Tag Archives: confusion

Aug25

no mo’ venmo.

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vs.

coming up on the 4-month mark

of an ongoing battle with venmo

can’t even begin to tell the story in short form

 truly the perfect storm of events.

after talking, live chatting, and e-mailing

landon, santiago, elizabeth, miguel, ren, sacha, and abby

i won’t say which low-budget model above

most resembles me in the match

but i will say there is no doubt i am winning.

p.s.

i wonder if team venmo is posting a blog today

with our pictures

saying there is no doubt they are winning.

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“i don’t like customer service because i don’t believe the customer should have to pay and help out too.”

-jarod kintz

 

Jun30

lay vs. lie.

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Word choices: lay vs. lie 

when looking up the eternal lay vs. lie question, (similar to the chicken vs. egg conundrum), this is what i found. i started out strong, but as i kept reading, it really only served to confuse me more, and my level of understanding dropped with each new sentence of explanation and i had to lay or lie down. warning: do not try to read this when lying or laying down. 

Imagine your friends are over for a movie night, and they’ve brought a tray of brownies to share. You take the platter from them — but do you tell them you’re going to “lie” it down or “lay” it down? And will you all “lie” down to watch the movie, or “lay” down? It’s an age-old question: What is the actual difference between “lay” and “lie”? When do you use one over the other?

Why are “lay” and “lie” confusing?

To clarify: We’re not talking about the kind of lie you might tell when you call out of work or don’t finish your homework on time. We’re talking only about the setting/reclining meaning of the verb.

“Lay” and “lie” are often confused because both words are about people or objects positioned horizontally on a surface. But they are used to refer to different scenarios.

It can be quite simple — if you’re in the present tense. The past tense is when things really get confusing, since the past tense of “lie” is “lay” (sorry). But don’t worry, we’ll give you a few easy tips to help you along.

When to use “lay” vs. “lie”

“Lay” is a transitive verb. Transitive means that you have an object that is being acted upon. So “lay” means to set down or place something — an object — in a horizontal position. Here’s an example in the present tense: “I lay the book on the nightstand.” In this instance, the book is the object that is having something done to it.

“Lie” is an intransitive verb, meaning the object doesn’t need something else to put it down. Instead, the person or subject is doing the action. “Lie” means to stay at rest in a horizontal position, or to recline. An example of “lie” in present tense would be, “I feel the wind as I lie in my backyard on the grass.” In this example, the person is performing the action rather than having the action done to them.

So, in the present tense, the simplest way to determine which word to use is by looking at what is actually being reclined. If the reclining object is inanimate and/or requires someone to put it down, use “lay.” If the object is self-sufficient, such as a person, use “lie.” Quick memory tip: Only a person can lie on a bed and tell a lie.

“Lay” and “lie” in other tenses

 Let’s tackle the past tense of each, since that’s where there’s the most opportunity to pick the wrong word.

I ____ my clothes out last night before I went to bed.

Which one is it — “lay” or “lie”? Here’s how to tell: Is something happening to an object? Yep! The clothes are being set out. That tells us that we need the verb “lay,” past tense “laid.”

I laid my clothes out last night before I went to bed.

Now, what about the past tense of “lie”?

I heard a noise coming from the basement as I ____ on the sofa watching a horror movie.

In this example, there is not a specific action being performed upon an object. Rather, the speaker (the subject) is doing the action. This means we need the past tense of “lie,” which (confusingly) is “lay.”

I heard a noise coming from the basement as I lay on the sofa watching a horror movie.

Still confused? Don’t worry. You won’t get reprimanded too much if you mix these up in verbal conversation. But for written communication, it helps to practice with examples so you can be confident in your word choice.

(not me, but i was doing this after trying to figure this explanation out)

“the greater part of the world’s troubles are due to questions of grammar.”
― Michel de Montaigne, The Complete Essays

 

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source credits: wordgenius, grammarly

Apr27

confusion.

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just curious 

why

when hurrying through a drive-through 

to grab a quick cup of coffee

at taco bell

(which should have given me pause in the first place)

 they handed me my coffee

then

a bag, a spork, and a little cup of thick crema.

maybe they’re too hipster for me

and I just don’t get it.

more fun than getting the surprise in a happy meal at mcdonalds

and more confusing.

—

“comedy comes from confusion.”

-vir das

Dec13

your guest’s is as good as mine.

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that moment

at the faculty party

when you get ready to leave

and go to pick up your coat

only to realize

that everyone has

a long, dark, down, winter coat

so you make a best guess choice.

 

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“confusion is a word we have invented for an order which is not understood.”

-henry miller

Apr8

cornfusion.

