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Holly Doyne

words, wool, and travel

Holly Doyne
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Category Archives: Graduate Education

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Now, why would I do that?

Holly Doyne Posted on 2020-08-07 by Holly2020-08-11 1

I must have been totally asleep or feeling guilty when I signed up to join an orientation panel late this afternoon. Admittedly, I like and respect the faculty member who asked me to join in. Unlike the year I started UCHastings MSL program, there are more than a dozen signed up this year. I was an only which actually worked out well for me since my peer group became the incredibly interesting class of LLMs (Master of Law – non-US law degrees).

So what words of wisdom could I offer this bright eyed and shiny group of 20s and 30s who are looking for ?what?

My purpose in doing the degree was … what? To not waste my GI bill? To be challenged by a program? To learn how lawyers think? Which, since I had been married to one for 40+ years doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

In any case, I spent time late this afternoon watching faces I mostly didn’t know on Zoom. And, being an active participant – stitching and knitting were out of the question.

Bummer

Posted in Graduate Education | 1 Reply

and the consensus seems to be

Holly Doyne Posted on 2020-06-18 by Holly2020-06-19 3

that if I am feeling stuffy, or pretentious, I can always put more initials after my name.  Or just for the heck of it.

I am not really sure who, if anyone, I might need to impress – but there you are – MD, MPH, MSL, MFTM (RCPS-Glasgow). Said string could also include COL USA (ret) if I would want.

In a more sensible vein – Noah and I put in a small bit of time in the garage. Excess boxes and the plethora of books are the low hanging fruit at the moment.

And then there is stitching

Farewell to Anger at 85% complete

and new puzzles from Nautilus

Trick or Treat
Art Deco Peach Princess
Halloween

Posted in Cross-Stitch, Graduate Education, puzzles | 3 Replies

I finally checked

Holly Doyne Posted on 2020-06-17 by Holly2020-06-17 4

For whatever reason, I screwed up the courage this morning to visit Webadvisor. What is that you say? It is the extremely clunky and difficult to use registration/transcript program that UCHastings uses. 

Amazingly enough, this time (as apposed to a month or so ago) it was willing to log me in for the start of an extremely frustrating attempt to located my transcript. Believe it or not – hitting the “transcript” button gets you exactly nothing. No idea why it is there, nor do I remember if it worked in the past. But for now? Meh. Rotating down the list several times – I tried “grades” which led me to the choice of Fall2018, Fall2019,Spring2019. The first was blank. Go figure – I wasn’t a student then. Fall2019 actually gave me a list of the courses I took that first fall. Of course, since the MSL students are not on the same grading system as the law students, I have the explanation for why clicking the GPA button got me no where. 

[side note – programers are not stupid, that page could be designed so that it only gives you the options which are applicable to your situation. This means that the person who wrote the specifications was either shortsighted or the school was cheap on funds.]

Checking the Spring2019 showed that my incomplete had vanished and an MSL version of a grade was posted. This means that I am done, Done, DONE!

Now, do you suppose that they will ever mail me my diploma?

Should I add more letters after my name? Perhaps in the British or European style so that the numbers of letters after one’s name exceeds the actual length of the particular name? Having a short name could really help.

Just wondering…. 

Posted in Graduate Education, Uncategorized | 4 Replies

No word yet

Holly Doyne Posted on 2020-05-05 by Holly2020-05-07  
I emailed off my paper on 27 April. Haven’t heard anything back.

I would be worried, except that I can’t get all that excited about it. Not whether it was accepted. Not even if it bounces.

Not my problem anymore.

I guess I mentally closed the door on that portion of my life and am moving on to more exciting (HA!) things like ….. oh, tackling the garage. Or the studio. Or contemplating sitting down and doing a bit of sewing…

Otherwise. We have sunshine, package delivery, electronic friends, food, shelter, and family.

I think that is what really counts

 

Posted in Graduate Education | Leave a reply

Done, done, done, done

Holly Doyne Posted on 2020-04-26 by Holly2020-04-26 1

and the song goes on.

I finished my paper yesterday at 1309 PDT, plus a minute or so to duplicate the file, rename the duplicate and PDF the sucker.  Then I emailed it off to a friend who promised she would do an initial read for coherency. 

