Well, we’ve come upon our last week, and I have to admit, I am looking forward to the end of the semester. The group work seems to be happening in piecemeal-everyone is working on their own piece, until they’re done, and then we’ll fuse them all together. At least that’s how I imagine it will be. Our group seems to have two factions–that’s because us three have been sitting together in the back all semester, and they share another class together as well. The other two sit together, and talk to each other. It hasn’t changed even when we have invited them over to discuss the project. Did I mention that I dislike Group Work?

Last night, I didn’t sleep, because I was busy doing homework for Strategic Management and this class, and I am happy to say,  I managed to make it to class on time. I had three 16 oz travel mugs of coffee, and a Red Bull, and some Rocky Road. I know it isn’t the best idea, but it worked for me. I haven’t memorized my presentation, but I know some of it, and I hope not to say “Ummm,” too many times. I’ll have some lunch later, and hope not to fall asleep during my CST course. In fact, I need to work on a couple of things for that class, too. Plus my coworker called and said they delivered 100 laptops to my office, so I have that waiting for me when I get to work tomorrow. Damn! Not enough time in the day, but I’ll make it through this semester.

Did I mention how much I didn’t like group work? Well I don’t. I like working at my own pace. I like procrastinating, and then picking up steam at night when everyone is asleep, spreading out the research I have printed out, proofread, and underlined, and going to work on my works cited page. That’s the first page I work on. Then I work on my introduction. That takes a bit of time to get my thoughts together. But once I get that down, I’m ready to work on the meaty part of the work, intertwining the research into my words. Then unto my conclusion. Group work doesn’t allow for this. I’ll need to work with others. Sheesh.

When applying for jobs, I always include on my cover letters that I work well in groups, as well as independently, but I may be lying. Because in class, I really don’t like working in a group setting. You learn you have to deal with everyone else’s study habits. And you have to deal with their personal issues as well. When they don’t submit their work in a timely fashion, I feel I have to be a nudge, and I don’t like that role. Feels like I’m being a nagging mother, and I already have two children for that. I’m no saint. I can procrastinate at times, too. But for the most part, when it comes to group work, I prioritize, and get things done, because I don’t want to be the one dragging the group down. I mean really. How hard is it to research a bit, and gather some information, so we can move things along here? Why can’t you answer an email? These are rhetorical questions, because what I really want are results.

Last night’s assignment was to read two chapters that had been uploaded to Google Drive for us. I had to go to work after class, so I took the opportunity to print the chapters there so I could start reading them on the bus ride home. Didn’t happen. The bus was unbearably crowded. Once I arrived home, I sat down and began reading, certainly after greeting my children, of course. But I fell asleep. Was awoken at 12 Mid by my daughter, who wanted to know if I had taken my medication. I hadn’t. So I preceded to do so. Made myself some coffee (Hail, Keurig!), and proceeded to read. The first chapter I read, “A Medium of The Most General Nature,” was about the creation of the computer and how it changed our lives.

I have already emailed my instructional manual assignment to the professor, so aside from it not being as perfect as I’d like it to be, I met the deadline! I am concerned about other courses I am currently taking, namely my Linux class where I have several assignments to make up, and I barely know how to code, nor do I like to code very much. I am concerned that I have to present in Technical Writing in a couple of weeks, I will have to present a scholarly article to the class, and I am not the best at speeches. I tend to “Ummmm…” a lot. But I will hopefully find an interesting article to talk about, so I can share with the group, and practice getting over my fear of public speaking. I am also concerned that our group doesn’t have a topic yet!!! I guess I shouldn’t be sharing that, but it is a concern of mine, and I don’t expect anyone to read this.

I plan to catch up on schoolwork and housework on spring break! My housework tends to suffer when schools is in session, because I am either doing homework, working, eating, sleeping, interacting with my children, out of the house, going to appointments… my down time? Watching shows I’ve DVR’d, like all the made for TV shows from Marvel and DC Comics, like DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, Marvel’s Agents of Shield, The Flash, Arrow, Supergirl, and iZombie. There are Marvel shows I’d like to binge watch on Netflix as well, but I haven’t had the chance. Housework will be a shared experience. My daughter has been saving songs to a playlist on Spotify called Cleaning Music, so we can motivate ourselves. Hopefully that will be enough.

The instructional manual project is tedious in that I have to take plenty of screenshots, and explain each one to the reader, so they understand how to use the app, and setup their online profile. I have a long list of Do Not’s as well since I’ve been using online dating websites on and off for years. I certainly know what to tell the reader what to keep an eye out for. I think the worst scam I fell for cost me $300, and because of it, when my bank was not sympathetic to the fact that I had been scammed, and wouldn’t refund my money, I switched banks.

I’m mortified. The instruction manual is due on Monday, and I still have not decided what to write about! Once I have the subject matter, I can run with it, so to speak. But until then, what do I do? I posted to Facebook for some ideas. Yes, I did! I just wanted to see if it would get the juices flowing. I feel a bit overwhelmed by the workload this semester, because a lot is riding on it. I must pass precalculus, because it’s the third time taking it, and it’s the one class preventing me from getting my associate’s degree. Then I have two classes that will not take late assignments–one, not at all, and the other will, but with grade point deductions. And my last class is my computer class, which I am falling behind on because I’ve prioritized the other three classes, and the programming isn’t my forte. So yes, this semester is a little nerve-racking.

Checklists are useful in many industries, and in many situations. House movers, wedding planners, and tax accountants already use them. In the case of “The Checklist,” doctors in ICUs could use it to remember mundane tasks like making sure to drape the patient’s entire body before running a line–and in doing so can save millions of dollars a year and reduce the death rate of ICU patients, the rate of infection, and the length of time patients spend in the ICU. Pilots can also use it to fly bomber planes… I didn’t know where he was going with the bomber plane story, but it was amazing to see how he managed to tie it in with the rest of the tale.