I am back from my daytrip to Staten Island. I am going to type as quickly as possible to try to get down as many details I have not already forgotten.

My day started at 3:00 in the morning. That is the time I went to sleep. I told myself that I was not nervous about my meeting with the only person who replied to my second ad in the personals (where I was looking for a walking friend). The meeting time was 11:00am at Trinity Church near Wall Street. I arrived at 10:30. Since the woman was not familiar with the two suggestions (statues in Battery Park [a navy memorial or the Korean War Memorial]) that I’d made, I agreed to meet her at Trinity Church.

A little background information…

In my ad, I was looking for someone who liked walking and enjoyed the “touristy thing” (visiting places that tourist would visit).

The response I received from this very nice lady was that she “loved to walk”…”not a tourist, but wanted to review the city”…wanted to “meet at a specific location near Battery Park” to visit Staten Island.

Unfortunately, I misunderstood what was written. She wasn’t interested in “touristy things” because that is boring. She had a camera, but didn’t take many photos. I think she only took 3 photos (and two were of me). The following is a conversation between the Walking Friend (WF) and me:

Since WF did not know about the memorials in Battery Park, I thought it would be nice to walk along the Battery Park promenade to see the memorials. The navy memorial was the one that I recommended in my e-mail, I also included two photos of the memorial (one close-up of the eagle statue in the middle, and the other a wide-angle view taken from the promenade that showed the whole monument area [including the buildings in the background]).

WF: Oh, this is interesting. Please take my picture here. I have a camera. I like black and white pictures something about the images.

She takes out a nice (but old) non-digital camera with the attached 6 inch lens.
Me: I’ve never used a camera like this.
WF: Oh, it is easy. You hold it like this…You focus like this…when you compose the picture you push this button.
Me: I really don’t know how…
WF: Oh, you are a photographer. I’ve seen your pictures on your web site.
Me: Those were taken with a digital camera. I take 50 pictures to get one good picture.
WF: Oh, it is easy. You are in control. Do what you want to take the picture. Just do the same thing you did to take the pictures on your website.
Me: Those were taken with a digital camera (explaining about using the digital camera’s screen).
WF: I know how to use a digital camera. I’ve used a digital camera before.
Me: Okay, I’ll take the picture. As long as you know that the photo will not be the same…
WF: Wait. You need to get down on one knee. I want the buildings in the background.
Me: Look why don’t I take a picture with my digital camera, so you can see what the picture will look like.
WF: Okay.

After my digital picture is taken.

Me: See. Did you see how I took the picture? How I turned the camera sideways? Your camera is more complicated…
WF: You can do it.
Me: Okay. Again, as long as you understand that ….
WF: You have no confidence to take the picture.
Me: I’ll take the picture. It won’t be the same. I move back. I rotate the camera sideways to get the tall buildings into the picture.
WF: Nevermind. You have no confidence to take the picture.
Me: I’ll take 2 or 3 pictures, maybe..
WF: No. No. No. Forget it.

I forgot about film. I have been taken digital pictures for so long I’d forgotten about wasting film. Well, this dialog (as best as I can remember) took place at the beginning of our trip to Staten Island.

There were about 5 or 6 similar kinds of conversations throughout the day, but I won’t repeat them here. But here are a couple of samples:

* Occupation – she is a “generalist”. She said that if she told me what she did I would be confused.

* Hobbies – she has many, but as she grows older they will change. Oh, photography is not one of them Taking pictures is something she does because she wants to. Later, I found out that she has done a lot like scuba diving.

* I misunderstood her pronunciation (that was my fault) of “main”. What sounded to me like “…that mens idea” (Men like woman who can talk a lot and have a lot of conversations). I commented that many men would probably not like women who are very talkative. She clarified for me. She wanted to say that it was her main idea that women should have a lot of things to talk about. Be able to discuss many topics.

* When I was asked to discuss my feelings about various topics (reincarnation, parentage, the “most important thing”, etc… I mentioned that some people are just not introspective and I was one of them. I confused her into believing that I was saying that people don’t change. People stay the same. She was correct when she pointed out that people can change. Somehow, “some” got confused with “all”.

* Picture taking. I give a 5 count before I take the picture (in the past, I’ve been told that 3 is enough, but 5 is more comfortable for me). I mentioned that some people don’t like having their picture taken (I am one of them). Her position was that natural pictures (without warning) are better.


Again, the lady was a very nice person. I just misunderstood what we were doing today. It took her awhile to get relaxed; once she did, she was very nice person.

Back to my day.

I was so excited that someone replied and showed an interest in walking that I did not ask the necessary questions. I just showed up, willing to play follower the leader. I was content to do any activity WF wanted to do. I had no demands and no requests. I also had no idea where we were going, or what we would be doing (other than visit a museum on Staten Island).

We arrived at the Staten Island Ferry terminal. I was very impressed, it had changed quite a bit since the last time (maybe 15 years ago) I was there.

1. New building. Smaller, cleaner, and easier to use. I remember having to walk what seemed like a mile down corridors to get to the ferry.

2. It’s now free! It used to cost a dollar one-way. Wow, something actually costs less not more.

Before today, I’ve only been on the Staten Island ferry once or twice. Both times, it was just to ride over, and ride back. I did not go out of the terminal. I was excited about exploring Staten Island. The information booth even had maps and activity guides on what to do on Staten Island. WF’s main goal was to go to a Tibetan museum on Staten Island. I wasn’t really interested in going to a Tibetan museum, but I didn’t complain. My main goal was just walking.

The ferry ride was nice. The bus ride to the museum was long, but nice. Staten Island is much bigger than I thought. When we arrived at the bus stop near the museum, we next had to walk ¼ of a mile up a hill.

The museum?!?! The museum turned out to be a room in a house. No picture taking was allowed inside (only outside in the garden). Museum description? A rich lady (I am assuming is rich) collected a bunch of things and put them in a room. The room was the size of a medium sized living room. 2/3 of the room contained Tibetan artifacts. 1/3 of the room had enlarged photographs with various Tibetan themes taken in 2001. Wow.

WF walked in first. My shirt got caught on a screw sticking out of the front door, causing me to get a minor cut. I also needed to change my sunglasses to my regular prescription glasses, and I had to get my wallet out of my pants pocket not really designed to hold a wallet, at the same time I am hold a 1 ½ liter of water. What does all this mean?

I was fumbling. I was also usually nervous in new places. The woman behind the desk said to me, “oh, I can see that you are very organized. I know you are organized. Very organized.

The museum cost was $5.00. The woman made change from my $20 and gave me the change, then said:

“Okay. This is for you. Put it away. Make sure you put it away. I know you are very organized. I was married. My husband was just like you…VERY organized. Now, you put this away. Put it away. Go ahead put it away.”

I’m slow (mentally [and at the moment physically]). I was trying to get myself together, and trying to put my bills in sequential order with smallest denominations in front (portraits facing forward), rotating a couple of bills that were upside down. While I am putting my money in my way, the elderly woman is still speaking (to an almost 40 year old man) as if I was a child. She said, “Put it away” in that sickenly-grandmotherly voice at least 4 times.

The woman then turns to WF (who is not a native English speaker):

Woman: Can you take him anywhere?
WF: Huh?!?!
Woman: He’s so organized. Let him follow you. I used to be married.
WF: I don’t…
Woman: It’s a joke dear. fake laughter.
WF: Oh, good joke. Hahahahaha…fake laughing.

A whole lot of things went through my head…after I was out of the room. See, I am slow.

We are escorted into the exhibition room and given a tour guide. Yes, a tour guide for a room.

We’re given two options (self-tour or guided tour).
I let WF choose. She takes the guided tour.
The guide gives a 5 minute lecture. WF is wondering where is the rest, but politely asked questions like where were the other items? What else was there to see? Etcetera… Another 5 minutes, she is ready to go. Being the cheapskate that I am, I felt that since we spent our money, we should get as much as we could. I read every caption, asked as many questions as I could. 20 minutes later, WF seemed bored. We spent about 10 minutes in the garden and then we left. We had spent more time getting there than being in there. WF made the comment that she thought the museum was going to be bigger than it was. I have to admit that I found it an interested exhibition. I hated the old lady behind the desk, other than her, I enjoyed the museum.

I learned:
Yak milk has many purposes.
Tea bricks were a form of currency
People were expected to carry tea cups. Or was it soup bowls?
Stuff about gods and enlightenment.
No bible. Prayers were written on hanging clothes so that the prayers could blow with the wind.

WF asked me if “there was anything else I wanted from Staten Island. I lied. I said no. I knew (or should I say I believed) WF would not have been interesting in exploring other places on the island. We had free tour guides, we did not look at.

To be honest, I have to say that WF seems like a very nice person, I just thought we had different ideas of walking and exploring. Also, I had to work too, too hard at what should have been a relaxing and easygoing experience. I carried a 2 ½ liter of water all day, since WF did not have anything to drink with her, I did not even open my water.

At the bus stop, WF decided that we should take the same bus we came on (S74), ride it to the last stop, and then change to the S78 “so that we could see the whole island”. A quick look on the map, it is easy to assume that the S78 would take the scenic route along the eastern coast of the island, but if you look closer, you can see that it is not scenic. I have to be honest; I jumped at that thought (without thinking). The ride back to the ferry was 2 hours and 15 minutes.

I noticed that WF fidgeted with her telephone a few times, I think she had plans. Back in Manhattan, WF seemed to be in a hurry. She did give me a nice good by handshake, with a promise to mail me the photos she will develop. I thought that was very nice.

Back on my own. I decided to walk to my station. I stopped to take a picture of the Wall Street Bull. It was moved to a strange location (on a small island where Whitehall Street merges into Broadway). Tourists were walking into traffic to get a picture. At times, the island was so jammed with tourist that some were standing in the street waiting to get their turn. Other tourist would just jump into someone else’s shot. I waited about 12 or 15 minutes, but I managed to get a photo without anyone in it.

