Hey.
The week is over. I taught the three classes today, and they went...well, they went. The other teachers and I agreed today that this San Jose Almaden Preparatory School site is not a particularly pleasant one to be at. My Level 1 started strangely, with very few students showing up on time, which annoyed me. We read The Cat in the Hat, which believe it or not is pretty tough for entering 1st graders. I was prepared for this to be a rough lesson, but they actually didn't do too bad with the book. There was one student whose mom had decided to switch into my class rather than stay in their other one in Los Gatos (apparently my site is closer, despite the fact that they go to a Los Gatos church), and he was incredibly resistant to reading. I actually gave my first time-out of the summer with him. It mostly worked; he did a bit better by the end of the class, but it was still difficult. I don't know what I'm supposed to do regarding his BSA either, since I don't have the info for him and don't really feel like assessing him when he's that resistant. Pole and Vole cracked me up again.
Level 2 wasn't a whole lot better, having to direct the attention of some of the students over and over again. But they mostly enjoyed Simpson Snail. I did a pretty poor job with the phonics lesson, since I hadn't taught it before, but I thought it was an especially tough one for 2nd graders - changing the spelling of a word when adding an inflectional suffix (OK, that sounds more complex that it is). All of the students bowed when I gave them their BSAs in this class; they didn't at all in my Level 1. Finally, my best class of all: the Level 4. They were a bit more brash today, and I had to make sure some of the students were really doing the work they indicated they were doing. But it was pleasant overall. One of my students, during a silent reading period, told me that it was her birthday. I was excited, and told her that yesterday was my birthday. She said, "really?!" and seemed quite pleased about this. It kind of made my day.
Finally I called Adrian after my class to ask what I should plan on doing with my kits that are left over and that I leave in the room in San Jose. He mentioned that he had sent me an email earlier in the day regarding an issue that would impact what I do with my books, which is that there is some additional work they want to offer for me to do. This work would be a run to Albany starting Monday, August 27th. I would teach Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in Schenectady, Loudonville, Poughkeepsie, and Poughkeepsie respectively. I would be subbing for week 5 of another teacher's 10 classes (2 on Monday night, 3 on Tuesday, 2 on Wednesday night, and 3 on Thursday). I told him if I did it I would probably want a rental car to make the drive, since my car is a bit older, and he said that would be fine. I asked him about how it would work with teaching at Squeaky Wheel Thursday nights, and he said we would have to look into it but I would probably just teach the first 1 or 2 classes of the 3 on Thursday before driving back to Buffalo (actually Google maps shows a roughly 6-hour drive from Poughkeepsie to Buffalo).
Anyway, I went to Denny's for dinner and read a bit while I ate mini-burgers and onion rings, and drank a FANTA! Then I came back to the hotel, changed clothes and just bummed around, talking to Jackie a while on the phone and then Jeff as well, who had called earlier to wish me a happy birthday. I'm really looking forward to coming back home tomorrow, as always, and especially looking forward to teaching the next Squeaky Wheel class, which I need to prepare a bit for (perhaps tomorrow on the plane) and also to the birthday dinner I'll have at Chef's on Friday.
...
This teaching thing in Albany would clearly be some more money, and it's closer to home. I'm only subbing, so it would just be this one week, not week after week. I would at least get to spend the preceding weekend at home, so it's more like a regular work week, and I wouldn't have to waste any additional days traveling. Also, it wouldn't be too rough, since it isn't 3 days of teaching 3 classes every day. Teaching 2 classes (even night ones) a day is quite a doable task. However, I was kind of looking forward to being done finally after next week. And I don't exactly enjoy doing the teaching for the sake of doing it itself. But I also don't want to burn any bridges with IRD by declining this offer. So, assuming I were only going to do it Monday through Wednesday, and drive back Thursday morning, with the possibility of teaching just the first class (a Level R, which is only 1:15 long and pretty easy to teach depending on the students)...what do you think I should do, readers? Should I accept or decline? If I were clever I would make a little web poll you could click on, but I'm tired and need a decent amount of sleep so I can get to the airport nice and early tomorrow, so I won't be doing that. Just leave me a comment with your thoughts on this. I read them all and appreciate them, as always.
Until then, I am the undersigned,
Conflicted-in-Cali.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Monday, August 13, 2007
Leaves on the Seine
I've got some catching up to do!
So apart from my post on Saturday from JFK, the last time I posted was last Saturday, after my flight in for week 3. I didn't post much for week 3 because honestly, nothing much new happened. I taught the classes, went through the motions, ate pizza or Denny's or Hawaiian BBQ, watched the Food Network, and went to bed early. I tried to go to bed between 9 and 10 every night last week, which helped me be mostly rested for my classes. I've been noticing that when teaching, Sundays are a little difficult because I haven't been teaching for a few days, so I have to kind of shock myself back into teaching mode. Usually classes go alright; my Level R in the morning is usually quite pleasant despite a few kids who offer some resistance to doing things everyone else does in class. But, they're only 4-5 years old, so I take everything they do with a grain of salt. The Level 5 after that had started out so great, but kind of has gotten a bit worse since then. I think it's the fact that, starting in Week 2, we work on non-fiction stuff as well as reading in Banner in the Sky, and many middle-schoolers resist doing work on non-fiction. The Level 4 at the end of the day is mostly good, there are a few students who are really good readers and love doing the work, some older students who have a bit of an attitude in the class, some goofy younger students who are hard to corral, and some shyer students who don't say much. The worst part about Sundays is how late I get home, only to have to get up the next morning at 5:30/6:00 to teach at 8:00. Usually San Francisco is drab, foggy and chilly as well, so I don't leave in a terrific mood other than the happiness I have from knowing the day is over.
Mondays are better because I have a day of teaching under my belt, but worse because they're in the middle of the week, when I'm most likely to despair. They're earlier, so I'm initially more tired, but on the other hand they aren't after a day of travel, so I'm a bit more rested and used to a routine. At any rate, whatever tiredness I have usually wears off during my first class, another Level R. This one isn't as active as the other, I'm sure because it's so much earlier. However, they're the young'uns, and are cute as such, and it's a short class. These days in San Jose are the ones where I only have 30 minutes between each class. It's nice because I get done by 3:15 every day, but it's not so nice because I don't get any time to relax during the day. My Level 6 starts at 9:45, and this is the surliest group of high schoolers I've taught yet. Some of them are improving, which is awesome, but there are some that still seem to be hating the class. I've moved them around to different seats to where I think best lends itself to them paying attention and not being distracted, but it's still a battle. Almost definitely the hardest class I teach. There was also a pretty serious problem at the end of class last week (week 3) as I forced them to wait in the room until their parents came to pick them up (though they were mostly just waiting in cars out in the parking lot). I thought I was doing the IRD-proper thing to do by doing this, but there was an amazing amount of resistance, even to the point where one of the parents came to the room and was angry with me. Is it that big a deal?
Last is my humongous Level 5, which has also gone downhill a bit. There's one student who was just falling asleep during the nonfiction lesson this week that I couldn't get to focus and do what he needed. I was so angry that I wanted him to stay after with his parents so I could talk to them, but when it came time to leave (again a problem with parents coming to the room to pick them up), he came up to me and said that he couldn't stay, they had to leave right away. And of course, in the confusion, he left, and I resolved to call his mom during the week at home, which of course I didn't , due to my busy schedule. My days off are already spent on a conference call for IRD and doing hours of online reporting for attendance and assessment, so the last thing I want to do is to have to make phone calls home on those days. Ugh. Not to mention some other students in the class who are constantly talking and one in particular who mostly seems to snicker about just about everything. The end of this day brings happiness mostly from me knowing the next day is my last of the week and easiest, too. It's nice to have the whole evening to myself, too.
Tuesday is a good day. Level 1 in the morning isn't too bad, in fact has gotten better since Week 1. There's still the issue of David whom is almost impossible to get to stay on track. His poor father tries to talk to me after class, but he has an toddler in tow as well, so he is almost always dealing with distractions. He deals with them amazingly well; I admire his parenting. However, it's hard to have a conversation with him and he said he would try to get a babysitter so he could come in Week 4 to watch David. The Level 2 is much better, though with the addition of Tyler who moved up from a Level 1, and with the continued talking/attention problems of Dylan, it can be a tough one to handle sometimes. Tyler has gotten better though, and I've sat Dylan close to the front though this doesn't much seem to help. My break in this class is putting on the Pole and Vole CD track for them to listen to. It's a nice 5 minutes of relative quietude where I don't have to talk or, really, even listen. The Level 4 is my final one, and indeed my best class of the week. It's relatively small and almost everyone in the class enjoys doing the work and the reading and answers questions. They're all pretty good readers too. Again, I'm sure it's made better by my improved attitude, since I know it's my last class of the week and after it I can go home.
Last week traveling home was fine; I got to the airport about 1 minute past the check-in deadline, so there was some reprimanding going on there. But I got my bags checked, and got on the flight to Chicago. I was sitting next to a tween girl whose first flight this obviously was, and eventually a woman sitting in a row kiddie-corner to us offered to switch with her so she could sit with her mom. I watched a bit of Flight of the Conchords and then ordered a snack box for $5 that had some beef jerky in it. The woman and I started talking and ended up talking for the rest of the flight. It turns out she had been in the service and then starting working as an architect, which was her BA. She recently was laid off by her firm, so she was flying home to Wisconsin after a trip to California and New Mexico, interviewing for some jobs. I told her about my teaching and the run, and we chatted about lots of things. It was nice to have someone to talk to rather than just reading or working on my laptop. Finally I got to Chicago, and again I made the long trek to a different concourse, and waited a while for my next flight. It started pouring in Chicago, and I talked to Dad and Jackie on the phone for a while. I boarded the flight to Buffalo, and a short while later there I was. Jackie came and picked me up after I got my bags, and thus ended week 3.
Wednesday night we got some food at a Mexican place in Amherst called El Palenque, all of which was very delicious (I had a Shrimp soup and a side of rice and a taco; Jackie had a plate of Enchiladas, rice and beans), went home and not soon enough afterward I fell into a blissful slumber. It was awoken on Thursday and I got up to make my conference call with Chris Brown, which was mostly useless but ended early. The rest of the day I spent reporting online and watching TV/messing around on the internet, and also preparing the lesson for my Flash class on Thursday night.
