Sublimation would be sublime

Right now, I wish a giant demonstration of sublimation would occur on the surface of my driveway. I made a rookie mistake and did not clear the snow on Friday when it fell. My wife didn't want to be left alone with the kids. The precipitation switched to rain, which froze the snow. The Subaru was ok, and there were no problems while the snow still existed. Today, however, we had rain, without very high temperatures, and the driveway turned to ice. Combined with an angle of roughly 76 degrees, it was an interesting ride to daycare in the sideways car heading down the driveway. Considering the fact that we had company coming, I headed out with the two shovels, one for chipping and one for snow, I spent two hours getting half of the driveway clear so that a car could make it up safely. Tomorrow should bring a wonderful example of slick, black ice covering the whole surface.

Final Push

Ok, we had a snow day Friday, which is going to make the end of winter/beginning of Spring very long with the make-up days, but what can you do. More difficult will be this week. The powers that be thought we could get in two good instructional days on Monday and Tuesday, with Wednesday (the 24th) our first day off. Right.

I finally got the lights up outside (only broke one), now I have to finish making the tortellini. I've filled one half-sheet pan with the little guys, and still have about 80% of the dough to fill. I hope they taste half as good as my grandma's.

Things I Miss

I miss buying beer by the six pack. People in this state (beer distributors in particular) think that allowing people to buy buy the six pack (rather than the case you have to buy now) would lead to more people drinking to excess. Go figure.

I miss good, cheap cheese.

I miss Woodmans (see cheese).

I miss actual cold weather (not the same when someone declares that it's freezing out and the temp is still double digits).

I miss my mom.

Food Prep

Ok, this is my first Christmas at home since I got married (over six years ago). My daughter is 3 and actually knows what's going on. This is going to be fun. As the last cooking scion from my grandparent's line, I have decided to take up the mantle of the tortellini. I've made plenty of pasta, even some filled, from scratch before, but never have I attempted the delicate ambrosia that is the tortellino. I have all of my grandma's notes and my mom's as well. I hope it will be enough. No meal has ever equaled the tortellini and I only hope that I can do it justice. I am also continuing, for the first time, the various cookies that were made. I'm making the orange cookies (that originally called for sour milk - was that actually an ingredient?) and russian teacakes (my daughter calls them snowballs). I'm not sure when all of this is happening, but it better start happening soon.

Quote of the day

Ok, it's actually the quote of yesterday, but my daughter has some profound words for all of you.

"Two color poop came out of my butt. Is that magic or what?"

Yes it is magic, a holiday miracle.

I'm sitting here dreading a snow day tomorrow. We had a two hour delay today, which I like, but the snow days are no good. We have a stretch from February 6 until April 9 with two days in between that are scheduled off. They are the 1st two snow make-up days. I hope they are not needed, but that is a long stretch (which includes PSSA reading and math - possibly state writing- tests as well). We may need to sacrifice one of them to keep us sane during that stretch. Here's to another 2 hour delay tomorrow!

Sins against humanity

We are getting a fake tree. I still can't believe it. We are getting a fake tree. It makes me sad, like a little part of me has died. We are getting a fake tree.

Honestly, though, it makes sense. The needles killed our vacuum last year. Our cat who gets blocked (apparently male cats have extremely narrow urethra), needing hundreds of dollars in surgery to get unblocked, eats the needles. The cats enjoy climbing the tree. The dog and cats drink the water. We have an 8 month old who will try to do all three as well.

This year seems more fun than the last though. Our 3-year-old is really into it this year and we are going to be home on Christmas morning for the first time since we got married over six years ago. I am attempting my grandma's tortellini (recipe handed down from Bologna), which my I think my mom only attempted once or twice. Hopefully the weather is decent this weekend so I can hang some lights outside.

Vikings actually have a one game lead in the division race and it looks like one more win may be enough to wrap things up. Didn't see this coming after the first couple games.

T minus 3 days

Ok, the turkey is thawing, my brine is planned and tomorrow is the last day of school until the following Tuesday. I can't remember a break I've been looking forward to more than this one. I am going to relish not having to do any work for school unless I choose to do so. I even get a couple of days where the kids are in daycare. I love my kids - a lot. But it is going to be nice to get a little down time, even if it means house cleaning.

I saw 24: Redemption last night, and it was pretty good. It got me psyched for the new season in January. I just wish it didn't run at the same time as Heroes. I don't have a functioning VCR or any other system for recording TV. I think that I can watch Heroes on NBC's website, but that entails the hassle of hooking my wife's laptop up to the TV and stereo (as close readers will recall, my machine still runs Windows 98 and it doesn't have a functioning sound card). But, if I can watch both, then it will be worth it.

Finally another team let the Vikings win the way that the Vikings had been beating themselves. The 30-12 win over Jacksonville was a surprise for me. I like Jacksonville's coaching staff: Jack del Rio was one of my favorite players and I liked Mike Tice.

The weather calls for icky conditions tomorrow (I can't remember if the technical term is "icky" or "yucky.") Some people are even banking on a two-hour delay. Just as long as it's not a snow day. I don't want to burn through those and then lose our Spring Break.

Turkey day's coming and I get to wear jeans tomorrow. I really am easily pleased.

Is it Thanksgiving yet?

You know that it's time for a break when you see a kid climbing the locker wall and decide not to send him to the office because what he did really didn't seem that bad. I kid you not; some of the things I have seen this year rank in my top ten of odd observed behaviors from my entire teaching career. I have seen students eat erasers ("I was bored"), hide under desks (completely open with no sight barriers), try to rip the tops of desks off (lack of medication), and now climb a locker wall. The worst part is, this all came from one student and we're only a few weeks into the second marking period. Odder still, regardless of how crazy this student behaves, I like him.

Thanksgiving break is now two weeks away and I don't think it can come soon enough.

