You're Too Tall to be a Penguin

NYC 6 - Laundry / NBC Tour

2010-07-02T08:29:00.001-04:00

Slept in a bit today. We're doing laundry today at the coin laundry about 50yds from Mark's apt. In the meantime, I took the kids to Starbucks for our morning ritual. Two vanilla beans and a Strawberries and cream later (payment for carrying my backpack around over the previous days), we set off through Flushing's busiest district looking for something "different"

We found a Chinese candy store that had barrels of unusual candies. Some looked like sushi, some had sesame seeds on it, still others were hidden behind non-discript wrappers. I filled up a couple bags with a handful of each and proceeded to checkout. To my amazement, my bill was only $2. Wow, this same stuff in Disney would cost me $40 or so. In fact, every time I buy something at these Chinese food stores I'm just shocked at how cheap things are.

After laundry, we pack it up and take the show to the Marquee in Times Sqaure....our new home for the next few days. Nana & Papa Joe will meet us there as this is their first trip to NYC.

Once settled, we head for 30 Rock. The walk is fun because Nana & Joe are like kids in a candy store....every little thing just lights them up and they stop to take pictures. We decide to do the NBC tour w/ top of the rock. Now NYC is a big town, but I ran into some friends from Orlando while waiting in line for our tour to start. In fact, they were on our same tour (queue the Twilight Zone music).

Touring a place your familiar with on TV is exciting. My dad used to study his daily shows to recreate a mental model of the sets in relation to other places. As an avid viewer of "Late Night with Jimmy Fallen", I totally get this concept. Every time Jimmy has a guest, I try to figure out how big the stage is, what angle is the desk from the audience, where does Higgins stand, How big is the backstage? From time to time you get shots were they walk through the studio to the street or race a guest around the backstage areas....so I felt like I had a pretty good mental map of the studio.

After touring Dr. Ozz's set, we finally went to Fallen's set......It's sooo little. Totally awesome though. We also got to go backstage since they aren't filming this week (holiday weekend) and I got to see almost it all: The greenroom, backstage area, kiosk desk, Jimmy's elevator, the stage door ect. Woot.

The SNL set was also cool. The last time I took the tour we shuffled past quickly and looked at the set from behind a pane of glass. This time, we got to go in and sit in the stadium seats while they explained the show mechanics.....woot again.

The top of the Rock was great. There was a local weather crew on top doing the local weather report (we were in the background during their segment). From the Rock, we also saw a huge plume of smoke with 20 story flames coming up from someplace in Brooklyn. Found out later it was a 3 alarm blaze in a furniture/cabinet warehouse.

We ate under the rock at the mall. It's funny how many of us started out at the expensive cafe, but quickly abandon it for good ol' Subway ($5 footlongs ftw). Also noticed a homeless guy stealing food from both locations as the staff tried to catch him.

It's time to get a MetroCard for Joe/Bev. Again, this is their first subway ride, so there was lots of pomp and photos. I even gave them a quick lesson on how to hold their cards as they go through the turnstiles so they don't bottleneck the system.

Subway took us to Herald Square. We spent an hour or so in Macys, then walked up Broadway back to our rooms in Times Square.

Looking forward to tomorrow.......

Me

NYC 5 - Times Square / West Side Story

2010-07-01T23:01:00.001-04:00

Saints be praised.....the temperature has dropped about 20 degrees and it's soooo nice out. We put a fan in Mark's window and had a great night's sleep.

My foursquare rights have finally been restored and I'm starting to get some badge action. I still on the lookout for great restaurants, fashion stores, bakeries, pizza places, etc....

We started in Times Square and jumped in the TKTS line. We were looking at Billy Elliot / West Side Story / Memphis / Lend Me a Tenor. The winner with 6 seats available next each other......West Side Story.

(this was what I wrote on a piece of confetti that will be dropped during the New Years celebration)

With tickets in hand we had 45 mins to eat lunch so we ducked into the Times Square Sabarro for some pizza. Now this Sabarro looks like a little hole in the wall with 5 or 6 tables. There's barley enough room to stand in line to order a pizza, yet there are 4 guys yelling at the line to move move move: "Thank you next order", "Salads & Sides over here", "Step around to line 1", etc.....

Now where to sit? CJ and I head down the stairs to see what the seating situation was below. AMAZING! There was a huge seating area down there will plenty of space/seats. Just goes to show again how NYC surprises me with it's use of space.

West Side Story was a little different than the movie (which we watched only 2 weeks ago). The songs were a little out of order which was a little weird. Even stranger was an added scene where a 11/12 yr boy comes out and sings with Tony/Maria as if he's their future child (at least I "think" thats what he was supposed to be). The show also was bilingual which means that some of dialogue was entirely in Spanish. On this point I have mixed feelings: On one hand, I like the artsy aspect and know the story so it wasn't a big deal to have no idea what they were saying. On the other hand....there were no subtitles and it really would have been annoying had I NOT known the story. My opinion: it should have been in English.

Ate dinner at the OliveGarden in Times Square. The food was amazing (capellini pomodoro) and S picked a wine to mark the occasion. Finally, CJ's non-stop lobby for Olive Garden has finally been put to rest.

After dinner we toured around Times Square a bit. We got some free kisses at Hershey after M turned a crank that made the chocolate bucket overflow onto the floor....woot. Talked to some mounted cops on the street and took their pics for our photo scavenger hunt. The kids are getting so many experiences that most don't get to ever do. On the other hand, they also get to watch the street vendor sell Obama Condoms and some sort of "performance art" where some mostly naked dudes danced around a topless lady to paint her clothes on. Comes with the territory I guess.

Peace.....

Me

NYC 4 - Coney Island

2010-06-30T09:30:00.001-04:00

NYC 4 - Coney Island

After another hot night, we roused the troops and headed out to Starbucks. There's a guy who spends all day there and he recognizes/talks to us each day. Today's destination is Coney Island....Hot Dog eatings Mecca.

The train ride out there was fun. My iPad was enough to keep the kids and I occupied for the long commute. As we picked up passengers, we could tell that this was a "beach bound" train: SunHats, coolers, Towels, etc. Looks like this is where New Yorkers go for a beach day.

Although I was impressed with the train station, R was disgusted by the bathroom facilities. Outside the station, there is was....the one....the only....Nathan's Original Hot Dogs. This is where Joey Chestnut will compete to defend his title of 68 dogs only a few days from now. We bellied up to the bar and ordered, what else....Hot Dogs.

They were good. So good, I almost ordered another...... only 66 off the lead for a championship run.

The rest of Coney Island was a step back in time. The boardwalk was alive and well and a welcome change from the hotels that line our beaches in FL. There was plenty to see and do. Carnival rides, concessions, Shoot the Freak with a paintball gun.....this place had it all. We decided to ride the "Wonder Wheel" which is a ferris wheel, but half the gondolas are on a track that swings as it travels around the inside of the wheel as it goes around...very unique.

We also took a ride on the Cyclone....the grand-daddy of all coasters. The beach itself was nice and wide with excellent sand. We even found a model doing a photo-shoot on the boardwalk in some sort of black goth outfit (always fun to watch a production crew at work).

The ride back to Manhattan was quick and easy. We ended up in Herald Square just to look around. My foursquare account had been locked up for most of the day and I was getting frustrated that I wouldn't get my NY-specific badges. We took a quick tour through the Manhattan Mall and then a Starbucks break (drinks where only $2 since this was our 2nd Starbucks of the day). Decided to head over the Central Park to walk around a bit.

The temp is starting to cool, so our walk through the south side of Central Park was pleasant. There was an ensemble performing at the Columbus Circle entrance which sorta set the mood. CJ and M like the rocks....they a like some sort of mountain goat children. We walked all the way to the north side of the Mall before we decided to double back down to the Apple Store. Even with extremely sore feet, this group is fun to be with and remains positive.

Dinner tonight is at Marks': Grilled Cheese Sandwiches....yum

Overall a very eventful day. I got lots of badges, lots of sun, and lots of pictures :-)

Me

NYC 3 - Day at the Museum

2010-06-29T22:29:00.001-04:00

The forecast for today calls for HOT and Rainy. The indoor plan is to do the Museum of Natural History. After a morning Starbucks run, we hit the 7 Train to Times Square and switch to the local uptown to 81st street. Since the Museum has a subway entrance, we didn't even have to walk out in the heat at all.

We start off with the Planetarium show. Mark and I saw a show a few years back about the creation of Earth. Today's show was all about Stars (and our Sun)....another A+ presentation.

We didn't just walk the museum.....we read the exhibits and learned about all sorts of things: Meteorites, Minerals, Prehistoric beast, mammals, cultures, etc. M & CJ are great: No complaining, No getting lost....just little sponges that are as interested in the exhibits as the adults are (awesome).

Food at the museum was a bit pricey. The banana that costs .05 at Marks corner store sells for $1.20 in the food court. My bottled coke was almost $4....ouch. Oh well, at least it's food.

As the museum closed, we decided to find food. We need up at Chevy's Tex Mex. I think we've broken 4square as all of our checkins tell us to "Slow down and relax" (even though it's been 12+hours since our last checkin that counted). Um, how else are we supposed to get the NYC specific badges if we can't check into anything.

After diner, we strolled over to Times Square. This place is always electric and today was no different. We saw Ali Contie filming some sort of low production music video, we took pictures with a black gentleman in a "joker" costume, we called Mom/Dad and waved to them on the webcams, M & I played a piano in the middle of the square for tips, hahaha

CJ is really lobbying hard to eat at Olive Garden (an ongoing joke). We will probably end up here when we stay at the Marquee in a few night, but for today, it's just a scouting visit.

Not sure where we'll end up tomorrow, but I'm having a blast traveling with Kauffam. R is a great organizer, S finds cool things, M has a great attitude, CJ is hilarious, and Mark brings the NY perspective. I think we're ready for Amazing Race Family Edition!!!!

Me

NYC 2 - Corona Park/ NYsci

2010-06-28T22:04:00.001-04:00

Last night was HOT HOT HOT. Mark's air conditioner says it's 60 degrees, but it's way hotter. To add insult to injury, NYC is having a heat wave. Bottom line....it feels like those AC-less summers in Indiana.