It actually took me less than three hours to work through the formatting changes, deal with the references (45 of those suckers, or was it 46), and make sure that I didn’t sound too sarcastic or irritated. 

All of this was actually several hours after I had planned due to what I mentioned yesterday. But then, if I had knuckled down months ago, I wouldn’t be sitting here patting myself on the back for finishing one week before the absolute, final, last, drop-dead submission deadline now would I? 

The rest of my day was spent relaxing, stitching, knitting and checking in with various friends by FaceTime, WhatsApp, or Zoom. Aren’t choices nice?

And then there are the Cal Falcons who are so ugly they are cute. Fuzzy, which cheeping stomachs with wings. 

Posted in Friends, Graduate Education, Home | 1 Reply

Quiet at six

Holly Doyne Posted on 2020-04-25 by Holly2020-04-25  
The world is quiet right before 0600 in the morning as Angel and I head out to get him to work. It is still dark, but that grey-around-the-edges that hints of dawn coming soon. As we are west of the hills, the day seems to spring up suddenly as the sun quickly climbs, peeking over the top to release me from night to light my way back. The change is almost sudden. Driving down Bancroft, it is dark. Since Cal is on-line, I have fewer pedestrians to dodge, even at this time of the morning.

By the time I reach the light at Cedar and Oxford, I can see clearly without the benefit of headlights. Left turn for a block, then right on to Walnut. Peet’s is at the end of the block, corner of Walnut & Vine. Original store in the original location. I order from the app, then wait about two minutes. This morning there are two others waiting for coffee. One of the chiefs, and incoming day shift firemen from the Berkeley Way Station. They aren’t getting as many ambulance runs, they are concerned given number of over 65 they support in our area.

Their order comes up, my order comes up shortly after. Peet’s baristas now have a tray with which to carry beverages from the counter to the front door. Easier, fewer trips and less handling I guess. But delivery on a silvery tray? I digress.

Wishing each other a good day, we head back to our respective vehicles. They to work, me to the last check on my paper’s references. It is essentially done. I still may want to make one last revision of the last section – but I will be hitting the send button either early tomorrow morning or Monday morning.

I had planned on making the run this morning so that I would have a couple of hours of peace and quiet. I function best when I don’t have other people to distract me. Early morning hours are best.

Perhaps it is a function of all those years in senior admin positions where I actually had my own office with a door that shut? Anyway, I returned home to find the cat had thrown up on the kitchen floor and George getting dressed.

So much for a couple of hours of peace and quiet.

Posted in family, Graduate Education, Home | Leave a reply

Procrastination

Holly Doyne Posted on 2020-04-06 by Holly2020-04-06 1
and to answer the question up front – no – it is not finished.

I think my friend Anita recounts it best: first you do all those tasks which have you have been putting off (cleaning, laundry). Then you organize your materials, followed by making a cup of tea – because, of course, why would you want to be interrupted in the middle of a good bit of writing by sudden thirst. Then you have an email/txt/phone call that comes in. And then it is so late that you are exhausted and can’t think straight. Because you need sleep – there is always tomorrow.

Wash, rinse, repeat.

So, again. No, not done. In actuality, I really didn’t get much done over the weekend. Except for cross stitching- 1300+stitches on Sat and another 800 yesterday. All of which are excellent considering that the pattern is full coverage and averages 10 different colors in every 20 stitches.

So here it is Monday – and I have a class in 45 minutes. So I can’t possibly due anything but organize a bit and wait for 1000 which will be followed by 2 hours of Zoom. And then I will need either tea or coffee along with some lunch?

And gee, all of a sudden it is early afternoon.

ARGH!!!!!

Posted in Graduate Education | 1 Reply

Tuesday, again

Holly Doyne Posted on 2020-03-24 by Holly2020-03-24 3
And this is day 8.

And if there is any question or not in your mind as to whether or not staying home, shutting down everything and social distancing makes a difference – look at a comparison as to where New York is as apposed to California. Our cases are rising, but not at the same rate. Not that there is not fear, some panic, and increased burden on the health care system. CA population ~ 39M+, NY ~ 19M+. NYC is dense, so is LA and the Bay Area.

