Reflection 2

Date of meeting: Thursday, June 4th
Location of meeting: I was sitting on my home computer
Time of meeting: 5:17pm - 6:51pm
Names of members present: Kevin Jack, Nate Anderson, Kristen Underhill, Jason Nesler and Amy Sanders
Names of members absent: Everyone was present
Names of any guests attending: No guests


We had to change dates for groups. When Amy and I first met, we agreed to meet Monday and Wednesday mornings at 10:00am. However, just has that happened we had to change groups. Amy & I stayed in group 3 while we got 3 new people. We ended up at square 1. For the next few days, we had to rearrange our schedules to accommodate everyone. The previous group (the three that entered out group) agreed to meet on Wednesdays at 5:30pm. I agreed to it. I said that I could Monday - Friday mornings and Wednesday and Thursday evenings since I normally don't work those two evenings. Amy had to change her schedule a little bit. So we agreed Wednesdays at 5:30pm. For this week, we had to move it to Thursday at 5:30 since I had a previous appointment I had to be at that evening.

Due to time constraints (Amy had to leave at 6:00 central time since she had to get ready for work), we started to discuss the Survivor project. It turns out that no one really watches that show. So we decided to go with the one that was posted on D2L (season 17). Unfortunately we had problems trying to watch the video since it was all clips, and not the full episodes.

After discussing what we were going to do, we went on to the case study. But before that, we discussed who was going to do the summery for the week. Now back to the case study. We agreed that the norms to the group listening to the presentation were: casual, casual dress and drinking wine. However, the "friends" presenting were just a little off. First, they showed up on time (when normally they're 30 minutes late), dressed in professional clothes when normally they were jeans and making a business like presentation. The following violations happened: Free speaking (the friend told his friend to hold all questions until the end), didn't tell the consumers what company they were working for, treating these people like strangers instead of friends and brought in props. But more importantly, when criticized, George and Margret took it the wrong way. Friends can handle other friend's criticism. They went the wrong way about that.

We all agreed that we saw no supportive communication at all. There was a little spontantaneity at the beginning (calling the friends about the business opportunity) but after that, we didn't see much of anything. It all went downhill afterwards. We also agreed that there was a little group cohesiveness but was lost when the norms started to break. There was also discomfirming responses, impersonal responses, a trangential response. Then we discussed how these four could over come their conflict. We agreed that the author and his wife may have over reacted to some of the conflict. We discussed how George and Margret could have had presented themselves a little bit better and stop trying so hard to make a sale, but more importantly, stop being secrative towards the company. Other people might think it's a scam.

Basically in this case study, we mainly just discussed it. We pretty much agreed on everything. I think we did that because it was our first time as a group and didn't know each other. I'm sure as we go further into the semester and have more meetings, we will have more more arguable discussion where people are going to agree and disagree. We ended the meeting by agreeing to meet on Wednesday at 5:30pm.

Reflection 1

Date of meeting: Saturday, May 30th
Location of meeting: I was sitting at Caribou Coffee inside Maplewood Mall
Time of meeting – note both beginning and ending times: 1:18pm - 2:40pm
Names of members present: Kevin Jack & Amy Sanders
Names of members absent: Nathaniel Anderson & Benjamin Neibaur
Names of any guests attending: None

Since this was our first meeting, Amy & I talked about each other. As a get to know each other type of meeting. We discussed what our name for the group is (Against the Flow). Since neither of us had a good idea, we had to consult the Internet for this.

It was determined that no one had the same agenda, instead using the group for their own personal reasons. It was the group's main conflict. Thurman would have made a good leader since he has the need for control. Marmalde would have made the most trouble since he was brought into the group for the wrong reasons, and not to mention didn't have any interest in the group (he was brought into to the church just to do odd jobs).

Then we discussed who was going to do the summaries for the week. And made the decision to add more to the discussion boards.

As I mentioned at the beginning, we took it easy on this meeting. Prior to chatting on the chat board, it was our first times using the chat feature of D2L. I've took many classes online in the past but my first time chatting live. I'm used to chatting on the discussion boards. Amy was inexperienced in this type of environment. It made it easier on both of us knowing how inexperienced we are when it comes to certain features of D2L. This was easy for both of us. It helped us to get to know each other a little bit and the communication was very easy. It will be interesting to see how this works in the future with our new group members joining our group. In addition, it was determined that we would more than likely be using the chat room instead of the webcam feature.

You know you are Minnesotan when....

Jeff Foxworthy on Minnesota:

If you consider it a sport to gather your food by drilling through 18 inches of ice and sitting there all day hoping that the food will swim by,
You might live in Minnesota.

If you're proud that your state makes the national news 96 nightsEach year because International Falls is the coldest spot in the nation,
You might live in Minnesota.