Chef Markus woke up bright and early to prepare "World Famous Blueberry Pancakes". I must admit, they're much better than I expected. In fact, they would have been perfect "Pete's" pancakes had they not had blueberries in them.

After a quick stop for a morning Starbucks, we headed over to Corona Park. It's Soccer season (football to the rest of the world) and every field is full of athletes who think they're playing in the world cup. Even the hollowed out water fountain was used as a make-shift soccer field. After walking up to the world's fair globe and the "Spaceships" from Men In Black, we headed over to Arthur Ash Stadium.

We found a cop to take a picture with so we can all cross that off our lists now. Officer Rooney also let us know that we were walking toward a part of the park with a rally for thousands of "recovering" drug addicts. Ummmm, we changed course for the Science Musuem instead.

As we approached the museum, we saw people hopping out of their cars and running to the door....apparently trying to get in by 11am. We quickly found out why: Admission was free before 11 on Sundays in June. With only seconds left we made the cut....Yahoooo.

The science museum was great. Tons to do, touch, explore.

As evening fell, we walked through the spanish neighborhoods to the local train stop. With vigilant eyes, we scurried passed improvised food carts, people "hanging" out, and a guy with blood dripping from his scalp & nose. EMT & police arrived but the guy wasn't talking.... our best guess is that he was drunk and fell on the subway steps.

Diner was at Fo Fun Chinese Restaurant. Hightlights included my egg drop soup that fed all 6 of us, local shady characters that would pass by the front window, and a projects across the street where little kids were dangling their feet our the window in a effort to cool off.

Tomorrow is going to be another scorcher with a big chance of rain. Perhaps another museum.

Later.

Me

NYC Trip - Day 1

2010-06-26T22:30:00.001-04:00

It's finally here...the big NYC trip of 2010. Although I was up around 3am (couldn't sleep due to prior afternoon nap), we were up and at 'em and off to the airport in good spirits. Rhonda has decreed that today is "Red,White,&Blue Day" so that means patriotic garb all around. Actually, people thought we were cheering for the US to win their World Cup soccer match that was to take place this afternoon.

OMG, R passed a Starbucks stop at the airport to eat lunch instead. Even so, we were nearly the last to board the plane (It's a wonder R didn't have a heart attack). The plane was nice with lots of TV channels/music to tune into provided you brought your own headphones. What a coincidence, the Kauffman's were prepared for this. We not only enjoyed the flight in our own TV worlds, but we were even able to play a few rounds of multiplayer iPad Airport with the aid of our bluetooth connections.

As we approached NYC, the city sights came into view. Statue...Check, downtown Manhattan....Check, Western Beef....Check, Citi Field.....Check. Mark didn't make it to the airport so we picked up a van to take us to Mark's.

Upon arrival, we were pleasantly surprised to find that Mark had organized his belongings in anticipation of our visit. We immediately went to the new BestBuy/BJ's Wholesale (woot). Picked up some foods, air mattress, TV antenna, fan, etc... so we should be all set for the week.

For evening meal, Mark lead us to Joe's Bestburger. It's kinda like 5guys burgers, but they have something WAY better...Chocolate Soda. Not just that (oh no no no), but also Strawberry Soda!!! Even the Snozberries tasted like Snozberries (yum). After dinner, we took a trip to visit the Queens Library. Overall a very impressive building with a focus on a multi-language collection. We picked up books and movies of all different languages to see how much we could "figure out". What we quickly discovered is that we are pretty lost without English print.

The evening was capped by a visit to the Chinese Grocery store. Crates of dried fish were just "out" with people flipping through the stacks. There appeared to be a section of rotten food (complete with a fly disposal system) for people that want to buy that sorta thing. In the meat section, I found some "silky chicken" that looked like regular chicken, but it was DARK BLUE. What the heck could have possibly happened to that chicken to make it's skin appear like it had mold growing all over it.

OK, we broke down and bought some durian frozen pops. When Mark found out that I was going to try it, he started throwing out caution warnings. Basically, I'm expecting a life changing experience when I sample the durian pops (based solely on it's infamy).

We're back at Mark's now. His WoW raid was called so we're watching "How to train your dragon" on his big screen TV.

I'm glad I brought my iPad/keyboard as it seems to work well for blogging. Now I'm going to try to post this entry with a new iPad app that I downloaded.

Peace out for now...

Big Penguin

New Years Resolutions

2010-01-02T23:22:00.001-05:00

- Get more Exercise
- Play less Warcraft (I'm using my playtime as a reward for exercise)
- Drink more water (break my caffeine)
- Read more books
- Smile more
- Organize my photos (this could take years)
- Write more "thank yous" (let people know I appreciate them)
- Fold my laundry before it gets too wrinkly

....what's on your resolution list?

Here we go again....

2008-08-04T21:09:00.001-04:00

Dear voter,
Would you support a law that makes school districts spend at least 65% of their budgets in the classroom?...... Then vote YES for it when you see it on the ballot this fall.

Would you support a law that takes money away from public schools so the state can put kids that fail the FCAT exam into private schools?........Then vote YES for the SAME LAW!!!

.....FL judge ruled today that this resolution is going to be on the Fall ballot. The problem is that voters usually vote with good intentions, but they fail to read the entire resolution on the ballot. Of course you're going to vote for $$ for classrooms, but the fact is that almost all districts already spend more that 65% of their budgets in classrooms......so that shouldn't even be an issue. The crime is that only a handful of people will know that this is really about school vouchers.

This ranks up there with:
- Property Tax Amendment
- High Speed Rail
- Class Size Reduction

Grrrrrrrrr :-(

In Loving Memory of ______

2008-06-27T20:16:00.001-04:00

I'm not sure I like driving behind cars with decals in the back window that pay homage to the dead. I'm talking about "In Loving Memory" decals.... those little stickers that stare you in the face at red lights and make you do a quick year calculation to figure out how old the person lived to. Am I supposed to remember the deceased? Am I supposed to feel sorry for them? If not, why put it in my face. It makes more sense to me that these messages should be on the INSIDE of the car so that family members can look at them everyday. What do you think?

Fame and Fortune....

2008-06-23T10:02:00.003-04:00

OK, it's not exactly the paparazzi, but I was surprised to discover that I've been photographed from high above. This picture from Microsoft Birdseye shows my school at dismissal time... and there I am at my gate duty (looks like yellow shirt day).

Test Blog from One Note

2008-04-24T17:38:00.001-04:00

Open Office vs. MS Office

48 lab computers
20 Gateways laptops for (mobile carts)
10 macbooks (mobile cart)
-2 Admin Laptops
-3/per laptops for classrooms
2 (enterprise/compass servers (district)
61 smartboards
1 portable smartboard
1 portable sound system
8 class sets of sentio
Cafeteria sound system
Airtablets
300 office license
20 contribute license
100
200 inspiration
Kidbiz license
60 compass license
12 laptops in media center
RenPlace
UnitedStreaming / Safari Montage

Well worth the wait

2008-04-16T16:07:00.003-04:00

OK, so I haven't posted in a very long time.... but this post has been well worth the wait. Remember that post awhile back with the Mario Theme song played with lightning? Well, this is just better than that..... it's Mario played with an RC car and beer bottles (awesome).

In other news, it's the "end of year craziness" at my school. This year however brings a new dimension seeing as how I'm switching schools for next year. It may be time to hang up my valet job with Disney..... we'll see

Newbie Skaters

2008-02-14T20:46:00.002-05:00

Tonight was "Skate Night" for my Elementary School. We had at least 100 kids there and I think 80% of them went home injured. Fall after fall I helped kids to the side and got them ice and help.

I'm looking forward to my new job next year as Tech Specialist for Harmony Community School. I have my first staff meeting next Wednesday...can't wait. After 8 years at Lakeview I think I've build a great media/tech program that is capable of surviving on it's own. Even though everyone's upset that I'm leaving (my principal told Kathy he hopes I'll change my mind before I sign the paperwork), I know that they'll be just fine without me.

This entry's video spotlight goes to........ the crazy Japanese potato chip commercial

Happy Valentine's Day.... Even though I think it's the stupidest holiday ever invented.

Dis and Dat

2008-01-21T14:28:00.000-05:00

running off at the keyboard....

- It's beautiful outside. I love winter in Florida

- I'll be a 'tech specialist" next year...gonna mean big changes as the year winds down.

- Enjoy these pics;- Only In Russia

- While I'm linking... check out the Wootable Awards

- I think my new bed sags toward the middle. If an extra brace bar doesn't help I'm gonna have to go back and do an exchange/upgrade (they don't do exchanges)

- I'm on a "weight lose" team at school. My name is Scott and I'm addicted to Sugar. I know these next few days are going to be hard until by body adjusts to lower sugar intake.

- I voted early....now it's out of my hands. Lets hurry up and get this election year over already.

- The hotel seems to have forgiven me for failing a shop. I think they know I'm one of their best valets. It was good to hear the other guys and cashiers give kudos for my performance yesterday.

Poor Kitty

2008-01-06T12:43:00.000-05:00

There's got to be another way.....

A night at the ball....without a ticket

2008-01-01T02:08:00.000-05:00

I was called to valet at Gaylord Palms for the New Years Eve Midnight Masque (A $450/ticket masquerade ball). All night long I was driving nice cars and watching VERY elaborate costumes enter for an evening of fun. It was surreal and reminded me of watching AMEDEUS (one of my all time favorite movies). Oh, and I got to valet for Sen. Bill Nelson... I guess he and his wife go to this thing every year (Got to wish them both a happy new year also). The only bad thing was that many of the party-goers were too drunk to tip or drive home. Oh well, I didn't make very much quid but at least it was different.

HAPPY NEW EYAR TOO ALL. THIS YEAR IM GONN SPEL EVERTHING GOODER!.

Tesla Coil Speakers

2007-11-07T06:04:00.000-05:00

Electric sparks make sound, right? Well, if you control the length and strength of the spark you can control its pitch. Hook up a MIDI controller and you've got the Tesla Coil Speaker.