At around 6 I went down to Squeaky Wheel and rang in. It was much different to go there as an instructor. Tammy showed me the ropes and got me acclimated, and soon I was all set and ready to teach. The students mostly all showed up and I started by introducing myself and having them all introduce themselves. Then we got cracking, as they say. The class went really well. I had a lot of fun teaching it, and it definitely was nothing at all like teaching for IRD. The oppressive weight of someone else's curriculum and a strict timeline was gone; I felt so much more comfortable doing it. That isn't to say, of course, that my teaching skills and experience didn't come in handy when I was teaching, because they definitely did. I got my own set of keys to Squeaky Wheel and locked everything up when I left. Jackie was there to pick me up, and we decided to skip over to the Anchor Bar for some dinner. Corianne met us there; Jackie and I had a drink and ordered some pasta. I got us a single order of BBQ wings. We ate what we could and chatted, then headed home. Another nice night of sleep.
Friday started out with a bit of crisis. Jackie's computer had shut down and would not restart. It was giving her a message that "no operating system" could load. I suspected a hard drive failure. Jackie was, of course, distraught. We decided to take her computer to a repair shop, so we looked up some on Google Maps and picked one across from Squeaky Wheel on Main St. Jackie called them and explained and they told her they would look at it. So we drove it over and Jackie emailed work to let them know she wouldn't be coming in. They took her computer and told her they would call her. We decided to go to the mall and look at the MP3 players, since I was thinking of getting one. So we went to Best Buy, and I didn't see anything there that looked good. We decided to head over to the Apple Store to check out the iPods and, of course, the laptops and other computers since Jackie's was on the fritz. We spent a good deal of time in there and I eventually decided to get an iPod nano, the 2GB version. Then we went home, and I put music on the player and then Jackie gave me my birthday gift, an LCD monitor for my computer. I hooked it up, and it was absolutely awesome. It blew me away! Totally transformed my notion of working on the desktop. I can't wait to use it some more. I spent the rest of the night hooking up my laptop to the television in our living room, projecting movies onto it and packing, which Jackie was a great help with as usual.
For the most part, you already know about my ordeal on Saturday. I didn't get in until 9:15 Pacific time, so I didn't get to sleep until after 11. It wasn't too bad, I could sleep in till 7:30 or so anyway. Sunday's classes went alright, maybe a little better than the week before. The Level R was a lot of fun, with the book Where the Wild Things Are, the wild rumpus around the room, and playing alphabet soup. The Level 5 was OK, I had a few kids fill out some evaluations who wouldn't be there in week 5. In Level 4, not too bad either, though some of the students were still a bit tough to deal with. I was in the mood for Chinese food at the end of the day, so I drove home and decided to go to a P.F. Chang's in downtown San Jose. It was a really neat place, and I was glad I had chosen to go there. There seems to be a great nightlife there, and even on a Sunday night a lot of young people were out. There was some Latin Jazz playing somewhere outside. I parked in a garage and walked to the restaurant, noting a lot of other interesting ones as I passed by. Inside P.F. Chang's I waited for a table and when I was seated I ordered a pot of a citrus tea that ended up being quite good (makes me want KC Tea and Noodle's jasmine tea, mmm), a cold vegetarian side dish of Shanghai Cucumbers (with sesame and soy) as an appetizer, and the Cantonese Chow Fun with beef for my entree. All was good and Jackie kept me company on the phone as I ate. I got myself a bit lost before coming back to the hotel, and made it a little before 10 pm. Sleep was soon to follow.
Today went pretty well. The school is now closed, which worked out in my favor because the principal was there early to unlock my door rather than my having to go ask for a key from Mr. Bro. My first class, the Level R, was good, though attendance was rather sparse and most students were late. The Level 6 went much better this week, and I think by next week most of the students will have made some good progress, not just in terms of reading rate either. The Level 5 was a bit of a bear this week, having to deal with some misbehavin' students. But I was happy when it was over, and now I just have one more day before coming back home for my final 2-day break. Then it's on to the final week of teaching and, following that, a celebration of mass proportions. So until next time I will say adieu.
Oh, and the thought that keeps getting me through all this is the all-too fleeting yet magically wonderful experience that is the autumn at home in Western New York. Fresh, crisp apples. Hot mulled apple cider with nutmeg and cloves. Pumpkin bread. Toasted pumpkin seeds with red pepper flake. The odors of a hundred scented candles throughout the house. The colorful leaves. Winter squash season. All of these images make me smile at my darkest times throughout the day, keep me pushing on.
So apart from my post on Saturday from JFK, the last time I posted was last Saturday, after my flight in for week 3. I didn't post much for week 3 because honestly, nothing much new happened. I taught the classes, went through the motions, ate pizza or Denny's or Hawaiian BBQ, watched the Food Network, and went to bed early. I tried to go to bed between 9 and 10 every night last week, which helped me be mostly rested for my classes. I've been noticing that when teaching, Sundays are a little difficult because I haven't been teaching for a few days, so I have to kind of shock myself back into teaching mode. Usually classes go alright; my Level R in the morning is usually quite pleasant despite a few kids who offer some resistance to doing things everyone else does in class. But, they're only 4-5 years old, so I take everything they do with a grain of salt. The Level 5 after that had started out so great, but kind of has gotten a bit worse since then. I think it's the fact that, starting in Week 2, we work on non-fiction stuff as well as reading in Banner in the Sky, and many middle-schoolers resist doing work on non-fiction. The Level 4 at the end of the day is mostly good, there are a few students who are really good readers and love doing the work, some older students who have a bit of an attitude in the class, some goofy younger students who are hard to corral, and some shyer students who don't say much. The worst part about Sundays is how late I get home, only to have to get up the next morning at 5:30/6:00 to teach at 8:00. Usually San Francisco is drab, foggy and chilly as well, so I don't leave in a terrific mood other than the happiness I have from knowing the day is over.
Mondays are better because I have a day of teaching under my belt, but worse because they're in the middle of the week, when I'm most likely to despair. They're earlier, so I'm initially more tired, but on the other hand they aren't after a day of travel, so I'm a bit more rested and used to a routine. At any rate, whatever tiredness I have usually wears off during my first class, another Level R. This one isn't as active as the other, I'm sure because it's so much earlier. However, they're the young'uns, and are cute as such, and it's a short class. These days in San Jose are the ones where I only have 30 minutes between each class. It's nice because I get done by 3:15 every day, but it's not so nice because I don't get any time to relax during the day. My Level 6 starts at 9:45, and this is the surliest group of high schoolers I've taught yet. Some of them are improving, which is awesome, but there are some that still seem to be hating the class. I've moved them around to different seats to where I think best lends itself to them paying attention and not being distracted, but it's still a battle. Almost definitely the hardest class I teach. There was also a pretty serious problem at the end of class last week (week 3) as I forced them to wait in the room until their parents came to pick them up (though they were mostly just waiting in cars out in the parking lot). I thought I was doing the IRD-proper thing to do by doing this, but there was an amazing amount of resistance, even to the point where one of the parents came to the room and was angry with me. Is it that big a deal?
Last is my humongous Level 5, which has also gone downhill a bit. There's one student who was just falling asleep during the nonfiction lesson this week that I couldn't get to focus and do what he needed. I was so angry that I wanted him to stay after with his parents so I could talk to them, but when it came time to leave (again a problem with parents coming to the room to pick them up), he came up to me and said that he couldn't stay, they had to leave right away. And of course, in the confusion, he left, and I resolved to call his mom during the week at home, which of course I didn't , due to my busy schedule. My days off are already spent on a conference call for IRD and doing hours of online reporting for attendance and assessment, so the last thing I want to do is to have to make phone calls home on those days. Ugh. Not to mention some other students in the class who are constantly talking and one in particular who mostly seems to snicker about just about everything. The end of this day brings happiness mostly from me knowing the next day is my last of the week and easiest, too. It's nice to have the whole evening to myself, too.
Tuesday is a good day. Level 1 in the morning isn't too bad, in fact has gotten better since Week 1. There's still the issue of David whom is almost impossible to get to stay on track. His poor father tries to talk to me after class, but he has an toddler in tow as well, so he is almost always dealing with distractions. He deals with them amazingly well; I admire his parenting. However, it's hard to have a conversation with him and he said he would try to get a babysitter so he could come in Week 4 to watch David. The Level 2 is much better, though with the addition of Tyler who moved up from a Level 1, and with the continued talking/attention problems of Dylan, it can be a tough one to handle sometimes. Tyler has gotten better though, and I've sat Dylan close to the front though this doesn't much seem to help. My break in this class is putting on the Pole and Vole CD track for them to listen to. It's a nice 5 minutes of relative quietude where I don't have to talk or, really, even listen. The Level 4 is my final one, and indeed my best class of the week. It's relatively small and almost everyone in the class enjoys doing the work and the reading and answers questions. They're all pretty good readers too. Again, I'm sure it's made better by my improved attitude, since I know it's my last class of the week and after it I can go home.
Last week traveling home was fine; I got to the airport about 1 minute past the check-in deadline, so there was some reprimanding going on there. But I got my bags checked, and got on the flight to Chicago. I was sitting next to a tween girl whose first flight this obviously was, and eventually a woman sitting in a row kiddie-corner to us offered to switch with her so she could sit with her mom. I watched a bit of Flight of the Conchords and then ordered a snack box for $5 that had some beef jerky in it. The woman and I started talking and ended up talking for the rest of the flight. It turns out she had been in the service and then starting working as an architect, which was her BA. She recently was laid off by her firm, so she was flying home to Wisconsin after a trip to California and New Mexico, interviewing for some jobs. I told her about my teaching and the run, and we chatted about lots of things. It was nice to have someone to talk to rather than just reading or working on my laptop. Finally I got to Chicago, and again I made the long trek to a different concourse, and waited a while for my next flight. It started pouring in Chicago, and I talked to Dad and Jackie on the phone for a while. I boarded the flight to Buffalo, and a short while later there I was. Jackie came and picked me up after I got my bags, and thus ended week 3.
Wednesday night we got some food at a Mexican place in Amherst called El Palenque, all of which was very delicious (I had a Shrimp soup and a side of rice and a taco; Jackie had a plate of Enchiladas, rice and beans), went home and not soon enough afterward I fell into a blissful slumber. It was awoken on Thursday and I got up to make my conference call with Chris Brown, which was mostly useless but ended early. The rest of the day I spent reporting online and watching TV/messing around on the internet, and also preparing the lesson for my Flash class on Thursday night.
