Handicapped? Then Press the Button!

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

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

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?

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!

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

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

Video Memories

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.

Next Job

So I'm finally done with Naitonal Boards....time for a little fun! Tonight I went to VANS with my friend to let loose and burn off some energy. There are all sorts of people on the catwalk with video and digital cameras... taking picutres all over the place, but sometimes I feel as if someone is watching me. Tonight someone WAS!!

As I finished my session and was taking off my skates, a dude and his wife came to talk to me. He works with Disney to provide them with skating talent for their park and events. Apparently he wants me to skate for a Thursday night promotion for the new Destination Everest ride at Animal Kingdom. I'd be in full "mountaineer" costume for 4 hours... just skating around, interacting with the guests (30 mins at a time).

The only thing that has me put off is that the guy didn't have a business card. I'm not giving him any personal information (other than my phone number) until he can give me something that has a company name on it with contact information. If it all checks out it sounds fun... we'll see what happens.

Group Mentality

16 strangers were arranged into 4 groups for an expieriment. Each group then entered Manhattan using one of several means (1 group came by boat, 1 by train, 1 by cab, ect). Their goal was to find a way to meet up with each other in the city.

Now, you may say, that could take forever! Experts in group mentality, however, gave them very good odds.

The expieriment started at 9am and by noon they had all found each other. Think about it; there are only a handful of really big "get lost points" in Manhattan: Times Square, Empire State Building, Grand Central Station. I believe two of the groups met in Times Sqaure, and the other two met at the Empire State Building. It's also interesting because as the participants got into the project, they started to really use their resources; shy people were approaching everybody for information, they made signs and tried to stand out so that others could find them....... it worked like a charm.

I went online looking for the specifics of this project and came across websites for "Flash Mobs" in Manhattan. For those that don't know, this is a bunch of people who agree to converge on a specific spot at a specific time (for example; Nick's Shoe store @ 4:40pm). Timing is everything because all of the sudden there are hundreds of people mobbing the location at once.....it's really weird.

So what does this say about people: Well, for starters; goals are extreamly powerful. Having goals and working toward them makes us use our resources at a remarkable level of efficiency. Then there is the social aspect; people will do things that are completely out of their individual comfort zone if it fits with a group social acceptance.

Goodbye Box !!!

It's over... It's all done and gone! My National Board Entries are on their way to New Jersey to be scored. This box of paper has been on my brain now since September 2005. With it done, I feel a huge weight lifted from my shoulders.... I can SMILE again!!!

Today was my first day back to school after being on Spring Break. Normally, this would be a bummer, but today it feels awesome!! I can finally start tackling all the work that has piled up at school. Yes, my "to do" list is a mile long, but I can acutally WORK on it....YAHOO!!!

My next step is to take the other 6 computerized tests this summer. Then it's a waiting game until my results come one Thanksgiving which is fine with me...... all that matters is that I'm DONE WITH MY BOX AND IT'S FINALLY GONE!!!! YAHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!