I am supposed to be in class right now, but the fire alarm went off and they sent us away. So here's what happened. The teacher was presenting a phenomenal lecture on housing when the strobe light on the alarm starts flashing and the alarm sounds. The instructor turns to the class and asks, "Does that mean we have to leave?" I'm not questioning my professor's intelligence, but if there is one thing that school has taught me it is that when the fire alarm sounds you leave the building. Maybe they only taught that to the remedial classes that I was attending.
I think we have all experienced this. The alarm sounds and everybody 'knows' it's just a drill or a false alarm. Of course sometimes it is the real thing and evacuation is a matter of life and death, but how many of us have actually been in a real fire where the alarm meant we had to leave? I'm guessing it is a small percentage.
How about red air quality days. They happen all the time around here. I've been told that it's due to the geography of the land. We live in a valley surrounded by mountains and the pollution just doesn't move out of the valley. Interesting. I thought that we caused the pollution. So we have red days where the radio guy tells us that we aren't supposed to burn in the fireplace unless we need it for heat, we're not supposed to drive and we're supposed to avoid exercising outside. This is quite similar to the fire alarm I heard this morning. People hear that and complain about the pollution as they hop into their SUV and drive by themselves to work.
I ride my bike on the red air quality days and I notice it because my eyes get red and burn and my throat gets dry and itchy. There is a lot of pollution in the air and I probably shouldn't be riding. But what are my other options? I could take the bus. While I am at the beginning of the bus line and would have no problem finding a seat, I know that the bus fills up before it reaches the destination of most of the people. If I take the bus that means that the bus will have to pass people by and they will end up driving. It seems like we need more buses on this route. I could drive my wife's minivan. But I was counseled not to because it contributes to the poor air quality. So I ride my bike and hope that it doesn't kill me.
I thought about writing about the global warming warnings, but I think that is different. I am not certain about the facts of that controversy. Yes, the planet is warming. Are humans the cause? I don't know. We certainly aren't doing anything good for the planet by pumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere and cutting down the forests that absorb CO2, but I don't know that we are the cause. Are there major problems with pollution around the world? I think so. If we make our air and water unusable will we be in trouble? I think that is an understatement. Have we been warned? Yes, I think we have. Do people care? That's more difficult because I really think that people do care, but they are complacent. Why should I make a change in my life (do something that may be difficult) when my neighbor is going to continue his polluting ways? He'll kill the planet enough for the both of us, so I may as well enjoy while I can. (Did that seem backwards to you, like it did to me?)
I think people are counting on a technological solution that will take care of all our problems. And I think there are some solar and wind technologies that have potential to help greatly in reducing pollution, but I don't think we're going to invent a big filter that is going to clean the air and oceans.
I think our world is doomed unless common people stop listening for warning sirens from public officials and start taking an active stand toward what they believe. Look at the warnings around you. How many pieces of trash did you pass this morning on your way to work? Was there a visible sign of air pollution? Look around, the warnings are around us and will continue until we do something.
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Friday, March 7, 2008
Success
I've been thinking of what I want to do with my life and why (the link is a joke, but there is another versions). I've been thinking of aspirations.
I'm a doctoral student. I suppose there is some prestige in that once you get out and can be called doctor and you get a PhD behind your name... Unless you are just hanging out in school because you are afraid of leaving school and getting a real job, that just makes you sort of immature and unprepared to grow up. I don't know which I am.
I've been thinking about future jobs. What do I want to do? (Whenever I think of that, I think of the Twisted Sister videos I linked to above, I don't know why). I don't, however, want to spend my life listening to bad music from hair bands. I think that I have some good ideas that I could spend a lifetime doing research and contributing to research. I also like working with students who are deciding what to do with their lives (Since I don't know my own direction, I figure I am qualified to direct others.)
