Tag Archives: Universal Class

The Power of Observation

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Since the last lesson I took in my Private Investigator class was developing observation skills, I decided to put mine to use! I picked a busy public place that had a building and parking as my test area. I decided to sit in my car and pretend to read a book while wearing sunglasses.

For a while, I just watched people park their cars and walk to and from the building. To keep myself from sleeping, I tried to guess if the person would 1) quickly start the car 2) check their mobile device or c) put on lipstick. Most people checked their phones or fiddled with the radio. It is always interesting to watch people park their cars; some hastily turn into a spot while slowly pull in, then out, then in and still never seem to get parked between the two lines. Ah, better luck next time, right?!

Eventually one subject caught my eye because she exhibited fidgety behavior, pacing back and forth by the doors. Occasionally, she would stop to look at a flyer, but I could tell her attention and focus were elsewhere. While she never noticed me, I could not stop looking at her, trying to figure out what was making her jumpy. Others who passed her did not take a second glance.

Eventually, she connected with the people who must have been preoccupying her thoughts, their interaction was brief and then she walked to her truck and left the parking lot.

This exercise made me realize that I catch myself unnecessarily worrying about what others think as I’m piling items in my grocery cart or working out at the gym. Unless there is someone practicing their private investigation skills, no one is probably as concerned about me as I am myself.

As previously noted in my Universal Class course, being a private investigator requires patience and persistence. If I had to spend the afternoon sitting in my car, waiting to observe my subject, I might become the fidgety one. Upcoming lessons include Internet searching, public records and background checks, so if those topics pique your interest, you might look forward to my next couple of posts.

As always, you can choose from hundreds of classes offered by Universal Class. It is free and easy to sign up – simply search for Universal Class on our database page and follow the instructions. If you need help, call us or stop by the library for a visit.

Memphis, we have a problem (in which the pie crust comes roaring back and evens the score)…

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Paula: 1 – Big Bad Pie Crust: 1

So, let’s just say that I had my first official do-over or as I like to call, my ‘Mulligan’ pie.  My initial attempt at the Sweet Potato Pie yielded an important lesson: when cutting a pie crust recipe in half because you only need one 9-inch pie crust, don’t forget to also cut the amount of water you need in half…if not, you will have pizza dough, instead of pie crust.  Lesson learned.  Moving on.

Still slightly scarred by my pie crust failure, I decided to buy another ready-made pie crust and made a second attempt at the pie, using a different recipe. Not only was this pie a total success, but it was also quite tasty and calorie friendly thus proving that you can take this class without blowing your diet.  Check out the results below and if you are tempted to give it a try, here is the link to the recipe: http://www.skinnytaste.com/2010/11/sweet-potato-pie.html

Feeling guilty that I didn’t make my own pie crust for my two previous assignments, I was determined to make the crust for my next pie…the Fruit Pie.  In my mind, there was only one choice for this assignment – the Apple Pie.  I don’t have much to say about the pie other than I did make my own pie crusts, correctly following the recipe.  I did discover while I don’t mind making my own pie crust, I don’t really like rolling out the dough.  Despite covering everything, including myself, in flour, the dough still sticks to my rolling pin and the counter.  I feel like I need to sprout a second set of hands to hold everything in place.  Here is my apple pie, overflowing with ‘appley’ goodness!  Paired with vanilla ice cream, it was divine.

Next up…the Holiday Pie.  According to the lesson, the holiday pies are delicious treats that increase the fun of holiday celebration.  Bring on the party in a pie crust!

PI Also Stands for Persistance and Intuition

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In my last post I speculated as to whether I would need a camera if I were to become a private investigator and lo and behold the next lesson about tools of the trade started with cameras. It appears I’ll need a camera, laptop, note-taking supplies, binoculars, a digital voice recorder and a mp3 player to keep my sanity. Sounds like I’m going to need to take Amy’s personal finance class and see if my budget can afford this occupation.

Recalculating. By the way, it makes no mention of a GPS or map. Look at me and my observations (toots own horn).