CHECK IT OUT

Paco Taco

2007-10-20T08:17:00.000-04:00

Happy Halloween

Coming to a head

2007-10-17T17:30:00.000-04:00

Next week is the "magic" week that many of the projects that I've been working on come to fruition:
- My school's webpage will go live. Hopefully, this will be a good communication tool between our staff, parents, and community.
- I'm certified to podcast for our school so I plan to ad that to our website also. Being able to use this media in my job setting is exciting and will change the way I do morning announcements.
- Our AR reading quizzes will go online. This will give our students online access to over 100,000 AR quizzes.

Any one of these items is a huge job in itself, but they're all related. Each one has a domino effect on others so it seems like pressure is building to the climax... which is next week. Hopefully, everything will go smoothly as we "flip the switch".

Cold Front?

2007-09-16T19:11:00.000-04:00

We're supposed to get rare cold front make it all the way to Orlando this week. For us, that means we'll go from mid-90s to mid-80s. Today it came through with really heavy rain which cooled things off, but the humidity and heat lingered. I hope that's not all there is. I'd like it to feel like fall a little (or at least be a comfortable summer)

The right FIT

2007-08-28T22:08:00.000-04:00

So there I was, a few weeks back, flipping through countless racks of dress shirts at Kohls. School was about to start and I wanted something new to wear (tax free + coupons = yeah baby). I started with the "display" shirts... they look good on the dummy but... I needed to keep looking around. I scouted the clearance racks.... miles and miles of them.
No, No, Nope, heck no, no no, maybe, no, mmmm no, maybe, AHA OK... found one. It was a "safe selection". Actually it was like pretty much everything else I own only newer. I placed it on the end of the rack and decided to keep looking.

I continued my shopping ritual: flipping through the racks until I found a gem in my size then placing it on the end of the rack for later evaluation. Pretty soon I had all of my favorite shirts displayed on the ends of every rack in the men's department (looked like my closet, only bigger). I was just about finished with a section when I spotted a shirt I liked, but couldn't find a "Large" size. Hmmm, I didn't really want an XL because they don't quite fit right in the shoulders, but I didn't want a medium cause that would look silly. Suddenly, I saw it. A size I'd never seen before..... "LT".

I'm not exactly sure what "LT" stands for but I'm guessing it's "Long & Tall". I was so excited to see this size that I went back to all of my other favorited racks and found LT sizes for them also.... switching all of my shirts to LT.

....which brings me to today. Today was the first time I've worn one of my LT shirts. At first, I felt a little weird. It actually went down below my butt, however when I looked in the mirror it seemed to sit on my shoulders nicely (not too big). I asked myself "is this how short people feel everyday"? Well whatever the answer I can report that I'm very pleased with my LT shirts and I can't wait to wear the next one. I finally found a shirt that fits well. If it had 2 pockets I'd nominate it for the SHIRT HALL OF FAME!!!

Library Procedures

2007-08-24T20:25:00.000-04:00

I start library orientations next week to go over rules and procedures with every class. Over the years I've developed a pretty good powerpoint for the rules with embedded videos that model my procedures. This year, I decided to make videos with Clifford instead of students so that I could use this again next year without dating my material. Great idea, right? Well the first problem was Clifford's paws.... when I went to take a book off the shelf many of the books fell on the floor. For the second take I positioned the book "just so" on the shelf so that I could grab it..... I didn't think ahead about how I was going to open it.....etc.

YouTube Awards

2007-08-19T19:56:00.000-04:00

Little did I know that the video I made of my parents buying an RV was going to be my most popular YouTube post......BY FAR! Days after posting the video, I was contacted by an RV social networking site that asked if they could use it as their "Video of the week". Sure, why not.... My parents will get a kick of out that, right? Quickly, my video set milestones on my YouTube page: First to 100 view, First to 2oo views, etc.

Yesterday, this video entered a new league.... Over amost 2,000 views in the last 24 hours. I don't know why. I don't know how. It's just weird how it has taken on a life of it's own. Meanwhile, my other videos struggle to break double digit viewer ship.

Back to School

2007-08-16T05:07:00.000-04:00

I love being back at school! This year seems to be getting off on such a great start:
- New Carpet
- Major upgrades around campus
- Admin / Teachers seem to have their act together
- Big projects planned
- and FLEXIBILITY to do what needs to be done

On the other hand.... At my house, my air conditioner is driving me crazy. I likes to make gargling noise from the drain pipe every once in awhile with no rhyme or reason. I've tried everything I can think of from pouring hot water/bleach down the pipe, to putting a tube in it and blowing. I even hooked my bed pump to the tub to see if it could blow it clear.... Last evening, it gargled for hours before finally shutting up around 10pm. I may be calling the A/C repair guys soon to fix it once and for all.

He's at it again.....

2007-08-03T14:09:00.000-04:00

William Gray puts out a "hurricane prediction" forecast every year.... and every year he's DEAD WRONG! That's not the problem though. Everyone has a prediction, right? Yeah, well the problem is that the media jump all over this guys predictions like it's coming from God himself.

Last year, Mr. Gray predicted a super duper season. As the season starts Mr. Gray starts to "revise" his predictions. No hurricanes this month?... well, I'll just revise my predictions down a bit.

With this years season well under way and nothing to show for it, Mr. Gray announced today that he's going to knock 2 hurricanes off his prediction. Thanks....ANYBODY can predict the weather after the fact.

Why do we listen to these guys anyway? If there's a system brewing, we take action..... If it's quiet, we watch for the next one. Who cares what the "PREDICTION" is? It's about as reliable as the groundhog.

Life goes on....

2007-08-01T20:47:00.000-04:00

I've read reports of a big feud going on between the Sept 11 families and NYC officials over the ground zero property. Each year, the victims' families converge on the site of the 9/11 tragedy to mourn the lose of their loved ones. City officials, however, have said that with ongoing construction projects under way the site is no longer safe for the annual memorial..... instead suggesting a nearby park. The family groups are furious and are threatening to sue the city over the matter.

"Ground Zero is the graveyard for many of the people who died, so it is the obvious place to mourn them," said Jim McCaffrey, a firefighter who lost his brother-in-law, Orio Palmer, in the hijacked plane attacks on September 11, 2001."

My 2 Cents:
Ground zero is NOT a "graveyard" for anybody. It is the site of a terrible attack. People die everyday and we can't put up memorials or make shrines in every public place were tragedy has occurred. Cemeteries are set up for this purpose. They are set up for people to mourn the dead....even in cases were bodies can't be recovered. I'm all for making a nice little 9/11 garden or memorial somewhere that these people can go to since it was such a big part of our nation's history, but for them to claim that they have rites to that property is just silly.

On a similar note, I get tired of seeing shrines to deceased drivers scattered across the roadways. Yes, people die everyday on the streets.... that doesn't mean that we need wreaths, crosses, flowers, etc.... set up for years at each intersection to remember them. These are public places and life goes on.

Cheese Stands Alone

2007-07-29T06:57:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure what happened, but I am now the ONLY family member in the state.

HP Update

2007-07-22T19:20:00.000-04:00

FINISHED THE BOOK!!!

It's POTTER time!

2007-07-21T15:51:00.000-04:00

I picked up my copy of "DEATHLY HALLOWS" this morning on my way to work. I'm hoping that in a couple days, I can sit down with it and READ READ READ! I can't wait to see what's in this last book.

I'll be updating my blog with my "Potter Progress". I won't be discussing the book here, but at least you'll know where I am in the book and I'd be happy to discuss with you anything that I've already read.

Happy READING!!!

Running off at the Keyboard

2007-07-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

- Although I love the TV show "ON THE LOT", I don't think I can watch it anymore because of the hostess. She grates on my nerves and is painful to watch. Starting next week I may just watch the movie clips on the internet. Definitely one of the worst TV personalities I've ever seen.

- One of my managers at the hotel was scheduled to work as a doorman this Saturday. Well, turns out that a property in S.FL had to fire 15 of their valets and the Orlando market is sending reinforcements to save the day. Because a bunch of our guys are going to Miami, I've been asked to step up and run the ramp at our property this weekend..... should be fun

- the Democrat Congress pulled an all nighter to debate the Iraq war. Although many GOP are calling this a theatrical stunt (yeah OK), I think it's exactly the right thing to do. In other words, I'm glad that they're taking the time to be activists. Too many of our elected officials operate during narrow office hours or through secretaries.

- I wish shoe stores carried shoes my size. It would be so much easier if my feet were a couple sizes smaller

- Harry Potter movie rocks. Love the new director/feel. Can't wait for the book to come out this weekend (too bad I'm working next week)

Swiss Miss

2007-06-23T05:32:00.000-04:00

High in the Alps today.... Literally looking at the beautiful snowcapped mountains.
We're in Interlacken Switzerland and the town is a buzz because the tour du Suisse is coming through today.

Today's activities
- Tandum parachute jump in about 10 mins
- Rope course adventure park
- Moped through the alps to Gimmelwald

Our train leaves tomorrow for Ampersterdam at 7am

Venice was awesome, we went to the opera
Luzern was great, but rainy..... we went to a dinner show where thez blew Alpenhorns, yodelled, and sang

I have to go.... this internet spaceship is timed.....

Day in Florence

2007-06-18T15:46:00.000-04:00

We took the early train to Florence this morning. It was VERY smooth and pretty quick. By lunchtime we had already checked into our hostel (kinda) and were walking through the streets of Florence looking for sights

-David was closed today, but we got to see the full-sized copy in the square
-Huge cathedral... very nice
-Ate more pizza... and our NEW desert we love is Italian ICE!!!!
-Weather was beautiful.... scenery was beautiful, our pad is beautiful (kinda)
-Took a bus to the Michaelagello hilltop at sunset for some spectacular views

Overall, Mark and I are thrilled with how today went. We came, we saw, and we're outta here. Tomorrow morning we'll catch another morning train to Venice. Our hotel (not hostel) Is about 30 yards from St. Marcos... RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF VENICE. The next morning, we're taking a direct train to Lucerne. We have reservations at a hotel for 2 nights right downtown so we should be in good shape for awhile (we went to a travel agent today).