In my field the top researchers are competing for grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH). Reaching the ultimate 'success' in my field involves spending long work weeks competing for big money grants from the NIH. That is not my goal. I think that I could do it. I think that I could make lots of money and contribute greatly to 'the literature'. That's not my goal. I don't want you to misunderstand, I have come this far in my education because I want to use the information I have learned to help people, but I think there is a disconnect between the available information on health and application. I want to spend more time filling the gap than conducting new groundbreaking research. I would consider myself successful if I can teach others about how to be healthy and it makes a difference in their lives. I can do this teaching classes or in producing research that is understandable and attainable for people who have been struggling with their health.
Those are my professional aspirations. Those are secondary to my real goals in life. I want to spend lots of time with my family (I have to improve that). I want to spend real time with my kids helping them to learn the importance of integrity and hard work. I want my children to learn through real life experience how to communicate effectively and how to interact with others in a way that uplifts all involved. I don't necessarily think that I'm good at that, but I have met people who are and they are a pleasure to talk to. I want my kids to be able to contribute more to society than I have. For the time being my wife is doing a great job at working toward my real goals in my life. I hope to be able to contribute more fully to my goals soon.
This goes back a little to what other people think of you. Is this a cop out? Am I trying to enter retirement early and spend my life doing nothing but fishing and hanging out in my underwear around the house? I don't think so. I have definite goals and they take work. It just happens to be different work than a manufacturing job or even the work as a professor. I want to work at bringing my family up properly.
But can you make money raising a family? No. That's why I have to have a real job. Here's the big point that I want to make; my aspirations and true goals in life are based on family. If I spend too much time at work (like I do now), I will fall short of my true goals. In order to attain the goals that I feel are really important in this life, I will have to get by on a meager income and sacrifice financial well being for time spent with my family. In many circles I think I will be considered unsuccessful because I haven't taken the highest paying (and generally most time demanding) jobs, but 'settled' for a 'lesser' position. The thing is that I will NEVER be 'settling' for my family because I believe that there is nothing GREATER to work for than a successful family.
I'm a doctoral student. I suppose there is some prestige in that once you get out and can be called doctor and you get a PhD behind your name... Unless you are just hanging out in school because you are afraid of leaving school and getting a real job, that just makes you sort of immature and unprepared to grow up. I don't know which I am.
I've been thinking about future jobs. What do I want to do? (Whenever I think of that, I think of the Twisted Sister videos I linked to above, I don't know why). I don't, however, want to spend my life listening to bad music from hair bands. I think that I have some good ideas that I could spend a lifetime doing research and contributing to research. I also like working with students who are deciding what to do with their lives (Since I don't know my own direction, I figure I am qualified to direct others.)
In my field the top researchers are competing for grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH). Reaching the ultimate 'success' in my field involves spending long work weeks competing for big money grants from the NIH. That is not my goal. I think that I could do it. I think that I could make lots of money and contribute greatly to 'the literature'. That's not my goal. I don't want you to misunderstand, I have come this far in my education because I want to use the information I have learned to help people, but I think there is a disconnect between the available information on health and application. I want to spend more time filling the gap than conducting new groundbreaking research. I would consider myself successful if I can teach others about how to be healthy and it makes a difference in their lives. I can do this teaching classes or in producing research that is understandable and attainable for people who have been struggling with their health.
Those are my professional aspirations. Those are secondary to my real goals in life. I want to spend lots of time with my family (I have to improve that). I want to spend real time with my kids helping them to learn the importance of integrity and hard work. I want my children to learn through real life experience how to communicate effectively and how to interact with others in a way that uplifts all involved. I don't necessarily think that I'm good at that, but I have met people who are and they are a pleasure to talk to. I want my kids to be able to contribute more to society than I have. For the time being my wife is doing a great job at working toward my real goals in my life. I hope to be able to contribute more fully to my goals soon.
This goes back a little to what other people think of you. Is this a cop out? Am I trying to enter retirement early and spend my life doing nothing but fishing and hanging out in my underwear around the house? I don't think so. I have definite goals and they take work. It just happens to be different work than a manufacturing job or even the work as a professor. I want to work at bringing my family up properly.
