I'm back - until August. Finished with classes and fully recovered from a very stressful 5 months! I have been checking in on y'all daily but often didn't have time to post. I have missed you!

So what's new? We're still remodeling. The bathroom is 99% done; the master bedroom is 95% done; the laundry room is 98% done. We moved out of the old bedroom and into the new, then moved the living room into the old bedroom so the LR can be remodeled. Next time, we are NOT going to live in a house while we do a complete remodel! What a mess!! Of course, it does give me a perfect excuse to not go gung ho on the cleaning.

We have a new addition to our family of me and my partner, our dog and two cats. Spud was a foster dog we had for 3 weeks and then adopted. He's a 'phantom' miniature poodle. (I don't know why 'phantom') That means he's black with tan eybrows, tan socks, and tan on his chest and under his chin. He's maybe a year old and was abandoned twice in 24 hours so now he has severe separation anxiety. But he's so loving and cute. His nickname is boing-boing - because he bounces up and down on his back legs like he's on a pogo stick! We weren't sure how Peanut would react - she's an Australian Cattle Dog (Queensland Heeler) and is bossy and stubborn and very spoiled. But she loves Spud and mothers him. They are really funny together - he chews on her ear and she doesn't seem to mind - and chase each other around the back yard. I'm glad they get along as Peanut was really depressed for a while after Archie died.

I am so happy to be back - did I mention how much I missed y'all??

Spud sounds so cute... and, glad to have you back. Do you have plans for the summer or fall semester?

I'm taking the summer off, gims, then will start back up around mid August. I will again be taking 2 classes so will be quite busy!

yonuh, welcome home. What classes did you take and what will you be taking later this summer? I went to a graduation party for a friend yesterday who just got a degree. It has been so fun listening to her stories about being in class with all the young kids.

Yonuh, I love the name SPUD and I love the picture you painted of the two of them romping around the yard. How very kind and wonderful of you and your partner to adopt SPUD and open up your hearts. KUDOS!

I too would love to be reminded of the courses you're taking.

For spring, I took a class in Online Searching, and one in Online Medical Searching. Both were eye-openers and I loved the fact that our assignments were to search for information and not just read about how to search. My fall classes are one called Ethics for Information Professionals and the other is Digital Libraries. I have to admit I'm not looking forward to the ethics class because the professor is a philosopher, and I don't do well with ethereal theories and discussions. I'm more of a concrete, nitty-gritty person; don't have a discussion with me just tell me how to do it and let me do it! I am hoping to have my master's done by December next year (2009). Then what? I don't know yet, but I'm open to any and all possibilities - preferably working for myself but who knows what the Creator has in store for me?! That's the exciting part - finding out what comes next.

All my classes are online, so I don't have to sit in class or drive to campus and hunt for parking. I can do my work in my jammies! Love it!! LOL

See now I would think the Ethics course would be more of a "Miss Manners" type intro into the world of information searching. Reason being, I get emails that infuriate me...like ones TELLING me, "I'm using one of your articles for my newsletter." Well, gee...I'm going to use your car to run my errands, too...and bring it back on empty. How do you like that?

The thing is, people assume so much in their research of things. They don't do their homework beforehand (and I'm not referring to you, dear girl) and they look for shortcuts.

So to me, it would be unethical for a information specialist to grab one of my articles, give it to their clients, and say "use this." That's one example...

But another one would be email people when it is unsoliticed and when you are trying to get their business.

Another would be to grab info without getting permission (which goes back to the first one, but could be different, too)

And then again.................you may just want to tell me to go back to sleep. LOL!

I've seen "specialist" who offer the world through advertising, skills they DO NOT possess or have never used...yet they call themselves "specialist." Just another.

So what I'm getting at is that the philosophy may be a snoozer, but I would think there would be more to it...maybe???

Sure JJ, it's just not that cut and dried unfortunately. This ethics class is more along the lines of balancing the right to privacy with the right to access to information. Yes, copyright issues are part of it, and definitely need to be addressed. I'm with you on that part. But there's also "fair use", which allows for using material say for educational purposes or quoting someone for the purposes of writing a review. There are just so many 'grey' areas that will depend on the circumstances, and often there may not be a 'right' answer. I remember the ethics class I took in nursing school and disagreeing with the instructor on how someone should have behaved in a certain situation. Of course, back then, you weren't supposed to disagree with the instructor (mid 60s; Catholic nursing school; 'nuff said?) but then I always questioned and was always a rebel.

I believe there's a whole new division of law these days and it has to do with the internet. Makes sense to me.

yonuh, are you taking these courses through a local university or one of the online universities? Your classes sound so interesting.

These are all through the University of Arizona. Since I'm officially a retiree, one of the perqs I get is a tuition waiver, so I pay way less than full price for the classes. I can attend any state university in Arizona for the same price. (Staff and faculty, along with their dependents get the waiver too!) My masters will be in information resources and library sciences.

I am so interested in your classes.And how you work from home.
I get fee waivers too...via my daughter at her place of work.
I did some Jewellry classes but not at present.
I have been a case history for complimentary health students for the past six weeks.
I have full body massage from a very skilled lady.And reflexology from a man who I suspect is a born healer.He seems to make me relax and on Fridays I sleep like a baby.
This week is the final week until new session.
I love my trips to the campas.Every one has been so pleasant.
Mountain ash