Other random bits. Go Obama! Vikings are tied for the division lead. I think I like tea. Battlestar Galactica rocks! I want more cheese. My computer still runs Windows 98.

Checkouts and Baggers

Is it just me, or do grocery store baggers no longer know how to bag groceries. Nobody uses paper bags anymore and you actually get dirty looks if you ask for paper. I think I know why. Paper bags require more than one layer of food, which actually requires thought. With plastic bags, you just get the bottom filled and you're done. At least, that seems to be the extent to which anyone bags these days. I love getting home and finding a soft loaf of bread right next to a bunch of cans. Did you know that when you pick up a plastic bag, things shift around? I know; it's hard to believe and no one could ever predict that would happen, but even stranger is the fact that heavy objects tend to squish the soft ones! I even try to group my foods in a way that would make bagging easier, but that doesn't even help. I kind of hope that the plastic bags are phased out and we return to the brown paper bags (it doesn't matter if they have handles or not). Then we will again have a steady supply of book cover material for school and not have those stupid stretchy ones that look flashy but don't really do anything to protect a book. The one drawback would be my supply of bags for picking up dog poop.

A Return to the Dark Ages

Well, today ended our school's Renaissance week. Actually, we changed the name to medieval week because we don't technically focus on a particular Renaissance period. This is my third year doing this with the 8th grade here and this year it was brutal. We spend, basically, the entire week with one group of kids. I don't know how elementary teachers do that for an entire year. Don't get me wrong. I like my kids and the week is definitely worthwhile. It's just exhausting, especially because of what we are doing. It's a lot of arts and crafts, which are not my strong point, which makes it a tad more difficult to push the enthusiasm. We also make costumes and learn a period dance. That's always interesting - getting 20 some 8th graders into and learning a renaissance period dance. Somehow, our artists in residence not only teach the dance, but get the kids having fun by the time their hour is over.
The culmination of the week is Friday. We parade around for the whole school in our costumes (which the kids made). Even though most of the 8th graders were there the past two years when previous 8th grade classes did this, when it comes time for their turn, no one seems to remember what happens. Then we head to the feast where there is juggling and a play for the royalty and all else to see. Each manor presents their dance and we are treated to a court where appropriate punishments are carried out. Then come time for the feast. Each class has a lord and lady who, along with the king, queen, and pope, get to sit at a table and have a plate and goblet for their food. Everyone else sits on the floor with paper towels. Then the kids get bread, chicken legs, cheese, apples, and water for the feast and I have to say, it is good bread.

After lunch (which is not the feast), we have a tournament of skills where the kids try to go horse yelling like crazy while a few classmates compete in events such as the joust, gauntlet, squires relay, turnip relay, pie-eating contest, and gladiator. In this day of litigation, I'm surprised that no one has sued over injuries incurred. We have one event where kids finish the race riding piggyback on their "horse." Close to half of the teams did face plants after the first few steps and hit the floor hard.

But it's over, and I'm glad to out of the Renaissance and back to the dark ages.

Iron Man!

Well, I finally got to see Iron Man, and it did not disappoint. I had heard from various sources that it was really good, and it lived up to my expectations. The only criticism I can think of is the same that I had for Transformers. There was so much set up that once it actually got to his suit, the movie was almost over. This movie is begging for a sequel. I thought that Robert Downey Jr. was great in the role. The writing and his delivery of the lines was hilarious. I knew only the basics about Iron Man before seeing the movie, but I could tell right away who the bad guy was thanks to his hairdo (or lack thereof). Now I'm just waiting for The Dark Knight and Wanted to come out on DVD. I'll see the Hulk movie because Ed Norton is in it, but I don't have expectations. One of these days, I'll even see a movie in the theater again.

Big excitement for the week coming up are grand openings of new stores in Selinsgrove including Giant and Target. Now we'll actually be able to use Giant Gas rewards as there will be a gas station there. Monday night is the Vikings game. I hope it goes well. This season is quickly draining my hope. At least the Red Wings are still looking good.

Quick Response to VP Debate

I think that both did a decent job, but I am very confused by the response of the analysts. I thought that winning a debate was based on how well one made one's points and responded to questions and statements made by the other debater. It seemed to me that Palin dodged more questions posed to her than she actually answered and really tended to answer whatever she felt like answering. At one point the moderator called both of them on this point by saying that neither had answered the question posed, but (I guess for time's sake) she didn't press either one to answer. Politics aside, I think that Biden answered the questions more clearly, and responded very well to points brought up by Palin. Palin, on the other hand, seemed to be campaigning more than debating issues. But, what do I know?

Dislocated Leg

I've been teaching for over seven years now, going on number four in eighth grade and I had my first dislocated leg. I never thought that doing problems on the board was dangerous and may require a waiver or permission slip, but today is making me rethink that. My poor student was coming back to her seat when something happened and she claimed that her leg bone was now pointing in the wrong direction. She couldn't use the leg, so she couldn't go to the nurses office. It hurt too much to move, so she couldn't even sit down. She was at the front of the room facing everybody else trying as hard as she could not to cry. Now our nurses office is in another building, and would take a full minute of walking at a good pace to reach. The nurse came to my room and was about as unsure what to do as I was. She went to get a wheelchair, which was an entire other ordeal involving multiple sets of stairs that needed to be circumvented by various forms of lifts and elevators. After this poor girl was stuck in this position for over half an hour and a class switch, she was finally wheeled out. I can honestly say, that has never happened in my classroom before.

That was followed by my whack-a-mole class (with a fire drill thrown in for some good clean fun). Seriously, teaching that class feels like playing whack-a-mole. There are just enough "lively" students in there that the moment you get one on task, three others pop up who need a friendly reminder as to what they are supposed to be doing.