But can you make money raising a family? No. That's why I have to have a real job. Here's the big point that I want to make; my aspirations and true goals in life are based on family. If I spend too much time at work (like I do now), I will fall short of my true goals. In order to attain the goals that I feel are really important in this life, I will have to get by on a meager income and sacrifice financial well being for time spent with my family. In many circles I think I will be considered unsuccessful because I haven't taken the highest paying (and generally most time demanding) jobs, but 'settled' for a 'lesser' position. The thing is that I will NEVER be 'settling' for my family because I believe that there is nothing GREATER to work for than a successful family.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Mugwump
This post is sort of about bragging, as was yesterday. I don't have much time, but I just want to recount a conversation I had with my 4 year old son.
Mugwump: Dad, can we go to Lego Land this afternoon?
Dad: No, Lego land is in California, we are in Utah, it would take more than a day to get there.
Mugwump: Can we go the next day, you can not go to school.
Dad: I have to go to school and work, besides, we're poor, we don't have the money to get to California, let alone get into Lego land.
Mugwump: We're not poor, our family is rich. We have each other.
Dad: You're right.
I don't know that I've ever been prouder in my life.
Mugwump: Dad, can we go to Lego Land this afternoon?
Dad: No, Lego land is in California, we are in Utah, it would take more than a day to get there.
Mugwump: Can we go the next day, you can not go to school.
Dad: I have to go to school and work, besides, we're poor, we don't have the money to get to California, let alone get into Lego land.
Mugwump: We're not poor, our family is rich. We have each other.
Dad: You're right.
I don't know that I've ever been prouder in my life.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Bragging
No, this is not a blog about my kids, I want to discuss pride and why people do what they do. On my survey there was a respondent who commuted by bike. To be specific it was a recumbent. In some of the open ended questions he mentioned that he commutes by bike because it is different, it isn't the norm. He takes it to another level and specifies that he commutes by recumbent because most people who commute by bike don't ride recumbents. He has a desire to stick out, to be different.
Why? Probably because it draws attention to himself. I watch my kids fighting for attention all the time and I think that we as humans really like attention. Do I want people to know that I woke up early and rode my bike 12.3 miles instead of driving? Well, I like it when people ask... errrr when I get (make) the opportunity to tell people that I commute by bike. It puts attention on me and I don't think that I'm the only one that likes that attention.
Do I want you to know that I'm better than you because I had the strength and courage to battle the bad weather and mean drivers on my way to work while you were lazy and sloth like (I think you're ugly too, but that's a different point) and drove? Suddenly I'm not feeling so good about myself and my bike ride to work. I do not believe that I'm better than motorists. I know that there are many reasons to drive. I know that many people would like to ride but can't for whatever reason. There are many people that just don't think of it. That's OK. Do I hope that some drivers will see me and think, "gee, I think I could do that"? Sure, I hope that I can motivate someone to start riding. That is not, however the reason that I ride.
I have heard of people who will not do something because they feel it will make it look like they are bragging. Wouldn't that philosophy, taken to extremes, lead to a world where everyone does exactly the same thing in order to not stick out? I don't think that's healthy. But some people will do something for the sole purpose of being different, not necessarily because they like or agree with the thing they are doing. I don't want to mistaken for someone like that, that's not who I want to be.
I know it's easy, all you have to do what you believe regardless of what people think. Except making impressions with others is a HUGE part of this world. Other peoples' judgements of me will decide my job and my friends and define my reputation. If you get a reputation as 'that creepy guy who never really does any work', that sticks with you, it doesn't suddenly vanish. It takes a lot of work to demonstrate otherwise. And what work are you doing to convince people that you do something? You are taking good care of what people think of you to build a reputation. In the end, it does matter and we have to take a little care of what people think of us. I know there are moments when I say something and can tell that it was taken wrong and I think, "oops, that came across far more egotistical than I intended".
