Time for Twitter

Our new dean, Dr. Joseph Williams, not unexpectedly, appointed me to the new SBE Social Media workgroup.  A few staff and faculty, along with Joseph, had our first meetings this month.  Being from Microsoft, he has some ambitious ideas about branding and the online promotion of our programs.  As the technology manager, I'm likely to get a bulk of the related task assignments.  We shall see.

For starters, I prepared an initial survey to discover the state of social media use in SBE, such as it is.  Related to this area, I have not only set up a Twitter account, but have begun to send out a few tweets.  As the local Excel guru, I figured the least I could do was tweet some helpful spreadsheet tips and tricks.  My Twitter handle is Dr_SL8. 

Looking Ahead to Teaching in 2014-2015

As excited as I was to get a chance to teach business statistics one more time, it may in fact be my last time.  I had to admit, in a meeting with our Associate Deans, that my effort to incorporate Excel into Statistics, while effective, was not sufficient for our students.  I just couldn't cover enough Excel in the time available, without cutting into the time needed for the main topic, business statistics.  In light of this, I agreed that the statistics course should go back to the Math department, and that I would concentrate on BUS 1700 Spreadsheets next year.  It was an easy thing for me to agree to.  I'm delighted to have only Monday and Wednesday teaching days after December.  Teaching Stats on top of my full-time job is too much.  I knew this six years ago.

This coming quarter, I offered to teach a third section of BUS 1700.  This is a "freshman" course, but it always fills up with sophomores and juniors before the freshmen are allowed to register.  I had 24 on the waitlist by the end of Registration Week.  It's nice to be needed.

Thanksgiving 2013

It wasn't the big holiday meal that expanded my waistline, but the cookie baking (and consumption of mass quantities thereof) on Friday.  The kids had gone with Susan to harvest Christmas trees in the snow, and I wanted to have my Tollhouse cookies ready for them upon their return.

As for Thanksgiving, my only contribution beyond the photography was buying the 20 lb. turkey and making the mashed potatoes.  Nancy did a fine job with the bird, with the slow cooking method that has now become our tradition.

Susan worked at the hospital from 7:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Thanksgiving day. She brought one girl and one boy into the world.  So Annie, Nancy, Jean, and Ginger did the cooking and preparation.  Ginger taught Jean how to make gravy.

Randy joined us again this year, as did Thomas and Annie's college friends Tavis and Salomé.

Randy showed off his awards from the Museum of History and Industry.  He had been instrumental in preparing the 100 years of Civil Engineering history display titled Civil Engineers that Built Seattle.  That show runs from November 23rd to January 20th.  Randy also reminded me about his upcoming hernia surgery that will follow a colonoscopy. 

Apparently, I fell asleep on the sofa and was out for a few hours after dinner. 

The stress, fatigue, and long hours at holiday time plays havoc with Nancy's emotions. But it's clear which one of our children inherited her drive and industry.  Annie continues to be the diligent and productive leader among the next generation.

We served the big meal buffet style.  In retrospect, it seemed to me to sacrifice tradition to efficiency.

On Friday, all three kids went off with Susan to get tree-cutting permits in North Bend and then to find Christmas trees. Annie's new cell phone probably takes large images, but when they get sent to my phone they are small.  They got home at dusk and our lanky tree (the left one) is now in a bucket of water in the yard.  Click to see the tree in our yard.

The rest of this weekend has me finishing this journal entry, paying bills, and writing my statistics final exam.

 November was an uneventful month compared to many.

A Very Nice House

Mid-month after church, Nancy, Nathanael, and I took an unauthorized tour of the new house on the block, before the doors went on.  While it is not as large as ours, it will be elegant and has many bedrooms and bathrooms.  The back yard will be small, but it will be a great family home.  It is well thought out and the garage has room for a shop or a third car if one is OK with parking one car behind another.

Having built our own home, it was fun examining the features and methods used in this house.  Hot and cold water pipes are color coded red and blue.  A new huge style of "hurricane strap" holds the house to the foundation. The master tub is right in front over the garage!

Next month we may get to see what color has been chosen for the exterior of our new neighbor.

Bits and Pieces

♦  I enjoyed listening to the surprising and exciting 24-17 win by the WSU Cougars over Arizona in Tucson on Saturday the 16th.  Of course, the UW beat Arizona 31-13.  It set up an exciting Apple Cup with both teams bowl eligible.

The Apple Cup trophy returned to Montlake from Pullman with a 27-17 Husky victory on the 29th at the new Husky stadium.  Had we played at WSU, I believe the outcome would have been different.  Nancy rooted for WSU since Susan was off with our kids in the Cascades  cutting down Christmas trees.  I rooted for my Huskies as usual and greatly enjoyed the win, but every year, this game reminds me, as always, of the Cougar that got away. 

♦  The end-of-season BCS Cross Country banquet went off smoothly on the 14th.  This year, I processed the video that Nancy had taken.  I use Microsoft Movie Maker and it was a sufficiently professional production.  Nathanael and I were both formally thanked at the dinner.  Later in the month, Nathanael began helping with the BCS wrestling team.

♦  My promotion to faculty status did not come up for a vote at Faculty Senate in November.  Perhaps it will in December.

♦  What were the crow's last words?  "Car! Car! Ca..."  (I seem to make up jokes every day.  Sometimes they even make me laugh.) 

♦  The Saturday men's Bible study will be at Hosea 5 as we enter December.

♦  On the last day of the month, Grandma Ginger had yet another fainting event.  No doubt dehydration was again a leading cause.  Thomas kept her from falling.  But, alas, it was another 911 call and ride to the Evergreen Hospital emergency room.  She was back home by the early afternoon