USMB Coffee Shop IV

[Ernie S.]

Has it really been 2 weeks?
Wow!
Anyhow, hopefully I'll catch up a bit at a time. I'll try to catch y'all up a bit first.
I've graduated from 99% wheel chair to 90% crutches and then to 75% cane and 25% can't find the damned thing so I walk un-aided.
The leg still swells up if I'm upright more than a few hours but the bone pain is gone. The gabapentin for the neuropathy is losing it's affectiveness but I have found CBD oil that I take orally and in a vape. I am 99% pain free if I keep my load where it needs to be. It ain't cheap, but it does work for me.

A TV commercial that warned patients to notify their doctor if they've received an organ transplant got me thinking about 2 women who have been very important to me; one a donor and one a recipient of a liver transplant.
I wrote this, obviously, to the woman who has rebuilt her life after selling everything she had built to pay for a new liver. It's a tale of two remarkable women. Forgive me if I omit identifiers.

Jamie
I was just laying here, thinking about getting dressed and doing something productive and at essentially the same time, you and Maryanne came to mind.
Maryanne was a hippy/flower child until around 30 when she was abducted and raped, tied up and thrown in a pond. She was able to somehow kick herself to shore. (much like Jamie gave everything to survive)
Her whole focus changed. She no longer was the shy demure stay at home mother. In 2 years, she had a black belt in Tai Quando and packed a .44 magnum. Hell she even bought a couple of bras and got a job
I met her just after the rape and she and her husband and my wife and I became very close friends.
As Maryanne became emotionally stronger, her physical and inner beauty and new found confidence caused me to fall in love with her. The problem was we were all best friends and she and I were in love with our spouses.
We spoke of it once, kissed once and vowed to never go any farther.
Fast forward 5 years Her marriage was stressed by a severely handicapped son and her confidence. Her husband Frank would have preferred she had stayed the easily controlled flower child
Maryanne filed for divorce and she and the kids moved out. Frank was livid. The Italian macho shit would not allow him to accept failure at anything, much less lose his family.
At this point, Their 2 children are 16 (daughter) and 13 (son) The boy could not walk or stand speak, feed himself. He basically sat in a wheel chair and made sounds. He did respond and would laugh at childish jokes... think a 3 year old.
Maryanne brought the kids to the house once a week and stayed while they visited with their father. The visits mostly became an argument between the parents.
Well, one Wednesday, Maryanne got to the house just before Frank got in from work. Always cautious, Maryanne brought Adrian inside and asked Lisa to move her car to the end of the drive so she could leave if Frank went off the deep end.
Well, he did. While the only witness able to communicate was outside moving cars in the drive, there was a single gunshot. My love, my soulmate was shot in her left temple.
She was declared brain dead and kept on life support while transplant teams were assembled and recipients readied. I was actually the last person to say goodbye before she was taken to surgery.
My wife and I were broken. We left the hospital and went straight to our pastor. She was the associate pastor and a very compassionate woman roughly our age. Anyway, we were maybe 1/2 hour into our visit, when her husband, a pastor in another church came running into her office shouting "Jerry got a heart!" Yes the congregant of one pastor received the gift of life from the woman mourned by the congregants of another.
Just like Maryanne. She was always in the right place at the right time; for others, but not herself.
35 years later, I still mourn.

Who is Jamie?

Jamie is a dear friend who I respect and admire. She is flat out beautiful and has a genius level IQ. She's also almost 30 years my junior, so she will remain just a dear friend. (Dammit)

Don't sell yourself short. Age is just a number.

I could have a, let's say, more physical relationship with Jamie and I have captured a piece of her heart, but I could never have her to myself. She's just not built that way.

 

[Montrovant]

I got an A on my A&P exam. There were quite a few labeling questions, it's a good thing I was able to get those stuck in my mind before the test.

Algebra is on Saturday. I don't know how I'll do on that, but I'm less concerned with getting better than a passing grade for that class, as it isn't really related to my field of study; it's just one of those prereqs.

Montrovant , remind me to tell you an algebra joke sometime in the near future.

If it's anything like my class, I'll think it's funny for a few minutes, then completely forget why.

I'm getting a bit worried. Some of the stuff I am fine with, but some of it I don't remember how it is done 30 minutes after I've done it. There are just too many rules and formulae to remember, especially when I have other classes to remember things from. Hopefully I get plenty of multiple choice questions.

Still, I can probably pull off a C.

It's very interesting to read you from "the other side"... Performing exams for many years, you understand, all education is just a sort of roleplaying game, intended to force weak people's body and brain to get more information, needed in future A several days ago I've got a course in Coursera... I think, I will be unexemplary student, knowing, how it works ))

I almost certainly will not need any algebra in my future.