OTOH – it perhaps could be just an artifact of inadequate testing. Grossly inadequate testing. And not sure why that can’t be solved. But that doesn’t explain the difference in death rates. The NYT is putting in a lot of coverage. As are all the other newspapers as well as TV and radio. No matter what your political affiliation – listen to the medical experts – and stay home as much as you can. If you are an essential person – take care of yourself. This whole mess is going to get much worse before it gets better.

And next week is NOT a time to back off on restrictions.

Cal is on spring break, so I have no lectures around which to structure my day

Otherwise – it sit, stare out the window. Wash and repeat.

I now have an extremely hard deadline for my paper. It is not the end of April. it is 3 April. The 4th is when my free access to MS Word (the mandatory software) provided by UCHastings is going to want money out of me. I am a MAC person. I otherwise want Word why?

Valentines Day is long over – but I started this small cross stitch on a bit of 14ct white Aida with a Threadworx #12 Perle cotton.

Because – of course, I need another WIP….

Posted in Cross-Stitch, Graduate Education, Home | 3 Replies

Extension

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-12-03 by Holly2019-12-10  
After spending yesterday morning at UCSF, it was my turn to wander back into the city today. With that last paper hanging over my head, it was obvious that being home – where I have cross stitch, a computer, knitting, and a dozen other things calling my name – was not going to be the place to write.

Arriving before even the library opened, I set myself up in a corner of the Law Cafe and started getting organized. By 1300 when I was meeting one of this year’s MSL students for lunch, I had revised the outline, rewritten the intro and cranked off another four pages.

I took a break late morning and wandered up a floor with the plan of getting addresses from a couple of people (thank you gifts are always in order…). The faculty member for my paper was at her desk.  She mentioned that she had spoken with the Dean of Students and would be fine if I wanted another extension on my paper considering everything (note – She is obviously swamped with work this semester and has a significant number (might be close to 100) exams to grade prior to 2 Jan when final grades are due). Since my advisor was in her office, I stopped there as well. OK, now down the hall to see Grace. And follow up with the official email requesting an extension.

Please note, this is not why I stopped. My plan had been to say that the paper would be in by NLT Wed next week. But if everyone thinks I should have more time in which to procrastinate, who am I to argue.

There is a lovely vegetarian restaurant on the corner (I think) of Larkin and Market. By the time we were back from lunch, I had the official extension back in my email box!

Perhaps this is a good idea, I have a lot to get done in the ext couple of weeks. But just maybe, it is not.

 

 

Posted in Graduate Education | Leave a reply

Two down, one to go

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-11-19 by Holly2019-11-19 2
Yes! I have turned in 2/3 papers that having been hanging over my head since last spring semester.  It wasn’t that I couldn’t do them. Rather it was more a matter of getting some unbroken blocks of time in which to sit down, concentrate, think about what I was trying to accomplish, then generating words in document that met the format of what was required.

I can’t say that it was difficult. Tedious? Unquestionably. Boring? Not really, other than the fact that I obviously have no love for precise US grammar, punctuation, US spellings, or all of that other nonsense that is required when producing documents for official grading. That–and I absolutely LOATH Word (yes, the Microsoft Program). I can deal with Paper (Mac), Open Office, and grew up on Word Perfect. But Word? Nothing intuitive about that program. And trying to permanently get rid of all the tracked changes? Gocod luck with that as they seem to magically re-appear.

I rewarded myself with cross-stitch time since the nice long walk I had planned had to be put on hold due to all of George’s conference calls. By the time he was finally off the phone, it was dark. Since we don’t have enough reflective vests to go around – walking around our area which is lacking in sufficient street lighting is not a really great idea.

19 Nov 2019. 538 today. 4924/24354

Posted in Cross-Stitch, family, Graduate Education | 2 Replies

Judge not

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-11-13 by Holly2019-11-15 1
lest you be judged? Something like that anyway.

