Waffle Glyph and Hot Goth Baddies

Having fun on a little trip and stopped at the Parowan Gap petroglyphs. We saw the Waffle Glyph and a rather amusing Goth-related glyph in the nearby outdoor convenience.

Post 364

This is Post No. 364 for the year. I've got one more scheduled, which would make this a post-a-day year if I don't do any more. I haven't had as good a blogging year since 2011 and its 466 posts.

Why is this important?

This blog and Facebook are pretty much my personal journal, which in a way isn't smart unless I figure out a way to back it all up. I like the interactivity of it all.

Still, not the best plan for permanence. Gotta get on that.

This is Winter?

 

It's certainly been an odd winter for weather.

We got quite a bit of rain yesterday. It should have come as snow, but it didn't. This is spring weather, not winter.

The low on Sunday is supposed to be 6 above on Sunday. That's more like it.

"Lights, Please?"

 

It's easy to say of messages like this that "You'd struggle to get it made today."

And it's true. But it was a struggle back in 1965 when the special was being made. But Schultz insisted on keeping the Bible reading as the show's center.

And it's lasted all these years.

Progress on the *Other* Abandoned Project

Astute readers of this blog know in conjunction with the bathroom remodel, I started a modest project to set up a wired home network, mostly in the basement.

As with the bathroom, it got abandoned. But today after I had to stop laying tile because it wasn't going to stick to the wall if I piled any more on top, I got back to that project and actually got the last of the cat6 wire strung through the ceiling.

The one neat hole in the ceiling is for a can light I've got to replace the mess of a light that's on the wall. I don't know why they made that choice to begin with, except for maybe the can lights of the 1980s were pretty massive. The one I'm putting in is an LED and is pretty compact.

I did make a bit of a mess:

I'm not a complete noob, though. After I got the wire strung, I got out the vacuum and really cleaned things up, including the study which was turning into a dust bunny haven.

Basement Bathroom: More Progress Made

Tile is going up, but going up slowly.

Today's progress:

At first, I wasn't all that convinced the floor tile really matched the wall tile. But it's starting to grow on me.

That bit around the sink drain and valves took some doing, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

I've got a row of glass tiles that'll go on top of the tile you can see behind the sink, and then a finishing tile to bring us up to where the drywall will be textured and painted.

Where are Those Thine Accusers?

No joke: This is the video my government doesn't want me to see.

I'm not posting this on Facebook, because about the only people on Facebook who react to politics are in the FOR camp, and honestly, I don't want to know who supports this.

What's this, you might ask?

Deporting people, some of whom are here illegally, some of whom are coming into the country the "right way" - a popular phrase among those who are FOR this until it's shown people were coming in the right way and still got deported but it's okay because the Trump administration did it, so they're blessed and perfect and can do no wrong.

And not just deported -- but sent to a nefarious prison in a country they're not even from, on dubious evidence that they're "gang" members, so they can be tortured and sexually abused but since they got caught and they "might" be bad guys, even though Immigation Customs and Enforcement's own records show only 3% of these guys are really bad, they deserve everything they get.

Here's the secret: No one deserves this. No one. Not one person.

This is fundamental to me.

I'm not without sin. For that, and for many other reasons, I choose not to judge. If that makes me naive, I guess I'm naive.

But these days, if Jesus asked "Those among you who are without sin, let him first cast a stone at her," damn right they'd be casting stones.

Back to the Basement Bathroom

Finally got the gumption to start tiling the walls in the basement bathroom. I didn't make a lot of progress, but I did get that first row done and the top of it is level so it'll be smoother going tomorrow, I hope.

Not much to see. Small bathroom and a lot of mess.

And I did make a cardboard tile, life-size, I could use for measuring and such. These tiles are heavy.

I've got the tile cut (mostly) for the next row. Hoping to see more progress tomorrow.

Do Not Look Directly at the Outfit

Curtailment is here, as evidenced by my outfit today.

I did, in fact, go out in public with this, to two stores, and returned with some silicone spray and a garage door remote and four bottles of Diet Pepsi. No, my wife was not with me. She'd have sent me to the showers beforehand. My excuse? I'm working on the basement bathroom tile. Finally.

Student Note, Teary-Eyed Instructor

I read this note today as part of a student's final essay submission in my BYUI English class.

In case you can't read it:

I would like to start off by saying how awesome a teacher you are. I looked forward to seeing your comments on every essay I wrote for this class. Before I started writing this, I looked at the grades page to see how good a grade I'd need to get ot pass, and saw that you wrote a message basically asking if I'm ok, and that was such a nice thing to say. I've had a pretty bad month and lost almost all motivation to do almost anything, and seeing that really helped me have the motivation to do this. I'm sorry I didn't do the annotated bibliography. I did some, but never finished it. If it is a necessary prerequisite for this, I will finish it. I swear this is not trying to butter you up or anything like that I'm just thankful that you are who you are. Also, it's so cool that you enjoy fantasy books too. I would have messaged back on that comment you sent me, but I honestly don't know how. I never really had a great experience with online teacher, with most of them just seeming like grading machines, but I love that you still put effort into getting to know your students, even though it's online. If this is inappropriate or stupid, please ignore it, but I just wanted to say thank you.

Blew me away.

This is a student who struggled, obviously. I reached out to him just to see what was going on, and never heard back. I guess I shouldn't assume these digital natives are all that digital or all that native. But I'm glad I did reach out, even if he didn't know how to reach back.

News: He did pass the class, and not out of pity. He wrote a good final paper.

In the future: I will continue reaching out, especially to students who are struggling. I should probably pick up the phone and get past my own hang-ups and just see what I can do to help, much earlier on than I did in this instance. Lesson learned: He could probably have done better if I'd reached out sooner. Note for me on that.

Also a note to students: Teachers may be struggling too. I really wanted to take this semester off, as I have wanted to take the last few off. I'm really feeling the burnout. But we needed the money, so I bit the bullet and took the class on. Now, at the end of it, I'm glad I did.