JBB's Final Thoughts

JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 36: Possible Ancient Astronaut, indeed

JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 36: Possible Ancient Astronaut, indeed Life changes inspired before the arrival of COVID-19, beginning with leaving Fitzgerald to apply for position that has been my life-long dream and far beyond the confines of CCSD. MP3 Version: https://jbbsfinalthoughts.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/jbbsfinalthoughts_e036_possible-ancient-astronaut_indeed.mp3 Enjoy and please subscribe to my YouTube channel or subscribe to all of my blog posts (scroll to the bottom of this page, click the red FOLLOW button in the “Follow blog via email” box). Please Subscribe: YouTube Channel Twitter Account Apple Podcasts/iTunes Via Soundcloud RSS Reader Past JBB’s Final Thoughts Podcast Episodes Resources: music: Social Blindness – 22K by Smart Sound Music All images and screen grabs by Joe Bustillos ©2020 except where noted CBS News Coverage: Apollo 11, screenshot 2019-07-16 Empty Las Vegas by Josh Metz, https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=2932568266766674&set=pcb.2932568556766645&type=3&theater, retrieved 2020-04-08 Gemini-Titan (GT)-6 – Gemini 6 of 7 – Space Photography – Outer Space. Full resolution (URL): images-assets.nasa.gov/image/S65-63194/S65-63194~orig.jpg. NASA ID: S65-63194. Date Created: 1965-12-17 Astronaut Edward White during first EVA performed during Gemini 4 flight, Full resolution (URL): images-assets.nasa.gov/image/S65-34635/S65-34635~orig.jpg. NASA ID: S65-34635. Date Created: 1965-06-03 PORTRAIT – GEMINI 12 PRIME CREW. Full resolution (URL): images-assets.nasa.gov/image/s66-46952/s66-46952~orig.jpg. NASA ID: s66-46952. Date Created: 1966-01-01 JobsUSA, NASA Astronaut Candidate application, screenshot 2020-03-31 Neil Armstrong, X15 Pilot, NASA Archives Franklin Chang Diaz, NASA Astronaut, NASA Archives Ronald E. McNair, NASA Astronaut, NASA Archives The battle of Gilgamesh and Enkidu with the Heaven Bull by Oleg Kuzmin, https://www.artstation.com/artwork/EgbOe, retrieved 2020-04-08 Episode Notes/Script: Joe Bustillos, here. 1969-07-16 Apollo 11 Launch – 50th Anniversary CBS News Coverage I can’t believe that the last time I recorded a podcast it was well past 100 outside and I was still all caught up in the post-Apollo 11 moon landing 50th anniversary nostalgia. I mean, it’s only been a 9-month gap, it’s not like I’m pod-fading or anything. It’s an interesting observation that, except for last school year (2018-2019), my capacity to produce podcasts (or even blog!) pretty much evaporates as soon as school is in session, beginning with when I started working for Full Sail Labs in the summer of 2015. Damn. So, the reasons that I’m making the effort to produce this podcast episode is many-fold. “Empty Vegas” by Josh Metz You might have heard, the world has changed over the past month, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that I have more time on my hands, even though this week is the beginning of the fourth week of Nevada’s work-from-home/remote teaching policy. The first week was disorienting, but you have to remember that I taught fully online for six-years before coming here. So my mind immediately went to how are we going to convert our superficially technological teaching practices to something that can work for most of our students. During week two I set up a Slack channel so that my fellow teachers could post questions and suggests over a common channel instead of trying to manage this via email chains. I also began trying to nail down student email accounts so that communication could be something more efficient than playing phone-tag. I ran into more than a few snags but my partner who teaches music was able to get over eighty students to check in, which is pretty good considering how many families from my school have no technology at home, no Internet and no access to even smartphones. I’ll be spending part of my Spring Break continuing to try to bridge the communication gap. So, that’s something that I never anticipated the last time I posted a podcast. 