I walked 1 mile to Canal Street. I brought a couple of paper fans. I had two which I never used and threw away before I left Japan. I threw away the paper fans, but I keep the two pair of chopsticks. Strange.

For years, I never used the fans because I thought it might make me look effeminate. I would carry a piece of cardboard to use as a fan. However, when I did not have my backpack (like today), I did not have the cardboard. But paper fans are (of course) foldable and really do work. Well, now I have my paper fans. Now, will I actually use them? Well, on the Grand Street station platform, I wanted about 10 minutes before taking out my fan, but the train came as soon as I did.

Oh, I almost forgot. The only thing I had eaten today was cream of wheat for breakfast. While I was on Canal Street, I ate dinner at a Chinese restaurant. I ordered beef with broccoli on white rice with a side order of vegetable soup. I also had an English speaking waitress. I was the only one in the “eat-in” area. Usually, I would just order take-out and eat at home. But I wanted to eat before I returned to my shoebox so that I could exercise when I returned.

Unfortunately, when I returned to shoebox street, I bought a cake (ate it), and decided that I wanted to write my blog entry before I forgot most of it. It is now 12:40, too late to exercise.

Post Date - Tuesday, August 14, 2006 12:34am

Getting older and moving slower. I was proud of my morning. I managed to wake up early, something I have not been able to do for the last couple of months (being on vacation). This morning, I ate cream of wheat cereal (apples and cinnamon favor). Since I did not have any tea left, I drank a mug of hot water (I forgot this morning that I did not have any more teabags until after the water was boiling).The kitchen was as messy as usually. Although, I am happy that I did not hear the mice noises in the cabinets, I know it won’t last for long.

After breakfast, I went food shopping. I had a taste for baked macaroni and cheese, so I needed to buy the ingredients. I also bought milk, orange juice, green tea bags, spareribs, oatmeal cookies, bread, etc…

After returning, and watching a little bit of TV, I made a simple lunch. I had sardines and toast, with glass of water. I wanted to eat some of the leftover chicken, but I knew that I would be eating the chicken for dinner. After lunch, I fell asleep. After my nap, I decided to do a little bit of shopping. Originally, I was only planning to buy a mouse pad and a sleep mask. A couple of days ago, Mr. 40+ replaced the burnt out hall light and took off the shade. I went to a big “irregular shop” store. This store sells mostly merchandise with some irregularities. I bought a couple of short-sleeves shirts and a pair of slacks.

I am falling asleep. I will have to finish this tomorrow….

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It is now a couple of days later, yesterday I spent my evening writing about yesterday, so I did not get a chance to finish this while I remember what I wanted to write about. It is now 3:00 in the morning, and the longer I put off posting this, the more I will procrastinate about the other entries.

I am just going to try to summarize.

I went to a big irregular shop to buy something for my walking trip to Staten Island. From there I continued walking to the big retail store with the red bullseye logo. See the attached photo. I bought:

DVDs
Team America World Police
Super Size Me
Batman Begins
I bought the Batman DVD on an impulse (or should I say a bigger impulse). The price was only $10. Once I got home, I realized why the DVD was cheaper than the regular $19 price, it is only the movie without an special features.

Other items
Listerine pocket mist (I liked the strips better)
A mouse pad
A pre-paid phone card to add 60 minutes to my cell phone.
A spray bottle for ironing
A paint by numbers set
A sleep mask (with ear plugs)

It is now 3:18 in the morning, and there are still people partying outside.

Post Date - Sunday, August 12, 2006 3:25am

This morning, it sounded like there were mice (rats) in the kitchen having some kind of party; there was a lot of noise in the cabinets, and later behind the refrigerator. Also, the trash was torn up. I wasn’t in the mood to see a mice (and definitely not a rat), but beyond that, I pretty much just accepted that as long as I live here (with neighbors that can’t let a day past without leaving food for the mice, rats, roaches and flies.

What about the job front? I still have not heard from any of the places that I wanted to teach at. My plan was to maybe do the substituting thing again, hoping maybe someone will call. However, today I’ve (almost) come to the decision that if no one calls with a job offer, I will probably just get a full-time teaching assignment in public school. And with my luck, the minute that I take a teaching assignment, a call will come. That is what happened last year. After I left Japan (about a week after I returned to the US), I received a job offer. If I do take a full-time teaching position, then I know I won’t quit (no matter how much I will want to) to take a teaching assignment elsewhere. It just means I’ll be stuck in public school for a whole (school) year. Who knows? Maybe I’ll get lucky and end up in a very good school where the kids are not running wild. Anyway…
Not much to write about today. Again, I stayed in all day (except to get the newspaper). Tomorrow I am determined to go do something. I don’t know what, but I do know if the TV comes on, I will be sitting in front all day. I do know that I need to go shopping at least. I need milk, bread, etc…

Today, I wore my plastic sweat suit (which is starting to fall apart). I did not sweat as much, also the last couple of times I wore the suit, I noticed that I am sweating a little bit less each time. However, I seem to be going to the bathroom more. Today I was on the rowing machine for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, but I only sweated about half the amount I usually sweat. Although, there was still a sweaty mess to clean up. I also noticed I am not dying of thirst after a workout.

Finally, what is the photo attached? Originally, I thought I had nothing to write about. I thought I would only have 5 or 6 sentences to write about, so this evening, after I finished cooking my dinner, I took a photo to attach to my blog entry. I made bake chicken, yellow rice, and green beans. The blue cup is my summer mug; it is about a quart in size. Today, I filled the cup with water. I used to fill it with juice, but all that sugar was not helping me.

Around 3:30pm, I decided that if I went out for a walk (like I was planning to do), I would end up buying something outside like KFC.

Well, before I go, I just remember that I might go to the Brooklyn Botanical Garden. On the news, there was a report about a big giant “stink” flower. Unfortunately, I missed the report. But, I do remember the promo mentioning Brooklyn. I’ll just assume they were talking about the Botanical Garden.

A quick entry before bedtime. I need to give my stomach time to digest the popcorn. I tried not eating anything tonight, but I got the munchies. I settled on making a bowl of hot popcorn with no butter or salt. I also drank a couple of glasses of water. That managed to fill me up.

This afternoon I went to the Laundromat. I really don’t like going to the Laundromat, but when I am down to my last pair of clean underwear, then I can’t procrastinate any longer. Unfortunately, I went to the small coin laundry in the next building. After I put my clothes in and started the machine, I realized that the machine was not filling up with hot water (for my whites). The lady working there offered to wash the clothes again in another machine; I thought that was nice. However, I did not feel like waiting for my clothes to go through another wash cycle.

I also washed my plastic exercise suit at the coin laundry. Since I had to air dry my suit, I did my one hour rowing without my suit. Although I did miss my suit, it was nice to not have to spend 20 minutes cleaning up a lot of sweat.

Well, it is late. I am going to end this for now. I am going to try to go to bed at 1:30. All summer I’ve been developing crazy sleeping habits, but I need to start getting back to a normal sleep route. School will be starting in a couple of weeks.

My vacation time is just ticking away. Today my plan was to go to the Laundromat and go to a mall (in Jersey City). But what did I do? Mostly, I slept and watched TV. I started off the day by uploading another group of photos to my other web site; that took about 2 ½ hours. Midday, I watched TV and made some popcorn. I had a can of sardines and toast for lunch. Lately, I noticed that I’ve been getting up later and later, with my day starting at 12 midday. And dinner around 6 or 7pm. Recently, my spare tire has returned. I used to think that eating only 2 meals a day would help me lose weight, but I’d forgotten that the body starts to store fat when it thinks that hardtimes are around the corner. Besides, when I only eat two meals, dinner is usually over the top in terms of portions and sizes. Starting today, I am going to try to eat 3 meals a day, even if it is a lite lunch like today. I should also start making more onigiris (rice balls) as a healthy alternative to snacking on junk food.

Having spent the last few days with a total outdoor time of about 10 minutes (only to get the newspaper), I really wanted to do something (remember my original plan). However, I had to settle on a quick walk around my neighborhood. I went food shopping for a few items, and I bought dinner from the grocery store buffet.

Back in my shoebox, my plan was to watch one of the new comedies that I bought a few days ago, but as I was trying to decide which comedy I would put into the DVD player, I realized that I hadn’t seen 3 DVDs which I’d purchased months ago. Sometimes, I am not good with money. The DVDs?

1.Van Helsing
2.Resident Evil
3.Constantine

DVD 1 and 2 were pre-viewed copies from Blockbuster (about $7.99 each). The Van Helsing was a new copy, but it also was on sale for about the same price. I like to buy (or rent) legal copies of movies. The illegal ones don’t have the special features.

I chose Constantine tonight. My plan was to watch the first half of the movie while I was rowing on my row machine, but I ended up watching the whole movie. I liked the movie, it started off a little slow, but I enjoyed it. I liked the alternative ending better than the one shown with the movie.

Well, it is late, so until next time…

More Photos uploaded to my other web site. These are the ones from a couple of walks I did around the Wall Street area (21 photos in total).

New Photos finally. I finally stopped procrastinating at uploaded the photos from my solo walk in the New York Botanical Garden. Since my computer is old and slow, it took much longer to upload and attached the photos. Also,changing the pages colors also added to the time delay. For my Wall Street photos, I am hoping that I will be able to load those photos faster if I put them into cut and paste identical page (where I won't have to change any colors.

I took about 25 photos in the Botanical Garden. I put the photos on my other web site (more space for photos over there than here). No comments needed, just visit if you feel like it, if you don't, that is okay with me.

I just finished showering and making my bed. I will try to summarize today’s eventful telephone call (and other minor miscellaneous) before I call it a night.

Just before I was about to jump into the shower “she returned”. Mr. 40+’s ladyfriend knocked on the door at about 12midnight. She did not (nor did I) mention the money and the bandana she borrowed. At the same time, Screamer’s cat (home alone) started screeching out loud. It reminded me of my time in Japan. There were a lot of stray cats around, and at night from time to time, they would make quite a racket. At this moment, the cat (and Mr. 40+) are quiet.

