't eat it. I have never been to a restaurant where I couldn't get through a meal because the food was so bad. Congratulations Taco Time! You were the first!

After looking around in amazement that there were other customers ordering and actually eating their food we got up and left. I assumed that they all must be visiting Taco Time for the first time. There is just no other way to explain it. I just can't believe that they get any repeat business. I entertained the idea that they were actors paid to make it look like Taco Time did lots of business, therefore luring in other unassuming victims.

Days later I still shudder when I think about having mexican food.

First 5 Days in Boise

Well, we've been in Boise for nearly five days now. We're just settling in; haven't done anything real exciting yet. Below is a brief summary of a few notables so far...

• Meeting People - So, we really haven't gotten too far in this department. We haven't seen many of the neighbors around. The guy across the hall officially introduced himself to me our first evening here. We were in the process of unloading the truck, so we didn't chat long. I haven't seen him since.

• Unpacking - This is coming along slowly...but surely.

• Wandering Around the City - We've done quite a bit of this...but Boise is a pretty spread out city, so there is still much to be explored.

• Water - Yeah, so the tap water here doesn't come close to measuring up to Eau Claire water. Alas, something we already miss from home. At least the Brita filter works wonders.
  

• Taco Time - We just had lunch at this place yesterday. It's basically a Taco Bell...except the food is crap! I'm sure Kaz will post a rant about this.

• Ann Morrison Park - We live 2 blocks away from a major park in the city. It's a nice place - tennis courts, frisbee golf, baseball diamond, bike lanes, and of course, loads of open grassy areas.

So, this is our progress in brief. More to come as things start to get rolling here!

Ok, here's a brief account of the rest of the trip. At least as far as I can remember it.

Monday

The next morning I wanted to stop and see the town of Deadwood. This really is only because I'd recently become hooked on the HBO show Deadwood. But either way I was really interested in checking it out. We left the truck at the hotel and drove the 14 miles to the town.

Before we left I had talked to Rick (Shelley's dad) about my hope that we would have the time to stop in Deadwood. He mentioned that the town had become riddled with casinos. This became pretty obvious as we entered the town. Casinos were everywhere. We stopped at a restaurant which was connected to a hotel, and of course a casino, for breakfast. We were a few minutes into our meal when some lady in another booth won $1000 in some drawing that was being done amongst the booths. I was starting to get worried about how much the city had changed by the new focus on casinos. My concerns were unfounded, however. It's true there are an annoying amount of casinos crammed throughout the main areas of Deadwood, but the main street and a lot of the buildings remain largely as they were over a hundred years ago. It's really cool. You can get a great sense of what life was like back then. For such small town they were actually pretty technologically progressive. They had telegraph and telephone lines installed even before some larger cities in the east.

We made our way through town and then up into the cemetary. We paid the $1 admission fee and walked around looking at some of the graves. Wild Bill Hickock is buried there, as is Calamity Jane, and Seth Bullock.

Walking around the cemetary took longer than I thought it would so we didn't have any extra time to look around. We drove back the the U-haul and after gassing up, got back on the highway. I popped in my second book on tape...

From Deadwood we made it all the way to Bozeman, Montana before we stopped for the night. Nothing really to note here. The only thing that was of any interest is that there was this homeless lady hanging around the hotel before we checked in. I didn't know she was homeless right away. At first I thought she was just waiting for someone. The tip off that she was in fact homeless was when she bent down and picked up a cigarette that someone had taken only a couple drags off of and then tossed on the ground.

Tuesday

Tuesday we got up and went to have the complimentary breakfast. We were sitting down reading the paper when Shelley noticed a familiar face. The homeless lady from the night before was hanging out in the breakfast area. I thought, well of course. What an ingenious idea. If you were homeless all you had to do was hang around the hotels. You could probably get in unnoticed for a while and get free breakfast. However, you'd have to cycle the hotels so you wouldn't get noticed too often. Anyway, we finished breakfast and I went up to the desk clerk and asked about any larger bookstores in the area.

I needed another book on tape. From Deadwood to Bozeman I'd been switching between two books. One of the readers was a low talker and I could barely understand what he was saying. Instead of helping me stay awake this book made me sleepy. The guy was just so boring. I should add that the U-haul only had a radio. No tape deck or cd player, so I had to buy some speakers for my portable cd player. For the low-talker I had to hold one of the speakers up to my ear just so I could hear him half the time. The other guy was just annoying, because he used the same voices for a lot of the different characters and the voice he adopted for the lead character was really whiny and annoying. It was like this was the first time he read the book and each new character caught him by surprise. Sometimes he would mix-up which voice to use for each character.

The hotel clerk directed us to a local borders. After I picked out another couple books we drove back to the U-haul and got back on the road.

