Wahoo! Jane was able to get in.
I just installed a McAfee Antivirus on the computer, so I'm hoping that it might help the computer work better. I had to get around the ancient Norton anti-virus that I couldn't UN install no matter what I did. Somehow it worked, and is on my computer now.
I'm hoping John had a nice birthday. I still haven't done anything nice for my sister Elaine who got married way last summer, so I guess no one would expect that I would be doing anything nice for John's birthday. But, maybe I'll surprise them both, sometime.
More later.
Tuesday, February 24, 2004
Friday, February 20, 2004
Well, it seems that nobody has figured out how to respond to this. Maybe I need to invite you all again. I'll study the "Help" section and see what to do.
Right now, I'm happy because we got a treadmill, and I'm getting a little exercise.
However, I am coming more and more to believe that sugar is the source of much trouble in my life. I think it makes me lose my memory. (I'm keeping track of this, but I've been OD-ing on sugar this past week, and the kids who live here are noticing that my memory is even worse than usual.
I also think sugar makes me feel lethargic and goal-free. I mostly want to sit in a chair and stair at the wall. That is my big goal. That's a symptom of depression also, I think, but the sugar thing is real. Maybe more minor and more quickly fixable. Just stop eating sugar. That is easier said than done, however. Especially for a tightwad like me who sees delicious packages of Valentine hearts (truffles) marked down 75% to $1. Yikes!
But the pleasure is not worth what it does to you. Finish off the heart box, and head for the tread mill. Better still, throw the heart box in the trash, but you know I never can do that. Better, even better, DON'T BUY THE MARKED-DOWN candy.
Right now, I'm happy because we got a treadmill, and I'm getting a little exercise.
However, I am coming more and more to believe that sugar is the source of much trouble in my life. I think it makes me lose my memory. (I'm keeping track of this, but I've been OD-ing on sugar this past week, and the kids who live here are noticing that my memory is even worse than usual.
I also think sugar makes me feel lethargic and goal-free. I mostly want to sit in a chair and stair at the wall. That is my big goal. That's a symptom of depression also, I think, but the sugar thing is real. Maybe more minor and more quickly fixable. Just stop eating sugar. That is easier said than done, however. Especially for a tightwad like me who sees delicious packages of Valentine hearts (truffles) marked down 75% to $1. Yikes!
But the pleasure is not worth what it does to you. Finish off the heart box, and head for the tread mill. Better still, throw the heart box in the trash, but you know I never can do that. Better, even better, DON'T BUY THE MARKED-DOWN candy.
Monday, February 09, 2004
Well, I made three pans of cinnamon rolls last night. Christine came home from work and said, "I should take these over to the bakery for samples, they are so good!"
They were so good that I'd eaten about 6 of them before Christine even got home.
It's been about 15 years since I made any cinnamon rolls, and maybe it will be 15 more, because Christine and I are going to sit down together tonight and really work out a serious eating (and non-eating) plan, accompanied by exercise.
For me, it will begin tomorrow.
That means I have to gobble up that extra package of Oreos I got at the blood center today after I successfully donated platelets. Ha!
They were so good that I'd eaten about 6 of them before Christine even got home.
It's been about 15 years since I made any cinnamon rolls, and maybe it will be 15 more, because Christine and I are going to sit down together tonight and really work out a serious eating (and non-eating) plan, accompanied by exercise.
For me, it will begin tomorrow.
That means I have to gobble up that extra package of Oreos I got at the blood center today after I successfully donated platelets. Ha!
Tuesday, February 03, 2004
Today I taught half a day for a music teacher. Imagine my surprise when I went into the room and found another music teacher there. It was a couple of music teachers who team teach. They put two classes together and work together. Consequently, he had everything planned and I basically sat there for three hours.
This is frustrating for me for three reasons:
First, and I don't say this to brag, but just because it's true---Usually I would do a better job than they are doing, and it kills me to sit there and watch. Occasionally I get a few good ideas, but not often. Today the teacher had good classroom control using a few gimmicks and the "candy box," but the kids spent most of the time listening to him recite the words of a silly program they'll be doing in the spring. He would say the words, then they'd listen to the song, then the kids would sing. Over and over. I hated to think of all the times they'd be doing this before SPRING!
Second, they don't need me, so I sit there like a dummy. This particular teacher told me he had everything planned, and they really didn't need me, but it was a rule that they had to have me. Sometimes, he said, when they can't find a sub, the teacher agrees to teach the whole class, and gets paid the sub pay. He sounded a little remorseful that I'd showed up. It makes me mad that teachers can't just cover once in a while without getting a sub OR getting more pay.
So that gets me to the third frustrating point. I start thinking of how rotten the system is that forces these rules upon teachers and subs and kids, and how if people were only generous on the one hand, and didn't take advantage of others on the other hand, we wouldn't need these rules that botch everything up.