Before the shower, I was able to do an hour on my rowing machine. Yesterday, I was feeling a little depressed, and not in the mood to exercise. For dinner last night, I ate a can of Pringles, 2 fruit bars, and about a quart/liter of milk, and about 2 cups of cold green tea. Today, I was also feeling in a no exercise mood, but I managed to exercise. Instead of rushing to get into the shower and out before Sex and the City (a comedy) came on, I decided to relax and drink about a quart/liter of water. I cleaned up the sweat after the show. If I can keep up the exercise routine, maybe someday I won’t continue to be “fashion roadkill”. Usually, after I go somewhere, I would have my photo taken at the location so that I can e-mail it to a couple of friends in Japan; they like to know what (and how) I am doing here in New York. Unfortunately, the photos taken at the South Street Seaport showed that I’ve gained weight and clothes I wore were cheap and anything but stylish. I’m going to pass on sending those photos.

Oh, before I forget. I received an e-mail from my walking friend (see yesterday’s blog entry). He wrote that he would not be available for walks until the heat and humidity is lower. I think I might put another ad in the personals web site. Maybe I’ll have better luck next time.

Onto the phone call.

As I’ve mentioned in a previous blog entry, I have been waiting a long time for my New York State Teaching license to come. I was told by several people that it would take between 14 to 16 weeks for my application to be processed. Well, that time has come and gone. Today, I decided that I would contact the NYS Dept of Ed. in Albany. I’ve tried to call them on the phone in the past, but their automated system puts you through automated circles of time wasting hell. Basically, if you call, you can expect the following scenario:

1. Call the number. You will either get a busy signal or an automated recording. The recording spends about 3 or 4 minutes giving you alternative options to talking to a live person. Finally, you are given 6 choices (#5 if you want to speak to a representative). After you press #5, another recording basically telling you that all reps are busy, you must either press #1 to go back to the main menu, or the call will be disconnected. In total, it took me about 45 minutes to get through by using my redial button on my phone…continually pressing and repressing until I got through. Below was the dialog from the phone conversation.

Since I am typing this several hours after the fact, I won’t be able to capture the details and nuances of the call. I was going to try to type the dialog between the representative and myself, but instead I will just summarize.


Basically, I was about to be given the run around, until I reminded the representative that the application required a Notary Republic stamp for the signature. My signature date was the same date I mailed off the application…and that was not in May. With that, she put me on hold, and then returned to tell me that I would have my NYS teaching certificate in 2 weeks. Now, I just need to find a teaching assignment.

A lot of annoying things seem to be happening to me lately.

Last night, one of the electrical sockets in my room stopped working. Now, I only have one electrical socket working. I called the property owner this morning, he said that he would call someone to come and check.

All day today, the electrical power has been fluctuating. This morning, my neighbors seemed to be concerned; no one had their music blasting out loud. Unfortunately, they no longer seem concern. A couple of people have their music on now, even with some electrical appliances going from low to off then back on again.

The electric oven doesn’t work, and my microwave oven isn’t working (because of the electric socket). The frozen lasagna I was planning to make is not back in the freezer. Having gone walking today, returned to my shoebox only to discover that I needed to go back out for milk and orange juice; I am now too tired to go out to buy something.

I’ve been waiting since March for my teaching license. Yesterday (while checking the status on the Board of Ed web site), someone there changed my submission date from March 08th, the May 08th. I was told that from the submission date, expect 14 to 16 weeks for my application to be processed.

Add the above annoyances to the ones mentioned in previous blog entries.

I really am not in the mood to do a blog entry, so this entry will be shorter than planned and sloppier. I am just going to try to summarize yesterday and today’s activities.


Yesterday, I met the guy from the personal ad (seeking a friend). To get to the meeting place, I took the D train, and transferred at 125th station for the A train. When the A train arrived, I knew instantly that the car in front of me did not have air-conditioning (which did not bother me), the train car was empty except for two individuals sitting at opposite sides of the train car. Oh, and a woman with two children, who (after I sat down) could have sat anywhere, but choose to sit across the aisle from me…and stare at me. Her son, didn’t stare, but when he thought that I was not looking, would sneak a quick look than looked away. Who was the woman? I had know idea, most likely she was the children’s mother. Who was the boy? It turns out, the boy was one of the wild boys I mentioned in a previous blog entry (sorry I don’t remember the exact entry, but it was the one I complained about a wild 4th grade class, so wild the whole class (minus the 3 or 4 good kids) was taken to the assistant principal’s office. This kid was the first one to have to call a guardian (he chose his grandmother).

The kid and his mother got off the train at 59th street. Instead of showing anger or annoyance, I politely started a conversation, greeted both (the girl was very young), I think they were not expecting me to say anything. After they left, I was able to relax again. Until later. The air-conditioning came on when we reached 14th street, then the train went out of service at Chambers Street, when the local train arrived and everyone was waiting for about 5 or 6 minutes, the same A train went back into service.

We met at the City Hall Tourist Information booth. Our walking route:

We walked across the Brooklyn Bridge and back, then down South Street to South Street Seaport, from there we walked to the Staten Island Ferry terminal, and finally to and along a part of Battery Park. So how was it? I enjoyed the walk, and I enjoyed the company. After, we went to Burger King.

When I returned to my shoebox, I got on my rowing machine for about an hour.

Today, I went to my foster father’s place to pick up my mail; he phoned me yesterday to say that there was a letter from the board of education. The letter turned out to by not important. The letter just said that “based on my satisfactory service”, my per diem (substitute) certificate would automatically renewed.

Since I was in a good mood, I felt like walking. My plan was to go down to Battery Park and finish (alone) the walk that was started yesterday. We started walking in Battery Park, but my friend was tired, so we did not finish. Unfortunately, I got on the uptown train instead of the downtown train. Luckily, the train car was air-conditioned, so I did not mind. I got off the train at Allerton station and decided to walk home. I ended up getting lost (walked in a circle before finding the Bronx Zoo). Since today was a “suggested donation” (free) day, I was able to walk through the zoo. Since I was already walking and it was a very hot day, I was too tired to enjoy the animals. I just found the shortest path through the zoo. I will return another time to enjoy the animals.

Once I returned to my shoebox, I realized that I needed milk and juice. Even though I was tired, I went to the store. Now, I am not sure I want to exercise. I haven’t eaten dinner (I bought [and ate]a can of Pringles potato chips).

I attached a photo I took at Bronx River Park (just before I got lost).

Walking, Limping and Lying. Today, I cancelled my plan of going to the Bronx Zoo. Once the TV comes on, I become Mr. Lazy. Around 4:33pm, I left my shoebox/cell to walk around my neighborhood. My plan was just to walk along Kingsbridge Road for about 30 minutes, then return to the shoebox. I ended up walking to a large national shop (think bullseye for company logo) located here in the Bronx. Door to door, the walk was about 30 minutes one way. I was bored, so I bought some videos:

* Meet the Fockers
* Muriel’s Wedding
* Kung Fu Hustle

I forgot one of the two shopping rules:
1. Don’t go shopping when you are bored.
2. Don’t go (food) shopping when you are hungry.

I guess you can figure out which rule I broke. After returning to my shoebox, I made a pot of white rice, and boiled a pouch of curry (from Japan). I thought the rice came out pretty good. It did not stick to the pot, and the pot was easy to clean. I is much easier than making rice in that rice cooker.

My plan was to row while I watched the movie Kung Fu Hustle, but I got too into it. I rented the movie when I was in Japan, unfortunately, that copy did not have English subtitles. But, I still enjoyed the movie even though I did not understand a single word that was being spoken. I told myself that I would rent (or buy it) if I could find it cheap (without buying an illegal copy). Sorry, sidetracked.

About 9:00pm, Mr. 40+ knocked on my door. He told me that he was going to the hospital, and if his lady friend (see the previous blog entry)came to pick up her things, he left here things in the hall closet. What is going through my mind at this time? Does he really think I am stupid? But, I didn’t say anything. I knew that strange lady would be knocking on the door soon. I also knew that it would probably happen while I was on my rowing machine (swimming in sweat). Since I was watching the movie, I got started late on my rowing machine. I started at 11pm.

I have to say that I am proud of myself, for the past 3 or 4 weeks, I’ve been consistent with exercising. I don’t think I’ve missed a day. It sounds strange, but I think I own my consistency to my plastic suit. After an hour rowing in my suit, and cleaning up all that sweat, I feel like I’ve accomplished something. Sorry, I am getting sidetracked.

I finished rowing about 12midnight, and while I was standing with my plastic suit full of sweat, the doorbell rings. Although (with the added sweatbands around my ankles and wrists) the sweat stayed inside the suit better than ever before (I managed to not leak any sweat on the newspaper under the machine), I did not answer the door. There was no reason for me to answer the door at midnight. Either “Screamer” or “Boyfriend” answered the door. Didn't know which, and I didn't care.

About 20 minutes later….

Are you ready for this?

Mr. 40+ returned.

Is anyone shocked or surprised? Not me.

BBQ and Personals Update. Yesterday, I went to a BBQ. I was told the night before about the BBQ in the park. I was asked to make macaroni salad. Although, I thought it was last minute (and I really did not want to go), I went.

Originally, my plan was to make the macaroni salad here in the shoebox, then go to the park. My foster father wanted me to make the macaroni salad at his place, suggesting that I get there very early. Rather than argue, I just said that I would try to get there early. However, that morning when I finally got out of bed (about 10am), I was not in the mood to make macaroni salad, so I decided to stop off at the supermarket on the way to the park to buy some store-bought macaroni salad. In the store, I ended up getting carried away. I ended up buying: two pounds off macaroni salad, a sweat potato pie, a pack of Oreo cookies, a quart of beer, and a bag of Doritos. I ended up spending about $20 dollars ($18.94) for a party I didn’t really want to go to. The BBQ was okay. No one ate anything I bought. However, the beer was gone fairly quickly. After shopping for the above mentioned items, I arrived in the park about 3pm. Everyone else arrived at the park about 4 or 5am. Yes, that is in the morning. After walking the perimeter of the park (and not finding anyone), I used my cell phone to call for the location. I was planning to stay to about 6pm, but I ended up staying a little bit later. Once another group brought out a pair of 5ft. tall speakers and started blasting the music, I got up, thank everyone for inviting me, and I left. On my way walking to the train station, I got a call on my cell phone from someone who had place a personal ad in the friendship section.

