Along Came a Spider

Talk about a random post! I am so sick of this winter that I even welcome the return of spiders (while I find them fascinating, I still have an aversion that may go a bit beyond what is accepted as normal). The guy (or gal) on the left was living in our back yard last year when s/he posed for me and, I suspect soon after I took the picture headed south for the winter - probably Florida. I have to give him credit as this has been a winter for the record books. So far, this has been the snowiest one in over a hundred years and is number two on the all-time list (at least since official records have been kept). Just when I thought we had turned a corner, this past Friday was yet another day out of school! So far, our regular school days have been extended an extra 35 minutes to make up for all of our missed days - that may not seem like a lot, but my students (who feel about school the way I feel about spiders) are getting to be even more of a handful than usual. Even though this has been a pretty good year, I am ready to think about retirement, which simply means looking for another job to supplement my state's lousy retirement offering. Maintaining health insurance is my biggest concern. If anyone reading has any offers, I'm ready to listen. What am I looking for? I don't know - I have taught for nearly thirty years, so I don't even know what's out there. It seems like so many jobs have gone to China, India, etc., that there are not many left. I would love to somehow to have benefits and work from home, which itself would offer many benefits. As it is now, I walk a delicate tightrope as I take a mild diuretic in the morning. At school, I can't just walk out of my classroom to go potty (an expression that emerged when our child showed up) - if anything happened in the classroom while I was elsewhere, guess whose fault it is.... The thing that seems to most drive schools is fear of liability - I'm old enough to remember when schools used to be about education, but that's another story for another time.

Later.

In looking at other blogs, it looks like I am about the only one who had no pictures posted! That spurred me to give one a try (I'm new at this stuff). I am a word person, so that has influenced what has come before.

This was a Maine shot from my family's only real vacation in our years together (excepting our honeymoon in Nova Scotia). Every other trip we took was connected to a convention, horse show, or the like. We're pretty much homebodies, so travel isn't a big deal, but my daughter is of the age when we should definitely consider some sightseeing! Of course, gas prices may put a crimp in our plans, but, you know what? I believe we only go 'round once in life , so we should grab for the all the gusto we can (why do I think of beer with that last statement)! If this looks okay, I have lots more pictures I can post and share. We'll see what happens.

Later.

Oldies but Greaties!

Tonight I spent my evening DJ-ing for my daughter's eighth-grade dance. I had done it twice before, but tonight my stress level was finally at a manageable level. The dance was advertised as a 50's - 60's dance, which is what I'm all about; my music of choice is certainly eclectic, but oldies win out. Tonight were the classics - from Little Richard to The Four Seasons to Chubby Checker - they're all old friends. I wasn't so lucky with the first two dances I did.

When I did the first two dances, I was handed several current CDs of alleged current "music" (boy do I sound like my father). I literally did not recognize any of the "artists" nor did I recognize any of the titles! It was a recipe for disaster. When an eighth-grader approached me and asked me to play a slow song, I didn't have a clue what songs were slow (or fast) - I had to call my daughter and her friends over to get a clue. When kids asked if I had anything by something called Akon, I went off in search for Acorn - it was sad. The titles and "artists'" names might as well have been written in Greek (I took Latin in high school). The kids were slow learners as they kept coming in human wave attacks asking me to play this or that. I was also a slow learner because I went back for the same thing a second time (on the plus side, I was saving the class lots of money as I worked for a bag of popcorn and a couple of waters). The dances lasted for three hours - I was sure my watch had broken each time! Somehow, I made it through both evenings. I must not have totally blown it because they asked me back (or they really needed the money for the class).

Tonight, I brought about twenty of my own comfortable CDs. The students were in the same boat I was for the other dances... I thought, but they did know a lot of the songs. I don't think my watch broke until the final twenty minutes tonight. Since my daughter was there, I tried not to play too many slow songs if you catch my drift here. I don't want her dating until she's thirty. Anyhow, with the help of my wonderful wife (who also chaperoned and assisted me), I made it through the festive event. The best part is that's the last dance I will be doing as a DJ. Next year, my daughter will be in high school. As her sport will be the school's equestrian team, I'll still be around as a barn dad. Whether or not I'll be at school dances is another story, but they still need chaperones... and I'm still her dad.

Later.

"Pardon me; would you have any...?"

Talk about snob appeal: for those old enough to remember the commercial some fifteen or so years ago, on a country road, one Rolls Royce pulled up beside another. A distinguished-looking gentleman "veddy properly" asked another through the car window, "Pardon me; would you have any Grey Poupon?" to which the other replied, "But of course," as he motions his chauffeur to drive on (you can see it on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmannAYiwh0 ). I always thought the stuff must be pretty special - something way beyond my pedestrian tastes and pocketbook. Anyhow, as part of my South Beach diet, I just tonight happened to have a hot ham and swiss sandwich (on a small wheat roll), which just happened to come with the celebrated Grey Poupon. You know what? The Grey Poupon was mustard! Mustard - nothing more or nothing less.

