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.