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Mikenike

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  1. Hey guys. I have been gone for a long time, like 4 months since I last checked the forums. I feel it has been caused by me playing other games and KSP2 being 6+ months away. I hate that I have been gone, but I have found myself with such little time because of my new favorite game, Rust. I've found it takes a lot of my free time back up, similar to how KSP used to. I got kinda bored with KSP, cause I had gone as far as Eeloo and had maxed out my tech tree. Regardless I felt that I had gone as far as I could. It has been a good run on the forums, and I'm sure I'll be back occasionally, but I feel that unless something happens big (aside from KSP1 development being halted after the next update) then I will most likely be off an on, checking back every once in a while. I will see you guys when I return, my full hiatus has only just begun. God speed and Happy Landings!!!!!

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      It has been a tough decision to go, but I'll see ya!

    2. (See 2 other replies to this status update)

  2. A bit of philosophy:

    If humankind would turn its energies from war to space exploration, what could we achieve as a species within the next ten years! But humankind models itself after ants. Ants from one ant hill will fight ants from other anthills to the death for a simple discarded apple core.

    Granted, Earth is a little better than an apple core. But as long as our endeavors are focused on the weapons of war, we will never reach the stars.

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      Very good philosophy...... Enjoyed it..

  3. mwahaha yes 9 followers me and @Melontime will be president and vice president of the forums 2024 (Mods dont smite me it is a joke election)

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      *Soup* Has 9 followers.

      *Soup* IM THE KING OF THE FORUMS

      *Me* Ok, weird flex, I've got 14.

      *dman* 30!!

      *adsii* I've got 52....

      *Just Jim* I've gotten 66.

      *SQUAD* 101 bois...

       

      @Souptime   @adsii1970   @Dman979 @Just Jim  Dont wanna @ SQUAD

    2. (See 19 other replies to this status update)

  4. Today marks 6 months since I learned my best friend of 30 years passed away. How did time go this fast? Feels so raw still.

    0406702052021

  5. Life on the university campus:
    (Spring 2021 Semester, Third posting)

    And there are days where I should have stayed in bed:

    Friday was filled with unexpected problems. As many of you know, I teach at both a community college (a two-year school which awards either an Associates of Arts or an Associates of Science depending on a student's chosen field) and a university. And for the past three years, we've had an issue with the human resources director the community college hires. I'm not tenured at either school. At the university, I work on a five-year contract which expired a year ago. There were no issues when the new contract was issued. Just as every other contract renewal at the university, January 31st was a normal payday.

    For the community college, things are not that simple. Last spring, I was put on a five-year contract with the stipulation that tenure could be awarded at the end of the contract. But the Human Resources director decided that for some reason, the pay scale as put into place in the contract would not be followed this year. So, there was no January 31st paycheck. I called the dean of faculty's administrative assistant who spent all day Friday trying to figure out why I didn't get paid.

    Incompetency never dies; it's promoted into a higher position within the bureaucracy:

    Now, losing 1/3 of an expected payday would be a bad thing if I lived from paycheck to paycheck. But I do not. I do have a reserve which I was able to draw from to replace the missing pay. But Friday, I called and started a process going that I have no control over and has taken a rather nasty life of its own. The dean called me back Friday afternoon, apologizing and offering to advance me money from the emergency faculty loan account to cover the paycheck I was missing. No, I didn't take it because I have a reserve account that contains enough money to cover the missing paycheck. Today, as I was leaving the campus, the dean told me what had happened - human resources messed up when they entered my pay data for the academic year (Fall/Spring/Summer).

    The problem was because an on-campus rehabilitative transfer where an employee who already made a mess in the registrar's office was sent to the human resources department. And to add insult to injury, the transfer included a title change which triggered an automatic promotion. I'm the only five-year contract faculty member on campus and instead of asking for help in proper coding my pay, she did things for me as she had done for those hired from semester to semester. But with a twist - her mistake meant my first pay date is January 31, 2022. And when the dean pointed out her mistake, she simply laughed it off. But then she told the dean that the end-of-semester audit would catch it and I'd be paid on June 1 - once the audit found the error!