So here's a challenge for you (and me). Pretend for a day that the word 'I' is the most profane word that you know. Using that word is the greatest insult imaginable to the person that you happen to be talking to at the time and it should be avoided. The point of this is not to absolutely avoid using the word 'I', the point is to make a mental note of when you use it and how often you talk about yourself. How egotistical are we? I've done this before and look forward to doing it again. It's insightful. How long can you go without talking about yourself? How does it make you feel? How does it make the person you are talking to feel? Let me know how it goes.
Why? Probably because it draws attention to himself. I watch my kids fighting for attention all the time and I think that we as humans really like attention. Do I want people to know that I woke up early and rode my bike 12.3 miles instead of driving? Well, I like it when people ask... errrr when I get (make) the opportunity to tell people that I commute by bike. It puts attention on me and I don't think that I'm the only one that likes that attention.
Do I want you to know that I'm better than you because I had the strength and courage to battle the bad weather and mean drivers on my way to work while you were lazy and sloth like (I think you're ugly too, but that's a different point) and drove? Suddenly I'm not feeling so good about myself and my bike ride to work. I do not believe that I'm better than motorists. I know that there are many reasons to drive. I know that many people would like to ride but can't for whatever reason. There are many people that just don't think of it. That's OK. Do I hope that some drivers will see me and think, "gee, I think I could do that"? Sure, I hope that I can motivate someone to start riding. That is not, however the reason that I ride.
I have heard of people who will not do something because they feel it will make it look like they are bragging. Wouldn't that philosophy, taken to extremes, lead to a world where everyone does exactly the same thing in order to not stick out? I don't think that's healthy. But some people will do something for the sole purpose of being different, not necessarily because they like or agree with the thing they are doing. I don't want to mistaken for someone like that, that's not who I want to be.
I know it's easy, all you have to do what you believe regardless of what people think. Except making impressions with others is a HUGE part of this world. Other peoples' judgements of me will decide my job and my friends and define my reputation. If you get a reputation as 'that creepy guy who never really does any work', that sticks with you, it doesn't suddenly vanish. It takes a lot of work to demonstrate otherwise. And what work are you doing to convince people that you do something? You are taking good care of what people think of you to build a reputation. In the end, it does matter and we have to take a little care of what people think of us. I know there are moments when I say something and can tell that it was taken wrong and I think, "oops, that came across far more egotistical than I intended".
So here's a challenge for you (and me). Pretend for a day that the word 'I' is the most profane word that you know. Using that word is the greatest insult imaginable to the person that you happen to be talking to at the time and it should be avoided. The point of this is not to absolutely avoid using the word 'I', the point is to make a mental note of when you use it and how often you talk about yourself. How egotistical are we? I've done this before and look forward to doing it again. It's insightful. How long can you go without talking about yourself? How does it make you feel? How does it make the person you are talking to feel? Let me know how it goes.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
10 biggest corporations
Evidently my vocabulary is not as precise as I had hoped. I think I was looking for the biggest corporations which I equate with businesses. Evidently businesses are more like sectors in the true vernacular. Anyway, here are the top 10 corporations in the world.
1. Wal-Mart (retail)
2. Exxon-Mobile (petroleum)
3. Royal Dutch Shell (petroleum)
4. British Petroleum (petroleum)
5. General Motors (auto manufacturer)
6. Toyota (auto manufacturer)
7. Chevron (petroleum)
8. Daimler Chrysler (auto manufacturer)
9. Conoco Phillips (petroleum)
10. Total (petroleum)
Do you see anything these companies have in common?
I'm going to be honest, I want to blog more about simplicity and less about politics and stuff. This list really makes me mad and I see HUGE problems in the world as a result of the power that these corporations have. Proceed at your own risk.