I thought that way once, too. I also thought I'd never need trigonometry, either...until I started working with AC and DC electric systems.

I find it unlikely I'll end up working in a field that requires trig. I figure I'll continue to do clerical work, or maybe a slight possibility of working with young kids again. Hell, maybe I'll do something medical outside of the clerical areas. I don't know what would happen to have me need any higher level math, though.

 

[Montrovant]

I got an A on my A&P exam. There were quite a few labeling questions, it's a good thing I was able to get those stuck in my mind before the test.

Algebra is on Saturday. I don't know how I'll do on that, but I'm less concerned with getting better than a passing grade for that class, as it isn't really related to my field of study; it's just one of those prereqs.

Montrovant , remind me to tell you an algebra joke sometime in the near future.

If it's anything like my class, I'll think it's funny for a few minutes, then completely forget why.

I'm getting a bit worried. Some of the stuff I am fine with, but some of it I don't remember how it is done 30 minutes after I've done it. There are just too many rules and formulae to remember, especially when I have other classes to remember things from. Hopefully I get plenty of multiple choice questions.

Still, I can probably pull off a C.

It's very interesting to read you from "the other side"... Performing exams for many years, you understand, all education is just a sort of roleplaying game, intended to force weak people's body and brain to get more information, needed in future A several days ago I've got a course in Coursera... I think, I will be unexemplary student, knowing, how it works ))

I almost certainly will not need any algebra in my future.

The only algebra I have had was one class in 9th grade and, like you, I didn't have strong aptitude for it. I honestly believe the only reason I made an A was because I was nice to the teacher when most of the other students were not. But you know what, all these decades later, I do find myself using it from time to time. So that fits into the category of universal truths that all knowledge is valuable.

I don't know if it's a lack of aptitude or just a poor memory. I generally can understand what's going on, I just forget the process if I don't keep using it. That makes it similar to any other area of study, but algebra doesn't have any of the reference points that I get with, say, my A&P class. I see or read about various parts of the body and their functions in different places: on the news, in TV shows or movies, or even when my employer talks about her job. I don't see algebra being used at any time other than when working on my class.

I also have a tendency to try to work through problems quickly, and as much in my head as I can. So then I might, for example, forget that if I'm going to simplify by getting the square root of two sides of an equation, my answer will be a plus/minus; x^2 = 25 becomes x = +/- 5, not just x = 5. I forget particular methods to factor, that certain situations require a particular simplification of an equations to allow another method to then be used, things like that. When I look up what to do, oh, yeah! That thing. But I can't look anything up during the exam.

Like I said, I think I should be OK to get a C. There is an exam review I'm doing today, and probably again tomorrow before the actual exam, and hopefully I will retain enough to pass. I'm guessing that a week after this class ends, however, I won't remember how to do any of this crap.

 

[Montrovant]

I do appreciate all of the encouragement I get here about my classes. I know I'm a pessimist, that's just how I am. It leads to a lot of frustration and unhappiness, but it is what it is.

There's almost 2 more years of my venting still to come, aren't you excited?

 

[peach174]

I like Ayn Rand very much. She celebrated the individual and condemned government interference in free development of talent, skills, resources, and industry. Objectivisim places the responsibility for each person's success, or failure, in their own hands. Unfortunately, she proved all-to-prophetic in her depiction of how government interference would affect social development.
I also really like Robert Heinlein. Have you read much Heinlein?

I do love Robert Heinlein and have read much of his books (and periodically re-read )) Objectivism is not a single idea, claimed a responsibility of persons for own success. But opposition of "creative" person to society is not a good idea. It's interesting, how different Ayn Rand percieved in US and in Russia, but as a raiser of question "How much each person could do against society" she's not alone, there are a lot of authors, from Dostoevsky to Efremov, raised the same problem...
At my sight, ideas of Ayn Rand - typical ideas of liberals, who lose the revolution and country 100 years ago... History showed, communism, as ideology, was more progressive... and, ironically, got the main problem of Ayn Rand's ideology at the end. It's not a bad idea, some "atlants" could rule of people progress, according with their high morals. The main problem - WHERE we can find people with such high morals, enough for successful rule of our sophisticated world?

