OFF AND RUNNING

The school year has begun and 180 school days from today I will once again be glad the school year is over. The first day of school came off with "no hitches" though I'm sure the people in administration and secretarial will tell you different. Me? I just stay in my room and do what I'm hired to do, teach. I stay out of everybody's way and just do my job. This it was a stressless day for me anyhow.

The only bad thing about the whole day was the weather, humid and rainy and hot. It is like walking around with a warm wet blanket all around you and I'm sure all of you have been there before. So it was 89 outside and my room was 92. Oh yeah those administration and secretarial people get the a/c.. Guess they deserve it eh? Me? I'm just glad my "Right Guard" was working.

Tomorrow will be a lot like today but I'm not worried, cooler days are ahead and soon I'll be bitching about the cold and the snow. A never ending cycle.

WHERE DID IT GO?

Yes, where did the summer go? Feels just like yesterday that I was writing that I have the next 67 days off for summer vacation and here it is, the end of summer vacation. School starts on Monday, bright and early with faculty meetings and then in-service classes. Guess ya gotta go to school to teach school. Trouble is, I very seldom learn anything new.

The summer was far from a waste though. We did get a few things done starting with a trip for myself and my lovely wife to the Black Bear Inn of Vermont. This was in celebration of my birthday and our anniversary (they are a day apart). From there we came home and proceeded to convert our old bedroom into a school/computer room. Our son, Ryan is homeschooled by my multi-talented wife and last year he had to look at our old bedroom colors, pink & blue. Now he gets a soft limegreen to gaze upon.

After that we celebrated a couple more birthdays, Ryans' 14th and my Mother-in-law's 81st. This is always a great time to have the family get together. The big project was the kitchen which we started at the end of July and would have gone much quicker except we ran into a snag as we had to remove the old style paper wallpaper (yes, I know I've posted that before and I will eventually get over it). Once the wallpaper was removed we had to decide what wallpaper to put up and that came together quicker than anticipated. I was seeing myself working on this kitchen past labor day but thanks to the efforts of my 86 year old father-in-law, Clarence and my beautiful resourceful wife we were able to pretty much finish it this week. Can I hear and AMEN?

In between all of this also managed to buy a new car and switch my car and home insurance to a company that offers cheaper premiums.

Tomorrow is the end of vacation and I'm thankful that we did accomplish what we set out to do. School starts and soon we are back into a schedule. Debbie already said no big project next summer. I'm not holding my breath, she's usually pretty good in what she says and sticks by it.

FIT AS A FIDDLE?

It has been awhile since I posted anything new and I'm not saying nothing has happened but a bit has happened.

We are like 90% done with the kitchen makeover and just in time as school starts next week. Yes it was a job getting it all done. The hardest part was stripping the old paper wallpaper off the wall which I have eluded to in previous posts. The painting part was okay but the touch-ups took a lot of patience. The wallpaper went up pretty easy though I did have my father-in-law hang the paper and I was assistant trying to make sure he didn't fall off the step stool, he's 86 and can still run circles around all of us.

Then between the three of us we were able to also get the border up that same day. Woo Hoo! We also purchased new hardware for the kitchen cabinets, so all in all we are quite pleased. We still have decorations to go up on the walls, knick knack shelves are up waiting to be filled.

Then in the midst of all of this I went for a physical, I haven't had one in many years and learned that I'm doing okay health wise as long as I watch my weight and calorie intake and do so regular exercise. The Doc said the pushing the buttons on the remote or the keys on the computer keyboard don't count. So I will have to find something exercise like, but I wouldn't hold your breath.

OH YEAH! CEILING THIS!!!

I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!!I HATE CEILINGS!!!!!!!!!!! Painting them that is, otherwise they are great!!!

Old School

The Maine event came off without a hitch. Had a great time, ate some great food, we watched some great videos and about froze parts off in the netherland the last day we went swimming.
All week the water was nice, even bathwarm once you got use to it but on Thursday the water was frigid. It actually hurt to go into the water and figuring to give yourself a few minutes to get used to the water. Not gonna happen, we were just as cold going into the water the first time as when we came out. Mind you, we gave it the old college try. I spent a good 20 minutes out there.
I happened to look around and notice that the only people out there in this frigid water were the younger people and me. So I put two and two together and figured I'm the dumb one, get out of the water and go sit on the beach. Which I did.

Now with vacation over almost it's time to start thinking of school. I really hate to start thinking of it, but I gotta otherwise I'll wake up the first day of school and go immediately into shock. Gotta work into those things ya know. This will be my 29th year of teaching so you think I would be used to it by now. Guess again. Once I'm back into the groove though it's no biggie. I love to teach, I love my job, I just don't like to work.