At around 6 I went down to Squeaky Wheel and rang in. It was much different to go there as an instructor. Tammy showed me the ropes and got me acclimated, and soon I was all set and ready to teach. The students mostly all showed up and I started by introducing myself and having them all introduce themselves. Then we got cracking, as they say. The class went really well. I had a lot of fun teaching it, and it definitely was nothing at all like teaching for IRD. The oppressive weight of someone else's curriculum and a strict timeline was gone; I felt so much more comfortable doing it. That isn't to say, of course, that my teaching skills and experience didn't come in handy when I was teaching, because they definitely did. I got my own set of keys to Squeaky Wheel and locked everything up when I left. Jackie was there to pick me up, and we decided to skip over to the Anchor Bar for some dinner. Corianne met us there; Jackie and I had a drink and ordered some pasta. I got us a single order of BBQ wings. We ate what we could and chatted, then headed home. Another nice night of sleep.
Friday started out with a bit of crisis. Jackie's computer had shut down and would not restart. It was giving her a message that "no operating system" could load. I suspected a hard drive failure. Jackie was, of course, distraught. We decided to take her computer to a repair shop, so we looked up some on Google Maps and picked one across from Squeaky Wheel on Main St. Jackie called them and explained and they told her they would look at it. So we drove it over and Jackie emailed work to let them know she wouldn't be coming in. They took her computer and told her they would call her. We decided to go to the mall and look at the MP3 players, since I was thinking of getting one. So we went to Best Buy, and I didn't see anything there that looked good. We decided to head over to the Apple Store to check out the iPods and, of course, the laptops and other computers since Jackie's was on the fritz. We spent a good deal of time in there and I eventually decided to get an iPod nano, the 2GB version. Then we went home, and I put music on the player and then Jackie gave me my birthday gift, an LCD monitor for my computer. I hooked it up, and it was absolutely awesome. It blew me away! Totally transformed my notion of working on the desktop. I can't wait to use it some more. I spent the rest of the night hooking up my laptop to the television in our living room, projecting movies onto it and packing, which Jackie was a great help with as usual.
For the most part, you already know about my ordeal on Saturday. I didn't get in until 9:15 Pacific time, so I didn't get to sleep until after 11. It wasn't too bad, I could sleep in till 7:30 or so anyway. Sunday's classes went alright, maybe a little better than the week before. The Level R was a lot of fun, with the book Where the Wild Things Are, the wild rumpus around the room, and playing alphabet soup. The Level 5 was OK, I had a few kids fill out some evaluations who wouldn't be there in week 5. In Level 4, not too bad either, though some of the students were still a bit tough to deal with. I was in the mood for Chinese food at the end of the day, so I drove home and decided to go to a P.F. Chang's in downtown San Jose. It was a really neat place, and I was glad I had chosen to go there. There seems to be a great nightlife there, and even on a Sunday night a lot of young people were out. There was some Latin Jazz playing somewhere outside. I parked in a garage and walked to the restaurant, noting a lot of other interesting ones as I passed by. Inside P.F. Chang's I waited for a table and when I was seated I ordered a pot of a citrus tea that ended up being quite good (makes me want KC Tea and Noodle's jasmine tea, mmm), a cold vegetarian side dish of Shanghai Cucumbers (with sesame and soy) as an appetizer, and the Cantonese Chow Fun with beef for my entree. All was good and Jackie kept me company on the phone as I ate. I got myself a bit lost before coming back to the hotel, and made it a little before 10 pm. Sleep was soon to follow.
Today went pretty well. The school is now closed, which worked out in my favor because the principal was there early to unlock my door rather than my having to go ask for a key from Mr. Bro. My first class, the Level R, was good, though attendance was rather sparse and most students were late. The Level 6 went much better this week, and I think by next week most of the students will have made some good progress, not just in terms of reading rate either. The Level 5 was a bit of a bear this week, having to deal with some misbehavin' students. But I was happy when it was over, and now I just have one more day before coming back home for my final 2-day break. Then it's on to the final week of teaching and, following that, a celebration of mass proportions. So until next time I will say adieu.
Oh, and the thought that keeps getting me through all this is the all-too fleeting yet magically wonderful experience that is the autumn at home in Western New York. Fresh, crisp apples. Hot mulled apple cider with nutmeg and cloves. Pumpkin bread. Toasted pumpkin seeds with red pepper flake. The odors of a hundred scented candles throughout the house. The colorful leaves. Winter squash season. All of these images make me smile at my darkest times throughout the day, keep me pushing on.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Interim post
Of course I realize that I haven't been posting much lately, and I don't have time to do it properly here either. Rest assured that a full, good post is coming. However, I would like to update all on my current situation.
Though the full story has yet to be written, suffice it to say that I missed my 7:11 am flight on United through Chicago to San Jose and am flying through JFK to San Jose via Jet Blue. I'm in NY right now, so some quick math would tell you that if I'm going be departing at 6 and arriving in San Jose just before 10 pm Pacific time, this flight is going to be approximately 8 hours long. I'm not terribly looking forward to this, though I think I will do alright, and I have a window seat. Jet Blue has "the most leg room in coach," which I believe to be true. They also have DirecTV and XM Radio on board, so I can watch the Food Network for 8 hours. It's too bad there isn't any internet yet available for coach passengers to purchase, 'cause you better believe I would buy it for this flight. I can also read the book I brought, probably getting through most of it in one shot (maybe I'll practice using Long Smooth Underline!). Speaking of wireless, it's free here at JFK, which is awesome. I didn't venture any farther than the JetBlue "hub," which I can only imagine sprawls even farther than I believe. There's a mall-like middle section with restaurants, fast food, shops, and seating areas. Some parts are quite posh, some are urban-airport. Let's just say I wouldn't mind being lain over here.
The view coming into JFK was beautiful too, right over the water as the sun started to descend in the sky. I wish my first time coming into NYC wasn't under such wrong circumstances. Then, maybe this experience is kind of telling of what type of city this is. It's weird, being here, it makes me proud to be a New Yorker in a much different way then Buffalo or Rochester do. I'm proud to be a native resident of a state with such natural landscape, progress, and with such interesting (and often wonderful) people. So many people come through this city, and especially this airport, yet I can claim a part of it as my own, and they can't touch that.
Don't let my poetic waxings fool you about my mood. I don't feel good. My stomach has those nervous travelers' jitters, I feel poorly nourished, I'm exhausted but I don't want to sleep, and the thought of teaching classes tomorrow is daunting, if not laughable. My right eye is twitching as a reminder that it wants to shut, yet I have to deny it such comforts until well past its bedtime tonight. Probably the only thing keeping me from feeling like a total waste of Earth-space is the fact that I showered this morning, which I don't usually do on flying Saturdays. I guess this will teach me to underestimate the volume of people trying to leave Buffalo in the mornings on the weekends during the month of August. Speaking of, my birthday is in two days. Is turning 23 tainted by my circumstances? Or is this paramount to achieving an age I never before conceived myself of reaching?
My flight will board soon, I'm told from Gate 2. I hope to be able to watch the new episode of Feasting on Asphalt at some point, depending on what time zone this plane's satellite service is set to. If not, I'll find ways to keep busy. And if I run out of battery on my laptop, out of juice on my iPod, if I finish my book early, and nothing's on TV, well...at least I have a window seat.
Gotta' fly.
Love,
Alex
Though the full story has yet to be written, suffice it to say that I missed my 7:11 am flight on United through Chicago to San Jose and am flying through JFK to San Jose via Jet Blue. I'm in NY right now, so some quick math would tell you that if I'm going be departing at 6 and arriving in San Jose just before 10 pm Pacific time, this flight is going to be approximately 8 hours long. I'm not terribly looking forward to this, though I think I will do alright, and I have a window seat. Jet Blue has "the most leg room in coach," which I believe to be true. They also have DirecTV and XM Radio on board, so I can watch the Food Network for 8 hours. It's too bad there isn't any internet yet available for coach passengers to purchase, 'cause you better believe I would buy it for this flight. I can also read the book I brought, probably getting through most of it in one shot (maybe I'll practice using Long Smooth Underline!). Speaking of wireless, it's free here at JFK, which is awesome. I didn't venture any farther than the JetBlue "hub," which I can only imagine sprawls even farther than I believe. There's a mall-like middle section with restaurants, fast food, shops, and seating areas. Some parts are quite posh, some are urban-airport. Let's just say I wouldn't mind being lain over here.
The view coming into JFK was beautiful too, right over the water as the sun started to descend in the sky. I wish my first time coming into NYC wasn't under such wrong circumstances. Then, maybe this experience is kind of telling of what type of city this is. It's weird, being here, it makes me proud to be a New Yorker in a much different way then Buffalo or Rochester do. I'm proud to be a native resident of a state with such natural landscape, progress, and with such interesting (and often wonderful) people. So many people come through this city, and especially this airport, yet I can claim a part of it as my own, and they can't touch that.
Don't let my poetic waxings fool you about my mood. I don't feel good. My stomach has those nervous travelers' jitters, I feel poorly nourished, I'm exhausted but I don't want to sleep, and the thought of teaching classes tomorrow is daunting, if not laughable. My right eye is twitching as a reminder that it wants to shut, yet I have to deny it such comforts until well past its bedtime tonight. Probably the only thing keeping me from feeling like a total waste of Earth-space is the fact that I showered this morning, which I don't usually do on flying Saturdays. I guess this will teach me to underestimate the volume of people trying to leave Buffalo in the mornings on the weekends during the month of August. Speaking of, my birthday is in two days. Is turning 23 tainted by my circumstances? Or is this paramount to achieving an age I never before conceived myself of reaching?
My flight will board soon, I'm told from Gate 2. I hope to be able to watch the new episode of Feasting on Asphalt at some point, depending on what time zone this plane's satellite service is set to. If not, I'll find ways to keep busy. And if I run out of battery on my laptop, out of juice on my iPod, if I finish my book early, and nothing's on TV, well...at least I have a window seat.
Gotta' fly.
