Sittin' here in class.

Break time. Finally get a second to check the blog. Man, it's been busy. Monday & Tuesdays have school and Chevron. Wednesday & Thursday will have school & college. First time I get to just lay around and do nothing is Friday after school. Yeah. So if you don't see a whole lot of posting on weekdays, this is why.

I love my classes. On A days I have Algebra I and a UBSCT prep class. (UBSCT is the test the students have to take to get a diploma). Algebra has a bunch of 9th graders from Granite Park in it, the kids that I had in my class 2 years ago as 7th graders. There is quite a few kids in it, but I'm co-teaching it with the Special Ed teacher. The UBSCT class has a whole 10 or 15 kids in it - all juniors or seniors who would really like to pass the test. Even "I can talk all day about nothing" Francisco paid attention while I was teaching. On B days I have Psychology and Web Page design. We took "The Color Test" in psychology. The great part was discussing it, and the different characteristics about each personality color, and had some good discussion about how nobody was all one color. Gotta run, break is over and Gibb just pointed out that my typing is loud and it's pretty obvious I'm not paying attention to class.........

The U.S. Department of Redundancy Department

I've spent a lot of time this week asking "Did you send in a work order?" Most of you know what I'm talking about, it's a little sheet of paper, or for the technology department it's an online form, that you have to fill out and send to the proper place to get something fixed. Every bureaucracy, be it in the public or private sector, has them for just about every problem imaginable. And I'm getting tired of being greeted in the halls or as I walk in a room with "Hey, I got a problem." - "Hi, how's it goin', I've got a problem" would be nice. Anyway, there's this one teacher who thinks life needs to be lived in triplicate. I've finally made it clear that I will not fix anything without a work order, so now she'll send in the work order - and then tape little notes to my door to let me know she sent in the work order. Well, today I'm walking down the hall and I hear "Did you get my e-mail about the work order?" Uh, no, I've been working on some older work orders and haven't had time to check my e-mail. "Oh, well, I sent you an e-mail to let you know that I sent in a work order because......" and proceeds to give me the details of the problem. At this point all I'm hearing is the sound of an adult in a Peanuts holiday special, and thinking "She stops me in the hall to tell me about the e-mail she sent me to tell me about the work order she sent in to tell me about her computer problem." I haven't answered the phone for fear of hearing "Do you remember me talking to you in the hall about........"

And let the games begin......

It's been kind of surrealistic the last couple of days, classes up at the "U" started for me this Wednesday. I'm a college student again. That means classes, where I'm not the leader, assignments, that I have to do-not correct, mid-terms, finals and grades. It also means that I get to ride Trax & the busses for free. Cool. Got my student ID today, and all I had to do was ask for the UTA pass and they gave it to me. No, not because I'm just the darn nicest guy on the planet - they give it to any U student. There's a Trax station near school (on 33rd) and one right by the Ed building, so it'll be pretty convienent. Nikita4773, who is in the program with me, works just down the street so we can make the ride together. Fun stuff, but I'm gonna be a little busy the next 9 months - school, where I teach, starts Monday. So, Monday and Tuesday it will be : teach all day, Chevron from 4 to 9 that night. Wed & Thu : teach all day, college 5 to 8 that night. Fridays only teach and Sat & Sun are for catching up on sleep and doing homework, cleaning house and laundry. Social life? Nah, but at least now I have an excuse........

More on cops & robbers....

First, a little note from Alex about the social strata in Wendover :

This is getting too easy.

In the Tribune today it was reported that the wife of the Chief of Police for the city of Wendover was arrested for selling drugs at the club where she strips. I knew Wendover was a classy place but I had no idea it was so efficient as to combine its police force with its entertainment industry. I wonder if the Chief asks for his paycheck in dollar bills. Christmas at the station must be easy, they already have the entertainment and the Chief can go to the evidence room and get his wife's stuff to give her as her present.

Like I said, that was easy.