Also, way to go Vikes. I'm glad we got a win. I feel bad for Jackson. I don't think he was ever really given a chance to learn and be ready to be an NFL starter. His days in Minnesota, I believe, are numbered. I wish him no ill, but I really don't want to let him go and see him turn into a megastar.

Heroes started last night!

New Crop of Kids

Well, almost done with three weeks of school already and I'm getting a real sense of what the kids are like this year. We have some real assets to the class and I'm already assigning detentions for behavior! That's not to say that there aren't great kids too, which reminds me of a goal of mine. I am trying not to dwell on the challenge kids as much and try to remember the others in their place. We really do have a lot of great kids.

Renaissance week is just around the corner and it won't be long until we are costumed up, doing crafts, and dancing for an entire week. I know my predecessor hated this week, but I guess I haven't been there long enough to get to that point. I wouldn't choose this for every week, but it is interesting and you get a chance to interact with students in a different way. I just wish there were a way to have a break from them throughout the day. We go about the whole week without a plan period, which is tough on the kids and us. I think it's worth it, but I may not be thinking the same thing after with the homeroom I've got this year.

This blog's been a bit tame recently. I haven't had any corporations to rage against lately. I guess I could turn my attention to the BPA epidemic. Because we have a newborn, my wife is hyper-alert to health threats, and this seems like a big one. We have gone through a great BPA purge. We all have new water bottles coming from REI (I wish there were a local store) and are replacing as much plastic (suspect or not) with metal and glass. I'm sure next year we'll find out about an odd isotope used in these products that is linked with 3rd nipple growth, but for now, things are calming down.

1st Day, Bolt, and Vikes

The school year started today. I'd say today had to be the smoothest 1st day I've ever had. It helps that this is the first time that I've started another year at the same school teaching the same grade. Tomorrow we get to dive in and start doing work.

As much as I complained about the Olympics coverage, I think that NBC showed a lot. It just wasn't convenient to watch. We pretty much were flipping between the four channels with coverage to see what was on. Luckily, I got to see all of Bolt's runs. That guy is phenomenal. I like watching him. It seems like he's having fun. The weird thing is, he does not look at all elegant when he runs. In fact, he looks almost uncoordinated, but he's doing something right to leave with three gold medals.

I'm looking forward to the Vikings season. I think that they made some good acquisitions and as long as Jackson is healthy, I think he's moving in the right direction. I really hope we can blow out the Packers on Monday night!

She's lost it

I love my wife, but I think the lack of sleep, breast-feeding, and soon-to-be 3-year-old have taken their toll. My daughter is having her 3rd birthday party. Actually, one for family on Saturday and one with friends on Sunday. Did I mention she's turning three? I love her a lot too, but everything seems a bit much. What do you think? Our niece and nephew came today to help. This has resulted in about 100 chocolate covered pretzel rods, 100 3-shaped cookies (frosted), and at least two copies of Happy Birthday in cookies. I have just been informed that they are going to Frankenstein these creations together to create some monstrosity of chocolate covered pretzels combined with the frosted 3-cookies. To be honest, I'm a bit frightened.

As this weren't enough, tomorrow ice cream cone cupcakes are being created for the following day? Is all of this normal? Is this something that I missed out on? I remember a cat cake and a bunny cake for some early birthdays (well, I have photographic evidence of these cakes, but no actual memories, but the pictures do complete a rather reliable causal chain). It is currently 1:15 am and this has been going on since 8:30 or so.

Tomorrow should be fun though. My daughter is at the age where she's anticipating a party and is generally pretty funny. I get to grill and drink Dark and Stormy's, so that's good too. We'll even have some freezer and fridge space (which will make it easier to find things in the dark thanks to overheated metal and melted plastic - see previous post).

The Olympics are awesome. Track and Field finally started today and I start back to work next week. The timing couldn't be better to deprive me of my favorite sport. As more and more professionals enter the Olympics, I'm surprised that they still hold as much interest for me. There is something special about the Olympics. I hope that never goes away.

Kenmore Refrigerator Warning

I've usually had nothing but good things to say about Kenmore appliances, but earlier this week, I encountered a problem. We have a bottom freezer, French door refrigerator and it had a major problem. Something happened so that the light bulbs stopped turning off when you shut the doors. This heated up a metal plate that holds the control panel. This got so hot that the plastic of the control panel actually melted so the entire control panel fell off. I had to unplug the fridge in order to let the light bulbs cool enough so I could unscrew them. Now I have a dark fridge with a big control panel hanging from the ceiling of the the fridge. I called Sears, who kindly reminded me that my warranty ran out 2 months ago, and the cheerfully sent out a repairman for a fee of $65 to give an estimate. The also offered and 12 month extended warranty for 12 months, but I had to choose that before anyone looked at the fridge (and pay $300 as well). The guy showed up and we have to replace 2 parts (about $200 each) and pay for labor, another $200.

So, if you start smelling burning dust from the fridge, unplug it, call Sears to get the extended warranty, then let the control panel melt off and let the warranty pay for the problem. I am usually not a supporter of extended warranties because the only reason that a company would offer one is because they are going to make money on it, but if you know the problem is going to cost enough, it's worth it.

I've seen this problem happening with other people and wish Sears would do something about it.

Battlestar Galactica, Olympics & Favre

I finally talked my wife into watching Battlestar Galactica with me. I started with the catch-up hour for seasons 1 and 2 and we just watched the first four episodes of season 3. The best thing was that she said watching those made her want to see the ones we missed. For a few years now (since the show started), I've been telling her that I think it's the best show on TV (even better than 24). I don't think she agrees with me to that point, but at least I have a BSG buddy now! It's really too bad that the show is going to be ending soon. What should I work on next? For some reason, she is very much opposed to Stargate, so I think I may try Farscape.