Last year in my Legal Writing class we had to write, then perform an appellate brief. The perform is said advisedly: who in their right mind would put themselves into a position where they are standing in front of a judge’ panel and attempt to give their opinion while being continually interrupted? Yes, I know some lawyers thrive in that type of environment, but for someone who is not particularly confrontational, the idea of standing up and arguing with an important issue on the line? Shivers – not me. Now take George – no, your really can’t take him, I am planning on keeping him for a long time – he is someone who can take passive/agressive to a fine art in avoiding confrontation. But give him a chance to argue an appellate brief? He is all over it in a moment. Thinks it is one of the great opportunities of all time; to make a point and think on one’s feet. He loves it. Strange? I certainly think so.

This year I received an email from one of the faculty members. One of the judges had an emergency, could I fill in? Me? Really? Ok, why not? When? The 13th; Friday the 13th appearing on Wednesday – ok, I can do that.

The performance is held in building 198 in the 4th Floor Moot Courtroom. If you are training lawyers, you want them to have the real experience – right? I decided to head into town early. Since Miriam was headed back to New York today, it seemed reasonable to make one BART run rather than two. Arriving hours ahead of time, I was able to find a quiet corner in one of the lounges and read through the briefs. The expectation (which George tells me doesn’t always happen, is that the Judges actually read the briefs ahead of time – makes for better disruption and questions). From 1200-1300 I listened to three of this year’s  presentations.

All the students today, with the exception of one are LLMs. Smart, capable and well prepared. There was a significant variation in the spoken and written language abilities. The advantage seemed to go to the French and Spanish speakers over the Asian language speakers. It was noticeable in the written briefs, and even more so in oral arguments.

Think about it – writing and speaking-  with answering questions on your feet – at a professional level in a language that may be your second, third, or fourth. I think it is an obvious challenge, especially thinking about those times between 1999-2001 when I was stationed in Munich and allegedly working in German.

It rapidly became clear that this was not a traumatize the student experience. Rather, the goal was to point out those things done well: logic of argument; use of cases; ability to respond to questions. I am fairly sure that these self-same faculty are nowhere near as kind to US students preparing for Moot Court.

It was an interesting experience, made even more so by my phone going out to lunch part way through the afternoon. Being as how I rarely travel without my laptop, I had an alternate method of communication. Yes, I know I could have found any number of land lines. But exactly how many phone numbers do you keep in your head anymore????

 

 

Posted in Graduate Education | 1 Reply

Finishing things

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-11-10 by Holly2019-11-11  
I made a commitment to myself that I would limit my start of new projects subject to the completion of projects underway. I am also rewarding myself with needlework time as I complete sections of THOSE papers. You know which papers I mean; those papers which will finish out the incompletes of last spring. The “I”s that will turn into admin “F”s if I am not careful. Never having received an F in my life, this is not an additional accomplishment that I feel warrants achieving.

Never mind – finishing things.

I made progress on the legislative draft. Not finished but should be complete by the end of tomorrow. And I finished two cross-stitches. I am not posting either for the moment since they are both presents. One due this week, the other not till March. But having finished something somehow set my mind at east and let me figure out how to approach the last section of the middle paper.

Posted in Cross-Stitch, Graduate Education | Leave a reply

SVO

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-11-07 by Holly2019-11-08 3
stands for Student Veteran’s Organization. UCHastings has almost 900 students in total. Less than 30 are veterans. Think about it for a second. This is well under the number at other schools in the area. The rejoinder might he that law school is specialized and there just might not be all that many who are interested. I could accept that, but for the fact that there are more at Golden Gate. The Academy of the Arts (which is private, and admittedly in another field) has over 900 veteran’s. UCBerkeley has over 400, which, with all the schools combined is over 1%. 22 is not 1%.

Several of us think there are multiple factors contributing: lack of faculty who are veterans, lack of support at the school, and an obvious anti-military bias at the executive level.
Why am I bringing all of this up?

The current president of the local chapter organized a luncheon yesterday and asked the former chair of UCHastings Board of Directors to be a keynote speaker (former Navy Officer – used the GI bill for law school). He also twisted my arm into saying a few words. The attendance was sparse – former navy, army, Air Force, and coast guard totally about 10 plus three from the student veteran support office at SFVA, one rep from UCSF and two from UCBerkeley. The new student Dean is incredibly supportive, the school dean seriously less so. There was food, I was appreciative of the chance to meet a couple of the new students and reconnect with a number who I knew from last year.