    I should have stayed in bed this morning:

    I came really close to losing my temper today. Luckily, the dean has already taken the steps to make sure the problem is corrected. In fact, she has asked the human resources director to personally handle my file. Today, I've spent time on the phone with this lady to learn something else - my pay has been wrong for the past two years! Since I am not tenured, I am supposed to receive extra pay for any full time assignments given me - and this includes advising. As of this morning, not only does the college owe me my normal end of the month paycheck, but an additional $3,500+/- for advising assignments. The bad news is if I get it paid in one lump sum, it messes up my paycheck withholding for 2021, putting me in a higher municipal, state, and national tax brackets. So, I will be getting the money spread out over each pay period for the rest of the year. Meanwhile, I will be getting paid, but not until February 15th.

    The most frustrating part of all of this is the corporate structure's need to rehabilitate people who clearly do not have the aptitude to do the job they were hired to do. Someone else always pays the price for their incompetence. And someone else always has to go back and fix their mistakes. They win - they don't have to fix the mess they created, they don't care about those they inconvenience, and they usually get promoted to keep them from making any more messes where they are. Yeah, I've been in a foul mood all day.

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      I feel your pain man. My father has had to contact his company's HR department so many times- both for himself or the workers under him- that the HR head and him have gotten to a first name basis. It's frustrating, cause it shouldn't be an often mistake, and it seems every 2-3 months he has a messed up paycheck. Thankfully we don't live paycheck to paycheck, but still, its a big deal. HR is the most vital part of any company/organization/college, so they should have people to ensure that the pay is right.

    2. (See 1 other reply to this status update)

  6. Life on the university campus:
    (Spring 2021 Semester, second posting)

    Being a professor on campus means more than just teaching in the lecture hall:

    This week has been fairly quiet on both campi (technically, it is the plural of campus) where I teach. For the local university, I only have to step on campus once a month for various meetings I'm required to attend. At the local community college, I am on the campus three days a week. I know that often times I share the outrageous moments with you. But there are actually moments when things aren't so wild that are more stimulating and satisfying to me.

    In my office hours (pre-Covid), I'd normally have anywhere from five to twelve students hanging out just to be able to have off-topic and honest discussions. Sure, we'd all get into the forbidden topics of "proper" discussion, such as religion, politics, and sex. But when we, as a society or as individuals, begin to label any topic as "forbidden," we cease to allow for the free-flow of ideas. And the regular attendees of what became known as the bull sessions understood the rules I put in place for those office hours:

    • No personal attacks. You may disagree with someone's opinion and you may address that. But you never make your objections personal. Do it and you're out.
    • No bashing. This not only includes sexuality and gender identity, but religion, life philosophy, etc. Again, you may disagree with someone's views, and you may discuss the disagreement as a means to gain understanding.
    • No faulty arguments based off emotion only. It is okay to have your opinion and to express it, but never solely defend it by saying things like, "well, that's how I feel," or "the facts are irrelevant."
    • Look beyond the physical appearance of others in the bull session. See the person for who they are and not what they look like. This eliminates so much misunderstanding when it's done.

    Since I began doing that about ten years ago, I always students hang out in my office. COVID has changed that. But in my evaluations from last semester, a student commented that they "really missed the office bull sessions... and I learned more about society there than I did in any of my sociology lectures." One of the requirements of the semester evaluations is I have to evaluate myself and then discuss the student evaluations of the course and discuss both with the Dean of Students. As she and I talked, she said that there's more students on campus who have me and loved my courses than students that hated them. She also said that my courses are also rated as some of the more difficult ones on campus and found it interesting that they were so well liked. She also said there were other students in the past who had also made very positive comments about my classes and the bull sessions during my office hours.

    Overall, the evaluations were good. I was encouraged that once things begin to return to normal, I needed to resume what I was doing during my office hours each Thursday -particularly the bull sessions. Right now, I am not sure when normal campus life will return. But it's nice to know that there's a desire among the students to have a place on campus where honest debate and discourse can be enjoyed.

     

     

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      Spoiler

      But when we, as a society or as individuals, begin to label any topic as "forbidden," we cease to allow for the free-flow of ideas.

