Worried? ...More Michael

For those of you who were worried with me about my Internal Auditing test last week, you can stop worrying. Grade - 96%. The test was on a Tuesday and a paper (a "preliminary survey") was due two days later. The prof had been complaining about having assigned this project to other classes in which individuals would turn in 100-page employee manuals as part of the exhibits or evidence. So, what did I turn in? The paper was only 7 pages (should have been double-spaced to 14 pages, but I didn't review that general requirement), but the 27 appendices were enough that I had to go to OfficeMax to have them drill 3-hole punches into them and put them in a 1.5" binder!

I was kind of worried until I saw other students hand in binders, one of which was definitely more obese than mine.

So, today was conference day. Went to a certain "Green and White" university today to get 8 hours of continuing education ("You going to school? No I graduated.") One of the more interesting speakers was the business ethics professor (I know, can be an oxymoron, "business ethics"), who even quoted the Russell Crowe film "A Beautiful Mind" in that one of the concepts that might have driven the brilliant mathematician mad was the prevalance of "suboptimal equilibrium" in which members of a group settle for a less than best outcome for the most people in the attempt to get more of an advantage for themselves.

On a different tangent, maybe Maryn will recall the Georgie story she was telling the weekend of her Fall break. Michael was "listening" to the story in his usual style - what you might call "Active Listening" in which Maryn would introduce a few topics, location, theme, that sort of story essential component, and Michael would be off and running with the narrative. It's really a lazy person's ideal way to become a raconteur - toss out a few words and the rest is taken care of for you.

At any rate, at a certain point in the story, the group in the van travelling to church with Maryn and Michael got involved in talking about various aspects of the story, the possibilities and nuances, when finally Michael had enough and requested, "Alright, can we stop discussing the story and get back to telling it?"

Today he was tickling the ivories (of the piano) and it was kind of tuneful, I suppose, as he was singing along with his own verse. Afterward he stated how he was writing a song about "The Body and Blood." I was reading St. Augustine's commentary on the "Our Father" and it prompted me to ask Michael if he knew what the will is. "Sure, it is a piece of paper we write before we die. And it is our choices. I learned that in school!"

He has also gotten in the spirit of Maryn's bug collecting (a new popular family diversion), such that he gets out his bug collecting equipment and brings in various specimens. I came home tonight, somewhat peckish, and there on the island in the kitchen was a white piece of paper with five or six insects in a somewhat dessicated and decimated state where I would normally prepare leftover ravioli for consumption! As as janitor's helper, however, I have developed a strong stomach. Believe me, you don't want to hear some of the things "Janitor Jean" has found in her custodial rounds. Honestly, what are some people thinking when they carry out some of the zany personal hygiene antics which evidence covers one of the surfaces for which she is responsible? (I suppose that is a rhetorical question.)

Well, I'm being paged to move the little fella' to his bed from my bed where he coerces adults to read numerous stories, mostly Calvin and Hobbes, or The New Way Things Work. Budding monster or incipient engineer, if "we are what we read". The latter, I hope!

TTFN