Search Results for: blog summer of woes

Legal Woes for Maryland Pit Bull Owners

A big headline here in Maryland lately has been an anti-pit-bull decision made by the state’s court of appeals. The case classified pit bulls and other “bully” dogs (meaning any dog with bull lineage) as “dangerous dogs.” This means that they are not included in the “one bite” exemption owners get before they are held liable for their dog’s action. That liability can also extend to anyone with control on the premises, including landlords, veterinarians, kennels/daycares, groomers, etc. The decision prompted widespread protest. Pit owners are worried that they’ll either be evicted, lose their homeowner’s insurance, or be forced to … Continue reading →

Summer Learning on the Web

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This summer I’ve got a lot going on. In addition to my endless reading list for exams in the fall I’m also working on my dissertation. I won’t bore you with the tentative details but it concerns playwriting in the classroom. Unlike the technological rants, opinions and observations I often spout about, playwriting is older than dirt. While you would expect the ability to find loads of information about technology on the web it may be less obvious to find information about playwriting. We’d both be wrong, however. It’s quite amazing the amount of information I was able to find … Continue reading →

Summer of Woes

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Summertime is supposed to be filled with laughter and joy for those in the academic world. The summer is for resting, relaxing, and sipping on iced drinks from a folding chair in the sunshine. Summertime means you’ve completed that final test, graded that final paper, added those final grades to your transcript and have fewer worries until the fall semester begins those concerns anew. This is not true for me this summer and I only recently realized how bad it is going to be. Over 5,700. Go ahead… read that number again. Feel it labor your mouth into forming the … Continue reading →

Summer Family Road Trip—-Indiana and Georgia

If your family road trip takes you to Indiana or Atlanta this summer here are a few attractions you might want to make a pit stop at: INDIANA People are going bananas at Michigan City’s zoo… and now you can get in on the action too. As you might have guessed the hoopla centers around the zoo’s monkey exhibit. According to zoo officials, a spider monkey recently used a garden hose to scale the wall of a moat at the facility and took off for town. However, the agile animal’s escape was short-lived as he got caught at a nearby … Continue reading →

Hotel Woes and Pros

HOTEL WOES I’m not sure who to feel more sorry for in this next situation—-the hotel employees or the hotel guests. If you watched the news last night you might have seen the report about 40 traveling salespeople who were given the boot from a Minnesota motel for what managers there call, “very, very rude behavior.” Apparently, the three-dozen or so salespeople (reportedly all in their 20s) who were staying at the AmericInn Lodge & Suites in Moorhead left behind more than just their unwanted behavior. According to motel managers, complaints about the unruly guests started pouring in less than … Continue reading →

The Pet-Friendly Travel Planning Website

The time for summer travel may be over, but we’re still having gorgeous weather in many parts of the country. That means it’s a good time to get in those fall road trips. Think of it: windows down, hair whipping in the wind, your dog’s tongue lolling out the window. You may want to go on a road trip, but you don’t want to leave your beloved pet behind. Never fear: there’s a website for you that’s here to help. It’s called Pet Friendly (gopetfriendly.com). This comprehensive site has everything you need to plan a trip with your pet. If … Continue reading →

What Makes Tomatoes Crack?

Where I live, fall and tomatoes don’t mix. Yes, there are the beautiful, crisp days with the last ripe tomatoes hanging from the vines. There are also many rainy days, and with these rainy days come tomato woes. Tomato blight pays us a visit, as does the dreaded fall cracking of the tomatoes. Why do tomatoes crack? Usually it is from a sudden inflow of water into the tomato. Imagine that your tomato is a balloon. All summer it’s been growing slowly and steadily, watered by hand or by occasional rains. All of a sudden, fall comes, and with the … Continue reading →

The Dusty Boxes 2

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The buildup to this post (part 1, if you will) can be read here. And lest you think I’m sending you to something unimportant: the buildup is all. In fact, the buildup is so important that I really suggest you read it first. Have you ever exerted a great amount of effort moving something or keeping something that you never looked at or used? Yeah? The buildup is important. At any rate, last time we left off I was opening a box from my college years in Minnesota (at least that is what I thought at the time). When I … Continue reading →

The Proposal

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Last time I talked about some tips for good presentations. Today I want to talk about weight falling off of your shoulders. Many students are now done for the semester. Some of you are still studying for finals. Still others are prepping for summer school. Whatever you status in academics please know this: a time for a break will come. Keep studying, prepping, reading, writing, or painting. Just recently I walked through what amounts to the final gateway between me and a degree: my dissertation proposal defense. The situation is really quite simple. I tell a number of smart people … Continue reading →

Buying Maternity Clothes

Maternity clothes are one of the biggest indicators that you are expecting. Even before I was pregnant, I visited a local maternity boutique in the utter excitement of pregnancy anticipation. Never mind that we hadn’t even started trying and that we wouldn’t conceive for seven long months. I thought I needed some maternity apparel to usher in this new phase of our lives. Little did I know that the cute maternity top that I purchases would be ridiculously uncomfortable when I actually had a belly to fill it out. Once we finally conceived, my overwhelming excitement lead me to purchase … Continue reading →