I spent all day creating a write-up and powerpoint for a presentation I’ll be doing tonight in class.  The subject is “Cyber-bullying.”  As per usual, I have way too much information; I’ll need to pare it down a bit.  This is good because I can then concentrate on the essentials and throw away the rest.  In the afternoon when I started rehearsing my presentation, I kept getting 23 minutes… which is bad.  Anything over 20 minutes is a major deduction.  Just before going to school, I cut two slides that are good information, but not essential.  I was “guessing” that I had been speaking on these two slides for around four minutes.  When I did the presentation in the evening, I did it in 18 minutes.  Yeah!  I think that I hit 18 minutes largely due to speaking fast, which might get me docked a bit on the presentation score.  I’ve done better, but hey, I got through the evening, and I had more than one person come up to me after class and tell me that they enjoyed the presentation very much and that it was information they could use.  Yeah again! – mission accomplished; I hope I get a good grade (I got a perfect score on the write-up – a good start!  I’ll have to wait until Monday for the presentation score.).

So far, our exchange students have: asked to sleep in the same room (they are male and female… so no); asked to go to all the classes together (maybe on Wednesday and Friday); refused to go to bed at a decent time; they shower twice a day for half an hour at a time; seem to have no interest in America, though they say they do.  They’re not being really good foreign exchange students, but they are finally interacting with my kids a little.  They still seem scared of me.  I guess I’m scary.

Today, I led 30 of my wife’s 90 students who went on a Mission College field trip.  The public transportation there was a blast – two busses, two light rail trains.  We got everyone there on time.  Our tour started immediately.  Leo, our guide, was very informative and sort of laid-back.  I went to places on that campus that I had never been to, and I used to go to school here!  It was a good tour.

Alas, I wish I could say the same for lunch.  We were told that we would have a dining hall all to ourselves.  Some big wigs asked at the last moment if they could throw some sort of gala, and they took the place instead.  We had to eat outdoors.  Also, the wonderful looking lunch that was described to us is not what we got.  Our lunches were not worth the price we paid.  The administrator “decided” on her own to change our menu, figuring that middle school kids didn’t eat much.  All the kids left hungry.  We may not go back to Mission college if they persist in mistreating us this way.

Yeah, my group caught a couple of busses/trams early and got home way before the other two groups.  This turned out to be a good thing because our exchange students had to be somewhere by 4PM (the organizers announced at 11PM last night of this sudden, three hour change in the schedule).  I was able to get them there on time… and then I went to school.

My new master cylinder leaks.  I guess I’ll be going back to the shop on Monday.

On Saturday, I officially met the new pastor candidate, and then my family picked up our foreign exchange students.  I think they’re overwhelmed by America and by us.  They spent Saturday hiding from us in the corner of a room.  We even had some of their friends over, which they enjoyed, but once their friends left, they went back to hiding.  They were also pushing boundaries, which I didn’t expect.  These two (unlike last year’s two) are a little less mature and a lot less outgoing.  I get the feeling that neither one is used to many rules or restrictions.

Sunday, we all went to church, which went fine, then everyone but me went to the Redwoods.  Our two exchange students liked that, but from what I understand, they are pretty out of shape.

The car went back to the shop on Monday.  I tried to do homework, but was overwhelmed by the amount of work I had to get done.  I concentrated on two projects, but didn’t finish either one.  This is OK because neither is due tonight, though one is due on Wednesday.  I have to get that one done by Wednesday because it’s a presentation for class.

I started today by parking my car at the garage.  They’ll be putting in a new master cylinder later today.  Next stop was putting up tables and chairs at church for an event.  While there, I also met the pastor we’re interviewing this week.  He seemed nice.  I had a couple of hours free when I got home so I did some homework, but I didn’t get to the projects that are due next week.  I guess I’ll tackle them over the weekend.  At 1PM, my car was ready so I biked to the shop and got my car.  Not long after that, I went to NHU to talk to my student teacher placement person.  She was half an hour late (a miscommunication on scheduling), but we did meet.  It turns out that one of my classes is only two units, not three, so I’m one unit short of being able to student teach in January.  Bummer!  She’ll try to sneak me in anyway, but I don’t know that she can.  She has a perfect master teacher for me, she says, though he is in the South Bay, far, far away from me.  Oh well, it’s only six weeks.  The six weeks after that, she’s going to try to get me into the school right by my house (actually, she had just come from there and had just placed her first student teacher there; sort of funny then that we both drove half an hour from the same location to meet up!).  Since she asked, I gave her the names of the top teachers in that school.  Having kids at that school, and a wife just across the street at the middle school really helps.  My adviser did tell me that it is vital that I start substituting at the high school, if I am to have any chance of being a student teacher there.  I’m working on it!