Moving on to personal qualities, a private investigator needs the skills of patience, persistence, observation, quick-thinking and intuition. Luckily, if I am lacking any of these qualities, there are exercises I can do to improve. I would say my intuition was correct in thinking I would need a camera, score one for me. Okay, maybe I need to dig a little deeper.

Since these lessons are short, I moved on to the next one and learned there are four major investigative skills one needs to develop or hone: gathering data, verifying facts, analysis and interviewing. Again, exercises are provided to help work on these skills. For example, if interviewing isn’t my strength, the lesson suggests talking to people I don’t know or if I don’t like talking on the phone, practice talking out loud. These skills tend to overlap with what I do as a librarian, so I gave myself a check plus in this area!

Despite scoring well on all my assignments and quizzes, I do not have plans to quit my day job. However, I am happy this Universal Class provides plenty of exercises and questions about the nature of the occupation and whether it would be a good fit. Do I have patience, persistence, intuition, do I observe and am I quick thinker? Find out in my post next month!

Sign up for your own class. Universal Class offers hundreds of classes on a wide variety of subjects – all for free! It’s easy to sign up – simply search for Universal Class on our database page & follow the instructions. As always, call us or stop by the library for a visit and we’ll be happy to help.

Score Card: Paula: 1 – Big Bad Pie Crust: 0

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Move over Marie Callendar, there’s a new Pot Pie Queen in town and her name is Paula…no not Deen.  However, with the two sticks of butter that went into my pie crust that might not be far from the truth!  I am happy to report that I successfully tackled my fear of the homemade pie crust, and I am quite certain that Martha Stewart heard her kitchen timer chime and knew that somewhere in the world another person had made their first pie crust.  I must confess that it was much easier than I had imagined – not as easy as opening a box of pre-made crusts, mind you, but still not the slavish task that I made it out to be in my head.

So, having added pie crust making to my wheelhouse, it was time to move on to Assignments 3/4 – the Main Dish Pie.  With options such as Beef Cottage Cheese Pie, Salmon Pie and Spinach Pie, the clear choice was the Chicken Pot Pie.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I must confess that I used a ready-made crust, instead of making my own, but the filling was all my doing.  Again, it would be so much easier to pull out a frozen pot pie and microwave that baby for dinner, but I must say that I derived a certain amount of pleasure from making my own from scratch.  It was a beauty and as an added bonus, it tasted great, too!

Next up…the Sweet Pie, which truth be told is the reason most people want to make a pie – for dessert!  I have my eye on the Sweet Potato Pie with a homemade shortening crust.  So stay tuned to see if this Northern girl can tackle this Southern staple…

Isn’t there an app for this?

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I’m gonna be honest. I have no interest (oh, look, a pun!) in learning about the world of finance. The words “stock” and “market” when used together cause my eyes to glaze over like a Christmas ham.

Discovering exactly what CDs and hedge funds are doesn’t do it for me, but using my amazing powers of “no duh” I’m guessing they have nothing to do with music and gardening, respectfully.

Unfortunately, I realize the saying, “A fool and his money are soon parted” is very much true. And if I’m ever called a “fool” I’d rather it be in reference to my mad dancing skills and not because I used my savings account to buy shoes I saw on an episode of “Sex and the City.” *

So here we are – me and Universal Class – learning the crazy world of personal finance. Over the past several weeks, I’ve learned the difference between gross earnings and net worth. Yeah, that was painful and depressing, but it’s a necessary pain – finding out where you stand financially is the first step to getting where you want to be in the future.

So let me break it down for you: your gross earnings are your income before taxes and deductions; your net worth is your financial value after adding all assets and subtracting all debt.

To figure your own net worth, add the value of the assets you own, including but not limited to cash, securities, personal property, real estate, and retirement accounts, and subtract your debt.

Hopefully, you come out with a positive number… But if your debt is more than your assets, you have a negative net worth. Wow, negative worth? That’s just harsh. But if you find yourself facing this situation there are countless books, courses and professionals that can help you set up a plan to turn your negative net worth into a positive. You can even sign up for the very class I’m writing about: personal finance 101.

