Manhole Covers

Well, perhaps manhole is not right word these days, but that's the term I grew up with.  Anyway, on my walk today I noticed how different manhole covers have different looks.  And for want of something more interesting to share with you, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of an underappreciated aspect of Ottawa -- its manhole cover designs.

Here goes.  You can guess what each one is for, so I will just let the pictures speak for themselves!

See what your city/town does on its manhole covers.  They tell quite an interesting tale, I think.

Till next time!

There's Nothing New in the World

Yesterday one of the major internet/wireless providers in Canada had a massive outage that lasted most of the day.  Tens of millions went without cell/internet service, and multiple companies, including some banks and government agencies, came to a halt.  This even got reported on BBC and NPR, so I guess it's a really big thing.

But in the overall scheme of things, it's just another one of those "shit happens" things in life, ain't it?

As Shakespeare wrote in Hamlet:

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely,
The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay,
The insolence of office and the spurns
That patient merit of the unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin? who would fardels bear,
To grunt and sweat under a weary life,

Indeed, if you consider the context, the shit that happened everyday was so much worse 400 years ago in Shakespeare's time.   Yet people lived and moved on.  They probably had different expressions for it, but essentially it comes back to "shit happens," no?

And face it, this type of thing is all around us.  One minute you are doing your thing, and next thing Russian bombs and missiles fall on you just to satisfy fucking Putin's fantasy of rebuilding the Russian Empire.

One moment you are chilling on the beach, and next thing a tsunami brings to an end everything you know and love.

Or, closer to home, one day you were living a regular day, and next thing you know the killjoy that is Covid stopped the music.

When the internet/cell outage happened, I recalled that scene in Stephen King's The Mist, when power was out and no technology worked and people had no idea what to do anymore.  Those who live by the sword, I guess, die by the sword.  Last night we went out to dinner.  The restaurant's payment system was down due to the wireless debacle.  They found this old credit card machine.  You remember the old days when they mechanically slide this gadget across your credit card and give you a carbon copy?  Like in the 70s and 80s.  Haha.  What a blast from the past!  But they couldn't figure out how to use it!  So they had to manually copy down all the credit card information from each customer, and actually write out the amount etc.  Oh what fun.  Especially when people tried to figure out how much to tip, or when they wanted to split the bill!  There is a reason why we learn arithmetic.  Fucking A.

And of course so much for a cashless society.  Stopped at a gas station, and they had a sign up, CASH ONLY.  A lot of people don't even carry $5 cash on them.  And, haha, bank machines didn't work either!

Instead, why not take it as a chance to live without the fucking cell for a day.  Detox from the shit.  We don't really to be surgically attached to the phone all day long, no?

Interesting, this attachment to and fascination with new technology is nothing else, notwithstanding each generation's fervent belief that THEIR technological advancement is the only marvel.   Some 600 years ago, noted Samuel Pepys in his famous diary, when watches first came to being, he could not stop checking his watch ALL DAY LONG.  Prior to that, of course, people didn't really care what time it was.  But once the watch was invented, telling time became a "necessity."  But is it really?  Is the cell really a necessity?  You be the judge.

Or, if it's this bad, killing oneself may help, though as Shakespeare also wrote,

But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscover’d country from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
Thus conscience does make cowards of us all;

Yeah, things could be worse where you're headed.

All this is nothing new.  Step back and chill.  Life, as bad it is, goes on with or without you being happy.  So, to be or not to be?  Your choice.  Maybe better to just CARRY ON and DRINK SOME TEA.

SUMMER READING

I don't think I'm getting OLD, but some of my earliest memories is the mid-life crisis...

 

Finally I have kind of settled into a summer routine.  Since I'm not taking courses in the summer, I'm doing my usual edX online courses (which I audit) for fun.  And, again, decide to start a summer reading plan.  Now, I KNOW for sure I won't get to complete the list this summer, but it doesn't hurt to have an ambitious plan nonetheless.  Are you interested to know what the list is?