Over the past couple of days, I’ve sort of just done homework and nothing else.  I’m now ahead of most of my classmates, but in truth, I won’t be there for long.  I have two field trips to go on next week and foreign exchange students from the Philippines arriving on Saturday and staying for a week.  I don’t expect to get much done next week – a week that’s filled with presentations and papers (that I must complete tomorrow, since it’s about the only time I can!).

This evening, I took the midterm in my Inclusion class.  I got an A-, which I’m not too pleased with, but it was a fair grade.  Conversely, one of my papers was deemed so good that the teacher made a copy so she could use it as an example for future classes.  I also got credit for two papers instead of one because I went way overboard on the paper, and it just happened to fulfill the requirements of another assignment.  It was a good evening!

While I was away at class this evening, my son went to the Air Force recruiter.  He absolutely blew-away the preliminary test that all military folks have to take, so chances are that, should he pass the physical (which he should), he can pick any job he wants… if he gets in.  I had warned him not to sign anything, but I forgot to tell him what the Air Force is looking for, and what things they don’t accept (the list is actually quite long – most applicants fail the initial screening by the recruiter).  If they call him back and ask for him to continue the process, I’ll see it as a good thing.

Gaaa!  I spent all day at the Social Security office!  What a colossal waste of time!  I somehow thought I could just pop in, get my new social security card, then take it to the district office.  NOT SO!  I received a number when I got to the office and was told that the wait was around two hours – TWO HOURS!  His timing was off.  I was there 3.5 hours before my number was called.  Fortunately, I had been assigned about 2.5 hours of reading for tomorrow night’s class.  When I got to the window (finally!) I was complimented for having everything ready for her.  In 45 seconds, she said that everything was input into the system and that I could expect my new card in 10 working days.  WHAT!  I opted to come here (and wait!) so I could get the card today!  If I had simply sent my passport in to them, I would have received a new card in seven days!  What a day!

What a weekend!  We decided to go to San Francisco on Saturday morning, just to see some sites.  We didn’t realize that it was Fleet Week.  We got to our first destination, Fort Point, just as the Navy ships were pulling in.  We had the best seats in the house!  Our next stop was Little Italy for lunch (Stinking Rose), then up to Coit Tower for a view of the Bay.  Today that view included many ships and an airplane show.  Actually, what we really liked up above were the Geico ads done in smoke.  We went down Fulbert stairs, walked over to Chinatown, and then left.  Saturday night was a 30^th reunion for Kevin, and since they had opened it up to other classes, I attended my 31^st.  Neither of us knew too many of the people there.  Kevin maybe knew 10; I knew 5.  We left early, about the time the drunken dance contests started.

Sunday was church, followed by a 49er game with my friend Jeff.  Yeah, we won!  After that, Kevin and I rode around the Calaveras hills in my Porsche (Kevin drove), then tennis, then we ate out at a Vietnamese noodle house followed by frozen yogurt.

This morning, I dropped Kevin off at the airport.  I spent an hour in my wife’s classroom today observing several special needs kids, and how they integrated in her classroom.  From there, I interviewed a special education teacher (homework assignment for Wednesday), then went to the district office to see if I could get a job as a substitute.  The district said that there were no openings (I expected that), but I had a backer in my wife’s principal, who would like me to sub.  This may get me in.  Alas, I am missing a social security card, so tomorrow, I’ll have to get one so I can complete the application process.  From there, we’ll see if I can get in.  I also have to fix my car at some point.  The breaks still do not work properly.

This evening’s class had a simply wonderful guest presenter from the YMCA’s Cornerstone organization.  She showed us how teachers can really influence their students for life.  I really liked all she had to say!  My wife wants a copy of all this as well so she can take it to her school.

So nice to have a day off from school; my plan was to go to SJSU sometime today, but I never made it.  The teacher I was to meet wasn’t there, and so I wound up finishing up my stock analysis.  It was good to get that out of the way as well.  I sold some stocks, put limits on many others, and “buys” on a dozen or so new stocks.  In the evening, I went to band practice (after tennis), then picked up my brother Kevin from the airport.  We’ll spend the weekend together.

You would think after the craziness of yesterday that today would be calmer – Nope.

