Further education

I’m all for this and take classes all the time.  I have no desire to go to college.  I don’t think it’s worth it cost wise, plus you’re never guaranteed a job after you get out with a degree.  But I do believe in educating yourself beyond high school, if something comes along that you’re interested in and that isn’t going to leave you in debt afterwards.

I’m very interested in writing and other artistic pursuits and always have been.  I wonder why I haven’t taken any art classes because that was my favorite class in school.  But I have taken classes on writing, as well belonging to a writer’s group while living in California.  That was extremely helpful because we all critiqued each other’s work.  I do miss that here and tried to get a group started, along with a friend, but that didn’t work out as not enough people here have any interest in writing.

Since then I’ve been on my own.  I’ll do almost anything in the interests of my writing, so I always jump on things that will help me to keep it realistic.  Firsthand experience is invaluable and always way better than reading about it in a book, although I so read a lot.

I took a computer class too because I use my computer daily to write, edit, or rewrite.  I needed to understand Word and Photoshop. 

Fencing class

I once took a fencing class because I was writing a fantasy novel and wanted to know what it was like to hold a sword and defend yourself against your opponent.  Of course, we didn’t use broad swords like they used in medieval times, but I think it still gave me the experience of being attacked that I could use in my writing.

From Police Dept Facebook page

Right now I’m involved in a class at the local police department.  I want to learn a lot more about the protocol used by the police.  Its research for the mystery series I’m writing.  So far the class has been amazing and more than I could have asked for.  I’m so glad I signed up for it and would do it again if the opportunity presented itself.  I don’t know how much information I’ll use in my books, but I certainly understand the workings of the police department better.

I’m sure this won’t be the last of my further education.  Knowledge is power.  I always like to learn things I didn’t know.  If you have the opportunity to take classes in the community where you live, I highly recommend that you do.  

Class one of the Police Academy class was yesterday

Clip art

I had Tuesday off, thank goodness.  There’s life beyond handing out food samples.  I wanted to get something accomplished before the class. 

So I fixed the chain on a roller shade that broke about two weeks ago.  I haven’t had time to get to it.  And I got my litter boxes changed.  I’m sure my cats are happy about that.  Then I met up with some friends who will be going out of town for about two months so it was nice to see them before they left.  After that it was a trip to the grocery store and then it was time for class.  Naturally my replacement printer is still setting here ready to be hooked up and I never got the laundry done either.

This first class was held at the police station, which is about eight and a half miles from my house.  They have a basement classroom.  The police chief and the assistant police chief were the speakers tonight.  Basically it was a meet and greet and they went over everything that will covered in the next nineteen classes.  About twenty four people showed up, most of them retired folks.  They did have refreshments for us in the back of the room and each of us got a name badge and a big binder to put handouts in.

We all had to go around the room and introduce ourselves and where we were from, etc.  Of course being the talker I am I told them I made people smile everyday by handing out samples at Costco.  That was probably a big mistake.  We’ll see.  A couple of people told me afterwards they’d come and see me there.  That’s really all I need is more customers wanting a free sample but the assistant chief was talking about how important it is to have a good attitude and make people smile.  I serve orange juice tomorrow so we’ll see if anyone from the class shows up for that.

I think this will be a very informative class.  They encouraged us to ask all the questions we wanted and people did just that.  No one seemed very shy.  Most of the people in the classroom had moved from California.  There was a couple from Wisconsin and someone from Maryland.  Only a couple of the people were actually born in Utah.  There are three husband and wife teams taking the class and some people who are volunteers at the police department.

Overall it was interesting, but hard to hear people in the back of the room when they were asking a question.  People really need to speak louder in a case like that, but they don’t.  But I think most of us got the point as the police chief answered questions.  The two hours flew by.

Our next class is Thursday with police speakers from the administrative division and the patrol division of the police department.  This one is held up at the old airport, which I discovered last week when I was out trying to track down all these locations ahead of time.

Stay tuned.

She wants to join the family

We live in a place where we’re lucky to see a lot of wildlife coming by at various times.  The last few weeks this female roadrunner has made it clear, she wants in the house. 

 Not the greatest pic but I had to hurry

 

She jumps up on the top of the bench we have on the back patio and pecks at the window.  This sends the cats into a frenzy watching with wild eyes.  I’m not sure what this lady has in mind because I don’t think her or the cats would actually want to meet face-to-face. 