Chao,

Roma

2007-06-17T16:01:00.000-04:00

Roma has been an Adventure

- Mark and I like the newer sections more than the ruins
- We're on our own.... no more tour
- We did Laudry....feel much better
- Mark and I have had enough pasta/pizza to last a lifetime
- We miss American food....especially the produce and drinks
-Roma has a LONG way to go to become a modern city
-It's been Gay Pride weekend in Rome.... Lots of marches and events (I thought I left that at DisneyWorld)
-Italians can been charming at times....pushy at others.
-In the central City, it's narrow streets and BEAUTIFUL. Where we are staying reminds me of Fort Pierce.... kinda rundown and blank
-I have no idea where people around here go shopping for ANYTHING! There are a million resaurants and Gelatoterias, but no markets of any kind
-They really like American music and TV/Movies.
-Mark and I are giants here. They asked us on two separate occastions about the size of our shoes.

We head out tomorrow morning for Florence.... we should be there one day and already have a reservation at a hostel (our first of the trip). It says on the webpage that it has internet connections, but we'll see what that means when we get there.
On the horizon; Venice, Innsbruck, Lucerne, Interlacken, Rhineland?

Farewell Rome..... we're off to the northern lands

Paris Notes

2007-06-14T08:10:00.000-04:00

Ah, Paris.... beautiful city

-Love to Effiel Tower. It lights up at night and sparkles
-Lovre was awesome.. really wished we could spend a couple days in there
-Sacre Cure was charming... I don't like that you can't take pictures in it, but Mark and I got plenty of photos of the area
-The French are all going to die of lung cancer
-The subway is funny: it runs on tires, you have to open the doors to get on/off, and they are really stuffy
-Nobody blinks an eye at police cars... they drive EVERYWHERE with there lights and sirens on. Nobody gets out of there way
-Cafe meals last hours... I think they spend all day sitting on the corner drinking expresso
-Love the little streets/ cobbled stones
-purfumary was a complete waiste of time. Too bad many Parisians don't use them

In an hour we board a night train to Rome, Italy. Can't wait to get there and do a little laundry. If I had to repack, I'd bring LOTS more shirts and less toiletries:pants.

Weather has been beautiful, but it's been a little sprinkly the last hour or so.... I guess it's time to leave the country and look for sunnier cities.

Au Revoir

French Keyboqrds

2007-06-12T19:31:00.000-04:00

French Keyboqrds qre q little different fro, the keyboqrds in the USQ: Qll of the keys qre in the zrong spots: To illustrqte the point; Iù, typing this blog using regulqr typing on the keyboqrd in our hotel:

?qrk qnd I toured Notre Dq,e cqthedrql todqy; qs zell qs Versilles: Ze qte dinner qt Buffqlo Bills qnd thought it zqs funnèy to see hoz the French viez the Q,ericqn Zest:

OK, I know it is hard to read.... but this is how the keyboard is laid out

Last Day in London

2007-06-10T11:38:00.000-04:00

Yesturday, our tour finally made contact and took us on a charming bus tour of London. Our guide is a very fun older English woman who reminds me of Julie Andrews. Anyway, tomorrow we depart for Paris at 5:15am (Yikes). We've walked all over the last couple days: Drury Lane (to see the Muffin Man), Berkely Square (to listen for Nighengales), etc...

Last night we took a train out to Homestead Heath (outer London) to meet up with Serena's friends for a picnic on a big hill that overlooks London. We played frisbee and catch, picniced on bananas/chicken/pringles, and drank Pimms (a summer drink). Fun times all around.

It gets dark very late here. The sun doesn't really go down until 9:30ish, and comes back up very early (4ish).

Today we walked Portabello Road and went all through the flee Market areas looking for "stuff". Lots of bags, junk, and clothes. Mark and I both got some good lookin' hats that make us blend right in (I'll post a pic in Flickr soon). We also walked the grounds of Kensington Estate (princess diana's house) and all through Hyde park...... GEORGIOUS WEATHER!!!!

Signing off from London...... Cheers

London days 2-3

2007-06-09T02:40:00.000-04:00

Wow, we've seen more of London than probably any Brit! We've done the Tower of London, saw the crown jewels, took a river cruise down the Thames, seen Tony Blair drive by when we were in Westminster, Saw the Abby, saw a military parade (attended by Her Royal Princess) with band/horses/canons etc, visited Buckingham palace, strolls through beautiful parks, out on the town on Pub crawls with a group of locals, high shopping at fancy stores (spent a fortune), and high dining at fancy restaurants (last night we ate chinese....cost us about $80).

Our tour never picked us up and never made contact, so Mark and I are seeing the sights ourselves. Anyway, they should be picking us up shortly for a sight-seeing tour of London (probably a quick bus ride through London). I think Mark and I have had a much better tour just by hanging out with the locals. In fact, Mark's friend Serina is taking us to the Globe theater tonight for a show!

Having a great time! Wish I'd have brought my laptop (it's so hard to dump pictures/video and wait to use the computers)

TTYL

I posted some flickr photos yesturday.

Greeting from LONDON!

2007-06-07T10:19:00.000-04:00

We made it!!!!

After numerous flight delays, we left American soil on India Air flight 112 to London. There were very few people onboard which made it possible to stretch out and sleep. For food, we had curry and pork, some veggies, some interesting sauces, and Chana Bits. The in-flight movies were funny little shorts like "Green Warriors of Thar". Our bounce landing (yes, the pilot almost lost it on our landing) brought ous onto our first every outside continent.

Immediately, some obsurvations:
- The accent, of course
- words like: Lift, way out, chewable toothpaste, Bap......
- It's BEAUTIFUL HERE
- the weather is cold, and the Brits think it's boiling..... we keep getting looked at for dressing warm
- Everybody is really nice and they do things much more proper over here
- There are a million cellphone stores, but nobody really knows about cellphones for tourist (*except Nigel in Waterloo station who sold us both phones)

Our hotel is great:
- heated towel rack
-balcony is about 1.5 feet deep
-we needed to flip the lightswitches "off" to turn them "on"

The underground is MUCH better than anything we have in the states. It's so clean and efficient. In fact... London has to be the cleanest city ever.... there are a million street sweepers.

Today we walked to the underground to picadilly station. Had a little breakfast at a cafe, then walked to Big Ben/Parlaiment. We saw a motorcade go by (right next to us) and "think" we saw Tony Blair. We also did the London Eye and got our bird's-eye view of the city.

Everything we do requires a bit of trial and error. Even the internet-cafe we're at right now took a little getting used to: we starred at the kiosk for awhile, put in 4 pounds (about $6) and bought a card. We then searched through banks of computers, but found none that worked. We finally went to the basement and found some that we could use..... Adjusting we are

Lola doesn't work here. We bought a new GPS (tom tom). He should work in both the states and Europe, but he cost a small fortune. I'll give'em a charge tonight and "play"

Love this beautiful place. We're having some fun now and our tour should start tomorrow.

MySpace

2007-05-29T20:58:00.000-04:00

For the last year, I have systematically watched as my neighbors moved out. As recently as a couple months ago, I was the ONLY car in the parking lot and didn't have ANY neighbors. Well, times are a'changin'. After coming back to my flat after a night with the parents I noticed that I now have downstairs neighbors. Yes, that's right... going to have to watch my music volumes and heavy stomping. Brightstar's dream the night before of hearing kids 'break in' to something really wasn't far off base.

From what I can see so far there are two kids bikes on their porch. Guess it's a small family.

YouTube Vids

2007-05-17T22:14:00.001-04:00

As earlier stated. I think I'll start posting some classic stuff on YouTube for posterity. Enjoy

Some random thoughts.....

2007-05-17T16:27:00.000-04:00

- I fell asleep last night watching American Idol. In my dreams, I was at the Publix seafood counter and the guy was trying to sell me fish that things hidden in them (Kinda like pearls and such.....Opa Opa Oyster). He then started ranting about rare coins and how they'd appreciate in value and be such a good investment. When I woke up, there was an infomercial/ late night sales show for valuable coins. You know, I think there's an untapped market for "Dream TV". They could put programing on to guide your thoughts while you sleep.... Hmmmm

- Only 2 days of school left.. .YAHOO!

- I'm going to post some classic Ninja/Penguin videos on YouTube. I'll post the link soon.

- EuroTrip countdown is in the TEENS.... YAHOO!

- I had a table fall on a 5th grader today. I had stacked them to make room for them to sit and he tried to push it. Well, the stacked of tables came tumbling down on him. Just goes to show: 1) Everybody is smarter than SOME 5th graders. 2) I can't kid-proof my library at the end of the year

- I'm looking forward to seeing "Inside Our Body" exhibit at the museum this weekend. Ninja had peeked my interested when he blogged about it a while back. Should be interesting.

So you think you can......

2007-05-09T06:22:00.000-04:00

"JUMPING" appears to be a new fad dance. I think it's halarious

Check it out

to toast OR not to toast......

2007-04-02T20:51:00.000-04:00

Toaster tech has remained relatively unchanged for decades. Well my friends, that's all changing nowadays..... I introduce to you not one, not two, but THREE new designs sure to make your toasting experience much more exciting!1. Imagine if you will, this beauty sitting on your kitchen counter. You have a guest stop by for tea can crumpets (but you're all out of crumpets, so we'll use toast instead). Can't you just see the delight on your guest's face when you start feeding fluffy white bread in one side and catch crispy brown toast on the other.... and if that weren't enough.... It has a rack for your toast to cool down while you "oooh and ahhhh" over your toaster. On the practical side: This isn't saving any counter space, it has mechanical parts, it'll get crumbs EVERYWHERE, and I'm pretty sure it'll jam (pun intended) if you load your bread crooked.

2. Now this here is a TOASTER!!! Inspired by the St. Louis arches (or maybe the McDonald's arches), this artsy design is sure to bring you minutes and minutes of joy. Nevermind that it takes up more space that any toaster on the market, it's really unsafe, and not very efficient..... it's got green accents which is toatally AWESOME!!! Oh, and there was no mention if the sliding rack even pops out or not..... you may have to toast some knuckles to get your toast..... but nothing good ever comes easy, Right?

3. Heck, those other two toasters ain't no good.... now THIS HERE IS A TOASTER!!! Simple, elegant, and super small. Meet the RollerToaster! Just think... you could pack this in your suitcase and bring it on your travels. And while we're at it, why stop at toast.... I'm sure there are other things around the house that you could probably roll through this device (fingers?).

Cruise Log #4

2007-03-23T09:45:00.000-04:00

It’s 9:00am on our last day. We’re currently anchored off the coast of Princess Cays in the Bahamas. We’ll enjoy a day of beach, volleyball, snorkeling, etc… Not much else to do on this island.