Love,
Alex
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Week 3 begins
A quick recap of my past few days:
I arrived home on Wednesday after a successful flight. It left at around 7:00, which meant I had to be up at 5:30, and I didn't really mind that knowing I would have a couple days off after I got home. My first flight was uneventful, and I arrived in Chicago on time. I had a little bit of time before my flight to Buffalo was supposed to leave, so I sought out some sustenance. I arrived in Concourse C at O'Hare, and I needed to catch my flight out of Concourse F, so I decided to walk that way and look at what was available to eat along the way. It was quite a walk, that airport is really huge and while I had heard people tell me that, that was when I first realized it. I saw a bunch of places, and decided to go to a "Chili's Too" in Concourse F rather near my departing gate. There was a slight wait, but I was soon seated and took a look at the menu. All the customers were given plastic utensils rather than metal ones. The menu was abbreviated, a few appetizers, soups and salad, hamburgers and sandwiches. I decided that I was in the mood for a salad, and decided that a southwestern cobb salad sounded good. I ordered some tostada chips (an appetizer that's really just some hot salted fried tortilla chips and salsa -- nothing special) while I waited because I was feeling pretty hungry. And I asked for a Sam Adams. The chips came and I had a few, but it was a rather large bowl and I definitely didn't need them all; I just wanted a nibble before my dinner came. Oh well, no big deal since it was only a $3 app. The salad came and I got off of my phone call with Jackie and dug in. It was rather spicy, and the chicken that came with it was fried (I for some reason had been expecting grilled). All in all, it really wasn't what I had wanted, which was something light. I ate about half of it, and drank about half of the Sam Adams, which it turns out I hadn't really wanted either; it was too heavy, I really wanted something light for my stomach. All told, I spent almost $25 there on a lunch that didn't really satisfy. I was mad, mostly at myself, about this.
So I got over to my gate at they were boarding. I was glad this flight would be leaving on time, that's for sure. The flight back to Buffalo was short and we got there even before 7. I got my baggage without any problems, and called Jackie to let her know I was done. She came shortly thereafter and picked me up. We headed home and brought my stuff upstairs, and just hung out on the porch for a while. I went inside at one point and checked my email. There was a message from Aaron (from HR at Google) with the subject "Thanks from Google." Feeling my heart leap into my throat, I braced myself and opened it. Sure enough, it thanked me for my application and everything but regretfully informed me that there was not a strong match for me with the position I was applying for at that time. I was extremely disappointed by this; here I had had my hopes up and had something to look forward to -- I was pretty confident I would get an in-person interview at least, that it might not pan out, but that I would at least have one. And here I was, cut short from the process, the door shut on my chances of getting at least that particular job. I went outside and told Jackie. She tried to comfort me, and eventually we decided we should go get some food, though I wasn't in the greatest of moods.
I felt like a BLT, so we decided to head to Louie's and see whether they had one. They didn't on the menu, but they made me one anyway. I also got an order of Jalapeno poppers, and Jackie got 2 hot dogs. We went home and ate, and I felt much better after some delicious Louie's food. It was very hot in the apartment, and despite having the flights go well that day, I was indeed tired. So to bed I went.
Thursday I got up in the morning with Jackie but went back to bed a few hours later once she had gone to work. I slept in a bit too much, as I was supposed to be up in time to take part in a Continuing Training Meeting conference call with Chris Brown. I didn't mind this even though it was one of my only days off, because Chris was my old supervisor and it's always a joy talking to him, and I was getting paid for the 2 hour call, something that teachers usually don't get. After that I hung around and read some articles on the computer, eventually getting a hold of Jeff and agreeing to meet up with him after work at my place. He came over and we hung out on the porch with a couple of Weissbeir and chatted; he talked about his whirlwind trip to Montreal, wanting to learn French, and we talked about the Google thing and my thoughts of the west coast. When Jackie came home a little after 7, we decided to get some food at Papa Jake's, a little seafood restaurant on Elmwood a little north of the village.
At Papa Jake's we sat outside on the patio, providing us with a nice view of the street, if not a little loud due to passing trucks. The menu was fun and had lots of good-looking stuff on it. We decided on an appetizer of spinach, artichoke and parmesan cheese with chips for dipping. Jeff ordered a grilled yellowfin tuna steak sandwich and a side of fries (you order them a la carte at Papa Jake's, but they're hand cut and fresh, well worth it). Jackie ordered a shrimp cocktail and was curious about the "lobster dainties", our waitress was uninformed about them so we decided to wing it and order some. I ordered for myself a snow crab dinner which came with a side salad. The food was all excellent, and it took me a long time to get through them all. Jeff and Jackie entertained me with a heated discussion about morals and politics while I ate, as they finished well before me (though Jackie shared some of my crab meat).
We decided to get some coffee at Spot. I ordered a blood orange tea, and we sat outside and chatted. Jeff was still feeling out of it from his whirlwind Montreal trip and had mostly crashed by then. Meg Knowles showed up and chatted with Jackie a bit. After we had finished our drinks we went next door to Blockbuster to get a movie for us to watch at home. We settled on "Idiocracy" with Luke Wilson. We went home and Jeff took off for East Aurora; Jackie and I made a final trip to Wegman's for some cool treats and then came home to indulge and watch the movie. It was OK, nothing special, but entertaining. Mildly satirical, Vonnegutesque. Finally wake succumbed to sleep.
Friday meant getting up early enough to run some errands before Jackie headed to work so I could have her car to take Heike to the vet for a nail trimming. We decided on breakfast at Ambrosia, which we hadn't tried before. It's over near Louie's on Elmwood. I ordered the "peasant's breakfast" which was a melange of gyro, potatoes, peppers, onions, and mushrooms with a side of toast. It was very good if a little underseasoned. Jackie got french toast that she claimed wasn't too rich, and nearly ate all of. Coffee and water later, we headed to Wegman's and then the Home Depot to get some new pet-proof screen material for our porch door, which was sporting some nasty rips courtesy of miss kitten. We had to go to Squeaky Wheel to pick up the DVD for the BYMI program that Jackie had to take over to a photo studio in Amherst to have duplicated. After that we picked up Heike, and I dropped Jackie off at work before making my appointment at the Summer St. Cat Clinic.
Heike did not like the car ride there at all, but was quiet inside the clinic itself. That is, until the vet got a hold of her. I didn't go in the back with her, but I could soon hear some loud wails from back there. Shortly she was brought back out and the vet said she wasn't any trouble, just loud. I paid the fee and left with her growling low something fierce. As soon as we got home she calmed down and took a breather. I started to work on reporting class attendance for IRD, watching TV and scoping out some articles online. Having the laptop enabled me to be in the front room doing all of this, which was much cooler than the office, due to the windows facing the street rather than the other houses on either side of us where no air can flow. I have yet to try out the laptop on the porch, but I can only imagine what a sweet deal swingin' and surfin' would be. After 5 I picked up Jackie and we headed to Babies 'R' Us for a gift for Holly's baby shower, which Jackie attended today. We decided on a 30-piece safety kit, stopped at Party City for a card and wrapping paper and finally at Barnes and Noble for some books for my up and coming trips to San Jose (more in the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card). Back at home we hung out in the front room and I finished up reporting online. Dinner was BLT subs delivered from La Nova. Soon it was time for me to pack up my things, which Jackie helped me with again, the wonderful girlfriend she is. Bed came soon thereafter and what followed was a day of travels.
Saturday morning meant an awakening of the 5 am variety, some groggy last minute packing, a stop at Mobil for orange juice and a bagel, and a short trip to the airport complete with quick goodbyes. I used the curbside check-in again, this time more out of hope to avoid a potential fee for overweight baggage than the convenience of not lugging the luggage any further than I had to (though it was nice too). Then I walked into the terminal. I was met with a mixture of feelings of wonder, awe, disgust, and fear; the line for security was all the way to the terminal door. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to my flight on time. I got at the end of the line quickly, and slowly but surely made my way through security. I made it to my plane just in time, I thought, but it turned out that the plane was undergoing some repairs or something, and so we waited a bit anyway. The pilot mentioned the horrible security delay and suggested we all call the TSA to complain as he had already. Something about an increased security warning/threat level in D.C. today...
I mostly slept on the flight, after trying to begin reading "Shadow of the Hegemon" to no avail. Upon arrival in Chicago I saw a familiar sight: the flight to San Jose was delayed, said it would leave "at 10:15A" as opposed to the planned 9:50 am departure. Right, I thought, I'll go to the bathroom and get something from Starbucks and then check again and it will say something like "11:45" or "12:30". But sure enough, an iced coffee and half a roasted turkey sandwich later (courtesy of my Level 5 student, God bless him) it still said 10:15! Could I possibly be getting into San Jose close to when I was supposed to today? The plane left as promised, being in the air around 10:30 am; I gave up my original aisle seat to a gentleman who wanted to sit with his family in exchange for an exit row aisle seat. Made no difference to me. I was very comfortable on this flight, no doubt mostly due to having not been delayed for 3 hours. I read more, worked on Flash on my laptop, listened to some music, watched some TV (laptop and in-flight entertainment style), finished my sandwich, and read some more. It went by fairly quickly.
So I arrived in San Jose before 1 pm, waited a bit for my luggage, and then got my rental car without any problems, arriving here at the hotel by 2 pm. Pretty good travel day!
I've just been getting settled in and writing this and now, 2 and a half hours later, I think I'm going to go procure some food from the Hawaiian BBQ place. I hope all is well with everyone who is reading and please comment to let me know how things are going with all of you!
Love,
Alex
I arrived home on Wednesday after a successful flight. It left at around 7:00, which meant I had to be up at 5:30, and I didn't really mind that knowing I would have a couple days off after I got home. My first flight was uneventful, and I arrived in Chicago on time. I had a little bit of time before my flight to Buffalo was supposed to leave, so I sought out some sustenance. I arrived in Concourse C at O'Hare, and I needed to catch my flight out of Concourse F, so I decided to walk that way and look at what was available to eat along the way. It was quite a walk, that airport is really huge and while I had heard people tell me that, that was when I first realized it. I saw a bunch of places, and decided to go to a "Chili's Too" in Concourse F rather near my departing gate. There was a slight wait, but I was soon seated and took a look at the menu. All the customers were given plastic utensils rather than metal ones. The menu was abbreviated, a few appetizers, soups and salad, hamburgers and sandwiches. I decided that I was in the mood for a salad, and decided that a southwestern cobb salad sounded good. I ordered some tostada chips (an appetizer that's really just some hot salted fried tortilla chips and salsa -- nothing special) while I waited because I was feeling pretty hungry. And I asked for a Sam Adams. The chips came and I had a few, but it was a rather large bowl and I definitely didn't need them all; I just wanted a nibble before my dinner came. Oh well, no big deal since it was only a $3 app. The salad came and I got off of my phone call with Jackie and dug in. It was rather spicy, and the chicken that came with it was fried (I for some reason had been expecting grilled). All in all, it really wasn't what I had wanted, which was something light. I ate about half of it, and drank about half of the Sam Adams, which it turns out I hadn't really wanted either; it was too heavy, I really wanted something light for my stomach. All told, I spent almost $25 there on a lunch that didn't really satisfy. I was mad, mostly at myself, about this.
