Tag Archives: education

Tuesday Morning Ramblings – Thankful #8

November 9, 2010 D.A. Adams Leave a comment

I’m thankful for my sense of humor. Being able to find the humor in difficult situations has seen me through some rough times. Being able to laugh at myself and recognize the many follies of my own life have provided me a measure of humility that keeps me grounded. I’m a foolish, silly man, and that’s good to know.

I can make people laugh quite often and use this in the classroom just about every class meeting. It relaxes students and gets their attention. The humorous blog entries that I’ve written are some of the most popular ones in “The Ramblings” history, and I often get more feedback on those than any others. The people who have gotten the subtle jokes in my novels have expressed to me that those jokes made them literally laugh out loud. While my sense of humor might be a little odd to some, most of my friends and readers appreciate it, and for that, I am grateful.

I enjoy making people smile and laugh. It lightens the day and eases some of the difficulties of life. I’m thankful for the ability to spread a little humor and joy in this world. It’s gratifying to see the humor in life’s many absurdities and in my own foolishness as a person.

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General Posts, Ramblings of Thanks

Saturday Afternoon Ramblings – Thankful #6

November 6, 2010 D.A. Adams Leave a comment

I’m thankful for Saturdays. They are the best day of the week. After a 50+ hour week, Saturdays are my chance to do all the things I want to do, like working on the farm or doing yard work or cleaning up. I usually spend 10-12 hours on Sundays grading (that’s in addition to the 50 hour week, by the way), so Saturdays are the only day that’s mine. Even if I spend the entire day working on something, it’s a break from the overwhelming grind of the week, so I am thankful for this day to get away from education.

Today, for example, I have spent the entire day going back and forth from working on the prototype to doing laundry to burning brush. The basic frame for the unit is complete, and while it was a lot of work and a lot of trial and error, I couldn’t be happier with it. The design is sturdy and functional and should be fairly easy to replicate now that I know the basic layout. In terms of cost, I think it will save us hundreds of dollars over a pre-made system. There are still many Saturdays worth of work to go before the entire prototype is complete and operational, but I am grateful for this day of the week to pursue my dream of launching this farm.

General Posts, Ramblings of Thanks

Friday Morning Ramblings – Thankful #5

November 5, 2010 D.A. Adams Leave a comment

I’m grateful for my job. On the same day I was hired for this position, my best friend was laid-off from his. In this economy, it took him nearly a year to find work. Even though I grumble and complain about the state of education and the downward spiraling of student apathy, I am grateful for the position. My child support is paid in full every month, my children have health insurance, and I have enough left over to survive on for the month. Things could be much, much, much worse for me. So I’m thankful for my position at the college.

I’m also grateful for the opportunity to pass along knowledge. There are still a handful of students who care about learning, and I still enjoy engaging those students and watching them get it. I enjoy seeing the single mothers gain self-confidence and the young men who hid in their shells during high school slowly crawl out and find their voices. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve these students and hopefully bring out of them something they didn’t know they had. That aspect of the job is still gratifying and fulfilling. I am thankful that through education my life has been about more than self-gratification and that my value as a human being is higher than my net worth on a spreadsheet. I’m thankful that I have given something back to my society.