Really?

Through my recent change in job titles at the school I have had the opportunity to go out into the community several times a week. My student has a job-site where he learns to perform necessary tasks, develop a good work ethic, and get an idea about what it takes to work for a living. In this case the job-site in question is a very popular shoe store. It's not always the most interesting work but I have seen some sights, and come to some conclusions about societies' shopping habits that I've found a bit alarming.

Before I started teaching I worked some retail jobs and I also served some time, many years in the hospitality industry. So I guess I shouldn't have been shocked today but I was. People ransacked that store! We're out on the floor and some areas looked like a tornado had blown through! Is it really necessary to try on multiple sets of shoes, and then leave everything out on the floor. Is it acceptable to not clean up after yourselves even just a little bit? Really? Shoes were out of boxes, and mix-matched. Boxes were strewn across the floor, crumpled papers flung in ever direction, and shoe boxes carried to the opposite side of the store and abandoned by shoe gremlins!

I felt horrible for the workers. 1 of the employees told me, after I'd apologized for all of humanity, that she remembered and everyone joked about this 1 woman and her 2 teenage daughters who made such a mess it took the staff 2 hours to clean up after them. That's ridiculous! Are people that self-involved? I would be embarrassed to leave such a huge mess after me and walk out the door.

I also noticed that people don't have any respect for personal space when shopping for shoes. There was an old Russian couple whom appeared to be going out of their way to interfere with our student workers. They were constantly backing us into corners, brushing by us as we worked, or hovering over us. A woman on a blue-tooth practically growled into her phone when she couldn't get down the crowded aisle, and shot our students a salty look as she pushed by. Aisles would become instantly clogged as our students worked to straighten up, and we would find ourselves trapped against a wall or in a corner and people were just oblivious to our situation.

The job sites are supposed to help our students experience different work environments and possible employment opportunities. I wonder if they also walk away wondering what's wrong with some people.

Cheerio Adam!

Just got off the phone with my best friend. He's sitting at the airport waiting to board his flight to England. He's never enjoyed flying or been out of the country, as far as I know. He's heading over for a classic automobile race or something, and is anxious to drive on the 'wrong side of the road'.

I am so jealous.

Again?

Yet another high school friend of mine has announced on Facebook that they are soon to be a grandparent. I AM 35 YEARS OLD! Grandparents by the mid 30's? What is this the medieval times? Are we experiencing the dark ages all over again? Unbelievable.

Oh yeah, that reminds me. We're trying to plan a trip to the Renaissance Fair.

How I Wonder...

...About the huge dude sitting on the Orange Line Metro with a sweaty lip, Hawaiian shirt, and girly arm tats. Badly inked playboy bunnies, and naked ladies adorn each of his beefy forearms. His breathing is labored. His belly overwhelms his belt. He wears slip on loafers and his big calves are criss-crossed with spider veins. He does not seem healthy or happy. I wonder where he was in his life when he had the tattoos inked. What is his story?

The Week In Review

The cracked radiator was replaced by yours truly, and Adam, this past Sunday. We decided this was a repair we might be able to do on our own. (We've made that mistake before.) In this case it proved to be true. We bought the radiator, and did all of the labor ourselves essentially saving hundreds of dollars. The car seems to be running fine, and made it through the 1st week of my commute for the 2010-2011 school year without even the slightest twinge on the temperature gauge.

The school year has officially started and I have been relocated. Sort of. I'm still at the same school but because of staffing needs I have been traded to a different program. I am now working as a one to one for an older student who will be transitioning out of the school in the next few years. It is an interesting change of pace. My work day now has the added features of job sites 3 times a week, and more of a focus on independent living skills then on academics. I am excited to see how this year goes.

I was called in for a sudden audition at a local theatre company here in Annapolis. They were having a hard time casting their current show and my name had been thrown out there as some local talent worth checking out. I wasn't really interested in the beginning. [Since I've been in Maryland I have been really choosing my productions carefully. Gone are the days of auditioning left and right for numerous productions, and just crossing my fingers to work on a show, any show because I wanted to be on stage. Now I only audition when it's something I really want to work on.] I decided to audition for a few reasons.

