Our Worm Tree

I know that's not what it's called.  But that's what the "buds" look like - hanging from the tree

 When the wind blows them to the ground, they look like dead worms left on the ground after a rain.

Trees have their advantages.   But there are also disadvantages that come with having trees.

Nice to know you Value my Opinion

          Eight months after I started this blog, I created this post. Roland actually works for an online school and had taken advantage of furthering his education at a deal.  He would spend HOURS on the computer - and that was BEFORE he started working at home.  That was a LOT of time.

          Sometimes he would be frustrated - perhaps for different reasons than I had imagined.  I like having someone hold my hand and walk me through a task - rather than just hand me the instructions. And don't explain things to me on a college level.  I want you to dummy it down like I'm five (I would have gone for a higher number, but Jenna seems to absorb things better than I and has always learned things at an earlier age than I)

          Some people have asked why I have gone into accounting as I really don't have a love for it.  Because it's something that I need to know just so that I may balance my own finances - not that all my classes could  applied on a personal level.  Take this last class for example (it's official last day is tomorrow - but I have  officially finished this course as of yesterday.  I have absolutely hated this class the most - though I wasn't overly fond of the one before it.

         I had briefly mentioned in this post the requirements - though I didn't go into detail.  A student has the opportunity of signing in each day to do a daily checkpoint.  The requirement is to do just three or four checkpoints a week.  There is no penalty for incorrect answers, however a correct answer accounts for additional points toward the final grade.

          For at least three weeks (occasionally all four) the student is given a topic to discuss with the class.  We are required to research and reference the topic and it has to be in APA form.  It seems to me that most instructors are a lot more concerned with the APA style than with the content itself.  That seems pretty lame to me.

          Research can actually suck up a lot of time.  The instructor wants your opinion, but you also have to back your opinion up with reference.  Yada-yada-yada . . . . blah, blah, blah . . .

          In addition to the student's initial post, we also have to comment on two other posts from either our classmates or the instructor.  We're supposed to create an actual discussion among ourselves.  Our initial post (thus far) has to be at least 150 words PLUS references.  Our response to our classmates had to be at least 50. 

          All of my female instructors have responded to each student.  I have had two male instructors that have created posts but have not responded.  I actually enjoy the interaction with my instructors.  I like the personal comments that each has left with each individual student.

          In addition to the daily checkpoints and discussions are the assignments and assessments - which actually work out differently for each specific class.  Sometimes the assignment and assessment end up being similar, but for me personally, the assignment has usually been a word document or PowerPoint or excel and most of my assessments have been quizzes.  I like working excel as I don't have to use the APA style or count my words.  Poor Roland has had some assignments that have been bears.  4,000 plus words.  That's his own fault for selecting "business" as his major.  Did I mention that I really really don't care for business and that Roland and I are opposite in our way of thinking.

          Often, if there is a concept that I don't understand (which lately, have been many) I will send the text over to Roland and ask him to explain it to me in the same way he would explain to Thomas - who is in my primary class.  That seems to help me to understand it.  But it still doesn't make the topic any better enough to love it.  

          A lecture is given sometime before midnight Wednesday (that is when the initial discussion post is due) The lecture includes introductions (at least some of them have) reviews (all except for the last two from the same instructor) expectations for the discussion, what to expect on the assessment and how to do the assignment.

          I had a few instructors who would spend so much time on the review that they hadn't allowed for much time for the current week. I couldn't understand why all the rehashing - until I experienced my first rough spot with the course material, and then I finally understood.

          There have been some assessments I've taken that I have really not done well with - but thanks to those daily check points, I was able to remain on top.  So the school does give the student several opportunities in which to pass the course.  All of the exams are open book.

          On the forth week, before a student can enter the portal, he or she MUST fill out a survey in order to proceed.  This is to rate the course and instructor on a scale from one to 10.  Strongly agree, agree, disagree or strongly disagree. 

Until the last two courses, I had never gone below a six.  But I must say that  I found both course and instructor very had to follow, and so my ratings overall were not the best.

Overall, I am satisfied with this course.    No.  No, I am not.  I think I gave it a 2.

