starter pack

I was at work yesterday, and it wasn't very busy. We are in finals week right now at the college, so we're expecting lots of busy-ness in the testing center, but so far, it's been quite mild. This implies a calm before the storm, because they're all going to hit us Monday - the last day of finals. 

So we were hanging about being not too busy, and somebody jokingly suggests that Sarge go and reclaim something that had been "borrowed" from us and not returned. This was eluding to the fact that Sarge had spent some time in his younger days as a Repo Man. 

So Sarge looks to me and says he'll go get the thing if I get our little espresso machine to work and make him a coffee. Yes, there is a small espresso machine in our breakroom that nobody's figured out how to work. 

"I don't even drink those fancy coffees", I revealed, "why me?"

It's true. I've mentioned that Magnum and I take regular "coffee walks" on the weekends. We visit various coffee shops around town, but we are so boring - coupla drip coffees with cream, please. That's it. No mocha latte macchiato dolce blah blah blah. Sometimes I wonder if we're the only ones who order basic drip.

And then Sarge reminded me, "I used to be a repo man, you used to be a barista".

Omigosh, that's right. I had such a short-lived time as a barista, I'd practically forgot about it. 

Back when covid hit the US, shortly after we'd moved here, I was working at a quaint cafe inside a small local hospital. I enjoyed that job. The schedule was perfect, the team was wonderful, including the bosses. I had a list of items I prepared each shift, under no stress of the ticket machine, and my only customers were other staff in the kitchen. Plus it was a lovely bicycle commute.

Who knows how long I would've stayed on if not for a freaking global pandemic?

But then covid hit, the hospital stopped all elective surgeries, and even shut down the maternity ward. The cafe was shut down, and we provided a few to-go items for the lean staff on site. The kitchen had to be open for patients who were allowed solid food - usually 5 or less. The front counter stayed open for hospital staffers coming to quickly grab a coffee or snack and get out.

Management did what they could so that we all had at least a few hours each week. This meant that we would all become jacks of ALL trades rather than master of our specific job descriptions.

So I still prepared a few items, also delivered trays to patients, did what I could on the line, and... made and served those specialty beverages - tamping, steaming, frothing, and whatnot. There is surprisingly a lot to it, or so it seemed to cuppa-drip-with-cream me.

Daunting piece of equipment, even as I look at it  now

I ended up leaving that job because the pandemic wasn't going anywhere soon. But I suppose yes, I can say I was once a barista. 

Maybe after finals, when things quiet down, I'll figure out that little espresso machine in the breakroom. It's a kitten next to that lion of a machine at the hospital. How hard can it be? *famous last words*

In related news, I had my last tutoring session of the semester yesterday afternoon. They're on their own now. 

I tucked the math part of my brain away for a while and drew a Spider-Verse dude because...

I don't know.

sisters

With my sis, Running Sue, at P.E.O.
2016 Colorado State Convention

This week, I've been taking steps to get back into the P.E.O. groove.  

I've mentioned it before, but, in short, P.E.O. is a women's charitable organization.  I've been a "sister" since almost forever.  Anyways, we provide scholarships, grants, loans, and  friendship in support of women's post secondary education.  It's pretty much the only volunteer thing I do these days.

My mom was a P.E.O. and that's how I got involved.  I didn't know much about it back when I was 20, but it seemed rude to decline their invitation to join, so here I am. 

One nice thing about P.E.O. is that there are chapters all over the United States and Canada.  Move?  Hitch onto another one!  

So when we moved from Colorado Springs to Fort Collins a couple years ago, I knew I'd have sisters here to connect with.  There are 10 chapters in Fort Collins alone, and about 20 chapters if I include surrounding towns.  

Except... COVID.

Everything P.E.O. went to hell Zoom when COVID hit.  We still raised and gave away lots of money for education, but the social side of things  naturally dropped.  Typically, I would've started visiting other chapters shortly after moving here, but I got held in COVID limbo - Zooming with my CoSprings chapter until things eased up... which is now.

My phone and email have been lighting up with invites from local chapters to come visit.  This week, I visited two whose schedules meshed around my work schedule, and I'm on tap to visit another next week.  

Meanwhile, P.E.O.'s been working toward modernizing its image in recent years.  When I was a kid, this was pretty much what I imagined a typical P.E.O. meeting was...

peointernational.org

And this is what the propaganda circulating around P.E.O. looks like these days.

I'd say the current representation is somewhere in between the two images.  And it is still VERY much straight, white, Christian women.  Some are working to further change that up, while others offer strong resistance regarding changes to the Christian part. 

I will note that all of the women in this graphic are bona fide recipients of P.E.O. funds.

Meanwhile, no way will I visit all ten, let alone twenty local chapters.  I'll say five tops, then pick a spot to settle down.  Well... pending them liking me too. 😊

Until then, it's nice to be a sought after, wined and dined guest.  

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:

5. Share something that you worked on this week.

a most absorbing read

When some mishap happens (mishappens?), I usually try to look on the bright side. It can always be worse, right? 