The Olympics are starting tonight. I would be extremely excited but for one fact: the NBC website has such a difficult to navigate interface for a TV schedule that some genius must have designed it to be that bad. Trying to find another way to see when the events I'd like to watch would be on, I ran into this blog post that summed the difficulty of the NBC website. Does NBC actually think that by making it hard to pick and choose what to watch that people will just sit and flip through every channel every 5 minutes? It doesn't even seem possible to get a listing of when certain sports will be on. The best I've found (until it got too repetitive to continue) was a lot of listings for multi-sports. Come on NBC. It would not be that difficult to offer for download a simple matrix that lists what each channel will be showing throughout the days!

And I have to address the Favre issue. I am so glad it's over. I was worried that he was going to be a Viking. Granted, he may be better than Jackson will be this year, but either we are going to go forward with Jackson or not. I think that Tarvaris is moving in the right direction and has the pieces in place to do well. The whole team is looking improved from last year and I'm excited to see what's going to happen. It's sad to see a player behave the way that Favre did (I want everything my way. I don't care if I have a contract and already told everyone I was retiring and passed up the chance to come back earlier in the year when I still might have been in shape - not an actual quote.) and it's sad to see a player who gave that much treated the way he was. I wish him all the best with the Jets, but I'm glad he's out of the division and conference.

Anyone want to buy a 2006 Toyota Sienna van? We can't find a buyer and are selling it way below the KBB value. It's in awesome shape and only has 30k miles. Hurry before we just sell it to the dealership so they can mark it up $5000.

Upsales

I never really noticed the extent to which people are upsaling until my brother pointed it out to me at a restaurant. I can understand that those little extras add up to big bucks, but seriously, it's getting out of hand. I ate at Applebee's last night (yeah, I should know it's one of the lords of the upsale - we had a gift card) and the waitress, before I even had a chance to sit down, tried to get me a drink and a huge appetizer sampler. I was wrestling with the correct positioning of the baby seat in the high chair, trying to position it as far from the cigarette smoke as possible (come on Pennsylvania, get smoking out of public places), and she wanted know if I wanted a mango-rita or a giant appetizer. Then, as I order a steak (again, we had a gift card), she offers to load my mashed potatoes or top my steak. My wife ordered their combo meal, but was assured she could pick her dessert after she ate, which, as it turns out, offers more opportunities for upsaling. Rather than just asking if we want dessert, the waitress felt it was her duty to go out of her way to point out that my wife was getting dessert and they have many more delicious desserts. Again, I understand offering the options, but it was the sickly-sweet manner in which she offered. Other servers were doing the same thing, but they didn't sound nearly as annoying. It got to the point where I didn't even want to look her in the eye for fear of another sales pitch.

Today, the checkout boy at Radio Shack tried to get me to buy batteries, twice. As I bought a printer cable, he asked if I needed any batteries today. I said, "No." He then said, "They're on sale for $10 for 4." I guess he thought I had a batter operated printer, or something. Not only did I not need batteries, but that was a steep price for batteries, especially an off brand kind like their store brand. I go to Radio Shack to avoid the hassles of Staples, but I think they are feeling the pinch of the competition and need to beef up sales.

Last night I watched Vantage Point. It was one of the better movies that I've seen in a while. I've seen movies where they repeat the same bit a few times, and many times it fails. Vantage Point, however, did a really good job of making all of the perspectives different and interesting. Even though you roughly knew what was going to happen, each time through the 15 minutes was tense and exciting. It was almost ruined, though, when I watched one of the special features where the director described every actor as possessing a certain masculinity that allowed them to be vulnerable. He might even have attributed these characteristics to the female actors as well. He seemed to be explaining the unique nature of each actor, only to give them the same characteristics. It didn't really take away from the movie, but at one point my wife and I looked at each other and laughed. If you haven't seen it yet, it's a great movie.

Are All Smokers Inconsiderate Jerks?

I know the answer is no, because I have had friends who smoke. However, in the wild, I have come to believe that cigarettes contain a substance that suspends the production of common decency hormones. I have taken it upon myself to help these afflicted people and show them the error of their ways. Is it my goal to make them stop smoking? While that would be ideal, I am not equipped with the proper biochemistry knowledge to tackle that problem. My approach is more of a focused self-knowledge that can be obtained using a simple line of questioning. My technique is still being refined, but I have tried it out a couple of times now in the last two days.

Yesterday at the sidewalk chalk festival (which was very cool), I observed two of the afflicted from Maryland toss their lit butt in the street (right next to many children innocently drawing pictures). I offered them my help when I pointed out, with obvious care and concern for my fellow humans, that they had dropped something. Very gracious for my intervention, they began to look around. Unfortunately, they were under the influence, and so blind to their own actions. I had to clarify that they had tossed the cigarette in the street and I was concerned that they had dropped it. These poor gentlemen passed a moment of utter incomprehension, but they were able to break through their nicotine induced haze to realize the help I was offering.

Today, as I left the community pool with my 3-month-old son, I observed another poor soul putting a cigarette out in the grass of the local park, leaving it there, and then removing herself to the other side of the path. She actually packed up her chair, beverage, and other assorted items, moved them 7 feet, and set everything up again. I assume it was her subconscious mind telling her something was amiss, but the mysterious substance clouded her mental capacities and rather than properly disposing of the butt, she removed herself. Always trying to help others, I pointed out to her that her still smoking cigarette was lying in the grass in the park. She was so far gone, that she was unable to even respond to me. Undaunted, I tried again to tell her that she had, inadvertently I'm sure, left a burning cigarette butt in the grass. I tried to appeal to a soft spot for civic responsibility, environmental duty, even caring about the children, but it was all to no avail. She was so far gone, she could only stare blankly at her book.