The rest of the day we just drove and drove, stopping for gas every couple hundred miles or so. The country side was very beautiful. The only drawback was that some times we would hit a steep incline and I would have to slow way down. For the most part, however, the drive was really relaxing. There weren't very many cars on the road. The weather had progressively gotten cooler as we drove west. We made it all the way to Idaho Falls where we stopped for a late lunch. We were only 4 hours away! After lunch we drove another 2 hours to Twin Falls. We found a hotel and stopped for the night.

Wednesday

The next morning we got up early and got back on the road. Two hours later we entered Boise. We were here a couple hours before our appointment to sign the lease so we decided to check out our apartment complex.......(I'll finish this later tonight, gotta go run an errand)

fat squirrels

Well everyone, here Shelley and I will put our Boise stories and experiences over the next couple years. Enjoy.

Saturday (the first day)

After a morning wrapping up packing in the scorching heat, Rick and Lois treated us all to lunch. At 5 o’clock we were off. The Prairie Home Companion theme played it’s opening notes as we hit the highway. Since it was such a late start we decided to stay the first night in Heron Lake MN with Shelley’s grandma. We arrived around 11:00 and hopped into bed.

Sunday

Sunday started at 7:00 o’clock with Shelley’s grandma shuffling into the living room, up to the pull-out couch, taking a deep breath, and belting out a very loud and cheerful ‘Good Morning!!’. Which not only woke us up but almost made me say a bad word as we both jolted awake. Luckily I stopped myself after, ‘holy!’. She has surprising volume for someone just under 5’ tall.

We got up and had quick breakfast of donuts and coffee and chatted with Vi (Shelley’s grandma) and Steve (Shelley’s uncle), then we chatted with Vi some more, and then we chatted with Vi some more…..this went on for little bit. Eventually we said our goodbyes and hopped back on the highway.

After a little while I found that listening to the radio was not going to cut it keeping me awake and my mind off the road. This is mainly because radio station reception areas are few and far between through South Dakota and up into Montana. Also the stations that you can tune in are usually either country music or religious talk/rock. So when we did a quick stop in Mitchell, South Dakota to check out the corn palace we also stopped at a bookstore. I picked up three books and Shelley (who didn't seem to be as bothered as me by the monotony of the radio stations) picked up one. I popped in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and we headed back out on the highway.

The rest of Sunday was pretty uneventful. We drove almost straight through South Dakota. By the time it was dusk we realized that the closest city of any size was Sturgis. We could have backtracked an hour to Rapid City, but I didn’t want to waste the gas and mileage.

For those of you who don’t know, it gets a little crowded this time of year in Sturgis as the motorcycle rally is gearing up. I totally forgot about this. Now I have nothing against bikers themselves, however the hardcore biker lifestyle does not exactly imbue you with a sense of clean living. Add to that the fact that Sturgis is well known for it's rowdy parties. Then add my natural aversion of staying in a strange bed which I know has seen a lot of use. Finally add my experience helping my friend out at his first job cleaning rooms at a local, and admittedly seedy, motel. The housekeeping staff would do a sight test on bed sheets and if it didn’t look dirty then they didn’t change it.

As I navigated the truck through the parking lot around clusters of touring bikes flashes of 20/20 episodes titled ‘hotel’s dirty secrets’ flitted through my head. I kept seeing some correspondent going through a hotel room with a black light, while I tried to remember if they ever did an expose in Sturgis. This is why I always try to stay in name brand hotels when I travel, because you can usually be sure that they are clean, or at least cleaner. So, of course, when we went into our first room there was a pair of socks on the bed, a hairclip on the floor, and a few stray hairs around the bathtub. Needless to say I was a little pissed and went back to the office to get a different room. Our second room seemed clean enough, but was poolside so it was very humid.

Shelley ordered pizza while I went and got our overnight bags from the truck. As I came back up I noticed a large green grasshopper right by our door. Now, as you come up the stairs you take a right down the hallway. At the end of the hallway was the door to the outside and other rooms. To the left of that door on the inside was our door. Anyway, this grasshopper was jumping around our door. I didn’t want it to get in the room so I grabbed it by the wings. It started buzzing as I opened the outside door and I tossed it out as quick as I could. What I didn’t notice is that when you open the door to the outside there is another room right there. They had their door open, so when I opened the door I gave the grasshopper a good toss right into their room. I realized what I was doing right as I let it go. The grasshopper flew in the room, got its bearings and luckily flew right back out the door. Thankfully the 3 people in the room were in the midst of an argument and didn’t notice the guy who opened the door and tried to throw a bug at them.

ok well, I’m tired so I’m stopping for the night. Tomorrow I’ll fill in the rest of the trip