So earlier this week, after my initial "*GASP* sh&t!", I began picturing worse things like

• the entire cup of tea
• milk instead of tea
• the loaded potato...

Okay, so the thing what happened...

Tuesday, I'd just come home from work.  It had been a somewhat long day, and I'd ridden my bicycle home with a blustery headwind bullying me the whole way.  Earlier, I'd picked up a library book from the campus library that I'd put on hold and had come up available. 

Once at home, I settled in, fixed a pot of hot tea, loaded up a baked potato snack, and began perusing the library book.  The book is "The Child Is the Teacher:  A Life of Maria Montessori".  Earlier in my mom career, I'd learned a bit about the Montessori method and felt supportive of it (although, our kids all went to public school).  I'd also had a tutor student who taught at a Montessori school.  She had interesting things to share.

But I'd never learned much about Maria Montessori herself.  This book is hot off the press and popped up in my "suggestions", and I thought I'd check it out and was happy to see that the local library had recently procured a copy.

So there I was, chilling at home with some hot tea, a savory potato, and a newly published hardcover library book, of which I'm probably the first person to ever check out.  

I think I got a text notification or something like that, and I stood up, tea mug in hand, to fetch the phone.  In so doing, I managed to dribble a bit of tea.

A dribble is all it takes.

That dribble of tea splatted onto the open pristine virgin page of the book.  I didn't even notice right away, but I turned back around and saw the page all splotched, wet, and wrinkly... NOOOoooooo!

I took a napkin and hoped to sop up the wetness in time.  Alas, the wrinkly splotch remained.  Next, I took my hair dryer to it on low cycle.  Mmmm, maybe dried it off, but the damage was done.  I closed the book and put it under a box of about 5 pounds and left it overnight.

This is what it looks like now.

Pretty noticeable?  Yeah?

The wrinkled pages are noticeable when the book is closed too.

Now, if his were MY book, one that I'd purchased for myself, I'd chalk it up to clumsy and move on.  Or if it were an older, previously enjoyed, worn-and-torn library book - fine. But it's a brand new library book!  

But if I think about it... Maria Montessori would probably be okay with it.  

Principle 5: Auto education

Auto education, or self-education...This is one of the most important beliefs in the Montessori method. Montessori teachers provide the environment, the inspiration, the guidance and the encouragement for children to educate themselves.

Welp, I guess I educated myself.  I wonder if the librarian will be happy about that?

I'll remind her that, at least it wasn't the loaded potato.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:
3. Write a blog post inspired by the word: accident

I don't need many words with you

My teammates and I showed up on time, looking sharp - almost unrecognizable.  Greg, a typical "granola" in t-shirt, rock climber pants, and hiking shoes, was decked out in his best interview suit.  

However, George was probably the most transformed.  George had a punk hairdo - whitewalls buzzed on the sides and forming a V at the nape of his neck, tufted bangs up front - and always wore hefty black boots, black t-shirt, and black jeans or shorts over his muscular build.  But there he was in his Sunday-goin'-to-meetin'-clothes

Then there was me.  I usually wore jeans, maybe a polo shirt, (now vintage) Reebok freestyle hi-tops.  But I wore a suit that day as well.  It was senior project presentation day, one of my final acts as a college undergrad.  

Greg, George, and I were good friends during that semester of our senior design project.  We actually had a fourth teammate, Steve - a pretty frat boy who was absent for most of the work. He might have been there on presentation day, but is foggy in my memory of it now.  I do remember him apologizing for not doing anything and offering to type up the report.  The remaining three of us thinking, "how's he gonna type up the report, he doesn't know what happened?"

Our project was a cute success.  We presented it, got our "A", and went on to graduate and do other cute things.

For my part, I sucked.  I was up there in my suit and realized I had not honed my presentation skills.  

I really shouldn't have been nervous.  We were just presenting to our professor and fellow classmates.  I got through it, but it was not a cute success.  Looking back, engineering classes in general at that time didn't require much discussion during classes, let alone presenting in front of class.

Afterwards, I realized that, up until that point, I really hadn't had much experience with public speaking.  It just hadn't come up other than maybe a handful of times in high school?  For some club fundraiser or such?  I certainly hadn't had any formal training.

Once I became a working girl after college, one of the first trainings I signed up for was "Effective Presentation".  The class lasted maybe a week, and there were about six of us plus the instructor.  We learned and practiced presentation skills, made and watched big honking VHS video tapes of ourselves, and got better.  Sheesh, if only I'd known in college.

Later, when I was busily volunteer momming in elementary school, I noticed lots of class presentation type activities required of the students.  I thought, "Oh, good they include this stuff in school now".  And I think it continued into middle school.  Hopefully high school too.

Seeing those kids up there, presenting compelling stories or describing a favorite possession calmed my nerves for their futures at the lectern. 

But at least I could play a mean game of Spanish Bingo!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linking up with Mama Kat this week for the prompt:

2. Tell us about something you never learned in school but should have.

state, the new community?

