Time Pressure

On Monday, I went onto campus and, among other things, checked one of the classrooms (I'll be teaching DiffEq and E/NE Geometry there) to see if the necessary software was present and available. It was not; one of the programs was present but locked (we have it on a yearly-renewed license, and each copy has to be reactivated by OIT each year), and the other wasn't there at all. I reported this to the secretary, and she said she'd get on it.

Today, I went in again, and checked the classroom again. I could not even log on; in fact, it looked as though the computer wasn't even connected to the university network.

I reported this, again, to the secretary, and she again agreed to contact OIT. Classes begin on Monday afternoon.

:sigh: At least this year I checked before the semester began...

Revamp

I've decided that I'm trying to do too much, too soon in Taxonomy III. I've decided to detach a small piece of it, and move the rest all the way down to Taxonomy VI. The old IV, V, VI will each bump up one.

The problem is that, to do the Varignon stuff the way I wanted to, I had to build up a great deal of machinery before getting to the payoff, and much of that machinery is useful, separately, for other things. So, I'll take a piece of the machinery and exploit it in the new Taxonomy III, discussing first-order pure classes. Another chunk will go into the new IV and V, covering various kinds of mixed classes. Then, when I get to VI, the remaining machinery will be of a digestible size.

I don't regret the work I put into III this summer; I've learned a bunch of new things which will illuminate the other papers. Still, it's a bit frustrating.

Hubris, Nemesis, Ate

Someday I'll learn to keep my mouth shut.

The very day that I tacitly urged the BBWAA to vote for Fernando Tatis Jr. for NL Rookie of the Year, he injured himself, wrenching his back. He's been put on the Injured List, and word is that he's done for the year.

:sigh:

Postscript

I should probably add that I am not blaming the department secretary in any way for the classroom computer problems. I'm sure she's done everything I've asked her to; if anyone is to blame, it's OIT.

I'm not sure I can entirely blame them, either. A few weeks ago, the university network was attacked; no permanent damage was done, but they've been cleaning up the mess ever since. They tell us they should have everything back in order by the beginning of the semester.

It's just *frustrating*. I've been a bit of a Luddite as far as adopting technology for the classroom, but the last few years I've found it to be so useful, and I'm looking forward to applying it to DiffEq in particular. (It'll be a few lectures before the first time I'm hoping to bring it in, fortunately.)