Category: Baker

Saying Goodbye to September

9/30/2014

It has been a fast month. I can scarcely believe that the month is over. It feels as though school began just a few days ago. Now we are already half way through the marking period. I can't help but recap the events of this month in my mind.

School started (and has moved through the first month). So far, despite any political and economical concerns, it's been a good start to the year.

I am not teaching a class at Baker this term. I have been able to use some of my time to play outside and spend more time after school getting things done at Lincoln.

Janelle's brother visited for the month, staying at her sister's house. We got to play Carcassonne, hang out, and watch as the tree house he was building got better and better.

We made our annual visit to the Renaissance Festival.

Rowen started preschool. While initially unwilling to talk to his teacher or most of his classmates, he seems to be enjoying it more now.

The new TV season has begun. Janelle loves Outlander (which is why I have read the first book). Dr. Who has been a bit less than I would hope, but I like the new Doctor. Gotham shows some potential. The Blacklist started with a great opening. The Big Bang Theory's first two shows were quite entertaining. I'm looking forward to the Flash, Arrow, Resurrection, Bones, the 100, and Elementary.

I made one entry to a writing contest.

I'm certain that there is more, but that hits most of the main points.

0 Comments

Baker College - Fall 2014 [post-dated from 09/15/2014]

9/16/2014

0 Comments

For the first time in over eight years, I will not be teaching a class at Baker College of Jackson in a fall semester. With my wife's broadening schedule and some changes in my school schedule this year, it was not practical to teach an evening class, and due to lower student enrollment, they are not offering the Saturday classes that I used to teach.

It did not fully hit me until I sent the email declining a class this fall, but I have been at Baker for quite a while now. I have been teaching classes there nearly every term since only two months after we moved to Jackson. I have been teaching there since almost a year before Connor was born, let alone Rowen. When I first started working there, George W. Bush was still President, Jennifer Granholm was in her first term as Governor of Michigan, we had not hit the "great recession," and the first iPhone had not yet been introduced.

I am concerned about how this will affect our overall finances, but I hope that I will see an improvement in my health during this reprieve. Last year at this time, I was teaching two classes (although one was independent study). The issue with teaching extra classes during the school year isn't just the class time, but the number of hours that I spend every week preparing for class and grading assignments. During weeks when papers are due, I often lose the entire weekend.

One way or another, this fall is going to be different than any other fall semester than I've had at Lincoln. I hope that it works out for the best.

0 Comments

Who Needs Sleep?

4/30/2014

0 Comments

Various sources that I have seen recommend that most adults need to receive seven to nine hours of sleep. Anything less than that can reduce memory, increase stress, and lead to numerous health complications. If I'm lucky, I get six.

It has not always been this way. During my freshman year in college, I would try to go to bed between nine and ten even if I didn't have an early morning class. Often this would even mean leaving a game or some other activity that my friends were doing. Janelle often teased me that I would go to bed so soon. Come to think of it, she doesn't like it when I go to bed before ten even now.

I remember reading an article at the time that talked about powerful and famous people who would only get about four hours of sleep a night. Our newly elected President Clinton was one of them; Margaret Thatcher was another. I remember thinking that so little sleep would kill me. Now I understand it a little better.

Time is slipping away from me. On days that I teach evening classes at Baker (which this semester is on Mondays and Tuesdays), I wake up around 5 am, go to Lincoln to teach, get back home around 4:30, leave for Baker around 5:30, get home again around 10:00 (this semester has been a bit earlier here), do something to decompile (usually a 45 minute show), write my blog (a new addition), get ready for the next day (lunch and pre-chosen clothes), and get to bed around eleven. Considering that I'm often doubling up (my decompiling often goes hand-in-hand with grading), there really aren't places for me to cut, except sleep. Even days without Baker are often filled to the brim with one thing or another.

I know that this is affecting me. I can feel my memory slipping away. I've gotten shakier lately, and my right eye likes to start twitching on its own. I am often tired and run down, making my temper flair when even the slightest extra task is asked of me. I know that this is taking years off of my life, but I don't see another way around it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to get to bed.

0 Comments

I'm exhausted.

12/1/2011

0 Comments

The end is nearly in sight. Next week is going to be a tremendously busy week, but the week after is the first week of break for Baker. Taking on the second class was a bit too much for me. I taught 2 extra classes a week a few years ago, but I swore it off after how exhausted it left me. I only took on the second class this term because my dean was in such a bind. I would like to say the extra money was nice, but it seemed to disappear without me getting enjoyment from it.

I certainly could have used the snow day that my children got this Wednesday.

At least we have snow on the ground. It makes everything more bearable. I know that my pleasant associations with snow mostly have to do with snow days and the upcoming holiday season (including my birthday), but I think that it's more than that. There is something peaceful in the blanket of white that covers the mess that fall left behind. My favorite sound is the light patter of snowflakes falling. Yes, they make a sound. It is my favorite because it means that I've slowed and quieted down enough to hear it.

0 Comments

Saying Goodbye to September

Baker College - Fall 2014 [post-dated from 09/15/2014]

Who Needs Sleep?

I'm exhausted.

You Have Been Warned:

Blog collections:

Archives

Categories