Abuse of Power

There is not much that a girl can't get a guy to do. Look sad, cute, that sort of thing, and he is like putty in their hands. Pardon the comparison, but it is a lot like a puppy dog. People's hearts melt and they give in to every whim or fancy. I am not sure why they have this power but they do. Really it is not fair.

At the end of school on Friday a girl walked into my class, and like a fly on the wall I got to watch her use this power. She walked over to a group of guys and in the cutest voice she could muster said, "who wants to walk me to the Library?" (Note that the library is about a three minute walk from the classroom). At first nobody wanted to go, but then she gave them the puppy dog eyes. Then in a matter of seconds several of the boys suddenly seemed to want to do nothing else. Now they were stuck having to decide who got to go, when nobody wanted to go just seconds ago. Eventually, it was figured out and one "Lucky(?)" guy got to escort her to the library.

Looking at it from this vantage point, it is rather ridiculous, though we all know that I have fallen for the trick many a time, as have many other men.

"Lord of the Flies"

The other day I had a class where they were watching the movie "Lord of the Flies." The school is a fairly ghetto school and I don't like going there because nobody shows teachers any respect, hardly worth the money that I get. Anyway, if you don't know what the story is about, a group of English kids are stranded on an island after a plane crash. One class I had loved to comment and two of their comments are worth writting down. "Why is everybody white." and "They talk like they do in Harry Potter." Even more disturbing was that instead of reading "Lord of the Flies" they were just watching the movie.

Gizmo

For our Birthday's, Colette and I got a new cat. Her name is Maddy (short for Madeline) though we call her Gizmo because she sounds like a gremlin and might be one so we just don't get her wet. She is adorable, loves to cuddle, follows us around the house, watches movies with us, and plays fetch which is awesome. There is nothing about her that we don't love. Actually, her only downside is that she is mesmerised by the computer just like the T.V. but likes to walk across the keyboard. (though i now have an excuse for the fact the I can't spell) The best part of all is that Solomon and her even get along just fine and love to chase each other around the house. It is great.

(Solomon, since Gizmo has arrived, has become very territorial. At the same time another cat has decided that he needs to hang out on our patio. Normally Solomon is looking and the window and puffs up and starts pacing between two windows wanting to get outside. Though one time Solomon was outside on the patio when the cat came up. Solomon climbed over our "gate" which stands all of 2 1/2 feet tall (he is afraid to jump to the unknown) and started beating the cat up. I ran after them and saw a cloud of cat fur flying and Solomon kicking this cats butt. I grabbed Solomon and the other cat ran away. them. Solomon has not been allowed outside since the battle as punishment plus he destroyed our gate in the climbing process. We finally have proof that the wild cat in Solomon is still there and can kick butt)

Caedmon's Call - Overdressed

If you have not had the pleasure of listening to the new Caedmon's Call album I suggest you find a copy and listen to it. The album has left my CD player once since I bought my copy only to promtly return. Derek Webb lended some great songs to the album, Andrew Osenga proved once again why he a musical genius, and of course the others simply continued to do what they do best. The entire album is amazing and I recommend getting the album.

it has been a while

I have been completely slacking on this blog for the past several weeks. I have been busy getting used to actually having to work again. I apologize and plan on getting things back on track.

Back to school and parents that don't care.

Tuesday marked my first day back as a sub; back to punk little kids who think they are hardcore thugs. On Wednesday I had to break up a group of kids before it turned into a fight. I got the smaller guy and aggressor to back down as he claimed "it wasn't worth it." (I think he really meant he didn't want to get his butt kicked). I had a female student with six different brightly colored extensions in her hair. It looked really trashy and even more stupid. I am sure that more stories are going to be flowing out of this school year before all of the "problem" kids get shuffled around to where they can be managed or just sent away. It is sad to me as I realize that most of these kids just don't have parents that care.

I saw a form on "my desk" from a student whose parents didn't want to participate in a program that would let them check up on their children's progress through the year. The program is free and allows parents to check grades, homework, attendance, etc...Why as a parent would you not want to do that? Even if you have the perfect child, it won't hurt you to check on your children. I don't get people sometimes.

More stories to come...

A Green Car

"The new Accord boasts an environmental first: a six-cylinder gasoline engine that's cleaner than many hybrid systems.
There's only one catch: You can't actually buy this ultra-green Accord, or the four-cylinder version that also produces near-zero pollution. That is, unless you live in California, New York or six other northeast states that follow California's tougher pollution rules. Only there can you buy this Accord, or the roughly two dozen other models that meet so-called Partial Zero Emissions Vehicle standards, PZEV for short.

"So, just how green is a PZEV machine? Well, if you just cut your lawn with a gas mower, congratulations, you just put out more pollution in one hour than these cars do in 2,000 miles of driving. Grill a single juicy burger, and you've cooked up the same hydrocarbon emissions as a three-hour drive in a Ford Focus PZEV. As the California Air Resources Board has noted, the tailpipe emissions of these cars can be cleaner than the outside air in smoggy cities.

"The PZEV cars don't get any better mileage than conventional versions. Would most self-interested Americans even pay a lousy 100 bucks for cleaner air that doesn't put fuel savings back in their pocket? "With hybrids, the selling point is fuel economy, so there's a dollar amount on that," said William Walton, Honda's product planning chief for U.S. cars. 'We want to give people the cleanest vehicles we can produce, but how much are people willing to pay for clean air?'"

Read Entire Article here