Here we go:

Re-read 1984.  (done)

The Swerve: how the world became modern, by Stephen Greenblatt.  (done)

The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve, by Stephen Greenblatt.  (done)

Marvelous Possessions, by Stephen Greenblatt.  (just starting)

(btw, do you get a sense that I am big Greenblatt fan?)

Around the World in 80 Books, by David Damrosch.

Lectures on Shakespeare, by W. H. Auden.

The Age of Anxiety, by W. H. Auden.

Dishonesty is the Second Best Policy, by David Mitchell.

Klara and the Sun, by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Let's see how many I get done by summer's end.  Not even half, that would be my guess...

And what about you, dear reader.  What are you up to this summer?  Wanna share your plans?

Decision Made

For a while now I've been agonizing over the question of whether to stay in the MA program or to switch to the law program.  Well, I've now filed the paperwork to officially withdraw from the MA, so in the fall I will be enrolled in the law program.

What finally decided the issue?

As I've told you before, there's a paucity of course offerings in the summer (and I am technically required to stay enrolled in every semester).  So I registered for a course on Social Change.  Unfortunately it's taught by a prof I had as an undergrad, and I found him wanting.  It doesn't seem appropriate that I take another class with him.  After all, I am doing this for fun, and that guy is quite unacceptable.

But I still waited, hoping perhaps that the course offerings for next school year would be better.  The courses came out a couple of days ago, and they are the same offerings as this past year, taught by the same people.  So the good ones I already took, and the others were ones I didn't like or ones I dropped.  There's no point staying, is there?

I filed the paperwork this morning.

To clarify, I am not enrolling in law school.  No point in that either, since I am really interested in the technicalities of law.  This certificate in law program is a part time program, so I can just take one class at a time.  And the courses include a great many that are from a socio-historical perspective.  Just the sort of thing I get a kick out of.  Imagine a social science approach to legal matters.  As an added bonus, I can also enrol in other undergrad classes as long as I have the pre-reqs.  These non-law classes won't count towards the certificate, but that's ok.  And oh yes, the certificate is counted as an undergrad program.  Even the JD program is not considered a graduate program in Canada.  Only JDs who choose to teach consider themselves as having graduate degrees.  Wrongly so, but that's another story.  Sorry, Captain!

By the same token, MDs are not considered graduate degrees in Canada either.  So there.

So thanks for bearing with me as I agonized over the decision.  Now onwards to a different chapter.  Guess I should change the title of this blog back to Chunski's Undergraduate Adventures!

I should say, quite without any kind of humility, that I did manage to squeeze three A+ in the three MA courses that I did take. Haha.  For whatever that's worth.

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Bought a proper dutch oven the other day.  Finally gave in.  Pretty cool though.  Made a beef short rib dish with it, and then baked a loaf of bread as well.  Very versatile.  And so nice-looking.  Got a sky-blue one.  Just to brighten things up as we now head into summer.

If you enjoy cooking, and don't own one, I highly recommend it.  Get a real one though, not those lookalike things.  I got a Staub.  Very nice.  Built like a tank.  Not a Russian tank, hopefully.

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Till next time!

Goose and Gander

Apparently Ukraine sent a couple of helicopters and bombed an oil depot inside Russia.  Now Russia is accusing Ukraine of this, and warns that this may impact negotiations with Ukraine.

What's good for the goose is good for the gander, no?  

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I didn't follow the Oscars, but even I know about the slap that Will Smith administered on Chris Rock.

I'm actually surprised it's only a slap.  Which begs the question, what would I have done under the circumstances, had I been in Smith's shoes.  What would YOU have done, dear reader?

Toxic masculinity and all that.  I get that.  It's easy to say how wrong it is to physically attack another person.  I don't disagree.  But are there no circumstances under which that may be at least understandable?

So the question remains, what would I have done?  No, I won't call myself a peace loving man who is a pacifist and all that.  I do believe sometimes brute force is needed.  But what "times"?  When someone makes a joke in public about your wife's health condition, is that reason enough?  Or does that someone has to come over and do something physical first?

So let's alter the question a bit.  What if Rock had gone over and say, "brushed" the wife's head.  Does that justify action by Smith?