In all seriousness, though, I am sick of the complete insensitivity of smokers. Why do they think that because they smoke, they have the right to force others to inhale their toxins and leave the remainders of their addictions wherever they want? What other addict is so arrogant that they toss the remains of their drugs out car windows or wherever they happen to be at that moment? I'm tired of standing by and letting these people litter the parks and streets with cigarette butts, blow smoke that my children with still developing bodies inhale, and force their health hazards on me. Yes, it is a free society, but to paraphrase John Stuart Mill, one's freedom to swing one's arm ends at another's face. If people want to use drugs, let them. I really don't care. However, it has to be done in a responsible way such that they only affect themselves. I am no longer idly standing by. Through confrontation and passive aggression, I'm going to make my point whenever I have the opportunity. Until it is made clear to smokers, by a large number of people, that their behavior in public is unacceptable, they will never stop their arrogant, self-centered, inconsiderate behavior.

Car Saga

We finally bought a car. As part of our plan (thanks to Dave Ramsey) we are selling our car to free up the payments for other debts. Before we can do that, though, we needed another car. So, we've been saving up and selling our stuff and were able to pay cash for a decent car yesterday. Before that, however, it was quite the quest. We found a car just down the road that we were going to get. We tried multiple times. We even took it to a mechanic for a check. The problem was, every time we went to the lot, the guy wasn't there. A few times we went and there was a sign saying he was closed because it was too hot. Other times, he was taking a nap because he works for the government at night (never got a clearer explanation as to what that entailed). Then, most of the other times, he usually just was not there, which makes it difficult to buy a car from him. We called again yesterday (after getting tired of driving there) and he said it was sold. I don't know how he sold it without ever being there, but it was sold. We even were watching auctions on eBay, which made me very nervous. Thanks to Craig's List, we found another car. We got a Subaru Forrester from a little place that just opened and seems to have really good prices. We really needed an AWD car to get up our driveway, which is rather steep. Now we just have to sell the van. Anyone want a 2006 Toyota Sienna? It's an awesome van!

Physical Activity

Got back from the second week of volleyball and I am nowhere near as sore as I was at this point last year. I'm playing better too. Throughout the match, though, I feel as if I'm carrying around a bit of dead weight. I need to drop about 20 pounds and really get back into running shape. What can I do to really motivate myself? I've been trying to start up running again since my senior year in college, and that was 10 years ago. It's the same reason every time. I've gotten lazy and until something can snap that - until I can snap it, I'm going to stay out of shape.

The worst yard sale ever

I cannot believe the magnitude of failure we had on our yard sale the past two days. I have never had the quality or quantity of stuff we had, but I'm not sure we even cleared $100. We had couches, a TV, microwave, drywall stilts, complete wine glass sets, and enough baby clothes to provide for 10 babies. My wife even make cool signs. In the end, however, no one bought anything. No one even tried to haggle! Considering the amount of work (we set up nine 8-foot tables) that went into this sale, it was an unqualified failure.

Aside from that, this has been a good month. My brother's been visiting since the 3rd and he's been a big help (while vowing never to have a family himself). My daughter's been taking swimming lessons - actually, they are more like get to know the water lessons. She did go under water yesterday. Granted, it was not intentional, but she did not seemed phased by it. She even said she would do it again at her next lesson. We'll see. I even got some work lined up. I am three students' last chance to pass their grade. I am the summer school teacher. We'll see if I think it's such a great deal after 30 hours with these students. Guess I should rent Summer School to see what I'm in for. All I remember is it involves killer bunnies...

Volleyball has started up as well and I have not been incapacitated with pain and stiffness for the entire week like I was last year. I need to get more active. I really want to get running again, but I'm having a hard time getting my time scheduled to do it. It comes down to laziness, and I need to break that cycle.

End of the year

Well, yesterday I said goodbye to my 8th graders for this year. It was a very interesting week. While little was accomplished academically, we had a lot of good experiences. On Monday, we raised $500 in 4.5 hours washing cars for Special Olympics. It was fun to watch the kids working with no gain for themselves. There were a few that really stood out as workers.

On Tuesday we had field day. We battled back from an over 80 point deficit to take the lead by 3 points with just the 8th grade boys tug-of-war to go. Unfortunately, one of our key guys got frustrated and gave up in the middle of the the tug, so we lost. It's sad to see people with talent be so immature that rather than legitimately losing, they give up in an attempt not to lose. Other than that, I saw some Cross Country prospects that I badgered all week and I think I got one to join the high school's team next year.

Thursday we took teams out in the afternoon to play Ultimate Frisbee. That was a lot of fun. I played on a team that was mostly girls, but we were undefeated with scores of 9-1, 4-2, and 15-1. All it took was a little hustle and playing together. We need to do more activities like this next year. It's amazing how we get to know the students in a different way doing things like this. In the past week, starting at Hershey Park, I got to know a few students better than I did the entire year in the classroom. There are some really neat kids out there with individual talents that may never show up in the classroom.

RED WINGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This was a great series. It may have been the best series I've watched. Even the games where the Wings didn't win were great games. Of course I liked the wins better than the losses. I would like to thank the NHL and NBC for broadcasting most of the games on a channel I can receive.

On a sad note, Team Black lost field day yesterday. It was a valiant comeback effort when we were down by over 80 points. The girls got us a 3 point lead going into the final tug-of-war, but our boys couldn't quite eke out the win. We will have to avenge ourselves with some Ultimate tomorrow!

Beyond Good And Evil 2?

One of my favorite games for the PS2 (maybe favorite) was Beyond Good and Evil. The story was awesome and everything from the visuals, to voices, to audio lent itself to telling the story. It's been a long time since it came out, but I just saw an article saying that #2 is in the works. I'm assuming its for PS3, so that makes me want to get one even more.

Tomorrow night could end the Stanley Cup. I was only able to see the 3rd period of yesterday's game, but it was great. Monday's game is on NBC too, so I'll be watching that.

