I can see clearly now….

… YES!  A good storm came in and scoured out the valley.  It didn’t leave as much snow or rain as the other storms, but it brought a lot of wind.   We love wind, it destabilizes the inversion. 

… I also learned that, despite our air being deemed the worst in the nation, that a lot of what we see blocking our view during the inversions is actually just water.  The same forces that trap in the cold air and the pollution, prevent evaporated water from escaping.  So, as ugly as those pictures I posted before were, a lot of that really was just fog.

… Thank God the fog has lifted.  Now, how long is it going to last?

 

 

Click here for related story.

Stuff

… Here are some more pictures I got in my email box.  I won’t vouch for their unaltered state – these days you have to look at every photo as possibly being photoshopped, but they’re still funny.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Beware the Ides of Benadryl

… The manager of Chevron called the store tonight and told us to pull all the Benadryl and Tylenol products off the shelves.  We didn’t get many details, especially since he  didn’t know much himself, except that they had been recalled and could be dangerous.  If you go to the link below, you’ll see that it only involves specific lot numbers, so don’t start panicking yet.  I’ve got a bottle of Tylenol that is half empty, so I know it’s ok.  But if you’ve bought any recently, you may want to check follow the link and check yours out.  Just an FYI.

http://www.mcneilproductrecall.com/

Lisa

Beware the 2010 Census.

I got a big long email warning about people posing as Census takers to get personal information for identity theft.  So, I went online and checked out the census website and it boils down to this:

1. Don’t answer anything unless it comes through the U.S. Mail or from someone in person with U.S. Census Bureau I.D.

2.  Do not answer any questions other than the 10 listed below. 

1. How many people live there?
2. Where there any additional people staying there that you did not include in Question 1?
3. Is this house, apartment or mobile home?
4. What is your telephone number?
5. Names of everyone living there.
6. Gender?
7. Age and date of birth?
8. Hispanic, Latino or Spanish origin?
9. Race?
10. Do they sometimes live or stay somewhere else?

If you want to check out all the information on the Census, here is the link: The 2010 Census.

19 my Aunt Fanny.

… They really need to rephrase the term “Average Class Size”, or find a more informative way of calculating it.

… I just got done adjusting my seating charts for the second semester, which starts Tuesday.  Of my four 8th grade classes, two have 40 students, and two have 39 students.  My 9th grade class has a scant 36 students in it.

… Then I’m in reading the Salt Lake Tribune, where they reported that the average class size for secondary schools last year was “19 students a class.”  That’s one more student than half my smallest class.  A more accurate, and less deceptive, way of stating that number would be “19 students per certified staff member.”

… Here’s the problem with that number, they figure it by taking the number of students registered and dividing it by the number of staff members on teacher contracts, including the ones with no class loads.  Counselors are on teacher contracts.  Librarians are on teacher contracts, so are the School Technology Specialists.  They don’t differentiate between classroom teachers and these other positions. When you also consider the smaller class sizes of Special Ed, Youth in Custody and other at-risk specific classes, you get an incredibly distorted impression of the the class size most of our students are in.

… I’d like to see the stats from actual class rolls for your mainstream classes.  That would give you an accurate idea of what the majority of the students see in all their classes, and I’d guarantee it’s a lot more than 19.  Or at least word it so that the general public doesn’t picture classrooms with less than 20 students in them, and wonder why all these teachers are complaining about “stack ‘em deep and teach ‘em cheap.”

Thoughts for the New Year

Number 10
Life is sexually transmitted.

Number 9
Good health is merely the slowest possible rate at which one can die..

Number 8
Men have two emotions: Hungry and Horny.
If you see him without an erection, make him a sandwich .

Number 7
Give a person a fish and you feed them for a day, teach a person to use the Internet and they won't bother you for weeks.

Number 6
Some people are like a Slinky ...
Not really good for anything, but you still can't help but smile when you shove them down the stairs.

Number 5
Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals, dying of nothing.

Number 4
All of us could take a lesson from the weather.
It pays no attention to criticism.

Number 3
Why does a slight tax increase cost you $200.00,
and a substantial tax cut saves you $30.00?

Number 2
In the 60's, people took acid to make the world weird.
Now the world is weird and people take Prozac to make it normal.

And The Number 1 Thought For 2010
Life is like a jar of habanera peppers;
What you do today, might burn your ass tomorrow


We must become the change
We want to see in the world
Carl

New Airport Clothing.

This’ll make getting through airport security a lot quicker – and without the embarrassment of a full body scan…

I can’t drive 55.

… Well, actually this post is about how I CAN drive 55, car #55 that is. The 2 door hardtop, as of yet unnamed, is now legal, insured and on the road.  It still looks like a beater, but mechanically, it rivals Old Blue for best-runner.  The ride is definitely closest to new – got it on the freeway last night and it literally floated down the road, but without feeling squirrely like the wagon does.  Not that it corners any better than a shopping cart (thanks for that one, Sir Duke), but it is predictable and solid on the road.

