ED209 TMA02 Submitted

Finally at the 11th hour I have submitted ED209 TMA02 and it has been a challenge to say the least, based on this I suspect TMA04 and TMA06 which are practicals are going to be just as hellish. At least for now it's another Essay for TMA03 and in a similar format to TMA01.

I am not certain that TMA02 is my best work but I have mentioned all the key points, I just worry that it is a bit of a ramble rather than constructed well. I am relieved just to have pressed that theraputic submit button.

On to DD101 TMA06 ready to be submitted next Wednesday, at least I have most of a body for this one so it is now just a case of sorting word count, referencing and submitting. Think I will multi-task this alongside the Royal Wedding.

Working Good Friday and ED209 TMA02

Another day at work when everyone else is in a pub garden drinking and enjoy the glory of a sunny bank holiday which is rare in itself.

Good Friday is generally not a busy sales day so I have managed 5 questions on paper for ED209 TMA02 which has actually impressed me because it has flowed pretty well. Oddly I have also sold 2 cars before lunch time which is a suprise in itself.......... no customers since though.

I am not really all that close to the word count for TMA02 though and I really am anti the idea of padding for the sake of it although I hate to say that this may end up being the case as I think that I have covered all the required areas in each question fully. I have found that the Methods and Skills Handbook has not really given me enough information and therefore I have had to venture elsewhere for information which I didn't think was the point of most OU TMAs.

I am planning to press the submit button before 4pm on Bank Holiday Monday which as you have probably guessed is another working day for me.

I am in the process of thinking about my short term career (although maybe career deems a long term prospect so maybe I catually mean job). I am looking at becoming a chaffeur, this may seem random but it would cover all bases for me 1) A lot less than the current 55 hours per week, 2) More constant pay, 3) Better company car, 4) A lot less pressure especially with respect to targets and finally I will have a lot of 'down' time so OU books will travel with me everywhere. Hmmmm, thoughts.

All good intentions........

......... went to waste last night after I forgot to take all my study material home from work last night....... the time is ticking and I am worrying a little.

Ended up watch Pretty Little Liars and meeting my friend at the pub for a few pints. My friend has bought a new car which is rear wheel drive so it was time to be irresponsible and do doughnuts round the pub car park (Please remember in all of this that I am 32 and he is 26), then we head round to the local park to meet a few friends and discover that new playground rides have been put in and they are super cool so we had a little play on them and we're back tonight for an hour to give them a proper testing. Then I promise that I will spend 1.5 hours on TMA02, I think I have done enough reading to be able to write up the first draft in that time ready to print and fine tune at work tomorrow.......... Good Friday (10-4 at work).

Juggling 2 courses

This is a first for me but with only 6 days looming until ED209 TMA02 is due, I have barely typed anything for it at all. I won't say that I have done nothing because that is far from true. The TMA02 forum on my the website has had lots of info to get me thinking so I think that I can pretty much blitz through it once I actually sit down and start typing but I've not so far left any TMAs this late to do............ I hope this is purely a glitch.

With DD101 TMA06 due a mere 7 days after ED209 TMA02 I am feeling a little behind although I have most of TMA06 typed, just need to make sense of it and reference but will leave that till the day of the Royal Wedding I think.

ED209 TMA03 due May 24th - Very similar to TMA01 so quite happy with this one
DD101 TMA07 due June 13th - Then I say goodbye to DD101 but want this done ASAP because of ED209 TMA04
ED209 TMA04 due June 21st - First practical and looks like heavy going..Doh

DSE212 - Starts October 1st so no overlap with ED209 apart from exam time
SD226 - Starts February 4th and after reading other people's views, this is a heavy going course.

ED209 Update

I have now worked out that if I can finish fOCUSII - Collection 2 which I have started but keep loosing the will to live with and complete fOCUSII - collection 3 then I am free running until May 21st but as I am getting very much in to the readings, I am pretty certain I will finish Book 2 before Easter and therefore I am free running (TMAs excluded) till the 3rd June which is a great feeling.