P.S. Oldman Heinlein knew the construction of US society very good... But it's interesting to read, how he tried to apply his knowledges to Moscow life, organized by different principles ))))

Dostoevsky, I have read, I'm not familiar with Efremov (I'll have to look him up). Ayn Rand was a Soviet ex-pat, so I don't wonder she would be viewed somewhat differently here than in Russia. One difference is reflected in your observation the Rand's ideas are typical of liberals. Liberal/progressives here absolutely hate her because she promotes the achievement of the individual over the collective. And, yes, it would be something refreshing to find persons of high morals who could assume leadership. But we would still need the majority of other people to have high morals, as well.
Heinlein's earlier work was far more entertaining, later, he became a little "preachy". I don't mind. Many of his stories have played a great part in my own social and moral development. "Time Enough for Love" especially has had influence on my life philosophy.
Do you read James Michener? His book "The Drifters" is probably the biggest reason I joined the Army.

http://www.zaytsev.com/Efremov Andromeda.pdf - version on English. I've read it in an age of 7-8 years - it was a real awesome for me... But at first time I've read only chapters about space adventures, excluding Earth line )) I think, it's a book, made my outlook maybe for all life, ad least from childhood till current days...

The Ayn Rand ideas about individual strength and responsibility are not unique. Communist ideologist tried to advance individual responsibility too - the main question of Russian revolution, divided Russian on red and white, in fact, sounded not "can the people be individualist" but "WHO can be individualist" (and as second - which responsibilities he must have ). Maybe, I'm not so objective, because this revolution, in fact, not ended and "whites" want to replay history by all means, but I consider Ayn Rand as a part of "whites", which think, no one, except nobles, can be "free and individualistic". She don't speak about it directly, but I'm in "red" team, considering "anyone can be strong and individualistic, regardles of in which family he was born". But, offcourse, every people is responsible in the face of society and must not conflict with collective "because he is noble and have rights to do it"

About Heinlein - I've read a lot of his books. "History of future" - a lot of novels. "Space Patrol", some novels from Moon cycle, a several stories for children... And about Lazarus Long - from Methuselah's Children to "Sail Beyond The Sunset" (the last I'm reading now, by several pages in e-version ))
About Michener - I didn't knew about them till this moment, but it seems to be interesting... I'll try to find "Drifters"

Some of Michener's books are...descriptive to a fault. Both "Hawaii" and "Alaska" start with the birth of the land and move on from there. Ernest Hemingway was another author who was really very descriptive. I've read some of his stories in English, German, and Russian. All are great ways to build vocabulary.

It seems, Michener not so popular here... I've found only novel "Source" in e-shops - do you recommend it to read? Ernest Hemingway is good and popular in Russia. What can you say about Umberto Eco? Do you like books about Medieval and Renaissance history?

I do.
I read Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose about 20 years back or so in the 90's.
It was a pretty good mystery & history book, from what I can remember.

 

[ChrisL]

Has it really been 2 weeks?
Wow!
Anyhow, hopefully I'll catch up a bit at a time. I'll try to catch y'all up a bit first.
I've graduated from 99% wheel chair to 90% crutches and then to 75% cane and 25% can't find the damned thing so I walk un-aided.
The leg still swells up if I'm upright more than a few hours but the bone pain is gone. The gabapentin for the neuropathy is losing it's affectiveness but I have found CBD oil that I take orally and in a vape. I am 99% pain free if I keep my load where it needs to be. It ain't cheap, but it does work for me.

A TV commercial that warned patients to notify their doctor if they've received an organ transplant got me thinking about 2 women who have been very important to me; one a donor and one a recipient of a liver transplant.
I wrote this, obviously, to the woman who has rebuilt her life after selling everything she had built to pay for a new liver. It's a tale of two remarkable women. Forgive me if I omit identifiers.

Jamie
I was just laying here, thinking about getting dressed and doing something productive and at essentially the same time, you and Maryanne came to mind.
Maryanne was a hippy/flower child until around 30 when she was abducted and raped, tied up and thrown in a pond. She was able to somehow kick herself to shore. (much like Jamie gave everything to survive)
Her whole focus changed. She no longer was the shy demure stay at home mother. In 2 years, she had a black belt in Tai Quando and packed a .44 magnum. Hell she even bought a couple of bras and got a job
I met her just after the rape and she and her husband and my wife and I became very close friends.
As Maryanne became emotionally stronger, her physical and inner beauty and new found confidence caused me to fall in love with her. The problem was we were all best friends and she and I were in love with our spouses.
We spoke of it once, kissed once and vowed to never go any farther.
Fast forward 5 years Her marriage was stressed by a severely handicapped son and her confidence. Her husband Frank would have preferred she had stayed the easily controlled flower child
Maryanne filed for divorce and she and the kids moved out. Frank was livid. The Italian macho shit would not allow him to accept failure at anything, much less lose his family.
At this point, Their 2 children are 16 (daughter) and 13 (son) The boy could not walk or stand speak, feed himself. He basically sat in a wheel chair and made sounds. He did respond and would laugh at childish jokes... think a 3 year old.
Maryanne brought the kids to the house once a week and stayed while they visited with their father. The visits mostly became an argument between the parents.
Well, one Wednesday, Maryanne got to the house just before Frank got in from work. Always cautious, Maryanne brought Adrian inside and asked Lisa to move her car to the end of the drive so she could leave if Frank went off the deep end.
Well, he did. While the only witness able to communicate was outside moving cars in the drive, there was a single gunshot. My love, my soulmate was shot in her left temple.
She was declared brain dead and kept on life support while transplant teams were assembled and recipients readied. I was actually the last person to say goodbye before she was taken to surgery.
My wife and I were broken. We left the hospital and went straight to our pastor. She was the associate pastor and a very compassionate woman roughly our age. Anyway, we were maybe 1/2 hour into our visit, when her husband, a pastor in another church came running into her office shouting "Jerry got a heart!" Yes the congregant of one pastor received the gift of life from the woman mourned by the congregants of another.
Just like Maryanne. She was always in the right place at the right time; for others, but not herself.
35 years later, I still mourn.