Oh, what did I say? A bit of history about Armistice Day vs Veteran’s Day. How the holiday was viewed in other countries and a reminder about what the poppy stood for. (after all – what good is a forum if I don’t sell poppies?)

But the best? I received this from Jill later in the day –

Pigeon steals poppies to make it’s home at the Australian War Memorial

Posted in Graduate Education, Military | 3 Replies

Same thought, different expression

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-10-30 by Holly2019-10-31 2
there are times when you just can’t use Google translate, or any other translate program, for that matter. One of those instances occurs when using common phrases which really are different according to culture.

The following example is the one I have mostly commonly used. In English – Scaredy Cat. In German? Angst Hasse. An afraid cat – vs. an anxious rabbit. The underlying concept is the same, but the cultural expression is by far different.

I just acquired a new parallel –

I’ll kept my fingers crossed =  Ich drück die Daumen dass es weiter aufwärts geht !

 
Obviously, I mostly have the German/English variations. Most the Yiddish I know doesn’t lend itself to this kind of comparison. The French I learned in high school/college wasn’t of the level or of enough interest to spark any comparisons.

So, if you have them – other language contributions welcome.

Posted in Graduate Education | 2 Replies

Recipe cards

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-10-21 by Holly2019-10-21 3
or 3×5 cards as they were known back in the day where most of the world was on the English/Imperial system of measurement. I was familiar with them as a child because every adult female seemed to have a collection upon which favorite recipes were written. And there were all sorts of fun and wonderful special boxes for these cards. After all, wouldn’t that just be the best present for any little girl in the 1950s? Channel her straight into her role as chief cook and bottle washer? (Sarcasm folks). But as I am sure those of us who date from that era can testify – most small presents, from household items, to books, were very definitely along societies gender expectations and stereotypes.

How did I get here? Oh, right – 3×5 cards. and WordPress is not capable of handling a post name which starts with a number. So I used the alternate name of recipe card which started me down the trail of…. oh, never mind.

I sincerely regret to inform you that 3 x 5 cards for the most part had little to do typewriters. Rather, as you did research for any particular subject, interesting facts, references, ideas of what to write each landed on its own card. When you figured you had collected enough information to put together enough pages that would meet the professor’s requirement, you sorted them into the best order possible, then wrote the paper from the parts. Most of us were not insane enough to either type out the cards – since that would have involved hauling a typewriter to the library for all those instances of using non-circulating reference materials. In fact, long hand was the preferred and most likely fastest method of producing a first draft. This draft was then edited into a reasonably acceptable form. Only then did fingers meet keys.

Meanwhile – It is really hard trying to concentrate on anything here in the hospital which is why I am ready to go back to 3×5 cards. They are much easier to use for a bit here and an idea there. No computer required. If one is being used, then I can avoid flipping between documents. All of which lessens the pressure and gives me the ability to organize the material in different ways.

My alternative to this point has been three documents open at the same time – an table of contents which is being filled in, a reference list, and finally – the note pad equivalent of my old standby – random paragraphs in note pad which I can cut and paste.

If I believed in superstition, I would arrive at UCSF tomorrow all ready to go with pens, cards, post it notes and my reference printed material organized and indexed to find that George’s white counts are continuing to climb, his platelets are holding steady and I can haul him home in the next 5-7 days. And then I get to start the commute to the clinic with him 2-5x a week all over again.

 

 

Posted in Graduate Education | 3 Replies

words in my head

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-10-14 by Holly2019-10-14 11
don’t do me anywhere near as much good as words on paper (which, in today’s world translates to words in an electronic document). I have come to acknowledge that putting off finishing the requirements for the two outstanding incompletes from grad school is not doing me any good. In fact, it more resembles the garbage left too long under the sink. The longer it sits, the more it smells. The more it smells, the less you want to deal with it. At some point, the nose is held (clothespin optional) and the stinking container is emptied, washed, and put back with all good intentions to avoid this cycle in the future.

Then the future rolls around again.

Please understand – I don’t give a flip about grades, all I want it is “met enough work to warrant a pass.” Having said that – it is hard to imagine putting in hours of work researching and writing for no good reason if the end results could possibly be of benefit.

