Forgot to post yesterday: One of my students, after figuring out one of the problems on a precalc test, said “Wow, I feel like we can all go work at NASA now!”.
Stopped while walking the dog to watch five minutes of a youth soccer game. Probably U-6 so Kindergarten and 1st Grade.
I realized that without reference to what the goalies were wearing under their pinnies, I couldn’t tell which goal each team was defending.
My former boss aptly described this level of soccer as two blobs of amoebas chasing the ball.
Amazon is still selling Lock Him Up buttons.
The Crew were digging for a mouse. They had a Mercedes Diamand-Star pattern on the lair. They were all bumpin’ asses in the middle and kicking dirt into each others hole.
Funny shit.
Fuck yeah! That’s awesome!
(And, as woman who works in aviation as an engineer, I hope that student was either female, or that at least the women in the class were enthusiastically in agreement!)
So what if most people will never use this stuff? That student, that moment…that might have created the next wave of people who will use this stuff, and change the world, one tiny thing at a time. Without you, they may never discover this path, and that would be a damn shame.
You’ve made me smile today!
Though, actually, I had a good day with my family and lots of great little moments. I freaking love my kid, we spent time playing a video game together and laughing so much. It’s been a good day.
Yup, it’s an all-girls school. Which, from what I’ve heard, results in students being about six times more likely to go into STEM fields than their cohorts in co-ed schools.
That’s amazing.
.
I’ve been privileged and not faced many roadblocks or even much discrimination other than the general reality of being by far a minority in the field (the odd microaggression, perhaps, but fortunately very rare and I’ve had men stand up for me).
Anyone should have the resources and opportunities to reach their potential and be who they want to be.
Thank you for what you do!
Singlehand sailing around the world non stop? Now make it a race with a fleet of 40 boats. That’s the Vendee Globe, started Sunday. Youngest sailor is 23 yo woman.
Let’s go racing!
Also the return on YT Liziqi
Pete Goss wrote about his experiences sailing solo in the Vendée Globe. Incredible stuff! He made it through a hurricane, then turned around and went back to save another sailor.
I was just reading about him last night!!!
An incredible effort to save Dinelli from certain death.
He also provided resources and gear so Pip Hare could join the race this year.
Cool! He is a wonderful human being.
Was he then disqualified for having two people on his boat? 
I was coaching this newly-minted janitor in cleaning dining room tables about a hundred miles from where I live. A familiar voice of a childhood acquaintance named Dan called out my name behind us. I responded with a usual exuberant ‘Chef Dan!’ My client laughed when Dan replied “Forrest - I heard you’re a shrimp boat cap’n; I’ll be your first mate!” I was surprised both that it was like ‘old home week’ and also that all of us had the same script memorized.
I was on a work call, and my son was home from school with a cold. He tiptoed into my office with a note that read “I made you a cup of tea.”
I had already finished my tea, but was willing to have more, so I turn to him and he places a mug on my desk…with a paper cutout letter T in it.
I love how silly he can be!
One of my students gave me a thank-you card today, with a rather lengthy handwritten note inside. That sort of thing always makes teachers smile.
This is actually from last week-ish, but I was reading The Fellowship of the Ring and there’s a part where the hobbits get separated from their ponies and then a few lines about how the ponies found their way back to safety and essentially lived happily ever after. Love that.
(Although I guess we don’t get to know what happened to poor old Bill the pony. Can’t have everything!)
The same thing that makes me smile every single day, and has made me smile since, almost since The Internet became the Internet and took over my life: animal videos. Because the Internet is of course the repository of a truly bottomless supply of animal videos, which never get old and always make me smile. Not all of them, of course, not every single one, but there’s always at least one and usually many more than that and there is never a day that goes by that I do not see some.
And of course the closely related and of course more important: my dog. Again the thing that has made me smile every single day of my life since I was 22, with every dog or dogs I have ever had.
I’ve got a good job- scratch that; I’ve got a great job. However, the one company that I would consider leaving my current job for contacted me this morning, and now I’ve got an initial interview on Friday.
congratulations and best of luck!
Now of course what is your job and what’s the company?