Confirmation of being in the system

From The Crawfords in AZ Blog Photos

Today is the day that I received my final confirmation that I am an ASU employee -- I got paid. You always hold your breath for that first paycheck, because getting it means that all of your paperwork has been processed and entered into the system.

I have been asked on the blog and via email about what I am working on. Unfortunately I am not working on anything interesting, yet. I have spent most of the time getting to know folks and getting access to the various systems I will be using. Then I have spent a lot of time reading the procedure documents, becoming familiar with the project templates related to how ASU designs online courses, and then checking out some of the online courses and their materials. I have also been attending some workshops on the different systems that they use. One of the workshops was an introduction to Blackboard (Bb), the course management system. Despited the fact that I was a Bb admin at ODU, it was good to sit in on the workshop to hear what they tell ASU instructors and to understand how they do things.

I expect to have more interesting things to say about work in the near future. I will be helping with the Microcomputers in Education Conference that starts on March 10th. I understand it is a big deal for alt^I.

Happy Leap Day all!!

So far so good

It seems like everyday I find a new reason to like this place. I really like ASU and the people I am working with. I have spent most of my time learning about ASU and how alt^I does things. So far, I have liked everything I have seen.

I had a chance to go out to the developing area of south Phoenix last night. I had dinner with an old friend that I was in Scouts with growing up. It was a great evening of catching up on old times and talking about the PHX area with him and his wife. I am looking forward to doing stuff with them and having them over and meeting the family this summer.

Before planning to move here, Dawn and I had always talked about what we would like a place to have if we were to move. One of the things I wanted was to live in a place where I could be more considerate of the environment. Well, one of my ASU benefits is that I get a free bus pass for the Valley Metro. I have been riding the bus to ASU this week and it takes just as long to drive to work as it does to ride the bus, and the bus times are convenient. Another thing I wanted is to live somewhere that had a good network of bike paths, well this is one of those places. I plan to start biking to work soon and will hopefully get into better shape in the process.

The main grocery store I go to is Fresh & Easy. They stock a lot of freshly made foods and organic products. Another neat thing is that in addition to handicap parking they have designated parking for adults with small children and also spaces for hybrid vehicles.

Comment responses

I wanted to take some time to respond to some of the comments:

Knitting Dalek has asked several TV related questions. Yes, I have watched Flash Gordon on my MacBook Air. Because I have not bought a TV yet, I watch most of my television on the MBA using the networks streaming video. I have been able to keep up with Lost, Knight Rider, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, and I have started watching Jericho. The reason that I have not bought a TV yet is because we only have basic cable. Without SciFi and ESPN, I just have not been motivated to spend the money yet (I do have a cable hookup in my room). BTW, I did like the Flash Gordon finale and the Knight Rider pilot was better than I expected.

Gene asked about me adopting the Diamondbacks as my baseball team. I have adopted them, but I am not a big Major League Baseball fan. I have also adopted the Arizona Rattlers of the Arena Football League.

In response as to what to add to my desk. I plan on going to IKEA at some point and getting a bamboo plant. I have taken my diploma in, but I have not hung it yet. I also need a new picture of Dawn & I, unfortunately that will probably have to wait until the end of June.

I know I have not responded to every comment, but please continue making comments. I enjoy reading them. I will try to semi-regularly respond to general comments through a post like this.

The view from the top

From The Crawfords in AZ Blog Photos

Despite the fact that it was cloudy today, it was warm enough to go biking in shorts and short sleeves. I decided to confirm that it takes about 30 minutes to bike from my place to campus today and then hike up Hayden Butte (aka Tempe Butte and “A” Mountain) while on campus.

Once I got to the butte, I found a very nice trail that is a bit steep, but well maintained. A short hike later (30 minutes or so), I am at the top standing next to the antenna array at the top. According to one of the guys who had hiked up there with his ham radio, this is where the Tempe fire and police antennas are as well as several ham radio repeaters. The view looking out over Phoenix, Tempe, Scottsdale, and Mesa is beautiful. The picture above includes ASU in the background.

After I hiked down I biked over to Mill Avenue, this is the hot spot in Tempe on a Friday or Saturday night. This place is also one of the reasons why ASU is a top party school. I am planning to hit Mill Avenue on a Friday night soon.

Then there is the park at Tempe Town Lake. They have a public “splash” park that I know the girls will love when they get out here. I biked the length of the lake and then headed back home.

I have added pictures that I took today to my ASU album and my AZ Fun album.

Going to see the caber toss

From The Crawfords in AZ Blog Photos

Today was a fun day in the sun at the 44th Annual Arizona Scottish Gathering & Highland Games in Central Phoenix.

I spent most of the day watching Wicked Tinkers, a tribal celtic bagpipe, drums, didgeridoos, and bronze age irish horn band. These guys are pretty good and are a lot of fun to watch. So much so that I watch all three of their 45 minute performances throughout the day. I also caught the performances of Chris Yates as “Rusty Nuts” and the 10 foot scotsman “Woody McCloud”.

It was nice to have a shepard’s pie for lunch while watching the heavy athletics. Apparently these games are one of the first of the season. One of the competitors was a national and international champion. In addition, it appears that the area has a lot of great pipe bands and apparently the top international drum major was at these games as well. It was great to hear the pipes again.

I got a little sunburned, but it was worth it. I have added a couple of pictures from the games to the Arizona Fun photo album.

Today was also the Tidewater Council’s University of Scouting. I am really proud of Chris and the gang for putting on a great event, I wish I could have been part of the team this year.

The end of the first week at ASU

From The Crawfords in AZ Blog Photos

I am easing into things very nicely. Payroll finally processed my paperwork and put me in the system yesterday. This allowed me to get my Sun Card (the ASU ID) and my computer accounts. This morning I finished setting up my computer and accounts and started getting access to various systems so that I can see the processes being used and become familiar with them.

There is always something interesting going on around here. This afternoon our office was buzzed by a helicopter as it was approaching the recreation fields for a landing. It appears that the ROTC was going on a drill this weekend and they were shuttling the kids from campus to where ever they were going. BTW, that building in the background is the Student Recreation Complex (I will be blogging about that soon) and the picture was taken from the outside balcony of my building (Computer Commons).

It also looks like I got here just in time. The AZ Governor has put a hiring freeze into effect. No one knows what that means for ASU or my department yet, but it is nice to not have to worry about stuff like that.

Observations of Phoenix life

I have now been in the Phoenix Metro for just over a week now. Things are very similar to what I was used to in Hampton Roads, but there are a lot of differences.

The trees are short here, just like they are near the oceanfront. A lot of the chain stores that I went to in HR can be found here.

Here are some of the differences:

• Obviously it is warmer (it is currently 62 in PHX versus 36 in HR).
• They have major league sports teams here: NBA, MLB, NFL, AFL, and NHL. In addition, most of the MLB spring training Cactus League is here.
• They have Whole Foods, Fresh & Easy, Safeway grocery stores here, but the main one is Fry’s. There are no Food Lion, Farm Fresh, or Harris Teeter’s here.
• They have cameras to monitor and issue tickets for not just people running stoplights, but for speeding as well.
• You can easily see a mountain of some sort in at least one direction.
• The main highways are always busy. Rush hour in the evening is defined as 3pm to 7pm, this is based on the HOV lane hours, in HR they are 4pm to 6pm.
• The main surface streets are laid out in a grid and they are wide. In addition, they almost all have bike lanes.
• Primetime TV starts at 7pm.
• There is an IKEA here.

I do miss my friends and family in HR, but I do hope you guys will visit. Hopefully by then I will really understand this area and can show it off.