Today, we got into my favorite topic, XSLT. I was stoked that this was going to be the
day that finally turned it around for the guys excitement-wise…I was
wrong. I guess the endless weeks of
training are starting to take their toll, and I’m taking the brunt of the
boredom. They have no idea that my class
can be a blast, much more fun than the Workday version in a couple of weeks.
While I was walking through the various functions in XSLT
and XPath, most of the guys were checking their phones, looking at Facebook, or
whispering to each other. I only had
about four or five guys that were actually paying attention. I pressed on, though. I’m here for their benefit, so if they choose
not to use me, then it’s their loss.
However, I have to say that I had a bit of satisfying revenge when I got
to the part of giving them the homework for the night. First of all, the majority of the guys were
talking, so they didn’t even hear that they had homework or the explanation I
gave about how to read the spec. It was
a complete eye-opener for pretty much everyone in the room when they realized
that they had to take all the pieces that I had given them and put them
together in complex, creative ways. The
examples I had gone over may have seemed easy, but they were the building
blocks to something far more complicated.
A couple of guys finished early and left. About half stayed behind, and I was able to
give them one-on-one tutoring. This is
by far my favorite part of the class. I
like assessing where people are at and helping them grasp that one little thing
that is eluding them. I enjoy seeing
their faces relax with recognition when they finally understand. I am not daunted by this. This was their first foray into XSLT, so it’s
going to take some practice. That’s why
we have additional activities for them to go over. It’s a process.
For lunch today, SD, PS, and DS took me to Quay’s
Bar. I decided to continue my adventure
outside my comfort zone and try the Jamaican Jerk Penne Pasta. It wasn’t as spicy as I was expecting it to
be. It had braised beef tips in a stew
of tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions; marinated in a vegetable/cilantro
broth. It was actually pretty good,
despite the fact that I picked all of the onions out and set them on the side.
For dinner, I accompanied JM and KM to Bentley’s
Steakhouse. I continue my spice-filled
day by trying the Marinated Chili Steak Pita Pocket. I wasn’t expecting it to be very big, so I
also got a cup of the soup of the day, which was some sort of vegetable
medley. This was really the first not-so-great
meal of the trip. The soup was okay;
nothing exciting. The pita pocket was
much larger than anticipated and the meat was marinated in a very hot cayenne
pepper/barbeque sauce. My mouth is still
on fire from eating it. I only ate the
meat, leaving the not-very-tasty vegetables and the bread pocket itself. Wouldn’t order it again, and probably
wouldn’t even bother going back to this restaurant.
Feeling like the human torch, I decided to take a quick walk
in the brisk, cold air and enjoy the fact that it wasn’t raining very
hard. I walked along a piece of the City
Wall before heading back and weaving in and out of the buildings of the inner
city. Now, I think I’ll watch a movie
until I get tired.