Course media (PowerPoint, videos, websites, resources) are engaging and useful.  I think my last two courses were the first that did not offer videos.  That's how I learn.  And PowerPoint's?  Come on, man!  The school gave us definite restrictions on the correct way to do a power point, but do not follow  their own guidelines.  The power points are BORING!  I gave both classes a 1.

The work required for the course is reasonable.   I don't know.  I guess it was.  That is if you actually understood it.       4

Course objectives are clearly stated.  Clear as WV water    6

Course content covers all course objectives.   Possibly.  Perhaps I could better answer if I could understand the language.      5

Overall, I am satisfied with my instructor for this course.  It's not his fault he doesn't resonate with me.  No one instructor is going to be liked by every student  4 - do you have any idea how hard that was for me to give someone a 4?

The instructor is knowledgeable about the course subject.  He sounds as though he is.  Maybe?  8  
       

The instructor motivates me to excel in this course.     uh?  no, not really  3 - I don't think it was his method of teaching so much as my lack of response.

I would like to take another course taught by this instructor.   NO!  No, please.  PLEASE, Please . . . no.  I'd prefer somebody who can communicate with me.  No.   1  A fat lot of good that did!  I wasn't even done with 213 when I got assigned 214 by the SAME instructor.  Are you insane????

The instructor is organized and prepared.     I think so.  I gave him a 9, possibly a 10

Instructor teaches concepts in a way that is easy to understand.   No.   I recently had told my instructor that I feel like Tom Hank's character, Josh, in "Big" when he is at a conference meeting with the board.  As John Heard's character, Paul, is trying to explain a new toy item, Josh continues raising his hand saying, "I don't get it."    I have also compared him to the adult you hear in the peanut cartoons "Wha - wha - wha- wha"  No.  Again it might not be his delivery method but maybe just the material itself (though his delivery annoyed me for the most part - except when there weren't any students present for his live lecture)

instructor holds my interest   I may have given him a 2

the instructor connects the course material to my future career.                     uh? I'm not doing anything with stocks and bonds.  That's for sure!

      I have managed to turn in my assignments and assessments by Thursday for the most part.  I think I turned only three in on a Friday for ALL of the classes that I took - until these last two.  I didn't actually get in last week's assignment until Monday of this week - so of course I was docked points for tardiness.  But it looks like I might still be able to retain my average thanks to the daily checkpoints and extra fifteen for Career Integration which is another rating for class and instructor.  Three questions. Answers have to be at least 50 words long.  I think my shortest was 63.

      I would love to take another class from my QuickBooks instructor that I had last mod.  I wonder if he teaches the more complicated accounting classes.

     My next class (I will only have one again) is economics.  I hope I will like and understand it and the instructor better than my last two classes. I don't believe I would be taking these classes at all if we still lived in Utah. Only 138 and a half more credits to go.

 

           

I Don't Understand How Frontier Continues

            According to this article, Daniel B. Kline says Frontier Communications' shares have been going in the wrong direction for a while - there's a shocker.  Quite ironic that they'd be invested in selling communication and employing so many who have absolutely NO CLUE at HOW to communicate. 

            Shortly after we had moved to Tri-City, I announced that we would have to go without cable for a while.  Our bill from Spectrum was outrageous.  We need the Internet.  We do not NEED cable, but when the weather interfered with the six stations we were able to get, Roland decided to take action and call around.

             His conversation with Frontier implied that we would need internet as it is our source of income and was also needed for school.  Cable was a bonus as the "deal" made cost the same amount that we'd be paying Spectrum for Internet alone.  "Let's try it to make sure."

             In less than 12 hours we knew that we could not work with Frontier.  It was worse than being on AOL dial up (for those who may remember). 

It wasn't feasible for us to keep the service and called to cancel and return the modem.  I had even tried two locations here - one in Tri City and one in Myrtle Creek - turns out the one in Myrtle Creek is a warehouse which has no unlocked door.  The one in Tri City was just built - or so I thought.  Perhaps they haven't hired anybody to work there?  I rarely ever see cars in their parking lot.