Who is Jamie?

Jamie is a dear friend who I respect and admire. She is flat out beautiful and has a genius level IQ. She's also almost 30 years my junior, so she will remain just a dear friend. (Dammit)

So? She's an adult? Lol! It's not like she is a child or a teenager or something, right? I don't see the problem with age gap relationships, as long as both are adults (not just legally of course!).

 

[ChrisL]

Has it really been 2 weeks?
Wow!
Anyhow, hopefully I'll catch up a bit at a time. I'll try to catch y'all up a bit first.
I've graduated from 99% wheel chair to 90% crutches and then to 75% cane and 25% can't find the damned thing so I walk un-aided.
The leg still swells up if I'm upright more than a few hours but the bone pain is gone. The gabapentin for the neuropathy is losing it's affectiveness but I have found CBD oil that I take orally and in a vape. I am 99% pain free if I keep my load where it needs to be. It ain't cheap, but it does work for me.

A TV commercial that warned patients to notify their doctor if they've received an organ transplant got me thinking about 2 women who have been very important to me; one a donor and one a recipient of a liver transplant.
I wrote this, obviously, to the woman who has rebuilt her life after selling everything she had built to pay for a new liver. It's a tale of two remarkable women. Forgive me if I omit identifiers.

Jamie
I was just laying here, thinking about getting dressed and doing something productive and at essentially the same time, you and Maryanne came to mind.
Maryanne was a hippy/flower child until around 30 when she was abducted and raped, tied up and thrown in a pond. She was able to somehow kick herself to shore. (much like Jamie gave everything to survive)
Her whole focus changed. She no longer was the shy demure stay at home mother. In 2 years, she had a black belt in Tai Quando and packed a .44 magnum. Hell she even bought a couple of bras and got a job
I met her just after the rape and she and her husband and my wife and I became very close friends.
As Maryanne became emotionally stronger, her physical and inner beauty and new found confidence caused me to fall in love with her. The problem was we were all best friends and she and I were in love with our spouses.
We spoke of it once, kissed once and vowed to never go any farther.
Fast forward 5 years Her marriage was stressed by a severely handicapped son and her confidence. Her husband Frank would have preferred she had stayed the easily controlled flower child
Maryanne filed for divorce and she and the kids moved out. Frank was livid. The Italian macho shit would not allow him to accept failure at anything, much less lose his family.
At this point, Their 2 children are 16 (daughter) and 13 (son) The boy could not walk or stand speak, feed himself. He basically sat in a wheel chair and made sounds. He did respond and would laugh at childish jokes... think a 3 year old.
Maryanne brought the kids to the house once a week and stayed while they visited with their father. The visits mostly became an argument between the parents.
Well, one Wednesday, Maryanne got to the house just before Frank got in from work. Always cautious, Maryanne brought Adrian inside and asked Lisa to move her car to the end of the drive so she could leave if Frank went off the deep end.
Well, he did. While the only witness able to communicate was outside moving cars in the drive, there was a single gunshot. My love, my soulmate was shot in her left temple.
She was declared brain dead and kept on life support while transplant teams were assembled and recipients readied. I was actually the last person to say goodbye before she was taken to surgery.
My wife and I were broken. We left the hospital and went straight to our pastor. She was the associate pastor and a very compassionate woman roughly our age. Anyway, we were maybe 1/2 hour into our visit, when her husband, a pastor in another church came running into her office shouting "Jerry got a heart!" Yes the congregant of one pastor received the gift of life from the woman mourned by the congregants of another.
Just like Maryanne. She was always in the right place at the right time; for others, but not herself.
35 years later, I still mourn.