This led me to think back through all the years about all the things I had to have that looked so cool, righteous, special, whatever in the ads, and never were. I am finally learning. With today's economy, which seems to be heading further and further south on a daily basis, we all need to be more aware of what we are spending our money on and whether it's really worth it or not. Most often, it's not.

Later.

E-mail and Me and Time-Warner too.

The thing about getting older is that my tolerance level isn't what it used to be. Just as teenage males sometimes take into their mid-20's to have a part of their brains fuse (or whatever it does) and let them realize there are often dangerous consequences to their actions, I also read that a part of the brain unfuses (or whatever it does) in older people and drops the filtering mechanism that formerly prevented us from just saying whatever we want. That said, I find myself growing more and more impatient with the way things are.

For quite a while I've enjoyed "high-speed" Internet through Adelphia. I have no idea how the company compares to others because like so many other areas up here, it's the only game in town. All I know is that it was fine enough to keep me from going back to my dial-up provider (great folks but too slow). Well, as Frost wrote, way leads on to way, and Adelphia sold out to Time-Warner (T-W). I didn't notice any real difference... until a few weeks ago. I began getting "High Water Mark Notification" notices (I have to check the wording on that) which warned me that my e-mail inbox was filling up (something I used to do painlessly with my car, but that's another story for another time). They send the notice when there is 10Meg in the inbox (I am guessing that's where the measurement is taken); when the box reaches 20Meg, messages are bounced back to the sender. Either I never exceeded the limits before or since the new company took over they came up with a way to squeeze customers to spend more for more space. With my typical e-mail w/video attachment coming in at 5 or 6 Meg, the space gets used up pretty fast.

As I feel I am already paying them enough for what I am getting (cable TV as well), I checked out G-mail. It's free and allows 6522 Meg of free e-mail (as a T-W rep told me if I use G-mail, I have to look at ads [there are ads but I don't have to look at them] - they're down the right side of the screen). So, let's see; I can pay for a service where if a friend sends me three video e-mails, anything after those gets bounced (returned to sender), or I can have a service for free (paid for by advertisers) that will allow me to receive 1,087 6-Meg videos before I run out of space. I'd ask you to do the math, but I just did.

Anyhow, maybe T-W will see this and upgrade its service, but it's a large company and it doesn't have to. Fortunately, it's not totally the only game in town when my town now includes the rest of the world (via the web).

Later.

Write On Update 1

(Review) After our state newspaper decided not to carry Dilbert for several days because the powers that be felt that some readers might be offended, I became offended and sent along a request for a refund for the issues in question; I am paying for a product and expect to receive the product I expect to receive, which means Dilbert will be included and not arbitrarily removed because someone might be offended. I mean, I do believe in the First Amendment.

(Update) I heard back from the paper; the circulation/subscription department said they would adjust my account (which I took to mean adding the number of papers I complained about to my subscription). The responder also said my comments would be forwarded to the news department. Well, I wrote back that I don't want my subscription "adjusted" - I want a refund as there is a principle involved here. It would be too easy for the paper to just add four or five issues.

In other areas, this week has been my first full five-day work week at work since November. Between snow days, vacations, and whatever else came along, I've gotten spoiled. then with the early Daylight Savings Time, and the lost hour of sleep, I have been dragging. Thank goodness the weekend is here. We spent some time today with a pick ax I bought trying to widen the driveway (still a huge buildup of ice) and open the end where there was a lip of ice several inches wide and deep; it worked like a charm! We should sleep well tonight.

Later.

Write On!

In my younger days, I was quite a letter writer! When a company upset me, I wrote a letter. Once, a local supermarket had a large banner proclaiming "GUARANTEED LOWER PRICES - WEEK AFTER WEEK." Just the week before, the Boston Globe carried a story about how our local market was actually charging higher prices to basically subsidize another of its stores in another town where there was competition (there was none in my town). So, I wrote a letter asking to take advantage of the guarantee as I knew prices weren't low. I remember asking, "Lower than what? Next week's prices?" I never got an answer, but the sign did almost immediately disappear. Since then, I haven't written many letters, but I am ready to resume.

I have been a long-time subscriber to our largest state newspaper, the (conservative) Union Leader. Today, there was a terse message and blank space where Dilbert usually appears; it reads: "Editor's Note: Due to content that some readers may find offensive, Dilbert will not run for the next four days." Uh, excuse me, but is there a breach of contract here? In exchange for my money, I am to receive a certain product, which includes a daily dose of Dilbert. According to The 'Lectric Law Library's Legal Lexicon: A contract is "an agreement between two or more competent parties in which an offer is made and accepted, and each party benefits. The agreement can be formal, informal, written, oral or just plain understood. Some contracts are required to be in writing in order to be enforced. (2) An agreement between two or more parties which creates obligations to do or not do the specific things that are the subject of that agreement" (perhaps the term 'competent' may come into play here, but...). Here I am paying my money with a certain expectation, and it isn't happening - at least for four days. As a result, I am going to write and ask for a refund for those four days. I usually get what I want - as Davy Crockett supposedly said, "Be sure you're right, then go ahead." I'm off to do just that.

Later.