            We received a bill for over 200 - and Roland called again - and again.  I had even posted about it back in February - how kind he was, and how impressed I was with his manner.  Still the invoices continued, only for lower amounts - and finally a notice from collections.  Roland was mad.  He wasn't yelling and screaming, but he wasn't as polite as he ahead been in the first 3-5 calls.

            He informed them once again that yes, we indeed still had the modem.  No one had bothered to send us a label - which was asked for each time.  FINALLY, something arrived from Frontier which was not a bill.  It was 13 1/2 X32x2  I kid you not.  What in the world?  Inside were three padded manila folders, a box that would fold out to 12X12X19, and a cardboard sectional divider - oh, and a return label.  Imagine all the money they could have saved if they would have just sent the label by itself. I took out the label, tacked it to the original box which the monitor had come in, and sent it off.

            The new manager of package delivery asked if I would like a receipt.  I said I did as I would need proof when Frontier comes back to me in the future (that's just the way they are) He doesn't understand how they are able to continue with business either, though this chart indicates that Frontier may be filing for bankruptcy soon (if they haven't already)

            I think I would seriously rather go back to AOL dial up than have to put up with Frontier anymore.  Perhaps they should be taking some of the classes that I've had to take (or currently taking)  Their communication sucks! but not as good as a vacuum cleaner.  

Lost In a Cloud

            As with everything, there are always pros and cons to having a cell phone, internet service, cloud storage, etc.  I must be old fashioned in my way of thinking.  I would like my phone to act as a phone and my watch to tell time . . . although the watch has nearly become a thing of the past for me as I refer to my cell phone for the time and since I don't wear my cell phone around my wrist, it hasn't bothered me the way a watch often does.  It's a nice feature - though not necessary.  It is convenient.

             My first cell phone was through Voice Stream.  My mom and I had both purchased a phone plan that came with this Nokita - a phone my mom refused to give up until after she got dementia.

            I had mine for over ten years and may have had it longer but it seemed to have vanished during a day trip that I had taken with Roland and the boys.  The weird thing is, I don't remember having even left the car - so I don't know how my phone would have.  But whatever.  I had to get a replacement.

            I liked the size of my new phone and had asked mom if she would like a new phone also. She didn't wish to give it up because it had good reception. She didn't trust that the new technology would offer a very long. I think she was onto something.   Seems like many electronics that are offered today are meant to break down.  They become relics in less than two years anyway - so what's the point of making them to last? I like Adrian Covert's description here.

             When Roland upgraded his phone, he decided he would need the internet and thus got a touch screen phone.  That's all well and good for him, but I cannot use touch screens for the life of me.  Either it will not recognize that I am touching the screen or it will be hyper-sensitive and disappear altogether.  The touch screen for me, personally, is way more frustrating than it is worth.  Besides, if I am going to write something, I would rather have an actual raised keyboard and not a postage stamp-sized keyboard that is even more challenging to my actually small fingers that have somehow grown to the size of the entire keyboard. Not to mention having to read in such a limited space.  Give me a full blown monitor, please.

            Roland's last phone came with the option of a built in speaker to use rather than typing it out.  It didn't punctuate - not for me anyway.  Plus it is frustrating to have your words misspelled or butchered at "Google" thought you were saying something else.  And so I'd have to proof-read and make corrections - which actually seemed to amount to more work than if I had just typed it all in myself.

            Phones do not think - or do they?

            I hadn't charged my camera for quite some time, but Roland has a camera built into his phone.  The quality of picture is actually pretty good. I took only four pictures at Jaime's birthday party before the battery gave out.  We used Roland's phone to get more.  I was devastated when we took his phone home to charge it and it wouldn't charge.  It has been persnickety about its connecting devise.

            Roland took it to the big city of Roseburg to see if it just needed a new battery - or what the deal was.  It was beyond repair.  Oh, no!  The pictures!  I hadn't even looked at them.

            Roland not only purchased a new phone, but is now on a different plan.  Now I am impressed by the technology of the cloud.  Restored all the pictures not only to his phone, but I had him photo/Google the internet on his work computer - and there they were.  Wow.

