Wmcmanus

Oh, on the class skipping thing, I'm with Sherwood on that one. Make your education count, man. Take it seriously and do as well as you can. These days, every edge you can get is bound to help you out at one point or another. Besides, class skippers really piss me off. About two years ago, I finally convinced my Dean that I should be able to do anything I want to do with the point allocations for courses I teach. So now, class attendance and participation is -- get this -- 50% of their grade! Used to be 10%, which didn't have any impact whatsoever. People skipped when they wanted to skip. I haven't had one student miss more than one class during the past two years. If they miss more than 3 classes there is no way they can earn an A. It's mathematically impossible. But the reality is, once they make a real commitment to learning, they do well anyway, and just "being there" really is half of the equation. If someone knows they will have to miss a class and, 1) notifies me about it in advance, 2) submits the assigned work via email on time, then I'll let it slide -- but only once. Any unexcused absences are penalized. Same goes when someone shows up to class but hasn't done the work, they're marked absent even though they are bodily present. Totally objective. If they can't show me they've done the work, they might as well not show up. Friggin' works like a charm. I've never enjoyed teaching more than I do now, knowing that ALL of my students will show up to EVERY class and will ALWAYS be prepared. It took me more than 20 years of experimentation to finally realize that you have to force a fair percentage of students to take responsibility for their own actions, or they simply won't do it on their own accord. Those who would have consistently shown up to class well prepared are now being rewarded for what they would have done anyway; those who would otherwise be slackers have nowhere to hide and now get A's and B's instead of C's and D's in my classes. Some of them grumbled at first, but fuck 'em. I'm not there to make friends. I'm there to help dipshits have a chance of becoming CPAs and lawyers.

Anyone with class wouldn't be associated with us to begin with!

I hear you there. Except usually its $15 for the first bag, $25 for the second, $40 or $50 or $11ty billion for the third, because each additional bag you check in increases the probability that a luggage handling thug will throw his back out, and somebody needs to pay for that! Then they act all surprised that the overhead bins are overflowing. The US airline industry is getting almost as bad as the US auto industry in their approach to 'innovation' and 'customer service'. I knew we were heading down this path several years ago when American first started to "offer" their "Bistro service" which meant that you had to grab a plastic sandwich in a box as you boarded the flight. Apparently, because it would have been too much effort for 3 flight attendants to hand passengers a sandwich at some point during a 4 hour flight. I think I've been flying too much again. Need to cut back and stay put more often. It gets frustrating when you think about how much you spend these days on airfare and how little you get in way of service in return.

Bring scotch.

Du hast mich.

I'll pitch in the last $2 if that's what you're worried about, unless you're thinking about catching the laser meet, in which case I really don't know what to say! (Although the laser meet pics are way cooler than any headphone meet pics I've ever seen.)

Happy birthday! Today, you can have a beef burger and fries!

Thanks, guys.

Seriously, goats would do it. My next door neighbor is from Trinidad, and that's exactly what he suggested with a "You know what we do back home..." lead in. The good thing about it is that nobody would ever even think about robbing this place when the yard is a mess like that.

Isn't that the same link I just posted?

I don't know if he's a member here, or whether anyone else has shared this, but I really like the "New Posts" search he's created that is designed to search just for gear that is for sale. It pulls in all Buy/Sell/Trade subforums. Thought it might be useful for others as well. Thread: How to exclude forums from "New Posts" - Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio Link referred to above: Head-Fi: Covering Headphones, Earphones and Portable Audio ^ This is the link toward the bottom of his opening post. As he mentions, it would need to be updated periodically to exclude any new non-FS forums that may be added from time to time. I've added it to my bookmark bar and it works quite well to give you the same kind of snapshot you get at Audiogon with New Today.

I haven't cut my grass since I visited Cayman in mid August. It's getting kind of high now, but I didn't remember to disconnect the battery of my riding lawn mower while I was away this summer, so I'll be needing a new battery. Been thinking maybe I ought to call the guy who cuts the grass for me in cases like this, which tend to happen about once per year. He's got a crew of 6 guys who can knock it out in an hour for about $120 and a pizza or two. But it just won't ever stop raining for long enough to allow a 2 feet high field of weeds and bush (err, grass) to dry out enough to be cut. There is one patch with some wild weeds that are now well over my head, probably pushing 8 feet high. Thankfully, my neighbors have a sense of humor and know that I mean well. That, and Santa brings candy for their kids at Christmas time.

