I loathe... (part 9)

I loathe enforcing my syllabus.
I loathe discussing why learning math is beneficial, especially when the intended audience isn't listening.
I loathe schedule conflicts.

Rant, Rationalize, or Retry

The first phase (after a bad day):
I usually feel like ranting about what went wrong. Usually my office mates suffer but generally are nice enough to listen and sympathize.

The second phase:
I try to explain, this time to myself, what went wrong, when it went wrong, what I did wrong, and what others might have done wrong.

The third phase:
I think about making lists of what I learned from the mishap(s) and think about next time I am in a similar situation what I will do differently.


I thought about writing a blog on my bad day yesterday, but I didn't, and I am glad.
I thought about writing a list of all the lessons I learned (see similar post).
I thought about this almost all day yesterday, and since 2am this morning.

The result:
I am full of good intentions and motivation right now, but I fear that like usual, these feelings are fleeting. As I get older I feel stronger, but I don't always see the results of my strength when I apply it to my current efforts. These thoughts are pretty random. Another result from lack of sleep.

Lessons Learned

Today I learned or was reminded of the following lessons... some are good, some are bad:

1. Fresh-fallen snow is beautiful.
2. Falling snow makes the world quieter.
3. Buses run late when it is snowing.
4. Walking for thirty minutes in the snow causes one's face to freeze if not properly covered.
5. Walking for thirty minutes in the snow causes one's legs to freeze if not properly covered (more than normally covered).
6. Walking like one would ice skate causes friction in one's shoes resulting in a happy warmth.
7. A stainless steel Starbuck's travel mug will protect coffee from freezing temperatures for longer than thirty minutes.

"You'll need this for later..."

Today I used 2 (or more) things I learned in the class I am teaching right now. I use the general stuff everyday, but I haven't used these two theorems for my upper division work in a loooong time.

When I tell my class: "You'll need this for later..." I am not kidding. It just made my life easier.


In case you are curious: I used the Intermediate Value Theorem and the Descartes' Rule of Signs