If I say/read it really quickly, it looks like I might desert my dissertation. Which, I'll admit, is tempting.
There's a certain problem I run into when I sit down to write my dissertation, one that involves me getting ever so slightly distracted. Now, I'll write two or three pages a day, but the amount of fiddle-faddling around is attrocious. Any new blog entries on my reader? Facebook posts? What is the headline on the Post? The Times? Any new blog entries in the last 2 minutes? Any more new Facebook posts? ... You get the idea.
So, rather than knocking out my two to three pages in an hour, it takes me three to four. Why can't I just focus, do my work, and then enjoy the rest of my day? Dunno. Something of the procrastinator lurks in my type-A personality that keeps me from being as productive as I can.
In a few weeks, I hope to have access to a program a friend of mine has developed, one which can either block out websites for a certain amount of time or allow access to only a few for a block of time. I'd say that I'd want to block out just a few, but I know that I'd just get more creative in my procrastination. Derg.
Still, I've written approximately 20 pages in the last 11 days. Will I meet my deadline of a chapter (40-60 pages) by the end of the month? I'm not sure, but I can hope....
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Friday, May 7, 2010
Building a Boat
If you are outside of middle Tennessee, odds are you have not heard that perhaps one of the largest natural disasters to strike the US hit Nashville last weekend. The forecast just called for rain and storms, so of course we expected tornados. Par for the course. What we didn't expect is what some folks are calling a 500 year, even 1000 year flood.
Whole subdivisions are underwater. At least ten are dead within Nashville/Davidson County. Damage is around 1.5 BILLION DOLLARS. And they're only done with accounting for approximately 80% of damages so far. One of the larger employers in Nashville is underwater and may not be operatable for another six months. Water conservation measures has folks going without showers for three or four days, and then only taking Navy showers.
And the news cycle missed out on us because there wasn't enough of a narrative.
So if you've not heard (or heard little), I understand. Check out sites like our local paper, the Tennessean. Donate to small, local charities. Tell your friends.
Hopefully you'll also hear about the good stories: Water conservation measures caught on, and we are slowly building back our reserve. Strangers are showing up in the flooded neighbourhoods to help tear out dry wall, dispose of carpet, take out insulation. Others wading waist-deep into flood waters to save stranded motorists who can't swim. Folks on jet skis saving people whose houses were flooding and, tragically, burning down around their ears.
Whole subdivisions are underwater. At least ten are dead within Nashville/Davidson County. Damage is around 1.5 BILLION DOLLARS. And they're only done with accounting for approximately 80% of damages so far. One of the larger employers in Nashville is underwater and may not be operatable for another six months. Water conservation measures has folks going without showers for three or four days, and then only taking Navy showers.
And the news cycle missed out on us because there wasn't enough of a narrative.
So if you've not heard (or heard little), I understand. Check out sites like our local paper, the Tennessean. Donate to small, local charities. Tell your friends.
Hopefully you'll also hear about the good stories: Water conservation measures caught on, and we are slowly building back our reserve. Strangers are showing up in the flooded neighbourhoods to help tear out dry wall, dispose of carpet, take out insulation. Others wading waist-deep into flood waters to save stranded motorists who can't swim. Folks on jet skis saving people whose houses were flooding and, tragically, burning down around their ears.
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