I’d mentioned (in a previous blog entry) that I had placed an ad and received 4 replies. I also replied to about 10 or 12 ads (looking for a walking friend). In total, of about 14 ads, I only found one person who was interested in meeting me to walk around the city. We are going to meet on Tuesday at 2pm at the City Hall information booth; there we will decide where we will walk to.

Today (Sunday), I was planning to walk around my neighborhood, but I ended up staying in uploading my previous blog entries. I usually type my blog entries into a Word file so that I can upload it at another time.

Minor events today:

* The property owner called to ask if I wanted to pay the rent today. Since I was planning to go out, I told him that I would stop by an ATM to take out the money to pay him. Since the ATM at the store was not working, I ended up going to my bank (about a 12 minute walk up hill).

* I went shopping for a few items.

* Mr. 40+ told me this morning that he had some kind of foot fungus which was why he did not go to work for the last couple of days (not including the couple of days from hitting his head on the warning sign). He had a cane, his foot was bandaged up, and he had a limp when he walked, so I assume it was serious, although, he wasn’t here for most of the day. He returned this evening, only to put something in the oven, and leave again. When the timer went off after about 15 minutes of beeping, I knocked on Mr. 40+’s door, but there was no reply. The oven timer would continue to beep for more than an hour, before Mr. 40+ returned to turn it off.

* Screamer decided that it was her turn to blast the stereo earthshakingly loud.

Well, that is it for now. Tomorrow, I think I will go to the Bronx Zoo, I was trying to save it for a walking trip with someone, but I might as well go alone. I’ll try to take a few photos. Yes, yes, I know. I still have the Botanical Garden and the Wall Street photos to upload to my other web site. I also have the photos from Japan (Osaka, Kyoto, and Nara) to upload.

Post Date - Monday, July 31, 2006 12:27pm

Boundaries. Where are the boundaries?

On Thursday I went to pick up my mail from my foster father’s place. I received a letter from a woman in Brazil. I have a (snail mail) pen pal in Brazil. According to her letter, my pen pal in Brazil gave her my address because she could learn English from a New Yorker. So, what was written in the paragraph she sent to me? Basically, her age, appearance, status (single), and how she is “very friendly to any race of the world”. She said that she saw my photo and really liked me a lot.” She then asked if I would mail to her “a american-perfume very known for women…some brand [Calvin Klein] the best for her”.

Yesterday (as usual), I spent most of the day watching TV. Around 3:30 the TV news flashed a storm warning for the tri-state area. Since I did not have milk (or ice cream pops), I decided to risk going to the store. I also wanted to buy another pair of sweatbands (for the wrists), however, I wanted the sweatbands for my ankles. I got tired of having my sneakers soaking in sweat each night because of the vinyl sweat suit. I still really like my sweat suit, but all that sweat is a bit of a pain. I am not ready to give up my suit just yet. On days like yesterday when I am not really in the mood to exercise, all of the sweating motivates me to continue; it seems like I am really making progress (even if I really am not). Anyway, back to boundaries.

Today, around 7pm, I went to answer the knocking on the main door on my floor. The lady at the door was looking for Mr. 40+. I told her that I thought he was at work, but she insisted on knocking on his door, so I left her to knock (I told her that all she had to do was pull the main door close when she left. I returned to my shoebox/cell, only to have her knocking on my door a couple of minutes later. She is nervously asking where Mr. 40+ is and that she needed her “stuff”. All of her stuff was in his room and she had no place to go. She then asked if she could stay with me until Mr. 40+ returns. Long story short, I told her I didn’t think that was a good idea (Mr. 40+ works the evening shift parking cars and would not return until 11 or 12 midnight). She then asks for $2.00 for some food. She promised that she would pay me back next week when she got her check. Unfortunately, Mr. Softee returned and gave her the $2…No, I didn’t believe for a minute that I would ever receive the money back. I’ve heard that song and dance before, but usually from the homeless people on the trains and streets. I gave the woman two Susan B. Anthony silver dollars from my Laundromat quarter container. I really did not want to show that woman where my wallet was at that time (or situation). Her response, “is that all?” She thought I had given her two quarters.

Is that it? Are you a new reader to this blog?

After asking for what she could, including asking me to not tell Mr. 40+ that she “borrowed” money from me, she then asked to borrow a scarf for her head because it was raining out. I told her that I did not have a scarf (I am very slow), she said yes you do, see it’s right there (pointing to a bandanna). Unfortunately again, Mr. Softee was in the house, I said okay. Once she left, I was very angry, mainly with myself. Despite telling myself that I’ve toughen up these last couple of years, but I have not really done very much.

After a few minutes, I realize I could call Mr. 40+ to tell (complain to him) about his Crackhead girlfriend. Sorry, I have no way of knowing if the lady was on any type of drugs. Unfortunately, that was the first impression she left me with.

Me: Hello, Mr. 40+?
Mr. 40+: Hi, wassup.
Me :Your ladyfriend stopped by. She said all her stuff…
Mr. 40+: which one?
Me :M. I. * * * * *
Mr. 40+: Oh really!!! She stopped by!!!
Me :She thought you were home, I told her you were probably at work.
Mr. 40+: No, I am at the hospital.

Last week, the two days I thought Mr. 40+ was not at work, it turns out he hit his head on a warning sign at work. I think he is thinking of suing the company. He asked me if I thought he had a case, but I told him probably not. Sorry, I am getting sidetracked.

From the joy in his voice, I really did not see any point in being nothing more than a messenger. People often complain about relationships and how the other person was this that and the other, and had no idea of the other person’s flaws. Do people really lower their standards so low, and then complain about the poor qualities of the opposite. Yes, they do. I mean no disrespect to the woman, I don’t know her well enough to form an opinion on anything other than the first impression she left. I suspect having this blog fall into my neighbors hands has altered my commentary a little.

After the phone call with Mr. 40+, I received (by phone) an invitation from my foster father’s lady friend’s daughter to go to a BBQ in the park for tomorrow. I was asked to make my macaroni salad. A little late and a little last minute. To be honest, I am not really a party person. Other people have better develop social skills than I do. For me, these social get-togethers are work. For others, conversations just come natural, but not for me.

Post Date - Sunday, July 30, 2006 2:57pm

Lots of sweat. You are probably wondering why I have not posted an entry in awhile. A few days ago (last Thursday I think), I allowed my neighbor (I gave her the nickname “Screamer” on this blog) asked to use my computer. Not only did I allow her to use my computer, I also set it up so that the screen was facing away from me -- I have a bad habit of thinking about other people’s feelings more than my own. I thought she would be more comfortable with the screen facing away from me. Result, I could not see where she was surfing on the internet. After she finished (about 40 minutes later), I discovered that my blog page was in my favorites file. She also deleted the temporary file and the history file, which means I really have no idea where she visited on line. Since I’ve (on a few occasions) written comments about my neighbors, I’ve been a little worried how they would react to being written about. Well, it has been a few days, and she has asked to use my computer (for its internet connection) since the last time. There does not seem to be any change in her behavior…so is it safe to assume that she did not look into my favorites file? That was very nice of her. I complain (often) about my living conditions, but I have to remember that it (my living conditions) could be much, much worse.
Changing topics.

What is the photo attached to this blog entry? It may sound a bit gross, but I thought it was interesting. I’ve written several times about the amount of sweat I’ve produced after a workout; this time, I took a picture. It sounds strange, but I like the plastic exercise suit. I feel like I’ve done a very hard workout while watching TV. Without the suit, I would workout the same, barely breaking a sweat.

Now, I use the rowing machine for an hour each day. As soon as I stand up, all of the sweat that has been pooling in the arms and the legs comes pouring out. Yesterday, instead of putting the towel down, I put the plastic bag over a tray to collect the sweat. I believe there is about a pint and a half. If you were grossed out by the change in topic, I am sorry about that.

Not much more to write about. I went to the Laundromat, and I’ll probably go walking around the neighborhood after I check my e-mail. I think I am going to resist the urge to post this (and the previous) entries for a couple of more days.

Post Date - Sunday, July 30, 2005 2:38pm

Eager to move with each passing day. Not much to write about, this was a weekend of eating, sleeping, and watching TV.

Mr. 40+ has a lady friend staying with him. No, he still has not introduced me to her. Even though she spent a good couple of hours cleaning out his cabinet in the kitchen and washing down the kitchen counter. When I asked him if he did the cleaning, his response was a quick “it had to be done”, and then quickly changed the subject. Now, it is about half past midnight, and he has his stereo on a little loud. I could go on about my neighbors, but I won’t.

Not much to write about me. I didn’t do much today. I went walking around my neighborhood, and shopping. A good thing to. Something told me to buy dinner outside instead on cooking dinner (cabinets were being cleaned out). Lately, I’ve managed to use my rowing machine everyday for the last couple of weeks, I try to eat dinner by 6:00, and exercise on my rowing machine by 8:00. I like my rowing machine because I can watch TV while I am exercising (which makes the time go by much faster). After exercising, I took a shower. This time, I washed the bathtub before I took my shower. Normally, I would clean the tub after. I always hated the idea of leaving a dirty bathtub for the next person, even when no one else seemed to care about a dirty tub.

I’m tired. That’s enough for today.