2020-03-04 STEAM Lab: student stop-motion animation Another thing I didn’t anticipate when last we spoke was deciding that it was time for me to leave Fitzgerald and find another school better suited for my skills or perhaps another career entirely. It’s complicated, but suffice it to say that most of my teaching positions have average three to four years before I found myself updating my resume. It also turned out that one organization looking for new recruits is an organization that I’ve dreamed about being a part of since I was a little kid. During the month of March NASA was accepting applications for the next group of astronauts. My fandom is pretty self-evident to anyone who has spent time with me, beginning with the posters in my classroom, the theme of several lessons I’ve taught over the  years and Kennedy Space Center being a frequent destination when I lived in Florida. The question was what I might have to offer as an astronaut candidate given my academic and career history and some what “older age.” 2019-08-15 STEAM Lab: Documenting Your Journey bulletin-board I looked over the application materials and immediately had serious doubts about my qualifications and the incredibly small possibility that I might catch any positive attention with my application. I had already been engaged in looking at teaching positions primarily in Las Vegas, but kept channels open for other possibilities outside of CCSD. Then we went on lock-down and that made me more cautious about whether it was worth the effort of filing out the NASA application. Change is hard. I should know, I keep doing it every couple years. And here I am, at a time when many of my “vintage” are looking to slow things down, for an “escape clause,” or some excuse to devote more time to napping on the couch. I got down to the last couple days before the close date and decided that if I didn’t try than I would hate myself for not at least giving it a go. The application process itself was pretty much like all the other applications I’ve been filling out for the past couple of months. The first part of the application wasn’t too much of a challenge. But then there was a section of the application that began, “Please describe any other skills you possess or activities you participate in that provide additional support to your application to become an astronaut candidate. Examples might include scuba diving, sports, music, languages, computer software/hardware tools, machinery, volunteer work, etc.” So, I wrote, “Communication: I have a degree in journalism and enjoy listening to and writing about others’ stories and journeys. I have a passion for photography and videography, always looking for the best way to tell a story. I’ve played guitar and written music my whole life and over the past four years started doing more open mic sessions in Las Vegas. I’ve spent the last five years teaching robotics to kindergarten through middle school students, building, designing, programming and competing.” 2019-03-06 STEAM Lab: Fitzgerald EV3 club I don’t know if I should have gone into more depth or not. These things are hard to judge. So, having filled out my work and academic history there was a more specific academic/career questionnaire that confused me a bit. It read: “All applicants must meet at least ONE of the Basic Education requirements in question 1 to be considered for this position. Qualifying international Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education is allowed so long as you submit proof of appropriate foreign education equivalency. Applicants may also fulfill this requirement by having completed a nationally or internationally recognized Test Pilot School program or by current enrollment in such a program if completed by June 2021… While a bachelor’s degree (or less) is not qualifying alone, you must submit ALL STEM related transcripts with your application. “Note:  The following degree fields, while related to engineering and the sciences, are NOT considered qualifying: Degrees in Technology (Engineering Technology, Aviation Technology, Medical Technology, etc.) Degrees in Psychology (except for Clinical Psychology, Physiological Psychology, or Experimental Psychology, which are qualifying) Degrees in Nursing Degrees in Exercise Physiology or similar fields Degrees in Social Sciences (Geography, Anthropology, Archaeology, etc.) Degrees in Aviation, Aviation Management, or similar fields Do you meet at least ONE of the education requirements below?” Okay, I have a Master’s Degree in Educational Technology and over 36 semester hours towards a Doctorate in Educational Technology. Does that work? Because it seems like except for degrees in Computer Science, a technology degree isn’t applicable. I answered,  “C. No, my education is not reflected above.” If anything, that probably knocked me out of the running. Damn. Earlier in the process I ran into the challenge of writing a cover letter, explaining my qualifications, which