I can get on properly with DD101 TMA06, TMA07 (which requires a fair bit of reading and note taking) and ED209 TMA02 which I really need to get done between now and Easter weekend, TMA03 (I am looking forward to this as the question is based around atatchment theory and disturbed/disturbing behaviour) and make a start on TMA04 (practical, scary).

Onwards and upwards. Really, really want to get DD101 done and dusted for 2 reasons: 1) It will feel like a huge achievement, 2) I can totally focus on ED209.

National Identity

I am on to the chapter in Book 2 which I think is chapter 7 all to do with National Identity and I have to say that it isn't the most interesting chapter that I have read. The chapter on Gender is far more interesting as I am a little bit of a tomboy (maybe more than a little). One study shows that ridicule by fathers to sons if they play with non-gender typical toys could be a major factor. This proved of interest when my dad told me to be more feminine on Sunday morning and use a trolley rather than carrying my clubs......... I obviously pulled him up on this.

Really really need to sort out fOCUSII stuff and Media Kit pretty soon as falling a little behind with those.

DD101 has fallen a little by the wayside but have most of a backbone to work for TMA06 so not too worried especially as it is due after ED209 TMA02 which I am loosing interest in progressively, I may work on this tonight as am back round boy toy's place. He has developed a love affair with the PS2 especially GTA: San Andreas and Lego Star Wars which to be honest, I quite like. I am now a PS2 widow therefore can study till my heart is content.

100th post

It's a mile stone 6 months in to my degree to reach 100 posts on here. I am actually pretty amazed that I have managed to keep this up....... to be fair it actually becomes a little addictive.

Still no DD101 marks however according to the forums on ED209 from people who haven't yet recieved marks for ED209 TMA01, there may be issues with the TMA system so will just have to wait.

Managed to do a bit on the fOCUSII - reliability section but it was starting to get a bit heavy going so stopped about half way through especially as boy toy couldn't work out why he kept hearing Bill Clinton discuss his sexual relations with Monica Lewinsky.

I am now wishing TMA02 to be over. I have gone from having too little info to wanting to put in too much info and I'm baffled. I am going to leave it till Tuesday when I am off and just hit it and get it done, I know this won't lead to a wonderful score but I am sick of thinking about it and I have never read so many forum posts trying to get ideas.

Off on Sunday so the plan is to put OU stuff to one side and enjoy the sunshine which will start with a game of golf with dad followed by our usual liquid lunch refreshment then over to the garage to try to sort the Air Flow Meter out on the Peugeot........ I own a convertible, the sun is out and I am not driving it so rather frustrated. There is no point getting the stuff done for the MOT until I can get her running properly.

Boy toy is a wonderful psychology study all by himself. He has some rather serious issues from his past that he won't talk about, I am not going to push him on the subject until I have to but the effects are evident. He smokes skunk everyday and has done for many years, I discovered last night (due to the fact he hasn't got money to buy any) that he can't bare to go without because he doesn't want to dream...... I already know that he hates being left alone with his own thoughts and it stresses him. What wonderful taste in men I have.............. NOT!!

Where are my results?

It looks like my DD101 TMA05 results are a little. TMA05 was due on 22nd March which means I should have got results back by 5th April and they aren't there. I'm not expecting a grand grade but I just want to know.

Had a morning without boss about so managed to get a couple of questions done on ED209 TMA02, the one about data protection which is pretty straight forward and the one on the 2 variables. I will work on the first question about type of design tonight which then only leaves 6 questions, of which 3 require quite a bit of thought.

I was a little wrong about overstaying welcome at home, in fact my rent has been halved but I now have to do my own washing and ironing........ not come home between the hours of 12am and around 10am so still think moving out is a good idea. Boy toy has suggested that he wouldn't want people over on a school night which could be problematic as I have always worked on an open-house policy and my weekend is a Tuesday!!! Discussion tonight so will know answers tomorrow. I do know that I wouldn't be moving out till end of May so have a little more breathing space.

Tutorial 2 ED209

Last night was tutorial 2 with my very cool tutor.