Tomorrow morning we’ll be back in Ft. Lauderdale. We’ll have to do some creative packing if we’re ever going to get our stuff off this boat. The other challenge will be finding a way to call for our ride. Mom left her phone on for the entire cruise and the batteries are dead. I guess we’ll figure that out when we get ashore (probably around 9:00am).

Yesterday was a sail day. We sailed past Havana and the Florida Keys on up to Deerfield beach before turning east. We enjoyed many onboard activities: Basketball, trivia, candyland, shuffleboard, gym, tour of the galley, etc….. Always plenty to do.

Tonight I’ll dump everybody’s cruise pictures/video into my laptop. I’m looking forward to making some “Cruise Videos” over my spring break in two weeks.

Signing off from the Bahamas,

Scott

Cruise Log #3

2007-03-22T13:44:00.000-04:00

Cruise Log #3

Today is a “sea day” so no ports to explore. We’re on our way to Princess Cay; our private island in the Bahamas. Ah, relax relax relax…..

Yesterday in Cozumel was fantastic. We woke at a reasonable hour, local time, as we pulled into dock next to Carnival Cruise Lines. I just have to say, I’m so happy with our Princess boat….It’s definitely got the best people, elegance, and activities. Carvival seems to be a big “party” boat with TONS of kids, Hollad America is for the Senior Citizens, Royal Caribbean wouldn’t be too bad, but I like our boat better. It’s just been a GREAT experience. Anyway, back to the day:

We walked ashore and there was so much shopping to look at. Everybody wants you to look at their stuff. “Amigo, for you a good price”, “Amigo, buy a braclet for the lady”, “Senior, please give me a Mexican minute”, “You’re just looking, I’m just selling” etc etc…. It was fun, they all expect you to negotiate for everything, and they all claim to be getting ripped off when you don’t budge. The also have a little sulk that they do when you finally settle on a price to make your deal seem like you’re taking them to the cleaners. It really was fun.

Our Segway excursion was great. We went out behind a building to a military troop carrier. I instantly started wondering if we were going to be on CNN as kidnapped Americans. We drove 10 minutes down the “highway” (a narrow road) to the Segway office. We received a brief 3 minute instruction on how to operate and maneuver… then we got our keys and jumped on. Now, Disney makes you practice for an hour before you can even leave the Segway room… these guys have us cruising down the highway after 5 minutes. We cruised down to the beach to a private pool/estate and changed into our snorkel gear.

Snorkeling was so fun. Crystal Clear water, lots of colorful fish, and reefs to look at. Our dive master would bring out some fish food and get the fish to swim all around us…. WOW! After, we washed up and Segwayed back to our office. Back to spend the evening shopping and dining on the ship.

Speaking of dining; Our party of 12 has dined with Robert, our waiter, each night at 5:45. He’s a riot and makes us all feel like royalty. Last night he picked up on the fact that we were all eating Alaskan king crab legs so he kept bringing out plates of crab legs whether we ordered them or not. There was food enough for a small country on our table…but we managed somehow. Robert entertains, takes care of us…including the kids, and makes sure we get the royal treatment. Last night he was hiding in the curtains behind our table when we arrived….we’ll see what he does tonight.

Wish you were here…. I’ll write more later,

Scott

Cruise Log #2

2007-03-21T09:02:00.000-04:00

OK, I'm gonna be brief (I'm charged by the minute here):

Cruising ROCKS!!! So much to do, AWESOME FOOD, and everything you need is always taken care of for you.
Our day in Ocho Rios Jamacia was a monsoon. It rained and rained....but it was GREAT! We went up into the mountains to the rainforest and used our Zipline cables to fly down the mountain through the canopy. At the bottom, we followed a raging river back to out bus. Along the way we saw so many beautiful flowers, trees, and animals (peacocks, hummingbirds, etc..)
Yesturday was Grand Caymon. Very different since it's a British commonwealth. The water was a super bright aquamarine blue. Our snorkel trip was cancelled due to choppy seas, but our bicycle tour went all over the island....including Hell. I've got some great pictures to share when I get back.
We'll be in Cozumel in about 30 mins. I can see the entire Mexican coast from my window. Today we'll be riding Segways along the beach and snorkeling. I've got my sunblock on so LET THE DAYS ACTIVITIES BEGIN!!!

CHEERS!!!!

Cruise #1

2007-03-19T07:38:00.000-04:00

Wawa Wheewa, Cruising is the life. From the moment we stepped on the boat, we've been given the royal treatment. Our stateroom is VERY nice: Two beds, plenty of closet space, and best of all.....a BEAUTIFUL balcony with plenty of outdoor furniture. In fact, I'm composing this message from our balcony with my feet propped up and open sea as far as the eye can see. The other side of our ship has had a view of the Cuban mountains all day. Anyway, back to our experiences..... We got to our cabin and met up with Steve. He guided us to Rhonda's location.... she and the kids were shocked to see us on the boat. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

At dinner we had fun reading the fancy menu. What exactly does Zuppa Inglesis Ice Cream taste like anyway? So instead of trying to decide we ordered EVERYTHING (why not...It's FREE). Wow, they really know how to feed you on this cruise. The rest of the evening was spent exploring the boat with mom. We're gonna have so much fun.

The next day (day 2) I woke around 7 and walked out to the balcony. We had slept with the door wide open and the sea was so calm and blue. We went up for buffett breakfast (another great meal) and off to the spa for mom's massage appointment. I got her a 50 minute stone massage for her birthday. While she did that, I went to mid-ship and watched as two amazing chefs made fruit carving art. When mom joined back up with me she was a whole new person: so relaxed and happy. I'm looking forward to my massage tomorrow morning.

Cruising is an event planned affair. I was a little slow to catch on here. At breakfast I learned that all the others in our party were signed up for different classes/sessions. Even my plan to use the tredmills was put on hold when I found out you needed to sign up ahead of time. Tango lessons, trivia, yoga classes.... I was missing it. Around noon, Steve and Rhonda found me and we went to play trivia. Now I see how planned it really is.
I've got to get going soon. In 30 minutes I need to be showered, dressed in my formalwear, and in Steve/Rhonda's room for a group picture. Then it's off to dinner. I see that there are show this evening at the theaters and ballroom danciing.... sounds like a plan to me.

That's all for now..... I'll write again soon,
Scott

Going Postal

2007-03-09T20:52:00.000-05:00

Kudos to the post office..... I think this is the best idea they've had EVER!!!.

Bridge to Terabithia

2007-02-18T17:35:00.000-05:00

Watched the movie (never read the book) this weekend. It was an interesting story, but not really an entertaining one. I guess I just don't get it! It's a movie about imagination setting you free....... NO, it's a movie about life's ups and downs...... NO, it's a tragedy about two foolish kids who took their adventure too far. Uh, I don't know?

Actually, the parts of the movie I liked best were the parts that had NOTHING to do with Terabithia. That whole side of the movie was a waste of film for me.

I give it a thumb down. Definitely ranks down there with "HOOT" (another Walden Media movie based on the book).

Think it'll work?

2007-02-18T17:29:00.000-05:00

The UN & ISO have come up with THIS for the new Universal symbol for radiation. I dunno, I think it's a little complex. To me, universal signs shouldn't be step-by-step instructions on how to do something. Here were clearly see the old symbol at the top showering it's squiggly rays down on the lowly peoples. One person happens to be a pirate... the other an athlete or someone who needs to use the restroom quickly. So what are we going to be seeing this on? The x-ray machine at the dental office? (run for your lives)? You new cellphone? (you gonna die man)?

Seasons of the Week

2007-02-15T17:13:00.001-05:00

Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall...... these are the seasons of the WEEK. If you were thinking "year" you'd be wrong.

Monday (SPRING): - Kinda overcast but pleasant. Mix of sunshine, then a few showers. Temp outside was not too hot, not too cold.

Tuesday (SUMMER): - Really balmy and humid out. At 3pm (dismissal time) all hell broke loose and the rain came down from horizontally. The 65+ mph winds blew some nearby roofs off. I've only been out in 1 other storm in my life like this.....and that had a tornado flip cars less that 2 miles from where I was.

Wednesday (FALL): - BEAUTIFUL outside. Nice crist air.... Sunshiny.... Open the windows and love it.

Thursday (WINTER): - Overcast. Colder and colder throughout the day. Break out the jackets and bring in the plants.... we're expecting a hard freeze tonight.

Such is life in Florida

Ramblin' again

2007-02-11T09:16:00.000-05:00

- Bookfairs were put on this earth to teach kids about sales tax..... and to remind media specialists that no matter how frustrating our jobs get, it could always be worse

- The fire alarm at school always seems to know the moment I have 150 kids in the library. Bookfair shoppers, library patrons, and all my volunteers have to drop whatever they have in their hands on the floor and line up at my back door (which I have to dig out of the bookfair shelves). Never fails.

- What do I do with an entire Saturday to myself? I stayed in bed 'til 6pm (getting up only to eat and potty). It was really weird 'cause I kept checking the time trying to figure out if there was anywhere I needed to be soon. I think I really needed that time off.

- I know it's months away, but I can't wait to go on vacation!!!!

- I hear guitar hero is coming out for the Wii. Time to ROCK!!!

- I should hear by the end of the month who the principal for the new school will be. That will play a big part in my decision to stay/leave my current school.

- My brain age today is 26

- The '08 elections are a year and a half away.... I don't what to hear about it

- I watched a movie on A&E called "Jesus Camp". It is obviously a lightning rod movie, but some of the interviews were a little over the top. What got to me most was that the brainwashing of children started at such an early age (If I employed some of these techniques at my elementary school I'd be fired in a heartbeat). These people were very closed minded, prejudice, and racist..... in the name of Jesus. It boggles my mind that Christians can be just as guilty as any other religion in using their faith as a springboard for hatred and war (They even refer to themselves in the movie as Jesus's army).

I reminds me of the "Rock the Universe" night at Universal Studios a few years ago. This night was billed as a Christian gathering/concert night in the park. Although all the people wore Jesus shirts and chanted Jesus songs, they were downright mean and out of control. By the time I left I has ice thrown at me (because I was wereing a UF shirt at the time), and was namecalled becuase I didn't want to high-five everybody as I went through the ride lines. It was a real eye-opener into the difference between what a religon TEACHES, and the ACTIONS of it's followers.

