Goodbye Cafe Montmartre

It's a sad day for the Madison, WI downtown. My all-time favorite bar and home of the best rusty nails is closing. Cafe Montmartre was a staple for me and my roomates my senior year. This travesty of the economy is made worse by the fact that in the two years of grad school I also spent in Madison, I don't think I made it there once. I loved the atmosphere and have been missing it since I moved. While it seemed the place that would exude a slimy feel of superficial hippness (which really rubs me the wrong way), Cafe Montmartre managed to retain an actual identity without any pretentiousness. Other, similar bars that I've been to have not been able to capture the authentic feel that seemed so casually comfortable within the crumbling brick exterior just off the capital square. Cafe Montmartre, you will be missed!

It reminds me how we need to support the things we like, even if it means spending a little bit more. If there is a running shoe store that gives great service, buy your shoes there. Don't take their services and order online. I fully appreciate the need to save money and am a regular customer at Amazon, Borders, Target, and other large warehouse-type stores, but places that offer a unique atmosphere and add color to the local scene need to thrive.

NTN Trivia National Champion

I just got back from Damons for what may have been my first night out (without my lovely wife) in over four years (since my firstborn was born). I love playing the trivia game they have there and various other places as well. I've always done decently, but tonight may have been my crowning achievement. On one game, I got a perfect score and got the national ranking of #1 for that game. I've broken the top ten before, but I've never come close to a perfect game before. This was even after 50 oz of beer. I was on and on fire. It was my first night of volleyball this summer and I got to play with my brother who was subbing for my normal partner. We split the 6 games, but it felt really good. Playing 20 pounds lighter than last year really made a difference. I still can't believe I got the perfect score and I only had to guess on one question. I only wished one of us had a cell phone to take a picture of my name listed at number one. I guess I'll have to keep trying so that I can get a picture of a repeat.

Transformers!

For only the second time in close to 4 years, I saw a movie in the theater. The first one was 'Dan in Real Life' and it was a waste of theater space. Today, however, I saw the new Transformers movie and it was awesome. I thought the first one was really good, but didn't have enough with the robots. This one made up for it and I have to say, Optimus Prime kicks ass! I won't say anything else; just go see it.

I decided a few days ago not to do summer tutoring. I had a list of six kids who needed 30 hours of math tutoring to avoid repeating the same grade next year. I decided on a reasonable rate to charge and started contacting parents to get it set up. The first number that had been given to the school was no longer in service. Somebody didn't really want the school contacting them. The second parent went off on a mini-rant saying that her child messed around all year long and would have to repeat 7th grade all over again. The third parent informed me that he already set it up with somebody else, but asked what I was charging. I told him and he proceeded to give me a hard time because the other tutor was charging less and why should he go with me when he could get the same hours for less money. I said that I was merely trying to provide a service. At that point, I decided that this was no longer worth my time and I've felt a little bit happier ever since.

Now if we could just get our daughter to do what the swim instructor asks...

Shenanigans!

Borders and their minion Waldenbooks have irked me. That's right - irked. I don't particularly like Waldenbooks in general because the selection is lousy. If I want them to order a book and have it sent to me, I'll go to Amazon and get a better price. The staff, in my experience, while nice and earnest, is not very knowledgeable of the books they stock. Perhaps it's the categorization system they use and all of the other miscellaneous places that books can be displayed, but they can never find anything. Last week I asked if they had a particular book. The woman helping me looked it up in the computer and told me that the computer told her that they might have it. What kind of system is that? What kind of inventory system gives book statuses as might be in stock? Do they have other statuses such as likely in stock, not likely but not impossible, or even probably, but I'm not going to tell you where? Well today, they pushed me over the edge. I get the weekly coupons from Borders which work at Waldenbooks. One of the coupons was worth $2 off of a fiction book. I took a book and the coupon to checkout and the lady at the counter said that I had a Fantasy book; the coupon is only good for fiction. I won't even go into how many responses went through my head in the next second. She seemed like a nice old lady, so I only said that fantasy is fiction. She said the book had to come from the fiction section. I'm giving Waldenbooks the benefit of the doubt here. I assume that they don't actually think that all of the sub-genres of fiction aren't actually fiction. I've read some pretty interesting stuff with a very strong leaning towards sci-fi and fantasy and I would be a bit worried if it weren't actually fiction - no matter how cool some of it is. Waldenbooks, you just continued to disappoint me, but Borders, you have taken a huge step back that took me close to five years to be willing to go back into one of your stores again. Granted, that was because you were half an hour closer than Barnes and Noble, but I say this to you now. I am looking forward to the Barnes and Noble opening locally in 2010.