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just happened upon this while grocery shopping

and based up the name and descriptors

i have absolutely no idea what it actually is.

things that i do know about it:

corn plays some sort of role

  it is very yellow

 corn can dance or do magic.

things i do not know about it:

is it animal, mineral or vegetable?

—

“truth is ever to be found in simplicity,

and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things.”

-isaac newton

Feb17

stag.

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the priests saw the funny side of it all

Pub bosses have apologized after asking a group of trainee priests to leave their Cardiff venue, mistaking them for a stag party in fancy dress.The seven Roman Catholic seminarians had gone to The City Arms to toast Father Peter McClaren’s ordination when they were asked to move on.

Assistant manager Matt Morgan said they received a free round of drinks when the situation was explained.”They were all dressed in their black and white clothes,” he said.”The staff thought they were a stag. We do have quite a few issues on the weekends with parties wearing fancy dress so it is our policy to turn them away.”

six of  the priests who were turned away

Father Michael Doyle, who knows the group, said the seven went to the pub on Quay Street to celebrate the ordination at the nearby Cardiff Metropolitan Cathedral of St David. The pub was a favourite of his colleagues including the Archbishop of Cardiff, George Stack.”They arrived at The City Arms and were dressed wearing the clerical collar,” he said.

“The doorman said something along the lines of, ‘Sorry gents, we have a policy of no fancy dress and no stag dos’. “The students had started to leave when they were approached by the bar manager. “He basically said, ‘you’re real, aren’t you?’,” said Fr Doyle.”He invited them back in and when they walked back in the entire pub burst into a round of applause, and they had a free round off The City Arms.”

Fr Doyle said the group stayed at the pub most of the afternoon chatting to customers.
Mr Morgan said the priests were “all great sports and saw the funny side of the situation”.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Cardiff added: “We’d like to thank The City Arms for being good sports through all of this and their kind gesture to our seminarians.”

 the priests enjoyed a few pints in the pub at the end

 

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“any band that doesn’t have a sense of humor has a little bit of a problem.”

-jens lekman, swedish musician

 

 

 

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credits: wales news service, j. lloyd, the city arms

Jun9

wha?

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after working hard all day
without taking a break to eat
 tired and hungry and looking for the easy way out
i decided to just drive through the closest place
to get food to eat on my way home
 trying to eat something healthy
 was a quite a challenge based on the menu
ordered a small wrap without sauce and unsweetened iced tea
they repeated my order to me
i confirmed it and paid
got my order
slipped back into traffic and headed off
only to quickly discover
much to my dismay
they had actually
added extra sauce, a sugary fake honey mustard sort of thing to my wrap
and poured me a fully-sugared iced tea
was this a trick?
had i asked for my order in some other language that i was unaware of ?
did yes actually mean no?
was i a horrible communicator?
did i appear to need a sugar boost?
too tired and too much traffic to go back
but one of us in the equation was clearly confused
and perhaps both.
—
“the single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”

-george bernard shaw

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image credit: pinterest

 

Feb17

exchange.

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15844211_10154855076322365_670715093562108020_o-2

staff members of the slovak and slovenian embassies meet once a month to exchange incorrectly addressed mail.

close enough, but alas, two very different places. 

i should organize this with my neighbors.

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‘i believe that the open exchange of information can have a positive global impact.”

-biz stone

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credit: mental floss

Mar28

bureaucracy is the art of making the possible impossible. – javier pascual salcedo

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As_easy_as_ABCs

i went to apply for

my professional recertification

a requirement

from the state

board of education

every five years

whether it’s needed it or not

where i account for

 my continuing education

my ongoing development

as a teacher

but

they had changed the system

without any notice

and

when they tried

to explain it to me

 i was hopelessly confused

so

they sent me

the following emails

to clear it all up

and

my brain

could not even

begin to process

the information

and

i thought

maybe it’s a test

but

i have no answers

i wish it was multiple choice

and now

 i need a translator

and

a miracle.

legos-paperwork1

If you have been awarded State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECHs) since January 1, 2010, and they are not displayed on this page, you need to add your Personnel Identification Code (PIC) to your Secure Central Registry (SCR) account. You can locate your PIC number by clicking on Manage Demographics on the left navigation panel on this page. The PIC number is required to link your SCECH information in the SCR to your MOECS account. Once your PIC is in the SCR, any SCECHs earned through the SCR should appear in MOECS within 3-4 business days. To visit the Secure Central Registry (SCR) please go to http://solutionwhere.com/mi_sbceu/welcome.asp.

• The SCR started collecting SCECH data on January 1, 2010. If you were awarded State Board Continuing Education Units (SB-CEUs) prior to January 1, 2010, they are not available for viewing in MOECS, and you must add them. To add your SB-CEUs earned prior to January 1, 2010, select Add at the bottom of this screen and fill in the required information.

