One of the challenges I face when I write this post every year is how to tie together a bunch of very different things with a common theme. I think I've actually got one this year: fixing things.
One of the things I've fixed is: myself. Summer is when I try to schedule all of my medical checkups (complete physical, dental checkup, eye exam, etc.) so they don't get in the way of teaching. This year, I had even more substantial things on my schedule: gastroscopy and gum tissue graft surgery (yup, that's exactly as much fun as it sounds--good thing I like soup and pudding). So hopefully I'm patched up enough to keep going for another year.
My house is also starting to show its age; problems are sprouting up everywhere. Last year, we needed a new roof--class 4 impact resistance, because we kind of get hail every summer. This year, in no particular order, I had our new furniture fixed (after waiting 10 months for parts), replaced the seals and springs on a leaky bathroom faucet, replaced a malfunctioning toilet, got our wonky garage door adjusted, found out our electronic air cleaner was dead, repaired a hole in the siding of the house that was letting in water, replaced the front panel and igniter switch on my grill, installed a dryer vent cover (stupid birds were nesting in the vent--again), reattached a broken closet bar, replaced my ergonomic computer keyboard, fixed a shower head, replaced our dead microwave oven, replaced the sump pump hose that my neighbour ran over with her lawnmower (?), replaced our old vacuum, got the piano tuned, tried (unsuccessfully) to have Rogers fix a problem with my cell phone call display, got my soffits repaired, and replaced the expired CO detectors in the house. Whew!
In terms of work, I fixed things by rebuilding my PowerPoint slides from scratch for my behaviour modification course. I had already decided to switch my slides to widescreen format. Unfortunately, it wasn't as simple as clicking Design - Slide Size - Widescreen (16:9). Sigh. That meant I had to do it manually, with hours of copying-and-pasting. As I was going through every single slide, though, I was able to notice some content that needed updating, or could be worded better, or images and videos that should be replaced with higher-resolution ones. I also modified the slide theme (what can I say, design is important to me). I'm happy to say that my slides have never looked better--and I know a lot more about structuring PowerPoint slides for easier changes in the future. (Like what, virtual reality slides? I dunno.)
I also had to prepare for the changeover from iClickers, which are no longer officially supported on campus, to the IST-designed ePoll. I ran a pilot in my spring PSYCO 367: Perception course with no major problems, so I will be rolling out ePoll this fall in my big classes. I'm a little bit nervous about that (fingers crossed!).
There were also a few teaching-related seminars I attended in August, including the CTL Teaching Institute, and the Faculty of Science's Back to Teaching seminars.
and the ice cream selection at the snack bar at Aspen Beach (Gull Lake).
Why aren't you studying?