If you have ever refused to buy something because it's "too spendy",
You might live in Minnesota.

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from November through March,
You might live in Pine River Minnesota.

If someone in a store offers you assistance, and they don't work there,
You might live in Minnesota.

If your dad's (or husband's) suntan stops at a line curving around the middle of his forehead,
You might live in Minnesota.

If you have worn shorts and a parka at the same time,
You might live in Minnesota.

If your town has an equal number of bars and churches,
You might live in Minnesota.

If you know how to say...Wayzata...Mahtomedi.....Cloquet . Edina ...and Shakopee,
You might live in Minnesota.

If you think that ketchup is a little too spicy,
You might live in Minnesota.

If vacation means going "up north" for the weekend,
You might live in Minnesota.

You measure distance in hours,
You might live in Minnesota.

You know several people, who have hit deer more than once,
You might live in Minnesota.

You often switch from "Heat" to "A/C" in the same day and back again,
You might live in Minnesota.

You can drive 65 mph through 2 feet of snowDuring a raging blizzard without flinching,
You might live in Minnesota.

You see people wearing hunting clothes at social events,
You might live in Minnesota.

You install security lights on your house and garage and leave both unlocked,
You might live in Minnesota.

You think of the major food groups as beer, fish, and Venison,
You might live in Minnesota.

There are 7 empty cars running in the parking lot at Mill's Fleet Farm at any given time,
You might live in Brainerd, Minnesota.

You design your kid's Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit,
You might live in Minnesota.

Driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow,
You might live in Minnesota.

You know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, still winter, and of course, road construction,
You might live in Minnesota.

You can identify a southern or eastern accent,
You might live in Minnesota.

Your idea of creative landscaping is a plastic deer next to your blue spruce,
You might live in Minnesota .

If "Down South" to you means Iowa,
You might live in Minnesota.

You know "a brat" is something you eat,
You might live in Minnesota.

You find -10 degrees "a little chilly",
You might live in Minnesota .

And thanks to Jerome for this one: IF YOUR US SENATE RACE GOES ON AND ON AND ON AND.........

The Pressure's On (Or In My Mind Off)

Earlier this morning, as I was heading to brunch in a St. Paul restaurant, I put on my Facebook status: "Kevin Jack was thinking (while riding Metro Transit route 54) when I made of the most important decisions regarding the future and there's no ands, ifs or buts about it". And that is: There's a very good change that I may never date again or for that matter, ever get married.

Over the last year, I have been questioned by some of my friends: How come you're not married? (This is usually when I give a smart ass answer. For example, "You haven't asked yet" or "It's a mystery right up there with 'Who shot JFK?' and 'Why don't other countries have better toilet paper?'" Basically, now that I'm in my mid-20s, I'm being pressured into this otherwise I'm considered a "drunk millionaire playboy" (I hope you get the movie reference).

Truth be told: I really don't want to for several reasons. It seems like in today's society, you need to be married before the age of 25 or otherwise you'll never get married.

1.) I've been hurt too many times. In every relationship I've been in, it has ended with the words: "You're not good enough for me". While I understand that some relationships work and some don't, is it necessary to tell another human being those 6 words? Oh, well. I survived. Their loss.

2.) I don't have the time. I spend 7 days a week working on something. Whether it's working at Edgcumbe or working on school assignments, there isn't a free minute that I have during the week to maintain or develop any relationships since I'm always on the road somewhere.

3.) I'm not even remotely close to being ready to have children. Some of my friends are my age. Most of them are already married and have children (or in some cases 2). I'm 24 years old, there's no way I would be ready to have children. Maybe when I turn 30 I'll start having children but until then, there's no way you'll see me with my own child.

4.) There isn't anyone out there anymore. No explanation needed. Everyone who is my age are already married or in a committed relationship so I won't waste my time with this.

I want everyone to know this. I'm not insecure, I'm not scared of commitment (okay fine, maybe a little) and I'm not knocking down dating and marriage. I'm questioning why people make this such a big deal when truth be told, it really isn't. Personally, I don't really care if I ever date again or get married for that matter. I'm happy either way. As long as I have good friends and family, I'm a happy camper. Sure it's going to be tough at times and I may miss out on things but I think I can survive. Whatever makes you happy, right? I guess you can say that I'm still waiting for that special someone to come into my life.

But this is life and it can change. If I met the right person, then I may have wasted my time writing this. You never know.

I suppose there's people who are going to keep pressuring and pressuring me to do so but my life isn't yours. Let me live my life and I'll let you live yours.

A Reflection

Here we are: The end of another semester at Inver Hills. Seems like yesterday that the semester just started. Can't believe it's almost over. I guess it's true what they say: Time flies when your having fun. I suppose that I should reflect what I learned over the course of the semester.