Back in Action - Volleyball Style

Tonight is the first night of summer volleyball this year. I'm still not sure that doubles is my favorite, but I am sure that I prefer sand to grass. That aside, it's still fun because it's still volleyball. Each year we start off really strong, stumble into the playoffs in the upper-mid section or lower-high section of the standings. Then we knock off a higher level team, but can't get any farther. One thing I'm not looking forward to is tomorrow. The day after the first set of matches (we play 2 or three matches in a night). Two years ago I could barely move. Last year was better. I'm hoping that the weight loss and somewhat better conditioning will help, but those muscles that I just don't use outside of volleyball are going to be yelling at me tomorrow.

It feels so good to be out of school. I'm working the lazy out so that in a week or two I can get down to getting things done. Until then, I'm content to do very little. The one thing getting in the way of my sloth is the naming ceremony we have coming up next Saturday for our little guy. Keeping the house orderly with two kids, two cats, and a dog is not that easy. But it should be fun.

Ok, here's something that's been bugging me for a while now. Pennsylvania is becoming more and more smoke-free. I am very happy about that. But the thing that I've been noticing is the way in which employees of food-related establishments smoke. It's becoming more and more obvious. A couple years ago I was in the Lycoming mall and we ate at the pizza/Italian place there. I looked back and saw a guy smoking in the kitchen. That kitchen was not very hidden and he didn't seem to be trying to hide it at all. On top of that, I noticed that he was the same person who took our order and he had on something that designated him as the employee of the month. Suffice to say that I never have or will eat there again. The grocery stores around here have tables for their employees to take breaks on in front of the store. No problem there, but guess what these employees are doing on those tables in front of the store near the entrances. You got it - smoking! It gives me a deep feeling of disgust when I see the person who was cutting my lunch meat or bagging my groceries sucking on a cigarette. I've watched them as they go back into the store, and often they go right back to their stations without even washing their hands. These people are handling my foodstuffs? I don't know why smokers feel that they are entitled to do whatever they want. Aren't they getting the message that (slowly) society is realizing how disgusting that habit is and how dangerous it is for other people? Can you imagine telling your boss that you need to take a break to satisfy some drug habit other than tobacco? Then tell the boss that you are going to do this in front of the store where all of the customers can see (and partially participate in) your activity. At least I can go into most restaurants in the state and not have to worry about inhaling smoke that came from inside somebody else's body entering mine. It's a start.

Game 7 Friday. Go Red Wings!

It's finally over

The hardest year I've had teaching is finally over. The kids left the building at noon on Friday and didn't look back. I'm taking time this summer to revise the way I teach. My classroom is getting a Classrooms For the Future makeover this summer and it's the perfect opportunity to put new life into my courses. I'm getting a Prometheus Board (similar in function to Smart board), projector, and laptop. I'm still holding out hope for a document camera, but we'll see what happens. The laptop also means that I'll have a computer to use at home that runs an OS newer than Windows 98!

Here at home, I'm a little ashamed to say it, but I think we are getting a gas grill. Actually, I'm more than a little ashamed. It's not even grilling. It's really just an upside down gas broiler. But in life, compromises must be made. If I want to continue cooking outdoors, I need to reduce the time commitment that using charcoal requires. Once the kids are older, things may change.