Alex Rossi

On the other hand are the residents in a Rose Park neighborhood who are furious over the police shooting of one of their neighbors. They argue that it was unjustified because the police still have not confirmed that the man had a gun. According to the news report I saw (channel 2, I think) the police had been called to the area on a report that someone was waving a gun and threatening someone else. When the police confronted the man he charged at them yelling something like "you're going to have to kill me" while reaching into his pocket. Umm, does the phrase "it really doesn't matter if he did have a gun" mean anything? I don't know about you, but the one time I had a couple cops pointing their guns at me I froze, moving only my lips enough to say into the phone "Tell them I'm not the burglar". I didn't whip around, pointing the phone at them and saying "What the hell are you doing, the stupid burglar left 20 minutes ago." Unless the facts were reported incorrectly, the guy got what should have been expected.

Funny thing, I don't have any credit cards.

Got this in an e-mail today.

Dear Bank of America member,Due to recent security upgrades and anti fraud protection measures we request you verify your account.We strongly reccomend you to update your account informationotherwise of neccesity we will freeze your account.Please ensure that all information entered is accurate to validateyour identity, if incorrect information is provided it may lead to account blockage.To update your account follow this lonk http://myaccounts-bankofamerica.com Sincerelly,Bank of America Team

Not only did it look cheesy and non-professional, but it was sent to my hotmail account, which I never used in connection to my credit cards. Add the fact that they are threatening to freeze my account, which is kind of funny considering I don't have any credit cards. But that's ok, just to be sure I sent them my Debit card information, including my PIN number. Don't want any problems with that......

Fun 'n stuff @ the faculty meeting.

At the faculty meeting today Danny, our Vice-Principal, was discussing hall passes, which at our school are big orange boards, about 2 feet by 2 feet. He was talking about how they got a little bit beaten around the edges, which was expected, but some had gotten beat a little more than others. "Now, we crossed out the name on this really abused one so that we wouldn't embarass anyone" he went on as he pulled out a hall pass that looked a lot like the picture to the left, and started to discuss taking care of the hall passes. Well, the discussion started after the laughter died down. Of course I was so embarassed and humiliated that somewhere in there I yelled out "Hey! That was mine!" Another faculty meeting where I get harassed, sometimes I think that's the only reason the principle hired me there......

Voucher Math

Some incredibly brilliant person wrote this letter to the editor that was printed in today's edition, and I just thought I'd reprint it here - with permission of the author, of course.

Pro-voucher advocates continue to refer to excess money left with public education for every student that leaves the system. The argument is that since the state spends some $5,000 per student and the voucher has a $3,000 maximum, that means, in worst case, that the schools are left with an extra $2,000. If my understanding of school funding is correct, then that $2,000 does not automatically stay in the system. Schools are funded by something called the Weighted Pupil Unit, a set amount of money per student in the public school system. That's where the $5,000 figure comes from and that number is set by the Utah Legislature. Pull a student out of the system and you pull the full WPU out of the system. So, even if the difference did end up going to the public schools, it would have to wait until the following year for the Legislature to increase the WPU, assuming they didn't find some road project or sports arena more compelling to fund. In addition to all the other assumptions you have to accept to support school vouchers, you also have to trust our Legislature in matters involving the public schools.

Personally, I'm not one that trusts them to do what's best for education.....

More from one of my freelance editorialists...

Banney Fife, the inept police officer from the Andy Griffith Show, is alive and well in Orem, Utah and it appears Goober, Gomer and Floyd the barber are on the police oversight committee there.

In early July "Barney" spied a lawn in Orem which violated a city ordinance prohibiting derelict foliage (it was not watered and as a consequence - dead). He attempted to give the owner a citation for her fiendish act of defiance when she got scared and tried to go into her house. The officer grabbed her and tried to handcuff her; he wasn't going to let this lawbreaker get away from him. In the ensuing struggle she hit her face on her steps and was bleeding. "Barney" didn't let this deter him from seeing that justice was served. The elderly homeowner was removed to jail as all criminals should be.

The reason I bring this up now is that the officer (his real name isn't Barney Fife, but this really did happen in Orem, Utah and there really is a numbskull on the Orem police force who did these things) had this incident reviewed by an oversight committee today. They (Goober, Gomer and Floyd) found that the refusal of the lady to cooperate was the aggrevating factor in the incident and the officer is free to go back on active duty tomorrow.