Tomorrow I have a good post planned, but for today I want to express some views on these big businesses. I suppose I have no problem with big business, if they are responsible and contribute to a good world. When it is all about making more money for a few at the expense of the masses, it makes me mad. What really makes me mad is that they have such a stronghold so deep in our political system that I can't do much. It would take far more power than I can get together.
I saw a You tube clip the other day about big business in politics that I liked. I would link to it, but the profanity was such that I am not going to. Anyway, the guy started talking about big business and how they are powerful lobbies in Washington. I don't think there is any argument there. This guy went as far as to say that the reason our (US) education system stinks is because big business wants it that way. If the masses really understood the power of a democracy and the importance of the people having a voice rather than big business running things, there would be less money in the pockets of big business. So how does big business prevent this? They help keep people less educated by continuing with status quo education while the rest of the world moves ahead.
I want to throw in an example just for fun. The state of Utah recently refused to allow students in high school participate in the International Baccalaureate program. While scholastically this program puts students well ahead with a broad understanding of the world, my elected officials refused to allow it because understanding a world view seems to be breeding anti-American sentiments. There is a lot that I love about my country. The fact that I can write this is a big one, things could certainly be much worse. The problem is that we fear too much about what others think of us and we can't allow that into schools. Lets hide the truth from students so that they can continue as naive to the world as their parents. That way big business can continue as usual.
I also want to add that the whole democratic process is so complex that it gets out of the hands of the people. Lets take city council as an example. Attendance at those meetings is sparse at best. That should be one of the biggest meetings of the community, but that lethargy of residents overrides any importance it may hold. That's not big business' fault, but they certainly take advantage of it. The whole process also seems so complex that most people can't figure it out. Big business likes that way, they can continue on without the obnoxious uneducated towns people interfering.
I know what we could do, we could have our government subsidize the production of oil to make it so the big businesses can make more money. Oh, we already do that.
Hey Vertigo, can I come live with you in Canada? I think communal living sounds like it could be fun.
Tomorrow will be better, I promise, but I feel better getting that off my chest.
1. Wal-Mart (retail)
2. Exxon-Mobile (petroleum)
3. Royal Dutch Shell (petroleum)
4. British Petroleum (petroleum)
5. General Motors (auto manufacturer)
6. Toyota (auto manufacturer)
7. Chevron (petroleum)
8. Daimler Chrysler (auto manufacturer)
9. Conoco Phillips (petroleum)
10. Total (petroleum)
Do you see anything these companies have in common?
I'm going to be honest, I want to blog more about simplicity and less about politics and stuff. This list really makes me mad and I see HUGE problems in the world as a result of the power that these corporations have. Proceed at your own risk.
Tomorrow I have a good post planned, but for today I want to express some views on these big businesses. I suppose I have no problem with big business, if they are responsible and contribute to a good world. When it is all about making more money for a few at the expense of the masses, it makes me mad. What really makes me mad is that they have such a stronghold so deep in our political system that I can't do much. It would take far more power than I can get together.
I saw a You tube clip the other day about big business in politics that I liked. I would link to it, but the profanity was such that I am not going to. Anyway, the guy started talking about big business and how they are powerful lobbies in Washington. I don't think there is any argument there. This guy went as far as to say that the reason our (US) education system stinks is because big business wants it that way. If the masses really understood the power of a democracy and the importance of the people having a voice rather than big business running things, there would be less money in the pockets of big business. So how does big business prevent this? They help keep people less educated by continuing with status quo education while the rest of the world moves ahead.
I want to throw in an example just for fun. The state of Utah recently refused to allow students in high school participate in the International Baccalaureate program. While scholastically this program puts students well ahead with a broad understanding of the world, my elected officials refused to allow it because understanding a world view seems to be breeding anti-American sentiments. There is a lot that I love about my country. The fact that I can write this is a big one, things could certainly be much worse. The problem is that we fear too much about what others think of us and we can't allow that into schools. Lets hide the truth from students so that they can continue as naive to the world as their parents. That way big business can continue as usual.