Or to go further, what if Rock had gone over and pretended to be shaving her head?  What then?

I guess my question is, where does one draw the line?  In fact, I'm sure that even if Rock had physically gone over and did something physical, and Smith slapped him, there will still be outcry over Smith's reaction.  Such is the PC world in which we live.

Am I on Smith's side?  I don't know.  But I do know that if I were to act, I would not have just slapped him.

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Some Schools Build Gyms

Spring is here.  I hope it stays a while and not let winter creep back in any time soon.  For my walk today, I decided to take a detour and go to the site of uOttawa's second campus, also where the football field is.  It's called Lees Campus, since it's located a few miles away from the main campus and is located on Lees Avenue.  Part of it is now a big construction site.

Well, some schools build gyms.  Others build academic buildings.  Here is the future home of uOttawa's Faculty of Health Sciences.  It's going to be a LEED Platinum building, so should be quite neat and sustainable as well.  Will it get done before I am done with school here?  Probably, at the rate I am going, haha.

I will post more updates as to progress as I go by over time.

So, Social Science has a new building.  Business has one, which is also where History is.  Engineering has one.  STEMS has its own.  Law has its own building, which is not new but not too old.  Medical school has its own at the Ottawa Hospital.  Which makes me wonder when they will get around to constructing a new one for Arts!  As a graduate of the Faculty of Arts, I would like that very much.  Currently Faculty of Arts is housed is several buildings, all old, apart from History.  It's time we had a glorious new home!!!  I'll even contribute $50 to it!  Hey, I am a poor retiree!

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Waiting to find out what courses are offered in the summer/spring term.  I will have to decide before April 1 whether to continue in the MA or switch to the certificate in law.  Decisions, decisions.

Well, these are minor problems, eh?  I remember a while back, when I was still teaching, and students were complaining about stuff, I used to say, "be thankful you're not in Syria."

Now, be thankful I'm not in Ukraine.  I passed by the Russian Embassy yesterday evening, and even at that late hours there were protestors outside waving the Ukrainian flag and lambasting Putin.  What the fuck is the matter with that asshole.  Doesn't the world have enough misery already, what with Covid and shit like that.  

Back in the 40s and 50s, the US should have listened to MacArthur and Patton.  Alas...

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I'll leave you with this which I heard today.

I used to date an optician.

When I told her I couldn't see her anymore, she moved closer and said, "Is this better?"

Stay healthy.

Maybe a bit esoteric

As one does in school, one reads a lot of academic papers, and particularly in a graduate program.  It's actually very hard for me, because I can't resist engaging with the articles as if I were a reviewer.  So much of what I read I find frustrating, and I often wonder how journal reviewers and editors let some of these papers get published.

Personally I think making higher education more accessible is full of good intentions.  But the execution is not well-thought out.  When the global North decided to widen access to higher education, it created wider demand for faculty.  Where would they come from?  Consequently many more PhDs were minted, many by schools that have no business granting doctorates.  But as you may guess, some of these accreditation bodies are a joke.  All they care is that the Ts are crossed and the Is are dotted.  And long-winded essays are written in some obtuse fashion so as to prove the school's worth.

Anyway, as far as I'm concerned, many so-called PhDs give fellow doctorate holders a bad name.  I mean, seriously, if one can get a PhD in three years, and one is nowhere near a genius, well....  If dear reader, you are one of those, let's just assume you are a genius.

Take research.  I am simply amazed that even in the 21st century, so many published articles still report only alphas on their instruments.  We have known since the 70s that demonstrating reliability isn't enough.  If a measure is not valid, it's bullshit.  And a measure can be reliable but not valid.  A study that only reports reliability means absolutely zilch.  I would have thought that today editors and reviewers would have totally DEMANDED validity data.  But oh no.  WTF.

And I was reading this article, and they reported all this statistics etc.  Only then I notice that despite all that so-called statistical significance and elaborate math, the R-squared reported was, get this, 0.07.  No shit.  Their fucking elaborate model is able to explain 7% of the variance.  A monkey throwing darts can do better.  And it's published.  And morons reading these things will just take note of the idea that A and B contribute to C, and so on, and miss the fact the model does fuck all.