I worked last Saturday, and we began the day by ceremoniously taking down our COVID "decorations".

It still feels weird to be a member of the unmasked at work.  Our boss really kept a tight ship regarding masking and vaccine mandates and was the first to happily delete it all.  

Of course, masking is still optional - just as before COVID, really.  But we see very few masks around campus.  One coworker continues to wear his, mainly since his 83-year-old mother lives with him.

It's nice not having muffled speech, but I notice I need to apply lip balm more frequently as my lips are no longer kept in their controlled environment.

Yesterday was Pi Day.  The math department did  Pi Day "festivities" last week since the students are on spring break this week.  I don't know what they had going on other than free personal pies from a local bakery.  I didn't get one, they were gone before one could say "3.14159265359"

I work on a community college campus, and the rumor mumblings are that it is going to change its name to "so-and-so State College".  Some other community colleges have already made this change.  The reasoning is that "community college" has evolved into a somewhat demeaning designation.

I attended a Junior college for two years prior to transferring to a university for my bachelors degree.  I'm not sure the difference between a Jr. college and a community college, but the Jr. college I attended did have dorms and sports.  I don't think community colleges have those.  Ours doesn't and I could dig deeper and find out the true differences, but I'm not really interested enough...

Instagram

Despite not having sports or homecoming or really any sort of intercollegiate competitive teams, the college does have a mascot.  He can be spotted at random places and times, doing random things. 

I've wondered what purpose a community college mascot serves? 

Maybe he can head up the committee on whether to change the name.

we're the old ones now

Aside from biting the dark dust on Thursday morning, this has been a  nice week. And this weekend happened to be homecoming and parents' weekend at the university.

Back in the days before we lived here, Magnum and I traditionally skipped parents' weekend and instead came up to visit on the following weekend, rebels that we are.  Well, not so much rebellion, but more about avoiding crowds, traffic, and high hotel rates - provided one can find a room available.  

Plus, we didn't attend school here, but rather attended the in-state rival university, so no "homecoming" for us either.  We lived in town last year but, alas, there was a world-wide pandemic happening. There were no crowds or hotel logistics to deal with, but... yeah.

4th year's a charm, I guess, as we were actually present, somewhat.  We didn't go to the football game or bonfire, etc.  Leave that for the college kids.  Meego and his house mates hosted a parents' weekend BBQ bash at their place last night, so partake we did.

They are 4 guys - all great "kids" - renting a house near campus. Pretty decent place with a nice backyard for such events.  They've got a patio, grill, fire pit, corn hole out back and a well-done beer pong table in the garage *ahem*.  Veeery college dudes vibe.  And a nice turnout for the bash with all the house parents in attendance, even a coupla grandparents, and several college friends. 

Our hosts accommodated us by playing 80's music, while admitting to not knowing hardly any of the artists.  Magnum and I behaved ourselves and left the drinking games to the youngsters, although a coupla parents joined for a bit, citing Uber as an option.  Not sure about Grandma and Gramps.

So a nice week for the students, with the football team even pulling out the all important win.  One hitch was that the college Prez recently tested positive for COVID.  She stated in her email that she'd been exposed about a week prior, so was tested.  As such, she quarantined herself from homecoming events. So bummer for her, but she said she felt fine, and hopefully that's still the case.

The party was reminiscent of my own college days, although those guys live quite more comfortably than I ever did during those times.  In the meantime, I'm working through my gardening extension classes. Finished soils and botany and am now learning entomology (bugs).

Metamorphosis is interesting:  larval stage all about eating and growing.  Adults' job is to reproduce and die.  

Anyway, had a good time this weekend with the larvae.  Next?

dreaming, watching, shopping, working, oh my!

Just before I awoke this morning, I was dreaming of a black owl.  It was present in the background of my dream, but then it seemed to take an interest in me.  It followed me around and eventually perched itself on my shoulder and then my head, where it was happy.

Gosh, must be some profoundly meaningful dream!  But what is my subconscious/ the universe trying to tell me??  As I sat here pondering, I noticed the cheapo coaster I keep on my desk:

All right, so maybe it was a rando dream about coasters... or coffee... or... I dunno, cork?  Nothing to see here.

In other current events:

 

We finished "The Queen's Gambit" on Netflix.  I enjoyed the series with its well developed and engaging characters and plot.  I did find the final episode rather corny and predictable, but it tied up the story well enough.  

Speaking of tying up, remember elementary school how we'd sing when someone got new shoes?  I still remember the words to the song, try as I might to forget.

Anyway, I got new shoes for work this week.  I don't know how many steps I put in during a shift, but I'm sure it's a lot.  I was wearing simple canvas sneakers that were comfy on my feet, but my calves and knees felt like lead by the end of the day.  I chalked it up to poor footwear and went on the hunt for something better.

