Meetings

Another slow and malingering meeting at work. Due to decreasing student enrollment, the school has stopped replacing teachers when they retire. One perceptive faculty member noted that the number of committees now exceeds the number of faculty and proposed that we scrap all committees and hold general faculty meetings on a weekly basis to wrangle out all school business. The school president chuckled and opined that he understood the speaker's frustration, but thought the proposal too strong. He concluded that milder measures would suffice and made a counter proposal to keep all committees but add a second monthly faculty meeting to promote discussion and information flow. Great, an attempt to streamline the meeting process adds an additional meeting to the workload. Have I mentioned that in Japan teachers actually run the schools? I've been on committees that have drafted regulations for the student parking lot, solicited estimates for copiers and computers, written regulations for the Student Association, and wrestled with the thorny problem of students smokin' in the restrooms and wearing street shoes, instead of slippers, inside the school.

Back at home my son and I walked down to the park. Plum trees and daffodils are blooming; spring should be here big time soon.

Also found that Mouse Computer sells a Shuttle SN41G2 PC that doesn't cost much more than it would take to build one yourself.