A short video at the end.
Several years ago we began purchasing an annual streaming subscription to Great Courses Plus. You may be familiar with this company as in the past they sold courses on audiotapes, then on DVD or downloadable. I think they still do some of this, but they have moved forcefully into the streaming world.
Since the morning of November 6, 2024, as a way of protecting my mental health from the cluster f*** that is currently happening in my once beloved country, I have stopped watching TV (again), listening to the radio, reading the news in the various formats that it comes in. While it is impossible to prevent some news from bleeding through, I try to prevent that as much as possible. Otherwise, I would be drunk or stoned all the time. It simply is too difficult to watch the dissolution of something I once loved, something that was one of the few things I had faith in, my country.
However, this avoidance of the news has resulted in my watching more Great Courses. Not a bad thing in and of itself. They cover such a wide range of themes and subjects that interest me that I doubt I will get anywhere near through everything they offer that attracts me. And they are adding content all the time.
I am currently watching three different ones, but the one of interest today is their offering on Electrical Engineering for Everyone presented by a professor from North Carolina, Laura J. Bottomley, PhD. Almost immediately the professor reminded me of one of my cousins, Nancy Milam. When I shared the video with Señora and asked her who the professor reminded her of, she said my ex-wife. I can see that, maybe. There is a very vague physical resemblance, but I am going with Nancy. The professor’s mannerisms, way of speaking, and even her appearance to some extent put me in mind of Nancy. The professor even pronounces hair as two syllables as did my Texas girlfriend, Joyce, and a lot of souls in Oklahoma.
I always thought I was a decent programmer. Whether better than others or not is a question for other persons. I did tend to spend some time sharing my knowledge with others. When I left the company I was working for in Memphis, my soon to be ex-boss told me I was the best programmer he had ever worked with. At the time, and still, I thought that it a little over the top, but I did fix some fairly substantial problems they were having with their Oracle HR system. That made the users happy, which, in turn, made him happy.
I always said one reason I was a good programmer was that I made so many mistakes when I was first starting out. However, there is a lot of truth in the old saw about learning more from your mistakes than from doing it right. I was at least smart enough to learn from my mistakes… sometimes. Which brings me back to this course.
She described six habits of mind that are recommended as being helpful to be a successful electric engineer:
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- Communication
- Collaboration
- Creativity
- Systems thinking
- Ethical thinking
- Optimism
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Optimism? But then she went on to explain that in this context optimism is the ability to learn from one’s own mistakes. Well… that would make me an optimists??? Sometimes I am smart enough to stop pounding on my own thumb with the hammer in my opposite hand.
And here is a short video snippet of the class. Tell me if this puts Nancy Milam or someone else in mind for you.
And so it goes.
I am not a paid advertiser for Great Courses, but I think it is great streaming service if you love learning. Right now they are having a sale. Check it out: Great Courses Plus