Make a bunch of lasagna. Put it in the oven at 400 F. Forget about it and go visit some friends. Not the smartest thing I've ever done, but not the worst either. I have to admit that after being gone for over 3 hours, I was half expecting to see the fire department out in front of my house. Fortunately, the only thing damaged was my dinner. The center was still good, got dinner out of it, and probably one more.What next?
Sittin' here writin' the post and watchin' the news. You lock your car because you're afraid of someone stealing your stereo. You hide your valuables in the trunk or under a cover for the sa
me reason. Well, saw on the news today that there is something people are stealing from your car that you can't lock up. The catalytic converter. The value of the metals in the converter have gone up enough that they are getting between $50 and $100 for old converters. So, these people will pull up next to a parked car and slide under it and cut off the converter. They have it happening on surveillance cameras and it took all of 5 minutes. So, they say that if you see someone working under a car in a parking lot, call the cops. Let them figure out if it really is the owner.
Yup, just got done with spring semester 2008, only have 3 more to go : summer and fall 2008 and then spring 2009. So, by this time next year I'll be done. The semester actually turned out a lot less troublesome than I had expected. I thought the Research Analysis class was going to be a bear, and it was, but I came out of it feeling like I had learned a lot, and not totally useless information. The professor was rigorous, expected a lot of us, but was fair. All in all, not a bad semester, and frankly it seemed to have gone by pretty quickly. Now I'm looking forward to my long 2 week break until summer semester starts. Yup. Oh, except that instead of a relaxing 2 weeks off, this Monday marks the start of CRT testing (end of year testing) for us. Now, normally having only one math class would mean that CRT interfere
nce would be minimal for me, except that we're doing it online this year, and as STS I'm going to be wrapped up in it all month. Ever seen a teacher when they are required to bring their entire class to the computer lab for a test they consider an imposition on their teaching time and a total nuisance, AND the testing breaks down? I'd rather draw blood and jump into a tank full of piranhas. Hopefully by the time summer semester starts we'll have all the kinks worked out.......
Alex Rossi
Went to a Blaze game tonight. I don't know if you've ever heard of Ken Garff Keys to Success*, but the had a company party at the Delta Center** and invited the Principals and Faculty contacts from the participating schools to join them. Well I went with the Principal, one of our counselors and another teacher. It was an interesting experience, we got to dine in the VIP dining room, I had my picture taken with the Real Salt Lake Lion (except my Principal forgot to save the picture on her cell phone so it was lost) and then watched a quarter and a half of the game. This is not real football.
But the real point of this post was on the ride home. We're driving east on 2nd South, right in front of where the Green Parrot used to be when the car in front of us slams on the brakes and comes to a dead halt in the middle of the lane. We come to a quick halt about half an inch from their back bumper just to see some 20-something girl come walking from the bar and gets in the car. The driver of the car I was in (wasn't me) gives a couple honks on the horn to let them know that they almost lost their back bumper, we wait while Miss 20ish gets settled and then and finally takes off. At the next corner they go to turn right and we pull up to the light. We're sitting there chatting when we notice that the car is backing up, gets right next to us and Ms. 20ish driver gives us the finger. Two teachers, a counselor and a Principal. We just kind of look at her and smile. Not the reaction she wanted, so she rolls down her window and starts to argue with us. Something about picking up her friend, where'd we want her to park, on top of the other cars?, and after all it is Friday night! The Principal, who was closest to her, just calmly asks "What's that got to do with anything?" I chimed in with some comment about how it really wouldn't have killed her friend to walk the extra 20 feet to where she should have pulled over, to which Ms. Brilliant responds "Yeah, and she's in a LOT better shape than any of you!" and drives off. My point exactly. But she was gone, I never got to tell her. Although from the color of her face I'd guess she already knew that.
Moral of the story : If you're going to cop that little girl (or boy) attitude, don't do it to a car full of educators.
[*Rather than go into it here, just Google it if you are curious, ** Yeah, I know it's not the Delta Center anymore.]