Last week of school. Car wash on Monday. Field Day on Tuesday. Awards on Friday with an early dismissal. I think we're going to make it.

Reminder of why I teach

Last night was our school's Honors Banquet. It's a nice night where students are invited with their parents to attend a meal at the school followed by an awards ceremony. Only students who have earned distinguished honor roll each marking period or other teacher-nominated awards are invited. While it is not inclusive and I'm sure some would object, having a night with those students who make teaching easier (and, honestly, more fun) is very gratifying - especially as the year, and nerves, near the end. We had some great students this year and it's easy to overlook how much fun we've had when the daily grind and small stuff seems to come to a head this time of year. Last night was a refresher that I need at least once a year to remind me why I teach.

Earlier this week, we had a soldier on leave from Iraq come speak to our kids about his experiences. One student asked a great question. She asked when the war was going to be over. That wasn't the great question, but it led into one. The soldier responded that he didn't know. She then asked what it would mean to win the war. That was such a great question, and I'm not even sure she knew how good of a question it was.

Well, we're off to Hershey Park with the 8th grade tomorrow. The weather looks good and there's a new ride that has a 97 degree drop. More than straight down, this ride actually comes back on itself. I'm excited. I may have to go rogue, though. My fellow teachers are taking about taking it easy. This is my only chance, usually, to ride roller coasters, and I plan to use all the time I can to do so.

Sci Fi Iron Chef

This is the second time I've seen this. I'm flipping through channels and stop on SciFi (which I don't get to watch nearly as much as I'd like). Twice now I've seen the Chairman from American Iron Chef as an actor? Is he actually the nephew of the Japanese Chairman? Or is he just an actor? Curiouser and curiouser.

Circuit City Update

I understand that Circuit City may not be with us much longer (as far as the rumors go that I've been hearing), but that is no excuse for this camera thing. Although, perhaps, it partly explains the problem. I know that some people really put form before function (I am not one of them, for the most part), but let me summarize the response I got from Circuit City Customer Support when I emailed them with my question concerning the price of the red camera. Basically, the red camera is more popular, so supply and demand puts its price at $100 more than the other colors. I don't care how popular this camera is - a $100 price difference over color is ridiculous. To top it off, there was no indication in the email that they thought there was anything strange with the price difference. Luckily we have an insider at another store that was able to get us a deal - not on a red one. I have to say, this new camera is pretty spiffy. If the clearness of the LCD display is any indication of the picture quality, the pictures are going to be amazing. Already, the flash is so much less harsh and red-eye is much reduced.

Stanley Cup finals start tomorrow. I hope the games are not Versus exclusive. I'd like to see the Red Wings play, not just read about it.

Circuit City

Ok, I think that customer service is conspiring against me. We were looking to buy a camera and found a good deal at Circuit City, or so we thought. The camera came in black, silver, gold, and red. My wife wanted the red, but for some reason, the red camera cost $100 more! It was not one of the red products where money went to help with AIDS in Africa. I called customer service to find out if it were a typo, but I got somebody who could not answer my question. And I mean he REALLY could not answer my question. All he could manage was that the red camera was being promoted differently. Seriously though, a $100 difference in promotion over color? Suffice to say, I did not buy it from Circuit City.

On another note, I got to meet the parent from the situation in my last post today. She was actually upset with me because her son got a detention for kicking another student after I saw him. It was a completely unrelated incident, and she wanted to say that he was so distraught over having to apologize that he had to kick someone. I have one word to describe this epidemic: enabling.

Wings are up 3-2 and can close out the series tonight! Go Red Wings!

I'm Sorry Your Child Is A...

Apparently I offended a student by making him apologize in a way that wasn't completely meaningless. If parents want us to take over their role at school, they have to give us the latitude to do what we need to do. But when a parent complains because we actually hold a student accountable for something they've done, it becomes very difficult to do much of anything. We need parents and students to realize that we are all working together toward a common goal: education. Teachers are not out to get students, nor are we acting on power trips. When did education become such an adversarial endeavor?

End rant.

On a brighter note, the Red Wings are 3-0 and one win away from the Stanley Cup finals! I just wish that Versus was offered by my cable company without paying for digital. That also means no Tour watching for me this summer.

Anyone have thoughts on the Canon XT vs. XTi? We need a new camera and want to go SLR. We just need to figure out what is best for us.

10100

Tomorrow marks 20 school days left. I put my countdown on the board in binary numbers and offer extra credit for telling me what the number is going to be tomorrow. I can tell the end is near. Tempers are shorter, and the small stuff really gets under your skin. I'm looking forward to getting up at 6:00 am because my son won't sleep any longer, not because I have to get dressed and teach. This will be the first summer in a long time that I haven't moved. Since 1996, I have lived in 11 different residences including two house purchases. That is ridiculous and I hope the trend is ending.

My clover is really starting to fill in and I think it's going to work out quite well. My grass is also growing pretty well and is not as dead as I first believed.

Red Wings/Stars series starts tomorrow. I think the Wings are picking up steam and hopefully it will be the Stanley Cup next!

Golden Compass

The Golden Compass finally came out on DVD, so I could see it. I really liked the books and from the previews thought the visual style of the movie was perfect. The previews didn't lie there. I think the visual style of the movie was perfect. I was also excited to support the movie given all the criticism it was receiving from religious groups. Unfortunately, the movie suffered a little bit from trying to compress the entire book into two hours as well as adding in some more explanation that came in some of the later two books. Overall, I thought it was a pretty good movie. The armored bears were awesome and all of the characters were pretty good. I hope the movie was successful enough to warrant its sequels as the story gets really good in the second and especially third books. If you haven't seen it, I suggest seeing it and then reading the books.

Game four of the Red Wings/Avs series. The wings are up 3-0 and the could close it out tonight.