The people of Orem can rest easier knowing that their town is being watched over by such a public servant. The weeds may grow wild and people may unwittingly resist the law elsewhere, but not in Orem. For the rest of us remember this next time you think about stopping for gas in Orem or attending an event there. Ask yourself if there is an alternative where you won't risk being shoved to the ground and taken to jail because you didn't pick up your candy wrapper fast enough for the Man.

And I am sorry for impuning the character of Barney Fife, he was inept but he did know enough not to push old ladies around.
Alex Rossi

Not the brightest bulb in the string.

Not a vehicle I'd like to be behind going up Spanish Fork Canyon.

519 days left.

Building go "BOOM" and then fall.

There it is, the old Key Bank building falling down. I got up around 5 this morning, so I could get the brain working and get to my spot by 6:30. I was more interested in the cloud of dust over the city that it would cause than the actual falling of the building (I'm sure you can see the whole thing on YouTube by now) so I went up into the avenues to take my pictures. Another benefit : it was just me and 2 other people there - I didn't have to fight any crowds like I would have down closer. Anyway, at 6:35 I hear this little popping sound, start taking my rapid-shot photos and watch the building fall. Took a whole 3 seconds or so. But I stuck around for about 15 minutes watching this huge cloud of dust rise over downtown and blow itself all the way over to, and past, the capitol building. Here is a couple of my pictures, you'll be surprised to know that I'll have a whole bunch more for ya. When I get the gallery together I'll get a link here.

Quality time with Mom

Yes, this is going to be another "slam cell phone addicts" kind of post, so skip it if you want.
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I'm driving down the hill above the capitol, wanted to get pictures of the Key Bank from up there before they imploded it. I'm going maybe 30 MPH when this woman in a Volvo SUV decides she wants to go 40. Rides my rear bumper until I almost come to a stop, and then she tries to pass me. On a residential street. Well, her asinine driving aside, the whole time she was behind me she was, of course, yakking away on her cell phone. As much as I hate cell phones and driving, that's not even the point of this post - the point is that what looked like her daughter was sitting in the passenger seat right next to her, that we are getting altogether too comfortable talking to someone across the valley through a little box rather than the warm, living, breathing person right next to us. Ever seen 3 people at a restaurant, all of them on cell phones? 2 people in a car or a group in the park? I have. This woman may very well have had something important to tell someone, something that couldn't have waited. How sad, though, if she let her daughter sit there in silence as she chatted with her friend about last weekend? Or even been talking to her office about something that could have waited 15 minutes?

I firmly believe that no matter how "connected" we claim to be with e-mail, cell phones and even blogs like this, that NOTHING compares to sitting down next to someone and chatting face to face. And we, as a society, are willfully giving that up.

Pathetic.

www.bushslastday.com

On my neice-in-law's blog (Rossi Posse) was the date 01.20.09 and a comment about looking forward to it. It took me a few minutes to figure out what it was all about, and then of course I had to Google it. Found this web site that has a countdown clock, that I added to the top of my homepage (http://www.srossi.net/) and sells Bush's Last Day merchandise, including something I'm going to get : "Fire Bush Hot Sauce". To check out the site click HERE. Talking about firing George W. Bush, for a while I thought the Democrats that now control the Senate and House were wimping out by not starting impeachment proceedings against the president. But when you consider the concequences, do we really want to get rid of him before his term is over? Who becomes president if we do? I think that the Democrats realized that it would leave Dick Cheney as the leader of the "free" world. Um. Not so much. So, personally, I think our best bet (worst of two real evils) is to ride the storm out for (according to bushslastday.com right now) 523 days, 0 hours, 6 minutes and 21 seconds. Most of us have survived the last 2396 days, 23 hours, 53 minutes and 39 seconds. Granted at the rate it's going, several thousand of us won't survive the rest or his term, but I don't think we'd be better off with Cheney.

Just my opinion.

Happy Anniversary Jenn & Scott

Happy Birthday Camden!

Happy Anniversary Lynda & Todd

Sorry it's a day late! I'm still working on the pictures for ya.....

