Saving Lives

"Would you like to save a life today?" That is the question that the woman asked me as I walked by her and her small group. As you may have guessed, she was soliciting money for a worthwhile cause. Just how does one reply to such a question? "No thanks. I've saved enough lives this week." The cause was a worthwhile one. She and her group were raising money to buy mosquito netting to help prevent the spread of malaria. My understanding is that the netting is a very low cost and low tech way of helping to prevent the spread of malaria. I support their efforts to help other people. I just don't know how much of the money any group raises goes to the good works that they support. In general, I like to donate to organizations that spend most of the money that they rise on their work in the field. Many organizations spend a large part of their budget on administration. Just as when buying a product or service, I want to know what I am getting. I would like to say that I gave them some money, but I cannot. I was on my way somewhere and meant to stop by on the way back but I forgot about it. I was too busy to save a life. How about you? Would you like to save a life today?

Good Intentions

Read George Monbiot's recent column about how our good intentions can lead to the most unusual and distressing results. Monbiot is a columnist with the Guardian newspaper and is also the author of Heat: how to stop the planet burning.

Prejudice

I consider myself to be relatively free of prejudice. Several years ago, I took a test that is available here. My results surprised me then, and surprised me even more tonight, when I did the test again. If you want to get a good look at yourself and your attitudes, take the test. What else can I say? Take the test!

Under The Weather

I've been quite sick for most of the past week. It has left me with very little energy or ambition to write. I seem to be run down and more susceptible to bugs than usual. I spend part of each day in close proximity to several hundred people, so I am exposed to lots of new bugs that are happy to take up residence in me. It takes me longer than usual to evict the squatters.

The last two weeks have gone by very quickly. I have been busy with assignments and the usual stuff. The daily workload is higher this term. I didn't think that it would be, but it is. My writing class is demanding and I need to keep up with math as well.

There is not much happening outside of the routine this term. Friends are also busy and we all are beginning to feel the pressure of the end of the school year bearing down on us. It shows in the attitude of some students. There is a mixture of panic and resignation in the air. I overheard one guy talking about his five failures as if he had been talking about the weather.

Last Week

We have been busy; a granddaughter and her mum came to play hockey here yesterday. We had two meals together and we watched a couple of hockey games. The girls play better than they did last year which makes the games more interesting to watch. I was surprised at the rough play because they are only nine years old and no body contact is allowed. Both teams took several penalties in the second game that we watched.

I am also very busy with my regular routine and, of course, with classes and all of the rest. The time is flying by. It is helped by our routine in writing and the general business that is part of my life. We get a writing assignment one Monday and have to bring the draft in the following Monday for our critiquing sessions. The finished work is due one week later when we get the next assignment and begin the cycle again. I enjoy the challenge, but I find that I am spending quite a bit of time writing for that course which takes away from my writing time for this blog. I need to find a way to balance my time better.

We are getting another blast of winter. It is a gentle blast, more of a puff. It just seems wintry compared to the mild weather that we have been experiencing. Spring is not far away now. The days are getting longer and the sun is warmer. The birds are singing more frequently in anticipation of spring.

Spring will bring exams and the end of my school year. Last September seems so long ago. Next September will come around before I am ready to let go of my summer vacation and begin my studies again. It will be different next fall. I will have contacts and friends to see again. The campus will be a familiar place and I will feel comfortable with the familiarity. People will change, but the stage will be much the same. I am, and will be, a very different person than I was last September. And yet, I will be the same in some ways. I will start the new term with the same anticipation and excitement that I felt last fall.

Writing Quiz

I received some nice feedback on my recent writing quiz. We had to rewrite three, very long, complex sentences so that they were clear. I went to see my prof about a draft that I was working on and she asked me if she could read one of my rewritten sentences to the class. I was pleased that she thought it was worth reading to the class.

I Am Back

I'm back from a week of being busy with other things. Last week was hectic in many ways. I had assignments and tests and I also had one or more appointments almost every day. Life is more relaxed this week and I am looking forward to posting more often.

I just came back from another trip north. The weather was not the best for making a six hour trip each way, but I had an excellent reason for braving the winter storm. I left very early in the morning so I missed the worst of the weather. On Sunday morning, my partner and I returned home together.