Funny school story for the day. One student who does pretty much nothing turned in an assignment. It was basically blank with a few token responses and a completely wrong graph. However, it did have an interesting sentence asking if it was true that a certain student had sex with another certain student in sixth grade. Random and inappropriate. Of course this student had no idea how that got on the paper.

Tomorrow's Friday.

Reba & Pancho's

I have to make plug for a local restaurant that is simply awesome! In Lewisburg, PA there is a small restaurant called Reba & Pancho's. I have eaten supper there twice (2 anniversaries) and the food is great. Somehow, they get avocados that are always perfectly ripe. There is a salad that has a dressing made primarily from avocado that is amazing. We went there for lunch today, and there is nothing that you could complain about. Everything just tastes good. My wife had the avocado sandwich, which was awesome. I had gnocchi, which was awesome. We all shared fries (even they were awesome).

So, if you are ever in Lewisburg, PA, be sure to eat at Reba & Pancho's.

On another note, GO RED WINGS! Game two against the Av's today and I'm making chili.

Staples customer service

I had hoped it was a one-time deal. The first time I shopped at my local Staples, I asked a question. Apparently, that was a major mistake. I wanted a router that would work with my DSL modem. As this was my first time with DSL, I wanted to make sure that what I bought would work. So, I asked somebody at the store. That was a big mistake. Rather than a "Yes, sir. That router will work fine with you DSL modem and Windows 98 machine," (for a fan of technology, I just can't afford to keep up) I got one the most snarky responses I've heard in public that was more berrating than helpful.

Fast forward about two years. I'm looking for a snazzy green laser pointer to use in a classroom activity (green because it's cooler than red). After the second person I ask actually shows me that there is only a picture of what they have available instead of the actual products, I go back to ask if any one of them is a green laser. There is no real product information, just a description of the cases. Here is the response I got this time (mostly verbatim): "I don't product test every item in the store!"

Maybe my questions aren't stupid enough and the salespeople are confused and feel the need to resort to general snarkiness. That is the problem with living in a small town. I just don't have many options when it comes to choosing where I shop. I like to touch and feel the products and am leery to buy technology online.

Open warning to Staples: This is strike two.

At least my clover is growing!

Baby!

Baby #2 arrived Tuesday night. He was 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 20 inches long. Anyone who sees him says he looks just like me. Apparently I look like a squishy-faced little old man. Who knew? Since then I think I've gotten about 8 hours of sleep, total, but he's worth it. I'm not sure how I'll do when I return to school on Wednesday. Running on no sleep is one thing at home, another thing at work. I'll cope.

Playoff hockey is here and I'm liking the 2 game lead Detroit has in its series. I do wish there were more hockey coverage on TV. A few years ago there were a lot more games on. Now we're lucky to have one national game a week. I'd say I'm excited about the NFL draft, but honestly, it's not exciting. The beginning of the season is exciting. Seeing people play is exciting. But actually televising the draft? We need more hockey on TV.

Contractions!

Well, the contractions started on Friday. There were no contractions with baby #1, so this is new territory. I've had my stopwatch out and ready for each announcement of a new contraction (longest time gap so far is 13 hours). Since the last baby was induced, we missed out on the drive to the hospital and all that hullabaloo. Hopefully it will be different this time. I think everything is ready, and I don't want to hear any complaints from my students about having to watch The Elegant Universe. I figure that is more enjoyable than endless worksheets for five days.

Speaking of the students, testing is over! That was a rough week and I didn't even have to take any tests. Now I try not to think about them until the results come out in August. My focus now is reminding the kids that the school year doesn't end until June. At least I have 8th grade and I can say that I am getting them ready for next year.

Word to the wise: Do not take money out of retirement to buy a house. No matter how much people say it makes sense. Tax bracket bump-ups, penalties, and a decrease in deductions make for an unhappy April.

Let the Testing Begin

Monday marks the beginning of the state tests. My poor students have state tests in writing, math, reading, and now science. Because funding is tied to our scores, if they do not do well, they have a test prep class next year in high school, instead of their study hall. I've been trying very hard to not focus on testing in my instruction, but there comes a point when we have not covered everything that is on the test and I resort to test prep myself. Accountability is a good thing, but this is just a high stakes test.

Enough complaining - I keep telling my students that it doesn't do anything useful.

Clover

I'm getting excited about what I plan to do to our lawn. I'm not a big fan of super-manicured lawns (for one, they take too much work), but do like to see green, rather than the yellows and browns associated with my dog's pee. So here's my great idea for my lawn. I'm going to seed it with a mixture that is very high in clover seed. It's green, grows easily, stands up to dog pee, and is rather drought resistant. It fixes nitrogen that the other grasses can use and it smells nice. To top it off, it doesn't need to be mowed as often. I had planned to go buy the seed today, but now the ground is covered with snow. I don't think it will last, but may make the Easter egg hunt difficult.

Fun Times

Today we had a gym event at school. Our district is busy raising $30,000 to build a school in Cambodia (I hear we are over $21,000 already) and the winning home room got to pie a teacher and duct tape another to the wall. I was duct taped, and I must say, I was rather disappointed. The kids do not do a very good job and I was suspended above the ground for exactly zero seconds.

Before that, we played this odd 4-way volleyball with one huge ball and 4 nets. It was fun, but another teacher and myself had put out the challenge to take on any team against the two of us. You would not believe the students who said that we were going down. I am not a professional volleyball player, but I am pretty competitive and the other teacher is even better. One student stands out in particular. He is about 5 feet tall (if even) and he said he and somebody else were going to crush us. It was all I could do to keep a straight face. It was fun to see how fired up the kids got about the chance to play against us. We need to see that it happens in the future.