Una volta durante milione anni, almeno dai metà di anni 80

Così sto venendo oggi a casa dalla chiesa, giù nella zona sabbiosa. Ottengo su I-215 all'azionamento del parco del sindacato e seguo l'itinerario della cinghia tutto il senso a I-15 ed all'uscita orientale 1300. Che cosa, circa 15, forse 20 miglia? Dovrò controllare un momento. Ma comunque, qualcosa che stupisce, qualcosa non sono usato a, qualcosa che abbia usato essere possibile negli anni 70 qui nel lago salt sia accaduto. Ho guidato tutto quel senso che è ostruito senza una volta da un certo idiot che va lento nel vicolo veloce. Non una volta. Neppure non ho dovuto scoot intorno a chiunque dal lato destro ottenere oltre loro. Le unica 2 genti nel vicolo di sinistra si sono mosse sopra prima che persino dovessi disinnestare il controllo di crociera. WOW.

Once in a million years, at least since the mid- 80's

So I'm coming home from Church today, down in the Sandy area. I get on I-215 at Union Park Drive and follow the belt route all the way to I-15 and the 1300 East exit. What, about 15, maybe 20 miles? I'll have to check sometime. But anyway, something amazing, something I'm not used to, something that used to be possible in the 70's here in Salt Lake happened. I drove all that way without once being blocked by some idiot going slow in the fast lane. Not once. I didn't even have to scoot around anyone on the right hand side to get past them. The only 2 people in the left lane moved over before I even had to disengage the cruise control. WOW.

All Big Giant Head Circuits are busy, please hold.....

Just started the 3rd season of "3rd Rock from the Sun". Just as funny as ever. Each season came with it's own "A Guide to Living on Earth" and I read the first two the other day. In the first one is a thing on human games. Dick (it's supposedly written by the High Commander) makes an interesting observation about human games in his description of Bobbing for Apples:

"Many human games are built around the delightful childhood fantasy of being handicapped: blind (pin the tail on the donkey), Siamese twins (3 legged race) or brain damaged (boxing). In the bobbing for apples game, a human plays the part of a double amputee whose nourishment has been cruelly tossed into a lake."

And this is his description for Darts : "Drunk people throw sharp objects in a crowded, dimly lit room."

The other thing you notice on the DVD's that you might have missed watching it on prime-time is the titles of the episodes. Some of the funnier examples are :

+ Angry Dick

+ I enjoy Being A Dick

+ Assault With A Deadly Dick

+ Sensitive Dick

+ Will Work For Dick

and so on. I'd list them all, but you get the point. Of course knowing that one of the main characters is Dick Solomon, you realize that they are not flat out obcene, only double-entendre obscene.

Anyhoo, back to season 3. I just watched the episode where the Big Giant Head sends his Big Giant Neice down to play the part of Dick's wife. (Aptly played by Roseanne Barr).

Ciao

Happy Anniversary Alex & Marijke, again.......

No picture this time, just wishing you a continued happy anniversary.

Salt Lake Dribune

Got this from Alex today, it's a good rant about the 'premier' newspaper in our valley. Thought I'd post it here for all your enjoyment.

I just had to get this off my chest.I do hate the Salt Lake Tribune on a regular basis for their poor use of the English language (or their fluency in Utahn), their use of the blind for all editing work, their penchant for publishing rambling inconsistent reports of events so disjointed and incomplete (ever heard of the 7 items a journalist has to include in an article?????) that by the time I reach the third or forth paragraph I loose my will to live. Luckily this is the place where the Trib (or Drib as in Dribble) chooses to break a sentence or a word to go onto another page so I just give up, I could go on . . .

This is my latest beef. You know that guy Robert Murray that owns the Crandell Canyon Mine in Huntington, UT that looks like a taller Danny Divito? What ever you think of his rambling attack on global warming and the coal mining unions (delivered after he had been up for 24 hours) he does seem to care about the miners and their families. He apparently doesn't like the media as evidenced by his comment about the media being the source of the traffic jam in Huntingon Canyon and his call for the sheriff to quiet a reporter talking to another reporter during his press conference.