Who is Jamie?

Jamie is a dear friend who I respect and admire. She is flat out beautiful and has a genius level IQ. She's also almost 30 years my junior, so she will remain just a dear friend. (Dammit)

Don't sell yourself short. Age is just a number.

I could have a, let's say, more physical relationship with Jamie and I have captured a piece of her heart, but I could never have her to myself. She's just not built that way.

Why not? She likes to "spread the love?"

 

[Foxfyre]

I do appreciate all of the encouragement I get here about my classes. I know I'm a pessimist, that's just how I am. It leads to a lot of frustration and unhappiness, but it is what it is.

There's almost 2 more years of my venting still to come, aren't you excited?

That's okay. We have to spend all our optimism somewhere. Might as well be on you.

 

[Montrovant]

Has it really been 2 weeks?
Wow!
Anyhow, hopefully I'll catch up a bit at a time. I'll try to catch y'all up a bit first.
I've graduated from 99% wheel chair to 90% crutches and then to 75% cane and 25% can't find the damned thing so I walk un-aided.
The leg still swells up if I'm upright more than a few hours but the bone pain is gone. The gabapentin for the neuropathy is losing it's affectiveness but I have found CBD oil that I take orally and in a vape. I am 99% pain free if I keep my load where it needs to be. It ain't cheap, but it does work for me.

A TV commercial that warned patients to notify their doctor if they've received an organ transplant got me thinking about 2 women who have been very important to me; one a donor and one a recipient of a liver transplant.
I wrote this, obviously, to the woman who has rebuilt her life after selling everything she had built to pay for a new liver. It's a tale of two remarkable women. Forgive me if I omit identifiers.

Jamie
I was just laying here, thinking about getting dressed and doing something productive and at essentially the same time, you and Maryanne came to mind.
Maryanne was a hippy/flower child until around 30 when she was abducted and raped, tied up and thrown in a pond. She was able to somehow kick herself to shore. (much like Jamie gave everything to survive)
Her whole focus changed. She no longer was the shy demure stay at home mother. In 2 years, she had a black belt in Tai Quando and packed a .44 magnum. Hell she even bought a couple of bras and got a job
I met her just after the rape and she and her husband and my wife and I became very close friends.
As Maryanne became emotionally stronger, her physical and inner beauty and new found confidence caused me to fall in love with her. The problem was we were all best friends and she and I were in love with our spouses.
We spoke of it once, kissed once and vowed to never go any farther.
Fast forward 5 years Her marriage was stressed by a severely handicapped son and her confidence. Her husband Frank would have preferred she had stayed the easily controlled flower child
Maryanne filed for divorce and she and the kids moved out. Frank was livid. The Italian macho shit would not allow him to accept failure at anything, much less lose his family.
At this point, Their 2 children are 16 (daughter) and 13 (son) The boy could not walk or stand speak, feed himself. He basically sat in a wheel chair and made sounds. He did respond and would laugh at childish jokes... think a 3 year old.
Maryanne brought the kids to the house once a week and stayed while they visited with their father. The visits mostly became an argument between the parents.
Well, one Wednesday, Maryanne got to the house just before Frank got in from work. Always cautious, Maryanne brought Adrian inside and asked Lisa to move her car to the end of the drive so she could leave if Frank went off the deep end.
Well, he did. While the only witness able to communicate was outside moving cars in the drive, there was a single gunshot. My love, my soulmate was shot in her left temple.
She was declared brain dead and kept on life support while transplant teams were assembled and recipients readied. I was actually the last person to say goodbye before she was taken to surgery.
My wife and I were broken. We left the hospital and went straight to our pastor. She was the associate pastor and a very compassionate woman roughly our age. Anyway, we were maybe 1/2 hour into our visit, when her husband, a pastor in another church came running into her office shouting "Jerry got a heart!" Yes the congregant of one pastor received the gift of life from the woman mourned by the congregants of another.
Just like Maryanne. She was always in the right place at the right time; for others, but not herself.
35 years later, I still mourn.

Who is Jamie?

Jamie is a dear friend who I respect and admire. She is flat out beautiful and has a genius level IQ. She's also almost 30 years my junior, so she will remain just a dear friend. (Dammit)

So? She's an adult? Lol! It's not like she is a child or a teenager or something, right? I don't see the problem with age gap relationships, as long as both are adults (not just legally of course!).