It appears that we all made similar errors on our TMA01s - Introduction, Referencing and Critical Analysis. After finding out what the average grade was for TMA01, I am pretty pleased with my result and after he explained how he marks I was even happier. If I can work on my critical analysis and introduction which he gave really good pointers on, I could start looking at grade 1 TMAs...... whoop whoop.

I have given up on the idea that I need 1 point per mark and just need to be pretty comprehensive on my answers for TMA02 and a lot was discussed during tutorial which has given me things to think about. I knew TMA02 was a case of thinking outside the box but I felt like I was looking down a narrow tunnel till last night. I love tutorials and annoyed that I couldn't attend my DD101 ones, worried that any future courses will be on Saturdays.

Staying at boy toys place tonight so will start working seriously on TMA02 now that I am in the mood. May be moving in with boy toy next month....... I suspect that home are starting to think that I have overstayed my welcome. To be fair we were talking about moving in together in September so not really worried about doing it earlier. Some things that may come a cropper

Him - OCD tidy
Me - OCD UNTIDY
Him - Unplugs everything at night which grates especially appliances which have a time on them
Me - Not the above
Him - Finishes work and pub home by 4pm
Me - Finish at 6.30pm.......
Him - Works Monday to Friday
Me - Works Saturdays & Sundays
Him - Pees with door open and doesn't understand why I lock the door
Me - Can't bear the above

The list continues................

OU study vs Working hours Correlation

It's Sunday.. I am at work... this equals ED209 study!!! I think there is a strong positive correlation between the number of hours that I am at work and the amount of OU study that I actually manage to do in a week especially if I have a Sunday in there too. I have been here nearly 2 hours and not a customer in sight however I have managed to fill in a few answers for TMA02 although I will need to pad as they aren't full enough to cover the word count and this is looking like a rather tough task to say the least.

Managed to get a little reading done last night whilst I was camped out at Boy toy's house last night. He is a rather facinating psych study especially with regards to attachment however I really must stop looking at him that way. He does like his own company at all which is blantantly apparent and has no idea how to amuse himself which is a whole different story.

Going to spend the rest of my 4 hours at work going through the Method and Skills book to get a little of that done so that I can do a major catch up by doing Media Kit & fOCUSII a little later. I know that I am out of sink however it actually isn't the worst thing because sometimes it's more like revision.

Customer due down soon to look at a car so will have to put books down at some point unfortunatley.

Premature Reading

Been looking at exam stuff whilst at work which has actually been pretty busy today, don't mind days like this. The options in book 4 for the seen question look interesting and I am choosing the chapter on Children and Legal Proceedings which obviously has strong links with the James Bulger case. The information is very thought provoking to say the least.

I have now Read and Highlighted up to Chapter 4 in book 2 so I am ahead in this respect but really need to push on with fOCUSII stuff and Media Kit which I am a little behind on - the odd bit is that it is probably the easiest bits!!

No further with TMA02 ED209 so really need to press on however I have 320 more words to put in to TMA06 DD101 so at least I have something that I feel is getting somewhere.

Boy toy has moved to a studio flat rental. It's small, no heating, mice (they are a little loud at night) but it does the job for now. Possibly looking at biting the bullet and moving in which him around September, we will have been together 9 months by then and I have realised that I am not quite as young as I once was so may aswell throw caution to the wind................................

3 posts in a day

Final post of today............... I promise.

Have managed to work through fOCUSII - Coding which is actually pretty vital for ED209 TMA02. Was going to start fOCUSII - Reliability and Validity but think I will just read and highlight Book 2 as have wine but not 2.5 hours as suggested. TMA03 is about attachment theory and disturbed and disturbing behaviour so pretty happy about that as is very very interesting.

Summary fOCUSII - Coding:

Observer Drift, Observers see things differently, Categories should be mutually exclusive, 2 types - Event Sampling & Time Sampling, Event sampling requires speach, Interaction Process Analysis (IPA), Bales (1999), 2 classes - task related behaviour and socio-emotional behaviour, Positive Responses, Attempted Answers, Questions, Negative Responses, look for patterns before applying stat tests, relies on judgements, Time sampling, 2 types - One-zero sampling and instantaneous sampling, problems as to when to sample as may miss behaviour or find more than 1.

