This Past Week

Random thoughts from the week that was:

- Took the car for an inspection Monday and got more than I bargained for:
I have been lazy in getting the inspection done on my car this year. It expired on Jan 31st. I know, I know. I have no legit excuse for waiting over a month to get it done.

When I took it to the dealer to get the inspection done (and possibly some other work on the car), it turns out I had a problem with my exhaust system. Upon reading the work order when I picked up the car, I had a cracked catalytic converter and needed to get gaskets and other parts replaced in the exhaust system. Fortunately, my vehicle was still under warranty so I wasn't responsible for the $1,200+ cost of the parts.

Next time the check engine light comes on, I will be sure to pay more attention to it and take it more seriously.

- Ego boost from both of my classes:
I had a student from each of my classes (day and evening) come up to me after class this week and tell me they appreciate my effort in class. They told me I've made the material easy for them to understand. They also told me that my passion for stats shows and that makes it a little easier to learn because I care that the class learns. I'm not simply going though the motions like other professors.

That was great to hear and gave me a renewed sense of pride. I love what I do in the classroom and it meant a lot to hear not just one student tell me this but to have two students in consecutive days from different classes. I couldn't ask for a better compliment.

=D

- I'm focused now:
Nuff said. This has been a week full of self-motivation and following through with plans. Re-organizing crap around the house and trying to get lots of things in order so that when I do get lazy again, I won't have much to worry about.

- "What I want I can't have, and what I have I don't want":
No elaboration here but this realization has helped me put things in perspective lately.

- I may be working less time in Brooklyn:
It's not what you think. My hours have not been cut. Nor am I getting fired.

I was offered the opportunity to work off-site. My employment status would change from salaried employee to contractor for the two programs I'm working on now. My employer has been working hard to review their accounting records for the last several years (after having their funds mismanaged by the previous Executive Director). I suspect their offer may have been made, in part, to make the accounting easier to reconcile. I also wonder if it would be easier for them to fire me as a contractor as opposed to being a salaried employee. Not that I deserve to be fired since everyone is constantly praising my work. I can say that I single-handedly kept that program alive when they were on life support and when they could barely maintain a skeleton crew to keep meeting our target numbers. Had I not contributed as much to the program (outside of my job requirements) as I have over the past 2 years, they would have lost their funding a long time ago (and I'd be working somewhere else now).

- Three consecutive days of dream recall:
When I woke up on Thursday morning, I was surprised that I was able to vividly recall three full dream 'scenes'. Minutes after taking brief notes on those three dreams, I remembered a fourth dream which had slipped my mind while I was trying to preserve the memory of the other three. On Friday morning, I was able to recall two dreams: one was a clip and the other was a full scene. Today I had another two dreams that I was able to remember and one of them is a recurring dream.

There are slight variations in each but ultimately the core of the dreams involve me trying to cross a public park and not being able to pass because of a huge walrus (I'm talking humongous, folks!) that lives in the lake/pool at the middle of the park. I don't know why he (yes, it's a 'he') is not letting me pass. It feels like he is just enjoying being a dick to me and not like he is protecting what's on the other side.

- Looking ahead to the weekend:
Shooting range plans for Saturday morning were postponed for a week. Continue training for the High Rock Challenge in April by measuring my time for 10k. Hoping I have access to a treadmill for over an hour. We'll see.

On Sunday morning, I've got my first soccer game of the season... VERY EXCITED about this! Though, I suspect I will be hating it Monday morning. =)

Go out and enjoy the sunshine! Be sure to wear a jacket.

Until next time, faithful reader.....