First, I will admit that I thought I was a good (not great) communicator. I was wrong on all counts. Taking this class helped me wake up to all forms of communication. It's hard to believe that it interpersonal communications can be difficult to maintain without the proper tools. I know that everyone has conflicts in their life. However, I was lacking the skills to overcome conflicts in my relationships, no matter how small or big the relationship is. Another big one was delveoping relationships and maintaing them. I know that people in your life will come and go. That's part of life. However, it is important to maintain the relationships you have with others, even if it is a 5 minute meeting.

Second, the blogging project. This helped me learn more about myself. I know I kept on saying that this project would help me with my writing skills for that high powered journalism job in the future, but it helped me realize things about myself that I never noticed in the past. It helped me realize how people act in certain ways, how even the slighted stories can help wake someone up regarding that particular person.

Third, to me, out of my four classes I took this semester, I felt like this was one of the most valuable classes I took. I've been wanting to take it for the longest time but could never fit it into my school schedule. I'm glad that I was able to do that this semester. I'm going to take everything I learned this semester and hold on to them for future use.

Please Explain Something to Me

On a beautiful day like it was today, you might be tempted to head to the park to take your child to the jungle gym or watch a baseball or softball game. Why bother staying inside? After all, isn't that what we just did for the last 9 months?

At the recreation center I work at, there was two games going on - one baseball and one softball - so it was a fan's day. Well, sometimes these types of days really don't make a City of St. Paul - Department of Parks and Recreation a happy camper. Today was one of those days.

Earlier this afternoon, while the two games going was going on, there was a very young child, 3 to be exact, laying face first in the sand box. Why? I don't know. Besides having a broken arm, she looked to be just fine. A parent came in to alert me of the situation. The parent tried to talk to the young child. No results. I tried to talk to the child. No results. At this point, I went to my supervisor for further instruction. My supervisor even tried to talk to the young child. No results.

My best guess is the parents are watching their teenage child play baseball. Read that last sentence over again. Look at the previous paragraph. See anything wrong with that picture?

Oh, it gets better. The parent sends her brother to watch her. The only problem: He's 5.

At this point, as my supervisor is on the phone with the police, another parent comes up to us and says the grandfather arrived. My supervisor has a chat with the grandfather.

My only question to parents is: Why? Why would you send an infant child or in this case two infant children, to the park unsupervised? Do you expect other people to watch your child(ren)? Do you expect the recreation center staff to supervise your child? It's people, in my opinion, like this who should not be parents. I mentioned in a previous blog that no one is invisible. Bad things can happen to anyone at anytime, especially younger children who don't quite yet has the common sense to defend him/herself.

Truth be told, if I were married and had children and found out that my wife sent my infant child(ren) to the park unsupervised, well I won't tell you what I would say but I can tell you, it won't be pretty.

This is one of the main reasons why I have a hard time building new relationships with a lot people. The common sense in people doesn't exist anymore. I can't believe how difficult it is to actually meet an intelligent person. That's one of the qualities I look for in a woman: intelligence. Where are you????????

Another question I must ask as a non-parent is: Is it just me or is America, not only getting more obese but stupider?

Pressures of Finals

There are two months out of the year I really don't like: May and December (although December seems to be of a triple whammy - I'll explain more later). Reason: Finals.

For many college students, this is where we put everything behind us and focus on our classes. For me, it's many, many hours in the computer lab, printing and researching information regarding certain topics for certain classes. For example, last Wednesday and Thursday, I was in the computer lab from 9:00 in the morning all the way to 8:30 at night. Two long days staring in front of a computer can make anyone go absolutely crazy. I wasn't realizing this when it happened but when I was texting some of my friends, they let me know that I was misspelling some words, therefore making them confused about what I was talking about. I knew that was a sign that my brain was fried - I can't spell.

Friday didn't give me much of a favor either but was in the computer lab for only a few hours in the morning since I had to work in the afternoon.

It's because of those two long study days that I took the weekend off from studying. I went out with friends on Saturday night, to escape the world of studying and be a little social before I got back to the books on Monday.

By the way, early last week, I had 2 finals next week & 2 finals during finals week. Late in the week, my instructor for technical writing changed the schedule a bit and moved the final to this coming week. So now 3 next week and one the following. I know that this is normal for a college student but having 3 finals even before finals week seems to be a little strange. Shouldn't that week be used for studying or finishing up last minute papers/reports?

I'll be glad when finals are over. I'll have a nice week & Memorial Day off before I have to go back at it. I'm taking four classes that start and finish at different times (Three online and one in the classroom).

I have a hunch that I'll be spending a lot of time at Inver Hill's gym (waling around) to decrease the stress I'll have.

If you see me next week, stay clear of me. It may be ugly!!! :-D

By the way, that triple whammy in December I'm talking about consists of Christmas, finals and the start of winter. Talk about a stressful month.