I also want to add that the whole democratic process is so complex that it gets out of the hands of the people. Lets take city council as an example. Attendance at those meetings is sparse at best. That should be one of the biggest meetings of the community, but that lethargy of residents overrides any importance it may hold. That's not big business' fault, but they certainly take advantage of it. The whole process also seems so complex that most people can't figure it out. Big business likes that way, they can continue on without the obnoxious uneducated towns people interfering.
I know what we could do, we could have our government subsidize the production of oil to make it so the big businesses can make more money. Oh, we already do that.
Hey Vertigo, can I come live with you in Canada? I think communal living sounds like it could be fun.
Tomorrow will be better, I promise, but I feel better getting that off my chest.
Monday, March 3, 2008
Lawn mowers
I mowed the lawn on Friday afternoon. The weather was nice and I could see the lawn, so I gave it a shot. The lawn certainly wasn't long, but there was some logic in mowing my already short lawn. Sure, making the neighbors questions what the goofy family on the corner was doing partly drove my decision, but there was much more to it.
Last year we tried to plant a lawn in the front yard. The old lawn was 90% weeds and it was really ugly. We have some desire to resell the house, so we decided to redo the lawn to make it look better. I know that lawns aren't the most environmentally friendly use of land, but with the desire to resell our home, we did it anyway. But we decided to do it without chemicals. Did I mention that the previous lawn was almost entirely weeds?
So we rototilled the lawn and turned it all over into a big pile of dirt. In that pile of dirt you could see morning glory roots throughout, so I knew that if I planted my lawn in early spring, I would be giving the morning glory and the grass an equal start and the morning glory was sure to devastate the grass seed. So I wanted to figure out a way to kill the morning glory. I decided that morning glory needs light and water to survive and it will die when exposed to excessive heat. So I put a layer of black plastic over the front yard (yes, it looked as bad as it sounds). I figured I would just do this for a couple of weeks, but when it came time to take the plastic off, we were deep into summer on a lawn with a Southern exposure that would not be conducive to starting grass seed. I decided that fall would be better because morning glory is at the end of its growth cycle and I could give the grass a bit of a head start.
Last summer our home was known for the black plastic in the front yard and the sunflowers on the side. I thought for sure nothing could live through the drought and heat under the plastic, but the morning glory was ready to grow as soon as I removed the plastic. I planted seed, but it was quickly evident that it was going to lose out to the morning glory. So we went to the local park that was being torn out and we took some of the free sod from there. It was a late night, but I got a lot of the lawn done in the pitch black and my pregnant wife finished the next morning. As I look at it now, it is obvious that I laid the sod in the dark. By the end of last fall, there was morning glory starting to spring up through the sod.
That is why I mowed the lawn Friday. Morning glory season is still a ways off, but the grass is ready to grow. I have heard that mowing will stimulate growth, so I want to get that grass growing early in the season so that hopefully it will block out the morning glory (I doubt that it will, but I'm trying).
Another reason that I mowed on Friday is because I like my lawn mower. Last year we got a reel mower, and I love using it. Sure it takes longer and you often have to go over the lawn in a couple different directions, but I really enjoy using the new lawn mower. As an additional bonus, I can tell how the new lawn mower works and I can fix most any problem that will arise (except for laziness and lack of time). With our gas powered mower I hated the hassle of getting it started and following the smelly beast around the yard. I therefore mow more often with the new mower and enjoy it far more.
QUIZ: Tomorrow there will be the answer to a special quiz. The question is: What are the 10 biggest businesses in the world? I know that you know how to Google it and find the answers, but how well can you do without Google? (No, Google is not one of the top 10). Check and see tomorrow.
Last year we tried to plant a lawn in the front yard. The old lawn was 90% weeds and it was really ugly. We have some desire to resell the house, so we decided to redo the lawn to make it look better. I know that lawns aren't the most environmentally friendly use of land, but with the desire to resell our home, we did it anyway. But we decided to do it without chemicals. Did I mention that the previous lawn was almost entirely weeds?