It is the old Tikkun olam. Build the world a better place.

So… the background to today’s public health challenges include the following:

  1. San Francisco is an extremely expensive place to live
  2. The tech boom has resulted in an increase of 100k jobs over the last decade and the loss of 30k in housing in just the last few years
  3. The weather in California is not as bad as many of the other parts of the country
  4. changing demographics have resulted in marginalization of portions of the population.
  5. San Francisco became the mecca for a number of lifestyles starting in the 1960s

 

Now, back tracking to 2008-2009, there were several medical publications that discussed Hepatitis A infections and risks in homeless populations. Those discussions centered, of course due to the standard medical tunnel visions, on immunizing everyone to avoid disease.

So why was everyone in both city governments and public health circles so stunned when an epidemic of Hepatitis A started sweeping through homeless & IV drug user communities (and yes, there can be an overlap between the two). I fail to understand why anyone was surprised. Or, even more stunned to be in a situation where a normally mild disease most often seen in childhood in most of the developing world, various institutions was causing hospitalizations and death. This epidemic was recognized, not because of the obvious failure of the city, the infrastructure and public health to recognize the failure to provide for a vulnerable population but that hospitalization costs were skyrocketing.

The solution? According to the CDC – we should adopt the 2009 recommendations (hello, this is now 2017….) to add homelessness, IV drug use or MSM* to the list of peoples needing HepA immunization.

For those of you who don’t remember the history of Hepatitis A – this was the food/water borne version of hepatitis for which you (as a citizen of a developed country) received a large shot of gamma globulin in a major muscle group (usually gluteus maximus). 5cc is a significant volume, trust me. In 1995, the first versions of HepA vaccine became available. Every military member with a brain in his/her head was more than willing to get immunized. One shot with maybe a booster vs large/painful shot every 3-6 months while deployed? Other than the military, most of the other developed world citizens at risk of HepA were tourists indulging in street food while visiting developing countries. With the usual transmission being the fecal-oral route, it was obvious to everyone concerned that sanitation was as important to breaking the infection cycle as immunization.

We seem to have forgotten that bit of intelligence. It doesn’t matter if you immunize the whole world against a disease. That is one disease. As anyone who has every had noro-virus, salmonella food poisoning or one of the hundreds of other possibilities, the key to not getting diarrheal disease is availability of toilet facilities accompanied by strict adherence to hand washing. Which takes us to a city where there are no 24 hour public toilets, hand washing facilities are limited, no one wants homeless encampments, there is not enough shelter space for those who need it, and serious money is spent on a daily basis on power washing human excrement off the sidewalks.

Yes, we can immunize everyone. But it is not going to solve the sanitation issue.

I am making some basic assumptions. The first is that most people do not chose to be homeless. That they don’t set out to be vulnerable, dirty, and hungry. That, if they had the money to have food and shelter, they would. But San Francisco has teachers in their schools living in cars because they can’t afford a place to live.  I also make the assumption that mental health, substance abuse issues, and physical health issues impact lives to the point where many become homeless. And those problems don’t become better by being without a home.

<two hour break in which I spent digging through PubMed. Surprise, surprise, all the public health people, when discussing issues related to the HepA outbreak mentioned and repeatedly mentioned that sanitation was a serious issue and one of the most difficult to resolve. Having said that – it is no where in any of the CDC guidance. Just immunizations. Go figure>

I finished off the draft memo – sent it on its way, and spent sometime working on a Hitchhiker variation in a lovely yarn color called – magic unicorn.

 

*MSM= men who have sex with men…

 

Posted in Graduate Education, Medical, Prose | 11 Replies

two days, 20 hours

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-05-07 by Holly2019-05-07 2
and 33 minutes had expired out of the 72 hours allotted for my take home exam when I uploaded it and hit the submit button.

Of course, ten minutes after that I started thinking about what else I should have said, or how I should have said it. But then, stick a fork in me, I was more than ready to be done with exams.

It is not to say that I am done with the semester, just with the exams and deadlines. I still have two papers to turn in. One is a combination project of a cover memo with draft legislation/ordinance – the other a position paper. I have drafts for both but have not been able to drum up the energy needed for a concerted effort on either.

