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......