Another painful project done

It started out to be interesting to find books lying around my house in the library of congress database, but the instance of koha that we are working on didn't work so well. My theme was books lying around my house but I soon had to resort to my bookshelves by the handful to get enough books to register 25 items. I bet I attempted 80 or more books to get 25 in-it was hours worth of work that should have taken me one hour to complete.

I am enjoying the Wealth of Networks though, sounds stiff but I think the cultural aspect is really interesting. I hope to build my essay around that topic. I also like the economic discussions as it's more to my way of thinking. I've had a few surprises reading so far and that makes it even more interesting.

My busiest time of the month at work starts tomorrow so I'm not sure how much I'll get done on my school work the next several days but I'm really trying to get caught up so that I can enjoy this weekend, unlike Memorial Day weekend when I spent fully two and one half days, about 25 hours, on school work. I could use a break!

I am so glad last week is over...

The interview in Pittsburgh went well last week and today they asked that I go to SC for a second at the corporate office. Still no word on a relo package but I know they are discussing it. My house is up for sale-just in case. I can always pull it off if I get a job in Philly before Pittsburgh. This is my way, to always try to get ahead of a tidal wave. I'm exhausted.

The e-prints project was very frustrating to start and not very interesting after the first few items. By the look of the discussion board, I was not alone. Not sure why we had to do so many, I really got no benefit once I got into a cut and pasting mode. I'm afraid the Koha project looks like more of the same-inadequate background to get started and no directions or tutorial in sight. And tonight, when I had hours to dedicate to getting it started all I could do was post questions to the discussion board. I need all the information I need to be able to work at my own pace as life keeps getting in the way of school. I wonder how much more information the on-sight students get - we have no background in these applications and aren't receiving enough information to avoid frustration.

Getting a stride...

It's so nice to see that the work is slowing down, if you could call it that-only three books to read and write about this week :) I am still enjoying it but wish I had more time to contemplate what I feel like I'm rushing through.

Life takes another turn...

The new au pair arrived on Friday and I'm happy to say she is working our perfectly. On the day she arrived I found out my job will be relocated to South Carolina-which, although not totally surprising, was not good news. So now it is time to very actively look for a new job... I've been lucky before but with the state of the economy I'm not so sure. Just another thing to be stressed over.

Being stressed out about school doesn't seem so stressful now...

Early, Early Bird

I've been up since 4:30-I know better than to go to bed early but I was exhausted. Tea, our new au pair, arrived yesterday afternoon from Sweden. She is a great girl and I'm sure that she will work out well. She brought me a cookbook of Swedish cooking and we're going to make some things together over the year she will be with us. And Tommy likes her-alot. They went to the pool yesterday and she was attentive and playful and they had a good time.

Now that we are getting settled on the home front, time to get back to business. I've haven't been able to give the effort to school or work this week. Hope to catch back up over the weekend-and hopefully ahead. I'm having a hard time with my essay this week. Don't know if its the subject or just me. My work is not as fluid as I would like. I'll do some heavy editing this weekend and hope to improve it.

Off for an hour of early morning gardening-I wish I had more time for that, it really clears my head to work with my hands.

Ted Nelson

I was so pleasantly surprised to read about Nelson and his anti-establishment view of education. I often struggle with my son's elementary school education program as they take all these bright, active, dynamic children through the same mold. I think the school systems' vision is lacking and limited. When I lived in another town my son was enrolled in montessori school which allows free thinking and I'm sorry I don't have that opportunity for him where I currently live. I remember a TV interview with Sergey Brin and Larry Page (the founders of Google) who both attributed their success to their early elementary school education in a montisorri school!

Although Nelson is a little radical for me, I appreciate that he was included in GLUT. I will try to find a way to work him into essay #3. Afterall, he invent the word "hypertext" which is already an element of my outline.

I'm looking forward to more surprises...

Half and Half

I'm working in the mornings at home and taking time off in the afternoon to be with my son Tommy. So far, so good. This is the way I planned to work the rest of the week until the new au pair arrives on Friday afternoon. I will be happy to be back on schedule next week.

The good news is that I good chunk of Assignment 3 framed, if not complete. This is the way that I work best. Put a lot of ideas on paper-a couple sentences per topic, jump around a bit and then organize and back fill with more content. This helps me not loose track of ideas. I end up deleting probably as much as I keep, but I end up satisfied with the end result. I'm happy no discussion board posting this week-that exercise takes me longer that it should considering it's length, actually, I think the short length is what trips me up, I'm very wordy :)

I'm going back to my school work-Tommy is watching a movie and I hope to get a couple hours in and go to bed early.

What a week!

Good thing I got ahead of the two deliverables this week because the time outside of work has been completely consumed with personal affairs. We said good by to Alex on Friday and before he left I thought I had a great new au pair in Edie but since Edie couldn't drive I had to send her to another family. It may be a new world record, certainly for me, in that Edie didn't even start working before I had to transition her. We will be welcoming Tea from Sweden to our home on Friday-fingers crossed.

So not that I'm without an au pair, I can't go into work next week so I'm doing a combination of working from home in the mornings and taking vacation time in the afternoons. I'm hoping to get ahead of the essay due next Sunday during this time-three books and a bunch of articles is entirely too much reading with a full time job. I've fallen asleep reading a couple times this week because I'm exhausted. I hope to catch up on my sleep as well this week. A new au pair requires a lot of training so I'm going to be super busy next weekend. First out, driving.

It's all about size

No idea how to size the embedded video below after great effort. I'll work on that later in the week and hopefully get it presentable by the time it is due.

Please use link on left hand side to view in proper format.

Second Act Presents: Zotero

Well, I found two drafts from last month I thought I posted...par for the course.

It was fun playing around with Jing. I showed the presentation to my son and he loved it-the fact that I recorded a movie. He can't wait to play around with it himself-that will have to wait until tomorrow. Without further ado...



This link is also presented on left side of the blog as a link.

Scholarship in the Digital Age and my laptop

Not enjoying this book so much, half way through so I have a good feel. Odd to say, but I think it is too wordy. I'm used to more concise business writing-on point and clear conclusions. I also find all the citations distracting when I read. I seem to be always hunting for the close parenthesis...I wonder if this blog has spell check?

Buying a laptop for school was a good idea. First, all my bookmarks are at hand. Second, there is not a competing need for the home computer with my son. The drawback is that the keys on the keyboard are too flat so I make more typos-very distracting-and I therefore can't type at my typical speed. I'm indifferent on the portability but I suppose it will be most beneficial when I'm in Pittsburgh and have everything with me. Hope there isn't much need to use it outside of class though, I'm really looking forward to some time with family and friends.

Still feeling the stress of not being able to do any school work during the week.

Just as I expected...

Worked too long and was too tired this week to get much school work done-glad I was ahead going into the week. Much to do this weekend but I think it is manageable.

So here it is, Friday night, I'm exhausted from the long week and have hours of reading to do. One step at a time...

The party continues...

So much going on. Not sure what effect the GM backruptcy will have on my company/job (I work for GMAC). I'm so busy this week with the month end closing of the books (I'm an accountant) that I don't have time to think about it.

I'm changing au pairs-again-which is very disruptive for me and especially my son. The good news is that Tommy's school year is almost over, the bad news is that Tommy's school year is almost over!

And to top it off, the MLIS program I thought I was following-after great thought, no longer exists. It would have been nice to know that before I enrolled, although I'm not sure it makes a difference. Just another thing to sort out.

Still caught up though...