I made it to the weekend

I made it to another weekend. Bone tired, but I'm happy. I'm still dealing with the stress of work, and most of the stress is of my own creation. I had a whole week off, but I wasted it sleeping it away. My goal was to get organized, but I didn't doing anything other than sleep. I think I went out only two or three times and it was only to go shopping. When I returned to school, I started off on the wrong foot. On Sunday, I stayed up until about 2AM watching the Oscars and shaving my head. I got about 4 hours of sleep per night almost every night (except Wednesday and Thursday night). By Friday, I was too tired to stay late in school. Actually, that turned out to be a good thing. Usually, I tell myself that I'm staying late on Friday to get organized, but I usually don't accomplish very much. Yesterday, I was out of the building at 5PM. It felt good to be home. It felt even better when I looked at the clock (about 8PM) and realized that any other Friday in the past, I would just be heading home.

Today (Saturday), I didn't get out of bed until about 11:30AM. I have to go to the post office to pick up my Amazon.com delivery. Then, I plan to return home. This weekend will be just relaxing and recovering. Hopefully, to be fresh and ready to break this crazy sleep cycle I've created for myself.

Next week, the students in New York State will be taking the Math Exams. I also want to make a change in my routines, but since I've been saying that for years (time really does seem to fly) I won't mention it here. Problem, the monthly faculty meeting is on Monday until 4PM. I will also need to get my classroom ready for the State Math Test (removing teaching information from the walls, sharpening pencils etc...). If I don't let stress (in one form or another) get to me, I will be out of the building at 4:30PM or 5PM (at the latest).


Post Date - Saturday, February 28, 2009 1:06 PM

Stress of my own creation

Vacation's over. 4 hours of sleep yesterday, and now four hours today. I can't keep this up.

And, I have no one to blame but myself.

My Homestyle

While procrastinating. I visited another blogger's page. Max had a link to a web site that lets you take a quiz to see your Homestyle. I took the quiz three different times and got three different answers. The answer I liked the best was having a contemporary style. Here is the link - Sproost

The attached photo is one of the photos that showed my (relative) style.

A Day Off

Another entry collecting dust in my draft folder.

Tuesday, October 7th

I started the day by waking up from exhaustion on the couch at 2AM to type up my sub plans. A quick summary became a three-page report. About 5AM, I tried to get an hour of sleep. Today I was chosen to attend a workshop on the pilot program my principal wanted us to try. The workshop began about 9:15am. It was an interesting program. Not great, but interesting. The workshop finished at 12pm. While in the building, I took a photo of the World Trade Center Construction Site across the street. After the workshop, I walked to a local electronics store. I was looking for a special cord splitter. The Smartboard in my room would still be not working if I waited for our tech/computer guy. For some reason, the Smartboard was designed with only one way for me to connect it to the CPU. The cord for the Smartboard is the same cord as the computer monitor. With the cord splitter, I would be able to have the Smartboard and the computer monitor on at the same time.

From downtown I walked up to 14th & Broadway(about a 2 mile walk). I had pizza for lunch. I returned home about 4pm. It was a nice day. Now, I'm watching the Debate.

Completion - October 7, 2008 10:22PM
Post Date - Thursday, February 19, 2009 4:52PM

Oliver Stone's "W"

This entry has been sitting in my drafts folder for several months.

It has been a while since my last entry. Today (November 2, 2008) I attended another online social networking group. This is my third time with this group. The group's focus is dinner and a movie. I didn't want to see the movie, so I signed up for only the dinner afterwards. The rest of the day was me wasting time as usual. My Saturday was basically online and sleeping. The movie finished about 8PM. From the theater, the group walked a couple of blocks to a local diner. I must say, the food and the service was nicer than the Waverly restaurant. After dinner, I walked to 34th street.


Post Date - February 19, 2009 4:29PM

Corona Park Queens

Below is a slidshow of a walk I went on in Corona Park Queens, New York City. I went sometime in October 2008, but I never got around to posting the photos.

My Belly Button

This is a rather strange entry, I probably should have deleted it.

I had a bit of a revelation about my...belly button. For those that don't know me, I am a bit overweight. And as a (now) 40 something year old, I've taken some things for granted. My belly button is one of those things. I have always assumed that my belly button was an "inny" not an "outty". With the way my belly hangs out over my belt, and with not really thinking (or examining) my belly button over the years, I just assumed that my belly button was an inny. So, when the change or realization?

From time to time the topic of "buttons" comes up. And over the years, without a second thought, I would say with absolutely certainty, that my button was an inny. I've even imagined how strange it would be if my belly button was an outty.

Well, recently while chatting online, the topic came up. Since I had my digital camera, I even took a picture and posted it during my IM chat. To my surprise, I was told I was mistaken that I had an outty belly button. A couple of days later, I purposely started the conversation with someone else, and again I posted the picture while chatting online. And again, the comment was the same. Outty not Inny.

The strange part -- other than posting this entry. The strange part is being 40 years old and not knowing what kind of belly button I have. I told myself that I would probably ask my doctor. However, on an unrelated note, my doctor months ago(before this "button" topic started), mentioned that on my next visit, I should probably have a prostate exam. Now, I'm thinking mentioning my belly button would make an awkward situation much more awkward.