So we rototilled the lawn and turned it all over into a big pile of dirt. In that pile of dirt you could see morning glory roots throughout, so I knew that if I planted my lawn in early spring, I would be giving the morning glory and the grass an equal start and the morning glory was sure to devastate the grass seed. So I wanted to figure out a way to kill the morning glory. I decided that morning glory needs light and water to survive and it will die when exposed to excessive heat. So I put a layer of black plastic over the front yard (yes, it looked as bad as it sounds). I figured I would just do this for a couple of weeks, but when it came time to take the plastic off, we were deep into summer on a lawn with a Southern exposure that would not be conducive to starting grass seed. I decided that fall would be better because morning glory is at the end of its growth cycle and I could give the grass a bit of a head start.
Last summer our home was known for the black plastic in the front yard and the sunflowers on the side. I thought for sure nothing could live through the drought and heat under the plastic, but the morning glory was ready to grow as soon as I removed the plastic. I planted seed, but it was quickly evident that it was going to lose out to the morning glory. So we went to the local park that was being torn out and we took some of the free sod from there. It was a late night, but I got a lot of the lawn done in the pitch black and my pregnant wife finished the next morning. As I look at it now, it is obvious that I laid the sod in the dark. By the end of last fall, there was morning glory starting to spring up through the sod.
That is why I mowed the lawn Friday. Morning glory season is still a ways off, but the grass is ready to grow. I have heard that mowing will stimulate growth, so I want to get that grass growing early in the season so that hopefully it will block out the morning glory (I doubt that it will, but I'm trying).
Another reason that I mowed on Friday is because I like my lawn mower. Last year we got a reel mower, and I love using it. Sure it takes longer and you often have to go over the lawn in a couple different directions, but I really enjoy using the new lawn mower. As an additional bonus, I can tell how the new lawn mower works and I can fix most any problem that will arise (except for laziness and lack of time). With our gas powered mower I hated the hassle of getting it started and following the smelly beast around the yard. I therefore mow more often with the new mower and enjoy it far more.
QUIZ: Tomorrow there will be the answer to a special quiz. The question is: What are the 10 biggest businesses in the world? I know that you know how to Google it and find the answers, but how well can you do without Google? (No, Google is not one of the top 10). Check and see tomorrow.
Saturday, March 1, 2008
SAS
I forgot to post yesterday. I got so caught up in the excitement of school that I neglected my blog. So what was I so excited about? This is the point where you will discover how lame I really am.
Let me set the scene a little. Some of you may remember the survey that I posted on my site many months ago. Fatty also posted it for me and I got a few other sites to post it. Anyway, lots of people took that survey (about 600 to be exact). I didn't realize it at the time, but the survey equipment that I was using didn't transfer very nicely to excel, so I had to do it manually. I'm thinking that took me 60 hours or more of the most tedious, boring data entry I have ever done. Finally, last weekend I got all my data into excel.
That was huge, I was really excited last weekend, so I went to my advisor and said, "What next?" He questioned what I had gotten myself into. The next step was to get the excel file ready to go into SAS which is really confusing statistical software. He wished me good luck and sent me away with a slight chuckle. I spent about 3-4 hours correcting my spreadsheet, preparing to send it to SAS. I was excited to give it a shot.
Let me explain SAS a little, I don't think you have a feel for it. It is not like Excel. Bill made Excel user friendly so that people would like using it. SAS is made for statisticians who know some computer programming in the SAS language. Statisticians are a unique breed. Computer programmers are also a unique breed. When you have to be both a statistician and a computer programmer to operate a computer program it means that you have to wear thick glasses, a pocket protector and a calculator mounted to your belt in order to operate SAS.
I've taken 1.5 classes that use SAS (and I have a calculator that I sometimes carry in my pocket and glasses that I wear on occasion) so I thought I would give it a shot. For the first 2 hours of trying to import my excel file into SAS I got nothing but errors that ended with "file import unsuccessful". That's OK because there are at least 14 ways to do any given task in SAS, so I moved on to the other way that I knew. After about 3 hours of trying, I finally got data from Excel into SAS.