In another article, the researchers report on a pretty massive quantitative study involving more than 500 subjects.  These subjects were videotaped and different observers watched the tape and coded the behaviours.  The article reports inter-rater reliability (i.e. whether different observers report the same thing) at 15-20%!  Fuck!  Two monkey throwing darts would give you 50% agreement!  And it gets published.

What the fuck were the reviewers doing?

Now for something that I simply HATE.  Why do people not use the Oxford comma anymore?  In what fucking way is it better to say blue, green, red and white, than to say, blue, green, red, and white?  Why do we need to give the possible confusion that "red and white" is one item?

It's just me.

I guess aspiring academic writers are glad that I am no longer reviewing papers.

Specious Arguments

If I were still teaching, this passing conversation I had with a neighbour would be a great example to use in class.

I was walking down the stairs, and a neighbour was coming up.  Said hi to him, as one does.  "How's it going?" I asked, not really wanting a dialogue.  He stopped.  Now that's  a bad sign.  I know he likes to talk....  Oh well, I made my bed, so I guess I had to sleep in it.

I can't repeat the whole conversation.  For one thing, I didn't record the thing, so I don't have a transcript.  And another, it would take five days of blog entry to encompass all that.  But here's some highlights.

"You know this situation in the Ukraine," he started.  "I follow these geo-political things," he continued, as though it somehow affords him some kind of authority in the matter.  "Russia is Russia," he explained.  Whatever that means.  "Biggest country in the world, and 150 million people.  4,000 nukes."

I'd be real impressed if I were born yesterday, but okay.  Then he muttered something else (He's from Quebec, so most of the time I have no clue what he's talking about.  In Quebec they don't speak French French, and they don't speak actual English either.  Well, you know how I feel about Quebec.  Conquered people, so shut the fuck up).  Anyway, I "think" the idea is that the world should just accept that Russia will take Ukraine and leave it at that.

"Their Foreign Minister," he went on, "is very smart.  Knows his stuff.  When a reporter asked a question in French, he replied in fluent French!"  Okay, so the guy speaks French, is that supposed to give him some magical power?  Does the fact that he speaks French mean something?  Well, yeah, it means he speaks French.  So, pardon my French, who the fuck cares?

"And their Finance Minister," the neighbour found his groove now, "has a PhD from Oxford."

Excuse me, what the fuck does that have to do with Ukraine?  Or anything, for that matter?  I don't have any statistics, but I am sure there are many Oxford PhDs out there, and I'm sure a fair number of them are morons too.  Just like I'm sure there's a fair number of smart people from Quebec.

And then suddenly, he changed the subject to the truckers protesting in the city.  "If the trucks don't work, we will have no food," he said.  Does it matter that fewer than 10% of truckers are actually affected, and every single trucking group has come up and denounced the protest?  "This government is stupid," he said (or something to that effect).

"I know what his father was like, too," he continued.  Okay, now, any Canadian who knows anything about government knows Justin Trudeau's father, he being one of the longest serving Prime Ministers, and the one who brought the Constitution back to the country.  And the one who faced down the fucking Quebec terrorists called the FLQ (who kidnapped a British official and put bombs in public places).  See some Frenchies never forget THAT.  How dare a PM, who was from Quebec, impose martial law on the province.  So what if it's under domestic terrorist attack!  Anyway, so I guess you know where I stand.

But back to our conversation (actually more like a monologue).  "I know about his father," he reminded me.  Well, here's the thing, any Canadian over the age of say, 45, would have been around when he was Prime Minister.  So knowing about Pierre Trudeau is like saying I've watched hockey.  Duh!

"Yeah, so do I," I finally said.  "I even voted for him.  And for Justin as well!"

He looked surprised.  Was he surprised I actually know Canadian politics?  Or surprised that I voted Liberal in every single fucking election?