The last day of exams is tomorrow; half of my friends are slotted for that very last exam period.will not complete their last exam until late afternoon. I can’t really decide which I detest more – in class exams where your whole grade depends on the final, in class mid-terms and finals, take home exams, or whole grade hanging on a writing assignment. They are all ugly options.

Why am I doing this to myself anyway? Oh, yes. GI Bill with Uncle Sam paying for everything plus providing me a living subsidy…..

Posted in Graduate Education | 2 Replies

I really should be

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-05-06 by Holly2019-05-07 1
working on that take home exam.

Which is why I am playing computer games and otherwise procrastinating. Like puzzles –

just those last few pieces

which means that I finished –

all 524 pieces

 

and an area where you can see the details –

no two pieces alike

 

Otherwise? I finished Questions 2 & 3 on my take home exam, leaving Question 1 – probably the most difficult, for tomorrow

Posted in Graduate Education, puzzles | 1 Reply

Quietly insane

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-05-05 by Holly2019-05-06  
is what this particular take home exam is driving me.

5 May afternoon

which may be why I am spending time working on the puzzle. Unfortunately, the easiest portion is complete. From here on in, criss-crossing tree branches. And more branches and more branches. I am not sure that this puzzle is not also going to drive me around the bend (and that is not really all that far since I can see the curve from here….

Posted in Graduate Education, puzzles | Leave a reply

Avoidance of study

Holly Doyne Posted on 2019-05-02 by Holly2019-05-02 1
Since I have an exam tomorrow morning, bright and early (0830 in San Francisco) it means that I should be diligently studying this whole day, right?

Instead I find my mind wandering. It is that awful feeling somewhere between–I know this stuff and I don’t want to over think it– and “I don’t have a clue, much less a reason for why I am doing this to myself. It might be why I was more than happy to take something for my headache and go back to sleep for a number of hours this morning. Or why I spent sometime sorting out paperwork. Or looking at furniture for the back deck. Or working on a jigsaw puzzle that had been put away for months.

Winterland

I am sure that I’ve mentioned Liberty Puzzles before. Wonderful small firm located in Boulder, Colorado. Wooden puzzles, all laser cut for accuracy, with whimsy pieces and challenging shapes. I have a lot of their puzzles, accumulated over the years. Not cheap, but challenging, durable and interesting. Plus, they are not 1000-2000 piece puzzles. I want a challenge but something that can be completed in my life time.

I don’t actually remember when I started this particular puzzle. It has to be more months ago than I want to admit. Perhaps after we reorganized the living room furniture but maybe not. I had tucked it away in the puzzle keeper I had in order not to lose the small bit of progress that I had made. Challenge of dark colors, not as much light as I would like and older eyes in the evening. Enough said on that, if you don’t understand, you are just not there yet. Just wait.

Anyway –

the foreground

has some identifiable plants below the house (easiest part as the colors are pretty obvious) before heading up into trees, trees, and more trees.

and not making much progress

as so far 8-10 pieces a day seems to be about as much success as I have been able to accomplish.

Having said all of that – I need to get back to my Admin Law outline. I just shouldn’t be that hard, right? Rulemaking, Adjudication, and Judicial review, along with about a dozen cases which I should make a serious effort to remember. It would be nice if the entire grade didn’t hang on this one exam.

Oh, right – Administrative Law. For those in the US – it is the area of law concerned with all those pesky US government agencies from how they make rules and regulations to how they decide (adjudication) everything from licensing to customs fees to Social Security/Disability payments (who gets what and how much). For those not in the US – you have a similar system in one way or another.  Your government has to set the standards for licensing, or benefits, followed by a standardized application process which results in a determination. There are also likely set rules and procedures for appeals and renewals. It all falls into the category of Administrative Law. Normally there is count oversight with more or less deference given to agency decisions depending on challenges of interpretation (substance) or procedure. Since the US is a common law country (also UK, Australia) previous court decisions have a weight of precedence on subsequent determinations. Frankly – I much prefer countries that just have legal code. If a court is involved, the judge makes a determination for that case. The result applies to that case, and that case only.

Anyway – the devil is in all of the details and I have procrastinated long enough….

Posted in Graduate Education, puzzles | 1 Reply

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