Comments on Select Comments Monday

 

I am going to try to have Monday be my day for trying to reply to some of the comments I receive:

Margaret stated....

"Perhaps it's true that dogs come to resemble their owners--or is it the other way around?? I have an iPhone 16 Pro and love it. I don't have an iPad though. When I went to buy one, the Apple store employees were so condescending that I left."

I do tend to think there is some sort of correlation between dog and owner (er, perhaps adopter is better).  Our Wheaton Terrier was a puppy we selected, perhaps in part because I convinced my wife of the many attributes of this type of dog..... personality is VERY friendly, very inquisitive and curious, playful, attentive.  Additionally, the breed has very curly hair and can easily sport a fluffy beard and mustache like is typical terrier.  I predicted to my wife that our dog and I would appear somewhat "twin-like" because her golden blond goatee/mustache and my grey beard and mustache were similar enough to draw comparisons. 

I am annoyed FOR you that the Apple employee was condescending.  I have actually only been in a legitimate "Apple Store" one time and can understand your feelings.  In my opinion, the store was (trying to use current vernacular) "Bougie" and simultaneously underwhelming.  I have an iPhone because that is what my wife chose for us.... and yet we GET that phone from the cell phone store.  The iPad also came from the cell phone store, so I was able to avoid the "Apple Store" again.

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Margaret & AC commented on my Laboratory Practical Exam.....

(Margaret) - "...Although many classmates were terrified of the limited time for the exams/essays, I thrived in that environment; it focused my brain like nothing else could."

(AC) - "One would think that fatigue could become a factor. Have you ever noticed this?"

For me, personally, the idea of a big exam of MEMORIZATION of minutia..... drives me nuts.  I sincerely detest/despise having to memorize silly arrays of things.  It is tedious and tiresome.  

BUT, it is an important facet of being able to have a vocabulary to use in talking about physiology.  All physiologists HAD to do this at one time or another to have their working vocabulary.  

I hated these boring as hell exams back when I had to take them.  But, I am glad I did have them to force me to build my vocabulary.  I MUCH prefer to be higher up Bloom's Taxonomy in terms of my own (and my student's) educational goals.  I strive to get them into AT LEAST the apply and analysis levels.  And, my researchers, I will guide into evaluating and creating. 

I tend to think fatigue is a factor from beginning to end of these exams.... especially because I suspect the sizable majority of the kids pulled an "all-nighter" cramming session the evening before the exam..... as per usual for most.  

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For both Margaret and AC about air quality generally......

We have had AQI Scores (Air Quality Index Scores) above 100 every day now for just about a week.  It is a royal pain in the posterior as far as running goes. The primary pollutants are in the Particulate Matter below 2.5 microns.  Dangerous sized stuff.  In THEORY, a building's HVAC system (the air conditioning specifically) helps the levels be significantly lower inside. So, it has been my decision to run inside, as much as I would rather be outside at near daybreak.  The Canadian wildfires spoiled a lot of running last Summer, and it looks to be a very possible repeat this Summer.  Another frustrating and criminal aspect of Global Warming.... unfortunately.  

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AC stated....

"You just roll on and on with that big voice of yours."

By nature, I am typically rather quiet-voiced.  But, in order to a) be heard in the big lecture hall, and b) to capture student's attention.... I have LEARNED to have a BIG VOICE and have LEARNED to be animated in my speaking and also in my non-verbal communication as well (facial expressions, hand gestures, body language) overall.  In many ways, I believe a TEACHER has to become what I call a "Knowledge Actor"..... he/she NEEDS a) a great deal of knowledge, b) an ability to logically organize that knowledge for presentation, and c) the skills of an actor to actually engage with the student populace.

We teachers all recognize the "Charlie Brown Teacher" stereotype..... the never seen figure who is just a bag of boring noise (on the cartoons the sound is done with a manipulated mute and a trumpet)... and most of us worth our salt STRIVE like hell to TRY to avoid that as our perception.  

Margaret stated....

"I'm happy that you're seeking congenial company and enjoying a cigar, if not a pipe."

I have to admit that the company and companionship is tremendously meaningful to me.  The whole atmosphere is so very NOT "U"-like that it refreshes me.  It is NOT work!  It is PLAY to go there.  

And, I do have to say I find the cigar I indulge in to be rather entertaining too.  I find the cigar enjoyable.  But, in the same breath I can say with relative confidence that I do not feel a risk nor a potential compulsion to want to smoke MORE cigars more often.  When I first started to go there, I was a bit worried about if I would feel this sort of pull.  But, happily (at least thus far) I do not.  

And, yet at the same time.... I can still fully attest that even though I have not spoken much of it here of late..... I still have a "PCS" a pipe craving score, for the reality is...... for reasons I do not fully "get" or understand.... there IS something so very different (and damn near "magical") about smoking a pipe FOR ME.... that makes both experiences SO different that there is nearly no overlap in emotions.  Today, for instance, I would estimate my PCS is at roughly a 7.5.   

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Finally, for both AC and Margaret relating to my cigar post.....

Yes, AC, I suspect the Brick House will be a favorite for quite a while.  And, Margaret, yes, as I tried to explain a bit in the above..... I just do not KNOW if I could trust MYSELF if I began to have a pipe at the Retiree's Cigar Group.  From a congeniality standpoint, I am sure THAT would be fine with the group (probably after some gentle "ribbing" from a few, perhaps).  But, in my heart and mind the pipe is so much MORE, and so much BETTER than just the sum of its parts.... that I am not sure I would not simply (and likely willingly) cascade back down to my old ways.  I do not know if I have the inner resolve to have only one pipe a week.  

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Finally, I must briefly mention that it is a bit sad that some of my commenters have disappeared (or at least gone on prescribed hiatus).  It may simply a) be a reflection of less reading occurring in the Summer so less commenting, b) be because what I write about is boring as hell, c) or from a worrisome aspect, be because people are struggling (health or otherwise) and that is keeping folks away.  

I am so grateful for Margaret and AC.  

But, I do very much miss Pat, and Liz, and Pat M., and Paula, Jenna, and GaP, and PepperLady..... and many others.