Why Back In School?

Bruce Robison posted the question a couple of posts back asking why I am back in school. Simply, I have always had the desire to teach, and in order to be able to do it in the field where I feel I can have the greatest impact, I need to get more credits in math and science. I am finding myself struggling, but for very different reasons than the first time around. Now, it's lack of practice, back then it was laziness.

Gettin' a break...or did I?

On Thursday, I made a right turn on red. There was a cop behind me. Immediately after my turn, the cop turned out, pulled up beside me, and rolled down his window. I rolled mine down. He told me that right on red was prohibited there. I told him, "I must have missed the sign." He told me to be careful, and headed on his way. I said, "thank you."
On Friday, as I passed the same spot, I looked for a "no turn on red" sign, and seeing none, turned again on red.
Was I cut a break? Harassed by the cop? The victim of an honest mistake? I don't really know.

Back In School

After a hiatus of nearly 30 years, I'm back in college and studying calculus once again. I find I'm rusty, but the concepts are (at least not yet) difficult. Right now, the challenge is getting refreshed on the symbology and terminology of academic math.

New Lens

Taken with the OLD lens.

Taken with the NEW lens.

I recently bought a new lens for my SLR. It's a fixed focal length 50mm lens, and is much brighter than the zoom that came with it. I wanted to see the improvement, so I asked my son to swing his arm quickly and I shot these two photos. The one where you see his arm is with the new lens. Both were shot in existing light, only moments apart, and with the aperture wide open. It's not scientific (i.e. his arm's speed likely differed), but the difference in the shots is apparent.

Getting Razzed by the Locals

This morning, as I was walking back from taking my son to school, one of my neighbors came running past. He commented, "Hey, you should be the one running." I needed to take the razzing, because he was right. Further, I should say that this neighbor comes from Suomi, a nation with a long history of success in distance running.

Lacking Motivation

I just can't seem to win the struggle to get out the door. I hope the warmer weather over the next several days will make the difference. I need to dig out the winter running stuff.