Completion Date - Friday, November 7, 2008 3:57AM
Post Date - Thursday, February 19, 2009 5:20PM

Slumdog Millionaire

Today was Valentine's Day. I joined one of those online social networking groups. There are many different kinds of groups. This group was a dinner and a movie group. I thought the event was nice. Once again, the group organizer went well above the call of "hosting" duties. A gift bag was given to each attendee.

About the movie. There were about 6 of us, we went to see the movie Slumdog Millionaire. I'm not really a fan of dramas, but I enjoyed this movie. There were parts that were a bit intense, but there was an over all positiveness to the movie. I also liked the cultural aspect. I learned a bit about Indian culture. The theater was packed with only a couple of seats available. The buzz seems to have gotten people's attention. The restaurant pricing range was moderate to a bit expensive. They changed the menu, so I could not order my regular. There was not much of a selection, so I fell back on "ol reliable"; I had a hamburger, fries and a 12oz. orange juice. My bill came to about $15. Oh, I almost forgot. We were lucky that we had a couple of no-shows. The restaurant had a very "narrow" view of space reserved for 9 people. It was a tight squeeze for the 6 of us. About the attendees. Again, the group was a nice friendly bunch.

The host of the group offered to drop a couple of us off at the train station, at first I said yes, but then I changed my mind. I should have accepted the ride. The result? The trains were on a work schedule. I took the express train, but the final transfer station was closed so I had to stay on the train to the next stop, then transfer to a train going back downtown two stops, and then finally take a local train. It took me about two hours to get home.


Post Date - Sunday, February 15, 2009 2:51AM

Stone of Tears

Not much to write. Another weekend recovering from the past work week. I spent most of Saturday in bed. I spent most of the day reading the second book in the Terry Goodkind series "Sword of Truth". I'm now about halfway through the book 2 "Stone of Tears". So far I'm enjoying the book. A few bits are a bit creepy, but I suppose that is the adult edge to the story. I think I like the adult edge more than the "kid on a quest" of books like the Percy and the Olympians series. I think I'll get the next book in the Terry Goodkind series "Blood of the Fold", then I will start buying the sets of the series. I think the sets for the series are sold about 3 per set. There are 9 or 10 books in the series. However, the next book on my commuter reading list will be either E.E. Knight's "Dragon Strike", or "ST:TNG - Resistance". After the heavy read (for me) of the adult edge to Sword of Truth, I want a small break from the series. I know I will read some (or all) of the Sword of Truth books, but a brief break from 800 or 900 page books will be good.

Post Date - Sunday, February 8, 2009 11:51AM

Underworld: Rise of the Lycans

Weekend is just about over. This weekend I decided to do something (other than sleep my Saturday away. I went to the mall. My plan was to buy a new pair of shoes. Lately, my right foot has been hurting. I'm thinking (and hoping) that the cause of the pain was the shoes.

I also wanted to go see a movie. To many times, I waste my weekends away with the worry about things that need to be done for work. I worry (and procrastinate)to the point of accomplishing nothing. This weekend, my goal was to do something fun (like see a movie), and spend Sunday doing my regular Sunday errands.

I arrived at the mall about 12:15pm. The only movie playing at a good time was "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans". Since I took the bus there, I had to make sure that I would be able to be at the bus stop in time.

I bought the 12:30pm ticket. Then, I went the Barns and Nobles. I bought about $65 dollars worth of books
Thunderbolts
Shadowpact
Teen Titans & Outsiders team-up
Human Anatomy (a book of Four 96-piece jigsaw puzzles)*
*I might go back and get the Mythical Monsters puzzle book next time.

So, how was the movie. It was okay. Not great, but the movie was entertaining. I didn't like the ending. Without giving away the ending, I'll just say that it was one of those typical "B Movie endings". The vengence fight ends "half done" and sloppy at that. I was also a bit annoyed at one of the movie goers in the theater. The movie theater had about 10 people in it. The guy arrived and the very first thing he does is put his feet up on the chairs in front of him. He was about 4 rows ahead of me. Later, that same guy waited until the end to talk on his cell phone. since he wasn't getting good reception in his seat, he stands in the aisle to finish his conversation. Problem? I was sitting in the back row to the left of the aisle, meaning the guy was right in my line of sight. When I call out, "excuse me", the best the guy could do was crouch and continue finishing his phone conversation. I ended up missing the end monolog of the movie.

After the movie, I was planning to eat at Panda Express only to find that it was gone. No more Panda Express in the mall. those who have read my previous blog entries, know how much I like Panda Express. I settled for buying lunch at a Japanese place at the food court. I think the place was "Oishii Japanese". I ordered the day's special Shrimp Tariyaki. The food was okay. I left feeling not full.

After lunch, I want to Modells (a local sports equipment and apparal chain). I bought a pair of sneakers. Then, I went to JCPenny to buy a pair of dress shoes.

Once home, I stopped by the local Chinese food takeout restaurant for dinner. And with a pint of Haggen Daz, that was the end of my day.

Post Date - Sunday, February 1, 2009 10:44AM