CURIOSITY KILLED THE CAT

I just filled up my car today and paid $44 for a tank of gas. Gas prices here in Oxford, CT are at $2.69 a gallon as of this afternoon August 15,2005.
I'm curious as to what gas prices are around US. So if you are inclined, just drop me a short e-mail with the gas price and location. If I get enough responses I'll list them in a future blog.
I for one am getting fed up with these prices, why can't there be anything done about it. I'm looking at a monthly gas bill of well over $300 a month at these prices. What are our illustrious Senators and Congressmen doing about this? Nothing I guess. All Bush is concerned about is the war in Iraq. I'm curious
Who controls the cost of gas anyhow? Who is the guy who says okay gas today has to go up this many pennies. And why does the gas station increase this price per gallon even on their old shipments which they paid a lower price for before any price increase. Why can't they sell all of their "old" gas at the cheaper price before they increase it with the new.
Now maybe you who read this probably think this guy is a dumb as a bump on a log but I have to tell you that I don't follow politics and maybe I should but I just get a sense that we as Americans are getting a royal or should I say political screw.

THE MAINE EVENT

YEP, today's the day. We will motor (that's drive) north to the state of Maine, which really isn't all that far for us. I think 4 hours max of driving time. That's the only part of the vacation I don't get excited about. The driving.
There is a lot of traffic out here and for the most part drivers are courteous, but once in a while you encounter a "hotdogger" (that's what I call them in mixed company but what I really mean is "ASSHOLE"). They usually are either changing lanes every few feet, ducking in between cars or the are tailgating, flashing their lights wanting me to pull over so they don't have to pass me.
That happened one time a few years back where the guy kept flashing his lights for me to move over which I finally did and he was off like a streak. Then he had to contend with the next "slow" driver ahead of him. In the meantime I drove up behind him and started flashing my lights at him. Now do you think that ticked him off? Probably. But my exit was on a few hundred yards ahead so I didn't stick around to find out.

MAINE VACATION

Tomorrow starts our family vacation. What? Vacation? Yes, this is our FAMILY vacation. This is where we go as a family unit. I know I've written about little vacations before but that is more of a getaway for the two of us. Now we add a third person into the equation and the whole dynamic of the word vacation changes
Now everything will be catered to "the kid". Ryan is a good kid in all respects. He's been looking forward to this week all year, in fact since we came back from Maine last year. I think his favorite part, never mind the beaches, the arcades,the amusement rides or just hanging out is the eating. He loves his food though sometimes not the best or right kind of food, but then I should talk. He loves Clam Chowder. He will eat Clam Chowder breakfast, noon and night if he could. At home during the school year I think he has a can of clam chowder at least once a week. I think he has become kind of a connoisseur on clam chowder.
Tomorrow starts our family vacation, Where? Maine of course. We have gone to Maine for our family vacations for the last 4 out of 5 years. One year we tried Vermont for a family vacation, not good. Therefore we return to Maine. Personally I like the beaches, the waves of the Atlantic and just hanging out with my family.
I think we are all looking forward to this week, no computer, no phone, no regular schedule, hey and no wallpaper stripping!

My Friend Vinnie

I have a new friend in my life and he's been right there in front of me. His name is Vinnie and no I didn't change the name of my car or changed the name of our cat or my wife. Vinnie has been hanging around the house for years and I never given him the time of day except for "what smells". My wife says Vinnie smells like a douche, I happen to think of pickles when I see Vinnie.

Vinnie has come to my aid though. Those of you haviing read my blog or my emails know we are in the process of redoing our kitchen. New paint, wallpaper, new hardware for the cabinets. Since Friday we have been dealing with stripping the wallpaper. Thinking we only had one layer found we actually had another layer of wallpaper underneath. My wife who has lived in this house for the past 20+ years says "Oh, I forgot about that wallpaper".

Nuff said. It deserved to be forgotten. This is the old style paper wallpaper. The kind you had to paste on. The kind that DIF doesn't work on very well. The kind that even a steamer doesn't work very well. But, my friend Vinny make the wallpaper come off , I quote my son Brian "Slicker than snot on a doorknob". If you haven't guess Vinny is Vinegar. Actually Vinegar and hot hot water.

Soak the wall, I mean soak the wall, let it set for 10 minutes and soak the wall again and then scrape. The wall paper just peels off scrape by scrape, not the section by section like the new vinyl stuff does, but scrape by scrape right on down through the paste right to the drywall. Awesome.

Hey I'm happy I found Vinny and I know he's good for a lot of other uses and even though he is a little aromatic. I'll never forget how he helped us on these walls.