Beginning of Chapter Two

Hello again. I've been taking a breather both from math and my own classes.

Since I last posted I did a four day three night backpack in the Grand Canyon. The trip was great, even though I had to spend 14 hours in my tent during the snow storm. And on the hike out we started in the dark in the rain which quickly turned to snow and spend the next seven hours hiking through white stuff. Before it got totally socked in about two miles from the rim, the snow covered Canyon was truly magical.

Right now, it's hard to say whether I can even claim, "one down and plenty to go. " I don't get any college credit for the course I just finished, but it did give me the ticked to enter my first ever college level math course, "College Algebra," or UA Math 112.

I did go back and forth for awhile. Next semester, in addition to teaching my own classes, I will need to get more involved in committee work.

And, I need to train for this summer's Bicycle Tour of Colorado and RAGBRAI, the ride across Iowa. Not to mention hiking, photography, other writing projects, and reading.

But still, I want to some day "get it" about calculus and other stuff.

So, I decided to commit to Math 112.

By some good luck, the section I wanted (MWF 11:00 a.m.) was still available so I signed up. Still need to pay.

My teacher is going to be Michael A. Bishop, a math doctoral student.

The textbook is College Algebra by Warren L. Ruud and Terry L. Shell. And there is a solutions manual.

When I went to buy my textbook, the cashier recognized me from the Journalism School. Turns out she is a junior journalism major named Porcha (sp?) pronounced like the car. She is of Ethiopian descent and Jewish. I can't wait to hear more about her.

The textbook publisher's name caught my eye. It is Pearson Custom Publishing. They seem to be a high class self publishing house that specializes in textbooks. I wonder whether Ruud and Shell are or were from the UA.