Friday, July 7, 2023

Microwaving brown rice

A couple of years ago my father gave me a microwave rice cooker. It has worked like a charm for white rice, but I haven't gotten other rices down yet. I'm trying to fix that now.

I tried these directions from Steamy Kitchen. I had partial success. Previous attempts were undercooked, but this one seemed cooked enough to me. So I think I've got the times down: 10 minutes at 100%, then 20 minutes at 50% for 1 cup of rice. But they called for 3 cups of water and there was still water in the rice cooker when I was done. So I need to work on the ratios. I'll try 2.5 cups next time. 

Saturday, July 1, 2023

Pinball PCB Replacement boards

There was discussion about replacement pinball machine PCB this weekend after our weekly pinball tournament, and I think I found the relevant website. It is called LISY Development. He has lots of documentation. He has uploaded Gerber files for PCB assembly that can be sent to companies that perform that type of work. The company that he uses is JLCPCB

Sunday, March 5, 2023

Texas Tech Online Education Doctoral Programs

Okay, I'm looking at the Texas Tech Website again. I've done this so many times. I need to get this straight. They have several different online doctoral education programs. Let's see if I can get them straight. 

Designed for research interventionists, policy specialists, and education professionals who use expert analysis to study education policy issues, evaluate education programs, and inform sustainable education policy. The program is designed for educators, counselors, school leaders, district consultants, educational non-profits, regional service center leaders, and educational professionals. 
  • Prepares graduates to be critically engaged educational policymakers
  • Focus on scholarly practice, research, or teaching at university level
  • Practical experiences in research and scholarly communication
Doctor of Philosophy in Higher Education - Higher Education Research
Committed to preparing students for roles in teaching, research and engagement in higher education contexts.
  • Prepares graduates for executive leadership roles in higher education and to conduct research
  • Designed for full-time professionals, but limited Research Assistantships are available for potential full-time students
  • Practical experiences in research and scholarly communication
The Ph.D. in Higher Education Administration offers two areas of emphasis: Community College Administration and Higher Education College/University Administration. 
This program requires a blended delivery format. All coursework is completed online, but students are required to attend an on-campus new student orientation session and three (3) summer professional development sessions.
Qualified applicants should have full-time professional experience in either a public or private two-year or four-year higher education institution or state or federal educational agency serving higher education. Applicants must show a clear connection to higher education.
  • Prepares graduates for executive leadership roles in higher education and to conduct research
  • Designed for full-time professionals, but limited Research Assistantships are available for potential full-time students
  • Practical experiences in research and scholarly communication
It looks like those last two might be the same. They are definitely both higher education. The question is whether there's a difference between higher education research and administration. I'm not seeing administration in the handbook. 

Okay, it seems like there used to be an Ed.D. in Higher Education Administration that was very similar to the Ph.D. but it seems like they may not offer it anymore. I see a handbook for it for 2020-2021, but no further. That's probably what's been confusing me. And they also offer 

The handbook for this program makes it clear that it is only for people in the school districts. 

They ALSO offer

This seems to be similar to the program at Sam Houston. 

So I think that the problem is that the TTU Online and Distance Doctoral Degrees page is out of date. And that's what I've been looking at. I think the page that's more up to date is the College of Education's listing of Graduate degrees

Sunday, February 12, 2023

Disabled Veterans Property Tax Exemption

So I went to the Texas Veterans Commission website thinking I would find the info about the tax exemption. Come to find out that the website I was really looking for was the Texas Veterans Portal website. I can't remember if there was a link from one to the other or not. And ultimately, even the Texas Veterans Portal took me to the Texas government website to get the information about the tax exemption--the Comptroller's website. It had the info and the form to fill out, and when I had downloaded the form then I went to see where I needed to send it, and it said to the appraiser for the property, in this case Brazos County. So then I went to that site, and as it turns out, they have an automated online form. So I had to do it all over again, but the advantage is, I was able to submit online, so I was able to check that off my list--my part anyway. Now we'll wait and see what the appraiser's office says. 

I should probably look into that license plate while I'm at it. I'm on a roll!