• For SB-CEUs awarded prior to January 1, 2010, you will need to maintain the paper record of your SB-CEUs for audit purposes. If your certificate is audited, you will be asked to send a copy of your official record of your SB-CEUs to the Michigan Department of Education, Office of Professional Preparation Services. 
If you feel that SCECHs awarded since January 1, 2010 are missing from the SCR, contact the sponsor of that SCECH program.

In order for the SB-CEUs (now known as SCECHs) that you have completed after January 1, 2010, and are listed in your Secure Central Registry (SCR) record, to import into your MOECS online certification record you must go into your demographics page on MOECS, copy the PIC number from your demographics page and then log into your record on the SCR and enter that same PIC number in your SCR record.  Approximately 3-4 business days after you do that, all SCECHs that are listed in your SCR record will also be listed in your MOECS online certification record. This should allow you to log back into MOECS and apply for your renewal successfully.

The renewal of a Professional Education teaching certificate requires what equates to 150 clock hours by completing 6 semester hours (1 semester hour equals 25 clock hours) OR 150 SCECHs* (State Continuing Education Clock Hours) OR 150 Michigan district-provided professional development hours** (1 PD hour equals 1 clock hour) OR a combination of the two/three. The required credit hours, SCECHs or district-provided professional development hours must be completed after the issue date on your current Professional Education certificate and within five years preceding the date of application for the renewal.

Semester hour credit must be 6 credits in a planned program completed at a regionally accredited teacher preparation university/college in the United States OR 6 credits appropriate to the grade levels and content endorsement(s) on the certificate completed at any regionally accredited community college or 4-year university/college in the United States.

In regards to SCECHs, only Michigan SCECHs are acceptable.  Regular CEU’s, professional development hours, contact hours, clock hours, etc. are not acceptable towards renewal (unless you have requested, and been granted approval, that these type credits be converted to Michigan SCECH hours via a request to your district SCECH Sponsor made 45 days prior to the activity).

For non-traditional SCECH activities; i.e., Supervising a Mentor Teacher, Supervising a Student Teacher, Serving on a State Board-Appointed Advisory Board, arrangements must be made either prior to the activity or during the semester of the activity with your district SCECH Sponsor if you wish to earn SCECH for these activities.

In regards to district-provided PD hours, there is no longer a cap of 30 district-provided PD hours per school year that may be used towards certificate renewal.  The cap was removed via a Waiver that was requested and approved by the Michigan Department of Education on June 20, 2014.

Semester hour credit may be taken an approved teacher preparation institution or any regionally accredited college/university in the United States. If you have an out-of-state college/university in mind, please check with our office to make sure that they are regionally accredited before committing to classes that you plan to use towards Professional Education certificate renewal credit.

Graduate or undergraduate level credit is acceptable.  Semester hour credit is accepted from a community college as long as it is a regionally accredited community college in the United States.

University/college on-line courses are acceptable as long as they are education-related, the credit will be issued in semester hour credits, and the credit will be issued on a transcript from a regionally accredited university/college in the United States.  Again, if you find an on-line course that you are interested in but do not know if they are regionally accredited, please contact our office.

On-line SCECH credit is acceptable as long as it is issued from a valid Michigan SCECH sponsor.   For a list of valid Michigan SCECH sponsors and approved program offerings, please visit the SCECH website at:  http://www.getmipd.com

Credit must be education-related and appropriate to the grade level and content endorsement(s) of your professional education certificate. Technology courses are acceptable.  General education courses are also acceptable; i.e., classroom management, diversity in the classroom, bullying, etc.

Keep in mind that all coursework/SCECH credit/district-provided professional development hours must be completed and credit/hours awarded before your renewal application may be processed. Once all credit/hours have been awarded, application for renewal is made through the Michigan Department of Education online certification application website at http://www.michigan.gov/moecs You will now make application for your renewal online, pay (via a credit or debit card) online and also print off your renewed certificate from your home/office printer.

The soonest you may apply to renew a Professional Education certificate is January 1st of the year the certificate is due to expire.

Please do not submit any college/university transcripts, SCECH documentation, or district-provided professional development forms to our office at any time.  You may hold on to this information for your records.  Should you ever be audited by our office after renewal, we would request those documents from you at that time.

Now that application/payment/printing of your certificate is done online, there is 1 day processing time.  However, again, all credit must be complete before you make application for your renewal.  The renewal fee is $160.

*State Board Continuing Education Units (SB-CEU’s) are now known as State Continuing Education Clock Hours (SCECH’s)
**Must be completed while employed in a public/charter school district.

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the regulatory systems in place disincentive innovation.

it’s intense to fight the red tape.

– travis kalanick

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image credit: google images