The Hellish Handbasket

Tomorrow I will interview my first participant for my doctoral study. I thought this day would never come. I also thought it would easier th...

Signing up faculty to interview for my doctoral study is worse than herding cats! Worse than wrangling medical students to do timings in key...

I've heard people say, “Begin with the end in mind,” and I apply that philosophy to many projects I undertake. But until this evening, I...

Technology separates the whiners from the winners. This past week I've been stumbling from one task to another, overwhelmed by a litany ...

The gods who lounge around at the Institutional Review Board deigned to smile upon me today by granting me approval to begin conducting the ...

It's a gray day, inside and out. The rain came back. That's always a good excuse to feel sad. On top of the dismal weather, I've...

I'm still wallowing in the messy bog of social media. A muscle in my left cheek twitches whenever I open Facebook. I've stayed away ...

My life sure looks different these days. Instead of worrying about grading keyboarding papers and listening to students complain, I am immer...

I received a polite note from the Institutional Review Board today, explaining why they were rejecting my application to conduct my study an...

While I wait to find out if the Institutional Review Board at my illustrious higher education institution will approve me to interview human...

The word has come down from on high (Salem): I am now officially self-employed. How weird to go from unemployed to self-employed. I guess yo...

My former colleague Sheryl just called to complain about the frustrating world of online job applications. We commiserated for a few minut...

My hero of the week is the guy who expressed his irritation with four of his neighbors by driving a bulldozer through their houses. Rock on...

Another Monday with no place to go. I have stopped trying to convince myself I am on vacation. Loose ends conspire to remind me that I am no...

Where's my vampire mojo when I need it? For the past few days, I have been trying to persuade the media relations person at the corporat...

I'm embarrassed to say, I'm having a hard time letting go of my former life as a college instructor. Time and emotions are messing w...

I'm relieved to say I hit the ground running on my first day of freedom. I could have slept in. I considered it, actually. But I had a d...

Yesterday afternoon I took a bus downtown to meet my friend Bravadita at Pioneer Square. It was perfect weather, warm and clear, a good day ...

If you are just tuning in, here's the story to date. For the past ten years, I worked for a career college at its campus in Clackamas, a...

Last night, with two days to go until I'm officially unemployed, a student looked at me and said, “You don't look so good.” I know...