I wasn’t entirely too sure about to begin with. So, given my expertise as a writer, I began with a hint of my doubts. Here’s what I wrote: To Whom It May Concern, I am writing concerning the NASA astronaut position. Like many kids growing up in the United States in the 1960s and 70s I was a devout follower of all things NASA, building models and waking up my family to watch the launches on TV. While I enjoyed my drafting-engineering and architecture courses in high school, I saw myself more artist and less engineer and earned a bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies in 1981 and a second one in Journalism in 1991. I had kept my hand in technology working 15-years as a Communications-Technician for Pacific Bell, but left to begin my career as an elementary school educator after I got my teaching credential in 1994. Growing up with the test-pilot model of NASA astronaut, I thought that my poor eyesight and lack of military experience would probably disqualify me to become part of the NASA team. Neil Armstrong – x15-pilot This past year, my 25th as an educator, fourth year teaching STEAM to Kindergarten through 5th grade, mostly Black and Latino students in North Las Vegas, I shared with them the biographies of astronauts Franklin Chang Diaz and Ronald E. McNair, with the theme to not let circumstances dictate working to accomplish their life-long dreams. Current world issues aside, being a positive beacon of hope for these kids wasn’t entirely successful, perhaps because I hadn’t or wasn’t following my own advice. All of which leads me to write these words at a time in my life when most of my contemporaries are looking to slow down and find a comfy couch to nap in, I find myself pushing forward beginning with this application and cover letter. My expertise is understanding the world of troubleshooting and science, the importance of giving adequate focus and time to this process and how it is perfectly human to always look for shortcuts and easy answers to our problems. We begin our learning journey loving what we’re good at or what we get praise for, and tend to lack people in our lives who can constructively push us to realize our potential. I learned technology so that I could be better at communicating, at writing, at photography and videography. I used technology because my students reacted more viscerally looking at 8-foot images of Enkidu and Gilgamesh when we read the Epic of Gilgamesh versus simply listening to my words. I used technology because having students program their LEGO WeDo robots was much more impactful than any video or story I could tell them. My whole teaching career has had some technology embedded in it, but I don’t love technology. I love when technology enables my students to begin to realize their potential, their success. All of this began for me as a child when I watched men and women do the impossible and ride dangerous rockets of flame into space. It may not be my time to participate on that level, but if I could find a way with my gifts to enable others to contribute their expertise and passion to the missions to put humanity beyond this planet and better serve this planet, than I would say it was worth the effort. Thank you for the opportunity to share my story. And when I pressed the send button I can say that I successfully applied to become a NASA astronaut, whether I ever get the call or not. I can say that I raised my hand when the offer was made. I’m probably too to be considered (though no upper age limit is listed), and it’s more likely that my lack of a hard-science/engineering degree is problematic. Too bad, it would have been cool to have become an ancient astronaut. 2016-06-11 astronaut joe on mars Speaking of filling out applications… if you haven’t done so, please subscribe to either my blog or to my YouTube channel. If you’re watching this on FaceBook, click the link to my blog, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “Follow” button, enter your email address and whenever I post another podcast you’ll get a message in your email. Because I recently moved my videos to a new YouTube account, I have very few subscribers. So feel free to go to my channel click the subscribe button and the little bell icon, so that you get an email whenever I post a new video podcast to my channel. Alas, thanks to FaceBook’s precious algorithm, it’s not enough to be my friend on FaceBook, if you’re interested in getting these podcasts… it works better if you either subscribe to my blog or my YouTube channel (or both!). Enjoy.

JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 35: What Have These Eyes Seen in the Past 61-Years

JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 35: What Have These Eyes Seen in the Past 61-Years After my 61st birthday and while immersed in Apollo 11 nostalgia I comment about events that I’ve experienced over the course of my 60-plus years life, things ranging from Space to Music to Religion, to Technology to Family. What events have your experienced that you haven’t reflected on lately. MP3 Version: https://jbbsfinalthoughts.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/jbbsfinalthoughts_e035_what-have-these-eyes-seen-in-the-past-61-years.mp3 Enjoy and please subscribe to my YouTube channel or subscribe to all of my blog posts (scroll to the bottom of this page, click the red FOLLOW button in the “Follow blog via email” box). Please Subscribe: YouTube Channel Twitter Account Apple Podcasts/iTunes Via Soundcloud RSS Reader Past JBB’s Final Thoughts Podcast Episodes Resources: music: Social Blindness – 22K by Smart Sound Music All images and screen grabs by Joe Bustillos ©2019 except where noted https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wright_Flyer https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/STS-1 https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/classroom-copes-columbia-disaster https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Shuttle_Challenger_disaster?wprov=sfti1 Vatican II engraving, http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/index.htm Wright Brothers in Flight (2009). EngineersClubDayton, Published on Jun 9, 2009. ©2009 Martel Art. This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3beVhDiyio Gemini video: NASA Remembers Astronaut John Young, Moonwalker and First Shuttle Commander. Original size video (URL): images-assets.nasa.gov/video/NHQ_2018_0106_NASA Remembers Astronaut John Young, Moonwalker and First Shuttle Commander/NHQ_2018_0106_NASA Remembers Astronaut John Young, Moonwalker and First Shuttle Commander~orig.mp4. Date Created: 2018-01-06 Gemini-Titan (GT)-6 – Gemini 6 of 7 – Space Photography – Outer Space. Full resolution (URL): images-assets.nasa.gov/image/S65-63194/S65-63194~orig.jpg. NASA ID: S65-63194. Date Created: 1965-12-17 Astronaut Edward White during first EVA performed during Gemini 4 flight, Full resolution (URL): images-assets.nasa.gov/image/S65-34635/S65-34635~orig.jpg. NASA ID: S65-34635. Date Created: 1965-06-03 PORTRAIT – GEMINI 12 PRIME CREW. Full resolution (URL): images-assets.nasa.gov/image/s66-46952/s66-46952~orig.jpg. NASA ID: s66-46952. Date Created: 1966-01-01 Cross on the Beach “IMG_0770.jpg”by jramspott is licensed under CC BY 2.0 Manual Typewriter “bike build 168”by fixedgear is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 AVID Cinema Macintosh, https://www.macintoshrepository.org/16435-avid-cinema Challenger Disaster “έκρηξη : explosion via NASA”by dullhunk is licensed under CC BY 2.0 Starfire Optical Range Photo “Starfire Optical Range Photo”by jrtnatnov is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 The Beatles on Stage “The Beatles on stage”by azaar94 is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0 Introducing the Beatles “Introducing…The Beatles Front Cover”by cloud2013 is licensed under CC BY 2.0 Episode Notes: Birthday (61) recently and current NASA/Apollo nostalgia… comment by Neil Armstrong that only 60-years had passed from first powered-flights by the Wright Brothers at Kitty Hawk to the Apollo program, inspired me to list the things that I’ve seen or experienced in my 61 years being here. SPACE: Early NASA launches (on TV) mercury, Gemini and Apollo… some “missions” were launched and done within the same day through the 1960s and early 1970s Launch and landing of the first Space Shuttle (Columbia) in 1980 (on TV) Destruction of the Space Shuttle Challenger (on TV) in 1986 and Columbia in 2003. Launch of the last Space Shuttle missions from STS-126 (2008) though STS-135 (2011) live in Florida. MUSIC/BEATLES: Saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan live (1964), didn’t remember that they played three-weeks in a row… “Performing” Beatles songs for disbelieving aunts and uncles on grandma’s front porch in San Gabriel (circa 1965) Late night Pre-MTV Don Kirshner’s Rock Show and the Midnight Special music variety show in the 1970s and 1980s Staying up late watching MTV on friend’s cable the night before getting married. RELIGION: Raised in a conservative Catholic home in the 1960s (Vatican II reforms), Dad raised Protestant put his religion on the back burner for the sake of family unity… early experiences that dads don’t go to church… Hippy/Jesus-movement in Southern California in the early 1970s The Catholic Charismatic Movement in Southern California in the 1970s The Contemporary Christian music scene/Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa Saturday night concerts (performed as opening act once circa 1982) Became Agnostic after my divorce in the late 1980s, revisited my faith in the troublesome 2000s, and walked away again in the late 2000s. TECHNOLOGY: Learning to type on manual typewriter in 1972 during 7th grade summer school (strong fingers would be helpful playing guitar and giving neck/shoulder rubs many, many years later) 1970s 8mm film editing, analog video (VHS) editing 1980s-1990s, digital video editing on early Macs and iMacs from the 1990s to now. Using technology to create curriculum materials (booklets, posters, quizzes) in the 1990s to literally teaching university courses online in the late 2000s. FAMILY: The birth of my granddaughter, Elena, in 2005. My dad  being amazingly healthy in his mid-70s, then the quick decline and death in his early 80s due to respiratory issues. My “force of nature” older sister rapid decline, in part to suffering several years from untreated symptoms similar to my CIDP illness . Things left undone by the passing of several talented family members and friends inspiring me to refocus my energies on things that I continually say that I want to do and trying to have a more realistic view of what to do in the time I have left. Most of us are so busy dealing with unending demands of life from day to day, moment to moment that it’s difficult to have any sense of accomplishment or even peace about the how we’ve lived our lives… I’m certain that family and friends who are no longer here were just going through the motions right up to the last moment with no thought beyond the moment. Nothing wrong with that, it’s just that, given the truckload of opportunities that I see that I’ve been lucky enough to have, I would want this life to mean more than skidding sideways to my final destination and lamenting, “Well, that didn’t go as planned.” I don’t know about you, but I’m well aware that I’m damn lucky to be here at this point in human history, living in this very flawed country with incredible possibility springing forth on a daily/hourly basis. For that reason and the others listed above, I’m still looking for and engaged in my life’s mission beyond Margaritaville and this thing called retirement. That said, I’m not anticipating chasing disruptive 5-year-olds or explaining myself to arrogant pre-teens who believe that they’re all that for the rest of my life. I think I’ve earn some respite from that… What about you, what “escape” plan are you hatching for yourself and your loved ones? What wonders have you seen over your many years that you haven’t thought about lately because you’re too damn busy to be bothered? Speaking of bothered, if you haven’t done so, please subscribe to either my blog or to my YouTube channel. If you’re watching this on FaceBook, click the link to my blog, scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “Follow” button, enter your email address and whenever I post another podcast you’ll get a message in your email. Because I recently moved my videos to a new YouTube account, I have very few subscribers. So feel free to go to my channel click the subscribe button and the little bell icon, so that you get an email whenever I post a new video podcast to my channel. Alas, thanks to FaceBook’s precious algorithm, it’s not enough to be my friend on FaceBook, if you’re interested in getting these podcasts… it works better if you either subscribe to my blog or my YouTube channel (or both!). Enjoy.

JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 34: Maybe I’m Not As Done As I Thought

JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 34: Maybe I’m Not As Done As I Thought I thought I had a pretty good idea where I was going to want to focus my energies to get to the next level of my life’s journey. Then I talked to fellow-Full Sail University refugee, Mel, and I’m not so sure anymore about those plans and my role as an educator. Great. MP3 Version: https://jbbsfinalthoughts.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/jbbsfinalthoughts_e034_maybe-im-not-as-done-as-i-thought.mp3 Enjoy and please subscribe to my YouTube channel or subscribe to all of my blog posts (scroll to the bottom of this page, click the red FOLLOW button in the “Follow blog via email” box). Please Subscribe: YouTube Channel Twitter Account Apple Podcasts/iTunes RSS Reader Past JBB’s Final Thoughts Podcast Episodes Resources: music: Social Blindness – 22K by Smart Sound Music All images and screen grabs by Joe Bustillos ©2019 except where noted JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 33: Zen As “F” (about future plans) Amazon associate link: Zen as F*ck by Monica Sweeney Transcript: Joe Bustillos here. Last podcast I thought I had an idea about what I wanted to do and what I wanted to focus my energies on so that I might get to the next level in my personal journey. There’s no saying that those thoughts weren’t on the mark, but then I had a good conversation with my fellow Full Sail refugee, Mel, and it really got me thinking, “maybe I’m not really done yet.” “Done” as in “I’ve put in my time as an educator, and it’s nearing time for me to find the non-education next chapter.” Yeah, all that surprised me too. Granted, while I thought I had a one-year runway to explore things (having committed to the upcoming school year), my confidence in that plan was also challenged by the news that my teachers’ union is talking about having a strike at the beginning of said school year. So much for my one-year runway… more like three-month runway. Damn. My friend Mel moved out here to Las Vegas looking for her next chapter also. We talked about what we learned working with Full Sail University’s emdt (Education, Media, Design & Technology) online programs, some of the great things that really