If you are good at something, never do it for free...

A carefully crafted line from the Joker, put to practical use...
You need printers do you? Sure I can do that... No problem...
Hey, while you wait, how would you like to add some yarn to this 26.5 lb. ball of yarn?
Super...
Keep it up, you are doing great...


I was just thinking it has been a while since I showed the progress the ball has made since it left my living room and came to live in my lab last year...
It was a hard transition, we missed it in the house, since it is a great tool for cracking your back, resting your feet, and sitting on... It is an all around versatile tool... But so far the kids are taking well to it, and have come to grips with the odd ways of my room.

Max's Tavern and the Blue Kazoo

Sucked in By the Ambient Glow

Glimmering Glass on a Sunday Afternoon

This scene struck me as odd... in a way that seemed secretly targeted at me...
Those close to me know I collect cranberry pirex, for no apparent reason, and let that stand without comment, but it seemed so out of the ordinary for Jen and I to pass by this display on our way down an abandoned street in search of garage sales... In the middle of no where, with not a soul in sight stands a dismal home with no signs of life and a huge xylophone of glass on the front lawn. The display congures images from horror films where the observer is sure that lurking around the next corner a man with a chainsaw waits for his next victim. But fears aside, I saw this as an opportunity not to be missed, stepped out of the car and up to the odd creation left to conjure confusion, music, and wonder. I secretly ached slightly at the fate of so many of my favorite things... Knowing they had been poached for their lids alone, and that the rest would have been cast aside... Jen tried to comfort me with tales that the counterparts were surely inside in a place of honor, though I responded that a purple mosaic of broken glass in the back yard seemed more fitting the artist's style...

Way Behind: Catching Up, Eugene Celebration

Imaging: Almost Done

Two Down

Fish are dropping like flies...

Friday at Last

So this week has passed by quickly, allowing me to sit down and take a few minutes to prepare for the coming week.
The students are much better behaved than last year and our work is coming along fairly well overall...
I only have a few random munchkins that are off the charts and out of line...
Randomly, many of the students who posed issues last year are actually making progress this year.
It's exciting to see the students that made you worried as a teacher do a turn around and start making progress, even being helpful...
The computers are still in various stages of completion with Teachers freaking out and getting stressed...
So I will be renaming and reimaging over the weekend to help the process get underway...
There was just one set back after the next to bring us to where we are now...
I still have to come up with 8 power strips that hold 8 outlets each, drill holes in the walls, install the file separators, and label the bays for each machine... Then I get to continue reallocating machines to their new homes and setting them up to get online...
It has been quite the process, since we are switching from an alternating schedule with full classroom sets, to a new system where there is a half class set of machines in the room at all times.
This creates interesting issues, since there need to be enough machines to meet the needs of half the students at all times... This means we have to provide equipment based on the highest number of students that travel into each room every day. So if there is a cluster of students (38 in some cases) that are in the room for only a 45 minute period, I have to have 19 laptops in the room, even though the rest of the day the room only holds 30 students... So that means that we are taking 4 machines and dedicating them to a room that only needs them for a tiny portion of the day, and further puts a strain on the demand for equipment.
In a perfect world there would be a more even distribution of resources and students to ensure that only the necessary number of machines would be in place and there would not be any additional waste in the form of unused machines...
So I am hoping that when we get through there will at least be enough to cover our bases, but at this point, with new students arriving each day, this is becoming a little less realistic.

So I will do my part and we will see what we will see... And by my part, I mean something that is completely outside of my job description... But that is all fine and well since I have the master plan for it all... It just seems a little late in the game to be getting started and I seem to be the target of our staff since they assume I have control over these things, which is not always the case...

But I am sure that after the initial installation of machines in the rooms and the fun process of helping new students to learn their log in and passwords, that we will be on the right track... We will see how it goes...

Good times...

Word of the Day...

Floccinaucinihilipilification

Please use in a sentence and attempt to demonstrate proper pronunciation.

Blackie is Gone

Kinda fitting, that the fish I bought for Autumn would leave us just as she passed out the door... But sadly who knows how long it has been lying at the bottom of it's gravel lined apartment, like Elvis, waiting to be discovered... Blackie liked that castle... it was the only place he could fit in to avoid the torments of our high powered filter's swirling and the taunting of Goldie...
Yes, I know such creative names... I really went all out...
Actually their names are Lenny and George... and in perfect line with the story, the big guy bit the dust.
Anyways... I will try a little harder to keep the others around a little longer...