      I really like the above quote. It is sadly something that is going away quite quickly. We have all to often heard of the tightening of free speeches neck. It happened with an early U.S President, and has become all the more relavent in the past 10 years. 

  7. A Dream 7 years in the making, nearly crushed in less than three hours

    I had a dream, seven years ago. It was not like Jesus' dreams, nor was it like Dr. King's, it wasn't even the demigods of Greek and Roman times type dreams. It was my own goal, one that I've held onto for 7 years now. I almost lost that dream last night. My dream was to be in CAP, or Civil Air Patrol. I went to my first meeting (official meeting, I had been to many in Houston's Thunderbird Squadron when my dad was apart of that squadron), and my first impressions were good, until the briefings. For anyone who knows an inkling about CAP's Louisiana Wing, they know the name Jude Porrier. He is CO of our local squadron and he is the long-winded, loves to hear himself talk type of guy. My dad (this was WAY back when) was actually apart of the squadron and him and Col. Porrier didn't get along too well. He was the type to do 3 hour briefings for stuff that should take under 30 minutes. He's also the type to have an idea but no true plan. So, I get to the meeting, and the 8 of the cadets at the meeting, 1 1stSGT, 1 double diamond(Cadet Col), and the rest senior airman or below. We, or those not at the promotion board, go to the drill pad, we had a member who was on her second meeting, myself on the first meeting. They did basic inspection, and procceded to teach the new female member basic drill. Two guys chatted with me, and asked basic questions and what not. Fast forward 20 minutes, and we were back in the briefing room. Col. Porrier was about to give one of his famous 3 hour Christmas safety speeches. But first he went over his letter to LA Wing on our goals and plans for this year, it was a thing that should have taken 10 minutes, but it took 45. His three hour speech, from what I heard from the cadets, this type of long briefing is super common. So about halfway into his 6 slide powerpoint, about 20:30 military time. My dad had had enough, he is patient, typically, but both of us had enough. It was almost 1 1/2 hours after he concluded his first spiel. He looped back to things he deemed "important" in this filibusting powerpoint during that speech. My dad apologized for this saying that he didn't realize that Porrier was still like that. He continued saying that he was sorry for dragging me through that. I told him it was alright, and that he couldn'tve done anything about it beforeh-hand, and I procceded to tell him what the cadets told me before we went back in. I felt bad for the cadets more than me, that Cadet Lt. Col. must've had to deal with that for years. Well, I went home that night, not wanting to go back, not with him micromanaging the cadets. So, my mother and father talked it over, and reached a conclusion. If they could get him to agree to hand over operations to my dad, a former Cadet CO, later a Senior Captain, we would all pour in the effort and time needed to make the squadron better. And they said, that I could stay in the squadron, and help out. Anyway, at the end of the night, a seven year dream, since I was 7, was almost crushed, in less time then getting to Eeloo without timewarp.  

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      No kidding. It was amazing at Thunderbird, good group of kids, phenominal leadership, anything you could ever want.

    2. (See 1 other reply to this status update)

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      Its fine. can you upvote the OP so I can maybe get noticed with this idea?

    2. (See 9 other replies to this status update)

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      At that point there is too many parts for the Xbox to handle. And it will crach the game. My rule of thumb is under 150 parts, and I have a plane with like 135. 

    2. (See 9 other replies to this status update)

  8. Life on the university campus:
    (Fall semester 2020, Fifth posting)

    Reflections on the semester as final exams approach:

    This semester has been full of challenges for the faculty, staff, and students of every university and college around the world. The COVID-19 virus has changed a lot of the academic world. In some cases, for the better and in others, for the worst. I am not only a teaching faculty member but an advisor to undergraduates majoring in the humanities.

    Last week, I was sitting at my house. If this were a normal semester (sans COVID-19), it would have been during my office hours. But in good keeping with my normal semester schedule, I still maintain my scheduled office hours from the comforts of my living room. For the sake of my mental well-being, I even dress as I would if I were going on campus - jeans, a campus polo, socks, and sandals (yes, I will even wear sandals on days it rains and anytime the weather is above 30° F (-1.1° C). For me, being dressed as I would for work helps me when I am supposed to be doing work from home. I know it is a mental game and have learned that most of the things we do regularly are for our mental stability.

