I'm almost finished...with school for this school year. The past work week was basically more of the same situations already described ad nausea here. Oh on Friday, my plan was to finally try out the Smartboard.

One of the neat things that can be done with it is that is allows you to show DVDs on the screen. Unfortunately, a lot depends on the computer it is hooked up to. For some reason my laptop won't work with the Smartboard. And the laptop the tech guy loaned to me had a broken DVD drive. Where there is a will... I was determined to try it at least once. I came up with the idea of downloading a movie onto my flash drive and trying it that way. Well, Thursday night (Friday morning actually), I found a website that would allow you to download movies. Since the file was too big for one, I used to flash drives. I thought everything was okay. Since it was about 3AM, I did not check the movie, I just wanted a couple of hours of sleep. Well, when the moment came, the movie played nicely...in Russian. On Friday, I also stayed to do my lesson planning for next week. I wanted to chose lessons that were independent, but also not meaningless busy-work. I came up with lesson workpacks (a collection of 3 or 4 worksheets) for 3 of the seven periods. My plan is 30 minutes of independent work, and 15 minutes of review. That would (I hope give me the time I need to start packing up. Last year, I followed the admins. request to not start packing until the last day of school. And I paid for it!! While other teachers ignored that that directive, they were out of the building on the last day of school. Me? I had to come back the two extra admin days that the building was still opened to finish my packing. I also did the packing correctly, according to the packing checklist. Other teachers just threw things in closets and corners, and left their students work up on the walls. This year, I will pack up correctly, but I will try to not be in school those last two days.

My orginal goal for ending the school year was to begin packing during the last two weeks, but you know me and my plans. There is about 3 and a half days left. Now, my goal is to use the last 3 days to pack while my students are (hopefully) being independently productive. This year I also wanted to do a change in my storage routines. In previous years, I've taken home things that I were mine. I don't remember where or when, but I remember the saying, "Always pack like you're not coming back". Don't leave anything that you want to keep, or will have difficulty getting if you move on and won't be allowed to get your things during the summer, or the following year. Anyway, in previous years, I've taken home items a little bit at a time. Last year, I reserved a taxi to take my big items (my personal copier mainly). I still had a lot to carry through the transit system. This year, I decided that since I have a driving license, I should just rent a U-Haul van, and take everything (only my things of course) at one time. Problem? I haven't driven in years. I didn't know if I was ready to drive on NYC streets. So, I decided to return to the driving school in the Bronx where I took a couple of lessons from that retiree instructor (see previous blog entry about the old car). However, I did not want the old car. My main reason for returning to this company was was that they did individual lessons whereas other places I've searched (on the internet) only offered packaged deals. Mostly, I wanted one or two lessons to see if I would be able to drive by myself. My lesson was for Saturday.

Slow morning start. No time to shower. I just did a quick sponge off. I caught the 11:30AM MN train. From the Bronx, I took the bus to my old neighborhood in the Bronx (Fordam Road and the Grand Concourse). Since I arrived early, I made my copies for my "independent lessons". I tried to use the faculty copier but it wasn't working. And I wasn't going to burnout my personal copier. At the Staples the cost of copying class sets of work packs came to $42. Even though the faculty copier will probably be working on Monday, I did not want to risk being unprepared. It was nice making my copies in Staples, the self-service machines were very easy to use, and everything worked. I was able to use the duplex function (printing on both sides of the page) which does not work on the faculty copier.

Oh, in Staples a guy in a wheel chair came up to me. He'd mentioned that he was a dancer in the movie Grease. He said that he was 24 at the time and now he was 50 something. He was passing out his autograph and describe the book he is trying to write. He had all of the cast members of Grease sign a T-shirt. His book is about that T-shirt. After he gave me his autograph, he then asked for a donation. I gave him the $2 I had in my wallet. I felt bad for the guy. Actually, I kept the photocopied page that he autographed, but I didn't do a Google search. While I'm thinking about it, I might as well do it now...

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Here is the link - The Shirt
That's all I could find. Sorry.

On to my driving lesson(s)
I was assigned an early 20's young lady. She was okay. No complaints(other than being a bit too eager with the instructor's brake. Every time I am about to apply the brake, her foot is already on the instructor's brake. But at the same time, she kept telling me that she wants me to do it on my own (when I asked if this was right). The lesson lasted about 30 minutes and the cost was $20. After the lesson, I felt I wasn't really ready to rent a van and drive on my own. I left annoyed with myself, and when I am annoyed (bored, or angry), I eat. So, I went to MacDonald's. After eating the Big Mac Value meal (with two apple pies), I decided that since I was still in the neighborhood, I should go back and try for another lesson. I tend to have a bad habit of running (or shutting down) when things get difficult. So, I forced myself to go back to see if I could get another lesson. The guy offered me a lesson if I could wait 10 minutes. The instructor turned out to be the same young lady. Actually, there were two cars "around the corner". The way the young lady seemed to hesitate, I probably was suppose to go with the older guy. But the older guy spoke to the YL and told me that it was okay to go with her. I think he wanted the other woman who was getting her lesson at the same time.

This next lesson was 45 minutes. It was better than the first. My instructor's biggest problem was that I wasn't going fast enough. According to her, the speed limit is 20 or 30mph in the residential area we were in, but I was going 10~15mph. On the way back, she decided the model how I should drive. Mainly at the correct faster speed. And within minutes, she had to slam on her breaks because some guy drove through the residential intersection without stopping at the stop sign. I felt vindicated. Now, I left feeling that I could rent the van. While I was still in that mood, I went back to see if I could get a highway lesson before Wednesday (the day I was planning to rent the van). I got lucky again. I was able to have a highway lesson on the same day.

This time the instructor was the old guy who I mentioned above. In the back seat was an instructor in-training. Another young lady. This one was not dress for teaching driving lessons. Too much makeup, a blouse that was way too tight buttoned down low enough to leave nothing to a blind man's imagination. The old guy kept talking to her in Spanish, which threw me off a bit. However, I think it was good that she was there. The old guys attention was on the young lady more than me, that helped me to feel a bit more relaxed. So, on the highway, what was the instructor's main complaint (other than more speed)? I knew how to drive, but I lacked the confidence. He said it several times throughout the 90 minute lesson. I left with a very positive experience and extremely glad that I didn't quit. The instructor left smiling and happy that "we made it back it one piece", that put me in a good mood also. So now, I think I will be able to rent a van.

After the driving lessons, I returned to Staples to finish collating the work packs. I bought a ice cream Sunday from a Mr. Softee truck and returned to the MN station. Since I had about a 30 minute wait for the MN train, I went to the Target store to buy a watch. My digital casio watch I might have had for more that 9 or 10 years, was becoming increasingly unreliable. I couldn't decide on a big Armitron watch or a similar (to my current Casio) watch, I finally settled on the Armitron watch. However, once I returned home, the Armitron watch was just too complicated. It had the ability for two different time settings and a birthday alarm, and other bells and whistles. I just decided that it was too much, and since the MN train was about to arrived, I decided to take it back that night.

I had about a 40 minute wait for the return MN train home, so I went to a local Chinese restaurant. I ordered a beef with broccoli. I was going to do a blog entry about my driving adventures, but I fell asleep on the computer.

Oh, I almost forgot. My $600 federal economic stimulus check arrived yesterday. It would be nice to spent it on something frivolous, but unfortunately, I have bills to pay.


Completion Date - Sunday, June 22, 2008 12:53PM
Post Date - Wednesday, July 9, 2008 11:21PM