Nah, I'l just use my cell phone.

I think it's more of a matter of being carful when traveling with it to make sure it doesn't get shoved in a bag underneath something else. Can't really take much weight. Don't let someone accidentally sit on it in your car, don't drop it, etc., because the case of the Kindle itself is affixed to those tabs which in turn creates a leverage effect . Odd design; those metal tabs all but guarantee that the first thing to absorb the shock is the thing that the case was supposedly designed to protect. But no big deal so long as you're aware of the possibility. Even knowing this, I was set to buy one myself until I stumbled upon the other one.

That's true. I've been reading that a lot. I might mothball it for a while and not get it registered until this Spring, and then do the motorcycle safety course and ride something else for a couple of months.

I'm hoping to be really slow, at least at first! No final deal yet, but soon, on a lightly used '08 S4RS Tricolore monster. At 130hp, it will be approximately 110hp more than my Vespa here in Cayman, so I'll really need to take it slow at first. All in self discipline, maturity, respect for the machine, and an understanding of one's own limitations in terms of knowledge and skill. I know, it's been nice knowing all of you as well...

Be careful with that one, because it can easily cause your Kindle's plastic case/housing to crack. There are several folks who have had this problem and apparently you don't need to put too terribly much pressure on it for the Kindle to crack. Then it becomes an issue of whether Amazon will stand behind their product or blame it on a "user error" and that seems to be a random function of who you get on the other end of the customer service call and how polished your Dale Carnegie skills are.

Ya, that's pretty much what I realized after converting my loose thoughts on the matter into a long, useless post. So I then immediately start clicking my way through the checkout process and promised to never doubt myself again in terms of being committed to black gadget holders. Black iPod with black case, black sleeve for my laptop, black case for my cell phone, black CD carrying cases, black camera and camcorder bags, etc., etc. So why not a black eReader cover?

Hey, I haven't paid my credit card bill yet either! Now how's that for living on the edge! BTW, Ken, I'm closing in on my Ducati purchase. No "Goosey Mo-Fo" for this guy.

Bob Dylan. Nah, just kidding. I meant to say John Grisham.

Missed the part about Friday night festivities, but I should be in town by then and if so, I'd definitely be there for whatever it is you're all doing. You know, I'm not even going to bother to read about what that might be, but I'll be there in any case. (My guess is that is has something to do with alcohol and live music.)

Fuck it, I ordered the black one. If I change my mind once I get it, I'll order a white one and then pass the black one along to someone at a good price.

That, and pretty much anything we now know and use or have used in the past. Ok, so I'm ready to order my Kindle 2, and have been puzzled as to which cover to buy for it. I've read Amazon reviews for seemingly hours, trying to find one cover that isn't objectionable on one level or another (doesn't fit, causes the Kindle case to crack, made of poor quality, costs too much, has a terrible smell, has parts that falls off or obscure the Kindle's buttons, you name it). So finally, I stumbled across a seemingly perfect case, and have decided to order one! Only problem: color. Being a black and white kind of guy, I've narrowed it down to White Stone and Black Stone. Amazon.com: (9 Color Option) Mivizu Amazon Kindle 2 2nd Generation Leather Book Cover Case accessory travel package with reading book light: Clothing Pro white - it blends in and is less likely to be a distraction while reading with the Kindle in the case. Con white - easier to get dirty, kind of girly, more attention drawing (in terms of theft), and most of the other stuff I carry around is black. Pro black - more of a manly look and goes well with my other travel gadgets. Con black - will it be distracting while reading with Kindle in case? I'm leaning toward black but would hate to be pulling the Kindle out all of the time to "go naked" in the event that the cover is distracting. For those who have Kindles or other eReaders, do you think the black case would be distracting, given that it wraps around everything?

He's the one who holds it all together.

Be careful, they kill people in Dallas for cheering against the Cowboys, and barbeque up them there ribs. Good ole' fashioned Texas cookin' at it's best!