Sierra Trading Post came through for me once again.  I bagged a pair of $130 Hokas for $43.  I'd tried the brand for running not long ago, and wasn't impressed, but they've turned out great for work.  In conclusion, my legs are happy and my wallet isn't empty.  Now I know why the nurses wear Hokas, however, nobody sang for me.

Speaking of work, I find I'm enjoying my position as den mother despite my initial wariness...  it's early days though.  Honestly, I have little interest in geriatrics, nutrition, and dietetics in general, but I'm a total nerd for accuracy and efficiency, and this job fits that bill nicely.  Dare I say I'm actually using a bit of my graduate degree on a job?  

Well, let's not get carried away.

what I did at summer camp

It's probably been around 30 years since I was last in Winter Park, Colorado.   Well, before this week anyways.  We just got back from a few days in the mountains, and I didn't turn on a computer the whole time.  Miss me?  Even notice I was gone?

We planned a family trip several weeks ago, and the stars actually aligned so that all five of us could hang out.  So I've been in and out of a mountain cabin for the last few days.  I'd like to say we enjoyed fresh air and sunshine, but various big wildfires out-performed the fresh air part.  Plenty of sunshine, though!

Obligatory sitting-around-on-vacation pic:

Don't mind the small blemish on my left shin.  I did a much better job on the right shin when we spent the day at Trestle Bike Park.  Trestle is a mountain bike resort with miles and miles of mountain bike trails.  The nice part is, you can ride a gondola to the top, so you're mostly riding your bike DOWNhill.  Weeeeeeeeeee!

Wolfgang is the most experienced mountain biker of the bunch and has been to Trestle before.  The rest of us noobs got to experience it for the first time.  

Meego and whatsherface.  Who wore it better?

It's one thing to snap a pic at the base of the gondola, another thing to get back down the mountain.  Just call me "hashtag slow and awkward"!  Nonetheless, I've got to say, it was fun!  Magnum and I stuck with repeatedly riding on one green trail in particular, aptly named "Green World".  It was great because it went for miles and miles without getting too technical.   

One of Wolfgang's friends joined us on Trestle day, so those two did their thing on the more advanced trails.  Meego and Chaco hung out with Magnum and me for a bit, but pretty much left us in the dust and did their own thing.  

And it wouldn't be a noteworthy day at the bike park without some body damage, right?  Meego was the first of us to do an over-the-handlebars move resulting in a bit of road hash and some bike blemishes.  But he was back to it in true 20-year-old fashion.  

Later on, Magnum hit a highly technical berm and ended up flying off the bike (translation:  he tripped exiting the gondola)

Finally, I attempted a particularly gnarly feature, and ended up sending it off the trail and into the foliage (translation:  I pulled my slow @ss over to let an adolescent pass me, and ended up dumping my bike).

Successful first trip to the bike park!

--------------------------------------

Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:

4. Write a blog post inspired by the word: damage

what's cookin'?

"Will this be where I get canned?", I wondered as our staff meeting began.

We have monthly staff meetings for my little part-time hospital cafe job, but yesterday was the first one since mid-March.  We've been on reduced staffing because of COVID restrictions to our biz, and in fact, the job I was initially hired for has pretty much been eliminated.

One of my responsibilities, for instance, was preparing the salad bars for our cafe and for the doctor's lounge.  Yeah, salad bars.  Remember those?  No longer a thing.  I'm thinking salad bars won't be back anytime soon.

Instead of letting me go, however, the managers included me in the rotation of other essential workers where we do a little of everything as needed.  It's productive, I enjoy the variety, and it's nicely added to my value.  But management would certainly be justified in letting me go.

Instead, it was just a "normal" staff meeting.  In fact, I received high praise for my flexibility.  On the outside, I was a bit, "Aw, shucks", while keeping my real thoughts - "c'mon guys, this isn't rocket science" - to myself.  I do enjoy the place and like the people I work with, though, so I'm grateful they've kept me around.  That said, I'll soon be taking my voluntary 2-week furlough, another thing we've been rotating through.  

I'm glad I have my tutoring, which hasn't really slowed because of COVID.  If anything, there are more opportunities.  I asked one of my  high schoolers what her district's plan is for the upcoming school year.

"Two classes per day.  Three hours each.  Everyone wears a mask.  Temperatures will be taken every day upon arrival".

She attends a pretty large school.  Taking everyone's temperature every day? That will be time consuming.  

Three-hour classes?  I'm trying to imagine studying one subject for three hours straight.  That sounds like a real challenge for the teachers - planning 3-hour lessons and keeping the class engaged.  More power to 'em.

In the meantime, this virus has taught me a few things.  I now know a little about how viruses work and herd immunity in addition to expanding my culinary skills.

And speaking of culinary skills, did y'all see Martha Stewart and her "thirst trap"?  Along with Martha, it was the first time I'd heard of that term.

The headline I clicked said something about Martha Stewart's stunning photo at her pool.  She does look good, particularly for a 78-year-old.