In for the kill.  I continued,  "And I think NATO should send troops to Ukraine.  And the US should freeze Russian assets.  Yeah they are a big country with lots of bombs.  They also have an economy smaller than Canada's.  But that's just my opinion."  I chuckled, and said, "and you know, opinions are like assholes, everybody has one."

I will let you think about why I said this conversation would have been a great example for class.  How best to avoid stupid logic, aka, specious arguments.  If any one of you teaches, feel free to adopt this example.  No copyright.  Haha.

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On an unrelated note, I have decided to drop the ethnic class.  As one of my readers (thanks, Mr. Tightend) said, "the prof is an idiot."  I agree.  Let's not waste time with him.

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Well. it's an absolutely balmy day with a forecast of -15 at noon.  Perfect day for a nice walk.  I hope the truck protestors froze to death last night when it hit -30.  Good riddance.

Don't Believe It

Typically, a person who lives in a cold place (e.g. Ottawa) says to someone from a warmer climate (e.g. Miami), "don't worry, you'll get used to it," and then adds condescendingly, "in time."

Don't believe them.

Sure, you can wear 45 layers of clothing and go outside looking like the Michelin Man.  Hell, if you wear enough layers of t-shirts you'll be warm enough too.  But that's not the point, is it?  Shit, if you can't function "normally" (whatever that means), then you're not fucking "used to it."

I continue my walks.  But in the winter I just can't go as far or for as long as I would in the summer.  It's either too damn cold, when the wind cutting right through your hoodie and then your toque, and on through your skin into your brain, it's a bit much.  Or you're wearing insulated boots and heavy wool socks, and after a couple of hours you feel your toes freezing, it's a bit much.  Or if you feel the arctic freeze through your winter coat, your sweat shirt, your scarf, and your merino wool base layer, it's a bit much.  And I am only talking about days when it's only -20.  When it gets to -30 and beyond, and that's not counting windchill, fuck, you wanna be back indoors.

Used to it my ass.

Of course it's all relative.  For someone from White Horse or Churchill, Ottawa weather is downright tropical.  But for someone whose coldest home had been Toronto and Green Bay, this Ottawa winter shit is, well, as cold as Putin's blood.  And this is now my fourth winter here.  Hell no, I ain't NEVER gonna get used to this.

And when will summer come?  Hell, May?  It'd be so nice to go out in shorts and t-shirt again...

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As you know I am down to two courses now.  One (Lifecourse) I am okay with.  I'd give it a 7 out of 10.  The other, on inter-ethnic relations, is not as palatable.  I'd say a 5 out of 10 at best.  Every time I do the readings or the assignments for this second course, I keep telling myself to drop the fucker.  It doesn't help that the prof is hopeless (useless?) as a teacher.  Shit, we are down to three students in the class now.  Everyone dropped out.  Last Tuesday I was scheduled to do a presentation.  He fucking forgot.  I had to remind him, by which time he had talked about half of what I was going to say.  What nonsense.  I had thought that, well, ethnic identity stuff is my cup of tea, so at least I should get a kick out of the subject matter.  No such luck.  The way the course is structured, it reifies ethnicity to the point where everything is ethnic.  I guess if all you have is an ethnic hammer, there's ethnic nails everywhere.

I'll give you an example.  One of the readings for the coming week has to do with ethnic representation in the Canadian parliament.  You know, the % of this group and that group.  And how that changes from year to year, etc etc, and how that doesn't mesh with the % of ethnic minorities in the population.

Consider that for a moment.

Why, oh why, should it matter?  I have voted in every fucking single general election that I was eligible for.  That's going on 35 years.  I have never had cause to vote for anyone based on their ethnicity, self-ascribed or not.  Yet I have never felt that the MP is not reflecting my interests BECAUSE of ethnicity.  Is it just me?  Why the fuck would my interests be isomorphic with my ethnicity?  Or that of my MP?

And since when is ethnicity fixed?  It's situational, dynamic, negotiated, and subjective.  And this is a sociology course.  This being the case, why does the course presume an unchanging and fixed ethnicity, or that it matters all the time?

And if you know me, you know it fucking never matters to me.  The only thing Chinese about me is that my parents were born in China.  Am I the only one who feels this way?