    The end of the semester panic begins

    Anyhow, a week ago today, I received a phone call from a student panicking about her grade. In the middle of our conversation, she said, "I thought college would be a lot like high school. You know, as long as I did good in a few things, I'd pass easily. But I'm failing three of my classes and have a D in the fourth..."

    Sure, it is easy for me to blame the student's immaturity for her dilemma. But in all honesty, she is a product of the American public education system. Since the second week of the semester, the software our college uses for online courses will automatically email students when they have not logged onto the website in over seven days. When the student accumulates three warnings (21 days of not logging in to the online class), their advisor and the university's retention specialist is notified to begin intervention to get the student back on track.

    During the conversation with the student, she let me know she simply didn't think much about the emails, deleted them, and went on about her routine. The high school where she graduated from is well-known in the tri-state area as being one of the worst schools. They have a social studies teacher who tells students to turn in blank assignments with their name on it. And he would give them a 50% score because they submitted something. So, for the past seven years, students from that school try the same thing in college, not realizing that a blank Word or RTF document with only their name on it gives them the same grade as if they submitted nothing: 0.

    The same school has other teachers who will let students turn in assignments for full credit up to four weeks after the original due date. The student tried to argue with me that universities should also operate that way because it's easier for the student. She even tried to tell me that due dates do not matter in the workplace - it's about getting the job done! So, I referred her back to the syllabus where I state, Late assignments will be accepted up to 72 hours after an assignment is due but will be subject to a 20% reduction in the earned grade. Her response was priceless - "it's a bigoted system designed to fail students..."

    No, your professor isn't out to make your life hell

    In the past, I have students refer to me as either a gate keeper or a dream breaker. In reality, I am neither of those. I do not expect perfection from graduate or undergraduate students. But I do expect the best work they can provide. I need to see a student demonstrate above average historical competency for an A, moderately above average for a B, and simply average for a C. The rest you can figure out. I also tailor my classes for a variety of learning styles because not every student is the same. As I learn new strategies that work better, I change my course to be more supportive of students. But I still maintain a strong educational foundation in the course.

    Many of the professors and lecturers I work with do the same thing. Sure, there are some who do see themselves as the "gatekeeper of higher education," but they are far and few between. Most of us want to see students put in effort into their courses. Ask questions, participate in discussions, and demonstrate you care about your performance in the course. We know your major is normally the class you're in and your only reason for being there is because it is a core class you're required to have. Again, at least make an effort to care.

    A lesson from outside academia

    When I enlisted in the U.S. Army at the age of 19, I knew I was going to need a lot of work. I was not the athletic type. I was known for being the nerd and head band geek in two high schools. So, during basic training, I took every opportunity to hit the PT field (physical training field) and exercise. In six weeks, I was able to excel in the PT test; no, I did not max it out, but I did extremely well - 52 pushups, 87 sit-ups (both in two minutes), and a 2 mile run in 13:35. I knew then, as I do now, that doing the minimum in anything will not always guarantee you the results you want. You have to do extra for that.

    The same applies to formal academics and the workplace. Sure, you can go through your university courses and easily skate by and make Cs, Bs, and As in some subjects. But if you want to really get the most out of your education, you have to go beyond the classroom. You have to take control of your education - and this includes setting your standards higher than what even your professor does. I teach a lot of foreign exchange students and a few American home-schooled students. And for the most part, what makes them stand out, is they are driven not to just pass the course but to excel in the course.

    If you are majoring in a subject do not rely on your courses to teach you everything about that subject. Do your own research and read more books. Most professors will gladly provide you a reading list to work through. You can also look up the references used in your textbook and try to find them at your university library, favorite bookstore, or Amazon. If you're not in college but are learning a trade, you can still apply the same philosophy. We all know there are mechanics, good mechanics, and really good mechanics - and this can be said of any field. It all boils down to how much ownership and responsibility do you want to accept for your own future.

     

     

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      Thanks for the great edition and the lessons that I have learned here. Thanks for your service, God Bless America, the greatest nation on planet earth.