- Did I mention my brain age was 26 :-)

Kicked to the curb

2007-01-24T03:38:00.000-05:00

So this family is upset that they were kicked off an AirTran flight because their 3 year old daughter was having a tantrum and wouldn't sit in her seat before take-off. The flight had already been delayed 15 minutes because of this, but the family still thinks they should have been given more time to calm the girl down.

You've got to be kidding me. Of course this little girl should have been kicked off the flight. In fact, she's lucky the FAA didn't throw her in the slammer for being a domestic terrorist. I know that this is something that all children do at some time or another, but you can't stop of airliner filled with 122 other passengers because little princess is refusing to buckle up.

After flying them home on a different flight, AirTran has given them a complete refund for their tickets and offered them complimentary tickets for a future flight to anywhere that AirTran flies. Say WHAT?!!?!?!! WTF is that all about..... I could see MAYBE giving them a break on their return flight fair, but a refund? and extra tickets? Shoot, let's throw in some DisneyWorld Annual passes and a winning lottery ticket.

The father is quoted as saying "it's too little too late.....we'll never fly AirTran again"! One things for sure, if they decide to drive to their next destination and the child starts her hissy fit, you can believe they won't get the royalty treatment from other drivers.

Ramblin' about dis and dat......

2007-01-22T20:46:00.000-05:00

- Apparently I got a writeup in the newspaper about being National Board Certified. I'll have to get a copy from someone and take a look. I went to a fancy dinner last Friday to receive my award from our county.... I even got my "brag badge (a special nametag that touts our achievement for all to see).
- Played paintball Saturday. I was pretty sure I was recruited as an easy target but I did a lot better that I thought I would. Ended up taking out some snipers and getting into the enemy territories before going down (and then only because I thought the guy who shot me was already out so I didn't shoot him first). I did get to shoot my principal..... I know it's buggin' him, but he hasn't said anything (hee hee)
- Went a hypnotist Sunday evening. It was amazing! He had complete control over 6 or 7 people, and partial control over many others. He almost had me but my eyes were twitching and I thought about them too much and woke myself up. I later learned that the eye twitch is the biggest/last hurdle before you're down for the count. He got my friend up there (total control) as well as partial control of my assistant principal (who doesn't remember anything before he told her to "sleep"). It was so interesting to watch.... I'd love to go back again. The mind is capable of so many things..
- In the news, a man is not allowed on an airplane because his Tshirt says that President Bush is a terrorist. This is completely a violation of free speech. Boy the government can sure dish it out, but they can't take it.
- I started an after-school video club today. It was so much fun. We make a commercial for our poetry contest coming up! Can't wait for next week's club meeting.
- Congrats to da'Bearsh and da'Colts for gettin to da Supa Bowl. That's about as excited as I can get about this game. Pro ball has NOTHING on college sports.... GO GATORS!
- Washed my BrainAge Nintendo DS game in the laundry. Still works like new. Even the sticker stayed on "like new".
- That's about all I can think of right now..... Goodnight all.... it's bedtime

India does it Better......

2007-01-11T17:09:00.000-05:00

My Bestbuy.com purchases have slowly found their way back to the sender after being shipped to the wrong address. This has put me on the phone with customer service several times to find out what I need to do to get a refund. Today I got an email that my items had been received back at Bestbuy.com and my accounts would be credited. The problem is that some of those items were for ME and I used giftcards to buy them.....then threw away the giftcards.

So anways, I called again today to see about getting a replacement giftcard sent. After the dispatcher patched my call to bestbuy.com call center I got the kookiest service rep I've ever heard. He picked up the phone and didn't say anything. After several seconds I said "Hello?" and he replied back, "Hello! What do you need?" I explained my story (again) to him. He replied "What am I supposed to do about it". After explaining that I expected him to help me, he started huffing and puffing into the receiver. It was really kinda funny.

Now here's the kicker..... after everything I said, he would reply "Thank you, Thank you very much" (Just like Elvis). It was too funny. After telling him my order number that had a 1-6-0-0 in it, he replied "That's a big Sixteen hundred on my SAT..... Thank you, Thank you very much"! I was beside myself. I can't believe people actually get away with doing this to customers in the USA. No wonder India has the corner on this market!!!

Let Freedom Ring

2007-01-05T06:04:00.000-05:00

I've always been against our "specialty" license plates in Florida. Support the Arts, Save the Manatees, Support Education, etc. The one that I can't believe they put out has been the "Choose Life" plate for anti-abortion. It's not that I've chosen a side on this issue, it's that I feel strongly that you state license plate shouldn't reflect your views. I've always said, "if you're going to have a "Choose Life" plate, you've got to be equally respectful if somebody wants to put a "Choose Death" plate on their car.

I'm reading in the paper this morning about the new "Pro Choice" plates that are proposed. These new plates will be debated I'm sure, but it's not about what the message says..... it's about EQUAL opportunity to see both sides of an issue. I can't believe those STUPID IDIOTS in our state legislature didn't see this coming when they proposed such polarizing plates to begin with... Now it's time to live with the results of their decisions.

Stop Being Homeless

2007-01-02T19:40:00.000-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR ever-body! This time of year is marked by self-reflection and resolutions for personal improvement. While most resolutions include a healthier lifestyle, few of them are ever realized because they are either too ambitious or the motivation to change ebbs quickly.

The homeless, however, have resolutions too. You would think improving yourself would be easy when your in the gutter, but it's harder than it appears. This video highlights some of the struggles homeless people face in keeping their resolutions.

Take Care and God Bless.

And the great swami says:

2006-12-09T18:21:00.001-05:00

It's already happened: Weather types are already predicting and super-sized hurricane season for next year. Since when have they ever nailed down a good prediction? More importantly, who cares what the prediction is.... when you see a hurricane pop up on radar and it's coming close to your house.... RUN FOREST RUN! If it's not coming (or doesn't form), who the heck cares.

It's amazing that we have such little comprehension of mother nature. I think we should do away with the titles of weather forecasting, and meteorologist and just call them what they are: Radar watchers. Any dang fool can see a cold front coming. Any dang fool can see a line of showers, or a big storm coming. But much more than that....it's all a guess.

Dear Phone Company

2006-12-07T20:20:00.000-05:00

I don't want your stinkin' phonebooks so PLEASE STOP SENDING THEM!

I haven't owned a home phone for 8 years.... I rarely ever use my cellphone for anything except family calls, and if I ever wanted to call a business or resident I'd use the internet. Yet every year I get 8 new phonebooks delivered to my doorstep that I'm never going to use. I usually have to make a special trip to the dumpster because that many phonebooks fills up a garbage can in one shot. We've got a national "Do Not Call" list.... can't we make a "Do Not Solicit" list. Anytime I get unsolicited ads (or phonebooks), I consider it a form of vandalism. If you stop and thing about it... they are throwing something that I would never pick up myself (ie: trash) and forcing me to take responsibility for it's disposal. I don't want that kind of responsibility. If I find a flyer on my windshield wiper and throw it on the ground, am I littering?.... I think not. I would merely be removing the vandalism from my vehicle.

NO MORE PHONEBOOKS! GOT IT!!!!!..... GOOD!

GO GATORS

2006-12-02T22:03:00.000-05:00

TWO BITS, FOUR BITS

SIX BITS, A DOLLAR.....

ALL FOR THE GATORS.... STAND UP AND HOLLA!!!!!!!!

Libraries Rock

2006-12-01T03:52:00.000-05:00

There's nothing quite like a good library..... I just wish I had a good one. After boycotting the Osceola County Public libraries for a good 7 years I decided to give them another try. To their credit the place looks much more like a Borders or Barns/Nobles. The staff is much friendlier and willing to help.... a HUGE change from years ago. My disappointment is in their actual collection... they have very few CDs, DVDs, Audio books, and BOOKS! I went their hoping to score an audiobook version of one of the Sunshine State Young Readers books. My first couple searches turned up only 1 print copy at the MAIN BRANCH! Are you kidding me?... ONE stinkin' copy? I guess an audiobook version is WAY out of the question then.

Don't get me wrong, I still love a good library. It's one of the only institutions in this world set up to serve the public for FREE!! In fact, as a school media specialist/librarian I love to provide these same services to my school. A library without materials, however, is not worth going to very often.

I WIN!

2006-12-01T03:51:00.000-05:00

December 1st... and no snow in NYC this year (even though it snowed in Buffalo NY the weekend I was there in October).

Do you know this address?

2006-11-29T19:53:00.000-05:00

PO Box 540040
EL PASO, TX 88554-0040

If you don't know it... you better get started on those mail-in-rebates soon.

Wii for ME!!!

2006-11-29T03:57:00.000-05:00

I had the opportunity to play with a Nintendo Wii Tuesday. It was so.... Nintendo (I love it).

Black Friday Deals

2006-11-15T16:39:00.000-05:00

Here they are.... Shoppers start your engines!!!!

http://dealspl.us/Black-Friday/

Time to update the family gift giving wiki

Yep.... I need my own

2006-11-12T07:56:00.000-05:00

I can't wait to have a washer/dryer of my very own. This morning I woke up extra early so I could wash my work clothes (typical weekend ritual). Not many people wash clothes early in the morning so I usually have the place to myself. Today I noticed that the laundromat door deadbolt had been engaged and left open, but went about my business in solitude.

During the wash cycle I went around the building to the gym to take a walk on the tredmill. Nothing really heavy, just a light stretch/warmup for a day of running at work. When I came back to the laundry room, there was a man and woman on the bench. The woman was sleeping in fetal position with her head resting on his lap while he read the morning paper. I also noticed that they weren't doing laundry..... so they had to be homeless.'

I finished my wash cycle and moved my stuff to the dryer, then left. I thought about them stealing my clothes but seeing as it was just my work uniform I figured they wouldn't want them. When I returned 30 minutes later, they were both standing next to my dryer looking very guilty. My dryer was 'OFF' too (It's supposed to go for 60 mins). Apparently they had put their clothes in with my clothes to dry them off. I took my clothes, felt them to make sure they were dry (which they were since I only put 3 articles of clothing in). The woman then turns to me and asks "Sir, may we have the rest of your minutes to dry our clothes?" HOLY FREAKIN' CRAP!! You may as well..... you were tampering with my clothes anyway (GRRRRR)

Yup, I can't wait to have my own washer/dryer.