             I was able to pull up some pictures from my computer of ones we had taken in 2012 - which were also from his phone.  I don't know why.  I could obtain pics through his phone on my computer until Dec 2015.  Everything more current had to be obtained through his computer.  Not sure how that works.

             And, okay, I get that the GPS thingamabob (gadget) that is located in the phone would know where we were when each picture was taken, but what impressed me was how it labeled the photos.  They were sorted into places and things.  So the folders were labeled "Christmas", "Sky", "Rainbow", "Cars" - how did it know that?  Okay, the folder labeled "cars" was more of houses though I suppose there were cars in the photos - but it certainly wasn't the main focus.  Actually, I don't know what was.  Roland said I had wanted the clouds.  How pathetic.  I have been told that I am "trigger happy" when I am taking pictures with the touch screen.

            So here are some pics that we discovered in the cloud:

Her pose reminds me of her brother, Randy 

How Cool Is That?

          Jenna LOVES it when we sign up to feed the missionaries.  Just a few days after we fed the missionaries, Eva called to ask when we could sign up again.  If it were up to Jenna, we’d be feeding them on a daily basis, I think.  But I really wasn’t ready to make a commitment for the optional dates which Eva had given. 

          She had really been pushing for this past Friday, but Beth had already contacted me to see if Roland and I could meet her and Graham for lunch as they were passing through from Ashland on their way back to McMinnville.  At that time I didn’t really know how late we’d be eating and so said I would just talk to her on Sunday.  Only we didn’t have church on Sunday as it was General Conference.  I think she called five times in less than 24 hours.  One was to fill in for a cancellation the Elders had made for yesterday. 

         I told her that we would be at the Pizza Palace between two and four as we’d be having a birthday party for Jenna and had actually planned on mentioning it to the Elders anyway.  Jenna was ecstatic when I told her that the missionaries would be coming to her party.  I think she had invited over 20 peers – some friends, some just acquaintances.  We ended up with 14 people total - six were adults. 

          Annette had spent the night so that she would be sure she made it to the party.  I really don't enjoy when Jenna has sleepovers as she doesn’t sleep and therefore I don’t sleep either.  And then I am grouchy.  Jenna, on the other hand, is always happy.  She says that’s what she is known for by many people – and they admire it.

          Savannah's mom went wild with the birthday gift – or giftS rather.  In case Jenna didn’t already have a stuffed animal collection going, the gift bag came with a collection starter – five animals I think – not counting the other three or four that Savannah had won for her after they had finished eating.

          The first at the top of the bag was an angry faced emoji pillow with a note explaining that “The happiest girl needs to know what ‘mad’ looks like."

          Jenna enjoyed the company of her friends and shared her wealth.  When she presented the Elders with coins, they declined and said not only was it against the rules to play the electronic games, but  they couldn’t in good conscience accept the money either.  That went for the huge stack of coins that Savannah’s mom had placed in front of them – possibly passing out more coins for the entire teenage crew than Richard had.

          Roland played chauffer to several of Jenna’s friends.  Kylee spent a few hours with Jenna before we took her home.  She would like to do a sleepover.  I don’t want to deprive her.  Perhaps if I have enough notice, I can take a nap before she comes.

          Jenna did not get her rainbow on her birthday, but did get one on the day of her birthday party.  For after we returned from taking Kylee home, we found a rainbow at the end of our street.  Battery in my camera decided to quit at her party and Roland’s phone needed to be charged.  So Jenna took my cell phone to take pictures.  When we were viewing them on the monitor, I realized that it had been a double rainbow as there was a faint mirrored image in several of the pictures.

Damaged By Hard Water

        Roland was flipping through the stations one Saturday morning when all that was available was infomercials and landed on one for Nevo (here).  The informative non-actors told about a water filter for getting rid of hard minerals and replacing the antique water softener that ended up corroding your pipes more than did the minerals.  It was interesting to hear the details as it made perfect sense.  If we were living in West Valley still, I would definitely invest but the water seems to be more purified in Oregon.

