Wednesday 4 August 2010

Yeah sure, whynot?

Many fine books have been written in prison.

All of my nice pictures are on a hard drive in the apt. ohdear. Can't blog without images! That would surely be madness! Still have yet to get the handwritten blogs up and running, Jimmy Carr would be proud, taking technology back a step and all that. I will call my new invention the hard copy blogging medium. Once I get it working properly I'm sure I will blog more often, just because I like hand writting things a lot more than I do typing them.

I was talking to a group of people at a book launch recently and the topic of typing came up, the discussion centred around the lack of trained typists now, that back 20 years ago you were shown the proper way to type and trained to be quick, but now because everyone is "proficient" with computers there is no need to look for a secretary who has taken typing courses. I explained the method I used to teach myself to touch type (paint your keyboard keys, remember you don't know how to touch type, don't have money to buy a new keyboard, learn) and they all were both impressed and worried about the types of people colleges were employing to do research. But I do think touch typing is an important skill, I was talking to a friend about their work the other day and they were expressing their hatred of the system in place and of the underskilled managerial staff they had to work for. Computers are a part of life now, weither you like it or not, so if you want to make things work you have to learn. It's not like I know anything really, but people still say "oh how did you know to do that", but it really is just a matter of JFGI in the end of the day, even a lot of computer repair proffesionals fall back to that.
Even my grandad is learning computer repair, albiet through trial and error and the constant upgrading of his machine, but it's still learning, that's how I did it.

I just wish more people took an interest in the things around them really, although I'm guilty of enjoying blissfull ignorance of things around me (everyone is I'm sure) but pride in knowlege and learning should be in everyone, why else do we live year to year then to grow? Well, and to have fun, and sometimes kids. But all of that is about growing too. I think I do want to teach, there is a part of me that just knows I do, but I don't think I will be able to lecture, I doubt I can get my CV to look That good. Maybe a H.Dip. and a few years teaching second level physics would be good? Maybe a few years Post Doc. somewhere in Europe and then teach?
I would love to see myself in DIT lecturing physics in 10 years time, that would be really nice (esp. if the new campus is finished, haha). So scary to think what the next 10 years could bring.
One of the best lectuers, teachers, college-friends I had (if he even thinks of me as a good student I am happy) really inspires me to want to teach, he was so good at it, clearly loves seeing people learn. He went to Kenya to teach, always thought that was cool, don't think I would do the same though. Although my mam has always said I should do something like that. 3 years to figure out where I am going and what I am doing.

Well, that was an odd train, hopefully I will figure out where those tracks want to lead.