Update for Everyone IV - Hungover

[muon2]

I approve of ending thread III with Kalwejt's post announcing his return.

[muon2]

Just found out my best friend will be performing with the legendary George Clinton on Monday across the street at FSU. I'm so happy for him.

Also, I'm considering entering the district caucuses to be a delegate to the RNC. I have the backing of some people whose help will be instrumental, but my immediate bosses didn't seem to take my inquiries seriously. I'll bring it up again in a month assuming I still have the itch.

If can get the chance, by all means lobby to be a delegate to the national convention. I was one in 2008 and it was very much worth it. The floor seat for the speeches and meeting top movers and shakers at the receptions are a unique view into politics at that level.

[muon2]

I finally answered a campaign call (accidentally) this evening after missing the last three poll calls. It was Bernie Sanders volunteers. So, it is customary to politely lie to these people about who you are voting for, correct? Cuz I don't think I could've gotten into it with them tonight.

I never think it customary to politely lie to canvassers. They are trying to identify support that will help the campaign determine where it will spend resources. If they were given any training they should be able to handle a polite refusal without getting into a debate with the voter. The refusal tells the campaign what it needs to know and the volunteer can move quickly on to the next prospect.

[muon2]

My uncle said earlier today that all these Muslims and the Democrats loving them are going to cause an apartheid against whites.

Who doesn't have a crazy uncle?

I finally answered a campaign call (accidentally) this evening after missing the last three poll calls. It was Bernie Sanders volunteers. So, it is customary to politely lie to these people about who you are voting for, correct? Cuz I don't think I could've gotten into it with them tonight.

I never think it customary to politely lie to canvassers. They are trying to identify support that will help the campaign determine where it will spend resources. If they were given any training they should be able to handle a polite refusal without getting into a debate with the voter. The refusal tells the campaign what it needs to know and the volunteer can move quickly on to the next prospect.

Gotcha, I just screamed it fast cuz I had an incoming call, so hopefully they don't make decisions on that. Thanks for the help. I tend to panic on phone calls -- avoid at all costs generally

The most important thing I learned at AFP is that no answer, at the doors or at the phones, is a wrong answer.

I disagree; when I get calls from campaigns I oppose, which is extremely rare, I always tell them that I am a supporter because I actively want them to waste resources, even if it is just one stamp on an envelope.

I know other partisans who actively thwart the oppo like that when they call. I find that level of cynicism unproductive. I prefer an upfront approach, and most voters I know agree with me.

[muon2]

Just registered myself at the local uni, so barring something unforeseen, I will be studying a program called "International Economics" - basically a hybrid of business and economy with a special emphasis on English and a second foreign language (Italian for me) - at the university of Innsbruck in autumn.

I'm now wondering on whether to do a second studies as well, and if so (probably), what exactly. I've been thinking about pol-sci, Maths, or maybe also anglistics or any other language studies. Anyone got any advice for me?

Something completely unrelated, friends and I also booked some accomodations + bus tickets for our Iceland trip in July this week. So godamn excited and pumped about that!

As a math/CS major, I'd highly recommend studying either one as a second major. 

I agree that math/cs would make a good second with intl econ as the first. Of course you could always go with physics and warm my heart.

[muon2]

As a math/CS major, I'd highly recommend studying either one as a second major. 

I agree that math/cs would make a good second with intl econ as the first. Of course you could always go with physics and warm my heart.

Would you, from your experiences, think that Maths and Econ go together well? There is not really a possibility for me to combine those two into one programme, so I would have the workload of two full-time studies, and I'm honestly a bit afraid of putting too much on my plate with that, if you get what you mean.

The whole area of econometrics is based on the combination of economics with mathematics and statistics. Actuarial science is another area that combines those fields, but with more emphasis on the mathematical side. I'm not sure about Austria, but in the US you could do a double major, but you might also pick an economics major with a minor in mathematics or statistics and a couple of computer science courses.

[muon2]

Just graduated from my school of nine years with first honors, a scholarship, and an award from Obama entitled "The President's Outstanding Academic Excellence Award." I also graduated as the President of the Student Council and Vice President of the National Junior Honor Society!

That's impressive! Congrats!

Thank You!! It's been a tough night for me this far because I am leaving the vast majority of everyone, I know but Hello Summer!!!

I take it you'll be going to a different high school than most everyone else in your school?

Yes most of us are going to different Catholic High Schools from our current Parochial School. Only around four are going to the public high school in the city and some to the technical and vocational school in the town over.

Which city are you in?

[muon2]

My birthday featured gorgeous weather here. My day included some work and renewing my driver's license. I grilled us some steaks for dinner and enjoyed them with a bottle of McDowell syrah I found downstate. It was a favorite of ours years ago, but I hadn't seen it sold locally in quite some time. While drinking the rest of the wine I finally got to start on my Christmas present, especially picked for the scientist in me. We watched the first three episodes of Breaking Bad season 1. Nice.

[muon2]

This afternoon I was watching the Cubs game on TV while going through some papers, enjoying Arrieta's 11th win of the year. The cameras pointed out a number of people wearing t-shirts with the words "Save Ferris". Even the booth announcers showed off their Save Ferris shirts as the pulled them from plastic wrappers. Apparently it was Save Ferris day at Wrigley field in honor of the 30th anniversary of the release of Ferris Bueller's Day Off, and fans got free t-shirts.

As for me I had a nice dinner salad and bread with roasted garlic. While sipping the rest of our bottle of Apremont from the Savoy in France this evening we pulled out our DVD of the movie and watched it.