At 9AM, I took my car to my favorite garage.  Fortunately, Carlos had time for me, and he thought he could get the work done by 11:30 when I had my dentist appointment.  I did homework in the shop while waiting.  At 11:25, the tires were still off and the breaks were not yet on, so Carlos let me borrow his truck so I could go to the dentist.  Talk about customer service!  Putting in the new filling at the dentist office was no big deal – done in 40 minutes – so I was soon back at the shop.  The car was done.  I asked Carlos if he had heard any squeaks while test driving the car.  He had.  I suspect that the upper strut mounts are dead and gone.  He thought so too, based on my description, so he put the car back up on the rack.  He couldn’t see anything wrong, but he also can’t see the upper part of the strut without taking things apart.  We agreed that it wasn’t (yet) worth it to take the back suspension apart.  Man, these breaks work well – maybe too well!

With the breaks accomplished, I had time for lunch before getting my TB test looked at in the hospital.  I ate Greek food.  I arrived at the hospital just as the staff was coming back from lunch.  Unfortunately, the shot clinic people come 15 minutes later, so I had to wait.  I waited 45 minutes because the shot clinic was understaffed.  I got my TB test checked, which takes maybe a second, but then the nurse couldn’t print my documents, which I needed to prove I had taken the test.  It took her 15 minutes to get a print-out.  When I got home, I quickly did my remaining homework, and then went to school.  On the way to school, I got a phone call from my “handler” for layout.  He knew that I had just finished my previous contract over the weekend, and he might have another opportunity for me.  Hmm, I don’t know if I really want it right now!  I’m trying to become a substitute.  He’ll call me tomorrow and discuss the details.

Yeah, my dad called my while I was on my break at class.  He lives!  I wished him a belated happy birthday.

Wow, what a week so far!  I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to write (or, more correctly, haven’t made the time to write).

Monday, was what I hoped would be my final push for stock analysis.  I do this every quarter, and Monday was 10/1.  I did not come close to finishing.  I also had several hours of homework to do.

Tuesday was another attempt to get stock analysis done.  I also had homework.  The “big event” of the day though was visiting the hospital.  My doctor had asked me to go in to have my blood work done.  This worked out great because Barbara’s school also has a new policy that if you are a volunteer for a field trip (as I will be in two weeks), you now need a TB test.  The reason for this is because of the huge influx of Indian immigrants.  India has a high rate of TB.  While I was getting shot, I also got my flu shot.

It was a fasting blood test, and I didn’t go in until 9:30.  Man, was I hungry!  It had been 18 hours since my last meal.  Strangely enough, when I got home from all these shots, I wasn’t very hungry.  That evening, I got my results.  Steady progress!  I’m getting better in all areas.  I guess this diet and exercise stuff actually works!

Wednesday was spent zooming around.  I had breakfast with friends, as I always do on Wednesday mornings.  While at breakfast, someone sprayed my car with some very stinky fertilizer-type product.  This was done on purpose (I guess they had an issue with me or my Porsche).  The stuff reeked so much that I washed the car immediately upon returning home; that, and I was worried that such a product would ruin the paint.  Well yeah, I now have a shiny car.  About the time I finished that, it was time for my dentist appointment.  The cleaning went fine, but they found a crack on one of my teeth brought about by an old filling.  They scheduled me for a re-filling tomorrow.  I went home, ate lunch, and then went out to the district office of education to get fingerprinted so I could become a substitute teacher.  That went smoothly, but then I noticed that my breaks began to fail on the way home.  I knew they were due for replacement soon, but I was waiting for the “squeak” that announced the fact.  I could replace the breaks myself, but I also know that the rotors need grinding, and I don’t want to do that.  I’ll take it into the shop tomorrow.  Oh ya, over the weekend, I filled my car with Freon.  It was about time – I had spent all summer roasting in my car.  The weekend had temps up towards 100 so I decided that it was time.  Well, I still had a leak somewhere, so I bought a can of stop-leak.  On the way home, my breaks failed while waiting at a stoplight on a slight decline.  I had to use my hand break to stop the car from rolling into the guy in front of me.  Yep, I would certainly need to get to the shop tomorrow.  Shoot, and I’m still not done with my stock analysis (and more homework is due tomorrow).

One final thing: Today (Wednesday) is my dad’s 78^th birthday.  Every spare chance I had, I attempted to call him, but without any success.  I hope he’s somewhere with mom celebrating.