It's actually more of a navy blue, but this is my new baby. There may be a christening soon. Not sure what she'll be called yet. And real pictures will be available soon, once it's light outside again.Saturday, September 30, 2006
Joe Testa is my new best friend
I got my new car today. Joe Testa, the internet/fleet manager at Downtown Toyota in Oakland sold me an indigo ink 2007 Matrix XR with cruise control for $1000 below MSRP, the exact price I asked for. I didn't have to haggle or stress, the whole process took three hours with all the paperwork, and I have the exact car I want. Finally. I think it helped that I went in at 4:30 PM on the last day of the month. And paid cash.
It's actually more of a navy blue, but this is my new baby. There may be a christening soon. Not sure what she'll be called yet. And real pictures will be available soon, once it's light outside again.
It's actually more of a navy blue, but this is my new baby. There may be a christening soon. Not sure what she'll be called yet. And real pictures will be available soon, once it's light outside again.
Friday, September 08, 2006
The Last Few Weeks
Well, it's been a good three weeks since my last post, due mostly to the fact that I now have a full time job again. School has begun, and I'm finally back into school mode with a vengeance. I've been staying up way too late, drinking way too much caffeine, and telling Kerriann I'm just about to leave work, then remember twelve things I have to do or getting sucked into more fun conversations with coworkers.
So here are the highlights of the past few weeks.
The new student retreat
This is the only chaperoning event faculty members compete to be accepted on all year long. Why? We camp for three days, two nights, have very little to do because we've got great upperclassmen to do all the dirty work, get to go whitewater rafting, miss some of the beginning of the year teacher meetings, and most importantly, we get out of doing other horrible chaperoning duties, such as breaking up students freaking on each other on the dance floor during school dances in the hot sweaty gym. I never attended a single one of my own high school dances, so going to Bentley's as a chaperone is a little creepy.
Well this year at the retreat, I got to drive myself to the campsite since I needed to leave a bit early to attend a wedding the same weekend. No bus chaperoning duty for me! Excellent. But, because I had a car, I was the lucky chaperone tapped to act as ambulance driver when a student had a peanut allergy attack one night after eating dessert that we oh so intelligently served in the dark. Not sure what we were thinking. So imagine driving as fast as you possibly can, safely, with a 15 year old boy in your backseat going into anaphylactic shock with the hospital about a 20 minute drive away on twisty, unfamiliar, poorly lit roads. The student's fine, by the way.
The commitment ceremony
My ex-girlfriend from my college days has finally tied the knot with her partner in front of all the requisite family and friends. It was quite lovely - in a park in San Francisco, pretty close to the bay, lots of friends as part of the ceremony. Weird to see her younger siblings all grown up (I'm so old), but a fun evening. Which brings me to the conundrum of - what the hell do I want my commitment ceremony to look like? No clue. No political statements during the ceremony for me, but no idea what the vows should be, no idea who will officiate, no idea who will be attending, no idea where we should have it, no idea when we will have it. The hope had been to get hitched next April. Don't see that happening now. Maybe end of next summer?
The return to school
In an effort to make this year easier by getting students to do some of my prep work while acting as TAs for my lab classes, I've created another prep for myself. Now I have to teach the TAs too. I'm not sure this was the way to go yet, but the kids who've expressed their interest are all my former students and are all rock stars. I must be doing something right, so that makes me feel pretty good. I was also told by two other students from last year that I was the best teacher they've had - ever. That kind of made my year, so it's all down hill from here.
Back when I was in school, we never did anything fun and out of the ordinary during the school day. Just class. If we were lucky, we might get to go outside to do some physics lab or something (I hated physics), but nothing like what Bentley did today. Today was Field Day.
Bentley has an interhouse system, just like in the Harry Potter world. I happen to be in the Centaur house, and we are the reigning champions. We stomped the Dragons, Minotaurs, and Gryphons last year, mostly due to our amazing showing in the final event of the year - four way Capture the Flag. Well today was a mini field day to start the year off with some school spirit. Students competed in an egg toss, wheel barrow/piggy-back relay, hula hoop caterpillar race, body surfing race, tug of war, and capture the flag. While most events saw a few students stretching the rules in the heat of the competition, for the most part students and faculty were very sportsmanlike. Until the stakes got high. In our version of capture the flag, each team begins defending 6 softballs in their home base. They also try to steal the softballs of other teams. The game started with 6 balls in each of 4 teams, making 24 balls. At the end of the game, 26 balls had been "collected". Hmmm. Now if you're gonna cheat folks, you have to be a little more subtle than that. We ARE teachers, after all, and are here to make sure you know how to count and measure and do math and can read. And play fair and follow rules. Not sure what happened today, but I was pretty bummed by it.
The dog entered daycare
Ripley made it through two hour long interviews that I had to pay for, so that I could then continue to pay the same people to watch her during the occasional day while I'm at school. Doggie day care is HUGE in the bay area. The first place, called Pride and Pedigree, is brand new. Virtually no client base so no playmates for the Ripster and the warehouse smelled like brand new rubber flooring, but it's about ten blocks from my house. You can't beat that convenience. The second place, called Happy Hound, is a little out of the way, but has been around for a while and came highly recommended. I had to wait a week and a half to schedule Ripley's interview. I was so proud when she was given the thumb's up at this place. Apparently she's got more separation anxiety than we thought since she didn't want to play with other dogs for a good while after I left her on the first day. She warmed up eventually though, and I even got to watch her during the day on their webcam.
