The dog still doesn't have a name but I expect Pam will have one either tonight when she gets home from work or tomorrow morning. And so far he seems to do just fine without one. He catches on quickly and an inappropriate behavior (e.g. jumping up on the furniture) takes at most two corrections. Still no barking, and just a little whimper when he's first put in his kennel, with total joy when he's let out. Hasn't eaten anything yet, but that's not uncommon during this transition period.
The best news: he's been house trained. The adoption people had no way of knowing, but he's clearly learned it somewhere along the line.
I met a couple from Victoria, B.C. today. He hadn't said three sentences before he ended one with, ...eh?" They've been here aboooot three weeks.
The online course I'm taking in order to teach online courses has me wondering if agreeing to do so was the right decision. Out of 10 taking the orientation two of us have no experience with Blackboard, the software they use. We're both overwhelmed with the complexity of this program. One of the things we had to do this week was watch a series of online video tutorials on the various sections within the program - scheduling, grading, forums, assignments - and write a response. I figured "huh??!!" wasn't going to cut it so I added some stuff. Whoever made these videos has no concept of "total newbie." The videos are each under three minutes, go by things screaming fast, and use technical terms without explaining them. In other words, these videos for teachers were made by people who aren't teachers.
The other class...outstanding!
There's this business in south Glendale, about 30 minutes from our house, that sells supplies to auto body shops. Everything from the various primers and paints to sandpaper, spray guns, tape.... You name it; if it's used in auto body shops they sell it. Three years ago they decided to expand into the other half of their building and create a learning center to teach auto body work. They have twelve courses that range from the intro class I took, to restoration, to pin stripping, to custom paint techniques, to panel replacement (incl. welding), and more. This intro class was six hours over two nights and is the required entry point to any of the other classes, all of which are available to anyone.
I expected to sit in a chair and take notes. We never sat and there was no time for taking notes. We were out in the shop the whole time doing hands-on work. At the beginning we were each given a 12"x12" piece of metal that had two dents. We learned how to sand the metal (80 grit) to reveal the size and shape of the dent, mix body putty to fill the dent, and then sand it to flush. From there into the paint booth to prime the panel, then back to the bench to learn how to sand a primed panel. Then paint, first a sealer and then a color coat, in this case black. Then apply tape to create striping and paint with a metallic color. Finally, a clear coat.
In between spraying coats he taught us about guns, the various nozzles required for the different coatings, how to adjust and regulate the air pressure, the functional difference between HVLP and LVLP, the different kinds of primers, and paints, how to mix them....
Am I ready to go? Not a chance! This was a crash course that is appropriately named "Introduction." Next week, Tues. and Wed. night, I'm taking "Restoration 1" which will cover prepping a car for paint - how to get the old coatings off, clean the panels, and other stuff (I guess). Again, all hands on. He said we'd be covered in paint dust by the time the evening was done. The last Restoration 1 class worked on a blue car and he said they went home looking like Smurfs. The following week I'll take the two-night "Restoration 2." Then at some point I'll take "Cut & Buff" which teaches how to take what we ended up with Wednesday night - a panel that's got paint & clear coat - and make it look glass smooth and shiny.
Now, if I only had a vehicle to use all this knowledge on.................
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