Finishing stuff up, starting new stuff

I finally have my Web page more or less done. We have another assignment due Friday that we have to add a link to. As much as I moaned and whined, I'm glad I had to do this, and I'm glad I had to write my own HTML, as primitive as mine is. Although I'm pretty sure I'll only do it like this when I'm absolutely required to (for there is one more class like this I have to take, only harder, I'm guessing), I feel proud and happy that I (sort of) understand what it is. Yay for Web publishing software, however, regardless of how evil my instructor thinks some of it is.

I also feel like I could read a book about this and understand it (at least if it is written at a fairly beginning level) and I would also be able to understand what to be careful of.

It felt good this past weekend to take a break from all of that and enjoy Thanksgiving. The next two weeks are going to be a marathon of finishing things up at the same time that I start (or really continue) getting things ready for Christmas.

Today I have to write two tests that I'm giving tomorrow. I also have to study for one of my certification exams that I'm re-taking on Tuesday. On Friday, I have a database assignment due (as a link to my Web site) by midnight, and I also have the party we have every year for our students Friday night, for which I will prepare a Yule log (Oh, sorry--an "end-of-semester" log.) Oh, yeah, I also have a job interview on Thursday (for a job in addition to, not in place of, the one I have now.) It is also the week of my husband's birthday.

Then the next week, I will have to prepare and grade finals, have a rough draft of an exit test done and turned in, and a short paper about how two pieces of technology actually work.

Then I can truly start getting stressed about Christmas (but I really actually enjoy the stressfulness of it, in a very weird kind of way). Then after Christmas, I will spend hours on the couch reading for fun and watching as many movies as I want until my schools start again. Unless, of course, I get that job, depending on when it starts. At least I am rarely bored.

The seemingly never-ending saga of my first html assignment

OK, so I'm whining again, but with the purchasing project, it actually helped me clear my head and do it. I guess this is becoming like one of those reflection journals we often make students keep.

I can sort of write the html, and I feel like I'm writing the CSS, but it won't work. I have been having much more luck with the links on my html resume, but that has to be a link on the original index page. When I upload my index page to FileZilla, I think it's supposed to be on the top, but one of my assignments that I'm supposed to link to always goes over it.

I think I might see if I can get some CSS to work on my resume, then figure out what I did and try to make it happen on the index page.

I keep getting that "why do I have to know this" and "I'm never going to use this attitude" which is very unattractive on a woman my age. Although...I do remember when I was taking another class they let me take at my workplace in order to waive another, when I was using Front Page a young man in the computer lab who was helping me just had me go in and adjust the code when I wanted to change the size of something rather than dink around on the page itself. That was impressive. I guess that's why they make us learn this.

I do think it's kind of cool that people examine this stuff and have standards to make it future-proof and accessible. That kind of thing I enjoy learning. I actually thought this would be fun until I started doing it and was so frustrated. I do not tolerate this kind of frustration well.

I should not be taking this kind of class online, but they put ALL the tech classes online, exclusively, from now on, at least as I understand it. I told my husband the problem is I don't have any other class as I did last time I had an online class. Having a face-to-face class gave me people to commisserate with, and an electronic discussion board just doesn't lend itself to my world-class ability to feel sorry for myself. I need a human who is as horrible as me at this. This is the kind of thing one does not want exposed on the discussion board.

Anyway, back to work.

Update

I am happy to report that I got a 90 on the assignment I was whining about in my previous post and would have gotten 100 had it not been handed in 5 days late. However, I don't know how I can turn in my now very overdue HTML assignment because it has to be a Web page in progress (final page due later) with one working link and some style (no using Front Page or similar programs, just writing our own HTML/CSS.) I have words on it, but I can't make my photo work and I don't have any style. My professor said there is a typo in my CSS, but didn't tell me what it was, and I can't find it.

I did send an e-mail to the TA to tell her I am working on it and gave her the link to the EXTREMELY minimal material I have.

I bought a book to help me, so hopefully that will be useful. I am happy to report that I now know what that stuff on the top of my posting area means. Maybe someday I'll use it.