The girl that I teach next to is also taking graduate classes and sometimes we talk about what we're doing in our courses (and by talk I mean complain about the work we have to do). The other day, when we actually did some talking, she was telling me about a learning theory her course discussed, the "Four Stages of Competence". It's been days later, and I'm still fascinated by this learning theory.
According to the theory, you basically fall into one of these four stages of competence as it relates to something you are doing:
Unconsciously Incompetent (or unskilled)- You are no good at something, and you are also unaware you are no good at it.
Consciously Incompetent (or unskilled)- You are no good at something, but at least you know you're not good.
Consciously Competent (or skilled)- You are pretty good at something, but it takes some work. It doesn't come naturally to you.
Unconsciously Competent (or skilled)- You are good at something, and you don't even have to think about it when you do it.
My teacher friend paid me a great compliment by saying I was "unconsciously competent" in the field of teaching. She said that my interactions with kids, my teaching style, and my organization just seem to come naturally, almost second nature. It was a very nice compliment which made my day.
But now I've been categorizing everything that I do and seeing where I fall. Here's some random things I've classified:
Euchre- Consciously Incompetent (sorry Kev, it's true)
Cooking- Consciously Competent (I have to follow recipes, or I will feel uneasy, but things turn out well when they're cooked)
Saving Money- Unconsciously Competent (I just do it. I don't spend extravagantly, so when there's extra money, I just put it into the savings account.)
It's hard to classify yourself as "unconsciously incompetent" at something. Is it possible to think of something that you're unskilled at, but don't know you're unskilled at? I can think of things that other people might classify me as unconsciously incompetent, like maybe driving a car (I think I'm good). Or maybe sex.....Nawwwwwww, that can't be right...
It is easy, however, to classify others as unconsciously incompetent, like Kwame Brown and playing basketball. The dude doesn't know how much he sucks.
Anyway, the next time you go to work, try and classify the people you work with. My teacher friend was able to find a different classification for everyone on our floor. It's kind of interesting where everyone falls, I think, and says a lot about the success (or lack there of) of the place where you work.
~Mikey D
I watch enough HGTV to know that home buying tends to be kind of a stressful time, but this is one hell of a ridiculous process with some ass-backwards rules.
To update, Grace and I are planning on making an offer on a home this coming Sunday. It is a 3 bedroom, 3 bath townhome, with a finished basement, walkout deck, and (this is my favorite part) is tucked away amongst the trees of the Patapsco State Park. Ah seclusion. It's the perfect place for someone like me who happens to hate the existence of other people. In all seriousness, it's a nice little place.
Now normally townhomes in this neighborhood tend to go for 300+. This one is listed at 250 for two reasons. One, it needs to be updated. The flooring needs to be replaced on all levels, and the kitchen needs a remodel. Also, the home is a short sale. A short sale is basically the step before foreclosure, as the current owners are unable to make the mortgage payments. The bank basically is trying to unload the home (usually for less than it's appraised value) just to get something for the property.
Which is where we step in. We are hoping to snatch up this home, do the remodels with some money we have saved and the new home buyer's credit (thank you government stimulus package) to make it look nice. Grace and I both like the idea of fixing up and remodeling a home to our tastes. Could be fun. Especially with the kitchen. I am totally going to take a sledgehammer to it, just like in all the home redecorating shows. Kev and Adam, you are more than welcome to join me on that one. That will be a good time.
Anyway, with a remodeled home in a nice area, we are hoping when it is time for us to sell that we recoup all of our money we put into it, as well as much more. If we can get into the home for 250 and sell for 300, that would be a nice little profit. And if the market improves, perhaps more. But that's five plus years down the road.
The most stressful thing about buying a home is getting the loan. Originally, going into this process, I figured this wouldn't be much of a problem. Silly naive me. Grace and I both sport credit scores 700+ and basically pay a mortgage payment as a rent payment currently, so it just made logical sense in my mind that we'd get pre-approved for something that would equate to what we're paying right now in rent.
Problem is, Grace and I both have large student loan debts. With Grace having to pay out of state tuition when she went to MSU and me finishing up grad school, our debt to income ratio is very skewed (and scary). This scares of a lot of lenders, especially when we are making car payments and the such on top of it all. So we are getting pre-approved for much less, despite the fact that we could make larger monthly payments.
So here's the solution we've come up with: Send Grace to school for her Masters. Yes, in order for us to get the ideal pre-approval from a lender, Grace will need to go to school for a Master's degree.
Why? Well when in school your student loans are deferred. If your student loans are deferred for a year or more, they do not count against you as debt. Why, I haven't a clue. So if Grace is back in school, and I am in school, well none of our student loan debt counts against us, which means our debt to income ratio goes from bad to great. This also means lenders will love us instead of hate us, and will give us a good loan amount with a nice interest rate.
This whole way to circumvent the system, however, is silly to me. Think about it. We have to become more in debt to get a better loan. Whatever.
Grace is very excited though. She is not the biggest fan of Enterprise anymore, and is looking to move up and out. I think she's more excited to go back to school and pursue her Masters than buy a house, haha. It's nice to see her so happy and excited. She's looking into starting Loyola's graduate accounting program this coming summer, after she takes her GMAT exam this March (she's all registered!).