Female roadrunner trying her best to adopt us

She makes her rounds of the backyard near the house, hopping from chair-to-chair and perching on the table.  Last week she even tried her best to fly up and land on the ceiling fans out there.  Maybe she got into some loco weed, or ate some juniper berries.

 Here she is on the patio chair

 

Today, she jumped off the patio roof and took her place on the bench to peck at the window.  Her eyes scan the place from floor to ceiling.  I imagine she’s looking for food and expects me to provide it.  I don’t have any lizards or bugs lying around to give her.  Right now I’m not sure what else she’s trying to tell me, but she looks plump enough and not starving.

At this point, I’m not sure how long this activity will last.  The bird of prey that was taking a daily bath here has gone to other areas.  I haven’t seen him in a while.

Other than that, I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving and spent a relaxing day being grateful for all we have. 

Below are a few pics from our Thanksgiving drive along the back highway to Mesquite NV and back.  These are taken from the car window so aren't the best photos in the world.  This country passes through an Indian reservation and is mostly sagebrush and Joshua trees.  But the day was beautiful and about 50 degrees.

 
It’s onward toward Christmas now.  Some neighbors already have their lights up.  I’m only perturbed at the one who put his up a week before Thanksgiving.  That’s disgraceful!  These days everyone rushes things. 

We have a few leaves left on our trees, but they’re quickly littering the ground.  I watched some flutter down in a gust of wind this morning and wished I had the camera ready.  I did spend the next half hour trying to capture some but didn’t have much luck.  I guess things like that are better in person.

 Most of these fluttered to the ground today

 

I hate to see winter coming but that’s beyond my control.  All I can do is count the days until spring – and I shall be doing that – in the near future.  December and January are in the deep freeze here some years.

Now that those awful ulcers are about gone from my mouth, I have a raspy cough to take their place.  I attribute this to working near the coolers all day at work last week.  I was chilled to the bone from head-to-toe by the end of my shift, so I’m now stocked up on all sorts of cold products and extra vitamin C to get me through the winter months without becoming too ill.

Added to all this was another car problem, a dead battery this time, but I can’t say my mechanics didn’t warn me about that when they replaced the radiator.  So I spent part of yesterday getting that fixed.  

Now if I can just fix the garage door, which has gone on the blink lately, I may be able to sit back for a while.  I’ll be opening it manually for the time being because the openers and the opener have become enemies apparently.  They aren’t talking to each other now and the batteries are fine.  It’s back to my old friend, Google, to see if I can find a solution.  What did we do before the internet?  It’s too bad they didn’t teach courses like this in high school – something we could really benefit from as adults.

School Doesn’t Teach You Everything about Life

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Some of the basic things we learn in school are fine and dandy. Everyone should know how to read, write, and have basic math and English skills. However, school neglects to prepare us for the common things we will face as adults in society.


1.  Life is not always fair and that is something you have to get used to and deal with.

2.  Selling yourself to get a job is not easy. Often times, it is about being in the right place at the right time and having prior experience. Much of the time, it is about whom you know, and not necessarily, what you know. This is unfortunate, but how real life is.

3.  You will not graduate high school and/or college and find yourself in a high paying job automatically. You have to earn it by working.

4.  Employers are a lot harder to deal with than schoolteachers are. You don’t get many do-overs in real life.

5.  You have to take responsibility for all your screw-ups.  Your parents are not going to bail you out.

6.  Flipping burgers or emptying bedpans is not beneath your dignity. Usually everyone has to start at the bottom of the ladder and prove yourself in your job.

7.  They don’t divide real life into semesters. Your employer won’t let you take the summer off. Life isn’t like television.

8.  How to do your own laundry, shop for groceries, manage your paycheck, pay your taxes and still have enough money left over for car insurance, rent utilities and other responsibilities you have in adult life.

9.  All about living in a democracy where you can vote after you reach a certain age. How to make decisions concerning the candidates, the issues, and how they will affect you.

10.  How to feel good about yourself and be happy while you work towards your goals

11.  There should be a class on how to select the right friends and the other important people in your life. Will your high school friends stick around and keep in touch after graduation? True friends will be there to support you when you need it, even if this is just someone who is non-judgmental of you and you can bounce ideas off. We all need feedback about things from time to time.

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