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Michael Gumbrell

Views

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22,000 views... how wonderful.

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to visit my blog.

It is much appreciated.

Permalink 3 comments (latest comment by Bemonkles, Thursday, 5 Jul 2018, 16:45)
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Michael Gumbrell

Children Studying

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Looking forward to next Saturday.. it is open day at the university of Portsmouth.

Taking number one son to the open day, he is down to start Politics and international relations in September.

I had a look at the course modules... looks very interesting.

He can extend to 4 years and do a one year placement between year 2 and 3... the university has some excellent placement options.

Number one son is very lucky..looks like an excellent course.

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Michael Gumbrell

Sunny days

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Too hot to work...  too hot to work,

Must get some work done...

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Michael Gumbrell

SFE

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What is going on with student finance england?

I am now on my second week of trying to apply for my next student loan.

Will the SFE website ever work again???

Permalink 7 comments (latest comment by Michael Gumbrell, Wednesday, 27 Jun 2018, 07:47)
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Michael Gumbrell

Summer reading

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I am enjoying the BK book of economics.. i am up to the 1800's already.. you can never get enough David Hume in your life..

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Michael Gumbrell

Views

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And in other news, the counter went past 21,000 today!!

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Michael Gumbrell

Summer reading

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I changed my mind about my summer reading.

To get my next module DD209- ECONOMICS of to a good start, i bought Das Capital by Marx, the communist manifesto by Marx and Engals and People, interest and money by Keynes.

I also bought the DK book of economics.

So that will give me some light summer reading.

Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Michael Gumbrell, Thursday, 21 Jun 2018, 19:35)
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Michael Gumbrell

And the counter says. .

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So it was a few days after the exam, but the counter has made it to 20,000 !!!!

That is mad really, that so many people take the time to read my posts.

Thank you to everyone who has taken the time to visit my blog.

I think i might try and be a bit more interactive from now on... instead of just posting closed questions and statements, post more open questions and generate more conversations with comments left on posts?

So lets try this one.  

Will you be doing any extra study activities during the summer? Or will you just enjoy the time off?

I have never read Richard Dwakins ' the bi-cameral mind' and i think it would be rewarding to read it, so that's my summer suggestion. What would be yours?

Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Michael Gumbrell, Monday, 11 Jun 2018, 18:32)
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Michael Gumbrell

The long wait

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So my exam result is scheduled to the 17th of July; so begins the 5 week wait to find out the result.

And i am 136 views away from the magic 20,000 views.


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Michael Gumbrell

And i'm done.....with Philosophy

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Got the exam done.. 

Went alright, i did questions 2, 8 and 11.

Which in Philosopher bingo is...

Hume, Kuhn and Nozick, which almost rhymes....

Happy to be finished

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Michael Gumbrell

The exam venue

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Well here i am, sitting in the car park outside the exam venue. 2 hours early, but better to be early than be in a rush and risk being late.

So a bit on bonus revision time, a spare 90 minutes to sit in the car with my books and try and gain one last burst of insight....

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Michael Gumbrell

259 to go

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So the exam is tomorrow, i am all revised out, and am ready to go, i downloaded the last 6 years of exam papers, i am doing questions/revision for Book 1 -The self, book 4- Knowledge and book 6 - political philosophy. Checking the questions from the previous six years, i can answer all the potential questions- apart from 2016 when then threw a cheeky- what does novak's public address thought experiment show- question.... That's is the only curve ball question i found. Just in case they do wish to drop a curve ball in this year, i have revised Thomas reid's major/general objection to Locke's position of personal identity.

So this is it, i have really despised this module, and tomorrow i will be finished with it and philosophy for good. I am happy about that and i hope i do myself justice in the exam.

GOOD LUCK to everyone tomorrow.... may the revision and remembering gods be with you... and may your work books fill with retained knowledge that is both relevant and answering of the questions asked of you.

As for the 20,000 views by tomorrow target, i am 259 short, and i cannot reasonably imagine many of you will be surfing blog posts tonight, when we still have revision to do.. so i think i will miss by a couple of hundred, not that 19,800 views is anything to sniff at.

So lets do the exam thing tomorrow, stay focused everyone and stay on target... and may your arguments be incisively inductive, unless you are doing Maths, Physics, Chemistry or Law, then let them be deductive... Piori and postpiori and all that......bloody Rene Descartes....

#bloodyA222

Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Michael Gumbrell, Wednesday, 20 Jun 2018, 21:43)
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Michael Gumbrell

335 to go...

