New Scott Sigler Book Coming

For those of you that like horror/science fiction novels, check out these books by Scott Sigler: Infection and Contagious. For free audiobooks, visit Podiobooks.com or ScottSigler.com. Check out this trailer for the upcoming Contagious:

What a Day!

It is finals week and the weirdness has not stopped. Ryan has been sick since Friday with diarrhea and the worst diaper rash we have ever seen, the furnace condensate is leaking into the walls due to shotty construction, the chimney is also pretty messed up and will need work, and finally the HVAC guy found a long shed snakeskin in the attic. Just a day in the life of the Alabama Jones Family.

Building an Ark!

It was quite a night on Tuesday. About 9:00PM, our neighbor knocked on our door saying our yard was flooding since the sewer drains had been blocked by leaves and pine straw. So with water rising towards the house, we worked to clear the clogs and after about a half hour the water was receding. At midnight though, another huge wave of rain hit and even though the drains were clear, they could not keep up with the rain. The water was rising into the carport and I was trying to keep the drains clear as a river was flowing towards us down the street and down the alley as well. Cathy was on the phone with the city public works, emergency management and the Decatur police and we were praying nonstop as the water rose to within an inch of entering the house. With about 2 inches in the carport the intensity lessened and the water slowly began to recede again. It was a long night with much effort to slow the impending flood, but we survived and now know to be on the alert when it rains.

Fall is in the air!

With the first fall in the new house comes a load of fun (and work). Our yard is full of trees meaning our yard is full of leaves. On this fall day, the leaves were too wet to mulch so we decided to rake and play. The kids may not have snow to play in this year so hopefully the leaves will be an adequate substitute.

Notes from the Tenure Track: Part II

When I started working at Saint Xavier University, I was welcomed with open arms. But later the first year when I received my first annual evaluation from the chair, I was shocked. It seems that one student out of the nearly 150 had a problem with me and wrote comment stating that i was "arrogant and talk down to students." It seems that my annual review focused on this one point and did not mention all of the other positive reviews or the comments of the faculty reviewers. When I spoke with the chair, she said that it looked like more than one student due to the way the forms were transcribed, she acknowledged that it was only one student from the original forms, but she did not change her letter before moving on to the dean. When I asked what my rights were in terms of sending a response, she said that "was just not done." This continued throughout my time there with the additions of many factual errors leading to my next 2 pieces of advice:

Advice #2: Be sure to check annual reviews for facts and be sure to speak with your supervisors about positive and negative items.

Advice #3: Do not be intimidated and stand up for yourself during your probation period. If you don't, who will?

I believe that if I had challenged each review at the dean's level with a rebuttal letter, I would have had a better case against the tenure committee. Do not forget advice #1 about documenting everything.

Halloween Mayhem

Another Halloween has come and gone with cuteness all around. It seems though that Halloween has become a weeklong (or more) festival. We had school carnivals, parties and trick or treating that lasted most of the week. We even had a party in my night classes which make for more fun than the typical lecture.

I am not one to change it though as it is my favorite time of the year.

Notes from the Tenure Track: Part I

Having recently undergone my first tenure and promotion review as an assistant professor, I find myself full of thoughts and some ideas which may be beneficial to those starting a tenure track position. First, some background.

I graduated with a Ph.D. in microbiology and Immunology in 2001 and faced a choice of how to proceed career-wise. I knew that my main focus would be teaching, so I chose against a post-doc and looked for positions at smaller schools with a more teaching focus. I applied at many schools and ended up at St. Xavier University in Chicago. The ad asked for qualified assistant professor with teaching experience in microbiology and/or immunology and a desire to start a small undergraduate research program. Sounded perfect, so I accepted an offer and moved to Chicago.

During the interview, both the Biology Department chair and the VP for Academic Affairs touted the Universities desire to increase its research program and get more students involved, but also seemed realistic as to the lack of resources to do this. The school was (and still is) extremely behind in science support and had very little grant experience. I could not get a well defined statement as to tenure standards so I operated on the information I had been given verbally. This leads to my first piece of advice:

Advice #1: Be sure to get a written statement of tenure/promotion standards as well as clearly defined (in writing) criteria on how you will be evaluated.

Stay tuned for more advice with a little bit of my story coming soon.

Opie, Andy and the Fonz for Obama!