But I wanted to see Martha's pool.   Darn clickbait.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linking up this week with Mama Kat for the prompt:

2. We’re still dealing with Covid…how are you, has anything changed since you last covered this topic?

van sleeping and quarantine eating

Sleeping-in-idling-minivan woman?  Once again, she was "there" Saturday morning.  For all I know, she (and others?) are there during other times, but I've only noticed the phenomenon on (say those two words together three times) Saturday mornings when I head out for joyful runs.

Once again, she appeared to be sleeping.  Once again, she was gone a short while later. 

Suffice to say I'm not curious enough to set up a stakeout.  Mounting a wildlife camera, however, I wouldn't hate.  Either way, it provides something to ponder these days.

In the meantime, as I've been keeping myself informed on informative things during safer-at-home, I came across this educational graphic:

So far, I've lived in three U.S. states:  Colorado, New York, and Utah, with the longest time in Colorado.  Yes, oh Yes, I've had a NY (aptly named) Garbage Plate.  And one cannot attend a potluck in Utah without encountering Jell-O salad - always green, from my surveillance. 

Rocky Mountain Oysters, however, I've never had.  For those who don't know, Rocky Mountain Oysters are not seafood.  They're bull calf testicles.  Most bulls become steers at a young age, so these are the leftovers.  Shame to just throw them away!

In scanning this map, there are plenty of things I've never tried and many I'm not even sure what they are.  Maybe I'll put Rocky Mountain Oysters on my bucket list.

Maybe not.

What are you eating?

buns, bicycles, beaster bunnies

I haven't been tutoring in a while.  Honestly, I'm a bit afraid that I'm getting stupider because of it.  I'm thinking I should make an effort to combat the atrophy.

But, as "they" say, we learn something new every day, so I can at least make an effort to learn new things and remember them.  We just finished the month of March.  A whole month went by.  What did I learn?

I learned that you can get a clip-on man bun for starting around 10 bucks

Meego sometimes does jazz "gigs" with a couple of friends.  Nothing noteworthy or monetary - mostly stuff around the school district as requested.  He plays his bass while JL plays guitar and LV plays drumset.  JL and LV both have long flowing locks.  I mentioned to Meego about his being the odd man out with his sensible hair.  That's when he informed me of the clip-on man bun.

No purchase has been (or will be) made.

I learned the NOT German word for bicycle

A woman at work is from Germany.  She speaks  horrible English.  She cooks and serves pizza, and the kids hope for the best.  Most of the time, we can't understand what she's saying, but she's highly entertaining nonetheless.  Occasionally, we learn some German from her as she points out different things and translates.  She told me the German word for bicycle, which was difficult for me to say.  I looked it up later to learn the spelling.  I found nothing anywhere near the word she told me.

She probably told me the word for some body part.

I learned that there's an artistic person who works at the gym

Each time I've gone to the gym we recently joined, a different cartoon drawing greets me, usually with some sort of gymesque reference.  Spiderman one day.  A hot rod the next.  We never know what it will be.  This was last Sunday:

And with that, it's April.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Linking up with Mama Kat this week for the prompt:
1. Something you learned in March.

blank pages

Oy, it's been (almost) a week since my last post?  I'm hereby making an early new year's resolution to blog more often.

Until I started blogging, I didn't really write much - was never one to write in journals or diaries (is there a difference?).  My previous work life didn't require it, and that was fine with me too.  But now I enjoy it, and I enjoy helping tutees with writing too.

This is good since I need to do quite a bit of writing now for school.  So I don't mind it, but I'll blame that for my lack of blogging.  Too much of a good thing and all that.

And this week, I got an e-mail in my university account offering "custom writing services" a.k.a cheating.
The note listed several reasons to use the service

• tight deadlines
• writing papers prevents you from attending social functions
• papers due the next morning, but you haven't started any
• no time to sit and focus on research
• working on papers bores you

Serilously?  I'm not naive enough to not know that there are students who pay others to do assignments for them.  This is the first time anyone has hit me up, though. Their note mentions that the are available on Facebook, WhatsApp, Kik, WeChat, Line and Skype".  Geesh, they're everywhere.

They advertise writing assistants who *help* students write papers, but  the not-so-fine-print advertises that they will

"...confidently provide papers that are original, delivered punctually, and which conform to the writing style of you university/college and that all communications will maintain the highest level of confidentiality..."

Sure sounds like cheating to me.   I did an internet search and found all kinds of others. Okay, maybe I am a bit naive about just how many such services exist.  I'm curious as to how many customers they have.

In the meantime, I, for one, will continue to do my own work, responsibly and punctually!

driving miss hazey

First of all, I want to wish a Happy Father's Day to all the good dads out there!

I know it's really another Hallmark holiday, but it is nice to take a moment to appreciate our dads.  I had a wonderful dad and can't imagine growing up without him, but I know that's not the case for everyone.

And my years spent working in a hotel restaurant demonstrated the contrast between Mother's Day and Father's Day.  Mother's Day brunch was a huge affair while  Father's Day consisted of our manager saying "Happy Father's Day!" over the PA system, then handing out cigars to the guys quietly drinking coffee.  So a shout out to good dads!