Well, there are issues of lifespan, if you are talking about a long term relationship. Those are exacerbated when you're talking about an older man, as I believe that women tend to live a bit longer. As part of that difference, there are also quality of life and physical limitations to consider; a 70-year old may not be physically capable of doing some of the things a 40-year old might enjoy. Then there are the age-related illnesses or conditions to consider, and whether the younger partner is willing to accept the need to care for the older partner under such circumstances (and whether the older partner is willing to place that sort of burden on the younger partner).

Those are, obviously, just generalized factors, individual cases will vary. Age is just one more thing to consider before committing to a long-term relationship. I'm not saying that a large age gap relationship should never be entered into, but I do think it deserves careful consideration.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Montrovant , remind me to tell you an algebra joke sometime in the near future.

If it's anything like my class, I'll think it's funny for a few minutes, then completely forget why.

I'm getting a bit worried. Some of the stuff I am fine with, but some of it I don't remember how it is done 30 minutes after I've done it. There are just too many rules and formulae to remember, especially when I have other classes to remember things from. Hopefully I get plenty of multiple choice questions.

Still, I can probably pull off a C.

It's very interesting to read you from "the other side"... Performing exams for many years, you understand, all education is just a sort of roleplaying game, intended to force weak people's body and brain to get more information, needed in future A several days ago I've got a course in Coursera... I think, I will be unexemplary student, knowing, how it works ))

I almost certainly will not need any algebra in my future.

I thought that way once, too. I also thought I'd never need trigonometry, either...until I started working with AC and DC electric systems.

I find it unlikely I'll end up working in a field that requires trig. I figure I'll continue to do clerical work, or maybe a slight possibility of working with young kids again. Hell, maybe I'll do something medical outside of the clerical areas. I don't know what would happen to have me need any higher level math, though.

I have made peace with both trig and algebra, but I spent most of a semester of calculus wiping drool off my chin and desk. Theoretically, I understand there are uses for it, like calculating the volume of water flowing through a certain section of a river, but why? Again, you would have to have a use for it before it made much sense how to do it.

 

[gallantwarrior]

Montrovant , remind me to tell you an algebra joke sometime in the near future.

If it's anything like my class, I'll think it's funny for a few minutes, then completely forget why.

I'm getting a bit worried. Some of the stuff I am fine with, but some of it I don't remember how it is done 30 minutes after I've done it. There are just too many rules and formulae to remember, especially when I have other classes to remember things from. Hopefully I get plenty of multiple choice questions.

Still, I can probably pull off a C.

It's very interesting to read you from "the other side"... Performing exams for many years, you understand, all education is just a sort of roleplaying game, intended to force weak people's body and brain to get more information, needed in future A several days ago I've got a course in Coursera... I think, I will be unexemplary student, knowing, how it works ))

I almost certainly will not need any algebra in my future.

The only algebra I have had was one class in 9th grade and, like you, I didn't have strong aptitude for it. I honestly believe the only reason I made an A was because I was nice to the teacher when most of the other students were not. But you know what, all these decades later, I do find myself using it from time to time. So that fits into the category of universal truths that all knowledge is valuable.

I don't know if it's a lack of aptitude or just a poor memory. I generally can understand what's going on, I just forget the process if I don't keep using it. That makes it similar to any other area of study, but algebra doesn't have any of the reference points that I get with, say, my A&P class. I see or read about various parts of the body and their functions in different places: on the news, in TV shows or movies, or even when my employer talks about her job. I don't see algebra being used at any time other than when working on my class.

I also have a tendency to try to work through problems quickly, and as much in my head as I can. So then I might, for example, forget that if I'm going to simplify by getting the square root of two sides of an equation, my answer will be a plus/minus; x^2 = 25 becomes x = +/- 5, not just x = 5. I forget particular methods to factor, that certain situations require a particular simplification of an equations to allow another method to then be used, things like that. When I look up what to do, oh, yeah! That thing. But I can't look anything up during the exam.

Like I said, I think I should be OK to get a C. There is an exam review I'm doing today, and probably again tomorrow before the actual exam, and hopefully I will retain enough to pass. I'm guessing that a week after this class ends, however, I won't remember how to do any of this crap.

Good luck, Montro! I was almost 26 before algebra clicked. Geometry was easy because by that time I had become a construction draftsman and needed to use it often.

 

[Foxfyre]

If it's anything like my class, I'll think it's funny for a few minutes, then completely forget why.

I'm getting a bit worried. Some of the stuff I am fine with, but some of it I don't remember how it is done 30 minutes after I've done it. There are just too many rules and formulae to remember, especially when I have other classes to remember things from. Hopefully I get plenty of multiple choice questions.

Still, I can probably pull off a C.

