Two years ago, I took the initiative to start a student computer club here. We became an official campus club, and also became associated with a national professional group. We rocked along for three semesters, and we had some successful events, but it didn't quite "jell". This semester, another faculty member volunteered to be the official sponsor, as I was teaching an overload, but I remained attached to the club as a faculty helper. The combination turned out to be just what we needed! Suddenly, there was all sorts of stuff going on. We took an overnight road trip to the other side of the state to visit a major software firm, which was a great experience for the students. And yesterday, the club sponsored a mini-conference here on campus that turned out to be quite popular, and well attended in spite of the fact that we had unintentionally scheduled it at the same time as another on-campus event.
The students here are great, and easy to work with. The faculty is the same. So glad I'm here!
And, suddenly, BAM, spring is finally here! Easter Sunday, the temps bounced up to the 60's, the sun came out, the remainder of the snow melted, and within the next day or two the grass on my lawn all turned green and started growing. There are places in my front lawn that could use mowing already. The lilac bush by my porch is budding. It should be a great summer.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Tuesday, April 19, 2011
Did I mention snow?
We are under a winter storm warning..expected accumulations of 4 to 8 inches of snow.
There was about 2 inches of new snow on the ground when I got up this morning, and it is still snowing heavily. If it continues, the administration could feasibly cancel classes.
I'm sure Santa is confused. He must think it's December again. I'm sure I heard sleigh bells last night.
There was about 2 inches of new snow on the ground when I got up this morning, and it is still snowing heavily. If it continues, the administration could feasibly cancel classes.
I'm sure Santa is confused. He must think it's December again. I'm sure I heard sleigh bells last night.
Monday, April 18, 2011
Snow, snow, snow
Yesterday morning, Palm Sunday, I awoke to see that snow had started to fall during the night. It snowed most of the day. Since I was expecting guests Sunday evening, I found myself shoveling snow from the sidewalk in the afternoon of April 17. This morning, I found more snow had fallen, and was still falling. We are under a Winter Weather Advisory. We are used to lots of winter here, but people are really starting to grouse, because we are colder than normal for this time of year.
This morning I came to work and found that our secretary had sent out this notice to all dept. faculty:
This morning I came to work and found that our secretary had sent out this notice to all dept. faculty:
INSTALLING SPRING...
% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % 44% DONE.
Install delayed....please wait.
Installation failed. Please try again.
% % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % % 44% DONE.
Install delayed....please wait.
Installation failed. Please try again.
404 error: Season not found.
Season "Spring" cannot be located. The season you are looking for might have been removed,
Season "Spring" cannot be located. The season you are looking for might have been removed,
had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.
Please try again later.
Please try again later.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
"Snow" day
We were celebrating the fact that almost all of the winter snow had melted. The only snow left is the remainders of big piles in parking lots. But then, yesterday I awoke to see 2 inches of new snow on the ground. It did all melt by this morning, but it's just a reminder that I am a lot closer to the North Pole than I realize. I have heard that Santa lives about 30 miles north of here.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Money isn't everything, but gee..try doing without it.
A faculty member here tells students not to select a career based on the amount of money to be made, but instead on what makes him/her happy. There is some truth to that. However, I have noticed that people who say that money isn't everything tend to be people who have never had a serious lack of it.
I grew up working class. My dad did not have a high school diploma, but did have a good blue-collar job that put food on the table. We always had enough to eat, with Mom cooking it. On some occasions we could splurge on hambergers. Mom made my clothes. But there was no money for many "extra" things. We didn't have a phone until I was 13. The house we lived in had no insulation, and there was a hole in the wall in the living room that went all the way to the outside. There was no air conditioning, but we did have fans and something called a "water cooler" that was essentially a box in the window with a fan on the inside and a woven straw mat on the outside. The garden hose was hooked to the mat, to keep it wet. So, the air coming in was cooler than the outside air, at least a little.
I had no money. I had no allowance, and no opportunity to earn money from chores, or from any other source. At Christmas, I was given about $5 from which to purchase gifts for others, but nothing for myself. I can't complain, since I had food, clothes, shoes, and the other necessities, but as I grew, I did feel the lack of funds.
When I was about 13, sitting in a Sunday School class, I heard some very exciting information. Our Sunday School teacher told us that his neice (note: neice, not nephew) had just graduated from college and obtained a job as a computer programmer, earning $13,000 a year. This was a lot of money in 1964. It was more than my father made. And, it was earned by a girl. A girl programmer! At that moment in time, I decided I wanted to be a girl programmer! I had no idea what a computer was or what a programmer was, but that did not deter me. I wanted that $13,000!
Later, I saw a picture of a computer. In hindsight, I think it was an IBM 360. It showed a person sitting at a kind of a desk below a big panel of blinking red lights. I thought it must be something like a giant pinball machine. I had never played pinball (you have to put in a quarter, and I had no quarters, and no way of getting any) but I had seen other people play pinball, and I thought I could probably do it.