ED209 TMA01 Results

Logged on to StudentHome to see if I had a result and there it was........ pretty much what I expected and after reading my feedback I suspect it was a fairly kind mark. I am not saying that my tutor has gone soft or anything but I appear to be struggling with introductions so really need to work on this along side referencing and both together would have taken me to the next OU level.

Have managed to work a little on DD101 TMA06 and bit sfor DD101 TMA07 which is either going to be a real struggle or I will end up with so much info that I am going to facilitate a major cull of info.

Really need to get on with ED209 TMA02 which is the first one due. I think I have hit a focus on DD101 because it's nearly complete with the last 2 TMAs to submit then I can kick back and hit ED209 with my full attention.

I am 15% of the way through the degree with regards to TMAs which seems a lot considering I am only 5 months in to the 4 years but hey, it sounds great.

ED209 TMA02 Progress

After a little trip to sunny Brighton yesterday buying clothes that I love but have no idea where to wear them to I am at work without a boss and messing about with ED209 TMA02 which is proving to be a bit of a pig.

I have always been told that if a question is offering 10 marks then it requires 10 different points etc....... so I have a word document which is split in to the 9 questions broken down further in to the numbers of points that I need to provide and a word count break down of 20 words per point (I know this is very simplistic but it should get me through this). By doing this I have discovered some huge gaps in which I have no idea what to put but am filling it with the notes that I made on Wednesday.

I am taking a little break (sort of) from DD101 as TMA06 isn't due till May 4th so have plenty of time at the moment. TMA07 is in my mind but only so I can clarify some bits and with the problems in Libya with regards to Legitimate Authority of a territory, I believe that I am understanding some of the material better.

Today is going fairly quickly as been pretty busy (this is a first!!) and I'm off shortly to a customer with a car for them to drive and see if they can fit golf clubs in the back........... I have done this so many times in my 7 years in this game that I know exactly what will happen...... remove the driver and the bag and electric trolley will be comfy.

I am starting to get to grips with the idea of fitting study in whenever possible even if you only have a few mins to spare. It's amazing how much you can actually get done in a very short time and also because it is only for a very short period, you actually tend to remember far more. It really helps that OU stuff is all online and I have a job which gives me total internet access.

Another Day Another Dollar

Hmmmm, unless you work in sales!!!

Boss has been in meetings today so managed a little OU stuff, actually to be fair it was probably more than I thought. Have got work people involved in my questioning of Sharon's Study for ED209 TMA02 and a lot of questions have arisen which are really good especially with regards to ethics and variables. Still struggling with question 9 about conclusions of the correlation but will get boy toy to help tonight once I can get past his glazed expression by giving him beer.

Have actually been discussing attachment theory and disturbed/disturbing behaviour with work people and poor customers who are willing to spend time with me. It really is very insightful. Was trying to get mum to tell me which type of attachment I had but of course she says that I was a secure baby (she was never going to say anything different!!!).

Was the 2nd person out in Poker last night but not sure my head was in the right place. Tried to watch Inception which was wicked till the eyes got heavy and I stopped it at 1 hour 23 mins so back to that tomorrow.

Taking mum to Brighton (100 miles return) tomorrow to save her getting the bus and as I know that I will be bored stuff I decided it would be a fun roadtrip. On with Coding when I return as it's relevent to TMA02 and I have bypassed it so far!!!

Disturbed and Disturbing behaviour

ED209 Book 2: Chapter 2 is truely facinating and I find myself trying to classify myself and my friends in to Type A, B, C and D characteristics to see who is most likely to become a serial killer - Only kidding but still very insightful.

Didn't quite manage to finish Chapter 2 as the eyes started to get heavy but will push on with it tonight.