Ripley's also now been in the bay as well. We went to Point Isabelle with Mango and her family and while on dry land, the dogs played happily together with the other bajillion dogs that were in the park. But when the lab in Mango came out and she ran into the bay after her tennis ball, the shadow in Ripley got the better of her for about 15 seconds. But then she realized she'd just run into WATER, which she HATES, and was quite comical as she high stepped it out if the water as fast as she possibly could.
And then my sickness prone dog got doggie pink eye. Did she get it at day care? Did she sniff the wrong dog's butt at the park? Did she get something in it in the woods playing with Tia? Who knows. But now I have to apply ointment to her eye three times a day for five days. She likes that about as much as she likes the water.
So here are the highlights of the past few weeks.
The new student retreat
This is the only chaperoning event faculty members compete to be accepted on all year long. Why? We camp for three days, two nights, have very little to do because we've got great upperclassmen to do all the dirty work, get to go whitewater rafting, miss some of the beginning of the year teacher meetings, and most importantly, we get out of doing other horrible chaperoning duties, such as breaking up students freaking on each other on the dance floor during school dances in the hot sweaty gym. I never attended a single one of my own high school dances, so going to Bentley's as a chaperone is a little creepy.
Well this year at the retreat, I got to drive myself to the campsite since I needed to leave a bit early to attend a wedding the same weekend. No bus chaperoning duty for me! Excellent. But, because I had a car, I was the lucky chaperone tapped to act as ambulance driver when a student had a peanut allergy attack one night after eating dessert that we oh so intelligently served in the dark. Not sure what we were thinking. So imagine driving as fast as you possibly can, safely, with a 15 year old boy in your backseat going into anaphylactic shock with the hospital about a 20 minute drive away on twisty, unfamiliar, poorly lit roads. The student's fine, by the way.
The commitment ceremony
My ex-girlfriend from my college days has finally tied the knot with her partner in front of all the requisite family and friends. It was quite lovely - in a park in San Francisco, pretty close to the bay, lots of friends as part of the ceremony. Weird to see her younger siblings all grown up (I'm so old), but a fun evening. Which brings me to the conundrum of - what the hell do I want my commitment ceremony to look like? No clue. No political statements during the ceremony for me, but no idea what the vows should be, no idea who will officiate, no idea who will be attending, no idea where we should have it, no idea when we will have it. The hope had been to get hitched next April. Don't see that happening now. Maybe end of next summer?
The return to school
In an effort to make this year easier by getting students to do some of my prep work while acting as TAs for my lab classes, I've created another prep for myself. Now I have to teach the TAs too. I'm not sure this was the way to go yet, but the kids who've expressed their interest are all my former students and are all rock stars. I must be doing something right, so that makes me feel pretty good. I was also told by two other students from last year that I was the best teacher they've had - ever. That kind of made my year, so it's all down hill from here.
Back when I was in school, we never did anything fun and out of the ordinary during the school day. Just class. If we were lucky, we might get to go outside to do some physics lab or something (I hated physics), but nothing like what Bentley did today. Today was Field Day.
Bentley has an interhouse system, just like in the Harry Potter world. I happen to be in the Centaur house, and we are the reigning champions. We stomped the Dragons, Minotaurs, and Gryphons last year, mostly due to our amazing showing in the final event of the year - four way Capture the Flag. Well today was a mini field day to start the year off with some school spirit. Students competed in an egg toss, wheel barrow/piggy-back relay, hula hoop caterpillar race, body surfing race, tug of war, and capture the flag. While most events saw a few students stretching the rules in the heat of the competition, for the most part students and faculty were very sportsmanlike. Until the stakes got high. In our version of capture the flag, each team begins defending 6 softballs in their home base. They also try to steal the softballs of other teams. The game started with 6 balls in each of 4 teams, making 24 balls. At the end of the game, 26 balls had been "collected". Hmmm. Now if you're gonna cheat folks, you have to be a little more subtle than that. We ARE teachers, after all, and are here to make sure you know how to count and measure and do math and can read. And play fair and follow rules. Not sure what happened today, but I was pretty bummed by it.
The dog entered daycare
Ripley made it through two hour long interviews that I had to pay for, so that I could then continue to pay the same people to watch her during the occasional day while I'm at school. Doggie day care is HUGE in the bay area. The first place, called Pride and Pedigree, is brand new. Virtually no client base so no playmates for the Ripster and the warehouse smelled like brand new rubber flooring, but it's about ten blocks from my house. You can't beat that convenience. The second place, called Happy Hound, is a little out of the way, but has been around for a while and came highly recommended. I had to wait a week and a half to schedule Ripley's interview. I was so proud when she was given the thumb's up at this place. Apparently she's got more separation anxiety than we thought since she didn't want to play with other dogs for a good while after I left her on the first day. She warmed up eventually though, and I even got to watch her during the day on their webcam.
Ripley's also now been in the bay as well. We went to Point Isabelle with Mango and her family and while on dry land, the dogs played happily together with the other bajillion dogs that were in the park. But when the lab in Mango came out and she ran into the bay after her tennis ball, the shadow in Ripley got the better of her for about 15 seconds. But then she realized she'd just run into WATER, which she HATES, and was quite comical as she high stepped it out if the water as fast as she possibly could.
And then my sickness prone dog got doggie pink eye. Did she get it at day care? Did she sniff the wrong dog's butt at the park? Did she get something in it in the woods playing with Tia? Who knows. But now I have to apply ointment to her eye three times a day for five days. She likes that about as much as she likes the water.
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