This is frustrating for me for three reasons:
First, and I don't say this to brag, but just because it's true---Usually I would do a better job than they are doing, and it kills me to sit there and watch. Occasionally I get a few good ideas, but not often. Today the teacher had good classroom control using a few gimmicks and the "candy box," but the kids spent most of the time listening to him recite the words of a silly program they'll be doing in the spring. He would say the words, then they'd listen to the song, then the kids would sing. Over and over. I hated to think of all the times they'd be doing this before SPRING!
Second, they don't need me, so I sit there like a dummy. This particular teacher told me he had everything planned, and they really didn't need me, but it was a rule that they had to have me. Sometimes, he said, when they can't find a sub, the teacher agrees to teach the whole class, and gets paid the sub pay. He sounded a little remorseful that I'd showed up. It makes me mad that teachers can't just cover once in a while without getting a sub OR getting more pay.
So that gets me to the third frustrating point. I start thinking of how rotten the system is that forces these rules upon teachers and subs and kids, and how if people were only generous on the one hand, and didn't take advantage of others on the other hand, we wouldn't need these rules that botch everything up.
Today I taught half the day for a music teacher. When I went into the room, there was already a teacher in there. Later I found that there are two music teachers who team teach. So, I mainly just sat there and watched the fellow teach for three hours.
This is so frustrating to me, for three reasons.
First, and I don't say this to brag, but only because it's the truth...most of the time, I could do a better job than they are doing. This particular guy was a good musician, but he wasn't a good teacher of children. They spent the whole period singing and repeating and going over a silly little musical production they will put on in the spring. I can't imagine how many days of that there are for them in the future. There was lots of classroom control and forced listening and repeating, but no fun. And the songs were quite boring. And Difficult! Big jumps and fast notes for 1st and 2nd graders.
Second, I'm bored because they don't need me and they don't use me. There is no reason for me to be there, and, in fact, this particular teacher told me that sometimes when they can't get a sub, one of them just takes both classes and gets paid the sub pay. In other words, he seemed disappointed that I came (to sit). What a racket.
Third, I sit there thinking how rotten the system is that they can't just cover for each other once in a while without having to call a sub or get paid more. I can see how it would be hard to handle two classrooms all the time, but once in a while. Please!
This is so frustrating to me, for three reasons.
First, and I don't say this to brag, but only because it's the truth...most of the time, I could do a better job than they are doing. This particular guy was a good musician, but he wasn't a good teacher of children. They spent the whole period singing and repeating and going over a silly little musical production they will put on in the spring. I can't imagine how many days of that there are for them in the future. There was lots of classroom control and forced listening and repeating, but no fun. And the songs were quite boring. And Difficult! Big jumps and fast notes for 1st and 2nd graders.
Second, I'm bored because they don't need me and they don't use me. There is no reason for me to be there, and, in fact, this particular teacher told me that sometimes when they can't get a sub, one of them just takes both classes and gets paid the sub pay. In other words, he seemed disappointed that I came (to sit). What a racket.
Third, I sit there thinking how rotten the system is that they can't just cover for each other once in a while without having to call a sub or get paid more. I can see how it would be hard to handle two classrooms all the time, but once in a while. Please!
Monday, February 02, 2004
I guess today we could call this GROUNDHOG-BLOG!
Why do you think anyone came up with the dumbest holiday ever---GROUNDHOG DAY? It isn't as if February needs another holiday. There are plenty of good holidays around this time of year. Why don't we just forget about GROUNDHOG DAY! It doesn't mean anything! The groundhog doesn't really do anything. In fact, it's a pet groundhog they use to predict the weather on this day, not even a real wild groundhog. So stupid! If I was teaching school, I would throw away all my groundhog stuff (except the book called, "The Big Snow') and never mention it again.
That's my tirade for the day.
Yesterday I took some photos of family members sledding down the hill outside. I brought them in to put them on the computer, and somehow got them in bmp instead of jpg---so now I can't get them to go in the e-mail. Do I have any idea what I'm doing? No! I think it's the computer playing tricks on me. I'm serious about this. It's getting a little unstable, and one of the ways it manifests this is by whimsically changing all the settings. Very frustrating.
Why do you think anyone came up with the dumbest holiday ever---GROUNDHOG DAY? It isn't as if February needs another holiday. There are plenty of good holidays around this time of year. Why don't we just forget about GROUNDHOG DAY! It doesn't mean anything! The groundhog doesn't really do anything. In fact, it's a pet groundhog they use to predict the weather on this day, not even a real wild groundhog. So stupid! If I was teaching school, I would throw away all my groundhog stuff (except the book called, "The Big Snow') and never mention it again.
That's my tirade for the day.
Yesterday I took some photos of family members sledding down the hill outside. I brought them in to put them on the computer, and somehow got them in bmp instead of jpg---so now I can't get them to go in the e-mail. Do I have any idea what I'm doing? No! I think it's the computer playing tricks on me. I'm serious about this. It's getting a little unstable, and one of the ways it manifests this is by whimsically changing all the settings. Very frustrating.
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