Pretty Pretty

2006-11-10T18:03:00.000-05:00

This site has some interesting photography. What's more is that the photographer talks about how the piece was composed. I thought it was pretty amazing.

I'm the Deaffest brotha on the block

2006-11-09T18:08:00.000-05:00

I took the "Tone Deaf" test..... It's 36 little jingles that are played twice. You have to decide if they are the same or different.

I don't know how scientific it is, but it was fun (scored an 88.8)

German Engineering strikes again

2006-10-29T19:12:00.000-05:00

The last two days have been absolutely beautiful to run in. As a valet at Disney's Swan and Dolphin hotel, I've been waiting ALL SUMMER for this kind of weather (It's tough to run when it's 98 degrees and drive back in a car that's 150 with the windows up).

Anyway, today I ran out to the back of our parking lot to retrieve a hot little BMW convertable (as soon as I saw it, I remembered parking it yesturday because I couldn't seem to find "Reverse" on the stick shift). Anyways, I jump in a pray that I can get it in reverse (or I'll look silly using my foot with the car in neutral). I turn the key and rrrrrrr rrrrrrr rrrrrrr; dead battery.... YUCK.

I run back and let the shift manager know about the problem.... hoping he'll send someone to jumpstart the car..... he sent me. So I run back out to the boonies with the car charger and "attempt" to figure out BMW engineering (I can drive cars just great.....but don't ask me to look under the hood). It took me a good 5 minutes to find the hood release (I looked everywhere I could think of). Then another 3 minutes to figure out the hood latch. TA DA! I'm in.... now where in world is that battery? After looking high and low, I found a cable that had a red casing on it (looked like a terminal to me), so I put the positive clamp on it and the negative clamp on the edge of the car..... NOTHING. I unclamped everything I touched the two clamps together..... BIG SPARKS, it's hot! After another 4 minutes of floundering the calvary arrived; two other valets and the shift manager. They schooled me very quickly that in these cars the engine is under the hood, but the battery is under the trunk boards (duh). So a quick jump later the car roars to life and the calvary charges back to the ramp....... leaving me to use my foot to get it in reverse.

Thankfully, the guest was very understanding.

Running off at the keyboard.....

2006-10-26T19:24:00.000-04:00

- I'm getting a BEST BUY (not to be confused with Buy Best) less than a mile from my house (the LOOP). It'll be opening May 2007.

- My computer died.....so I got a new one

- Halloween doesn't feel like Halloween this year. Instead it's just October with NO holiday

- Had a great time in NYC with Ninja!

- We were first place this week at Trivia Night (thanks to brightstar as my "phone-a-friend")

- I've been staying after school on Mondays and Tuesdays to excercise with some teachers. They are working me to death, but it's finally starting to get easier.

- It's only a matter of time before I have a downstairs neighbor.... they finally put a real lock on the door.

Why am I still paying for cable?

2006-09-25T22:24:00.000-04:00

Cancel the cable...... YouTube offers hours of entertainment for free. Let's see what's on tonight's listings:

Science Programing: Build your own flame thrower

Educational Programing in a hurry: World Politics lesson in 30 seconds

Nature Programing: Frogcicles

Technology Programing: Boom

So many channels... so little time.

Just typin.....

2006-09-12T22:09:00.000-04:00

- I can't believe that eDonkey is gone for good. I used that little server to get all kinds of music, software, and such. Now I'm back to square one in my search for a Peer-to-peer provider..... Think I'll try Morpheus w/ bittorrent.

- I can't wait to strip the DRM off of my itunes purchases. Hopefully the software will be ready in a week or so that will make it easy to do.

- Speaking of Apple, I'm interested to see what their little iTV box can do..... gotta figure out how I can use it in a educational setting.

- I found out today that one of my friends at work is leaving to take a job with the district.... A real big bummer.

- I think Sept 11th shouldn't be about the people that died. It's rehashing the horrors all over again each year. Imagine the children who can't ever get over this tragedy because every year it comes back. They need to be able to move on with their lives..... I DO however, believe that the USA should not forget that we live in a world where people mean us harm. My point is 9/11 shouldn't be about what happened to who, but about how it impacted America on the world stage.

- I can't wait to pack up my bookfair tomorrow :-)

Peterson's Principal

2006-09-06T17:21:00.000-04:00

No, that's not a typo in my title.... Let me explain:

The Peterson Principle (as I learned it back in undergrad) states that people tend to get promoted to positions they are least likely to succeed at. A skilled laborer may have mastered his craft to perfection, however if he is promoted to a management position his skills are will no longer match his job title and he will flounder.

I bring this up because the Assistant Principal at our school is driving me crazy. And I know I'm not the only one with this problem..... AP's in general seem to be hit-or-miss with their management skills. In my case, he runs the school as the dictator of a small country (my school). He has stated that his role is to give "directives" and that it's our job to follow them. Well, yes and no. True he is the man in charge... but we're all on a team that need to work together. By taking a dictator position, he is pushing people away who are trying their darnest to work with him (did I mention his excellent business sense doesn't translate to educational sense). Because of this, I'm seriously looking at alternative places to work (I let our district supervisor know that I'd be interested in looking at the new schools for next year). I know I need to stay "in field" to keep my National Board Certification.... but is something great comes along, I want to keep my option open to jump ship.

I've heard an old saying that states: If you love your job, you'll never work a day in your life. I've always said I'd stay until it wasn't fun anymore..... So far this year, I've worked my tail off and it's not very fun.

Go Rednecks!!!

2006-08-25T19:58:00.000-04:00

I was a little skeptical about watching a video called "Redneck Rocket Launcher", but I'm actually very impressed! Can't wait 'til the 4th of July!!!

Words of Wisdom

2006-08-22T17:30:00.000-04:00

I love it when I see or hear something that makes complete sense. I recently came across a blog that sounds off about the differences between college and the working world. After reading it, I felt like shaking the author's hand and saying "Amen brother"! Take a moment and enjoy.

A Rose By Any Other Name.....

2006-08-08T21:07:00.000-04:00

So I'm entering kids into our computer systems at school so they can take AR quizzes and check out books. It seems like more and more kids are coming to school with hyphenated last names. I think it's just plain silly. Pick a name and stick with it.....

In a related story, I watched a news feature last night on a couple that is selling the naming rights to their unborn child on eBay. The starting bid is something like $14,000. I'm all for free enterprise, but think it should be illegal for those kinds of parents to have kids. Names are a huge part of a persons identity, it's a part of someone's life.... NOT FOR SALE! These parents obvisouly don't care about that. I feel sorry for little baby "goldenpalace.com" who's not going to see a dime of that money.

Let's get ready to RUMBLE!!!

2006-08-01T07:05:00.000-04:00

Goodbye quiet July, Hello August! Not 5 hours into the month and we've already got a tropical storm pointed at South Florida! Welcome to hurricane season..

Yummy Yummy

2006-07-27T17:30:00.000-04:00

OK OK, I'm sold before I've even seen the product. Intel's new Core 2 Duo chips came out today and I can't wait to get my hands on one. For the past year, I've been keeping up with how great these new chips are..... and today's the day they finally came out.

Could be a very good Black Friday this year (Wink Wink).

Let Freedom Ring

2006-07-19T17:47:00.000-04:00

So much controversy over the new design for Freedom Tower in New York City (the building that replaces the twin towers). On one side is a creative designer who was brought in to design a masterpiece. On the other side is a builder and develper who look at the new building in terms of being practical & secure. I'm all for the builder.... 1st off, I think the designer is crazy. He keeps talking about making the building evoke an image of the Statue of Liberty by making the metal twist and having it's spire shoot into the sky on one side. To me, his design doesn't remotely evoke the Statue of Liberty..... just a freakin' lopsided building. The Statues sits out in the harbor.... it's green.... it's a statue. Buildings, on the other hand, are buildings..... they can be charming or interesting in their own right, but NO skyscraper in the work is ever going to look like a person.... exspecially not buy sticking a lopsided tower on the side (I can't believe this guy gets paid to be an idiot). Beauty, simplicity, and function are all relivant characteristics of building design. This particular project has some symbolism for our nation as well, but lets not get carried away. I think the new freedom tower design is great. Let's build the thing and shut up about a stupid tribute to the Statue of Liberty.... after all, how many Lady Liberties does NYC need?

Survey

2006-07-06T23:48:00.001-04:00

I need your opinons..... I set up a google personalized homepage (kinda like my.yahoo), but I've got too many news sources to look at. SO WHICH ARE THE BEST?

- Reuters: Top News
- MSNBC.com: Top Headlines
- CNET News.com
- ABC News
- USA Today
- New York Times
- FoxNews.com
- CNN: Top Headlines

I'm probably keep 2 or 3 so GO AHEAD AND VOTE

Brilliant Idea

2006-07-06T13:33:00.000-04:00

Too bad barcodes are going to be replaced by RFID tags soon.

The Dark Ages

2006-07-03T17:03:00.000-04:00

Welcome to the dark ages.

It's been a tough week. For the past 10 days I've not had any internet or cable at my condo. My only fix was to use my laptop in my old apartment for a few minutes each day. So many times I've wanted to look up a product on the internet, or find a google map of an address. On the up side..... I have read 3 books.

Saints be praised, today I finally got connected again! Ahhhhhhhh, feels GREAT!!!

Finally....

2006-07-03T16:54:00.000-04:00

What is it? You'll never guess so let me tell you. It's a floating bed. That's right, for 1.5 million dollars this bed floats on magnets. I can't imagine it would be a very good sleeping device, but it's probably just a matter of time before we see one on MTV Cribs.

Now, what's really exciting about this is that it looks like a hoverboard. Yup, that's right.... the hoverboard from "Back to the Future". Since that movie came out kids have been drooling to get their hands on one... only to be told that the technology doesn't exist. Well excuse me, but if we can sleep a couple people on a floating bed, what's to stop the hoverboard from being on storeshelves next Christmas?