Want to do more than read about our experiences with Universal Class? Sign up for your own class! Universal Class offers hundreds of classes on a wide variety of subjects – all for free! It’s easy to sign up – simply search for Universal Class on our database page & follow the instructions. As always, call us or stop by the library for a visit and we’ll be happy to help!

*Like I’m gonna tell you if that’s true or not.

Private Eyes are Watching You

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My horoscope said it was the perfect time to sign up for an online class and we all know horoscopes are 100% accurate so I signed up for a course in Universal Class. Scanning the selections, I decided on How to be Your Own Private Investigator and immediately saw myself transported from the library, speeding down the road, dodging bullets going from adventure to adventure as the female Magnum P.I.

Shortly into my lessons I read I did not need a mustache to be a private investigator ala Magnum P.I. Excellent, I’m already off to a great start! Then, I was jolted into reality and learned that private investigation isn’t exactly what you see on television or read in the books. What?!

Private investigators work in the areas of work compensation fraud, piracy, accounting investigation, loss prevention and corporate espionage. The two main areas of the job are surveillance work and research. Sounds like I can parlay some of my librarian skills into the research side, but first I need to focus on the next few lessons about making observations.

Bookmark this blog and follow along on my journey into private investigation and whether surveillance involves sitting in a car eating donuts. Oh, that’s right, not every occupation lives up to its stereotypical movie counterpart. Be on the lookout for a Database Diaries post from Laura S. about photography! Hey, maybe we could be a team?!

Want to do more than read about our experiences with Universal Class? Sign up for your own class! Universal Class offers hundreds of classes on a wide variety of subjects – all for free! It’s easy to sign up – simply search for Universal Class on our database page & follow the instructions. As always, call us or stop by the library for a visit and we’ll be happy to help.

Who’s Afraid of the Big, Bad…Crust?

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Well, apparently I am because the thought of making my own pie crust, from scratch, is synonymous with doing my taxes – necessary, but certainly not something I have ever looked forward to, especially when I can have someone else do it for me – like the Pillsbury dough boy.

So, maybe you are like me, you enjoy baking, have even made a pie or two, but have never ventured beyond buying a ready-made pie crust from the store.  Or maybe you just really like pie – it is after all one of America’s cultural icons, despite the fact that pie has been around long before Christopher Columbus even considered being an explorer when he grew up.

With the temperature outside dropping, this seemed like the perfect time to turn on the oven, sign up for Pie Baking 101 through Universal Class and tackle my fear of the big, bad crust.  I have made it through the first lesson – “History of Pie – An Introduction” – who knew that the first pies date back to 2000 B.C. and were a favorite food of the Ancient Egyptians?  Not me.  And now I am ready to tackle Lesson #2 – “Cooking Pie Crusts”.  As my instructor says, “Cooking good pie crust is the most important part of preparing a pie.”

Well, that is all for now – the next time you hear from me, I should have mastered the pie crust and moved on to Main Dish Pies.  Between you and me – I think I will skip the Beef Cottage Cheese Pie and the Salmon Pie, but I have high hopes for the Shepherd’s Pie and the Turkey Pot Pie!  My goal after I complete each lesson is to bring the results, which should hopefully be an edible pie, into work and let my co-workers be the guinea pigs…I mean, the judges of my pie-baking prowess.  I will share their feedback with you – the good, the bad, and the ugly.

Bookmark this blog & follow along on my personal pie-baking journey, and in the upcoming weeks, be on the lookout for Database Diaries posts from Andrea and Laura who will take on private investigation and photography!

Want to do more than read about our experiences with Universal Class? Sign up for your own class! Universal Class offers hundreds of classes on a wide variety of subjects – all for free! It’s easy to sign up – simply search for Universal Class on our database page & follow the instructions. As always, call us or stop by the library for a visit and we’ll be happy to help!

Show Me the Money

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“Money.”

Depending on the day and my checking account balance that word either sets off a what-can-I-buy daydreaming session or sends me searching into the back of my cabinets for those Ramen noodles I’ve probably had since college. You’d be amazed how many packages of Ramen noodles you can score for super-cheap.

I’m sure many of you have been in similar situations. We could all probably benefit from having a little more padding in our bank accounts, especially in this economy. Every little penny counts. Whether you’re looking for ways to make more pennies or looking to save the ones you already have, I’m right there with you.

