02 January 2011

Blogging from Tucson - SIRLS Day 1

Merry Christmas!

Happy New Year!

Yes, I know I've slacked a little bit, but I hope my readers will forgive me. I've been really busy with my first class for my Master's degree. From 12/20 to 1/1/11, I had over 650 pages of readings to do, five assignments to set up, and getting ready for my weeklong stay in Tucson for the face-to-face part of the class. That's where I am blogging from tonight: my hotel room in Tucson, AZ, while I watch/listen to the Seahawks-Rams football game.

I arrived here last night, and class started this morning at 8:30am. And quite literally, I haven't stopped working until about 7:00pm. We had lecture from 8:30am-3:45pm solid (with two semi-breaks and an hour for lunch), then worked in groups until 5:00pm. I've learned an overview of "what is a library" and associated topics, and I've learned basic HTML coding for one of my assignments (to create a very basic webpage from HTML code). And by the way, I have decided now that HTML coding is really not that much fun, if fairly straightforward. Overall, the class is pretty well-structured, but there are parts that just aren't well-explained. This HTML thing, for example. I can copy what the instructor does just fine, but I want to know what "bgcolor" is or what "a href" means. I'm hoping the remainder of the class won't be so generalized.

My hotel room is nice... it's a studio room about as big as my dorm room in Taylor Hall at NAU. It has a small bathroom, a double bed, a table and chair, and a kitchenette with a microwave, fridge, sink, and stovetop. For a weekly rate of $27.99 per night, I kind of expected a dump, but the room is very clean (VERY clean!) and well-maintained. No bugs, no dust, and everything works (including the heater, appliances, and bathroom stuff). I'd totally stay here again! It's like my own little apartment. Even the bed is relatively comfortable. It's a very firm mattress, but it works.

Tomorrow morning I have to go buy a CatCard school ID and a parking pass for the week, since the offices were closed for New Year's weekend. Good logistics right there (note: sarcasm). That will require me to be at the parking office at 8am and quickly get to class on the other side of campus by 8:30. Then during my lunch break I have to go buy a "CatCard." Why during lunch hour? Bad planning. C'est la vie, I suppose.

Anyway, I'm going to relax and watch the rest of the third quarter of this football game. I'm not invested in it, but I am watching much more football this season than ever before. All my friends like football, so I feel I should know something about it. Same with hockey.I watched the 2011 Winter Classic last night between the Washington Capitals and the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins (whom I have decided are "my team" because I like their mascot) lost 3-1, but the game was pretty exciting.

Good night, web people... more tomorrow.

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