Post Date - Sunday, July 30, 2006 2:28pm

Yesterday, I went on a free walking tour around the Wall Street area. The tour started at 12 noon and finished about 1:30. There were about 60 people in the group; I was not expecting so many people. The group was divided into two groups, and each group was led by a graduate student. I enjoyed the tour. How was the tour guide? She was okay. She walked like a New Yorker (fast), and she talked like a New Yorker (fast), but I still enjoyed the tour. I was the only one who was able to consistantly keep up with the tour guide. No matter which direction she went, no matter where in the group I was standing, I always managed to keep up. Walking seems to be my thing.

Since I was already downtown, I decided to do another solo walk to midtown. This time, I chose another path. I walked down Broadway until I got to Canal Street, then (along Canal) I moved to 6th avenue. Once I reached Washington Square Park, I continued down 5th avenue until I reached Herald Square (I then returned to 6th avenue). While on 6th avenue, I went to MacDonald (so much for eating healthy). I continued walking to 59th street, there I took the train to return to my shoebox.

In my room no more than 30 seconds, Screamer knocks on my door. She wants to use my computer (for the internet). “Boyfriend” -- for some strange reason she never calls her boyfriend by his name; it is either “my boyfriend” or “he”. Anyway, her boyfriend bought her a cat (she calls the cat “baby”), and she wanted to find information on the care and feeding of the cat (baby). After she finished on my computer, I did an hour on my rowing machine.

Today, I didn’t do much. Mr. 40+ had a ladyfriend spend the night. The one or two times I was out of my room (I thought) it should have been a good time to introduce me to the “friend”. Call me old fashion, but I had this strange idea in my head that if we are sharing the kitchen and the bathroom, it would have been nice to have some idea of who was being invited into our living quarters. For the sake of time, I am going to skip the minor details like poorly wiped blood left on the toilet seat, and the mess left on the bathroom sink. Oh, I guess I didn’t skip it…never mind.

The attached photo is of Washington Square Park. I had to stand in the middle of the street to take this photo.

Post Date - Sunday, July 30, 2006 1:46pm

“Oh, my daughter made a mistake. Sorry.” One of the first templates for this blog included one that required a title for each entry. I thought the above statement would have made a nice title.

On Tuesday morning (around 8), I was lying in bed when I heard a knock on my door. I said come in…No reply. A couple of minutes later, I heard the knocking again, so again I said come in. With no reply, I opened my door. It turned out to be the daughter of the property owner. She must have been about 2 (or 3) years old. The property owner told me that it was his daughter and apologized for her. I suspect that the owner wanted someone awake (and choose me). About 15 or 20 minutes later, the meter reader came to check the meter located on the first floor of his building. It could have just been my imagination. However, there was just something too slick about that situation.

Mr. 40+ had his 13year old daughter visit him again during his two-days off. She seemed much quieter than the last time she was here (check the previous entry about her visit). I was glad that she was not as talkative this time around. The only thing(s) that annoyed me this time around was her walking around in her panties, washing her clothes and leaving the dripping wet clothes to dry on the towel rack. And finally…

While I was watching TV, there was a knock on my door; it was Mr. 40+. He came in to apologize about the oatmeal!?! The oatmeal I asked?!? He told me that his daughter “accidentally” ate a pack of my instant oatmeal. Actually, it had to have been more than one pack because there was an empty box in the trash. Usually, when I am down to only one pack in a box, I will usually rip up the box and put the single packet on the shelf (my space is limited). I also thought that it was a little strange that there were no oatmeal wrappings in the trash (since I dumped the trash the night before, it was easy to see the bottom of the trash). The microwave, the dishes, the hot water, and the counter space are all in the kitchen, but the oatmeal packet(s) were not in the trash.

On Monday, I wrote an ad for the personals column. I’ve spent years reading those things, and I never had the guts to actually write my own ad. Well, on Monday, that changed. I wrote an ad looking for a walking friend. Those readers of my blog know that I enjoy walking around.

Most of the time (actual here in New York, I should say all of the time), I walk alone. I received 4 ads by Monday evening. I was looking (hoping for someone around my age), I had two that were not in that group, one respondent seemed enthusiastic (but vague), and one seemed to be way, way out of my league. She seemed to be one of those super-fit, highly productive, with a lot of interests (anyone who reads this blog, know I am anything but those things mentioned. I replied to 3 of the respondents (I was not sure what to write for the vague respondent, so I have not replied to his (or her) e-mail. I have not checked my e-mail since my responses. That was about two days ago. As soon as I finish typing this blog entry, I will check my e-mail.

Finally, on Tuesday I planned to join the free walking tour of downtown Manhattan, but when I arrived at the meeting spot, I was told that the tour was cancelled. The tour was supposed to start at the information box by City Hall Park, and it was supposed to last for 90 minutes. There was an older lady from Germany there as well. She seemed to be quite a chatterbox. Since I did not know what to do I just waited. I was also waiting for the German lady to figure out what she wanted to do. To be honest, although the woman was a nice person, I really did not want to go anywhere she was going. Luckily for me, she decided to go to the Brooklyn bridge. I’ve been on that bridge several times. Once the lady left for the bridge, I decided to go to the Empire State building. I walked from City Hall down Broadway to 34th street. Once I arrived at the Empire State Building, I took one look at the price list that was being passed out, and I decided to pass on the ride up to the observation deck. The price was $16 dollars. For someone who is not working for the next two months, I should not spend $16 dollars like that. Also, I would have been a little bit bored up there by myself. I took a few photos on the outside of the building, after that, I returned to my shoebox. I was amazed to realize later that after walking for about 3 or 4 hours, I had the strength to do an hour later that evening on my rowing machine.

I was tired from that walk, so I did not do anything today, but eat, sleep, and watch TV. I did another hour on my rowing machine wearing my plastic exercising suit.I changed my twice-a-day exercise plan to one hour (once a day) routine. With that plastic suit, I end up sweating about a pint per workout. Yes, I did say pint. I have to stuff paper towels around my wrists and ankles to stop the sweat from pouring out. The result is that the sweat pools up in my sleeves and pant legs; when I stand up, the sweat comes pouring out. When I finish rowing, I lay down a plastic bag on the carpeted floor, and a bath towel on that plastic bag. The plastic bag protects the carpet, and the bath towel soaks up the sweat. It would be easier to just strip in the bathtub, but like I’d mentioned before, the minute I stand up the sweat starts to pour out of the plastic suit; I would be leaving a sweaty trail every evening to the bathroom. Although, it takes me about 20 minutes to clean up the sweat, I still like my plastic exercising suit.

What about tomorrow? I called up the phone number on the downtown walking tour flyer. It turns out the tour has moved to downtown. The new name is “the Wall Street walking tour".

Post Date - Sunday, July 30, 2005 1:25pm

New Blog entries on Tuesday, August 1st. (I hope) Sorry for the delay.

Post Date - Thursday, July 27, 2006 11:20am.

July 13, 2006
Today I spent about 3 hours walking around in the New York Botanical Garden. Although I am really not a big flower person, I really enjoyed myself. The cost of the garden was $6.00 for a general admission ticket. There was a special exhibition of glass sculptures, but since the cost was $16, I did not go to the exhibition. There were a few sample glass sculptures throughout the garden; those free samples showed me that I did not miss much. Inside the garden area, there were different areas (including flower groups, tree groups, and plants grown around rocks group). There were also a couple of very easy hiking trails (in the natural forest section) that I enjoyed very much. The hiking trails were very easy on my week knees. In total, I walked about 4 hours, and I took about 50 photos. I will try to post some of the photos on my other website in a few days.

I also suprised myself by having the strength (after a brief nap) to do 30 minutes on my rowing machine.

I attached two photos. The first photos is of the the greenhouse/conservatory. Since the main Glass Sculpture exhibition was located inside (with an extra $14 dollar fee), I did not go inside. The second photo was one of several flowered area; I think this one was designed to be a part of a courtyard. I think the place was being reserved for a wedding.

Post Date - Saturday, July 15, 2006 11:48am

July 12, 2006

Vacation still in full-swing. For the last couple of days, I’ve been trying to do more than eat, sleep, and watch TV. For the last couple of weeks, I’ve been hooked on instant messaging; I would spend a couple of hours on IM, then I would be too tired to do anything else. I would spend a couple of hours in the morning, then I would spent another couple of hours in the evening. For the last couple of days, I’ve been limiting my time on IM to only once a day.

Diet. Not much on that front. I have not been managing my eating habits as much as I would like. My plan of substituting a half a gallon of sherbet (which I have been eating almost nightly) with a box of 4 fruit bars failed. I ate the whole box in about 20 minutes. Yesterday, I went back to buying sherbet; it is cheaper, and it is a little bit healthier. I will just have to try not eating more than half in an evening.

In a previous blog entry, I mentioned buying a rice cooker. It turned out to be a waste of money. Once I got it home and opened the box, I realized that it would be too much of a pain (and a hassle) to make rice in that cooker. I thought I would only need to dump rice in the machine then return when it was finished. Nope, I would have to watch the machine while the rice is cooking, I would have to expect some “browning” on the bottom of the inside container. I would have to stir and remove the rice as soon as the rice was cooked. I would have to allow soaking time, and cleaning time. For me, it would be easier to just cook the rice the way I’ve been cooking the rice…in a simple pot. I learned my lesson, from now on; I will choose my gadgets carefully.

Oh by the way, I ordered a hot air popcorn maker on the internet; it arrived yesterday. I bought the hot air popcorn maker because it is more healthier than the store-bought chips (and popcorn) I’ve been buying. I also thought that making the popcorn would be fun. So far, I like my popcorn maker. It is actually faster than the microwave popcorn which takes about 7 to 8 minutes. The hot air popcorn maker only took 3 minutes to make popcorn.