Well, Spring Break begins today - a whole 4 day weekend thanks to snow make-up days today and Tuesday. Await testing rants next week as we get within one week of state testing.

Sleep...that sounds familiar

I know my daughter can nap. I've seen it happen at daycare. In fact, I saw a whole room of toddlers sleeping. They weren't even locked in the room. At home, it's a different story. For the last few months, we have given up on having her sleep during the day (It's been hard enough getting her to sleep at night). But baby #2's coming and I'm getting worried. #1 has learned to pitch a fit, and while I don't given in easily, she is very loud and I doubt #2 will sleep through it.

On another note, the snow is melting and it's sunny today. Days like this, although very cold, make me wonder if the weather has turned the corner on winter. Don't get me wrong. I love the cold and enjoy winter, but it's also expensive. I'm ready for the season change. However, since that means we will be spending time outside, I should probably go pick up the yard. Mr. dog (aka Vince) has made many deposits since the ground was last bare. I should also finish raking...

Tomorrow - my least favorite day of the year. Few days are ever worse than the first day after we turn the clocks ahead.

Beowulf

Well, I hated to admit it, but Beowulf was not a very good movie. I had high hopes which slowly got lower and lower as I learned more about the movie. The first blow was the animation style. Animation which is almost realistic is very distracting to me and it bugged me the whole time I watched the movie. Style aside, as I watched the movie, I found it hard to believe how uninteresting the characters were. The last I had heard, Neil Gaiman was attached the movie in some way. If that was true, it did not show through because the characters had very little going for them and the dialog was horrendous. Keep in mind, I watch sci-fi and fantasy with a very generous heart, but I couldn't finish this movie. For all I know, it became awesome after the 1st hour (and I do not mean the introduction of Angelina Jolie), but it sure didn't hint at greatness in the 1st hour. Hopefully, the Martian Child will be better.

Hope and Dread

Well, it is with both hope and dread that I prepare to grade the quizzes and tests from Friday. Algebra it a tough class for my kids because it means that they have skipped 8th grade math (Pre-Algebra), which really does get them ready for Algebra. It also doesn't help that a good portion of them should not be in the class. This is not because they are not smart enough, but many of them just aren't ready developmentally for Algebra. I hate seeing them struggle, especially when they work really hard and still do not do well. At this point in the year, it is made very clear who is ready and who is not. This is a tough nine weeks. I have tests that they took Friday to grade (as well as quizzes from the other three classes - am I cruel giving tests and quizzes on Fridays?) and I hope they did well. A bunch of the kids who have been working very hard told me after the test that they think they did very well. That always makes me worried, because that is the worst kind of bad grade - the one that follows anticipation of a very good one.

I guess this post is just my way of procrastinating. I should get started with the grading.

I would like to thank the one person who has viewed my blog since I installed mapstats. I hope you are joined by others soon.

Technology in the classroom

I am a very big fan of technology in the classroom. Problem is, I don't have the money to fund it, so I have to rely on my school to do so. I have to say, I think I am pretty lucky this year. I am getting (along with my science teammate) 20 TI-84+ graphing calculators. I teach one class of Algebra and three Pre-Algebra's at my school's 8th grade. For the past couple of years, I've used my own personal stash a couple of times with the students, but I only have a few and it's hard to get a feel for them without actually touching them (in groups smaller than 5). Next year, I need to make a big push to really use them in a way that will make the argument for me that I can use more technology than I have in a way that will really benefit my students. Unfortunately, that translates into better test scores - don't get me started on that rant. It will come in a few more weeks when state testing begins.

This weekend starts the real countdown to baby #2, due the beginning of April. I am very excited, but as I look around the house, I realize how much I need to do to get ready. And that doesn't even include the baby's room!

I am also getting interested in the presidential race. For the first time that I remember, the candidates may actually be interesting. Granted, we are limited by the two parties and have to settle for the minor differences between them, but there is an energy building that I don't remember from any of the races before. Who knows? Maybe change is an actual possibility this year. Or, it may be mere naive hope.

Goodbye February, this snow falling at this moment may be the lion bringing in March.

Confidence

I've figured out how to get rich. All I have to do is figure out how to get 8th grade girls to be confident and comfortable with their abilities in math and write book about it. This is such a key time in their lives and it's almost a conscious decision that they make. So far, I'm not sure how good a job I'm doing.

On a separate note, I've been watching the Showtime series, Weeds (Netflix rocks, by the way). I'm on season two now, and it's really funny (with a very dark sense of humor).

A Caddyshack moment

No one told me that one of the joys of parenting during potty training would entail visions of Spalding snorkling in the pool as a Baby Ruth floats towards him. This must be the 3rd or 4th time my daughter has been nice enough to poop in the tub and the exclaim "Poop!" with glee.

Fast forward an hour and I'm chasing a cat around the living room after I hear the dreaded precursor to puking sound and he begins to spray bits as he runs.

I'm not sure, but I don't think life gets more glamorous than this.

Dreary Day

There are some days (weeks...months) that just seem to pile it on and make keeping a positive outlook difficult. I wish more people in the community knew what all the kids in schools have to deal with on a daily basis. It breaks my heart to hear about the broken families, abuse, and difficulties that kids face. The best equipped do well, but only because they have some sort of support network in place. Unfortunately, most don't have that support network. I think we've forgotten, as a society, that kids are kids. They are not mini-adults, and should be treated as such or be expected to act as such. Kids need everyone's help. Sometimes, all it takes is a caring ear to listen. Think of it this way. How can I expect homework done on time when my student is wondering where s/he will get to sleep tonight?

First Post

Well, here's my first post on a blog. I don't have a real good reason for anyone to read what I have to say, but being in a classroom with about 100 8th graders passing through a couple times each day leads to some interesting stories. I'll change or omit names to protect the not-so-innocent and see how this goes. Let me know what you think.