When your health lets you down

I’m over 50.  Stuff happens.  I’ve been miraculously healthy for 48 of my 51 years.  I eat right, stay active (can’t say I vigorously exercise), don’t smoke, don’t drink to excess.  I always wear my seatbelt. 

But, sometimes, no matter how well you take care of yourself, a health problem arises that you couldn’t have prevented.  I’m there now.  I’ll be having surgery within a week because three years of trying to deal with this issue conservatively just didn’t work.  My mom always called it women’s troubles.

Women over 45 who read this will nod and understand.  Men – I hope you catch on, a blog isn’t where I want to spell this out.

All that said, I’ll be away from our Writing for Electronic Communities Class for at least two weeks.  I hope I can catch up and come back!

Thoughts on Ludwik Fleck

Our weekly class at Rowan University, Writing for Electronic Communities focuses on a readings by various authors, all seemingly tied together.  The weekly discussions thus far haven’t really pulled these authors theories and ideas together, but I’m seeing ties.

For example, at first glance, Ludwik Fleck, Genesis and Development of a Scientific Fact would appear to have little to do with Writing for Electronic Communities, but there is a relationship.  Fleck talks at length about developing a scientific fact through a thought process, scientific experimentation, revision of the thought process, more experimentation.

The electronic community is a developing community of practice (Wenger).    All who are delving into the electronic communication world are developing thought processes, thought collectives and communities of practice that are becoming part of the scientific fact of electronic communities as we know them today. 

People think, they experiment, they see their results, think again and change their experiment. 

Yes, scientific facts evolve as we learn.  Electronic communication will continue to evolve as we learn.  Fleck’s example of Syphilis being a carnal scourge, or sidereal (of or relating to the stars) in the 15th century certainly evolved as scientists thought, experimented, thought again.  It took four more centuries for Wasserman to hit on a diagnostic tool for Syphilis.  But, there were many scientists and observations during that time.  The thoughts and “scientific facts” kept evolving.  They may still as more work is done on the disease.  That doesn’t make the early facts wrong – merely incomplete.

Electronic communication will continue to evolve.  Was the early Motorola mobile telephone wrong?  It has evolved from a 40 ounce monster to a device no bigger than a deck of cards in under 40 years.  No, the early mobile phone wasn’t a wrong scientific fact.  It evolved based on knowledge, experimentation, thoughts, more experimentation.  I can’t wait to see what is next!

I Won!

No, I didn’t win the lottery.  I wrote last week about my comical frustration in accessing Rowan university’s Open Area from home.  I also wrote about my determination to conquer this technology challenge.  I think what helped was the fact that I tried and failed a few times – I was actually familiarizing myself with the quirks of the process, though I wouldn’t have believed it at the time.  When I finally got my computer back – much faster, thank you – I downloaded the instructions, downloaded the VPN – again!  And…I waltzed right in to the open area.  Imagine that! 

I am obsessed with conquering all of this technology that is so new to me, but old hat to tekkies.   

Observations on Communities of Practice by Etienne Wenger

Our class was asked to read Etienne Wenger’s Communities of Practice for our Writing for Electronic Communities class.  He writes extensively about learning theory and practice.  Wenger theorizes that learning may begin in a classroom setting, but real learning occurs in practice – Communities of Practice. 

We – each of us, belongs to many Communities of Practice.  They include Work, Home, School, Civic Organizations, Church.  We each have a role within the individual community – and those roles are different depending on the community.  For example, we may be the boss at work, but at home, we may take a more laid back role.  We may be the passive participant at church, and the go-getter in our daughter’s Girl Scout Troupe.  But, each role is important to us individually, and to the success of the community.  We learn how to succeed within the group, how to make the group succeed.  We learn how to fit in, how not to fail – personally and as a community.  We learn by doing, and by interacting with others in the community. 

Wenger also discusses Organizations, and the communities within each organization.  It is fortunate for me that the vignettes he uses take place in a Health Insurance company, specifically within the Claims Processing Unit.  I understand how such a unit functions, and how a Health Insurance company functions.  Wenger, in discussing Organizational Imagination shows that oftentimes in organizations, communities of practice know their business backward and forward, but do not understand how other communities of practice within the organization function.  This is not healthy for an organization.  In the company I work for, we recognized this phenomena several years ago – we called it Working in Silos.  The participants in each silo were trained, engaged, and efficient.  The problems occurred because members of one community didn’t understand how the other communities’ work impacted them, or visa versa.  Our solution was to break down the silos.  We didn’t disrupt the commuities of practice, but we encouraged members of other communities to engage each other, discuss their roles and functions, learn each other’s business practices. 