So I got over to my gate at they were boarding. I was glad this flight would be leaving on time, that's for sure. The flight back to Buffalo was short and we got there even before 7. I got my baggage without any problems, and called Jackie to let her know I was done. She came shortly thereafter and picked me up. We headed home and brought my stuff upstairs, and just hung out on the porch for a while. I went inside at one point and checked my email. There was a message from Aaron (from HR at Google) with the subject "Thanks from Google." Feeling my heart leap into my throat, I braced myself and opened it. Sure enough, it thanked me for my application and everything but regretfully informed me that there was not a strong match for me with the position I was applying for at that time. I was extremely disappointed by this; here I had had my hopes up and had something to look forward to -- I was pretty confident I would get an in-person interview at least, that it might not pan out, but that I would at least have one. And here I was, cut short from the process, the door shut on my chances of getting at least that particular job. I went outside and told Jackie. She tried to comfort me, and eventually we decided we should go get some food, though I wasn't in the greatest of moods.
I felt like a BLT, so we decided to head to Louie's and see whether they had one. They didn't on the menu, but they made me one anyway. I also got an order of Jalapeno poppers, and Jackie got 2 hot dogs. We went home and ate, and I felt much better after some delicious Louie's food. It was very hot in the apartment, and despite having the flights go well that day, I was indeed tired. So to bed I went.
Thursday I got up in the morning with Jackie but went back to bed a few hours later once she had gone to work. I slept in a bit too much, as I was supposed to be up in time to take part in a Continuing Training Meeting conference call with Chris Brown. I didn't mind this even though it was one of my only days off, because Chris was my old supervisor and it's always a joy talking to him, and I was getting paid for the 2 hour call, something that teachers usually don't get. After that I hung around and read some articles on the computer, eventually getting a hold of Jeff and agreeing to meet up with him after work at my place. He came over and we hung out on the porch with a couple of Weissbeir and chatted; he talked about his whirlwind trip to Montreal, wanting to learn French, and we talked about the Google thing and my thoughts of the west coast. When Jackie came home a little after 7, we decided to get some food at Papa Jake's, a little seafood restaurant on Elmwood a little north of the village.
At Papa Jake's we sat outside on the patio, providing us with a nice view of the street, if not a little loud due to passing trucks. The menu was fun and had lots of good-looking stuff on it. We decided on an appetizer of spinach, artichoke and parmesan cheese with chips for dipping. Jeff ordered a grilled yellowfin tuna steak sandwich and a side of fries (you order them a la carte at Papa Jake's, but they're hand cut and fresh, well worth it). Jackie ordered a shrimp cocktail and was curious about the "lobster dainties", our waitress was uninformed about them so we decided to wing it and order some. I ordered for myself a snow crab dinner which came with a side salad. The food was all excellent, and it took me a long time to get through them all. Jeff and Jackie entertained me with a heated discussion about morals and politics while I ate, as they finished well before me (though Jackie shared some of my crab meat).
We decided to get some coffee at Spot. I ordered a blood orange tea, and we sat outside and chatted. Jeff was still feeling out of it from his whirlwind Montreal trip and had mostly crashed by then. Meg Knowles showed up and chatted with Jackie a bit. After we had finished our drinks we went next door to Blockbuster to get a movie for us to watch at home. We settled on "Idiocracy" with Luke Wilson. We went home and Jeff took off for East Aurora; Jackie and I made a final trip to Wegman's for some cool treats and then came home to indulge and watch the movie. It was OK, nothing special, but entertaining. Mildly satirical, Vonnegutesque. Finally wake succumbed to sleep.
Friday meant getting up early enough to run some errands before Jackie headed to work so I could have her car to take Heike to the vet for a nail trimming. We decided on breakfast at Ambrosia, which we hadn't tried before. It's over near Louie's on Elmwood. I ordered the "peasant's breakfast" which was a melange of gyro, potatoes, peppers, onions, and mushrooms with a side of toast. It was very good if a little underseasoned. Jackie got french toast that she claimed wasn't too rich, and nearly ate all of. Coffee and water later, we headed to Wegman's and then the Home Depot to get some new pet-proof screen material for our porch door, which was sporting some nasty rips courtesy of miss kitten. We had to go to Squeaky Wheel to pick up the DVD for the BYMI program that Jackie had to take over to a photo studio in Amherst to have duplicated. After that we picked up Heike, and I dropped Jackie off at work before making my appointment at the Summer St. Cat Clinic.
Heike did not like the car ride there at all, but was quiet inside the clinic itself. That is, until the vet got a hold of her. I didn't go in the back with her, but I could soon hear some loud wails from back there. Shortly she was brought back out and the vet said she wasn't any trouble, just loud. I paid the fee and left with her growling low something fierce. As soon as we got home she calmed down and took a breather. I started to work on reporting class attendance for IRD, watching TV and scoping out some articles online. Having the laptop enabled me to be in the front room doing all of this, which was much cooler than the office, due to the windows facing the street rather than the other houses on either side of us where no air can flow. I have yet to try out the laptop on the porch, but I can only imagine what a sweet deal swingin' and surfin' would be. After 5 I picked up Jackie and we headed to Babies 'R' Us for a gift for Holly's baby shower, which Jackie attended today. We decided on a 30-piece safety kit, stopped at Party City for a card and wrapping paper and finally at Barnes and Noble for some books for my up and coming trips to San Jose (more in the Ender's Game series by Orson Scott Card). Back at home we hung out in the front room and I finished up reporting online. Dinner was BLT subs delivered from La Nova. Soon it was time for me to pack up my things, which Jackie helped me with again, the wonderful girlfriend she is. Bed came soon thereafter and what followed was a day of travels.
Saturday morning meant an awakening of the 5 am variety, some groggy last minute packing, a stop at Mobil for orange juice and a bagel, and a short trip to the airport complete with quick goodbyes. I used the curbside check-in again, this time more out of hope to avoid a potential fee for overweight baggage than the convenience of not lugging the luggage any further than I had to (though it was nice too). Then I walked into the terminal. I was met with a mixture of feelings of wonder, awe, disgust, and fear; the line for security was all the way to the terminal door. I wasn't sure if I was going to make it to my flight on time. I got at the end of the line quickly, and slowly but surely made my way through security. I made it to my plane just in time, I thought, but it turned out that the plane was undergoing some repairs or something, and so we waited a bit anyway. The pilot mentioned the horrible security delay and suggested we all call the TSA to complain as he had already. Something about an increased security warning/threat level in D.C. today...
I mostly slept on the flight, after trying to begin reading "Shadow of the Hegemon" to no avail. Upon arrival in Chicago I saw a familiar sight: the flight to San Jose was delayed, said it would leave "at 10:15A" as opposed to the planned 9:50 am departure. Right, I thought, I'll go to the bathroom and get something from Starbucks and then check again and it will say something like "11:45" or "12:30". But sure enough, an iced coffee and half a roasted turkey sandwich later (courtesy of my Level 5 student, God bless him) it still said 10:15! Could I possibly be getting into San Jose close to when I was supposed to today? The plane left as promised, being in the air around 10:30 am; I gave up my original aisle seat to a gentleman who wanted to sit with his family in exchange for an exit row aisle seat. Made no difference to me. I was very comfortable on this flight, no doubt mostly due to having not been delayed for 3 hours. I read more, worked on Flash on my laptop, listened to some music, watched some TV (laptop and in-flight entertainment style), finished my sandwich, and read some more. It went by fairly quickly.
So I arrived in San Jose before 1 pm, waited a bit for my luggage, and then got my rental car without any problems, arriving here at the hotel by 2 pm. Pretty good travel day!
I've just been getting settled in and writing this and now, 2 and a half hours later, I think I'm going to go procure some food from the Hawaiian BBQ place. I hope all is well with everyone who is reading and please comment to let me know how things are going with all of you!
Love,
Alex
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
It's over!
Well, at least the two weeks from hell are.
I'm sitting in the hotel, having just got back from Denny's. I decided to treat myself to dinner there. It's only across the street, so it was a short trip. I changed out of my work clothes and put on a polo and shorts and drove over with my book. The place was practically empty, so I got sat at a booth immediately and I ordered a razzdango and eventually a club sandwich with a side of honey mustard sauce. I read for a long time and ate, it was nice to just sit and hang out.
I'm just full of joy right now, being done with teaching 28 classes in a row...what an ordeal! It feels almost anticlimactic that I only have two days off now, and then I have to do it again, but I think it's going to be much more easy-going the next 3 weeks. What a relief to have some time off to myself, finally. I even am celebrating further by ordering myself some snacks from Domino's later on. I'll fly out tomorrow, hopefully without any baggage problems, and then just relax Thursday and Friday while I catch up on some online reporting and other things for IRD. I'll try and get together with some friends as well, overall just getting some well-deserved downtime.
Today's classes were alright. I got to the site early, at around 7:20 probably, and immediately went over on the other side of the campus to find another teacher. I found him, and he gave me his keys having singled out the one for my room. I took them and unlocked my room and the one next door for Ben, and then brought him back his keys. I thanked him and went back in my room to set up. I had to move some of the tables back into Ben's room since I had taken them yesterday for my Level 5 class. So I got everything set up and read a bit more before class started. My Level 1 was first, and all things told it went much better than last week. Some of the kids are difficult to keep focused, especially a little boy named David who was brought to class rather late. I think this contributed to his lack of focus; he was exceptionally difficult to deal with. I was very close to putting him in time out. But the class went well; I think The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat was a bigger hit than Morris the Moose in week 1. We played a game ("word lightning") that went well at the end of class. Then I had my Level 2. Conversely, this class was a bit less successful than last week's; we read a couple stories in Inspector Hopper that they enjoyed marginally. My Level 4 was last, and whether due to the fact that almost all of the students in the class are good or that I was in a good mood for it being my last of 28 classes in a row, the class went quite smoothly. The only thing that didn't go so well was the long-word decoding lesson, half of which I had to skip. I've done it before, though, and I don't think it's a big deal. So after I taught, I packed up my stuff and played on the spinet for a while before leaving.