News Flash

2006-06-29T13:49:00.001-04:00

- Goodbye World!!
I just read on the local news website that there is a "potential hazardous astroid" headed to pass earth this weekend (Actually 12:10am July 3rd). It's over 1/2 mile wide and expected to get as close as our moon... That's just a little too close for me.

- I'm going through major media withdrawl. My internet and cable TV is scheduled to be hooked up Monday afternoon. Until then, I savor my time at my old apartment cause I can still get online with my laptop.

- High Definition..... it's the way of the future! (It's also the way of the past)

Happy Father's Day

2006-06-18T22:47:00.000-04:00

Happy Dad's Day!!!

On this joyous day of days, I offer another nomination for "Stupid Invention of the Week".

What father wouldn't want a high capacity jump drive to take files back and forth between the office? It's every father's dream. Now I know what your thinking.... Jump drives are so boring looking these days.... You wish they were a little more fun to play with, right?

Well your prayers have been answered. Introducing the Jump Drive Teddy Bear!! By day it's a cute cuddley bear, but with a twist of the head, he transforms into a high tech storage device for the 21st century. You'll be the talk of the office for sure with this thing in your computer.

What will they think of next?

2006-06-16T09:36:00.000-04:00

Brilliant... I love it. Somebody put LED lights inside their water faucet then hooked them up to a thermometer. The result: Your water is red when it's hot, blue when it's cold, and white when it's room temp.

Not so brilliant..... but WAY COOL! Somebody modified a toy robot by giving it a flame thrower. It's good to know that we still have some creative ingenuity in this country.

Correction..... I love SOCCER

2006-06-13T12:27:00.000-04:00

Please disregard my previous blog. I have grown to LOVE Soccer in the past 12 hours.

WOW, SHE"S HOT!!!!!

Sports: Who really cares?

2006-06-12T22:38:00.000-04:00

So the World Cup is being played in Germany this year and the nobody in the US really cares. Ask the average person on the street about the US team or the top World Cup seeds and your bound to get blank looks. So what is the bigger tragedy: Not doing well at the world cup?.... or not caring about the sport in the first place? The problem is that OTHER people care and want you to care too (Soccer is by FAR the world's most popular sport).

I'm flipping through the channels tonight and came across the "Rocks, Paper, Scissors WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP"! Yes folks, this was on national Television. The contestants were real, the fans were real, the cash was real ($50,000 prize)..... but WHO REALLY CARES! It's not a sport in "my book". In fact, neither is baseball, swimming, NASCAR, darts, or any other sport I could care less about. So who am I to say that "Rocks, Paper, Scissors" isn't a sport....... after all, it's a sport to somebody.

Glad they aren't mine

2006-06-07T21:47:00.000-04:00

So I'm on my way to Beverly Hills for a little R&R and my car starts to shimmy all over the place on the Turnpike. I pull into a rest area and check my tires (I had been having trouble with one losing air recently). Turns out my tire had bubbles all over it and was getting ready to blow. I turned around and went back to Toyota to see if they had time to gimme 4 new tires. "NO PROBLEM"! It would be about an 90 minutes.

I went to a little mexican restaurant to pass the time: REAL mexican restaurants have waitresses that don't speak English, have menus written only in Spanish, and have Coke/Pepsi served in really old school glass bottles.... it was quite an experience

Anyways, back at Toyota... waiting on my car.... I walk in and there are 7 or 8 kids running all over the place screaming at each other as they pretent to blast each other away with their finger guns. For about 10 mintues they went CRAZY: Crawling under my legs, under furniture, climbing on chairs and jumping off, screaming at the top of their lungs, giggling all the while. Finally one of the employees came over and chewed them out... got them all set up with a movie and walked away. They were quiet all of 60 seconds and then started right back with each other. 20 minutes later, one of the Toyota employees got the idea that these kids just needed some cookies to keep them quiet. Instantly the room was quiet and the kids were angels. She put the remainder of the cookies at the coffee table in front of me (in case I wanted one) and walked away. Well, about 2 minutes later, the kids spotted the cookies and started taking 3 or 4 each..... it was a mess. Finally, one of the little kids (maybe about 5 yrs old) quit beating aroudn the bush and took the entire platter of cookies to his corner.... so much for that snack!

For they entire time I was there, these kids were some of the worst I've ever seen. I can't believe Toyota would allow them to go crazy like that..... Sure I know their mom/dad are probably in a big deal, but so are many other customers that I bet got fed up and walked out. Even though I work in an elementary school, I couldn't wait to get my car back and get as far away as I could.

Baby Gas Hood

2006-06-06T10:57:00.000-04:00

Here's my nomination for "crazy product of the month". Are your children protected?

National Boards are DONE!!!!

2006-06-03T20:31:00.000-04:00

The tests are over.... my National Boards are FINALLY DONE!!! Yahoooo!

The good news is that out of the 6 tests that I took, I think I:

- ROCKED THE HOUSE on 4 of them

- DID OK on 1

- BOMBED the last test.

Hopefully, my good sections will give me enough points to push me over the edge and achieve my boards. If not, I'm going to have to study another year and retake the last part again. We'll find out at the end of NOVEMBER!!!

Confession

2006-05-25T06:42:00.000-04:00

I have a little confession to make: I am a terrorist

Evil doers, terrorists, threats to national security.... these are the buzzwords being thrown around to justify spying on the American public. The problem is that there are no checks or balances to this process and can/is grossly misused by those in power. What is a terrorist anyway? Of course the first thing you think of is a middle Eastern dude with a gun or the Sept 11th highjackers, however in most countries you are a terrorist if you disagree with the current government (again, I'm guilty). Now the government wants to spy on the media so they can find out who their anonymous sources are.... this is just CRAZY!!! Sure, reporters constantly deal with information that could affect the integrity of our nation, but a FREE nation needs to have these liberties without fear of pursecution. Per capital, our elected officials are some of the most unethical, lying, cheating, stealing people on the planet.... yet this administration feels that they should be givin a greenlight to spy with absolute authority because they know bests....... BULL %@#$.

I feel the Bush aministration has not only bent the rules and values of our Constitution.... He's darn near written his own. In my opinion, he is a threat to our National Security and needs to be labels a Terror suspect (see, if I were Bush... who could stop me for my opinion?.... NOBODY)

BTW, I've joined the ACLU fight to speak out against this crap. If your interested... visit their website and sign their petition: ACLU.org

Hapland 3

2006-05-04T20:44:00.000-04:00

Alright ya'll, Hapland 2 took me the better part of an hour to complete..... Hapland 1 was a little less. This new version of Hapland took me over 5 days (probably around 1.5 hours a day) to complete!!!! Now I can go to sleep at night without wondering what would happen if I just _______ or if I change the order of ________ and ________ (Yes, it really did keep my brain spinning for days).

Anyways, It's over now and I'm feelin' like I'm on top of the world (completing the hard puzzles gives a great sense of satisfaction). Give it a try if you're up to the challange.

Handicapped? Then Press the Button!

2006-05-02T17:56:00.000-04:00

The title of this blog serves two stories:

1. At my request, my school district has finally installed a handicap button for my library door. Sure, we have one on the back door but nobody uses that door and it stays locked all day. Now the wheelchair students at my school can rejoice in the new button I have given them. On the other hand..... EVERYBODY pushes the button. Nobody wants to actually push or pull the door open anymore because they know about the new "easy button"; a quick tap and the door opens..... for a whole 10 seconds before closing). So, I've been giving the "Don't press the button unless your handicapped" lecture all month.

2. Blogger has added a similar "easy button" to their comment page. You want to see it? Simply leave me a comment and direct your eyes to the right when it asked you to type in the confirmation letters. This is a new wheelchair logo, and being the curious cat that I am (ok, so I'm just as bad as the kids at my school), I pressed it. Go on now.... give it a try! We'll see if the Blogger people give us the "Don't press the button unless your handicapped" lecture!!!!!!!

Can't afford to live

2006-04-28T03:35:00.000-04:00

Over the past few days, I've taken several steps to look for affordable housing for next year..... and I'm getting REALLY frustrated.

It started earlier in the week when my apartment complex informed me that my rent was going to climb another $150 next year (this after the $110 increase from last year). I thought, "they much be out of their minds..... I'm outta here"! Then I started looking around and found that EVERYBODY is out of their minds!

I've gone to the internet and used several real estate calculators to see what kind of morgage I could afford...... basically, NONE!! I went to my credit union to see if they had any first time buyer programs or excellent rates they could point me to....... NOTHING!

So for right now, things are looking really CRAPPY for the future. If I stay a renter, I may start looking for a roommate. In the meantime, I hear that modular homes (formally known as "mobile homes") could be a nice change.... I'll look into that some more.

Reinventing the Wheel

2006-04-26T21:25:00.000-04:00

I just don't get it. There are a number of companies (mostly in Eastern countries) that are racing to invent to next big thing in walking. Whether they are exoskeletons or some kind of assist device, these biped inventions just look silly when you concider that we already have a segway technology. Really people, what are we going for here..... a horseride experience? I think I better give the parking lot guys at Epcot a heads up that their Segway experience could change soon.

What's that in the Sky?

2006-04-09T08:58:00.000-04:00

After a record 40-some days without rain.... last night the sky opened up and said "hello"! From about 1am - 4am there was a steady stream of BEAUTIFUL lightning and thunder.... mixed with moments of heavy rainfall (I stayed up ALL night on my balcony working on my laptop....it was fun). As the sun came up the rain vanished leaving only wet roads.

Then 10 day forecast has sunshine sunshine sunshine as far as we can see..... Who knows when the next rain will come.

Whoa!

2006-04-04T18:00:00.000-04:00

Wednesday is a ONCE in a Hundred Years event..... Hope you don't miss it:

At two minutes and 3 seconds after 1pm the time will read:

01:02:03 04/05/06

GO GATORS

2006-04-03T22:36:00.000-04:00

TWO BITS,
FOUR BITS,
SIX BITS,
A DOLLAR,
... ALL FOR THE GATORS
STAND UP AND HOLLA!!!!!

Video Memories

2006-04-03T22:15:00.000-04:00

So I'm in the process of converting all of our family DVDs to computer files (DivX). It's been a hoot watching some of the old footage! Hopefully in a couple weeks I can share my files wit everybody.