I gave the accountants at Price Waterhouse an extra day to tabulate the ballots on how I think Melaque stacks up against the 13 factors I set up back in December.
A few of you have hinted that the exercise was simply an attempt on my part to find several other postings before I slip back into discussing life in Oregon. And you were correct.
However, I thought it might make sense to look at why I am likely to choose the course I will for this coming year.
So, here they are with their respective grades. I added a small weighting calculation to reflect the changing priority of the factors. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow weather will be the most important factor. But not today.
I tried setting this up as a fancy HTML table, but failed. It will look sloppy, but the factor is followed by its weight and its grade.
university nearby -- 2 D-
archaeological sites within driving distance -- 3 B
central location for other archaeological sites -- 3 B
warm, sunny days; cool nights -- 1 F
new acquaintances; some with a love of food -- 3 A-
the challenge of a new language -- 3 A
time to read; time to learn; time to rest -- 3 A
daily learning to survive -- 2 B
facing mountains of difficulties -- 2 B
long walks with Professor Jiggs -- 1 A
living outside of a car -- 3 B
offering help to others graciously -- 3 A
accepting help from others -- 3 A
I should note that Melaque gets about another 10 bonus points simply because it is next to the ocean.
By my very non-academic reckoning, that gives Melaque a good solid B+.
So, what does all that mean?
Not a whole lot really. Other than what we all knew from my first impressions of Melaque.
Melaque is certainly not the perfect place for me to end up. I doubt that such a place exists. But it certainly is good enough for me to start talking about moving dates.
And that topic will develop over the next few months as I decide when to retire, when to leave for Mexico, and what to do with my house in Salem.
A few of you have hinted that the exercise was simply an attempt on my part to find several other postings before I slip back into discussing life in Oregon. And you were correct.
However, I thought it might make sense to look at why I am likely to choose the course I will for this coming year.
So, here they are with their respective grades. I added a small weighting calculation to reflect the changing priority of the factors. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow weather will be the most important factor. But not today.
I tried setting this up as a fancy HTML table, but failed. It will look sloppy, but the factor is followed by its weight and its grade.
university nearby -- 2 D-
archaeological sites within driving distance -- 3 B
central location for other archaeological sites -- 3 B
warm, sunny days; cool nights -- 1 F
new acquaintances; some with a love of food -- 3 A-
the challenge of a new language -- 3 A
time to read; time to learn; time to rest -- 3 A
daily learning to survive -- 2 B
facing mountains of difficulties -- 2 B
long walks with Professor Jiggs -- 1 A
living outside of a car -- 3 B
offering help to others graciously -- 3 A
accepting help from others -- 3 A
I should note that Melaque gets about another 10 bonus points simply because it is next to the ocean.
By my very non-academic reckoning, that gives Melaque a good solid B+.
So, what does all that mean?
Not a whole lot really. Other than what we all knew from my first impressions of Melaque.
Melaque is certainly not the perfect place for me to end up. I doubt that such a place exists. But it certainly is good enough for me to start talking about moving dates.
And that topic will develop over the next few months as I decide when to retire, when to leave for Mexico, and what to do with my house in Salem.