OK finally this is why I hate the Trib (or Drib) more. They have chosen to focus their reporting on Murray's poor record of mine maintenance as evidenced by the front page news today, Friday August 10,2007 rather than the progress or setbacks of the search for the 6 trapped miners. It seems hypocritical and childish all in one. The Tribune seems to be using their space in the public domain to fight with Murray. Also if they were to give equal time to the character of the person asking the question as well as the person in the spot light each question from the press should start with "Hi, my name is Woody Barkalot, I have been arrested for DUI 3 times, tell us about your poor record with mine safety". That would have the added benefit of stopping the news conference before they get to the questions that seem to be asked just so the reporter can hear themselves talk. You would never hear "Hi, I'm Zippy the Pinhead, I am 3 months behind on my mortgage, when you said 24 hours, did you mean a full day, a day and a night or was that a weekday or a weekend?I hate the Trib

Alex Rossi

Saabaru or Saabrolet? The choice is yours.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you'll remember when I was struck by the resemblance between the Saab 9-2 and my Subaru wagon. I got some pictures of the Saab and compared it to my car and came to the conclusion that it was, in fact, a Subaru sold as a Saab. Thus the Saabaru moniker was born. Yesterday I was coming home from school and saw what I thought was a Chevy Blazer in the left turn lane facing me, except it had a Saab badge on the hood. Well, today I did some research and discovered that the SUV I saw was actually a Chevy Trailblazer reskinned as a Saab. Thus is born the Saabrolet moniker.

"Saab Cars has never made a dime of profit for Saab-Scania or GM after the company took it off the Swedish aerospace company's hands. Today's Saab lineup today: a 9-3 made from a GM platform that carries the Chevy Mailbu and others; a 9-7, an SUV spun off the Chevy Trailblazer; the 9-2, a reskinned Subaru WRX. And the 9-5, which is the last of the platforms originated by Saab's Swedish engineers."

(Quote from http://www.businessweek.com/, their "The Auto Beat" article dated January 10, 2006)

Saab's current 4-car lineup :

1. The 9-2 or Saabaru, exactly the same thing as my Impreza Wagon.
2. The 9-3 or Saabrolet, not exactly a Malibu, but an offspring of it.
3. The 9-5, the only real Saab left.
4. The 9-7 or another Saabrolet, basically the same thing as the Chevy Trailblazer

I don't know about the rest of you, but I love the new choices we have since all these "cross-the-pond" mergers. We can now pay $20,000 more for a Ford Crown Vic badged as a Jaguar, a Chevy Impala in Saab clothing or the really cool Chrysler Pacifica prancing aorund as a Mercedes or, just to annoy Danny, as a Jeep Compass. Yup. We're much better off than when there was a real difference between foreign and domestic cars and trucks. Much Better.

Ah, the signs as the end of summer approaches.

Got "That Letter" today. The one all teachers dread, the one from the principal that starts with "Dear Staff" and ends with "School begins at 7:30 am" and with all that stuff we're going to be doing the week before the kids show up sandwiched in between. The first sign of fall. That's ok though, because I've been watching 3rd Rock all morning and it's one freakin' funny show. Well, gotta get back to them, they're not gonna watch themselves, ya know......

2 weeks off and 3 seasons of 3rd Rock.....

I decided to take 2 weeks off from Chevron so I could have a couple weeks of nothing before school starts up again. Well, tonight at 10:01 pm that 2 weeks started. Yippeeee! And what do I find when I get home? The first 3 seasons of 3rd Rock and the first season of Night Court that I ordered. Yeah, I'm gonna look a little like John Lithgow in the episode where he gets the new computer and hooks up to the internet. So, if at any point I agree to peel myself off the couch and go to lunch/dinner/a movie with you, you just might want to bring a can of Lysol or some noseplugs...........see ya in 14 days.