It's very interesting to read you from "the other side"... Performing exams for many years, you understand, all education is just a sort of roleplaying game, intended to force weak people's body and brain to get more information, needed in future A several days ago I've got a course in Coursera... I think, I will be unexemplary student, knowing, how it works ))

I almost certainly will not need any algebra in my future.

I thought that way once, too. I also thought I'd never need trigonometry, either...until I started working with AC and DC electric systems.

I find it unlikely I'll end up working in a field that requires trig. I figure I'll continue to do clerical work, or maybe a slight possibility of working with young kids again. Hell, maybe I'll do something medical outside of the clerical areas. I don't know what would happen to have me need any higher level math, though.

I have made peace with both trig and algebra, but I spent most of a semester of calculus wiping drool off my chin and desk. Theoretically, I understand there are uses for it, like calculating the volume of water flowing through a certain section of a river, but why? Again, you would have to have a use for it before it made much sense how to do it.

Our son had a terrible time getting Calculus and had to have a ton of it for his engineering degree. After flunking Calculus I twice he finally hired a tutor and made an A on the third attempt. And then he sailed through Calculus II and III with no problems. It was just a matter of that light switch that clicks on and suddenly we understand. (It never really fully clicked on for me with algebra though. Geometry was easy peasy.)

 

[gallantwarrior]

It's very interesting to read you from "the other side"... Performing exams for many years, you understand, all education is just a sort of roleplaying game, intended to force weak people's body and brain to get more information, needed in future A several days ago I've got a course in Coursera... I think, I will be unexemplary student, knowing, how it works ))

I almost certainly will not need any algebra in my future.

I thought that way once, too. I also thought I'd never need trigonometry, either...until I started working with AC and DC electric systems.

I find it unlikely I'll end up working in a field that requires trig. I figure I'll continue to do clerical work, or maybe a slight possibility of working with young kids again. Hell, maybe I'll do something medical outside of the clerical areas. I don't know what would happen to have me need any higher level math, though.

I have made peace with both trig and algebra, but I spent most of a semester of calculus wiping drool off my chin and desk. Theoretically, I understand there are uses for it, like calculating the volume of water flowing through a certain section of a river, but why? Again, you would have to have a use for it before it made much sense how to do it.

Our son had a terrible time getting Calculus and had to have a ton of it for his engineering degree. After flunking Calculus I twice he finally hired a tutor and made an A on the third attempt. And then he sailed through Calculus II and III with no problems. It was just a matter of that light switch that clicks on and suddenly we understand. (It never really fully clicked on for me with algebra though. Geometry was easy peasy.)

The only class I ever failed in HS was algebra. I did well in geometry, though. Maybe because geometry deals with shapes and more "concrete" concepts?

 

[Ringel05]

I almost certainly will not need any algebra in my future.

I thought that way once, too. I also thought I'd never need trigonometry, either...until I started working with AC and DC electric systems.

I find it unlikely I'll end up working in a field that requires trig. I figure I'll continue to do clerical work, or maybe a slight possibility of working with young kids again. Hell, maybe I'll do something medical outside of the clerical areas. I don't know what would happen to have me need any higher level math, though.

I have made peace with both trig and algebra, but I spent most of a semester of calculus wiping drool off my chin and desk. Theoretically, I understand there are uses for it, like calculating the volume of water flowing through a certain section of a river, but why? Again, you would have to have a use for it before it made much sense how to do it.

Our son had a terrible time getting Calculus and had to have a ton of it for his engineering degree. After flunking Calculus I twice he finally hired a tutor and made an A on the third attempt. And then he sailed through Calculus II and III with no problems. It was just a matter of that light switch that clicks on and suddenly we understand. (It never really fully clicked on for me with algebra though. Geometry was easy peasy.)

The only class I ever failed in HS was algebra. I did well in geometry, though. Maybe because geometry deals with shapes and more "concrete" concepts?

Said it before, I took algebra three times, twice in HS and once in college, aced it every time....... However today I could not solve an algebraic question if my life depended on it, just never used it after school.

 

[Ringel05]

Today was mostly a day of rest for both of us, both too worn out to do much of anything except veg. I even took a 2 hour nap but still feel like I could sleep for a couple of days straight.

 

[Montrovant]

I almost certainly will not need any algebra in my future.

I thought that way once, too. I also thought I'd never need trigonometry, either...until I started working with AC and DC electric systems.

I find it unlikely I'll end up working in a field that requires trig. I figure I'll continue to do clerical work, or maybe a slight possibility of working with young kids again. Hell, maybe I'll do something medical outside of the clerical areas. I don't know what would happen to have me need any higher level math, though.