Plan for this week:

fOCUSII Coding and Reliability - Really need to get this done as I am actually behind and it may be needed for TMA02.
ED209 TMA02 - really need to get a move on with this as only have 5 weeks to go which sounds okay but apparently we are actually expected to get as close to the 2,000 word limit.

Very quiet day at work so got roped in to sewing the guys pockets back together to save them looking scruffy urchins. Have been googling stuff for TMA02 and making notes, it has led me to question a fair few parts of Sharon's Study which I hadn't initially though of.

Poker tonight or not????? Questions, questions!!!

DD101 TMA05 Submitted

AS with most of my days off at the moment I didn't get a lot done yesterday as boy toy was off so we spent day together and got nothing productive done really.

Boss was out at a meeting this morning so it gave me a chance to finish DD101 TMA05 which pretty much involved referencing, layout and contents page. I am a little worried that I havem't used enough sources and I am certain that this will be pointed at in my PT3 when it comes back. Have now submitted TMA05 which is a nice feeling so I'm on to DD101 TMA06 and ED209 TMA02. Both have been started but not all that far in to them.

Work is fun but the level of business in dire, basically working 55 hours a week for minimum wage and it is satrting to depress the weaker ones, I'm just glad that I live at home with very few outgoings although saving for Masters Degree could prove tough although have discovered that I can get a Career Development Loan for up to £10k.

I wonder if a voluntary position with the Police can lead to a possible job??? I know I would earn less but there is a vast difference between 55 hours a week vs 37.5 hours......... All that extra OU work I could do.

Go Slow

I have hit a motivational block. This is nothing OU related but I've done nothing in ages apart from pour over the ED209 notes from tenpencepiece's blog whilst at work as part of a 'revision' tool. Gonna attempt TMA02 ED209 tonight as DD101 TMA05 is in major draft and I am not in the mood for it, have till March 22nd to complete so a whole other day off to sort it.

Have asked for application form for the police as a support volunteer so that I have the experience on my CV, just not sure how to fit it in with my job from hell (in terms of hours) but will need to somehow.

Part 2 on a Sunday

I have managed a little headway on ED209 this evening and and reading and highlighting Chapter 4. ED209 TMA01 is still in rough draft form but it doesn't need any major changes so am putting it to one side for a while.

Current Assignments in Progress:

DD101 TMA05 - Complete but will recheck before submission day 22nd March
DD101 TMA06 - Still is really rough draft stage but started it before Book 2 arrived so want to read and highlight the relevent stuff and have a play around with it. I have found the reading for this TMA to be a little one sided.
DD101 TMA07 - Still reading and highlighting but it's pretty interesting
ED209 TMA01 - Rough draft but no bad due 15th March
ED209 TMA02 - Have looked at it and read the material but not going to start until DD101 TMA06 is written and I'm happy with it.

My eyes have got a little sore from reading this evening. Turns out everyone was feeling ropey after last night escapades so it's quite in the house this evening. Mum couldn't work out how she got quite so drunk then we pointed out the shots!!! She is a little ashamed. I think I will have a couple of quiet nights Monday and Tuesday as I need to be at train station on Wednesday at 8.15 to start the journey to Disneyland Paris!!!! Can't wait.

The Final Week

The end is nigh and I'll be away from work on Friday evening so counting the hours till I actually get a Saturday, Sunday and Monday off work!!

Managed to finish reading and highlighting ED209 Book 1 chapter 2 and have started in 3 but really can't get away with that on a normal business day at work, can only really get away with anything that can be done on computer rather than looking like a total student and getting the books out on my desk!!

Been looking at ED209 TMA01 and am pretty happy with the material that I have written in terms of key concepts, definitions etc.... just need to put it in to a better format. ED209 TMA02 is most certainly on the back burner for a little while or at least till DD101 TMA06 is out of the way.

Moved my Pug 205 CTi in to it's garage yesterday after 4 months being left to the elements on the drive way. Had problems starting it before which is why I didn't run it for ages however once the jump leads were connected she fired up straight away. Stupid French car. Now to start the work so that she is roadworthy by March........ money and time required. Got insurance quote for £200 for the year though so very happy with that.