Ferragosto 2007

A couple of years ago, we were actually part of the festival. It was a ton of fun, but the timing sucked last year and things just never came together. But being a spectator can be just as much fun - and you get to leave whenever you want to. So, I'm planning on heading down there on the 18th, and think it would be great if the rest of the family (and non-family members) headed down there too. Here's the details :

Italian Car Show ~ Ferragosto 2007
When the word ‘Italian’ comes to mind, it may bring thoughts of beautiful women and fast cars, among other things. The Italians are known for their fashion and style and on August 18th there will be an opportunity for everyone to get a good glimpse at fast, stylish, Italian cars.
Join us for Ferragosto 2007 ! The Free festival will open Saturday, August 18th at 11:00 am and will be held at 300 South 450 West, Rio Grande Street across from the Pioneer Park and the Rio Grande Depot.
Enjoy the creativity and elegance of Italian designed automobiles, listen to live entertainment and taste savory dishes that are uniquely Italian. Bring the whole family to this free cultural street fair.
The Italian Festival is looking for Italian cars to share, contact Ronan Glon 801-815-9218 or alfa.105@hotmail.com

So I hope to see you all down there and if you are interested in going with me let me know. I'll probably park the car at the "U" and take Trax down there.

A day at the Races.

Alex had a few free tickets to a classic car race out at the Larry Miller complex out in Tooele (sorta), so Saturday we headed out there. We left around 9 in the morning and got there with questioning the parenthood of only 12 other drivers on the road, gave the parking dude a hard time because we didn't want to park where he wanted us to and headed in to see the cars. (If you want to see them, and all the other pictures, click HERE.) We got there in time to see the whatchamacallit car race (not stock-car). After that we wandered around a bit and looked at all the cars, watched the go-cart races and some kid on a dirt bike catching some really good air, I got some good pictures of that. We ate lunch at the concession stand, and of course had to critique it. Our conclusions, for your dining pleasure, was that the food was considerably better than that at the Delta Center (I refuse to call it that other name) yet every bit as expensive. The garlic-fries got a 2 thumbs up, might have gotten 3 if Danny had ordered any. Oh, and there was live entertainment too; every couple of minutes the manager yelled "Don't stand in the doorway, the door needs to stay closed so the bugs don't get in". The best part came next. For $20 you can ride in the passenger seat of one of the racing Mustangs for a full lap around the track, with a professional driver at the wheel. Danny wasn't sure if he wanted to go or not - he would have had to borrow the $20 from one of us and he wasn't sure he wanted to. But, before he could decide, they informed us that you could not go if you weren't wearing full shoes, and he had sandals on. (The lady getting us to sign the liability waiver even loaned her shoes to another lady so she could go.) Anyway, it was a blast. We got up to almost 150 mph at one point, and they were going around the corners squealing like all get out. Alex and I got in 2 cars side by side. He got the lead right off the line, and it was neck in neck until we rounded the 3rd corner. I (ok, my driver) took the inside corned and edged past Alex, taking the lead for most of the race. Except for the last corner, where Alex took the inside and passed me, getting to the finish line first. When we stopped they sent out people to unbuckle us, and we found out why - our hands were shaking so bad we couldn't have undone them if we'd had to. Fun, definitly worth the $20. We then wandered around some more looking at more of the cars, and headed out to the stands to watch the stock car races. We left around 12:30, it was a great morning.

Happy Anniversary Jeff & Amy

I don't have a picture of you two together 30 yerars ago, so this goes graphicsless.

Happy Anniversary Alex & Marijke

My phones are back and working - story at 11.

I have returned from the 70's, you can once again contact me on my phone.....

Every good Epic is a Trilogy

[Previously on "A Tale of Two Phones" our Hero had his two phones stolen out of his classroom, heard kids on the other end when he called them, had them disconnected, reported them stolen, got an ornery e-mail from a friend he missed a meeting with, had his older brother contact him because his father contacted the older brother when the people who found one of the cell phones contacted the father, and told our Hero to contact his father about the phone.]