That's pretty much everything. So tonight I'm just gonna read some Reader articles, some Harry Potter, watch some Home Movies or Food Network, and get some good rest while snacking on Cinna Stix and Cheesy Bread, which just arrived.
Thanks to all for supporting me through this. The worst is over.
More updates to follow my hiatus.
-Alex
I'm sitting in the hotel, having just got back from Denny's. I decided to treat myself to dinner there. It's only across the street, so it was a short trip. I changed out of my work clothes and put on a polo and shorts and drove over with my book. The place was practically empty, so I got sat at a booth immediately and I ordered a razzdango and eventually a club sandwich with a side of honey mustard sauce. I read for a long time and ate, it was nice to just sit and hang out.
I'm just full of joy right now, being done with teaching 28 classes in a row...what an ordeal! It feels almost anticlimactic that I only have two days off now, and then I have to do it again, but I think it's going to be much more easy-going the next 3 weeks. What a relief to have some time off to myself, finally. I even am celebrating further by ordering myself some snacks from Domino's later on. I'll fly out tomorrow, hopefully without any baggage problems, and then just relax Thursday and Friday while I catch up on some online reporting and other things for IRD. I'll try and get together with some friends as well, overall just getting some well-deserved downtime.
Today's classes were alright. I got to the site early, at around 7:20 probably, and immediately went over on the other side of the campus to find another teacher. I found him, and he gave me his keys having singled out the one for my room. I took them and unlocked my room and the one next door for Ben, and then brought him back his keys. I thanked him and went back in my room to set up. I had to move some of the tables back into Ben's room since I had taken them yesterday for my Level 5 class. So I got everything set up and read a bit more before class started. My Level 1 was first, and all things told it went much better than last week. Some of the kids are difficult to keep focused, especially a little boy named David who was brought to class rather late. I think this contributed to his lack of focus; he was exceptionally difficult to deal with. I was very close to putting him in time out. But the class went well; I think The Fat Cat Sat on the Mat was a bigger hit than Morris the Moose in week 1. We played a game ("word lightning") that went well at the end of class. Then I had my Level 2. Conversely, this class was a bit less successful than last week's; we read a couple stories in Inspector Hopper that they enjoyed marginally. My Level 4 was last, and whether due to the fact that almost all of the students in the class are good or that I was in a good mood for it being my last of 28 classes in a row, the class went quite smoothly. The only thing that didn't go so well was the long-word decoding lesson, half of which I had to skip. I've done it before, though, and I don't think it's a big deal. So after I taught, I packed up my stuff and played on the spinet for a while before leaving.
That's pretty much everything. So tonight I'm just gonna read some Reader articles, some Harry Potter, watch some Home Movies or Food Network, and get some good rest while snacking on Cinna Stix and Cheesy Bread, which just arrived.
Thanks to all for supporting me through this. The worst is over.
More updates to follow my hiatus.
-Alex
Monday, July 30, 2007
Playing catch-up
Aloha!
I've a lot to tell, about 5 days' worth. Best to being at the beginning, I think.
Thursday night: I taught my final Level 5 and Level 7 classes in Buffalo. The Level 5 was a little better than the previous week, but they still needed a bit of coaxing and management. One of my students actually gave me a "thank you" card at the end (I agree with Jackie that it was probably his mom's idea) which contained a $20 gift card to Starbucks. Then, my Level 7 only had 5 students, and was mostly fun with My Name is Aram. One of the women had some questions afterwards, and I felt kind of bad because I didn't want to stay and talk but I didn't want to be rude either. Eventually she left and I did as well. I had actually called the Northwest customer service number between classes, and they said that it hadn't come in earlier, and to call back around 9:30. Great, I thought. I called them back when I was leaving the teaching site, and the lady found out for me that my luggage was at the airport, so I went to pick it up. Had I waited for them to deliver it, who knows how long it would have taken? So I drove to Buffalo-Niagara, picked it up, and drove home. I ate my leftover wings, and Jackie and I got ready to go see the Simpsons Movie. It was good, and it satisfied Jackie, the toughest Simpsons critic of them all. The only downside was not getting to bed until after 2 am.
Friday: The final 3 classes in Buffalo. Level 3: not bad. Level 4: OK. Level 6: alright. It was nice to wrap up Buffalo's classes, though it didn't necessarily feel spectacular or anything. I figured that I would really appreciate being done with them once I had a Thursday and Friday off to myself. At any rate, Jackie picked me up (she had dropped me off) and we went to Barnes and Noble in Amherst; I wanted to buy the new Harry Potter book. I did, and we made a stop at Target as well. We decided to eat out at Olive Garden, so we headed over there. We ended up waiting a while for a table, as it was Friday night dinner time. While we waited we went to the bar and had a seat. Eventually, we were shown our table and we asked for coffee and water, and some alfredo sauce for the breadsticks. I ordered a Zuppa Toscana, a light Tuscan soup with sausage and Kale (delicious!). We eventually ordered dinner, Lasagna for Jackie and a Chicken and Gnocchi dish for myself. We were both not very hungry for our entrees, but mine was quite good so I ate a fair bit of it. The gnocchi were alright, but the chicken was just wonderfully seasoned and prepared with roasted red peppers and zucchini. For dessert, we shared a berry zabaione parfait with raspberry sorbet that was wonderful. We were at dinner for about 2 hours, and then finally headed home. I took a bath and read a bit after Jackie helped me pack up my bags (she really is an amazing help). Finally I got to bed.
Saturday: Another day of flying. One thing's for sure: I was not nearly as tired Saturday morning as I was last week. I got a decent amount of sleep, and got up at 5 to dress, load up the car, and get to the airport. Since my big duffel bag had ripped in transit (it weighed 68 lbs), I was using Jackie's which, while weighing less this time around, didn't have rollers. So I was even more glad to use the curbside baggage drop-off/check-in service (it was especially hard with the cup of coffee also - I had stopped at Mobil for coffee and a nutrigrain bar for breakfast while Jackie fueled up).
My first flight left on time if not a little early and was uneventful; I just read some of the 6th Harry Potter book (in preparation for the new book of course). Of course, then I got in to O'Hare. I was really hoping that my flight wouldn't be delayed, because I wanted to get into Cali early, and head off to my Aunt's. Upon arrival, I checked the departure screen and wouldn't you know it, it said "AT 10:30 A". So that was at least 40 minutes later than my expected 9:50 am departure. I sat and waited, and read. I called Jackie and Dad and talked to them, and got some pizza and a water in the airport (like $10). 40 minutes turned into an hour and a half, and eventually I was delayed back till about 12:00 pm, central time. This was really frustrating. So I ended up finished HP6 on the plane, and then napped for most of the rest of the flight. Finally we got to San Jose, and I headed to baggage claim.
Segue to my rental car, which was hassle-free this time. I was given the option of a Kia Spectra, Ford Focus or Chevy Cobalt, so I chose the Cobalt since I had it last week and didn't want to add any more stress to my life by getting an unfamiliar car. This time I had a 2-door. I drove to the hotel, which was much easier this time since I was used to the car and I knew where I was going. That feeling is very empowering, arriving in an unfamiliar city and navigating like you're a local. Checked in at the hotel, and I had a different room this time; they actually asked me if I preferred upstairs or downstairs, whereas last time I was just given my room assignment, no questions asked. I think I would have preferred to just have been given my room without being given all these choices, which is a terrible disposition to have, I think. I mean, in this day and age where we can have just about anything we want relatively quickly (though for a price), what does it mean to seek out situations in which one doesn't need to make a choice? Could we be backlashing against our parents' generation, where everyone wants to make sure all their choices are given to them up front, or simply becoming complacent and getting used to a deterministic way society is being run? Hard to say.
Anyway, I brought in my laptop and logged on to get directions to Aunt Gloria's. I called her when I left and she gave me some alternate but more specific directions. It didn't take long to get there, and when I arrived she met me outside and showed me where to park. It's an interesting little neighborhood (it's actually a gated community) full of seemingly identical (town?)houses. I came in and said hi, Uncle John soon came in from outside; he had gone to a neighbor's party. Rhea and her boyfriend Hao had gone to the store to get dessert for our dinner. We decided to eat first, and I had some cheese and crackers while I waited. We chatted and soon Rhea and Hao showed up. Rhea is more like an adult, of course, but there's still very much that little kid like aspect of her that I remember from when we were cousins growing up. Her boyfriend is very nice and intelligent, they have been together for a long time now. We sat outside, while Uncle John grilled some salmon steaks and had some of the Kenwood merlot I had brought over. Aunt Gloria had made ravioli with her own sauce and some ratatouille and there was also salad.
Dinner was quite good; we decided that they would take me to see a part of Oakland called Jack London Square before dessert. The drive was short, and we took Aunt Gloria's dog Maggie along with. We walked around a bit before stopping at a Starbucks in Barnes and Nobles where I got a green tea with coconut, ginger and lemongrass. The place was right on the water, and was really well-developed. You could tell that there was usually a lot going on there, with happening restaurants/clubs, the open waters, boating, open outdoor vendors, etc. It made me long for a developed waterfront at home, seeing how wonderful that kind of area could be. The closest thing we have in Buffalo to getting that feeling is Pearl St.'s sunset Sundays, where sitting on a 2nd or 3rd floor patio bar can make you feel like you're not even in Buffalo. I thought of that, and missed home.
We headed back soon after sunset, since the temperature and wind soon dropped below comfortable. Back at Aunt Gloria's, we had a bit of cheesecake, and I talked to Jackie a bit. Then Rhea and I went to the Pack and Save store (Safeway meets Aldi's) where I stocked up on high energy snacks for teaching: smoked almonds, cheese sticks, odwalla energy bars, and craisins. She and Hao left soon after we returned and shortly thereafter I got ready for bed. I was sleeping in the guest room, which I guess was Rhea's old room. It was a comfortable bed, and once I put a floor fan in there it was perfect. I got online via their wireless network and mapped my route to SFSU for Sunday morning. Aunt Gloria warned me of the $4 toll on the bridge, and provided me with the necessary cash which I gratefully accepted. I then read for a bit (starting book 7 for the first time) before bed.
