Grr...

Well its 9am, and the only thing we got at our house is 12 hours of rain. However, all of the towns West and Northwest of us are losing power and cancelled school. Maybe we will get some Snow (or Ice) this afternoon.

Bring it on

The weather forcast for tonight and tomorrow is for Ice and Snow. Some "weatherman" on the radio reported up to 6-12 inches possible. I have two words about this...

HELZ, YEAH!

I love Snow. I grew up in KC, and it just seemed to snow alot more than it does here. Frequency and Accumulation. I know I am 3 hours farther south, but would that make THAT much difference? I can't wait to take my daughter sledding, and build her first REAL snow man. We built one last winter, but it was the 3 foot tall Grass covered kind. I want her to see a 6 footer like my dad would build for us in KC.

When I was a kid, we lived on a U-shaped street. The connecting point of the 2 streets was at the bottom of each street. One street was about two times longer than the other, so its slope wasnt very good for sledding. But the other... Oh man.. nice, steep and straight. Plus, the snow plow would push all the snow from both streets to a paved part of the bottom of the hills where no houses were. All the kids in the neighborhood could sled down the steep hill, and then crash in to the GIANT pile of snow at the bottom. We would dig tunnels and ramps into the pile and try to go through it or jump over the pile. And sometimes, the dad that lived at the bottom of the hill, in the house closest to the pile, would listen to see if school was cancelled, and if it were he would take a giant wrench, and open the fire hydrant at the TOP of the steep hill, at about 6 am. The street would flood, and then ice. It was Sledding Heaven. The people that lived on that street didn't seem to mind going around the other way. Everyone ( kids and parents) would sled until dark. Races, Dog piles on many sleds, all sorts of fun... No wonder I love snow.

I am off to find a giant wrench...

Crazy Holidays

Thanksgiving was good. Went to my Mother-in-Law's house for lunch, and had alot of Ham. Very yummy. Then we watched Babe.

That night we had some friends over and had alot of snacks. Very fun. Then we watched Football.

Black Friday, we bought alot of gifts. Very Crazy! Then we watched Four Rooms.

Saturday we went to Great-Grandmother's house, and had alot of Turkey. Very filling. Then we watched Curious George.

Sunday, we had alot of chores, and played outside. Very relaxing. Then we wactched everyone turn on their Christmas Lights.

Damn... I knew I would forget to do something.

Problem Passat Parker

Today, the left tires of the Passat were completely out of the parking spot.

Just thought I would share.

Pet Peeves

I am a pretty easy going person. However, there are things that just drive me crazy. They are mindless, stupid things that other people might not notice or mind.

The biggest one lately, is the person driving the speed limit in the left lane, with no one around them for 500 ft in either direction. I drive faster than I should, usually Speed Limit + 10, on the highway. So, when I see one of these people coming up I just shake my head, and pass them on the right, along with the 2 cars in front of me and the 5 cars behind me. After all of us have passed, they still don't move over. Back before I had my daughter, and if my beautiful bride wasn't in the car, I would just sit about 10 feet off these people's bumper until they got the hint. Morons. Also in the topic of driving is the person that drives Speed Limit +15. While I have no problem with them driving this fast, it is when they fly up next to me and want to cut in front of me to get to their exit, that is less than 300 feet away. It's not that I would mind them cutting in, but lately they do it when there is no one behind me for a quarter mile. Apparently, that extra car length will get them home 3 seconds earlier.

I have two at work that just make me bonkers as well. Every morning when I get to work there is a VW Passat parked in the one of the front row spots. This is all well and good, but this person is completely oblivious to the size of their vehicle. I say this, because on any given day, they are 6 inches outside of the parking spot, away from the other parking spots. Imagine a line of parking spots, the left most spot is the first one, with the rest spreading to the right. To the left of the parking spots is the "driving" area for getting to the spots. This is where the 6 inches of their car sits. And not only is it too far to the left, but too far forward, into the "facing" parking spot. I should start taking pictures of it everyday and post them... Or measure how far out they are and plot it over time. They get to work early enough to get the same spot every day as well, maybe they just have no other cars to reference while they park. If I noticed I were outside the lines of the spot when I got out of my car, I would a) move it, b) make note to be more careful tomorrow. Nope, not this person. I think they know I judge their parking skills everyday, and are doing it out of spite now. Because it is all about ME!

The other one at work, is just people being lazy. We have Handicap Assisted Doors on our building. Which means, you push this button, and the doors open up for you. Not just one, but a set of double doors. After that is another set of double doors, operated by another button that will open them. I don't know why, but the people that use the button to open the doors ( except for people with a need for them, or people that are carrying sooo much stuff, that just bumping the button is easier... I let them slide, a bit) drive me crazy! I mean are you so lazy that pulling/pushing a door open is that strenuous on your body, that you have actually take more time to get through the doors, than if you just opened it manually? The doors take a couple of seconds to open when you push the button. They will actually just stand there while the doors opens, and WAIT, until their weak, lazy bodies will fit through the opening. I have noticed that it is a certain group of people that do this... they are the same people that take the elevator from the 3rd floor to the 2nd floor, instead of walking DOWN the stairs. That is just exhausting.