I have made peace with both trig and algebra, but I spent most of a semester of calculus wiping drool off my chin and desk. Theoretically, I understand there are uses for it, like calculating the volume of water flowing through a certain section of a river, but why? Again, you would have to have a use for it before it made much sense how to do it.

Our son had a terrible time getting Calculus and had to have a ton of it for his engineering degree. After flunking Calculus I twice he finally hired a tutor and made an A on the third attempt. And then he sailed through Calculus II and III with no problems. It was just a matter of that light switch that clicks on and suddenly we understand. (It never really fully clicked on for me with algebra though. Geometry was easy peasy.)

The only class I ever failed in HS was algebra. I did well in geometry, though. Maybe because geometry deals with shapes and more "concrete" concepts?

I failed a bunch of classes in HS.....but I don't think I ever failed a class I actually tried to pass. I basically gave up on school when I hit 11th grade.

 

[Montrovant]

I think a big part of my problem with this algebra class is that I haven't done any algebra in a quarter century or more. I don't have the base to work off of, I'd long since forgotten all of my HS algebra.

There are some things I'm still having the damnedest time trying to remember. However, I just got done running through our practice exam, and I ended up getting 36/44, which works out to a B. A couple of my wrong answers were actually just typos, but I have to expect that will happen on the exam tomorrow.

Hopefully the actual exam will go similarly to the practice test. I'll try to go over some of the parts that give me problems before the test tomorrow. It's frustrating when I get to a question and completely draw a blank as to the process of solving, but if that only happens for a few as it did on the practice test, I should be good.

 

[Ringel05]

I thought that way once, too. I also thought I'd never need trigonometry, either...until I started working with AC and DC electric systems.

I find it unlikely I'll end up working in a field that requires trig. I figure I'll continue to do clerical work, or maybe a slight possibility of working with young kids again. Hell, maybe I'll do something medical outside of the clerical areas. I don't know what would happen to have me need any higher level math, though.

I have made peace with both trig and algebra, but I spent most of a semester of calculus wiping drool off my chin and desk. Theoretically, I understand there are uses for it, like calculating the volume of water flowing through a certain section of a river, but why? Again, you would have to have a use for it before it made much sense how to do it.

Our son had a terrible time getting Calculus and had to have a ton of it for his engineering degree. After flunking Calculus I twice he finally hired a tutor and made an A on the third attempt. And then he sailed through Calculus II and III with no problems. It was just a matter of that light switch that clicks on and suddenly we understand. (It never really fully clicked on for me with algebra though. Geometry was easy peasy.)

The only class I ever failed in HS was algebra. I did well in geometry, though. Maybe because geometry deals with shapes and more "concrete" concepts?

I failed a bunch of classes in HS.....but I don't think I ever failed a class I actually tried to pass. I basically gave up on school when I hit 11th grade.

You sound like me. My problem is I learned too quickly and found HS boring, it got so bad I almost flunked my senior year because of non participation, my mom started attending classes with me and suddenly I went from Fs to straight As....... When I was discharged from the Navy I was ready to go back to school, I wanted to learn.

 

[flacaltenn]

I think a big part of my problem with this algebra class is that I haven't done any algebra in a quarter century or more. I don't have the base to work off of, I'd long since forgotten all of my HS algebra.

There are some things I'm still having the damnedest time trying to remember. However, I just got done running through our practice exam, and I ended up getting 36/44, which works out to a B. A couple of my wrong answers were actually just typos, but I have to expect that will happen on the exam tomorrow.

Hopefully the actual exam will go similarly to the practice test. I'll try to go over some of the parts that give me problems before the test tomorrow. It's frustrating when I get to a question and completely draw a blank as to the process of solving, but if that only happens for a few as it did on the practice test, I should be good.

Even if you tried today to pass algebra, calculus -- the genius at Ed schools have abstracted those things so far, they are unrecognizable today. Equations are "Number Sentences". Because well --- the word Equation was too threatening. And they never teach the fundamental ONE WAY to solve anything that ALWAYS works. They confuse kids with 8 ways to do long division or 3 ways to find the roots of a polynomial. The emphasis on "estimation" blows their minds. Especially on tests when they get marked down if their "estimate" is more accurate than the teacher wanted.

Wife and I have been asked to tutor several children of friends. We can straighten them out in literally 2 or 3 weeks by showing them the BEST way first. They are so hopelessly frustrated by all the attempts to make math "friendlier" that they just give up.. .

 

[Gracie]

Y'all keep your fingers crossed! I got "the call" today. Yes, a unit will be available within the next month..maybe sometime late July. It depends on a few factors.

But..it looks like...we get to go home! Soon!