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.

I exercised and did homework by day; in the evening, I went to my “slam dunk” class.

Now truthfully, when the testing starts next week, it won’t be so slam dunk.  There is a lot of information to memorize and internalize.  For now though, the in-class work and discussions are very easy because I’m covering material that I am intimately familiar with.  The class will get more difficult as we progress.

Hey, one week down and I’m already 1/6^th of the way through these two classes – hurray!  Of course, I have at least 5 – 6 more six week modules to go (minimum, @ 4 nights a week), and student teaching, and a whole lot of major requirements to accomplish before I graduate, but for now, I’ll celebrate the small stuff rather than dwell on the big picture.  A nibble at a time works best.

I started doing homework for the first time in more than a decade this morning.  It felt weird.  I pretty much did the minimum required because based on the initial class, it appeared that we would be revisiting everything in group discussions.  I was right – we did.  Still, the teacher told us that we will soon have a test on the information we covered in class and on the material we read for homework.  In the interest of getting a good grade, perhaps I should re-read the articles and actually dig into the classroom requirements/standards for health.  Those standards are several pages long.  The test will be sometime next week.

In the afternoon today, I walked to my wife’s classroom so we could then drive together to Mission College.  For some reason, I thought that her school was only half a mile away.  It is 0.8 of a mile.  A subtle difference I know, but I had only given myself 10 minutes to get there (I walk a 21 minute mile typically).  I had to walk pretty fast just to get there only a little late.  My legs didn’t work anymore by the time I got there.

We drove to Mission with another teacher, and we took a brief tour of the place.  While there, I also talked to my professor again and filled-out paperwork so I could get paid for my lecture.  The new buildings on campus are stunning, especially the Hospitality Management wing.  Their large teaching kitchen had me drooling.  I want to take a class there!  When I got home and told my son about the room, he said the same thing.  Heck, he’s willing to take a class now, even before getting out of High School!

Today’s class was even more packed, if that can be possible.  We had 29 in a class that comfortably seats 20 (same room as yesterday).  We had three Brians in the room (yesterday’s class too).  Unlike yesterday’s class though, most of the students were going for a Multiple Subject Credential (K-6 grades).

There were still a few of us going for higher grade levels (grades 8-12), and we all seemed to sit at two tables.  I sat at a table with some really smart folks (3 Masters, 1 PhD).  The other 8-12 grade table had at least two Masters level people as well.  Wow, smart group.  I also found out that one of the Brians has headed the advice from our mutual adviser, John, and has picked up a second credential: he is going for both Social Studies and English.  I probably need to do the same, especially since the trend seems to be moving more towards integrating English and History.  Art, Computers, Technology and Business are other possibilities for additional single subject credentials.

Our teacher for this class on “inclusion” was a retired Vice Principal who fell in love with teaching teachers at NHU.  The class started slow, but once she started lecturing, it was like jumping to light speed.  Everyone was taking notes furiously and most had these shocked faces – too much information too fast!  Being married to a teacher and all (and having a kid with a modified education plan), I already knew much of the information that was presented.  I’m so totally going to get an A in this class! (no curve in this class BTW, strictly based on achievement)

Oh ya, the highway route took only 15 minutes – half the time of yesterday’s route.  I guess I should take the highway.  The thing is, today seemed awfully light.  Often, it’s stop-and-go this time of day.  I think the highway is going to be vastly unpredictable.  I’ll take the highway, but I should also know how to get to school from any off-ramp.

Over the weekend, I presented my long version Northern Renaissance Symbols class at church.  It was very successful.  I already have people requesting that I teach it again.

Today, I (humbly feel) that I totally nailed my Mission College short version of the same material.  True, I did deliver it in my usual frenetic style so as to keep it within the 20-30 minute time frame (25 minutes!), but I felt that it was easy enough to understand, and yet still “meaty.”  My college professor may have a different opinion.  I’ll see her on Wednesday and ask for her critique.  So far, it still looks like I’m on for guest lecturing in another class in November, so I must not have done all that poorly.

When I got home, I sort of collapsed after my “high” from teaching.  I did some reading and watched a little TV.  Before you knew it, it was time for my first class at NHU.  Ugh, the start of a year (or more) of four nights a week in the classroom.  This is going to be a major adjustment in my life.

I tried to drive the non-highway route to school and I took a wrong turn.  It still worked out OK, so now I have a third route I can take.  This third route took 30 minutes.  I’ll try the other two routes this week and see how they time out.

We had a substitute our first day, but what a substitute!  Our sub was the head of the student teacher program at NHU.  It was really good to meet her.  We really seemed to hit it off.  She now knows that I have a Masters and that I actually seek a position at a Community College.  I also found out that her son is taking an Art History class at SJSU and is struggling.  I may become a tutor for him.

She also knows that I applied to NHU.  I got the impression from her that because I lack a PhD, I will not be considered for the position (which now shows as closed on the job website – Oh ya, I also applied to be a substitute teacher today).  NHU is trying to become a 100% PhD school to gain credibility.