The result is a high functioning organization from the top to the bottom.  Associates across the organization understand (for example) what the calculations on the C, F, and J form really mean.  They truly understand COB – health coverage provided by another insurance carrier.   They understand the impact of installing new hardware or software and how downtime to integral systems will impact the entire organization.  Everyone understands that when you don’t pay claims correctly, angry members and providers start calling, claims have to be reprocessed, finance has to allocate additional funds.   Decisions made in a vacuum cause rework.  Rework costs money, causes dissatisfaction. 

 In an organization, Communities of Practice are the norm.  A high functioning organization ensures that all the communities of practice under its umbrella are collaborating.

Is this you?

 

 The students in Writing for Electronic Communities, a spring 2008 Masters level class at Rowan University, have been challenged to log in to (or on to?) the Rowan server from home to submit our work.  I ask, how are the rest of you coping?  I’ve tried a few times, received confusing error messages, installed, uninstalled, reinstalled the VPN software, called the Rowan help desk.  While I’m on that subject, why isn’t the help desk open in the evening? 

I work full time.  It became a necessity to call the Rowan help desk from my office during the workday.  I couldn’t completely articulate to the helpful help desk technician what was happening, because I wasn’t at home in front of my computer.    I referred to my notes, and I spoke in generalities.  They spoke in generalities.  I took notes.   I went home with general ideas of how to conquer this thing, and my computer was gone!  My husband sent it in for service – probably because I grumbled and whined the night before about it’s poor and sluggish performance.  I appreciate his willingness to help.

But, I’m forced to put my enthusiasm on hold for another day.  I will win!  If after I try again, and I still look like the cartoon above, I can always e-mail the help desk with a series of screen shots.

It’s been a month since we lost Mom

It’s been about a month since we laid my mom to rest.  I say laid to rest because she wasn’t buried, but entombed in an above-the-ground mausoleum.  My dad refers to it as the penthouse suite in a nice condo complex.  Their condo is on the top floor.  I hope he doesn’t intend to move in there any time soon.  I also say laid to rest because she struggled with everyday life the past 8 years.  She’s walking with the angels now, free of the damaged body she lived in.  But, I digress.  This isn’t about how she changed 8 years ago after her first stroke.  She was still the same lovely woman, we could still talk to her and listen to her stories, and she could still give advice!!  Funny, when you are over 40, you don’t mind getting advice from your parents – at least I don’t.  After 40, you may not agree with your parent’s opinions, but you can certainly understand why they feel the way they do.

 

Back to my original point.  You could say we missed the Christmas and New Years holidays this year.  Oh, we semi-celebrated with family dinners and gift exchanges, but our hearts weren’t in it.  When we said good bye to her at the hospital on Christmas Eve, we fully expected to pick her up on Christmas morning and bring her home.  But, we were deeply disappointed Christmas morning when we arrived at the hospital to find her much worse.  To make a long story short, she had a procedure done on Christmas Eve.  We didn’t expect that she would have a major stroke after the procedure, although that is always a risk.  She never woke up again.

 

She lingered for a week, and the doctors gently told us on New Years Day that any chance of recovery was now gone.  The only reason she was still with us was because she was on a ventilator.  I hope you never have to see a loved one in this condition, nor have to make the decision to stop life support.  You are so conflicted, you wonder whether it is the right decision.  Is the ventilator causing her pain and suffering? Will she suffer when they remove it? 

 

In our case, the hospital chaplain (Catholic Priest) talked with us, prayed with us, administered last rights to my mom.  The priest did not falter when he agreed that letting her go was the right thing to do.  We felt at peace.  She passed 5 hours later on January 2, 2008.

 

My mom is gone.  But, I am so fortunate to have had her all these years.  We could have lost her 8 years ago. I was given the gift of time.  I really, really learned her recipes, and have carried on the traditions.  I know her family tree. I know the good and bad family secrets.  She passed on countless mom-isms and other words of wisdom.  She was a class act, and I will miss her.  But, I am blessed.  She is at peace.

Having a bad day?

