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Tap tap... is this thing on?

Wow, it's been 5 years since I posted on this blog! Quite a bit has happened since then. I got a cat, and -- well, perhaps I need to skip the recap and just jump ahead.These are interesting times, after all.

I'm writing this on March 28th, 2020, during the Covid-19 Pandemic. I'm on my 16th day of home isolation with only two trips out to the store for food.

(Did you know you can pinpoint a date (March 12 was my first day working from home) and type "Days since [date]" into Google and it will give you a number to let you know how many days have passed? Now you know.)

I'm reviving this site while moving my last Face to Face (F2F) course to the online environment to accommodate the campus plan to have all courses taught virtually in Spring Quarter of 2020. I know there are others with very good and positive attitudes toward moving online, but I may be the only person giddy about it. This is my 20th consecutive year teaching online, and while I'm facing the sobering reality that I do not have enough time to do this task properly, I am also happy to create the most warm, welcoming online environment possible for my students during these unsettling days.

My goal is to share my own trials and triumphs, as well as a few hard-earned bits of advice, as I go. Today was a frustrating day in my course preparation, but I'm happy I have a cat. I procrastinated a lot today (Saturday) as I've been working long hours to help my colleagues convert their courses, so I spent more time glancing through Reddit and updating notes on my Ancestry site than I did on the top 2 items on my to do list, which I misplaced earlier today so I can't quite recall what they were.

I discovered all of my ancestors survived the Spanish Flu of 1918, so I have a legacy to uphold. I need to refocus.

I welcome you to join me as I forge ahead.
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