On another note, y'all know I've been teaching Meego to drive, and we got a gently used manual transmission civic for that purpose a couple of months ago.  He's been doing well, and yesterday, he completed the Master Drive skills course.

This is really a great program, and I recommend it or something like it to anyone who has a new driver in the family.  Chaco and Wolfgang also completed it, and I immediately noticed improvements in their skills and confidence behind the wheel.

The skills course teaches how to deal with unexpected conditions -  obstacles, accidents, bad road conditions, etc.  They learn responsive techniques for steering, braking, and getting out of slides.  They experience what it feels like to lose control of the car during hydroplaning or sliding on ice, and what it feels like when the ABS engages, all under the watchful eyes of knowledgeable, friendly coaches.








The class lasts all day - most of it spent behind the wheel - and culminates in an afternoon "graduation".  Just prior to receiving their certificates, the new drivers take parents for a demo drive.





I made a short video to summarize our ride with Meego.  You can't really see them in the video, but there are lights along the course that flash suddenly and randomly to simulate some sort of unexpected situation, and the drivers are to respond accordingly.  As a passenger, it feels a lot like a carnival ride.

On a side note, Wolfgang and Meego commented that my video editing resembles "an elementary school video project".  Well, I reminded them that I didn't have video projects in elementary school, so I'm making up for lost time.

All aboard!






 .

girls-gone-wild weekend at Philanthropy Con!

I got back today from lovely Loveland, Colorado and the annual State P.E.O. Convention.  I was our chapter delegate, and Running Sue accompanied me as she explained that she's a "convention junkie!",  and we had a great time.

At final count, there were about 600 total participants in the shindig.

Chaco asked me last week, "Just what do you DO at a P.E.O. convention??"

I explained to him, that aside form taking care of some organizational business, it's really like a big pep rally.  So I've just returned and am all P.E.O. pepped!







I've been to state P.E.O. conventions before, and one thing that's really nice about them is that representative recipients of our various philanthropies come and speak and tell us their stories.  Plus, there are various displays throughout the convention talking about how much money we've given with more examples.

We own our own college!

Award recipient at 
Harvard Med school!

High schoolers off to college!

... and lots more.

And some of those speeches - real tear-jerkers, I tellya.   So it was a good weekend.  

P.E.O. is a women's organization with only women members.  The Saturday night banquet is really the only gathering where men are present if invited.  It is there that the recipients give their speeches, and the spouse of the state president also gives a speech.  

I noted, when the president's husband got up to speak, how strange it seemed to hear a man's voice coming from the speakers after being with all these ladies for so long.  

While Sue and I traveled and roomed together, we each had separate "delegatory" duties at times.  I met lots of wonderful P.E.Os from all over Colorado. And of course, Sue is always fun.  She has bundles of energy and tends to talk a lot.  Sometimes, I wished she didn't talk quite so much so I could get to know the other Colorado P.E.Os better!

The organizational business side of things isn't quite as fun, but a necessary thing for such a large philanthropic organization.  So thank goodness for Happy Hour! (where I learned that Sue likes scotch!)

So, good times!  Good charity, good results, good getaway.  

chosen

"You have been selected to serve on Hoopa Choopa High's Site Improvement Committee..." so began the email.

I have been selected, or I was the only sucker who applied?

A few weeks ago, the high school set about recruiting volunteers for this committee.  The message stated:

"This committee is charged with identifying and 

prioritizing the needs of [Hoopa Choopa]

and then presenting a final report of needs to the 

District Growth and Capital Needs Committee. 

Identified needs will be of a capital nature that 

will improve the educational environment of the school."

And I was thinking, there are a lot of "needs" in there.

Then I was thinking this could be interesting, but as far as I knew, the high school doesn't have any glaring capital needs that I know of.  I considered throwing my hat in the ring, but what if I was selected to serve and still felt there were no capital needs?  Should we spend money just because it's there??

See, Colorado legalized recreational marijuana.  A good bulk of the tax revenues are meant to go toward education.  Well, the pot business is going like gangbusters, so now there's all this pot revenue floating around.  I assume that is what gave rise to this site improvement committee - to help find ways to spend the pot money.

The recruitment message included:

"Membership will include at least three parents, two students (grades 10 / 11), 

three teachers, two classified employees and two administrators. "

So that seemed like fun enough.  I've cut back on the tutoring since I'm in grad school, and this sounds like a nice mesh of my interests.  But I put off applying until the final day.  In addition to our contact information, we were to provide

"a brief summary explaining your interest in being a part of this committee"

and I didn't lie.  I mentioned my interests in secondary education and project management and added a bit about  *paraphrased* - I'm a bit bored and isolated right now, plus my participation might help me get a real job in the near future.

Okay, so I've been selected.  How many people even answered the call?  Would they have turned anyone away?