The more I write about this, the more I wanna drop the fucking course.  Maybe I should stop complaining.  I mean, things could be worse.  This could well be a fucking gender studies class....

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So a bunch of fucking moron trucker are protesting in Ottawa against a vaccine mandate.  Basically, the US and Canada both instituted vaccine mandates for cross-border truckers.  In other words, you cannot truck across the border unless you are vaccinated.

These truckers (apparently about 10% of truckers) don't want to get vaccinated, and couch it as an infringement of their rights via regulations.  Yep, damn right it is.  Just as it is an infringement of my right to force me stop at a red light.  Or "pretend" to drive at the speed limit on the highway.  Or to even have a fucking license!  But less frivolously, the trucking industry is always heavily regulated.  How many hours you can drive.  What sort of health checks you must have.  And so on and so forth.  So it's not like this is anything new.  Hell, I respect anyone's right not to get vaccinated.  Just like I respect anyone's  right not to pay taxes.  But every action we take has consequences.  Live with it.

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Someone said, you should look after your health.  Why?  Being healthy just means it takes you longer to die.

Welcome 2022!

It's a bit late, I know.  But hey, better late than never, eh?  So here's a Happy New Year wish to all you faithful readers who miraculously have stayed with the blog for so long!  Thank you, and I hope 2022 will be a much better year than the one prior.

I am writing this in the morning, when it's so frigid cold outside that I am in hurry to dash out for my walk.   Not that it's unusually cold for Ottawa.  Just the typical -20 Winter day in the capital.  Haha.  There IS a reason why people invented thermal underwear.  Sunny skies today, which usually means fucking cold.  And at least today this holds up.  Think I will just go for a short little walk today, like an hour and a half maybe, lest I turn into an icicle.

A new year also brings a new semester, my second in the MA program.  This semester looks worse than the previous one due to a paucity of appealing courses to take.  I am officially enrolled in five, but due to various reasons (e.g.  I don't like the prof, I don't like the contents, I don't like the timing, etc. etc.) there is only ONE that I actually am semi-interested to take.  Bummer, eh?  To make things worse, this semester there are only 6 English MA level sociology courses available (I am registered in five of them), two of which still list "staff" as the instructor.  So likely adjuncts who get dragged into it last minute.  AKA gonna suck.

The way it looks, I might end up dropping all but one.  Yeah, this puts me way behind schedule, but I don't think I will finish this degree.  As it turns out, uOttawa sociology is (1) very theoretical, (2) very radical and revisionist, and (3) very French.  This latter point means there are lots of courses in French, and not as many in English.  I think I will be hard pressed to only take courses I am interested in and still have enough credits to graduate.  Just won't happen.

And that brings to mind why I am doing this.  To have fun.  Well, I won't have fun taking courses I don't enjoy, right?  Not like I need the degree.  Already have four, thank you very much.  So, once my full-ride is over after the three semesters, I will just withdraw from the program and begin something else in the fall.  We shall see.

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Ontario is under a semi-lockdown again.  Indoor dining is closed.  Gyms are closed.  But it's not a full lockdown like we had before.  So it's still not too bad.  This omicron shit is pretty wild.  You know, though, that as long as the First World countries keep all the vaccines to themselves, leaving Third World countries to their own devices (or to use stupid Russian and Chinese vaccines) there will continue to be variants and shit like that.  And we will all end up getting "boosters" every other month till we all become addicts.

And when I say First World and Third World, I am using the terms as they were originally coined, not the bastardized version to mean rich and poor etc.  So don't start cursing me for not being politically correct.  And no, don't get me started on that either.

And on the subject of Covid, what do you make of that tennis player who is being kicked out of Australia?  I know celebrities have egos the size of Texas, but this to me is a case of just being tone deaf.   You may be able to get around the law, but at least have the common sense not to flaunt it.  Prima Donnas will be prima donnas though.

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School starts Monday.  I will let you know how things go, and how many of the five courses I end up keeping (maybe none, haha).  Meanwhile, stay safe.  Live long and prosper!  And Happy New Year!