Parenting and dog walking

Yesterday I visited our local Wal-Mart with my main man Dave. He was on a mission for extra large ziplock bags sufficient to hold a human body in fetal position. While wondering through the store I caught a brief bit of a conversation between an older woman (I assume Mom) and a boy (I assume son). I clearly heard the woman tell the boy to "get his head out of his ass." I did a double take and filed it away for future amusement. I discussed it with Dave and we agreed that was not an appropriate way to speak to ones (or anyones) children. I am considering becoming a writer full time and spending my days wandering Wal-Mart in search of stories.

While walking the dogs tonight, I stopped to pick up the "logs" left by Ollie. As I was bent over Ollie began pawing the ground to indicate his mightiness and fierceness. The lawn had recently been mowed so Ollie was throwing great chunks of grass into the air. This grass was flying into my face and onto his back. I asked him to stop but he would not. It was great fun.

Texting

I was recently forced into purchasing text message privileges from my cell phone carrier by my daughter. The plan was inadequate to meet her texting needs so I upgraded to a higher level yesterday. I am confused by the need that young people seem to have for sending these short messages back and forth. What are the long term implications of this? How does one change when they are able to instantly share their feelings without the benefit of reflection? I put the question to my students and they (along with my daughter) insisted it was important. The recent overage my daughter experienced was a result of a "crises" one of her friends was experiencing in a relationship. A phone call wouldn't work because her friend was at work. Never mind that his attention was diverted at least as much by texting as it would have been by a phone call. It seems that texting can be hidden. I suspect many students spend time texting in class.

I am on the far side of a generational divide at last. I sort of understand cell phone madness. But I honestly do not understand texting. I also find myself watching the evening news. I fear the divide will only grow. I can live with that.

Windows Baby!

It’s all about windows baby! I don’t mean MS Windows. I mean actual windows. The panes of glass we peer through while lurking in our homes. The manufacturers have very impressive and scientific numbers, acronyms, and statistics indicating their product is superior. I was ready to go with a vinyl window until I was told that within a few years my vinyl windows would be grotesque twisted caricatures of what a window should be. I must have a special fiberglass like (better than fiberglass) material. Only in this manner will my windows retain their true windowness.

I am conflicted about installation. A helpful fellow at a home improvement megastore told me that installation is easy. I am troubled by visions of myself trying to force a square peg into a round hole while becoming progressively angrier at the universes conspiracy to thwart my happiness. In the end a thousand dollars may be a small price to pay to let someone else handle the details. But where’s the adventure in that? It’s all about the windows baby!

New topic -Check out this article about mental accounting.

Time

What is the most precious thing that we have? Time. We spend, burn, kill, and waste it. We mark its passage with variety and precision. We celebrate moments we believe are significant and barely notice most of it. When I was in my early schooling my report card had a section where my use of time was judged. I believe it was something like "uses time wisely." As I reflect on this I assume that wise use of time would have been working diligently in class, paying attention to the teacher, being prepared for class, and all the things that we have decided are important to being a good student. I propose a rating system for use of time as an adult. Each activity will be evaluated on a scale of 1-10 based on my current values.

Reading a book (10)

Reading the newspaper (8)

Watching Television (program dependent) reruns are worth 50%
- anything on NPR (8)
- The Simpsons (10)
- HBO Series (8)
- Episodic network shows (lost, heroes, etc.) (6)
- News (7)
- Sitcoms (5)

Films
- Foreign films (9)
- Popular films (7)
- Classic films (status as classic defined by me) (9)

Physical activity
- Walking (10)
- Running (10)
- Biking (10)
- Anything that requires movement and motion (10)

Eating
- While watching television (1)
- Food made by someone I don't know personally (2)
- Food made by myself or someone I know personally (8)

Housecleaning (5) (it's just going to get dirty again)

Fixing things that are broken (8)

Home improvement activities (7)

Talking to family members (10)

Mental puzzles (crossword, sudoku) (10)

Financial planning and management (10)

Driving (5)

Quiet meditation (10)

Shopping (5)

Music (playing or listening) (10)

Sleeping (8)

Working (at home or at work) (7)

Leaning something new (10)

Aimlessly surfing the Internet (8)

Comments?

Random thoughts during a final exam

Thoughts stimulated by a discussion about smart kids. Question - does facility with numbers, that is math skills mean that an individual will be successful in other areas of study? Those who are good with numbers would likely say yes. Others who are less skilled in mathematics would likely say no. Both sides would certainly have anecdotal evidence. Is there research? A quick search via Google scholar revealed little. There were some interesting articles concerning predicting success with high school GPA and ACT/SAT testing.
Perhaps a better question is, what does it mean to be successful? A lot of money, a big house, an attractive spouse, a good career, happiness, contentment, service to humanity, fame, are these measures of success? Will I be judged successful if my funeral is standing room only? Should I even be asking the question? Perhaps worrying about success is a sure indicator of failure.
If I strip it to essentials, what does my idea of a successful life look like. Better yet, who can I use as a pattern for a successful life?