Sunday: I got plenty of sleep, and woke up at 7:30, planning to leave by 8:45 for San Francisco. I had a breakfast of a bagel, coffee and orange juice after my shower and then bid farewell to Aunt Gloria and Uncle John, thanking them for having me. Of course they provided me leftovers to take with. My drive was uneventful, and the San Mateo bridge was nice to go over. The city was quite overcast and chilly, and I arrived to the State University with plenty of time to spare. I got in and set up, and read a bit before my first class started. My Level R went well, if somewhat not as great as last week (I really think Little Bear doesn't excite the kindergarteners as much as Caps For Sale). But I can't complain about a 1:15 long class that pays the same as 2:30 long classes. Next was my Level 5, which went quite well though, again, not as well as last week. We start working on nonfiction in lesson 2, so that might have had something to do with it. Then the Level 4. Not awful, but a little hectic. Overall the day was of course less hectic because between classes I didn't have to run out to Katie's car to get materials kits et cetera. Bonus: I didn't get lost in San Francisco on the way back, so I made it back here probably by around 7:30. Of course, that still didn't leave a lot of time. I stopped at the Little Caesar's for some pizza and crazy bread. Back at the hotel, I watched the Food Network, listened to the new The CON songs on their myspace page, and then read some in my book before bed. I might have taken a bath, but this hotel room's shower is a stand-up one only.
Monday: My alarm clock went off at 6:30, to which I awoke rather groggily. I think my sleep was rather interrupted by the cycling on-and-off air conditioning unit, which provided me with an irregular pattern of noise. I showered and dressed and ate and drank and took an Aleve preemptively. Out of here by about 7:10 or so, and arrived at Almaden about 7:30. Big surprise: the doors were locked. I called the scheduling department this time and talked to Anita, who actually was in charge of that site. She listened to me describe the problem and also asked me about the lack of air conditioning. I still have to explain the lack of tables problem to her. She apparently called someone about it and got back to me, but the room still was unopened until about 7:50 (I read some of Deathly Hallows to pass the time). Finally I got in and set up, and then my Level R's started coming in. There were more of them this week, and I think the class went overall better because of it, though due to my running behind, I didn't get to do a dramatization of the second Little Bear story ("Little Bear Goes to the Moon"). Now, at this site I only have a half an hour between one class's end time and the other's start time. This is really not enough time. So quite soon after my Level R ended, my Level 6 began. This is a very surly group of students. It was especially prevalent this morning, no doubt aided by my own sense of weariness. I was just extremely tired all day, and I'm not sure why (though I'd guess it had to do with the air conditioner unit last night). My Level 5 was after that, and that did go better, though not as well as last week, since I had to do a bit of stern-talking to some of the students. Finally it was over, and after waiting for some of my students' parents to come and pick them up, I headed back myself.
I stopped at a place near the Little Caesar's for dinner, simply called "Hawaiian BBQ." What a place! Outside you could pull up in some of the parking spaces for Drive Inn (sic) service, and inside was like a fast food counter, but the food was all an interesting melange of Hawaiian BBQ meats, and Japanese influences. Check out their website: www.hawaiiandriveinn.com. A friendly counter attendant welcomed me and asked if I had been here before. I said no, and he recommended the BBQ mix plate, "their number 1 seller," he said. I obliged and ordered one of their many different kinds of smoothies as well (opting in this case for passion fruit). He took my order and chatted with me about the holographic wave in my NYS license (the second Californian now to have commented on it -- they seem positively awe stricken by it). I waited for about 3-5 minutes before my order was ready, and I took it and a menu and left. The smoothie was delicious and I couldn't wait to eat. Back at the hotel, I opened up the container and was greeted by a wonderful smell of mixed bbq spareribs, teriyaki steak and bbq chicken atop shredded lettuce, two scoops of rice, and a side of macaroni salad. It was like a Hawaiian garbage plate! I took a few bites and was seriously pleased. What a great find!
Anyway, that pretty much brings us up to speed. After tomorrow is over, I have a couple of days off, and I am sure that I will be simply ecstatic about that once I'm done with the three classes tomorrow. Hopefully I can relax at home and get together with some friends, maybe even catch a The CON concert, I think they're playing at Diablo this weekend. One thing's for sure: I'm going to get a lot of sleep tonight if I can help it.
Hope everyone reading is well.
Love,
Alex
I've a lot to tell, about 5 days' worth. Best to being at the beginning, I think.
Thursday night: I taught my final Level 5 and Level 7 classes in Buffalo. The Level 5 was a little better than the previous week, but they still needed a bit of coaxing and management. One of my students actually gave me a "thank you" card at the end (I agree with Jackie that it was probably his mom's idea) which contained a $20 gift card to Starbucks. Then, my Level 7 only had 5 students, and was mostly fun with My Name is Aram. One of the women had some questions afterwards, and I felt kind of bad because I didn't want to stay and talk but I didn't want to be rude either. Eventually she left and I did as well. I had actually called the Northwest customer service number between classes, and they said that it hadn't come in earlier, and to call back around 9:30. Great, I thought. I called them back when I was leaving the teaching site, and the lady found out for me that my luggage was at the airport, so I went to pick it up. Had I waited for them to deliver it, who knows how long it would have taken? So I drove to Buffalo-Niagara, picked it up, and drove home. I ate my leftover wings, and Jackie and I got ready to go see the Simpsons Movie. It was good, and it satisfied Jackie, the toughest Simpsons critic of them all. The only downside was not getting to bed until after 2 am.
Friday: The final 3 classes in Buffalo. Level 3: not bad. Level 4: OK. Level 6: alright. It was nice to wrap up Buffalo's classes, though it didn't necessarily feel spectacular or anything. I figured that I would really appreciate being done with them once I had a Thursday and Friday off to myself. At any rate, Jackie picked me up (she had dropped me off) and we went to Barnes and Noble in Amherst; I wanted to buy the new Harry Potter book. I did, and we made a stop at Target as well. We decided to eat out at Olive Garden, so we headed over there. We ended up waiting a while for a table, as it was Friday night dinner time. While we waited we went to the bar and had a seat. Eventually, we were shown our table and we asked for coffee and water, and some alfredo sauce for the breadsticks. I ordered a Zuppa Toscana, a light Tuscan soup with sausage and Kale (delicious!). We eventually ordered dinner, Lasagna for Jackie and a Chicken and Gnocchi dish for myself. We were both not very hungry for our entrees, but mine was quite good so I ate a fair bit of it. The gnocchi were alright, but the chicken was just wonderfully seasoned and prepared with roasted red peppers and zucchini. For dessert, we shared a berry zabaione parfait with raspberry sorbet that was wonderful. We were at dinner for about 2 hours, and then finally headed home. I took a bath and read a bit after Jackie helped me pack up my bags (she really is an amazing help). Finally I got to bed.
Saturday: Another day of flying. One thing's for sure: I was not nearly as tired Saturday morning as I was last week. I got a decent amount of sleep, and got up at 5 to dress, load up the car, and get to the airport. Since my big duffel bag had ripped in transit (it weighed 68 lbs), I was using Jackie's which, while weighing less this time around, didn't have rollers. So I was even more glad to use the curbside baggage drop-off/check-in service (it was especially hard with the cup of coffee also - I had stopped at Mobil for coffee and a nutrigrain bar for breakfast while Jackie fueled up).
My first flight left on time if not a little early and was uneventful; I just read some of the 6th Harry Potter book (in preparation for the new book of course). Of course, then I got in to O'Hare. I was really hoping that my flight wouldn't be delayed, because I wanted to get into Cali early, and head off to my Aunt's. Upon arrival, I checked the departure screen and wouldn't you know it, it said "AT 10:30 A". So that was at least 40 minutes later than my expected 9:50 am departure. I sat and waited, and read. I called Jackie and Dad and talked to them, and got some pizza and a water in the airport (like $10). 40 minutes turned into an hour and a half, and eventually I was delayed back till about 12:00 pm, central time. This was really frustrating. So I ended up finished HP6 on the plane, and then napped for most of the rest of the flight. Finally we got to San Jose, and I headed to baggage claim.
Segue to my rental car, which was hassle-free this time. I was given the option of a Kia Spectra, Ford Focus or Chevy Cobalt, so I chose the Cobalt since I had it last week and didn't want to add any more stress to my life by getting an unfamiliar car. This time I had a 2-door. I drove to the hotel, which was much easier this time since I was used to the car and I knew where I was going. That feeling is very empowering, arriving in an unfamiliar city and navigating like you're a local. Checked in at the hotel, and I had a different room this time; they actually asked me if I preferred upstairs or downstairs, whereas last time I was just given my room assignment, no questions asked. I think I would have preferred to just have been given my room without being given all these choices, which is a terrible disposition to have, I think. I mean, in this day and age where we can have just about anything we want relatively quickly (though for a price), what does it mean to seek out situations in which one doesn't need to make a choice? Could we be backlashing against our parents' generation, where everyone wants to make sure all their choices are given to them up front, or simply becoming complacent and getting used to a deterministic way society is being run? Hard to say.
Anyway, I brought in my laptop and logged on to get directions to Aunt Gloria's. I called her when I left and she gave me some alternate but more specific directions. It didn't take long to get there, and when I arrived she met me outside and showed me where to park. It's an interesting little neighborhood (it's actually a gated community) full of seemingly identical (town?)houses. I came in and said hi, Uncle John soon came in from outside; he had gone to a neighbor's party. Rhea and her boyfriend Hao had gone to the store to get dessert for our dinner. We decided to eat first, and I had some cheese and crackers while I waited. We chatted and soon Rhea and Hao showed up. Rhea is more like an adult, of course, but there's still very much that little kid like aspect of her that I remember from when we were cousins growing up. Her boyfriend is very nice and intelligent, they have been together for a long time now. We sat outside, while Uncle John grilled some salmon steaks and had some of the Kenwood merlot I had brought over. Aunt Gloria had made ravioli with her own sauce and some ratatouille and there was also salad.
Dinner was quite good; we decided that they would take me to see a part of Oakland called Jack London Square before dessert. The drive was short, and we took Aunt Gloria's dog Maggie along with. We walked around a bit before stopping at a Starbucks in Barnes and Nobles where I got a green tea with coconut, ginger and lemongrass. The place was right on the water, and was really well-developed. You could tell that there was usually a lot going on there, with happening restaurants/clubs, the open waters, boating, open outdoor vendors, etc. It made me long for a developed waterfront at home, seeing how wonderful that kind of area could be. The closest thing we have in Buffalo to getting that feeling is Pearl St.'s sunset Sundays, where sitting on a 2nd or 3rd floor patio bar can make you feel like you're not even in Buffalo. I thought of that, and missed home.