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The revision is going well...and

Only 335 views to go to hit the magic 20,000 views, with 2 days left to the exam.

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Michael Gumbrell

Nearly there...

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I had the ambition to reach 20,000 views by the time i sit my exam on Tuesday.

Only 494 views to go..

How fantastic.

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Michael Gumbrell

Finally TMA of A222

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Got my final TMA06 back.

The last essay of #bloodyA222...

I got 60%, so i end up with an OCAS of 60% for the module, so a grade 3 pass in O.U speak, or a 2:2 pass in normal undergraduate speak.

Just happy to be shot of this module in all honesty, it has been awful.

So just the exam to knock out and i can move onto the first economics module.

Lets hope the A222 exam goes okay.

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Michael Gumbrell

New blog post

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Edited by Michael Gumbrell, Tuesday, 29 May 2018, 20:28

I went to Cornwall for the bank holiday weekend.

Visited two amazing places.. the eden project and the minack theatre.

Two examples of what individual spirit can achieve, both very inspirational places to visit

Rowena Cade spent 35 years building the Minack Theatre, by her own hand, assisted by her gardener, Billy.

And Tim Smit founded the incredible Eden project...

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Michael Gumbrell

One week to go.

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So by this time next week, i will have done the exam.

Hopefully everyone's revision is going well.

I have one week left to pick up 600 blog views to hit my 20,000 target by the time i have finished the A222 exam.... here's hoping!!!!

Permalink 2 comments (latest comment by Michael Gumbrell, Tuesday, 29 May 2018, 20:33)
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Michael Gumbrell

Hits

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The views counter is chugging along nicely, about to pass 19,000.

Will it hit 20,000 before my philosophy exam on Tuesday 5th of June?

Do the Open University give extra credit for 20,000 blog visits? In case the exam does not go well?

So place your bets; will the counter hit 20,000 before i sit my exam at 10:00 am on Tuesday 5th of June 2018?????

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Michael Gumbrell

Exam tutorial

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Well the exam tutorial this year was the opposite of the last 2 years.

For the last 2 years only 4 or 5 of us turned up to the tma tutorials, with suddenly 16 people turning up for the exam tutorial.

This year we have averaged 10 for the tma tutorials and only 4 of us turned up to the exam tutorial.

Hopefully everyone who did not come to the exam tutorial is well advanced with revision and confident for the exam.

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Michael Gumbrell

Getting published

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There used to be a joke in our house... there are 5 of us in here.

Only published authors were allowed certain Privileges... the wife ( published social work articles) and our youngest- Ella-13 ( published poems in anthologies) held the privileges..

Until the local micro news site i volunteer for decided to publish an anthology of work. I am in the anthology and so  now have access to the same privileges Ros and Ella do..

That made me happy... i now have access to the same secret stash of choccy diggies that the girls do... don't tell James and William.. unless they can get published too.

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Michael Gumbrell

Views

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And thank you for visiting my blog.

18,500 views.

So i might get to 20,000 by the time i get to halfway through my degree ( June 6th 2018)... yes i am counting.

Half way through and potentially 20,000 views.

I will be proud of that.

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Michael Gumbrell

No more philosophy tma's

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Well, my struggle is almost over... i wrote my tma6 this week and got it submitted... so only the exam in three weeks and thats philosophy done.

Philosophy done and never to be returned to.

I will have 2 economics and one more politics module to due.

So my philosophy exam is on Tuesday 5th of June 2018...and that will be my exact half way point... it will be 2 economics and one politics to the finish line.

So quote an emotional time... it is just a shame that at the moment the strongest emotion is contempt. I have little but contempt for this philosophy module... i can't say i have hated every moment of it... the first two weeks were okay ( probably because i had not worked out what was going on in those first two weeks) but after that initial period of grace, the contempt started to build.

I have the exam revision lecture tomorrow, so just stomach that and did the exam done and i will be free.

FREE... in the John Locke essence of ''natural freedom' or Berlins essence of ' negative freedom'?

Either way, to quote Bob Dylan....

" i shall be released "

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Michael Gumbrell

Final tma

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Time to write my final tma of this module. Then just the revision and i am out of it.

Happy days.

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Michael Gumbrell

views

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17,500 views, thank you everyone.

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Michael Gumbrell

New low score!!!!!

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#bloody A222.

Just got the mark back for tma 5. Which was about Descartes Dualism.

I set my own personal record for a low score.

I got 40%. So i passed, by the lowest possible mark.

One more tma to go and the exam and then i am done with bloody A222.

I cannot wait.

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