Exercising. Well, I’ve started rowing again. I also bought a vinyl (plastic) workout suit. It’s great! After rowing on my machine for about 30 minutes, I am soaking in sweat. I think the sweating is helping to keep my pores open. Before the suit, I would spend about 30 minutes on the rowing machine, but it would not feel like I did anything. Now, with the suit on, I feel like I had a very intensive workout. The only down side is the 15 to 20 minutes it takes for me to clean up the sweat. Since I am living in a shoebox (with a carpeted floor), where the bathroom is not readily available, I have to lay down a plastic trashbag to act as a tarp. I have to wring out my clothes (about 8 to 10 ounces of sweat), then I have to hang up my clothes. Finally, I have to wipe down the vinyl suit and hang it to dry. The clean up is almost as intensive as the exercising. Once I have my own apartment, the clean up will be much easier. I’ll just have to go the to bathroom, strip, dump everything into tub, hang, shower and boom…finished.

Today I went walking around my neighborhood. It has been a very long time since I’ve been walking around. I was planning to go to the New York Botanical Garden which is about a 10 minute walk from where I am now living. By the time I arrived at the Garden gate it was about 4 in the afternoon, I did not want to rush through the garden, so I decided to postpone my walk there. Instead, I walked to the Bronx Zoo gate (I just wanted to see how long it would take to walk there). The Bronx Zoo is also located in my neighborhood. In total, I walked about 2 hours.

Post Date - July 15, 2006 11:43am

July 09, 2006
Still not much to write about. My vacation is passing slowly. Originally, I was planning work during this summer, but now, although I am fairly bored, I really don’t want to work. Lately however, I been thinking that I should at least go out and find something to do (cheaply). Even though I don’t have any money, I am living in one of the most famous cities in the world. I should be able to find something to do that won’t cost a lot of money. Yesterday I was planning to go to the New York Botanical Garden (which is located close to where I live here in the Bronx), but once I got off the computer from instant messaging people in other countries, I was tired and just went to sleep. Since I’ve got that instant messaging program, I have not been doing my blogs lately. I really have to cut down on my instant messaging computer time.

So how was my weekend? Nothing much to write about. On Saturday, I went to a mall in Jersey City. There, I saw the matinee showing of Superman Returns, only $6.50. I thought the movie was nice. It had very nice special effects. However, I thought the movie had a little too much of a “soap opera” drama focus. I thought the last 12 or 15 minutes of the movie had too much of a TV movie of the week feel. After the movie, I had dinner at my favorite fast food restaurant in the food court Panda Express.

Today, I did not do much. I went shopping for a few items: soup, milk, ice cream bars. I did not buy sherbet. Lately, I’ve been buy (and eating) a half a gallon of sherbet a night. Since I’ve been gaining weight, I had to stop with the sherbet. A substitute I am going to try is a chocolate covered fruit bar. Hopefully, I can just eat one and avoid eating all four in the box in one night.

Now that I’ve finish this blog entry, I am going to try to post this entry alone with the last 3 or 4 entries. I will try to not get sidetrack with instant messaging.

Post Date - Monday, July 10, 2006 1:07pm

July 8, 2006
Not much to write about. Not much going on. Vacation is going. Still waiting for my teaching license. Neighbors are still noisy (and messy). I stopped exercising, then I started again.

Post Date - Monday, July 10, 2006 12:49pm

July 1, 2006
Start of the month. Start of the day. Morning wake up. 5:20am, Screamer and her boyfriend returned from who knows where. Boyfriend yells, “You don’t know how to lock the f**king door” (Mr. 40+ must not have locked the main [secondary] door to our floor when he returned last night).

10 minutes later, Boyfriend and Screamer are in the kitchen. After a brief conversation exchange, Screamer shouts “f**k you” then walks to her room and slams the door, Boyfriend follows. About 10 minutes later, Screamer is shouting hesterically, “you broke it, you “f**king broke it”, followed by things being either dropped or thrown (most likely thrown). The fight lasts about 10 minutes…then…silence.

Ever since the police visit, it has been relatively quiet. There are still arguments, but neither one (Screamer nor her boyfriend) wants a repeat of the police visit episode, so the fights usually end as quickly as they begin. Lucky for the rest of us. Unfortunately, now I am up; it is now 6 in the morning. Yesterday, I had the whole floor to myself. Mr. 40+ was at work; Screamer and her boyfriend were who knows where.

Today is the first day of July; my plan is to return to exercising. I have not been using my rowing machine for the last couple of weeks. My plan (since I am not working and will probably spend most of my days watching TV) is to use the rowing machine twice a day (once in the morning and another time in the evening). Also, I want to try to set a 8pm cutoff time for eating (and snacking). And finally, I plan to drink hot green tea two times per day. Not the best diet or exercise program. I basically tried to keep things very basic. Each thing (individually) has helped me to lose weight in the past, now I want to try to combine all setting a one month time limit. If I have an easy goal to see, then I might succeed. Also putting this in writing might also help.

Post Date - Monday, July 10, 2006 12:41pm

June 28, 2006
My vacation has begun; I started with a light head cold (I think). Yesterday was my last day of work; I had a cluster teacher’s schedule (just a few pre-k and kindergarten classes). This last month turned out to be easier than I thought it would be. It was still stressful, but it was not as stressful. Since I started taking my teaching materials home a little at a time, I did not have much to do in terms of packing up. You know, I forgot to take a photo of my makeshift teacher’s desk in the teacher’s lounge. In Japan, I would always take a photo of my desk in each school I went to. Although in this case, my desk was really a table in the corner of the teacher’s lounge.

Not much to write about beyond the last day. In my shoebox, I was planning to go to the store for sherbet yesterday evening, but there was some kind of argument outside the building, which later escalated into a fight on the street near my building. I did not know how bad the argument would escalate, so I stayed in my shoebox. I don’t think I’ve attached a photo of my neighborhood, so I will attach one now. The first photo is of the building I live in, and the other photo is of the neighborhood.

This morning, I was awaken by the yelling of a young lady to her son in an apartment across the alleyway. From the dialog I could hear, she was yelling at a 5 year old (with a younger child [I could hear in the background]). She mentioned the graduation toy he wouldn’t get now, telling the child to stand in the corner because she was tired of looking at his “f**king face”, and the crying “mommy, mommy” told me the child’s age. The only graduation that would make sense would be a pre-k or kindergarten (5 year old). I don’t think a 5th or 6th grade child would have been crying the way the child was crying. The young lady was cursing at her son like he was her boyfriend (or another person her age); she used the “F” word 10 or 15 times…at least. I believe she use that “F” word in every way grammatically possible. Luckily (with all that yelling), the young lady only slapped the child once. Did I say luckily?

And finally, inside the shoebox, the trash was finally dumped by Mr. 40+, he also mopped the kitchen floor.

Post Date - Monday, July 10, 2006 12:22pm.

June 26, 2006
Cleaning up and packing up. Today, all of the teachers were present, so the administration really did not have anything for me to do. While I was trying to check on the status of my teaching license (more details in a moment), the classroom teacher was complaining about having a lot of packing to do. I was using a classroom teacher’s computer. I volunteered to help her pack. I am one of those people who feels more comfortable (at work) doing something than sitting around doing nothing. I spent the day help the teacher take things off the walls and pack. I could spend an hour writing about poor organization, but I won’t. It is getting late. For helping her, the teacher invited me to her class’ pizza party. She even gave me the leftover pizza, so instead of dinner, I finished off the reminder of the leftover pizza.

Back at my shoebox, did anyone take out the trash? No, it is still sitting there with the note taped above it.

I almost forgot about the status of my teaching license. I tried calling (after I failed several attempts on the internet) only to by put in a strange cycle of none answer. Basically (trying to keep this blog entry short), when I did not get a busy signal, would reach automatic recording. The recording gave me 4 options before I reached the 5th (to speak to a representative), it would then switch me to another recording which said that all reps. were busy and that I could either push #1 to reply the previous recording (or I got a busy signal). The recording gave me 3 seconds to choose #1 or the call would be disconnected. Being the stubborn person that I am, I tried to keep calling the number hoping I would get through, if I heard the recording, I would quickly hang up and dial again. Occasionally, I would seem to get through. The phone would ring about 7 or 8 times, then a silent pause, then the recording would come on.

Post Date - Monday, July 10, 2006 12:18pm

June 25, 2006
A wet wet, and greasy weekend. It has been raining on and off all weekend. I did not do much this week. I have been spending a lot of time doing instant messaging which has been cutting into my blogging time.

Today, I went to my foster father to pick up my mail. Considering where I live, I thought it was best to just continue to have my mail delivered there. Here at my shoebox, there is not a mailbox for each room. Originally this house (from the looks of it) was originally designed to have 3 separate apartments (one on each floor). There are only 3 door bells, and 3 mailboxes, one for each floor. Instead there are approximately 3 individual rooms per floor with about 8 to 10 tenants sharing three kitchens and baths. Sorry, I am getting sidetracked. Basically, I don’t think I’ve been getting all of my mail. On Monday, I will go to the post office and fill out a change of address card. I’ll just have to take my chances with my mail coming to my shoebox.

And how are things in the shoebox? Basically the same. On Friday, I returned to find the mop in the kitchen. Apparently, Screamer (or someone else) spilled grease on the floor and used a dry mop to clean it up, leaving the mop in the kitchen. Result? I (unknowingly) tracked the grease into my room, which explained why my house slippers were slipping and sliding (even on the rug in my room).

Earlier today(Sunday), after I returned from outside, I left my umbrella in the kitchen to dry – it dries faster if you leave it open. When I went to retrieve my umbrella and brought it into my room, I noticed what I thought were drops of water. It turns out more grease was spilt (my umbrella was not in the kitchen on Friday). There was a small puddle of greasy by the microwave in the kitchen. I don’t care how much the kitchen floor turns into an ice rink, I am not cleaning up the grease.

Earlier this evening when I stepped out of my cell/shoebox, I noticed Mr. 40+’s light was on. I know that his work hours are 2pm to 10pm, so I was a little concerned. I knocked on his door (his door was opened about 2 or 3 inches wide), but he did not answer. About 5 minutes later, Mr. 40+ turned on his television full-blast. I could tell from the volume that he was watching Mission Impossible (probably an illegal copy of the current movie [part 3]). I won’t know until Wednesday (his days off are Mondays and Tuesdays) if today was just a one time thing. Oh, I hope he has not lost his job. He likes to play his stereo very loud (along with a few of my other neighbors). Although, I have to admit at least he shows some restraint with his music. In a couple of days, I will be on a two month vacation, I am hoping for at least some peace and quiet.