We headed back soon after sunset, since the temperature and wind soon dropped below comfortable. Back at Aunt Gloria's, we had a bit of cheesecake, and I talked to Jackie a bit. Then Rhea and I went to the Pack and Save store (Safeway meets Aldi's) where I stocked up on high energy snacks for teaching: smoked almonds, cheese sticks, odwalla energy bars, and craisins. She and Hao left soon after we returned and shortly thereafter I got ready for bed. I was sleeping in the guest room, which I guess was Rhea's old room. It was a comfortable bed, and once I put a floor fan in there it was perfect. I got online via their wireless network and mapped my route to SFSU for Sunday morning. Aunt Gloria warned me of the $4 toll on the bridge, and provided me with the necessary cash which I gratefully accepted. I then read for a bit (starting book 7 for the first time) before bed.
Sunday: I got plenty of sleep, and woke up at 7:30, planning to leave by 8:45 for San Francisco. I had a breakfast of a bagel, coffee and orange juice after my shower and then bid farewell to Aunt Gloria and Uncle John, thanking them for having me. Of course they provided me leftovers to take with. My drive was uneventful, and the San Mateo bridge was nice to go over. The city was quite overcast and chilly, and I arrived to the State University with plenty of time to spare. I got in and set up, and read a bit before my first class started. My Level R went well, if somewhat not as great as last week (I really think Little Bear doesn't excite the kindergarteners as much as Caps For Sale). But I can't complain about a 1:15 long class that pays the same as 2:30 long classes. Next was my Level 5, which went quite well though, again, not as well as last week. We start working on nonfiction in lesson 2, so that might have had something to do with it. Then the Level 4. Not awful, but a little hectic. Overall the day was of course less hectic because between classes I didn't have to run out to Katie's car to get materials kits et cetera. Bonus: I didn't get lost in San Francisco on the way back, so I made it back here probably by around 7:30. Of course, that still didn't leave a lot of time. I stopped at the Little Caesar's for some pizza and crazy bread. Back at the hotel, I watched the Food Network, listened to the new The CON songs on their myspace page, and then read some in my book before bed. I might have taken a bath, but this hotel room's shower is a stand-up one only.
Monday: My alarm clock went off at 6:30, to which I awoke rather groggily. I think my sleep was rather interrupted by the cycling on-and-off air conditioning unit, which provided me with an irregular pattern of noise. I showered and dressed and ate and drank and took an Aleve preemptively. Out of here by about 7:10 or so, and arrived at Almaden about 7:30. Big surprise: the doors were locked. I called the scheduling department this time and talked to Anita, who actually was in charge of that site. She listened to me describe the problem and also asked me about the lack of air conditioning. I still have to explain the lack of tables problem to her. She apparently called someone about it and got back to me, but the room still was unopened until about 7:50 (I read some of Deathly Hallows to pass the time). Finally I got in and set up, and then my Level R's started coming in. There were more of them this week, and I think the class went overall better because of it, though due to my running behind, I didn't get to do a dramatization of the second Little Bear story ("Little Bear Goes to the Moon"). Now, at this site I only have a half an hour between one class's end time and the other's start time. This is really not enough time. So quite soon after my Level R ended, my Level 6 began. This is a very surly group of students. It was especially prevalent this morning, no doubt aided by my own sense of weariness. I was just extremely tired all day, and I'm not sure why (though I'd guess it had to do with the air conditioner unit last night). My Level 5 was after that, and that did go better, though not as well as last week, since I had to do a bit of stern-talking to some of the students. Finally it was over, and after waiting for some of my students' parents to come and pick them up, I headed back myself.
I stopped at a place near the Little Caesar's for dinner, simply called "Hawaiian BBQ." What a place! Outside you could pull up in some of the parking spaces for Drive Inn (sic) service, and inside was like a fast food counter, but the food was all an interesting melange of Hawaiian BBQ meats, and Japanese influences. Check out their website: www.hawaiiandriveinn.com. A friendly counter attendant welcomed me and asked if I had been here before. I said no, and he recommended the BBQ mix plate, "their number 1 seller," he said. I obliged and ordered one of their many different kinds of smoothies as well (opting in this case for passion fruit). He took my order and chatted with me about the holographic wave in my NYS license (the second Californian now to have commented on it -- they seem positively awe stricken by it). I waited for about 3-5 minutes before my order was ready, and I took it and a menu and left. The smoothie was delicious and I couldn't wait to eat. Back at the hotel, I opened up the container and was greeted by a wonderful smell of mixed bbq spareribs, teriyaki steak and bbq chicken atop shredded lettuce, two scoops of rice, and a side of macaroni salad. It was like a Hawaiian garbage plate! I took a few bites and was seriously pleased. What a great find!
Anyway, that pretty much brings us up to speed. After tomorrow is over, I have a couple of days off, and I am sure that I will be simply ecstatic about that once I'm done with the three classes tomorrow. Hopefully I can relax at home and get together with some friends, maybe even catch a The CON concert, I think they're playing at Diablo this weekend. One thing's for sure: I'm going to get a lot of sleep tonight if I can help it.
Hope everyone reading is well.
Love,
Alex
Thursday, July 26, 2007
Back in Buffalo
Greetings everyone from Buffalo NY. I made it home yesterday, but not without a bit of a fiasco.
All in all, my flights were on time yesterday. Unfortunately, my laptop battery didn't last me through all 3 of them, so I was a bit without entertainment on my last flight. During two of the flights I had to sit near some young children traveling with their family which wasn't that pleasant, but it wasn't too bad. The day was a draining one for travel; being in 4 airports in one day isn't fun. But like I said, not much went wrong. At least until I went to get my bags in Buffalo.
In short, they weren't there. I waited and waited and waited and they weren't coming around. I went over to the baggage claim office and waited to talk to a representative, who was helping others who seemed to have had the same problem. I reported my bags, and the rep told me they were scheduled to arrive Thursday morning at around 11:09. So, weary and hungry, Jackie and I went home. We stopped at Louie's for some BBQ wings that she had ordered for me around 9:30, and by the time we got there they were almost closed, but they still had the wings. We watched some TV and I ate wings, and then I went to bed. This morning I got up around 9:30, and Jackie and I went to get breakfast at Pano's. I was feeling overall exhausted. Not in an "I want to sleep" way, just in an "I don't want to do anything" way. I only ate about half of my breakfast, and felt really apathetic toward everything. I think this amount of work is really taking its toll on me and the stress is causing my feelings and emotions to just sort of vanish. I guess that's what happens when you're tired. I drove Jackie to work so I could use her car, and went home.
I showered and that made me feel better, then got ready for my phone interview. My interviewer called a bit late, which didn't bother me much but made me nervous, because I knew I had to still go to the airport and get my stuff, and then get to class at 3:45. Finally she called, and we talked for a while. In the middle there was a fire alarm on her end so she had to hang up and call me back 15 minutes later. We talked for about another 20 minutes, and I asked her some questions as well. On the whole I think the interview went very well, though at times I stumbled over my words and had trouble explaining myself. But I'm hopeful, and we'll see if they offer me an in-person interview probably within a couple of weeks. So after the interview, I called Northwest Airlines to see what was up with my baggage. My claim number didn't work on the automated machine, so I got transfered to a representative who looked it up for me. She told me that the flight it was supposed to come in on this morning had been canceled! So it's not going to get here until, at the earliest, 4:15, and that I should call back around 4:30. So I still don't have my luggage, which contains some teaching supplies that I need to go through evaluations. This is ridiculous. I wonder if anything else will go wrong during my runs.
So now I'm sitting up here, in this very hot apartment, sweating from the heat and from worry, with a slightly nervous stomach that won't go away, and I've got to go and teach classes tonight. Then I have to teach 3 tomorrow, and then, of course, it's off to San Jose again. I think the only thing keeping me going is the hope that I might get this job at Google. And despite how crappy I feel, I must admit it does feel good to be home.
Later,
Alex
All in all, my flights were on time yesterday. Unfortunately, my laptop battery didn't last me through all 3 of them, so I was a bit without entertainment on my last flight. During two of the flights I had to sit near some young children traveling with their family which wasn't that pleasant, but it wasn't too bad. The day was a draining one for travel; being in 4 airports in one day isn't fun. But like I said, not much went wrong. At least until I went to get my bags in Buffalo.
In short, they weren't there. I waited and waited and waited and they weren't coming around. I went over to the baggage claim office and waited to talk to a representative, who was helping others who seemed to have had the same problem. I reported my bags, and the rep told me they were scheduled to arrive Thursday morning at around 11:09. So, weary and hungry, Jackie and I went home. We stopped at Louie's for some BBQ wings that she had ordered for me around 9:30, and by the time we got there they were almost closed, but they still had the wings. We watched some TV and I ate wings, and then I went to bed. This morning I got up around 9:30, and Jackie and I went to get breakfast at Pano's. I was feeling overall exhausted. Not in an "I want to sleep" way, just in an "I don't want to do anything" way. I only ate about half of my breakfast, and felt really apathetic toward everything. I think this amount of work is really taking its toll on me and the stress is causing my feelings and emotions to just sort of vanish. I guess that's what happens when you're tired. I drove Jackie to work so I could use her car, and went home.
I showered and that made me feel better, then got ready for my phone interview. My interviewer called a bit late, which didn't bother me much but made me nervous, because I knew I had to still go to the airport and get my stuff, and then get to class at 3:45. Finally she called, and we talked for a while. In the middle there was a fire alarm on her end so she had to hang up and call me back 15 minutes later. We talked for about another 20 minutes, and I asked her some questions as well. On the whole I think the interview went very well, though at times I stumbled over my words and had trouble explaining myself. But I'm hopeful, and we'll see if they offer me an in-person interview probably within a couple of weeks. So after the interview, I called Northwest Airlines to see what was up with my baggage. My claim number didn't work on the automated machine, so I got transfered to a representative who looked it up for me. She told me that the flight it was supposed to come in on this morning had been canceled! So it's not going to get here until, at the earliest, 4:15, and that I should call back around 4:30. So I still don't have my luggage, which contains some teaching supplies that I need to go through evaluations. This is ridiculous. I wonder if anything else will go wrong during my runs.
So now I'm sitting up here, in this very hot apartment, sweating from the heat and from worry, with a slightly nervous stomach that won't go away, and I've got to go and teach classes tonight. Then I have to teach 3 tomorrow, and then, of course, it's off to San Jose again. I think the only thing keeping me going is the hope that I might get this job at Google. And despite how crappy I feel, I must admit it does feel good to be home.
Later,
Alex
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