Thoughts While Giving a Final Exam

I had suspended my teaching activities for awhile after I became a Cyborg. Just too many things going on. Had to let loose of a few of them. But this year I decided to try it again and as I am writing this, my students are taking an Auditing Final Exam.

They are working very diligently. (I am goofing off, blogging, dontcha know)

Recently it has been difficult to ride with much regularity. Work has been busy and I have been doing some speaking engagements that has required the use of the automobile to get around. Teaching has also complicated the issue.

But this is the last night for the class, and my speaking engagements are winding down. So hopefully back to riding some more. I missed a beautiful day for riding today. Cool this morning, temperature about 40, but sunny and 75 this afternoon. Damn!

My speaking engagements have been about changes in tax laws (many changes this year, very many). Sounds pretty boring, and it is, but the response from clients and others has been very strong. But, indirectly, the speaking has also been about politics, and there, I have to be a little careful. Clients run the gamut of liberal vs conservative. I try and walk the line and not offend anyone. All are entitled to their opinions, just so long as they don't get nasty with each other. After all, we are all Americans, Right?

In Kansas, we don't get to see all the television ads. The race is pretty well decided and has been for a long time. That's good, I suppose. But I sure wish some of the so-called statesmen at the federal level would get off their dead asses and figure a few things out rather than just bitch and argue with each other.

I was thinking about my generation earlier today. How we are leaving an incredible legacy of debt to our children, something our forefathers didn't do to us. It's embarrassing to me, and the politicians just seem to gloss over it and not do anything constructive about it.

Reminds me of a song by Sting

"You could say I've lost my faith in the politicians
They all seem like Game Show Hosts to me"
.
Ride On and Carpe Diem, my friends
.

Faces of Children at Christmas

OK, so I can be a bit sentimental. And this post is not really about scooters or motorcycles, although I rode to this event and it was the first day I was able to ride for almost two weeks. It turned out to be a great day. First, because I was able to ride. Second, because I was able to get some great pictures of some very wonderful children. I just couldn't resist posting some of these photos. But there were at least some sort of scooters at the facility where these pictures were taken.

The civic club I belong to raised some money to help pay for some Christmas presents for some kids at a local Pre-School. Many of the kids come from homes that you might say are a bit dis-advantaged.

They held a Christmas party on December 17th for the kids and yes, Santa was to be in attendance.

The excitement grew in the room as Santa made his way down the hallway to the room where the presents were to be given out.

And then Santa was finally there and opened up his pack of goodies.

It is the expressions on the kids faces that got to me.

This little girl was very shy, but just look at the grin on her face. Each class was brought in separately to see Santa. They would line up at the side of the room while the class before them was finishing up with Santa. I heard on a couple of occasions that they needed to be very good while standing in line, because Santa was there, and he still had the ability to work on his list of good children. Once they got in the room, they wouild all sit down in front of Santa and wait for their names to be called. This class had a rather loud round of applause for Santa. Am I next? Everybody got a gift. The smiles were very contageous. The gifts varied to each class, but partially consisted of shoes, backpacks, books, hats and mittens. The Santa was very funny. The kids liked him immediately. As soon as everybody got their presents, the unwrapping would commence. This little guy was very happy. A few times they couldn't wait to start unwrapping.

I love the smile on this girl's face. I wonder if the little boy was wondering if he was on the "good" list. He most definately was!

This very cute little girl was keeping a firm hand on her new shoes. She was very proud of them. The employees of the local "Old Chicago" restaurants held a fund raiser to be able to buy the shoes.

And finally, I think this is my favorite photo. It was hard to decide, but I think I liked the little bit different expressions each of them had on their faces as they looked at Santa.

What a Great Day!

Teaching

Here's some pictures of the school where I do a little part time teaching. It's a small private college originally founded by a Quaker organization in the late 1800's.

The campus is dominated by a really old (for Wichita) and beautiful building (Davis Hall) that now is used mainly for administration purposes. There is a really nice auditorium in the buiding that has amazing acoustics and they still have concerts there occasionally even though they built a new fine arts building many years ago.

Last Saturday we had a meeting for some of us adjunct instructors and I made it a goal for the week to ride the scooter to the meeting. I also wanted to take some pictures for the blog because I had written a couple of posts, but not yet taken some of the pictures I wanted to include.

This was my second ride on the scooter since the accident. I also had to visit the scene of the accident again since it was very close to the school. It was a little wierd to cross that intersection again, but there was no boogeymen waiting to make a left turn directly in front of me on that day.

My hip is still very sore, but showing steady although slow improvement each day. I plan on using the scooter for the daily commute to work starting immediately.

You know that the severity of accidents is all relative. My own accident was worse than some, but not as bad as many, and not as bad as it could have been. Many thanks to the people that convinced me that armored gear was a good idea.

But I am getting a little tired of reflecting on the accident. It is time to move on to other topics.

But I guarantee you that the experience has changed me and I will be more cautious on the road. I know it may take much longer for my hip and shoulder to heal up. I am just very thankful that the injuries will heal.

I have discovered that my riding routine will have to change a little bit with the new helmet. The new helmet fits in the top case, but not under the seat like my old one did. Therefore all the stuff that I used to carry in the topcase will now ride under the seat. Virtually everything will now be in a different place and the habits I used to have will have to change a bit, but not really a problem, just different.

Both of my children went to school here. My daughter is almost finished with her degree, just finishing up her student teaching this semester. My son graduated a few years ago and is now a high school teacher.

I am so happy that I don't have to write checks to this school anymore. In fact, now they write some checks to me for the occasional classes that I teach here. Sort of like getting them back!

This college, like a lot of others, has some traditional college age students. But. many students here are older and are going back to college to complete degrees that maybe they never finished up. Some local employers pay tuition to help employees get their degrees and the school very effectively markets for students like that.

I have been teaching accounting classes here for a couple of years. My students are not the traditional college age students and are in what the school calls a "degree completion program". They take one class at a time but can generally finish a bachelor's degree in 2 years in many cases.

The classes I teach are for 3 credit hours, but only last 5 to 8 weeks, so the study is rather intense and most of the students work full time as well.

The school has very good facilities and the business school here has good computers and audio visual equipment for instructors and students to use.

The campus is very nice with lots of gardens and other amenities.

As I walked through the campus that day I was accosted by this squirrel. Unbeknownst to me at the time, the squirrels on this campus have a reputation for not being afraid of people. But there is a sinister side to them as well as I later found out that they are secretly in charge of all surveillance activities on campus. So even though he seemed friendly to me, he was actually making sure I was not some sort of terrorist. Walking across campus in armored gear may have set off a silent alarm.

This is the building where my classes are held.

They don't pay their adjunct instructors a lot of money, but there are some other benefits. One benefit for me is that I can use some of my teaching time and count it toward the continuing education requirements that I have for my CPA designation. It saves me at least a few hundred dollars a year.

But the real reason I do it is that it is enjoyable for me and helps to keep me current in my profession and keeps me on my toes.

Then there are those moments when you see a student grasp a concept. Sort of like the proverbial light coming on when they understand something. Dan Bateman at Musings of an Intrepid Commuter has spoken very eloquently of these moments in his motorcycle safety classes. It can be a really rewarding and feel good moment. Sort of like making a difference in someone's life or abilities.

You really get many chances to connect with students. Some of those moments are priceless.

Then again, maybe I am just trying to get some of my money back!

Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone with SprintSpeed