The Following posts further demonstrate that this was long in the making and that I am far to narotic to care for other living things... That reminds me that my plants are all dying... great....

It's Only Been a Few Hours
Autumn's New Fish
Blackie is Dying
Probable Cause of Death

Losing It...

So I come home the other day...
Autumn is working hard and staring deeply into the little laptop on the coffee table.
She looks up and says in an irritated tone, "There are a bunch of flies in the house."
So I take in the words and let them pass by instantly, since it sounds like a small inconvenience that will subside soon.
I go about my evening in my room without giving it a second thought.
But today I come home after a long day of work, sit down on the couch with a bowl of leftovers and am immediately assaulted by these little winged beasts. I am alarmed at their inconsiderate flight paths and how they completely ignore my request to be left alone. So I am suddenly in the same boat Autumn was the day before, and I can't take another second of these unwanted guests.
I search through the downstairs closet, until I find my secret weapon... an electric tennis racket that I couldn't have spent more than a dollar on... and just as one could predict, it is completely dead and useless, leaving me to wield a heavy racket at my nimble adversaries... who escape with ease...
My kingdom for a fly-swatter...
I finally break down, grab the inept butterfly net that sits by the door and head straight into attack mode, flying around the house with a children's net and large book, capturing and pummeling any creature that has the misfortune of falling into my line of sight... Even now, there are at least two to go and I will not be able to function until they are gone....
Lame...

Some Times Mad Skills Make People Mad

That and I have no spacial reasoning skills, or breaks, so I was lucky I stopped when I did... And all that after an exciting display or parking ability as I drove back and forth on the sidewalk trying to perfect my positioning.

Ups and Downs

Motivated Daze

After the first day back with students and staying in my classroom, pleading with the help not to turn the alarm on before midnight so I will have a few more minutes to get my room ready for the more than 100 students that will be passing through my doors in the comming day... to no avail. I gather my things, flying around peeling and scrubbing the table tops, considering the benefits of resurfacing them all... and convincing myself that I have the time and energy to accomplish it in the wee hours when my students are fast asleep in anticipation of the comming days with their friends.

All of these frantic efforts are fueled with anticipation, stress, and an unlimited supply of caffine; all of which are necessary to keep me in motion at top speed.

Secretly I would prefer no one could see the frantic antics that take place before and after school and secure the wizzard behind the curtain mystery.

I was just sitting down and looking back on the path that led me to my chosen profession. I know I give the occupation a bit of flack at times just for the amazing amount of things that need to be done just to keep everyone going, but truely it was a goal of mine from a very young age.

I remember staring up at my second grade teacher with admiration as he taught us songs and helped us make houses out of cookies... I couldnt imagine a better way to spend my life, helping children learn to read, count, play, and grow.

So I set to my task of realizing this dream as only a seven year old could. I sat in the sunshine with a piece of paper behind my home and spent hours tirelessly practicing the perfect stars to put on my children's papers. For a seven year old this was hard work... It was a crafted art that I seldom use but still retain...

I always knew what I wanted to do... and never had any doubt, I could always easily walk in front of a crowd and demand all of their attention... Even now, when the students are easily half a foot taller than me...

Today I sat with my 7th graders for lunch in the cafeteria and almost had to raise my hand to be excused since I was the same size as the majority of them...

At any rate... I was just as driven as I am now as I was as a small child and refuse to leave when everyone turns out the lights...

Stupid Snake

I just saved the most uncooperative garden snake I have ever seen... As I ramble on to Cassandra I pass by a small battle between a little snake and a particularly bouncy cat...
I run the cat off like five times in a row before returning home to retrieve my trust butterfly net, a sweet score from the dollar store that has otherwise proven worthless... You couldn't catch a thing with that if you tried...
So I put the net over the snake... no dice, snake is not moving...
So I poke it with a plant... still no dice..
So I return to the house to get a spoon and come across my trusty snake poking pencil on the coffee table...
So with phone still pressed between my ear and shoulder, I prod the silly creature into the net...
Good times...
So I suppose that was my good deed for the day and I am off the hook and hopefully redeemed after watching a house go up in flames while sipping a chai tea... We will see.

Highlight of the Day

Walking through the parking lot of a senior complex carrying only a scythe and a smile...
I plan of making good use of my latest purchase and newest antique.
Just think it only took a hundred years and twelve dollars to make this a reality...
I now have the coolest halloween accessory ever...
And Cassandra was cracking up that I was worried it wouldn't still be at the antique store when I came back the next day... Her comment was that she was highly doubtful that anyone would be buying the scythe out from under me...
But I had to be sure...