So that's where we're at. Grace has a picture of the house on her blog (it's the last one). No sense in posting it again when she's already done it.
Okay, I'm done now.
~Mikey D
Our third cat, Chloe, is very small and adorable, so she gets lots of cute cat nicknames...
...like 'Snuggypie'
...and 'Sweety Magee'
...and 'Chloe Monster' (when she's naughty)
...sometimes 'Cutie Pa-Toottie'
Now she has another nickname. It's is 'Colonel Dubaku, the 'Butcher of Sangala''. This is probably funny to nobody to us, but when you call a cute little girl kitten/cat Dubaku and a butcher, it makes us laugh hysterically.
The Butcher.
~Mikey D
With the whole A-Rod press conference debacle getting a lot of pub today, I've been thinking a lot about A-Rod's Hall of Fame candidacy. Would you put him in today? I'd be curious to hear your opinions.
I would say no. To me, if you leave out McGwire, Clemens, and the bunch, you have to leave out A-Rod as well. Fair is fair, right? You either let them all in, or you don't. But for me personally, I have a tough time stomaching steroid users. I really do resent them. As a baseball guy, I feel cheated and betrayed. I don't like thinking that homeruns hit might have been otherwise, and I don't like being lied to.
And that's what gets me about A-Rod. Like most of the rest, he's a liar. When the Mitchell report came out, he lied when he went and voluntarily did an interview with Katie Couric. That's just ridiculous. Then, in the past two weeks, his story keeps getting stranger and stranger. What am I supposed to believe? I'll tell you what I don't believe- that A-Rod did steroids for a mere three year period while with the Rangers. No, not for a second will I believe that. You're telling me that after you got the richest contract in baseball history, you decided you need the performance boost? That you needed to live up to the contract? Seriously, you want me to believe that??? You were already putting up other-worldly numbers...which makes me think that you must have been using before. It's seems common sense that you wouldn't start steroids when you're on top of your game and putting up huge numbers. Not buying it for a second.
So A-Rod is a liar, and I wouldn't put him in the Hall. An interesting question posed by a Baltimore radio station was this: Who would you put in the Hall: Pete Rose or Alex Rodriguez? I'd have to choose Pete, to be honest. I mean, neither would get in if I had a choice, but if I were to choose one, I'd pick Pete.
~Mikey D
So I was in the shower this morning doing my usual "shower thinking" and I was thinking about the start of MLB spring training, and somehow or other, ended up thinking about the old Nike commercial, "Chicks Dig the Long Ball". I watched it again, and it is even more funny now being the full midst of the steroid era.
Watch it again, and appreciate all the things that are funny about it now that weren't when it originally aired:
"How long are they going to worship this guy?"
"It really is the shoes!"
"Have you guys seen Mark?"
So that got me searching for some more long lost sports commercials. After some searching, I came across an old Moses Malone Nike commercial (equipped with French subtitles). Kevin, ignore all the speaking in this commercial and tell me what good old Moses Malone could use to help his game...
It's about time...
Haha, and then there are the good old ESPN commercials...
And Manny being Manny...
But I will have to give it to Kevin and his sport, of all the commercials I've watched on this Presidents Day, the soccer ones have been absolutely bad ass. Check these two out:
Almost makes me want to play soccer...almost...
~Mikey D
This was on "The Soup" this morning and Grace and I could not stop laughing.
~Mikey D
Durrell Summers is mine. How can you not love watching this guy play??? He seems to have it all. He can shoot the 3. He can drive and dunk with authority. He makes big plays. Crashes the boards. You name it, he does it.
I'd say Lucas is still our best player, and maybe Suton second (based on the experience and presence he gives us inside), but Summers, without hesitation, is top 3. Yes, that leaves the highly regarded Raymar Morgan out, but come on now, Raymar isn't a game changer. You don't have to game plan against him. He's good, but he's not great. Summers is becoming great.
Last night (with Morgan out), Summers was spectacular. Come to think of it, I can't remember Summers having a bad game yet...he's the one consistent player on an inconsistent team.
Speaking of inconsistency, 29 points over Minnesota? If I had to place my life on the line in a bet, it would have been that MSU would have beaten Minnesota last night, based solely on the fact they were embarrassed by PSU at home last game (no disrespect to Minnesota, they just caught us angry). But 29 points over a top-20 team? Wow. And without Morgan. While I am not going to say one bad thing about last night's game, it is very frustrating as a fan to watch this team lose at home to Northwestern and PSU, and then slaughter a ranked opponent by 30. Come tournament time we will either make the final four, or lose in the first round to the Penn Quakers. I have a feeling there will be no in-between.
~Mikey D
A conversation I had today with a kid:
Kid: "Who did you want to win the Super Bowl?"
Me: "Arizona."
Kid: "Is that your team?"
Me: "No, my team is Detroit."
Kid: "What?! Detroit???"
Me: "Yea yea, Detroit, I know..."
Kid: "Are your parents Lions' fans?"
Me: "Well yeah, they both grew up in Michigan rooting for the Lions..."
Kid: "Raised in a house to root for the Lions...isn't that some sort of child abuse? That's gotta be child abuse."
Ha ha, very funny, kid. But kind of true...
~Mikey D