Enrolled in the Spring 2008 Writing for Electronic Communities class at Rowan University?  Trying to conquer Netvibes, Zoho, VPN, The Learning Record, WordPress?  Watch this video from glumbert.com and enjoy! 

http://glumbert.com/wii/view.php?name=baddayoffice

Liberal or Conservative?

Conservative or Liberal?  I was once a liberal, and am now a conservative.  They say Winston Churchill said “If you’re not a liberal when you’re 20, you have no heart. If you’re not a conservative when you’re 40, you have no head.”  There is no evidence to attribute that quote to him.  But I do believe there is logic in the quote. 

The young should be idealistic and want to change – there are a lot of problems in the world – and many theories on how to solve them.  The mature are cautious about change for change’s sake – we’ve been there and done that – some things work, some don’t.  History repeats itself.  Let’s learn from our mistakes.  Of course, one man’s mistake is another man’s victory. 

What has occurred lately is the stifling of either viewpoint.  Neither side is encouraged to air their views, and are attacked for trying to express their thoughts.  No matter the subject, it is politically incorrect to express your views – you are bound to offend someone.  The result is no dialog at all, and a deepening divide. 

I think we need to toss political correctness out the window.  Let’s get back to common sense and decency.  This country was built by hard work and innovation.  By Liberals and Conservatives.  There is room for both viewpoints - we need people who aren’t afraid to speak their mind.  And we need people to agree to disagree, and look for middle ground.

Marshall McLuhan – Wow

McLuhan should be a household name.  But, I can understand why he isn’t.  The average person couldn’t read his lectures for pleasure.  That said, I also (Like Tom Wolfe) wish he were still alive, what McLuhanisms would we be privileged to have concerning our culture and how electronic mass media have shaped it?  I found his theories about how new forms of mass communication change culture very enlightening.  For example, he talks about how education occurred in Greco-Roman times – a teacher having conversations with a group of students.  The teacher had control and immediate feedback on what the student learned, and had the opportunity to try to alter the student’s perspective if the teacher felt the student got it wrong.  When the alphabet was introduced, students could privately read and learn – taking the teacher out of the equation.  Students interpreted what they read in their own way, sometimes the teacher never had the opportunity to shape thought.  Mass publication of books accelerated this trend.  McLuhan says that when news (or information, or entertainment as it were) comes at high speed there is no possibility for discussion, interpretation.  The recipient is given a do-it-yourself kit (page 8).  Sometimes, the outcome is not what was intended. 

Mass culture could be devastating for a culture.  Print, TV, movies, the internet can and do shape what people know and believe.  McLuhan hit it on the head when he said “Today, the notion that film, radio, or television can be allowed to convey the information of older subject-matters and disciplines is based on the assumption that the conveyors of information are neutral.”   (emphasis added)

Is mass-media today neutral?  I think not always.  You have to dig to get all perspectives on an issue.  Many people today do not know they should look for the other side of the story – they trust what they see on TV, in newspapers, on the internet.  McLuhan recognized that mass media shaped (and is still shaping) American culture – messages are no longer being addressed to the audience for personal interpretation and discussion, but messages are delivered through the audience (page 25).  The audience stopped thinking and interpreting what they saw and read.  Audiences “learn” what the mass media feeds them. 

Engelbert and team created the Internet – Not Al Gore!!

Doug Engelbert led a computer networking research team at Berkeley in 1968.  Listening carefully to the video presentation, Doug appears to have been on the ground floor, that is creating the names and principles we still use today concerning computers, networking and internetting!  And I thought the internet was created by Al Gore!  (smile – it’s fun to perpetuate that urban legend)

Was Doug’s team the first to use the following terms?  mouse, control devices, tracking spot, bugs, user documentation, user guide, keywords, band-width.  Doug described in detail the file naming convention his sytem used to attach the creator’s identity, time the file was created and its location to each file created.   He and his team demonstrated the internet they created and developed.  The project programmers knew how to leave messages for each other within the coding (do programmers do that today?).  They recognized bugs – could they debug the system too? 

By the way, we still use the keyboard and mouse today.  What about the Chord Key Set?  Is that in use – did it evolve into something else we know today?

How were the Berkeley terminals connected?  They didn’t have to be in the same building connected by extension cords.  When Doug and Bill connected remotely between Berkeley and San Francisco, did they use the telephone lines?

Very enlightening.