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Spring is a strange time here in Utah. It comes early, it comes late and the weather is often unsettled. I've seen it go from warm to cold in a day before, but this is absurd. Yesterday I was driving around in the convertible, top down, and then even drove the motorcycle to class in the evening without a coat. The high was right around 82 F, it was somewhere around 70 F when I watched the weather at 5:45 this morning. Today? I just saw a car drive by with snow on it. Probably came down from the canyons, but my drive home was snowy enough that visibility was probably down to a half mile. (The news just said the temprature in SLC right now is right around freezing). The picture in this post was taken when I got home today, compare it to the picture right below, which was taken on Sunday, but fits for Monday too.
Just want to thank everyone for the calls, cards, emails and other ways you wished me a happy birthday. It was a wonderful day, and if you couldn't get in touch with me it was because the bro's and their wives had me entertained all day. Thanks again....
That's actually the original quote. It's a little known fact that William had a younger brother, Sven, that was a writer also. Sven wrote cookbooks, and that quote is from his best seller "Caesar Salads, 101 Variations". The quote is a warning about mid-April frosts and their effect on lettuce. William stole it for that little known play about some obscure Roman he did.
Was it just me, or or was the human race overly obnoxious today? Two kids in Computer Tech today kept getting up and annoying each other in class, both have less than 10% in the class and didn't think they needed to take advantage of my make-up day. Psychology class was great, after my refusal to be continually interrupted got two girls so angry they just up and left the room. After that we had a great discussion about schizophrenia, antisocial personality disorder and phobias. They got a little restless the last 10 minutes of class, but that's to be expected. On the way home from school I saw two people run "right turn only" lanes because they didn't think they should have to get at the back of the line like the rest of us peons. The last straw (mainly because I came home and am currently hiding out from humanity) was at the self check-out line at Albertsons. Why is it that some people think that just because I've started running my card that it's time for them to crowd me and start pushing me away with their cart. I tell ya, sometimes I wish that little part of me that makes me behave civilized would just take a vacation and let me stop their cart and say "do you mind if I finish first?" What has happened to us that so many of us are in such a big hurry that we don't have the time to have any respect for the people around us?
When my neighbor just gave me the car I couldn't beleive it. But then Old Blue came along and my vehicular focus shifted. I decided to go with a theme that didn't include an old BMW that still needed a lot of work. Actually, my "Old LTD" theme doesn't include any BMW. So there it sat in the back yard, collecting dust and rust. Until Barry, the neighbor that gave it to me in the first place, asked if I was still planning on restoring it. I told him no, that I was actually trying to get rid of it. Turns out he has a friend that is interested in it, and that he'd split whatever he got out of it with me. As of this afternoon I have one less vehicle at my house. Not that it was in the way or anything, but at least I don't have to worry about it any more. I don't know if I'll ever see the 1/2 of the proceeds, the guy who took it is going to check it out, try to get it running before he and Barry decide on a price. Hey, any extra money will be nice, but I paid nothing for it so no big loss, and I got the battery out of it for Old Blue anyway. So I stored it for the price of a battery. The good news is that even though I'm down to only 3 cars, they all are legal and run like champs. Now I got to start looking for the wagon. Or 2 door hardtop. Or old cop car. Whichever comes first.....
Doorbells. You probably don't think about them too much, but when it's not working it's annoying as hell. Well, my house was built almost 100 years ago, when doorbells were literally bells stuck to the side of the house, and until a week ago, nobody had bothered to install an electrical one. Not real easy to do in a house made with stucco and lathe & plaster. Wiring would be a nightmare. So, why do wiring when they make wireless doorbells now? $40 for one with two wireless door buttons. They work great, and my house has now entered the 20th century. Some day I might even get air conditioning.......
The blog is named L'Adunata, I'm signing my posts Max and I chose the 8th of April to debut it. Got the connection?Well, I'm trying something new. Both Amy and Lisa (the friend) have their own blogs on here, so I decided to join the group. The great thing about the blog, as opposed to my site alone, is that the blog has an interactive component. You can respond to anything I post, and unless it's really bad and I nix it everyone who gets on here will be able to read it.So, I hope you'll enjoy it, respond to things and put your own mark on this site.Thanks and have a great Easter......
another one; the Mini. It looks fine in any color 
because, let's face it, they already look
like they were stolen off a ride at an amusement park....