[muon2]

I've posted somewhat less the last few days as I'm vacationing out west. I just got back from an overnight that included visits to three spectacular areas: Colorado National Monument, Arches National Park, and Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. It's monsoon season and while sitting in the hot tub at the hotel in Moab a thunderstorm struck, giving raindrops falling from above with hot jets of water from below. That excursion also added another 6 counties to my total.

[muon2]

I went over to the university to pay tuition for my son. It was a bit strange. For the first time in over 20 years I didn't need to be there to get ready to teach, and for the first time in over 40 years a fall semester was beginning and I wasn't in the employ of a college or university.

[muon2]

I went over to the university to pay tuition for my son. It was a bit strange. For the first time in over 20 years I didn't need to be there to get ready to teach, and for the first time in over 40 years a fall semester was beginning and I wasn't in the employ of a college or university.

Voluntary or a side effect of the budget crisis?

Once one crosses the retirement age, it is worthwhile to assess one's future each year. I was in the money purchase formula (retirement based on contributions, not salary), which recalculates the expected return every 5 years. In June of 2015 it was announced that the returns dropped enough to shift my calculated pension down by 7%. The change was effective on Jan 4, 2016. It would take three years to make that up in COLA after retirement, and raises weren't likely due to the budget, so the math was pretty clear.

[muon2]

In a couple of weeks I have a solo drive to the Boston area. On Thurs Sep 15 I'll be along the I-80 corridor from Chicago to Du Bois, PA. On Fri Sep 16 I'll continue east from Du Bois to reach the 'burbs west of Boston that evening. I'll need some breaks on the drive, so if anyone would like me to stop along the way, feel free to PM me.

[muon2]

So my neighborhood is under a mandatory evacuation according to the emergency services number that I contacted earlier today I don't know what to do what do you guys think I should do?

Leave.

If the worst happens, then even if you come thru okay where you are likely won't have the services needed to be livable for a while. I don't know how close you are to the shore and thus how much of a threat from storm surge you are under. But unless you're prepared for several weeks of camping at home, then even if you'd be safe, you're risking being sorry if you stay.

I agree with Ernest. If you know anyone inland or on the Gulf Coast, I'd get there soon. I'm watching TWC and it looks bad. Even if your area doesn't get the worst the probable lack of services are really unpleasant. I was in the Boston area in 1985 during Hurricane Gloria. I made the decision to head to friends in NH and I was glad I did. My roommates had to deal with no power and closed stores for almost three days and it was really unpleasant. I just dealt with some tropical storm level weather, but no loss of power or closures.

[muon2]

I'll be seeing a DC and VA a couple of times in Dec. I have an environmental conference in DC the first weekend. Then a week later I go to Williamsburg for another conference.

[muon2]

A television at my work is turned to a daytime gameshow- in this case "Let's Make a Deal". It has utterly destroyed my hopes for the race and I'm constantly reminded of a combination of "Running Man" and "Requiem for a Dream". Bad enough for the host--who at some point was no doubt an actor who had worthier roles than this--but watching these poor, poor people debase themselves for a lump of money or even for a chance to be on television is fast leading me ever deeper into despondency. Society's broken.

If this is the indicator, then it's been broken for 50 years. I watched the same program with much the same format and contestants in the 1960s.

[muon2]

Currently grading my students' midterms. 56 down, 100 or so to go.

This is hell.

141 down. 24 left for tomorrow. Still have all the other stuff to get done this week. Ugh.

Yes, same here. I just graded my load of 40ish midterms. My main takeaway is that the results were absolutely brutal, a bloodbath - over half the students in both classes failed (less than 50%) and the best group's class average was barely a D. To make matters worse, I was rather generous in my grading, seeking to maximize their grade. Just 7 out of like 37 students got over a 10 (/15) grade (I am really not surprised these students did well). They're very lucky that I was overly generous in grading their papers a few weeks ago and that they'll probably get the bulk of their 25% participation mark by just continuing to show up and not saying huevonadas in my groups.

I haven't seen anything this bad since a midterm in a class of dumb Colombian first years last spring, but at least they had the excuse of not speaking English (although given a few of the midterms here, seems like a few of mine don't speak English either).

Not good!*

* The girl who got the best grade (14/15) is some contrarian leftish who plays devil's advocate for TRUMP

The average ended up being 14.9 out of 30 for the question I graded. It's significantly lower than for the other TAs, but that's party because many ran out of time and couldn't finish. Still, I feel bad for giving out grades like that.

And I'm going to have to hold extended office hours to deal with all the complaints. Gonna be fun...

One of the great challenges I had as a professor was balancing the results of as many as 7 TA's for a large class. It was clearly unfair to punish or reward students solely on the basis of which TA they got since they nominally all were subject to my grading scale. After many years I worked out a system that converted raw scores into adjusted scores so that the median student in each TA section got the same grade.

However, as automatic electronic reporting of grades (eg Blackboard) become the norm students pushed back on my adjustments. Of course the students with a strict TA like to be boosted, but the students with a soft TA complained that they couldn't tell how they were doing since they knew their raw scores overstated their actual totals. In response for the last couple of years I created a more detailed rubric for the TAs. That kept the medians for the TAs closer to each other and reduced the need to adjust raw scores.

[muon2]

We got a new cat last night to replace our 17 year old who died last summer. She's 5 and probably had a tough life since she's had no takers at the shelter since she arrived there last March. She seems pretty independent which will work fine for us and our busy lifestyle.

However I didn't get much time to interact with her. I had to get up at 3:30 this morning to catch a flight to DC. Now I'm in DC for a two day conference, so I get to see the cat again later tomorrow when I get home.

[muon2]

My attempts to get a short story published have all failed so far, but I must not give up hope!

Are you committed to fiction writing? There's a market for non-fiction in the form of technical writing. My wife makes a good living at it with only a BA in Philosophy.