If you haven't seen it yet, here is a great video endorsing Obama for President.

See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die

Cost of Living

We are finally starting to see the lower cost of living here in Decatur. Coming from Chicago in Late August with gas prices at $4.25, we are now getting gas here for $2.49/gallon. So besides trying to pay for an out-of-state move and a delay in getting my prior experience approved for my contract, we are starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Milk is still expensive and food prices not much lower, but housing cost is significantly lower.

Ashley's First Report Card

All A's for our little 1st grader! We are quite proud of the little academic superstar.

New Pet??

It seems like the jones family pet collection keeps growing every day. Take a look at this beauty that Cathy found in the driveway the other night. She says it was over a foot long. Looks like is is well fed anyway. I think we will call it George.

Football Luck or Coincidence??

I do not know if you following football at all, but it seems since we moved to Northern Alabama, the close football teams are doing really well. The Univ. of Alabama is #2 in all polls, Tennessee Titans are undefeated and look at what the Atlanta Falcons have been doing especially the improbable win against the Chicago Bears yesterday. 

So are the Joneses lucky, you decide.

jcj

Ashley 1st boyfriend??

Ashley came home from school the other day complaining that a boy wanted to play with her at recess. No big deal, right? Well it turns out he told the girl Ashley was playing with that she could not play with Ashley because he wanted to! He taught her how to throw a football, imagine that.

Luckily, she was complaining about it so I still have a few years before I have to be really worried.

Stay tuned...

Swing of things.

It has been 3 weeks in the new digs and we seem to be settling down a little. Ashley is beginning to like school even though she started a couple of weeks behind. The house is great so far and Ryan and I are mostly over our creeping crud episode. We do not have cable yet so we are missing heroes, but have become hooked on Fringe. I am in class 4 night s a week though so it is difficult to watch much TV.

I have upped the podcast usage now that I have a commute (it is still short at about 15-20 minutes). One that I am particulary enjoying is This Week in Photography (TWIP) which can be found at http://twipphoto.com. This blog/podcast is chock full of tips, reviews, interviews and great photos. There is a bimonthly photo contest and they will even critique photos (in a friendly constructive manner) on one of the forums. If you are interested in photography, give this one a try.

I will be back soon with another update so stay tuned.

The Big Move

We are now in place here in Decatur, AL. There are still boxes needing to be unpacked, but I started at Calhoun and Ashley started 1st grade. The mosquitos are bad, but fall will be here soon and maybe they will ease up a little. More to come soon.

Our Little Cheerleader!

Ashley had her first game as a cheerleader and even got to lead the half-time cheer. She is growing up way too fast. Got the call from Alabama for a second interview, will keep you informed as to how that goes.

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

Had an interview at Calhoun College in Alabama last week and am still waiting to hear if I will be asked to a second interview. I think the interview went well, but the waiting is truly the hardest part.

Cheers!

Ashley began cheerleading practice this week for the elementary school football team. It is crazy that she is in the first grade already and becoming a cheerleader. It is natural though since she is quite outgoing. We will have cheerleading pictures after the first game in a few weeks.

The job hunt is in full swing now with a few applications out to various schools. Most would start next year, but it is never too early to find something. 

With a new job will probably come another move though, and we all know how traumatic that can be with kids. All of the selective lightening of the load and being whisked away from friends. 

I guess it is better to do it earlier than later though as the lifelong friendships have not been formed yet. As for me, my military brat childhood prepares me for these moves, but I would sure like for the kids to have a little more stability.

Last trip to Shedd??

So I had to go to the Shedd Aquarium last week to pick up research samples and took the whole family. As we were leaving and looking out over Lake Michigan, it occurred to us that that may be the last time we would be visiting the aquarium. It still seems surreal that our future was decided by a couple of people with opposing agendas. Well I guess that is the tenure system and it is a system I walked into voluntarily. I just wonder what happened to the days when doing your job well was the path to success.

Blast from the past

I can across this newspaper article from the Hattiesburg American all the way back in December of 1993. Someone found an injured golden eagle and I was on the team which rehabilitated and released it. That's me on the left. Cool, no?

jcj

We are finally setting up a personal blog!

I know it has been a long time coming, but we finally did it. This is a good place to post stuff you may be interested in such as new pictures and stories about the kids. We hope it doesn't get too boring. Let us know what you think.