  9. What’s up, my dudes?

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      Doodling, Ouch man. Louisiana has gotten fed up with the orders (it could be the fact that most of us are republican, though I doubt it) so we have gone back to normal for the most part, the Gov. is okay with it, he didnt renew the mask mandate, and he has been relaxed about all the social distancing stuff.

    2. (See 11 other replies to this status update)

  10. Maybe, Mr. Reeves, maybe, but only NASA and SQUAD know for real

  11. Maybe, Mr. Reeves, maybe, but only NASA and SQUAD know for real

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      You pic in the profile. The second one that is at the area where you follow members and msg them

    2. (See 3 other replies to this status update)

  12. Life on the university campus:
    (Fall semester 2020, Fourth posting)

    Melting butter in my coffee, poking the bears, and jamming to ACDC:

    This weekend was what I really needed for a while. I spent most of Thursday and Friday grading exams and rough drafts for term papers. By the time I finished on Friday afternoon, I had graded 37 rough drafts and 62 exams. Mission accomplished. It always feels good to see the number of messages in my inbox drop as grading commences.

    I read an article a while back that gave some reasons why folks are putting butter in their coffee.1 I use Kerrygold Irish Butter anyway because it is all natural; so, I thought I would give it a try last week. I really didn't notice any changeable differences Tuesday or Wednesday. But by Thursday, I noticed something was happening. Indeed, I believe the buttered coffee did turbo charge my brain. It seemed that grading was not as much as an effort and I was able to concentrate on what I was doing despite of the routine distractions. Today, as I share this, I have been adding a teaspoon of butter to my morning coffee and a teaspoon to my evening decaf. So, yes, I am slowly becoming convinced it's maybe a good thing.

    Ah, then my new activity - poking the bear. Poking the bear means you are doing something that you know will get a reaction - potentially bad - for something you are doing. And I'm doing that very thing. The parking lot for the apartment complex I live in has one assigned spot for each townhouse and a bunch of visitor parking spots. A few weeks ago, I began parking up the hill, about half of a soccer field away from my abode. I do this because adding the extra steps in helps me in my fitness goals.

    My next door neighbor has decided that the visitor's spot next to my assigned spot would be the ideal spot to park his third vehicle - but the rules of our complex say that at most, we can only park two vehicles on the premises. And rather than talk to the management about his third vehicle, he has told them it is my third vehicle. So, Saturday, when the apartment leasing company contacted me about the third car. I had two options: have it towed away at my expense OR I could pay $75.00 fee and then an additional $20 per moth for a third spot. The maintenance man who told me this was very apologetic, knowing it was not my car. But he had his orders from the apartment leasing company and the rules are the rules.

    I told them I had no interest in moving it; they could go ahead and tow it. And Sunday morning, that's just what happened. They towed it. Fast forward to this morning. I get a knock on the door from the neighbor who had told the front office his third vehicle was actually my third vehicle. He began yelling about not being a good neighbor and how I should have covered for him "just this once." I told him that when he told the front office it was my car, he pretty much told them that I was financially responsible for either the towing or the parking fees. So, since I do not want to spend the extra money on his car, I chose to tell them to just tow it.

    So, I spent the rest of Sunday playing video games, grilling steaks and chicken, and jamming to good music.

    His wife thought the entire thing was funny. As he demanded I pay for the towing, I reminded him that he was prepared to have me pay for his  parking fees. He then backed off and told me that if I were really going to be a good neighbor and example to my  child, I needed to pay the towing fee. At that point, his wife stepped up, told him to quit being a jerk, and to take his lumps. The maintenance man, seeing what was happening, joined in the discussion. He told the man that if the car was really mine, it wasn't a big deal. But that since it wasn't, it was up to him - the car's legal owner to take responsibility for the car, admit he messed up (and lied about it last week), and pay the fees and towing. It literally took the manager and a police officer showing up before the idiot calmed down. Oh, and he now has a $45 (U.S.) towing bill plus a ticket from the police for $75 for breach of peace. It wasn't until he was threatened with arrest he decided to change his attitude. Oh, and as a side note - it was his wife who called the police.