I am sure there are things that I do that drive people crazy. Like using 3 periods to end a thought, or the fact I dip my french fries in my choclate shakes, or put my foot in my mouth over and over...

Death Cat

I love puzzles. Any kind of puzzle. Math puzzles, logic puzzles, wood puzzles, etc. In a recent puzzle search, I came across an Anagram generator . I typed in my name and it revealed a bit about me.

Apparently I should have been a Data Tech. Don't play games with me because I Cheat a Tad. I also tend to get Attached to things. I should have gone into the Military and used my Cadet Hat. Or started my own talk show with Dr. Phil : Date Chat.

If I throw my middle name in the mix, apparently am a mad, ethical cheat, with the chemical data and that medical ache. But I hate medical chat. Perhaps, I should have starred in my own mystery/thriller "The Matilda Cache".

Oh well, back to work.... I have to analyze my Hi-Tech Camel Data.

I am a fair presenter.

Last night finished up this semester of my teaching at the local technical college. Granted, I only taught 2 classes, but the second class was much better than the first. I had 5 people in the Dreamweaver Level 1 class, and 4 people in the Flash Level 1 class. The thing that bugged me the most about the first class, were the "Student Feedback" sheets. The students rate the class, instructor, and expirience on a "Exceptional, Good, Fair, Poor" scale. I received a few fair marks under presentation for the Dreamweaver class, and took it kind of rough. I chalked that up to first class nervousness, and the fact that I "use" Dreamweaver, I don't "KNOW" Dreamweaver. The Flash class went much better, I answered a ton of questions, and fixed alot of problems people were having.

There was one student that attended both of my classes. He was one that gave me "fair" marks in the Dreamweaver class, and stated that the class did not meet expectations. After collecting the feedback sheets last night, I noticed that he had marked "fair" again under instructors Presentation skills, Preparation of Materials, and that the class did not meet expectations. Everyone else in the class marked "Exceptional", and wrote comments on how helpful the examples were and that I did well.

// Begin Rant

I don't know what the hell this guy expects from a 6-hour Introduction Course in the Continuing Education program of a Local Community Technical College on a program as powerful and diverse as FLASH!

I have been to Week long classes, taught by Macromedia, on Flash AND actionscripting, and still don't consider myself "well versed" in all it can do. If he thinks taking all 3 levels of Flash (18 hours total) will make him a Flash Animator, developer, programmer. He is sorely mistaken.


This is the same guy that "watched" the Cardinals game on ESPN.com during the Dreamweaver class, and Managed his Fantasy football team during the Flash class.

// End Rant

That last comment was a cheap shot, I should really play "fair".

Fred and Barney

I was watching Spongebob with my daughter the other day, and a commercial for "Fruity Pebbles" comes on. You know the one where Barney tries to trick Fred in to giving him some of his Fruity Pebbles.... ya that one. It occurred to me, that anyone born after 1980ish, thinks that these 2 guys only sell cereal. I know my daughter has NEVER seen the Flintstones. She has no idea who these two guys are. I think it is kind of interesting that they haven't gone away. Are they selling THAT much cereal?

By the way, I love cereal... but I am sure you have gathered that from this and the last post. I think I now hold the world record for "Number of times 'Fruity Pebbles' has been typed in an hour". Call Guinness.

Heaven in Snack form

Rice Krispy Treats are happiness in a pan. I love em. I would eat them all the time if my beautiful bride wouldn't mind me ballooning up to 500 lbs. Butter, Marshmallows, and Cereal. Who would have thought that such a simple list of items could make such a wonderful treat. If you are ever want to experience what life is like at the speed of light, make your next batch of Rice Krispy treats with Fruity Pebbles. That, my friends, is a powerful thing.

Teaching in a tornado

I recently started teaching some Web Development classes at a local Technical College. The idea really appealed to me, and I thought what the heck. I turned in my "Application" on a Tuesday. The next Tuesday I had an "interview" with the continuing education managers, and they said they would love to have me lead some classes. Well, they assigned me to 4 classes, the first of which started on the FOLLOWING Tuesday! Yikes. The worst part was the class that was to teach is the weakest of the subjects I agreed too.

So, with 1 week of prep time, I show up to my first class a nervous wreck. I had 5 students, covering a wide variety of... variety, i guess. I had an 18-year- old that did nothing but stare at the ceiling, a 30 something that was more interested in the terms of things than using things, a 55 year old that was very eager to learn anything I had to say, a 45 year old professional woman who was obviously sent there by her company, and was in way over her head. And the last was a woman in her late 30s/ early 40s that had taken a ton of classes but didnt remember any of them. Her job pays for them to attend classes, and she was getting every class she could out of the deal.

I did OK teaching. I found myself jumping from subject to subject and hitting a tangent here, and sometimes not coming back to the original topic. But the second night of classes seemed to go much better, and I was not nearly as nervous. I have another class next week, and we will see what that brings.

I knew this would happen...

I have been so concerned over what to add to this blog, that Nothing gets added. I need to just use it and put down whatever thoughts come to mind.