That’s why the personal finance class offered through the library database Universal Class appealed to me so much. Sure, I know how to balance my checkbook and “budget” enough money during the month for gas, groceries, etc., but that’s about the end of my financial expertise. And when I say “budget” I mean, “yeah, that looks like enough money to cover it.”

“Personal financial management is the map, meteorologist and travel agent in plotting your journey to maintaining and sustaining your own wealth. ” -Personal Finance instructor Jerry Borland

During the first lesson, we briefly covered the three basic steps of managing finances effectively:
1) Plan – gather data and create a snapshot of your finances. Track your spending, maintain your checking and savings accounts, and assess your true financial worth.
2) Execute – the key to managing debt. By using the data gathered during the planning stage, you can create a budget to either curb your spending or increase your income.
3) Travel- once your finances are under control, your bills are manageable and you know how much you’re worth, you might discover extra money that you used to piddle away that you can now use to travel or live out your someday-when-I-have-money dreams. The author makes a point that maybe traveling isn’t even your bottom line, but that the bottom line is this:

“By taking the burden of “have to,” off of your financial view, you stand a better chance of actually accomplishing your goals.”

This week’s lesson was a short-and-sweet intro into the sometimes-daunting world of personal finance. I’m sure I’m going to learn so much in the next 6 months during this class*. What I’m hoping to learn from this personal finance class, and what I’m hoping the readers of this blog will learn is how to manage money more effectively. Because I know from experience that there’s nothing worse than wondering where all your money went and not having a thing to show for it.

Bookmark this blog & follow along on my personal finance journey, and in the upcoming weeks, be on the lookout for Database Diaries posts from Paula, Andrea and Laura — lots of fun information on pie baking, photography and private investigation coming your way!

Want to do more than read about our experiences with Universal Class? Sign up for your own class! Universal Class offers hundreds of classes on a wide variety of subjects – all for free! It’s easy to sign up – simply search for Universal Class on our database page & follow the instructions. As always, call us or stop by the library for a visit and we’ll be happy to help!

*When you sign up for a class through Universal Class you complete the lessons at your own pace, but have 6 months to finish your lessons from the day you begin the classes.

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Let’s face it – if someone gave you an all-access pass to read their diary, you’d do it wouldn’t you? I know I would… and have. Hey, you call it a journal or diary; I call it a memoir. It helps abate my guilt.

So here’s our open invitation to read the diary of four brave souls chosen to be library guinea pigs using the database Universal Class. You remember Universal Class, right? The database we introduced last summer? The one that offers hundreds of personal and professional enrichment classes for free? Yes, that one.

So here we are: Amy P., Paula G., Andrea B., and Laura S. – the library guinea pigs. We’ll blog about personal finance, pie baking, photography basics and how to be your own private investigator, respectively! Follow our adventures on this blog, where we’ll be posting our experiences with the database and all the fun that comes with it. Pull up a chair, grab a “cup of Joe” and dig into the not-so-scandalous musings of the Database Diaries.

Learn Something New with Universal Class

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With over 500 non-credit continuing education courses, Universal Class offers exciting opportunities for self-paced learning. Alternative medicine, career training, cooking, education, entrepreneurship, office skills and spiritual studies are a few of the areas for personal enrichment. With so many classes, it is worth logging into Universal Class to see the complete list of classes.

Keep in mind while browsing the course catalog, if several classes catch your eye you can enroll in up to five courses and have six months to complete each course. Since the classes are online and available 24 hours a day, you can attend class and complete the assignments on your schedule. Just like an in-person class, the courses have a real instructor who you may communicate with using email.

Universal Class offers streaming video, website avatars and insightful instructional content for an engaging learning experience that helps you reach your educational goals.

If you have been interested in learning more about buying and selling antiques, want to learn guitar, or any of the countless other offerings, log into and Universal Class and start today! Remember you can find Universal Class and all of CCPL’s databases on the Research and Homework page.

Please note, these non-credit courses are for personal enrichment and are not intended to be a substitute for any state, government, licensing, or educational requirements.