Our first meeting isn't until January, so maybe I'll snoop around for needs of a capital nature in the meantime.  I've asked Meego for input, and he just has complaints about the librarians (not of a capital nature) and the fact that the vending machines are off limits during lunch - apparently thanks to Michelle Obama.  I think she's got  more pull than I do.

.

swoop swoop doo bee bop!

So I'm glad I was able to take one of my classes this summer semester.  One step closer to being finished.  Plus it's kept my brain active and productive, and that's certainly a good thing.

I've learned a lot of useful concepts too, but one thing I've learned this summer stands out.  However, I didn't learn through the university.  It just came to me as a gift.  I learned about swooping season.

Swooping season is something that happens in Australia, thanks to the Australian Magpie:

"This species is commonly fed by households around the country, but in spring a small minority of breeding magpies (almost always males) become aggressive and swoop and attack those who approach their nests, especially bike riders."  ~ Wikipedia

When I first learned of it, I thought it was just someone making silly videos, or there was just one nasty magpie someone managed to catch on video, but NO.  It's a real thing!  There are dozens of videos and other accounts of these... these... outright attacks.  On friendly bicyclists!

Out of these attacks have come a variety of theories on how best to deter these nasty swooping Australian Magpies.  The following is probably my favorite educational clip that tests a couple of theories.  Amber of "Amber and Billo's" - a popular morning radio team - takes a couple of theories on the road.  Let's see what her results are, shall we?? (make sure your audio is on)






[F*BLEEP*k] Yeah, Magpies!

Who's up for some educational adventure travel to Australia!?!  I'm in!  Swooping Season, let's go!
... seriously, I kinda want to do that.

-----------------------------------------
For Mama Kat's prompt this week:
3. Share something you learned in June


.

and it feels so good

I ended up giving the Its-Not-You-Its-Me speech:

Dear You

Really.  It's not you, it's me.  You seemed like a good mate in the beginning, looked pretty good on paper anyway.  And I won't say we didn't have any fun together.  But actually, I saw signs early on that this wasn't going to work out.  We just didn't seem to be on the same wavelength most of the time, and I grew tired of waiting for you.  It probably shouldn't have even lasted as long as it did, others told me I should probably get out sooner.  But I felt we deserved more time to see where this would go.

To be honest, my eyes started roaming several months ago when I felt our connection slipping.  I started talking to other people, just talking.  I just had to think about my future, and more and more, it just didn't seem like you would be a part of it.  Really, it's not you, it's me.  I think, among other things, you're just too young for me. 

I do want to thank you, however.  My time spent with you really helped me to realize what I truly wanted.  You introduced me to new things and also reawakened parts of me that had been dormant for quite some time.  I admit now that the more I was with you, the more I thought about my ex.  About how I made a mistake in tryiing to put the ex behind me forever.  

I was thinking about my ex so much, I ended up talking to someone to investigate a reconciliation.  I saw that my separation had not caused as big of a division as I'd thought.  In fact, my on-the-side activities served to foster a timely reunion.

I'm getting back with my ex.  I hope you can be happy for me.  *fake tears*

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Yeah, I broke up with the teacher licensing program.   I think they were trying to be all things to all people, but in the end, it's really a better program for undergrads who THINK they MIGHT want to be teachers.   I found the courses very rudimentary and tedious.

Some of my classmates dropped after the first semester.  They were similar to me in that they were older and already had teaching experience, just wanted to get licensed.  I decided to give the program one more make-or-break semester.

Break.

I started looking into other programs about a month into last semester - there are many ways to get licensed.  I'd almost settled on one program, but I found my thoughts straying back to being an engineer.

So I got with a program advisor at the university to discuss an engineering masters program, did the application, and got approved.  Start in the fall.

“Alice Abby came to a fork in the road. 'Which road do I take?' she asked.
'Where do you want to go?'...

Back to Nerdland!


p.s.  With this degree, I can also be a teacher - wheee!

.

So, you know who Jesus is, right?

I inquired this of Meego this morning.  A little background:

When I was growing up, my family didn't attend church, but my dad arranged for brother Guano and me to crash the local Lutheran church and attend Sunday school and VBS as church orphans.  Looking back, it was a positive experience.

I was not a churchgoer when I met Magnum and neither was he.  But by the time we became parents, I felt maybe we should at least expose the kids to "the basics" of our Judeo-Christian society like I had been.  With that, we dipped them in a few church experiences spanning about three years.

It started with a non-denominational church that was so ridiculously non-denominational that we didn't see the point (rhymes with "spoonitarian").  From there we went to Christian Science - not to be mistaken with Scientology.  While we had a few issues with the church itself, that I won't expound upon here, we were happy enough with the Sunday school.

But when we moved to another town and another CS church, the hypocrisy smothered us out.  We began  attending a non-denominational Christian church in our somewhat rural community, Chaco and Wolfgang did Sunday school.  It was all right, the people were nice, and I don't really remember why we stopped going.  I think the hypocrites at the previous church had just left such a bad taste in our mouths.  We were churchgoers no more.

