The journey continues...

Brian Bilbrey December 18, 2011

13 Days and Counting...

Shopping in the morning, and several hours of hardware maintenance at the office through the middle of the day ... and my day is done. * * * Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors: Lance Cpl. Christopher P. J. Levy, 21, of Ramseur, North Carolina, died Dec. 10 of wounds sustained Dec. 7 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan. Sgt. Christopher L. Muniz, 24, of New Cuyama, California, died Dec. 11, in Kunar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Spc. Ronald H.

Brian Bilbrey December 17, 2011

Plague of Imagination

The problem of having a rich imagination is this: Anything that can go wrong, already has ... in my mind. Imagine driving home from someplace unusual, as I did this afternoon. Imagine using the Nav system built into the car and pressing the "Go Home" button. Once I get out of the area I don't know and I'm on a known path home, I want to make the car stop talking to me. So I press the DEST button on the dash, select "Del Dest" on the screen, and be prompted: "Delete Destination? [YES][NO]" I tap the yes button, then…

Brian Bilbrey December 11, 2011

Sad and cold...

A couple of hours of remote work this weekend, and 15 or so hours of work on the final project for my Java class. Progress is. Oh, yeah, and it was 15°F out this morning. I think I know what the 'F' stands for. * * * Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors: Sgt. Ryan D. Sharp, 28, of Idaho Falls, Idaho, died Dec. 3, at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, Landstuhl, Germany, of wounds suffered Nov. 21 at Kandahar province, when insurgents attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Sgt. 1st Class Clark…

Brian Bilbrey December 10, 2011

Orchid in bloom

A few years back ... three, I think, I got Marcia an orchid as part of my anniversary gift to her. It was in bloom at the time, and stayed that way for quite a while. Wonder of wonders, although the flowers eventually faded and the stalks withered away, the plant itself has been pretty hardy. I keep up with the watering, and it sits by a window in the library, so it gets some afternoon light. But it hasn't bloomed since there. Late this summer, I read someplace that orchids need some cooler overnights in order to stimulate flower…

Brian Bilbrey December 6, 2011

On the value of shorter class sessions

With this Fall Semester, UMUC fully transitioned all of their classes to an 8-week format. Most classes previously had been 12 or 13 weeks in length. The price is the same, and the number of units granted for completing the class are the same, but the material, and time, there is less. Here's the pertinent commentary from one of the course evaluations I've written this Fall: This course suffers from the shorter (8 week) session length. The ONE value of the shorter courses is that they're shorter. It's like 1.5 quart ice cream for the same price as the old…