So I went to the address that Julia gave me and and it was every bit as charming as she described it. I started talking to the lady at the front door, who at first looked at me like I was growing a second head out my left shoulder and then told me she had no idea what I was talking about. After being told she was clueless a couple of times, it finally dawned on her that I probably wanted to talk to people in the basement apartment. As I'm walking around the side of the house, this guy comes up out of a stairwell to meet me, not having central air their windows were all open and he had heard the conversation. At first he seemed to be somewhat cautious, like he was expecting me to demand his son be arrested for theft, or maybe I'd settle for a portion of the family fortune. Once I had made it clear that I simply wanted the other phone back, and had no intention of retribution, he became friendly and invited me into the house to talk to culprit #1, his (probably 8 year old) son Zachary. A charming apartment, with 2 kids at the table munching cereal, mom laying on the couch and the baby in a pen with her diaper sliding down about the knees. Zach had no idea where the phones came from, (yeah, right), but remembered the other phone because his friend was taking pictures with it. The parents, or whatever relationship the man had with the family (at one point he said to Zack - just wait 'till your dad gets home), were very helpful. They got Zack to tell which friend it was that had the camera, called the house and got no answer, started giving me directions to the house and even gave me the mom & kids name. Culprit #2 - another 8 year old named Harley (and I quote Zack's mom "like the motorcycle"). The mom even decided to accompany me over to the other house, which I thought was weird because most women I know would never get in a car with a male who was a complete stranger. By the conversation on the way over, it was obvious that mom figured that her son and Harley had taken them off my desk together, and I got the satisfaction of knowing that little Zack would be grounded for at least long enough to know that it wasn't a good thing he did.

We get to Harley's house and dad, or some sort of male father figure, was sitting out front and came to us as we drove up. Instead of breaching the subject slowly, Mom greets him with "Harley's been stealing cell phones off of teacher's desks at Granite" and 'dad' comes out with "F#$%$%, little b#%$^$, f*(&^^" and invites us to follow him inside. He starts grilling little Harley, who is playing completely innocent. No he never had any cell phones. No he didn't take them. No he wasn't taking pictures with one of them. His mom (who looked to be about 18) jumps to his defense - she never saw him with a cell phone, he never had them. So 'dad' asks Harley if he had been to Granite High recently and Harley adamantly says "No, I haven't been there in a long time." This is where little bro (probably 6) speaks up. "You were there just the other day, you told me" Harley still denies it. This is where I did my best teacher impression and looked straight at Harley and said "Harley, I don't want to get anyone in trouble, I just need to get that phone back, that's all I want." Harley opens his mouth and even before he can spew out another lie, little bro reaches out his hand and says "You mean this one?" It's brown trouser time for Harley as dad's vein starts to throb, mom becomes incredibly silent and invisible, and I take the phone, thank him for giving it to me and prepare to leave. I opened the phone to see if it was mine, and find the contact list contains nobody I know. Instead I now have the number for Deni, Dj Dopey, Dutch and someone they refer to as Mushroom. My heart stops because I think I have the wrong phone, so I quickly check the phone settings and find the number for the phone. There it is, my number and my name. Phew! (The phone also had the pictures the kids took, one of which looks incredibly X-Filesish, so you may be able to see Harley, Zack and/or little brother when I figure outhow to get them out of there.)

Anyway, that's the saga. All is well again, the internet even seems to be working fine, although I'm not cancelling my repair appointment tomorrow, 'cause if I do I know the internet will go down again...... see ya around

The Saga Continues

Part One

First of all, this morning I get up, and the internet is doing the exact same thing it was doing before. Two green lights and that's all. Bleah. I'm so sick of this I almost started crying. So I call Comcast and they're sending someone out again tomorrow to look at it. Even though it's up again, I'm not cancelling, because who knows how long it's going to last. So if you have a hard time getting on my site, that's why.

Part Two

I got a call from Alex yesterday, who got a call from dad who had gotten a call from the someone who had my phone. Oh, did I mention that Alex had had to call Danny to get my phone number? Lotta calling going on. Anyway, this guy had found my cell phone in the cusions of his couch, looked through the contact list and saw one for "DAD". Figuring that this was someone related to me, he called the number to let them know they had my phone. Of course dad couldn't call me, so he and Julia went down there to get the phone for me. Julia said something about them making "Deliverance" look like "90210", and that they got the impression that the parents knew it was their kids that took the phone. Fortunatly, Julia still had the address, because they only got my home phone back, now I have to go by and see if they can find my school phone. That's gonna be fun.

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I'm taking 2 weeks off from the Chevron before school starts. I think I'll just go up to the land and hide for that time........