Later, of course, I learned about computers and programming, and found out it was nothing like pinball, but I did enjoy it. But, I got in it for the money. Money isn't everything, but try telling that to the bank that has your mortgage.
I grew up working class. My dad did not have a high school diploma, but did have a good blue-collar job that put food on the table. We always had enough to eat, with Mom cooking it. On some occasions we could splurge on hambergers. Mom made my clothes. But there was no money for many "extra" things. We didn't have a phone until I was 13. The house we lived in had no insulation, and there was a hole in the wall in the living room that went all the way to the outside. There was no air conditioning, but we did have fans and something called a "water cooler" that was essentially a box in the window with a fan on the inside and a woven straw mat on the outside. The garden hose was hooked to the mat, to keep it wet. So, the air coming in was cooler than the outside air, at least a little.
I had no money. I had no allowance, and no opportunity to earn money from chores, or from any other source. At Christmas, I was given about $5 from which to purchase gifts for others, but nothing for myself. I can't complain, since I had food, clothes, shoes, and the other necessities, but as I grew, I did feel the lack of funds.
When I was about 13, sitting in a Sunday School class, I heard some very exciting information. Our Sunday School teacher told us that his neice (note: neice, not nephew) had just graduated from college and obtained a job as a computer programmer, earning $13,000 a year. This was a lot of money in 1964. It was more than my father made. And, it was earned by a girl. A girl programmer! At that moment in time, I decided I wanted to be a girl programmer! I had no idea what a computer was or what a programmer was, but that did not deter me. I wanted that $13,000!
Later, I saw a picture of a computer. In hindsight, I think it was an IBM 360. It showed a person sitting at a kind of a desk below a big panel of blinking red lights. I thought it must be something like a giant pinball machine. I had never played pinball (you have to put in a quarter, and I had no quarters, and no way of getting any) but I had seen other people play pinball, and I thought I could probably do it.
Later, of course, I learned about computers and programming, and found out it was nothing like pinball, but I did enjoy it. But, I got in it for the money. Money isn't everything, but try telling that to the bank that has your mortgage.
Friday, April 1, 2011
If I had 9 lives....
As retirement gets closer, I realize that my working life looks much more finite than it used to. Instead of computer science teaching and publication extending far out into the future in a rather indefinite way, it now has a stopping point. This is by my choice. I feel like it will be time for me to do other things with my life. My list of projects for retirement gets longer all the time!
On the other hand, I think about the career choices that I made, and I wonder what might have been if I had chosen other paths. Or, if I had 9 lives instead of just one, what would I do with the other 8? It's been fun to plan alternate lives, even if I don't get to do them.
Life #1. Stay in math instead of going into computer science. I discovered the joy of number theory in graduate school and almost wished I was earning my Ph.D. in math, with emphasis on number theory. Number theory is about integers, and it's a wide open field. Results in number theory are used a lot in computer chip design, so it's practical as well as fun.
Life #2. Instead of math or pure computer science, go into computer history. Another fascinating field. Maybe I can publish a little in this field before I retire, who knows. However, an entire career in that area would have been interesting.
Life#3. Sell real estate. I love real estate. I would be making a lot more money that I am now, that's for sure!
Life #4. Become a professional artist. I do plan on spending a lot of my retirement doing art, so this dream isn't totally lost.
Life #5. Write novels. I nearly made this choice, as I spent a lot of time writing when my son was a baby and I didn't work. I thought at the time it would be more fun to just continue that. But computers are fun, too, and I was tempted away to be a programmer again.
Life #6. Play the clarinet for the New York Philharmonic.
Lifes #7 Be a back-up singer for the Rolling Stones.
Life #8. Still working on this one.
How about you? Leave a comment about your 9 lives.
On the other hand, I think about the career choices that I made, and I wonder what might have been if I had chosen other paths. Or, if I had 9 lives instead of just one, what would I do with the other 8? It's been fun to plan alternate lives, even if I don't get to do them.
Life #1. Stay in math instead of going into computer science. I discovered the joy of number theory in graduate school and almost wished I was earning my Ph.D. in math, with emphasis on number theory. Number theory is about integers, and it's a wide open field. Results in number theory are used a lot in computer chip design, so it's practical as well as fun.
Life #2. Instead of math or pure computer science, go into computer history. Another fascinating field. Maybe I can publish a little in this field before I retire, who knows. However, an entire career in that area would have been interesting.
Life#3. Sell real estate. I love real estate. I would be making a lot more money that I am now, that's for sure!
Life #4. Become a professional artist. I do plan on spending a lot of my retirement doing art, so this dream isn't totally lost.
Life #5. Write novels. I nearly made this choice, as I spent a lot of time writing when my son was a baby and I didn't work. I thought at the time it would be more fun to just continue that. But computers are fun, too, and I was tempted away to be a programmer again.
Life #6. Play the clarinet for the New York Philharmonic.
Lifes #7 Be a back-up singer for the Rolling Stones.
Life #8. Still working on this one.
How about you? Leave a comment about your 9 lives.
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