The class, by the way, was absolutely packed.  The teaching credential program is definitely the most popular thing on campus.  It was also a very ethnically diverse class, so I felt right at home.  Out of the 24 in the class, 7 (including me) are going for a credential in HS Social Studies – slightly more than one quarter of the class!  This got me a little depressed – there might be only one job in any given year in the Bay Area for a history teacher, and I am one of seven in this single class (not to mention all the other classes in all the other colleges) who will be vying for that single position when we graduate.  My adviser John was absolutely correct when he said: “Try for something else, everyone wants to be a Social Studies teacher.”  His graduating class had three; it looks like mine will have seven (and John is going for his PhD right now in part because he couldn’t get a job).  For the next year or so, I’ll try my best to treat my history classmates as friends and colleagues.  At SJSU, everything was graded on a curve and I wanted the “A” so I got a little competitive.  I’m not sure if NHU grades on a curve, but even if it does, teaching is about collaboration, not competition.

The CLC video projector was only slightly better.  I could use it in a pinch, but it wasn’t entirely focused, and I wanted absolute clarity for the minute details in this art presentation.  I had Connie help me get the camera in focus (she near the screen, and me 40 feet away at the projector), but it wouldn’t focus.  I suspect it’s a resolution thing.  As with the projectors in the sanctuary, the resolution is way too small, and the distance is far too great.  The result is visible square pixels.  I needed better, so I was about to drag out the portable projector when Connie told me that there was a newer, better one that had just been purchased.  I tried that one, since I knew that the old one was not so bright, and the resolution was only slightly better.  The new one was awesome!  It had HD resolution.  I am now looking forward to my presentation.

Next stop was to find a hillside so I could watch the Space Shuttle (mounted on a 747) fly by.  It was on its way to its final destination in LA.  When I got to the hill, I was not alone; others had had the same thought.  I stood next to an old Navy guy and his wife.  He had binoculars and was on constant vigil to try to find the plane in the smoggy, overcast sky.  I had something better: my iPhone.  I hooked up with NASA’s twitter on the flight and (much like with bicycle racing) “fans” told of its location as it was going along.  I also got on a webcam of Moffett Field (with audio!) and saw thousands of people lining the runway.  Between the two, I had no doubt as to where the Shuttle was.

The Shuttle did three loops around the Golden Gate Bridge for photo ops, then around Coit Tower, and then it headed south to us.  The plane was hard to see, since it was white, and the fog/smog was also white.  Alas, my camera decided to run out of batteries, so I could get no shots, and the plane was too far away for my iPhone, so I simply watched it fly by.  Apparently, it was supposed to make a loop around NASA Ames, but it did not.  It also didn’t fly down the runway, but behind the three massive hangers.  Those who were at Moffett Field were somewhat disappointed by this.  There was also a collective cry of despair on the video feed as the announcer told the people to drive safely on their way home (in other words, the Shuttle was not doing its loop).  And just like that, the event was over.  All of us on our hill got in our cars and headed off.

Since today was my “day of rest,” I decided to watch a movie rather than do any computer work.  By the end of the movie, the kids were home from school.  I had promised Connie earlier in the day that we would help her husband set up for a craft fair so my son and I headed back to church to help set up.

I had this great idea this morning: Why not give my presentation at church this Sunday?  It is a Christian subject, and it will serve as practice for Monday.  I set the plan in motion, got the room scheduled and promoted it.  Problem is, when I got to church (band practice night) to check out the video projectors, they were simply terrible!  Really, I don’t know how we’re able to use them now; I certainly can’t use them on Sunday.  I need an alternative solution.  Tomorrow, I’ll try the video projector in the CLC (the big gym) to see if that’s any better.  If it’s not, then I’ll use the church’s portable one.  It’s not that bright, but I know it works.

Good thing I went to Mission College today.  The slides looked fine, but what was immensely helpful was going through the slides with my teacher.  She gave me pointers about what was too much information and what needed more explanation.  We also discovered that my presentation was way too long.  This is not unusual for me, but it was a concern for my teacher.  As per usual, she’s running late on her class presentations, so she cut me down from 30-45 to 20-30.  We decided to limit the entire presentation to before the Reformation… which cut out about 15-20 minutes of my lecture.  Even so, I bet that with questions, I’ll be in the 30 minute range.

This evening was back to school night at the High School.  I would follow my son’s track, and my wife would follow my daughter’s.  Wherever there was PE class or a teacher we’ve seen before, we would jump to the other person’s schedule.  I saw two of Courtney’s teachers (and four of Jeffrey’s), and Barb saw one of Jeffrey’s (and five of Courtney’s) as a result.  Jeffrey has a good mix of teachers for his senior year; I was really impressed with all the teachers.  When we got home, the first thing the kids asked was how we viewed each teacher.  Jeffrey had a differing opinion about one of the teachers (my favorite of the group!), stating that what he said is not what he actually does, but aside from that, we pretty much agreed.