    1 I included the link where I read the article so you would not think I am crazy.

     

  13. Life on the university campus:
    (Fall semester 2020, Fourth posting)

    Melting butter in my coffee, poking the bears, and jamming to ACDC:

    This weekend was what I really needed for a while. I spent most of Thursday and Friday grading exams and rough drafts for term papers. By the time I finished on Friday afternoon, I had graded 37 rough drafts and 62 exams. Mission accomplished. It always feels good to see the number of messages in my inbox drop as grading commences.

    I read an article a while back that gave some reasons why folks are putting butter in their coffee.1 I use Kerrygold Irish Butter anyway because it is all natural; so, I thought I would give it a try last week. I really didn't notice any changeable differences Tuesday or Wednesday. But by Thursday, I noticed something was happening. Indeed, I believe the buttered coffee did turbo charge my brain. It seemed that grading was not as much as an effort and I was able to concentrate on what I was doing despite of the routine distractions. Today, as I share this, I have been adding a teaspoon of butter to my morning coffee and a teaspoon to my evening decaf. So, yes, I am slowly becoming convinced it's maybe a good thing.

    Ah, then my new activity - poking the bear. Poking the bear means you are doing something that you know will get a reaction - potentially bad - for something you are doing. And I'm doing that very thing. The parking lot for the apartment complex I live in has one assigned spot for each townhouse and a bunch of visitor parking spots. A few weeks ago, I began parking up the hill, about half of a soccer field away from my abode. I do this because adding the extra steps in helps me in my fitness goals.

    My next door neighbor has decided that the visitor's spot next to my assigned spot would be the ideal spot to park his third vehicle - but the rules of our complex say that at most, we can only park two vehicles on the premises. And rather than talk to the management about his third vehicle, he has told them it is my third vehicle. So, Saturday, when the apartment leasing company contacted me about the third car. I had two options: have it towed away at my expense OR I could pay $75.00 fee and then an additional $20 per moth for a third spot. The maintenance man who told me this was very apologetic, knowing it was not my car. But he had his orders from the apartment leasing company and the rules are the rules.

    I told them I had no interest in moving it; they could go ahead and tow it. And Sunday morning, that's just what happened. They towed it. Fast forward to this morning. I get a knock on the door from the neighbor who had told the front office his third vehicle was actually my third vehicle. He began yelling about not being a good neighbor and how I should have covered for him "just this once." I told him that when he told the front office it was my car, he pretty much told them that I was financially responsible for either the towing or the parking fees. So, since I do not want to spend the extra money on his car, I chose to tell them to just tow it.

    So, I spent the rest of Sunday playing video games, grilling steaks and chicken, and jamming to good music.

    His wife thought the entire thing was funny. As he demanded I pay for the towing, I reminded him that he was prepared to have me pay for his  parking fees. He then backed off and told me that if I were really going to be a good neighbor and example to my  child, I needed to pay the towing fee. At that point, his wife stepped up, told him to quit being a jerk, and to take his lumps. The maintenance man, seeing what was happening, joined in the discussion. He told the man that if the car was really mine, it wasn't a big deal. But that since it wasn't, it was up to him - the car's legal owner to take responsibility for the car, admit he messed up (and lied about it last week), and pay the fees and towing. It literally took the manager and a police officer showing up before the idiot calmed down. Oh, and he now has a $45 (U.S.) towing bill plus a ticket from the police for $75 for breach of peace. It wasn't until he was threatened with arrest he decided to change his attitude. Oh, and as a side note - it was his wife who called the police.

    1 I included the link where I read the article so you would not think I am crazy.

     

  14. Wheee. New profile picture!

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      Now let me ramble on with Lewie about OTS and AFA.

    2. (See 10 other replies to this status update)

  15. Wheee. New profile picture!

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      Well, I'd never think that you'd have problems with it. 

    2. (See 10 other replies to this status update)

  16. Wheee. New profile picture!

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      I personally think the green background with the kerbal. Kind of looks as if you made his face a 2d square, with a 3d pic in it. 

    2. (See 10 other replies to this status update)

  17. Wheee. New profile picture!

    1. Mikenike

      Mikenike

      Yeah, I don't really like it too much, but it'll grow on me, eventually.

    2. (See 10 other replies to this status update)

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