… So far, I’ve put a new (dual) exhaust on it, new tires, master cylinder (brakes), air filter and, well that’s about it.  I’m going to give it an oil change tomorrow, already bought the stuff for it, and then maybe a tune up down the line.  Mechanically, that’s about all it needs.  The mechanics who did the brakes, emissions and inspection on it said they were amazed how solid the front end was on it, and other than the stuff they fixed, it was in excellent shape.  Of course, it will need a new vinyl roof and paint, but then it will be good as new.

… I got my exercise today, brought all four LTDs over to Sugarhouse Park for a photo shoot (as you can probably tell by the pictures).  To do this I have to drive a car over, walk home, drive another car over, etc., and then do it all over again to get them home.  It’s only about  5 blocks away, but it’s uphill both ways.  Partially.  I had to go over a hill, either that or trudge through a lot more snow.  Anyhow, here’s the pictures of my collection.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Call-out for Fallout

… BBS Flashbacks reminded me why my basement, garage and cedar closet are full of things I look at once a decade.  Memories.  TMC brought up World Devastation, a fantasy band that had a fantasy tour that we actually made up t-shirts for. 

So, as soon as I read his post, I ran into my bedroom, rifled through the closet and, voila, found a mint condition World Devastation Call-out for Fallout shirt.  I went and took pictures of it, front (above) and back (below), put them on my site and sent him links to the pictures.

Now, we spent a lot of time on those t-shirts, Not just coming up with the perfect picture on the front, but coming up with the cities for the tour.  The goal was to come up with the most convoluted tour route (map the towns, you’ll see), going to the funniest named towns, with ridiculous populations (the green numbers are their populations in 1987). 

Yeah, it was fun.  And thanks for reminding me TMC.

More funny kid.

… In 3rd period we were looking at the Guiness Book of World Records online, and when this picture came up, one of my students (who looks kind of like Macauly Culkin in Home Alone) blurted out “Looks like my ex-wife.”

… Not something you expect to hear in a junior high math class.

Funny kid strikes again.

… Remember the student that walked past my desk and said “I know I’m special, but why do they keep calling me Ed?”  (It’s a pun on Special Education).

… Well, even if you don’t, he struck again.  Somehow, and don’t even ask how, we got into a discussion about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) in, yes, Math class.  On the way out of class he says to me; “I’ve got CDO.” What?  “COD; Dyslexic Obsessive Compulsive.”

Yup, they make me laugh sometimes.

The Netherlands, a province of China

… Ah, yes.  I love those chain emails.  This one was a Chinese proverb that had a whole bunch of these “With money you can buy …, but you can’t buy …”  For example “With money you can buy sex, but you can’t buy love.”  You get the idea, it touched on health, wisdom, respect and of course sex.  And in the end it promises you good luck if you send it off to 20 friends within 4 days.  Yes, you will get a ton of good luck if you send it off to 20 friends in 4 days.  That’s 20 friends in only 4 days.  Did you get that you have to send it off to 20 friends?  In 4 days?  For lots of luck?

… Yeah, the proverb took 9 of the powerpoint slides, and there were 10 pages reminding you to send 20 copies in 4 days.

… Anyways, the reason this one warrants mention is because of one little slide, the one below:

… Chinese proverb?  Originated from The Netherlands?  WTF?

Car #56, almost.

… The Gearheads called me this morning, said they found another LTD.  1969 2 door hardtop, just like the first LTD I owned.  They wanted to bring it by and show it to me.  I said yes, of course, the whole time wondering how much they wanted for it, and where I’d get the cash.  Not where I’d park yet another vehicle, just running through my cash and thinking of what can be put off.

… When I went out to get the paper, I noticed the new snow on the ground and called them to let them know the LTD might not make it in the  driveway.  All they said was that it was no problem and they’d be here in about 15 minutes.  This is when it first crossed my mind that it wasn’t a real, full-sized car.  Half of me was happy that I’d be able to finish the work on the 2 door instead of spending it on another car.  You can probably guess how the other half felt.

… When I saw it, my other half said “ok, that’s cool too.”  It’s an old metal toy car, bigger than your standard Matchbox  or Hot Wheels, and without any of the innards.  It’s just the shell with wheels, but it’s obvious that’s the way it came.  It’s solid metal, and inside it’s stamped with “MADE IN U.S.A.”

… They got it from her mother, who found it packed away somewhere with a few other old toys, and since it was a blue ‘69 LTD, they thought it would go good with my collection.

View Full Album

… Thanks you three, it’s awesome!

Happy New Year!