seemed to work, things that may not be in-play any longer because management didn’t or doesn’t quite understand what the “secret sauce” behind a successful online educational experience might be. But after I got laid off in 2014 in the aftermath of the bad economy and my inability to get rehired somewhere else, even with my working knowledge of good online practices, I was left with the impression that I seem to have an expertise that no one seems to value. Listening to some of the horror stories Mel has experienced with her collection of online teaching gigs, I’m amazed at how good I had it at Full Sail, teaching only one course that switch out every 30-days, and where I generally never had classes over 60-students to deal with. We had remarkable freedom to craft our courses and continually iterate as we needed. Alas, the university’s inability to get credentialing that worked with public school educators looking to bump up their pay column, spelled the end of that online masters program and eventually the loss of what we had created. So, why should this effect my plans for the next year or years? Full Sail let the program die, none of what I’ve been doing for the past five-years has been in the online education field, I should just let it go. Let someone else die on that hill, someone with an advanced degree and probably another source of income so that they can fight the good fight without worrying that they could be bankrupted by any career change. But, at the same time, if the past three-years has taught me anything, it’s that our assumption that applying technological solutions will fix everything is sorely wrong headed. The world has changed and no one seems to be speaking the right language(s) to make it work. And a lot of what I’ve been doing over the past few years has been a surprising example of how wrong we can get because we’re working old problems that didn’t work before technology and not-too-surprisingly doesn’t work with technology. I wish I could tell you what the simple solution for all of this confusion in the educational spheres is, but then why would you hire me? If I just gave it to you on a podcast that virtually no one listens to… That wouldn’t be very smart (also the problem is much bigger that a single answer that could be communicated in a single podcast episode… but I do have idea [smile]). In fact, putting those ideas together would be worthy of a dissertation… damn. Here I thought I’d figured out that I wasn’t going to go down this path and that if another advanced degree was in my future, it would come from ongoing work and not before getting said work. Crap. Yeah, I don’t think I’m done with what I used to call my academic paper-chase. Guess I’ll be calling my local university to explore these thoughts. [sigh] Let me ask you, are you as bad as me, getting all the way through your adult working life but still trying to figure out what you want to be when  you “grow up”? Or did you always know what you wanted to do or be? How many of you meandered through or into your career with no real plan? Please, let me know what you think or what you experienced in the comments below. [Break] [Zen as “F” Segment] Thank you for spending this time with me at JBB’s Final Thoughts. If you want to continue to participate in my outer monologue you can subscribe to my blog at http://jbbsfinalthoughts.com, scroll to the bottom of the page, click on the FOLLOW button where it says “Follow Blog via Email” and enter your email address. You can also subscribe directly to my YouTube channel, just search for JBB’s Final Thoughts (and make sure it doesn’t auto-correct to “jobs final thoughts”… damn auto-correct!). Catch you later, enjoy.

JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 33: Zen as “F”

JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 33: Zen as “F” Busy last weeks of the school year filled with events and conferences from Rockabilly, to tech training, to podcaster hangouts, to live music events, to writers conferences. It looks like I currently have a one-year path to figure out what I’m going to do in the next three to five-years. Fun. MP3 Version: https://jbbsfinalthoughts.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/jbbsfinalthoughts_e33_zen-as-f.mp3 Enjoy and please subscribe to my YouTube channel or subscribe to all of my blog posts (scroll to the bottom of this page, click the red FOLLOW button in the “Follow blog via email” box). Please Subscribe: YouTube Channel Twitter Account Apple Podcasts/iTunes RSS Reader Past JBB’s Final Thoughts Podcast Episodes Resources: music: Social Blindness – 22K by Smart Sound Music All images and screen grabs by Joe Bustillos ©2019 JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 25: The Power of “No” (about Essentialism) Amazon associate link: Essentialism by Greg McKeown Thank you for spending this time with me at JBB’s Final Thoughts. If you want to continue to participate in my outer monologue you can subscribe to my blog at http://jbbsfinalthoughts.com, scroll to the bottom of the page, click on the FOLLOW button where it says “Follow Blog via Email” and enter your email address. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel, just search for JBB’s Final Thoughts (and make sure it doesn’t auto-correct to “jobs final thoughts”… damn auto-correct!). Catch you later, enjoy.

JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 32: Three Odd Encounters with Contentment

JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 32: Three Odd Encounters with Contentment Five weeks left in the current school year and it’s been a real challenge. I’m left half-way contemplating the things I want to change, and what I really need to focus on to have more of a sustainable/constructive year versus what has felt much more like running from emergency to emergency. That said, I found myself earlier in the month have several odd sensations that I could scarcely identify. I think I was experiencing quiet moments of bliss. MP3 Version: https://jbbsfinalthoughts.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/jbbsfinalthoughts_e32_three-odd-encounters-with-contentment.mp3 Enjoy and please subscribe to my YouTube channel or subscribe to all of my blog posts (scroll to the bottom of this page, click the red FOLLOW button in the “Follow blog via email” box). Please Subscribe: YouTube Channel Twitter Account Apple Podcasts/iTunes RSS Reader Past JBB’s Final Thoughts Podcast Episodes Resources: music: Social Blindness – 22K by Smart Sound Music All images and screen grabs by Joe Bustillos ©2019 Show Notes: JBB’s Final Thoughts Episode 32: Three Odd Encounters with Contentment Joe Bustillos, here. Five weeks left in the current school year and it’s been a real challenge. I’m left half-way contemplating the things I want to change, and what I really need to focus on to have more of a sustainable/constructive year versus what has felt much more like running from emergency to emergency. That said, I found myself earlier in the month have several odd sensations that I could scarcely identify. I think I was experiencing quiet moments of bliss. This podcast is going to be a bit different from my usual monologue, primarily because I sought to capture this odd sense of bliss or contentment and the following three short videos are the result. The first video, recorded on March 27th, was the first time I slowed down just enough to notice something was different. Video 1: Bliss? Video 2: LEGOs While I’ve been a tech-guy for decades, it’s been mostly of the web-based/media-based variety (though I began this journey with a Phillips screwdriver building my own PC-clones before going all-mac in 2008). Block programming and robotics was added to my repertoire in 2015 during the intense Full Sail Labs experience. Then at the beginning of this school year something changed when I was with my team at a student training and found that my students were getting bored, so I broke out the EV3 kits that I brought to have them tinker while listening to the lectures. But several of our robots were missing the third-wheel ball, so I looked at what we had in our kits and MacGyvered a third-wheel from the available parts. I was taking other’s plans and adapting them based on parts on hand and I’ve been at it all year. The following video highlights something that’s become an obsession for me: LEGO, robots and LEGO robots. Video 3: Music – Some Assembly Required Band In the Fall I joined the Some Assembly Required Band, which does the music for our monthly Sunday Assembly meeting. I don’t know why I waited so long to participate, but working with the guys has been great and a good challenge to attend to my musical gifts. Closing: Sustainable Focus I’m going to turn 61 in a couple of months and I still don’t know what I want to be when I grow up. I absolutely love working with the kids, but the year has been enough of a drain and confidence-killer that I do wonder if my gifts and skills could be better put to use in a different venue. I hope that writing and media is a bigger part of that chapter. And even though it wreaks havoc on my fingernails which effects my guitar finger-picking, there’s a definite therapy that’s good for maintaining my finger-strength when I’m working with the tiny LEGO pieces. Like a child, like my students, I see possibilities when I’m working with the LEGOs. Thank you for spending this time with me at JBB’s Final Thoughts. If you want to continue to participate in my outer monologue you can subscribe to my blog at http://jbbsfinalthoughts.com, scroll to the bottom of the page, click on the FOLLOW button where it says “Follow Blog via Email” and enter your email address. You can also subscribe to my YouTube channel, just search for JBB’s Final Thoughts (and make sure it doesn’t auto-correct to “jobs final thoughts”… damn auto-correct!). Catch you later, enjoy.