I saw a bright yellow Mustang on my walk today and thought "That's just wrong." So I took a picture of it for the blog and was all prepared to slam on the bright yellow Mustang. I even went online and got a the pictures of the Vega (never should have been orange ones)
and the VW Bugs. The argument was going to be that the only car that ever looked good in off colors was the VW Bug, which frankly, (not Frankie) looks good in any color. Pink Cadillacs, Mary Kay, but they work, especially because of the song. Orange Cadillacs? Uh, no! Saw a Pepto pink Toyota Celica. 
There's a reason nobody made that song. How about a candy apple red H3? Bad example, they suck in any color. My point is that I see a lot of cars that are painted colors that just never should have happened. And I was going to rant and rave about the bright yellow Mustang. Until I saw my picture of it. Didn't look so bad anymore. Ahhh, maybe it was just my awsome photography, so I Googled "Yellow Mustang". 
Go ahead and do it, click on the little "Images" tab up top first. You'll get somewhere around 149,000 hits. And they all looked pretty damn good. But I still stand by my comment about the pink Celica, the orange Cadillac and the H3 (and H2 by proxy). Even I can't be right 100% of the time.......
Yeah, it was fun. But it's over and time to 'fess up to it. That post below us, down there, yeah there, was all just a practical joke. April 1st, April Fools day. Actually, it's the ethnocentric egotists that made fun of the people celebrating New Year's on April 1st that are the real fools. I mean, there's no real physical aspect of the earth's orbit that makes January 1st a better beginning to the year than April 1st. Or April 13th for that matter. Like they do in Thailand, along with some pretty big water showers. Anyway, it's kind of the 2000/2001 new millennium argument. All these cha
nges in time are arbitrary measures imposed by human beings, and one does not have any more validity than any other. A year, one full orbit around the sun, is in fact 365.25 earth rotations long. A millennium consists of 1000 of these orbits. But at which point does one orbit end and the next begin? Doesn't matter to anyone other than us human beings. And some of us just have a hard time accepting that our choice of orbital point is really no superior to any other point on the orbit. So, I'm choosing to celebrate the new year on April 13th, the Ides of April, with the Thai people, which ironically is also my birthday....
Big Announcement!
I'm engaged! Yes, it's true! I know, I know. You are all saying, "What? I didn't even know you were dating someone!" Well, I admit it has been a bit of a whirlwind. I never thought I would be someone to fall in love so quickly, but... what can I say?
"So who is this gal?" That's your next question, right? Let me introduce you to my fiancé:
Her name is Katie Blunt, but I just call her my little Schmoo-schmoo (we were watching that episode of "3rd Rock" one night, and it just stuck). She’s got a great sense of humor (she thinks I’m funny) and the most beautiful sultry brown eyes. (I'll post a picture at the end of this post.) We met in grad school in August, so we've known each other for just over 7 months. It wasn't really until the last couple of months that we started to get more serious. But once we did, things just clicked!
Katie and I have a lot in common. For one thing, she is a teacher. (I know. I never planned on marrying another teacher. But, again, what can I say? When you're in love... ) She teaches 6th grade science, and even lives right around the corner from my high school. She's funny and talkative and loves to laugh -- just like me!
In other ways, though, I think our relationship is a case of opposites attract. You all know how irreverent and disorganized I can be, Katie kind of reigns me in a bit and helps keep me on track. And she’s already told me how she likes how I make her feel free to loosen up a little bit (I’m still working on it, we’re going to see a little irreverence in her soon!)
Ok, well that's all for now. I'll be sure to give everyone more details soon. And as soon as we have a date I'll post it so everyone can plan on being at the wedding. We're thinking we'll get married in San Diego, but we'll have some sort of open house or reception here too. I’m not really sure she is excited with my idea of having the reception at Wheeler Farm, to be honest, I think she’s convinced I’m joking. (I’m not!)
And you all thought it would never happen!
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=======================================What celebrities would look like if they lived in Ohio....click HERE.
Gotta run, class in a few minutes........
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