And finally, the trash. I was about to take out the trash when I noticed that someone had yet again, put some kind of liquid in the trash. When I took the trash out of the trash bin, the trash bag started leaking. I put the bag back and wrote another note:

“Someone has put a liquid into the trash…again. A little help would be greatly appreciated.”

And I signed the letter. See the photo. I wonder how long it will take before someone takes out the trash, and when they do, will they clean out (or even dump out) to liquid that is at the bottom of the trash bin.

Well, until next time…

2 more days until vacation time.

Post Date - Monday, July 10, 2006 11:59am

June 23, 2006
“Stepping Up Day” or “Graduation Day” for Pre-K and Kindergarten students. At first the assistant principal did not know where to put me, but then I was assigned to be the substitute for the teacher’s assistant in the pre-k class where I was assigned to cover the regular classroom teacher. Being assigned to the pre-k class, meant that I was able to go to the graduation ceremony. The ceremony was very long for very young children, but it was nice. Each class did two performances, then each classroom teacher presented “diplomas” to each student. I think the 1 hour and 45 minute show was too much for the kids. In my opinion, some of the performances were better than others, and one or two performances I found a bit vulgar. For example, in one class, the students each had an opportunity to step up to the front of the stage to do their own dance. One girl did a dance move that sent the audience into an exciting round of hooting and hollering (yes, an audience of parents and grandparents). The girl did a good imitation of the dance move, but without the style; she was just copying what she must have seen many times. So what was the dance move, chest pumps and pelvic thrusts. Which brings up the parents. From the parents in attendance, I got a pretty good idea the root of a lot of the things that I’ve complained about in previous blog entries. Many of the parents were (in my opinion) inappropriately dressed (skin-tight outfits and tattoos [on the ladies] and street casual clothes and caps [on the guys] were everywhere). Behavior? Other than the hooting and hollering? Parents continued to block the aisles to take pictures of their child even blocking other children from getting off the stage. Jumping into the children’s’ seat when they went to the bathroom, only to have to get up a few minutes later. Calling (and or allowing) their children (in the middle of the show) to leave their seats to go to them. At the reception after the ceremony, jumping the food line ahead of the pre-k/kindergarten children. Parents stealing the stuffed toys that were used to decorate the gymnasium. One parent asked if the toys could be taken, I told her that I thought they were decoration, but later, I noticed that she (and another parent[or adult] still took the stuffed toys). The big surprise (for me)? The assistant principal told me that the parents were much better behaved than at past ceremonies.

After the reception, I volunteered to help clean up the gym (the location of the reception). Since I still had an afternoon (the pre-k children were all dismissed), I was assigned to the wild special ed class (the one with two teachers). Today was an early dismissal day, so I was out of the building 2:30pm. I brought some of my teaching materials home. I have two more days until the end of the school year; I don’t want to wait until the last day to lug all of my materials home.

Post date - Monday, July 10, 2006 11:52am

June 22, 2006
Nothing exciting entry. Yesterday was a very, very easy day, I basically had two classes to cover. I spent much of the day in the teacher’s room reading newspapers. Yesterday reminded me of my time in Japan where I was often assigned to a school with no classes to teach, but I had to go to the school anyway because the school had a contract with the company I worked for. In Japan I often complained about the boredom, but yesterday, I really enjoyed the rest. I enjoyed the peace and quiet over the yelling, screaming, and various classroom dramas I encountered on a daily basis. I have just a few more days before the end of the school year.

This morning, there was a big fire in a warehouse a few city blocks from where I live. I could even hear the helicopter over head. I saw the fire on the television, but I could not recognize the area shown.

In school, I subbed for the pre-k class I subbed for all of last week It was another very good day. I was out of school at 3pm.

Post Date - Wednesday, June 22, 2006 1:31pm

June 20, 2006
Today should have been a very easy relaxed day. I had one of the shortest work schedules this year, but for some reason, I was just as tired by the end of the day. To make up for yesterday, I was given a cluster teacher’s schedule. For some reason, this cluster teacher’s schedule only had 3 classes. Cluster teachers are usually assigned other school related duties, that (lucky for me) are not given to substitute teachers. Usually, the assistant principal would fill in the blank spaces with “make-up prep” classes to teach. But again, the assistant principal wanted to make up for the rough assignment that I was given yesterday. She also apologized for “just checking her messages” and did not realize that I really needed her help yesterday. She did suggest that in the future, I should call the main office if I can reach her at her office. Since I have about a week left, I did not point out the flaws in her suggestions (see yesterday’s blog entry) creating a conflict. I made about 3 calls to the main office, and one time, she was just walking into the office (according to the secretary on the phone).

Fourth period, I had the wild pre-k class that I’ve mentioned in previous blog entries. They were still at the year-end awards assembly during the period. I am going to pass on commenting about undeserving kids with medals and certificates for “good work”. The award assembly was (I think) more than an hour long. Since the kids were sitting for such a long time, I thought I would let them play with table toys then finish the period with a story. Unfortunately, things did not go according to plan. No sooner did table toy time start:
* A group of girls had a problem with a girl scratching them
* Two boys (one who spoke very little English) were “wilding” in the classroom
* A group of boys dump 3 or 4 games (each game seemed to have a million pieces—Bingo was one of the games) on the floor, but “none of them did it”
* A couple of parents (with nothing better to do) decided to hang out at the door to watch the chaos unfold

Before all of this happened, the parent volunteer complained that this was her lunch break. Since the assistant teacher was absent, I guess she was filling in. There is more, but I think you get the picture.

Fifth period, I had the wild 5th grade class. Again, no travel time/break to get my materials (or my sanity) organized. They were almost as bad as the 6th grade class I wrote about in a previous blog. Speaking of that 6th grade class, the teacher was late this morning (a trip day for his class) so I was asked to watch the kids for about 15 or 20 minutes. Anyway, since the 5th graders were out of control, I used the only tool I had. I told them I would give up my lunch period to make sure they were the last ones to eat. I ended up giving up about half of my lunch period, because no sooner did the school aid arrive, he undermines my authority by saying the kids need to eat, the kitchen is on a schedule. Even though I explained that I only wanted them to be the last ones called to get their lunches. Whether this 5th grade class was first or last to get their lunches, their line-up time would not have affected the “kitchen schedule”. I settled for standing at the kitchen door to make sure the 3 boys I made the promise to would be sent to the back of the boys’ line. The school aid must have known that he was wrong, after the last boy (one of the boys that was giving me trouble started arguing with the school aid, so the school aid made that boy get on line last – what I originally wanted). When I was about to leave the students’ lunchroom, the school aid in charge told me that if I had told him that I wanted the class to eat last, then he would have pick that class last to line up. Since I have about a week left, I did not point out the flaws…oh, you get the picture.

My 7th period class, a nice 4th grade class, was canceled; they were on a class trip. So you see, an easy day, but I was still tired. I think I’ve been spending too much time instant-messaging lately. Yesterday, I was online until about 4 in the morning. I then had about 2 hours of sleep.

I was out of the building by 3:05, and I was in my shoebox by 4pm. On the way home, I was planning to go to the store, but since it was early, I thought I would first change my clothes, then go, but once home, I was too comfortable to get up. Finally, when I was ready, I’m sure the “pop pop pop” sounds I heard outside were gunshots, so I didn’t go.

Post Date - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 1:17pm

June 19, 2006
Wild! Wild! Wild! Just what I was afraid of. I was assigned one of the worst classes today. Having a wild class did not bother me as much as feeling powerless to do anything when the kids went wild. The assistant principal told me that if I had any problems, she would have the difficult kids removed. Unfortunately that was not the case.

After I arrived, it took about 45 minutes before the class started to get wild (led by a couple of ringleaders). Now, I know that a teacher is basically on his or her own in terms of being able to control a class. However, a lot of the power comes from the support the administration provides. Once the class started to get wild, I placed a call to the principal asking that she give me 1 or 2 minutes to just come in to help me set a tone of behavior expectation. I was only asking for a couple of minutes I would have taken things from there, but since she did not come, the kids became wilder. About a period later, I place another call to the assistant principal (when I got her answering machine, I put in the request to the main office). I asked that one of the two ringleaders be removed. One was taken out, but 15 minutes later, he returned.

Sorry, I am going to cut this short.

Basically, the class was wild. I did provide work for the kids to do, and knowing that most probably would not care, I still stayed after school to correct the papers. I ended up leaving the school at 6:30pm.

Post Date - Wednesday, June 28, 2006

June 18, 2006
Happy Father’s Day to the fathers of the world! Not much to write about so this entry should be short. On Thursday and Friday, I was given the same pre-k class, which means my days were very nice and easy. Friday was an early dismissal day, I was out of the school by 2:30.

Yesterday was supposed to have been a very hot day (according to the weather reports), but it was only a little hot. However yesterday, the weather was still very nice. My neighbors (Screamer and her boyfriend) went somewhere at 7:00am – leaving a sloppy messy in the kitchen. And since Mr. 40+ has to work on Saturdays (and Sundays), I would have had the floor to myself. However, I went shopping for a Father’s Day present for my foster father. Originally, I was planning to buy a rice cooker (he eats rice almost everyday), but at the last minute, I settled on a motorized back massager. I went to the Mall in Jersey City. Speaking of the mall. Remember the problem I had with one of the turnstiles the last time I went. I don’t know if I mentioned this, but I ended up receiving a refund (for one free ride) in the mail. Unfortunately, I ended up letting the free pass expire before I used it, so I paid the full fare round-trip.

At the mall, I went to see the movie X-Men – The Last Stand. I liked the movie. I thought the movie was a little sloppy, in terms of parts of the plot and parts of the dialog (a little too soap opera-ish for me), but the special-effects made the movie more then worth it. There were very nice special effects.