1) It would've been an equity show. Union. Paid acting work.
2) Rehearsals would not have interfered with my other 2 jobs.
3) The director works for a professional theatre in the area Sara and I are hoping to relocate to soon.

So I auditioned not having read the script, and showing up without a headshot and a resume because I wasn't planning on auditioning 20 minutes prior to showing up. I had a pretty good audition. I didn't get it. They needed me to be available earlier in the day that was possible for me. I was strongly complimented, asked to audition in the future, and sent on my way.

Wednesday was a big old mess. The hostage situation in Silver Spring screwed up traffic patterns all around DC and it took me over 3 hours to get home from work that day. Fortunately, I now drive a coworker to work most days so his presence helps keep me relatively sane when I'm sitting in bumper to bumper traffic all damn afternoon. I know that I am coming across extremely self-absorbed to minimize the tragic events at the Discovery Channel building down to messing up my commute but that's what happened. Yes, several people were held hostage for many hours, and a man died but I was more upset by my personal inconvenience at the time. So what?

The rest of the week was fine. Hurricane Earl didn't affect us at all after all of the hubbub. 3 day weekend is here and Sara and I are sitting out on our porch drinking coffee and reading a book. We'll get to hang out with some family this weekend, enjoy the cooler weather, and maybe even see a free concert.

And We're Back.

Not even 3 hours back in the state and my cracked radiator gushes coolant all over the newly-paved driveway. Not the ideal homecoming.

Here are some of the highlights from our trip to Minnesota!

We all went to the Gausthaus to celebrate my In-Laws' 40th Wedding Anniversary on Sunday. Friends of theirs were playing out on the lawn so we sent out invites for people just to come and listen to the band and congratulate the couple. It was a beautiful day and lots of friends and family showed up to celebrate.

Then we headed of to visit the niece and nephew for a bit. Sara's brother and his family live in Stillwater, MN and we went to spend sometime with the family. Moraya is a charming little girl with a beautiful smile and Nathan is a whirling dervish. We giggled, we colored, we decorated the driveway with sidewalk chalk, and just enjoyed seeing each other. We went down by the river and enjoyed a small lunch, cotton candy ice cream and then rinsing off in the river.

On Tuesday, it was my Mother-In-Laws birthday. We met up in White Bear Lake and went to the beach. The lake apparently is losing water every year and the water level is drastically reduced. I didn't know. We waded out in the water, chased minnows, chased Nathan and had a mini-picnic on the beach.
Thursday we hit the state fair. The Minnesota State Fair! We wandered the fairgrounds for hours people-watching, snacking on fried foods, visiting agricultural attractions, thrill rides, and ate more food. It was quite the experience. Fried cheese curds are every bit as good as I have heard!
The rest of the time in Minnesota we hung at the Patsy family home/resort. I am a big fan of the pool/hot tub/sauna combination they have going on. We visited with family and friends as much as we could. Unfortunately we still missed a few here and there. We tried to jam as much into the week as we could. I always enjoy visiting the Land of 10,000 Lakes, and I will miss seeing that side of the family. We will try to make it back as soon as possible.

Off To Minnesota!

Sara and I fly out tomorrow to go up to the St. Paul/Minneapolis area. We're visiting the In-Laws for a Wedding Anniversary and a Birthday. I have not been back in awhile. Unfortunately, next week is the 1st week back to school for teachers. I'm supposed to be setting up our classroom and sitting through countless meetings before the kids come back. Instead I will play with the niece & nephew, steam in the sauna and float around in the pool. 1 last getaway before the school year starts.

Does The Head Count As A Killshot?

I think it does. In paintball, I mean. Today I tried paintball for the 1st time ever! It was a blast.

Friends of mine are getting married and in addition to all of the Wedding Events they decided to run a paintball game on Saturday morning. Matt, manages a Summer Camp and so has access to their facilities. I couldn't tell you the square yardage of the course, and I forget what kind of 'markers' (GUNS) we were shooting... um 'marking' with but I was running through the woods, and laying down a steady barrage of paint-filled capsules. The course was divided into 4 sections with various types of cover; tarps, wooden stick barriers, plank walls, and the canoes/tires area. The canoes/tires area was the toughest to penetrate, and always ended up being the defensive zone.