Meego was just a baby then.  His sole church experiences were of either sitting in my lap drooling on the hymnal, or spending time in the nursery with the Noah's Ark pillow pets.

I did think about it over the years - what to do about Meego.  I vaguely remember getting a book of Bible stories from the library and reading a few selections with him.  And we've talked to him about what Christmas and Easter are to Christians.  Haven't we?

Which brings us to this morning.  This morning is his first day as a VBS volunteer at the church up the street.

So how did this young heathen become a VBS helper?

Meego has a couple of good buddies in the neighborhood, twin brothers K and J.  K and J are nice kids.  Playful, polite, boy bundles of activity.  They're about two years younger than Meego, and the three of them hang out for hours at a time, shooting hoops, riding bikes, playing video games, etc.

summer daze

Last week, K and J were at VBS at the church down the street.  Meego sat around the house ho-humming until they were released in the afternoons.  Even the kids next door, a.k.a. "the girls", were at VBS.  Everyone was out having VBS fun except Meego!

K and J announced that this week, they would be attending the VBS UP the street.  Meego should go!  I said I thought he was too old.  He is, but learned that older kids could volunteer as helpers.  

I got the contact info for volunteers, e-mailed, and left it to Jesus.

Jesus... er... Julie e-mailed me back quite directly.  "Yes!"  

We walked up there, set foot in that church for the first time in our lives, talked with whom we needed to talk with, and it was a done deal.  

So this morning, as he prepared his breakfast before heading out for a rip roaring good time with Jesus, I inquired the title of this post.

He gave me a look that said "duh", and reminded me, "We learned about him in humanities, remember?"   

Oh, right.  They did a unit on world religions in school.  

Hopefully public school Jesus will suffice for a VBS helper.

.

meeting Howard

I was at the University yesterday, making my way through the final hoop I was required to jump through to get approved for the teacher licensing program I applied for.  It's a program specifically for people who have a bachelor's degree in something other than education, specifically for training high school math and science teachers.  Our university is one of the few that offers it, and it's pretty selective, so I thought I'd at least apply and see what happened.

I was going there to meet with one of the program directors, a Ph.D in the Physics department. I jokingly wondered to myself if he would be like one of the characters on "The Big Bang Theory" (TV show I reluctantly admit to sometimes watching).

I arrived at his office precisely three minutes before our scheduled meet.  He is a very personable and laid-back man who totally reminded me of Howard Wolowitz.  Not really in mannerisms, but put about 25 years on Wolowitz, and he's Dr. C at the university.  Ironically, Wolowitz is the only one of the four main geeks in "Big Bang Theory" who is NOT a physicist.

But enough about fictional characters - really, my kids watch the show, that's the only reason I know of it!

So we had a nice little "interview", mostly talking about how old I am  it's been several years since I was in college, and might need/want to take a couple of refresher math courses.

Then, he approved my application, we both signed our respective signature boxes, and that was that.   So I'm in and fully on board to do the program now, after sitting on the fence for the last couple of years.

As luck would have it, however, we got hit with more snow on Tuesday night, and yesterday morning was another 2-hour delayed start to school that I had to call in "overscheduled" for.  The boss got a crosswalk sub for me AGAIN.

There goes my crossing guard tenure.  At least my dog still loves me.

Silver Liningness Sunday

Snow is falling gently outside my window as I sit in my comfy place.  It's nice to not have to be out driving.

Yesterday, Wolfgang's PS&E (practical science and engineering) class successfully launched a weather balloon and package.  Fourth time was a charm as the momentous event had been postponed from three previous dates.  Once, apparently there was a major helium shortage.  Another time, the weather was crap.  I don't remember what scrubbed the third try, but yesterday was a hit.

The payload was a video camera and a camera for still pics to record the journey.  It also had a GPS unit so they could know where the thing landed and hopefully retrieve the goods.  The kids designed and built the capsule, which was mainly cardboard, duct tape, plastic cups, and RedBull (it gives you wings) cans.

When thinking of all the things that could go wrong, it's a happy thing to have it all work out.  I don't yet know the specific data like how long it was up and how high it got.  It made it's way halfway to Kansas before landing in Middle of Nowhere, Colorado.


Wolfgang had the honor of releasing the balloon, probably since he had the hand-cramping honor of holding onto the neck of it during the entire prep time.  Here is one of the image results.  Since they were in Middle of Nowhere, Colorado, there was no Wi-Fi, and one of the teacher retrievers just took a cell phone pic of the laptop screen:

I made a [video] of the launch, which you should really go watch.  There is another video which is the [Cutest Video Ever] involving a weather balloon, but that video has over 4 million views as I type.  [My video] has seven, and at least one of them is me.  [Cute video] guy was invited to be on Katie Curic's show.  I was not (yet).  However, [my video] includes an official goose flyover.  [Cute video] does not.  There are people in [my video] whom you know.  There are none in [cute video]...   unless you do happen to know that guy.

In which case, you now have cool friends in two different weather balloon videos.