on-line education

It has been a few days and I have been meaning to make a post. I have had an idea here and there for a post, but then I got distracted as I had to work on homework. Darn school always gets in the way of doing something fun! School on-line for the most part has been pretty good for me, but there are a few frustrations. This class, accounting is generally a not so much fun subject for people. Doing it in a format where you have to teach yourself makes it that much more less enjoyable. I tried to ask questions during the first week and was discouraged from asking other learners for advice. Usually with the on-line format you are encouraged to work with each other so that was a shocker. The teacher also is not quick to respond so e-mailing the instructor is not ideal. Other than that, on-line education has been great. You just need to be responsible enough to dedicate time frames each week to get things done and to learn the material. Since there are no lectures, you have to teach yourself and challenge yourself. I find this beneficial as undergrad I attended many useless lectures that wasted a lot of time, but you were required to be there. With going to school on-line there is no wasted time because you put in what you want to get out of it, and I really like that idea.

The only other main concern is how fast the classes are. While it is great that classes are 6 weeks long so you practically fly through the program, the classes feel condensed. While you are expected to put in quite a few hours in during the week, the material is presented so fast that it is hard for it to sink in. So by the end of the class and the start of the next one, you have already forgotten a good chunk of the details. If they were to do even 8 week classes and spread out the material just a little bit more so you could really sink your teeth into it that would be great. Yes, this would mean it would take longer to finish a program, but I think individuals would get more out of it. More research should be done in the field of on-line education as it continues to grow to help make it as beneficial as possible. I don't see on-line education declining, but just needs a few tweaks to reach it's full potential.

Bandit

This is one of my guinea pigs. This is Bandit. He has decided he needs to be like GForce and likes to practice escaping when they are on the floor so I can clean their cage. Sneaky Bandit!

Motivation, or lack there of.......

In September I completed my first 5k swim on a Saturday, and then jogged a nice 5k on that Sunday. It made for a fun, but very tiring weekend. The training for it helped to keep me motivated to work out, a goal to work towards, and direction. Since then I have decided to start training for a half marathon. This will be a challenge as I am not a natural runner and it takes a few workouts before I get my groove and start to enjoy it. Inevitably I miss a few work outs and then the new found for love of running I had gained is lost again. Sometimes new workout gear such as shoes, clothes, or other fun things help to motivate me to hit the road again. Then it gets rainy out and I am not a die hard runner to go out in the rain. I am currently in the rut where I have not been running in over a week.

Running is an interesting sport. At a glimpse it looks simple and cheap. You can get shoes from payless or walmart for a good price. You can get basic clothes to wear such as cotton socks, and a pair of comfy sweat pants to run in. And then you just move. You move till your lungs hurt and your sides are cramping. Then you walk. But as you get into the habit, you start wanting to improve so you invest in magazines such as Runner's World or Women's Running. They give workout advice, training advice, and of course advertisements for gear that will making running a much more enjoyable experience. Then there are the technology gadgets that can help improve the efficiency of the training. Sigh, you can spend more time learning what to do to make yourself a better runner than actually running.

So today since it is chilly out and I had a long weeekend, I have spent the day catching up on magazine articles and advertisements to see what I need to be a better a runner. The first step however would be to get off this couch and actually go for a run. Hrm maybe after dinner......

Soap

So yesterday I had gotten home from a Zumba class at the gym which is a lot of fun. Zumba by the way is a Latin moves and grooves dance aerobic style of class that really ends up with horribly cheesy dance moves but simple enough that most people can follow the dance party. At the Gold's gym locally, it tends to be all females just shaking it and partying on. Anyways, I got home from the gym and decided to soak in the tub for a bit. When it occurred to me, how does soap work? I mean we are told we need to wash with soap since we were kids, but no one ever explained how it kills germs or removes them. How do we know it isn't just some conspiracy to sell you more stuff? With all the different features such as moisturizing or antibacterial, is it worth the extra bucks? Do you even need antibacterial soap?

So I called up a guy I know that is a laboratory science major and asked him about soap. The basic answer is that because soap is slippery, it removes the germs from the skin because they just slip right on off. It is also recommended that unless you need antibacterial soap that you do not use it on a regular basis because you are kiling all the germs and your body won't be exposed to them to build up a natural resistance. With out the natural resistance to germs, you are actually leaving your body defenseless for when it does encounter everyday germs. Anyways now that I have that question answered, I am off to head to the work for the day and see what else I can ponder up.

Welcome!

Well as I just finished homework and should start the cleaning of the apartment (isn't that how everyone wants to spend their day off work?), I am procrastinating by setting up this lovely blog. I have blogged in the past with such sites as xanga, but my friends stopped posting/reading and so that blogged stopped. After all a teacher once said in high school, people write because they want others to read their thoughts. Even if you say you do not, then why write it down and leave a paper trail behind? I have another blog set up on livejournal, but mostly to stalk my friends who are on live journal so I can read their posts and leave comments. Who doesn't like comments? So now I am here in a joint venture with some of my friends who I hope to link up to their blogs so you too can stalk them to discover a new avenue in the world of blogging.

Currently I am employed in the world of retail so look forward to posts about the holiday season, the economy, and people's shopping habits. I am also in grad school and attending Capella University on-line working on my MBA in human resources. So from time to time there may be posts about classes and what I am supposed to be learning about and what I really think about the topic at hand! I have two wonderful cute guinea pigs named Smokey and the Bandit so there maybe stories about them and some pics to go along. They are great pets and so of course expect blogs about why everyone should love guinea pigs as much as I do!

Other than that expect posts about what is going on in the world today, what is not going on, random thoughts, stories, questions, and life in general. Hopefully you guys will like to tune and enjoy!