Now I have never served in the military but I've gone to a firing range or 2 in my day. I've never played paintball or even Laser Tag for that matter. I did play "WAR" when I was a kid - running through neighbors' yards, making ratatat noises with my mouth, and capturing enemy troops. It's not the same.

Today I was playing with some paintball veterans, plus the dude that designed the course, and then there was me and a few other newbies. I got a few kills. I took a few hits. I was shot in the head several times. (Thank you the creator of protective masks.) There was 1 shot in particular when I had a player pinned and was maneuvering for a better shot when he panicked stuck his muzzle in my general direction and fired off a volley of blind shots! I took a shot right between the eyes of my goggles. My whole world went yellow with a muffle splat!

I was on the losing side more than I was on the winning. I loved every second of it. Tonight at the rehearsal dinner 1 of the groomsmen came to chat me up, and he complimented me on my game play. He said I was a very 'brave' player. Translation = I don't have a shit ton of patience and got shot a lot for making brash decisions!

Passports Cost $, Don't They?

Here I am, 2 days into my 2nd week of vacation, or as I like to call it 'school is out but I have nowhere to be or go, and no money to get there anyway'. As I previously stated, money is tight. I've been sticking pretty close to home; walking the dog, watching some movies on DVD or netflix.com, reading a book or 2, and cleaning the house little by little. The days are starting to bleed together, the house resists my cleaning efforts at a more vigorous pace than I can keep, and the cabin fever is setting in.

This morning I cued up my netflix and watched The Motorcycle Diaries. Bad movie choice. EXCELLENT MOVIE! Unfortunately, it has just made me feel like more of a lump on a bump on a log. 2 men travel across South America on a crappy old motorcycle, on foot, boat, and even raft while I sit on my porch counting loose change so I can buy cheap beer. How very depressing? These young adventurers repeatedly wrecked, went with out food, walked many miles, and even spent time working at the San Pablo Leper Colony. They kept on going. They persevered. I get overwhelmed when it's time to pay monthly bills, or figure out how we're going afford to move closer to our jobs.

I should be on a motorcycle wandering the Andes. I should be actively struggling against adversity -

SHIT! I just overcooked some boiled eggs because I wasn't paying attention! I forget boiling eggs on the stove top all the time.

Where was I? Oh yes, feeling sorry for myself.

The truth is that I have traveled. I've been abroad on a few trips, out of the country even. A few weeks ago we took a road trip to Chicago. In a few weeks we'll be in Minnesota. It's not the same. I watch a movie like this and it makes me long for 'adventure'. It makes me want to broaden my horizons. Horizon broadening, at least when it comes to travel, cost more money than we currently have.

I get jealous when I see friends on Facebook posting pictures of their travels to Thailand, or Jamaica. I am envious when my best friend announces he'll be spending 6 days in England... that guy doesn't even like to fly! When my brother and his wife go to Peru to stay with her family I wish I could hide in his suitcase.

For years now we, Sara & I, have talked about going to the United Kingdom. I've always wanted to go back to Europe especially Spain. I hope one day to be able to take my wife traveling to exotic locals, bear witness to unbelievable sights, and meet interesting people but for now I am going to walk the dog, pay the rent, and make myself an egg salad sandwich.

Vacation So Far.

I've been on a hiatus from school for a few days now. Here's what has happened so far.

I'm broke as a joke. No joke. I haven't left the neighborhood in several days just because I am trying to conserve gas money. It sucks.

My landlords have hired a guy to do some repairs around the house. So far this week he's shown up each day and needed to be in my apartment for one odd job or the next at some point during the day. I don't like strangers in my space. I don't like home repairs when I'm trying to relax. 2 years ago my landlords chose my Spring Break to have the siding replaced. They're timing is uncanny, and extremely frustrating.!

I was able to, after a few set backs, access my writings on my computer and have begun trying to dust off some of the works in hopes of submitting them sometime in the next few weeks. I am trying to peck away on the keyboard as my computer limps along. I'm afraid it is not much longer for this world.

Whoo, vacation rocks!