        Our fridge has a water source and filter and had to be changed every 2-3 months at the West Valley house.  Although we had used our fridge at first house we lived in upon arriving in Oregon, we had never hooked up water dispenser. I have also noticed - even without Wen (which my hair has not seen for over a year now) that my hair is softer than it ever was in Salt Lake.  My scalp is also not as itchy.

        Another plus in Oregon vs. Utah.

The Things We Learn

          In these two posts (here and here) I mentioned how much Jenna loves learning about her family members. Until we had played Chatter Matters, she hadn't known that Roland used to play the trombone - or anything about his childhood really.  Usually it's just her and I, but she did manage to rope Roland into playing with us between conference.  After she won the game, we continued to go through the "family room" and "my room" cards so that Jenna could know Roland a little better. It reminded me of when my sibs and I would force the Ungame questions upon my dad.

          My parents actually did three listed on the card - hiking was more of a seasonal activity  or annual thing - and it was usually a part of either a daytip or full vacation so the specific places we hiked were Yellowstone National Park or Timpanogos Cave in American Fork, Utah.

           I don't know that shopping was ever restricted to just the weekend.  Movies also occurred on days other than the weekend.  I chose number one for myself as they took us to church which falls on the weekend.  By process of elimination, Jenna and I guessed that Roland's family would go shopping choosing from just those four.  Church was definitely out and they didn't seem like they'd be much for hiking. His parents (well his dad in particular) liked to have drinking parties - but that wasn't on the card.

          I remember going to the drive-in theatres when I was younger.  Mom and Dad had taken Patrick and I to one drive-in theatre called the Woodland.  The walls that surrounded the theatre were decorated in colored bubbles - like on a loaf of Wonder bread - but with more colors. 

There was a playground area for children to play before the movie started or even during intermission (because there was usually a double feature or sometimes movies that actually had an intermission; but we may have been asleep by then. 

          I also remember going to different movie theatres with my family both as a child and an adult;  Roland says the one and only time he'd ever gone to the movies with his parents is when he was an adult and had paid for all three of them to see "Kelly's Heroes"

 

Not all multiple choice, but once again Jenna and I had both predicted that Roland would answer "Watching TV".  I don't remember actually ever sitting down to watch TV as a family - unless it was something like "The Wonderful World of Disney" 


Mostly we played games or talked.  I don't know any families who read together.  Unless it's the scriptures - which I don't imagine would amount for "more" time spent.

          I don't know that Roland's family watched TV together either.  It was long before cable, and the TV offered only three stations.  There were no remotes and so the kids had to act as the remote and turn the station to whatever dad wanted to watch. 

       We learned that his father had only a fourth grade education and would often get drunk and come home and line up his children and say, "Your mother and I don't owe you a living".  I think my mom's dad may have been that way.  She said she was scared of him and when he would get drunk he would smack her mom around.  She was determined to give her children a  family environment different from the one in which she had been raised. 

         Roland's family didn't believe in families like mine - nor did I have any clue that families like his existed.  As I grew up, I realized that my family was not the norm. when we had all worked for Snelgrove's, for example, (each of us having worked there except for my dad) we would take the change out of our pockets and Kayla's would remain on the kitchen table for a few days.  None of the rest of us would take it as we knew it did not belong to us.  The money would have been gone in a heartbeat with many other families. The older I get, the more unrealistic my family seems.  That's too bad. 

          I don't know about Roland's side, and I don't believe he knows either.  But he counts Uncle Ted as family, and so with this question we all answer Uncle Ted - who celebrated his 100th birthday in February (I don't know why I didn't post about it to my blog; I did to facebook)

          My parents met at a Church dance.  I was surprised to learn that Roland's parents had met at a dance also.  He said his dad had been going with another girl at the time but had told his mom that someday he was going to marry her.  I think she just laughed it off - probably rolled her eyes as I did when Roland proposed to me.

          It had surprised us all when Roland said his favorite movie was/is "Oh, God, you Devil"  He received it for Christmas one year because he had said it was his favorite.  I have only seen him watch it one time.

          It's great how some memories will trigger others.  I think these questions are great conversation starters and I am happy that Jenna prefers this interaction over spending time on electronic devices.