or search for 'martin cadwell -caldwell' to eliminate caldwell returns (take note of the position of the minus sign) or 'martin cadwell blog' in your browser.
I am not on YouTube or social media
I prefer the end to the beginning
Beginnings are troublesome for me. It is like packing or a holiday by a British beach at the last moment and not knowing what to pack. Will it rain? Should I take some jumpers? Will the children need more pyjamas than when they are at home? Is there a launderette? Of course, all that is farcical but starting a new OU module has the same effect as being at the precipice of not knowing quite what to do.
I have a goal to meet and the opportunity cost of meeting that goal has to be measured against how I can operate in my other roles and responsibilities. This isn't a case of how many hours can I attribute to OU study; it is how much effort should I spend on which unit?
The start of the OU academic year means for me, more emails that demand my attention than all the other emails I receive in the rest of the whole year. I hate it. I am compelled to read anything that comes from the OU in case it is important. Invariably, I find it is superfluous to attaining my goal. I strongly dislike entities demanding my attention. I just want to be left alone to do what I do. Daily checking of my emails is dull and uninspiring.
In the past, I have not gotten jobs I applied for because I did not want to contactable outside of work hours. I am mostly self-employed, with firm contracts that do not need discussing over and over again. I simply cannot understand how people seemingly want to change their minds all the time.
As an employer, I often had to use casual labour to fill in gaps in worker coverage at short notice. Securement of these workers was made around about three to five days before a job. I told each of them how much the job paid and guaranteed them half of the money if the job was cancelled by the customer. I knew that many people offered a days work next week will spend the money before they get it; so they borrow money with the intention of paying it back when they get paid. At £120 per day ten years ago, promising them half on a certain day, regardless of whether they worked or not, seemed to me to be the right thing to do. They had to turn up on the day though.
Because I guaranteed the contract price and arrival times It was natural for me to seek consistency in all my undertakings. Now if I don't make changes in my interaction with people and businesses I get ripped off and people default on me. I paid thousands in penalties because someone else messed up. I never passed the buck and said, 'I'm not paying, it's not my fault!' I just pay and move on. I really can't stand wobbling.
I am looking forward to finishing my module so I can finish the next ones. Everyone else is looking forward to starting. My goal is to receive the information I need; not play around hunting for it. I need lists of requirements for a task to be tackled. There are a series of TMAs for each module. I don't see that, I see TMAs in parallel. There is a requirement to reach a certain percentage score or points; the way the OU work it out at level 2 and level 3 is beyond my spreadsheet formulation abilities, and I regard myself as pretty good at spreadsheets. With an EMA pass essential and this year worth 30% of the overall score; the first thing I am looking at, is completing the EMA. Most of us know the EMA is the last assignment.
I know it all seems backwards, but I have a goal and I don't want to waste time on activities that add nothing to achieving my goal.
New blog post
All my posts: https://learn1.open.ac.uk/mod/oublog/view.php?u=zw219551
or search for 'martin cadwell -caldwell' to eliminate caldwell returns (take note of the position of the minus sign) or 'martin cadwell blog' in your browser.
I am not on YouTube or social media
I prefer the end to the beginning
Beginnings are troublesome for me. It is like packing or a holiday by a British beach at the last moment and not knowing what to pack. Will it rain? Should I take some jumpers? Will the children need more pyjamas than when they are at home? Is there a launderette? Of course, all that is farcical but starting a new OU module has the same effect as being at the precipice of not knowing quite what to do.
I have a goal to meet and the opportunity cost of meeting that goal has to be measured against how I can operate in my other roles and responsibilities. This isn't a case of how many hours can I attribute to OU study; it is how much effort should I spend on which unit?
The start of the OU academic year means for me, more emails that demand my attention than all the other emails I receive in the rest of the whole year. I hate it. I am compelled to read anything that comes from the OU in case it is important. Invariably, I find it is superfluous to attaining my goal. I strongly dislike entities demanding my attention. I just want to be left alone to do what I do. Daily checking of my emails is dull and uninspiring.
In the past, I have not gotten jobs I applied for because I did not want to contactable outside of work hours. I am mostly self-employed, with firm contracts that do not need discussing over and over again. I simply cannot understand how people seemingly want to change their minds all the time.
As an employer, I often had to use casual labour to fill in gaps in worker coverage at short notice. Securement of these workers was made around about three to five days before a job. I told each of them how much the job paid and guaranteed them half of the money if the job was cancelled by the customer. I knew that many people offered a days work next week will spend the money before they get it; so they borrow money with the intention of paying it back when they get paid. At £120 per day ten years ago, promising them half on a certain day, regardless of whether they worked or not, seemed to me to be the right thing to do. They had to turn up on the day though.
Because I guaranteed the contract price and arrival times It was natural for me to seek consistency in all my undertakings. Now if I don't make changes in my interaction with people and businesses I get ripped off and people default on me. I paid thousands in penalties because someone else messed up. I never passed the buck and said, 'I'm not paying, it's not my fault!' I just pay and move on. I really can't stand wobbling.
I am looking forward to finishing my module so I can finish the next ones. Everyone else is looking forward to starting. My goal is to receive the information I need; not play around hunting for it. I need lists of requirements for a task to be tackled. There are a series of TMAs for each module. I don't see that, I see TMAs in parallel. There is a requirement to reach a certain percentage score or points; the way the OU work it out at level 2 and level 3 is beyond my spreadsheet formulation abilities, and I regard myself as pretty good at spreadsheets. With an EMA pass essential and this year worth 30% of the overall score; the first thing I am looking at, is completing the EMA. Most of us know the EMA is the last assignment.
I know it all seems backwards, but I have a goal and I don't want to waste time on activities that add nothing to achieving my goal.