Bad Steve

I really meant to post every day this month.  I'm only 14 days short of that happening.

My classes have their final tomorrow.  I spent several days writing and re-writing 4 versions of the test.  Getting them printed and collated was yesterday's task.  Assuming the test goes smoothly at this time tomorrow I will be grading.

Good Steve
I spent four hours today trying to help a friend get everything lined up for moving out out of the country.  My good deed.

I swear I have more interesting stories to tell... just give me time.

I saw this on FB:

I am that friend. No relationship in decades yet I seem to attract people wanting to talk about theirs.  Many times I have said, "Do you really want advice from me?  The guy who doesn't have a bad track record only because he has NO track record?"

The ethics of selling sugar water

In the past month I've had less Coke than I have for any month since I was 12.  How can I be that precise?  I was 12 when mom relaxed the one-Coke-per-day rule.  Since then I peaked in college having 8-10 per day.  In the past month I've had maybe 10 or 20 Coke Zeros.  It's not that I've fallen out of love for the company I advertise on most of my clothes; its that the years of insane caffeine addiction seem to have caught up with me.  

Today's Washington Post has a story of a former marketing exec from Coke feeling regret for pushing up the rates of obesity.  What I found humorous in the story?  The fact that Coke measured success in terms of "share of stomach."  It wasn't just beating Pepsi; they wanted to be a larger part of America's ever growing stomachs.

I gave up the sugary corn sweetened version of Coke years ago.  Coke defends itself against this guy by pointing out the increase in diet sodas - people like me who switched from regular Coke.  And I'll defend Coke on this:  When I drank 8-10 Cokes per day I weighed 140 pounds or less.  Now that I drink only Coke Zero I weigh... well, a lot more.

Health fair

The nutrition students have a health booth today.  I weighed in 206 and a body mass index of 26.  They informed me I was overweight.

True, but better than I was just a few months ago.  Tomorrow I will get my blood drawn to find out if my numbers are any better than the dismal numbers I had last fall.

Watch what I say

One of the fears in teaching is having a student misinterpret a point.

Here's an example:  Equity theory says that people are more motivated if they believe the rules of the game are fair.  If you think there is a tilt against you, it is reasonable to think, "Why work hard?  I'm not going to win anyway."

To make the point I say to my class, "What if I said, 'Fujeirah is a beautiful city.  I will automatically give everyone from Fujeirah an extra ten points on each quiz.'"  The students joke that they'd all say that they were from Fujeirah... but also come to realize that those not from Fujeirah would be unhappy and unmotivated in the class.

Lesson learned, I hope.

In one class I went to explain how I taught this in the US:  "In the US I would say, 'What if I said blue eyed people are better people so I will give them an extra ten points on each quiz?'"  I can't use that example of favortism here because, well, I rarely have any blue-eyed people in my classes.

But my point was not that I like people from Fujeirah better or that I like people with blue eyes better... it's using a story to explain equity theory.

Fast forward to tonight when I had dinner with a former student.  During the dinner he said, "In my class two years ago you said blue eyed people were better..."

And this misunderstanding was from one of my best students.  Ugh.

Piggy bank

I bought this for just under $2.

Buying a piggy bank in the US is no big deal, but this is the first I've seen here.  I found it at Daiso - a store where everything is made in Japan.  Why is it humorous?  Muslims that I have come to know hate pork more than alcohol or the invasion of Iraq. Eating pork is like what we'd think of for eating dog.  
 
If only they knew how great bacon tastes.

Worth seeing a doctor?

Today is the 15th anniversary of Spellman's death.  As he was my economics prof/advisor/life guru it would be entirely appropriate to discuss the latest economic news, like a jobs report showing that only 69,000 jobs were created in the US last month.  But, seriously, that's just too depressing.

So let's talk about a possible "pre-cancerous" growth on my back.

I have a spot between my shoulder blades that is about the size of a nickel and looks like scab.  I noticed it on Tuesday and each day it grew more tender and a red patch grew around it.  I wisely called to see my doctor on Thursday but she's not available until next Wednesday.  I considered just going to the hospital today but Fridays are Sundays in the US.  It's not a matter of the cost of an emergency room - the price is the same as an advanced appointment - the problem is the thought of spending hours and hours waiting and then possibly getting a doctor who doesn't speak English.

Hmm, that seems like a really weak excuse as I wrote the paragraph above.

Late today a friend saw it (something I can't easily do given its location) and she said, "Looks like a scab to me."

So I will wait until next Wednesday.  That's the same day I'll have blood taken and see whether or not the past two months of working out and taking pills have been worth it.

I've also spent a lot of time looking at really gorgeous TV's.  If the numbers come in bad or I find out I do, indeed have skin cancer?  Well, just guess who is getting a 60 70 inch TV?

*****
I don't give myself credit for much, but my tribute to Spellman and his eulogy are on the list.