Unfortunately I had gone from 580 subjects to 193. The data also didn't line up anymore. I had a column of data that was supposed to be how many times a week the person commuted by bike (should have been a number between 0 and 5) and then I'd have a list of data such as: married, full time work, 2, 1000, mountain, road, female. So somewhere along the way my data got all mixed up. I spent a couple more hours trying to figure out how to straighten my data out so that the columns were all the same type of data.
Finally I gave in and made an appointment to talk to my advisor again. I told him the problem and he laughed at me. He told stories of data sets that had taken hundreds of hours to get imported into SAS because of little errors that were difficult to find. But he was willing to give me 30 minutes.
My advisor gave me a third way of importing data into SAS and I tried that. It straightened things out considerably, but there were still some areas where things weren't right. Then I found it. A space between city and center in the question about where the person lived. I took it out and suddenly everything was lined up.
So that is why I didn't write yesterday, I was excited to finally have data to analyze. That was not a simple process, nor was it a simple excuse for not writing. Using SAS really increases my motivation to simplify!
Let me set the scene a little. Some of you may remember the survey that I posted on my site many months ago. Fatty also posted it for me and I got a few other sites to post it. Anyway, lots of people took that survey (about 600 to be exact). I didn't realize it at the time, but the survey equipment that I was using didn't transfer very nicely to excel, so I had to do it manually. I'm thinking that took me 60 hours or more of the most tedious, boring data entry I have ever done. Finally, last weekend I got all my data into excel.
That was huge, I was really excited last weekend, so I went to my advisor and said, "What next?" He questioned what I had gotten myself into. The next step was to get the excel file ready to go into SAS which is really confusing statistical software. He wished me good luck and sent me away with a slight chuckle. I spent about 3-4 hours correcting my spreadsheet, preparing to send it to SAS. I was excited to give it a shot.
Let me explain SAS a little, I don't think you have a feel for it. It is not like Excel. Bill made Excel user friendly so that people would like using it. SAS is made for statisticians who know some computer programming in the SAS language. Statisticians are a unique breed. Computer programmers are also a unique breed. When you have to be both a statistician and a computer programmer to operate a computer program it means that you have to wear thick glasses, a pocket protector and a calculator mounted to your belt in order to operate SAS.
I've taken 1.5 classes that use SAS (and I have a calculator that I sometimes carry in my pocket and glasses that I wear on occasion) so I thought I would give it a shot. For the first 2 hours of trying to import my excel file into SAS I got nothing but errors that ended with "file import unsuccessful". That's OK because there are at least 14 ways to do any given task in SAS, so I moved on to the other way that I knew. After about 3 hours of trying, I finally got data from Excel into SAS.
Unfortunately I had gone from 580 subjects to 193. The data also didn't line up anymore. I had a column of data that was supposed to be how many times a week the person commuted by bike (should have been a number between 0 and 5) and then I'd have a list of data such as: married, full time work, 2, 1000, mountain, road, female. So somewhere along the way my data got all mixed up. I spent a couple more hours trying to figure out how to straighten my data out so that the columns were all the same type of data.
Finally I gave in and made an appointment to talk to my advisor again. I told him the problem and he laughed at me. He told stories of data sets that had taken hundreds of hours to get imported into SAS because of little errors that were difficult to find. But he was willing to give me 30 minutes.
My advisor gave me a third way of importing data into SAS and I tried that. It straightened things out considerably, but there were still some areas where things weren't right. Then I found it. A space between city and center in the question about where the person lived. I took it out and suddenly everything was lined up.
So that is why I didn't write yesterday, I was excited to finally have data to analyze. That was not a simple process, nor was it a simple excuse for not writing. Using SAS really increases my motivation to simplify!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)