After I returned to my shoebox, I went shopping for milk, juice and sherbet (I’ve really been fighting an urge to buy ice cream). After returning, I did 25 minutes on my rowing machine. I can now do a ¼ of a mile on my rowing machine. Not too long ago, I remember taking 45 minutes to do a ¼ of a mile. Next month, I am going to try doing 1/3 of a mile at level 3 (of 5 levels). Now, I am at level 4 (the second to the lowest setting).

Well, I think that is it for now. I will go to the Laundromat, and visit my foster father. Oh, I also am going to buy myself a small rice cooker. I don’t mind eating rice, but I am just lazy about cooking it. The rice cooker I am thinking about is a cheap ($14.95) no-name brand, so it might not work as good as the popular named brand that I was planning to buy for my foster father. It the rice cooker works even marginally well, then, I will be happy. I am sure home-cooked rice is much healthier than the rice in a box I’ve been buying.

Post Date - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 12:58pm

June 14, 2006
Another pre-k day. Today I found out the regular pre-k teacher had a death in the family, so I was asked to cover this class again. Normally, I would not like having a pre-k (or kindergarten) class as a full-time teacher, but as a sub, I am enjoying myself. There is a lot of whining, crying and complaining, but the little kids are much easier to deal with (as a sub) than the older kids are.

I continued to let the assistant teacher lead the class. She is a very good assistant; she is not afraid of hard work. I was a little annoyed that she was a little too attached to her cell phone. In the middle of the class, she is on the phone with her son. Her younger son (8th grader) called several times (called on his way to the school bus stop, he called while he was waiting for the bus, and he called when he was on the bus). Other than the phone, I didn’t have any problems with the assistant teacher.

Today I was in a good mood, but at the same time I did not feel like going out for lunch. Usually, the only food readily available for lunch outside the school is junk food. Today I decided to buy a school lunch ($4.00). I will attach a photo my school lunch today (for my Japanese pen pals). If I can, I will also attach a photo of a typical Japanese school lunch (for the American readers of this blog).

Today was another rehearsal for the “moving up” ceremony. The rehearsal went much better today. There was still some confusion, but much better than the other practices.

I was out of the school building about 3:05. Once in my shoebox, I decided to boil some pasta and heat some pasta sauce (very short and simple). I was really pleased with the way the pasta dinner came out. When the younger lady (the Screamer) came into the kitchen, I made the mistake of offering her some of my pasta dinner. I keep making the mistake of saying, “help yourself”, instead of fixing a taste on a separate plate like
she has done on the few times that she has offered me anything. Anyway, after I told Screamer about the pasta dinner, she said that she would try “a little bit”. I left her in the kitchen while I ate my dinner in my shoebox, when I returned, she ended up taking about half. I’d cooked a whole bag of pasta [1lb.] and a whole jar of pasta sauce [1lb.10oz.]; there should have been enough to last for 4 or 5 days.

First Photo (NYC Lunch)
Second Photo (JPN Lunch)

Post Date - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 12:48pm

June 13, 2006
Today was a pre-k day. When I arrived this morning, I was a little nervous about what class I would receive today. Last week, I found out that two teachers would be out for a couple of days due to being called for Jury Duty. I couldn’t believe it when I heard that a teacher (later I found out that it was not one but two teachers) would agree to do jury duty two weeks before the end of the school year, instead of deferring until the summer.

When I arrived to school, all of the senior classes (6th grade) were lined up for a field trip. Everyone was wearing a “Class of 2006” T-Shirt. I walked past the line; a few boys whispered something in a group, and then laughed hysterically out loud. Seeing those loud, disrespectful, arrogant “seniors” standing comfortably and safe with the knowledge that they would be going on a field trip, despite the wild behavior, felt a little bit like a slap in the face. I know that I should not take it personally.

Today I was assigned to sub for a pre-k class. It was a very easy day today. Basically, I didn’t have to do anything. The para (teacher assistant) seemed to take her job seriously. She kept the students on their usually routine. The class was a little bit disorganized for my taste, but it was a very nice and easy day.

Oh, I almost forgot. the Pre-k and the Kindergarten classes had another rehearsal for the “moving up day” ceremony. They were still just as disorganized as the last time I observed the rehearsal. The teachers argued over the seating plans and how the classes should line up. 45 minutes was wasted on those two points. It was strange to see the kids almost better behaved than the adults.

Post Date - June 28, 2006 12:45pm

Another stressful workday.

Second period I had the wild Pre-K class that I'd mentioned a few blog entries ago. I gave them a handwriting practice worksheet. I was surprised how much they seemed to enjoy it. Even when early finishers were starting to play, the remainding students continued to finish their page. Usually, the minute someone starts to play, then others no longer care about finishing their work. Since they were showing an interest in the worksheet I gave them more time to finish, leaving the other kids to play, usually not a good idea. While I was trying to help some kids with the tracing, the other kids were going wild, running, throwing blocks, arguing over toys etc.. Once again, I had to be the screaming monster to get the kids to fall in line. All the toys, games, and blocks had to be put away (by the kids -- I am not a servant). I got very lucky, the entire mess was cleaned up (by the kids), seconds before the regular teacher walked into the room. She was on time. The teaching assistant (the one who lectured me about leaving the kids unsupervised by a teacher) did not return. Actually, the teacher assistant was supposed to stay with the kids, but I told her if she wanted a break, she could have one.

Third period, I had to cover a first grade class. The 1st grade teacher was one of the good teachers; she still had her routines very firmly in place. There was no difficulty with this class.

Fourth period, I had to cover a 3rd /4th grade bridge class; this class was so wild that there were two teachers needed to teach this class, however, the class was prepped by one teacher...me. As the period went on, the class became progressively wild (profanity, arguments, throwing objects etc…) One student seemed to have some major anger issues. After laughing and joking with the other boys at his table about topics completely inappropriate for kids, this kid (in a blink of an eye) started to become increasingly angry. First, he started banging on his desk, then he started flipping his desk over onto the floor, pick his desk up then flipping it again onto the floor. He did this for about 5 minutes. I called the office (getting the usually “thank you for letting us know" reply). The kid was about my height and almost my weight. Yes, this was an elementary classroom. When I realized that I was basically along. I change tactics. I switched to my psychologist persona. I have several classroom personas: bodyguard, referee, warden, psychologist, madman, etc…and teacher is somewhere on the list.

Anyway, I lowered my voice to almost a whisper, and tried to show that I understood his anger. After about 5 minutes of refusing to speak to me (tears in his eyes, and clinched fists), the boy finally explained to me the reason he was angry. He told me he was angry because other kids were throwing things across the room. That moment wasn’t the time to mention that he was also throwing things. I just reacted like I understood, and explained to him the importance of communicating. I managed to calm him down.

So, what do I think the reason was? I think the boys at his table started to speak Spanish and either he was left out, or they were talking about him (in Spanish).

Next period, I had to cover a 6th grade class I covered a few days ago. I walked through the door, and you would have sworn it was the last day of school. The students were all over the room, sitting on desks, signing stuffed toys, talking loudly etc…It took me about 5 minutes to get these kids into their seats. Yes, the classroom teacher was still in the room, but once again I suspect this teacher also had the “it is the end of the school year, and the standardized test have all been taken, so let’s just wait out the clock” attitude.

Anyway, I finally got most of the students into their (or a) seat. Then the assistant principal walked in. Usually she is a tough as nails, don’t take any nonsense kind of person. But I was surprised when she walked in didn’t make any comments about the kids being out of their seats. She just walked in and started handing out coffee mugs (from the 99-cent store I suspect) the mugs were rewards for students who regularly wore their uniform to school. She had told them to put the mugs away. However, they didn’t put the mugs away while she was there, and they didn’t put the mugs away when she left. Now, they had the signature toys (with markers) and the mugs to entertain themselves. They also had some kind of "silly money" (reward coupons for prizes). I handed out my worksheets to a loud chorus of complains about what is it and why is he giving it to us.

One girl came right out and asked why I was giving them work:

Girl: What is this for?
Me: It is work for you to do. It is a reading practice exercise.
Girl:I can see that. I mean why are you giving it to us? Will it go into our portfolio? Will we have a test?
Me: No.
Girl: Then why do we need this?
Me: Because you are in school. I am almost sure your mother would want you to come to school to learn. Just because the school year is almost over, does not mean the learning stops. I am sure most of you (all) will be going to middle school next year. You need to maintain your skills. (I was looking at the girl, but I was really speaking to the whole class.)
Girl: Can I draw instead?
Me: Would your mother really be happy with you drawing in school instead of reading?
Girl: If my teacher gives me permission, my mother would be okay with that.
Me: Really. Well, at this moment, I want the students to be sitting quietly. If you choose to draw, I won’t complain. However, I would rather you did the reading assignment. I won’t give you permission to draw. Some kids will go home and tell their parents (when asked what you did in school) that their teacher told them that they could draw.

From the look on the girl’s face, I am sure she understood what I was trying to say. Result, she did not draw, she just sat and did nothing. Later, she talked, but she stayed in her seat. My impression of this girl is that she is a loophole jumper. If she can find a loophole she will jump through (blaming the teacher), but since I did not give her one, she stayed relatively quiet. Unfortunately, she was the only one. The rest of the disruptive kids just could not care less I was in the room. In a classroom of about 15 students, only one girl did the assignment (without talking or being disruptive), the two others (one a visitor from another class) did the assignment. I think having work for the students knowing full well that most of them could not care less, helped to keep the students (mostly in their seats). Also, since I was there to teach, I acted as if the students were interested. Even if one student was interested, I wanted to make sure his or her time was productive (or at least relatively productive). Even if the students were not interested, I still made myself available. The visitor even managed to do most of the worksheet because I kept returning to him, even when he turned the worksheet into a paper airplane. Yes, I did collect the worksheets, and I did grade the sheets (knowing full well the sheets will probably end up in the trash). The only girl that completed the assignment, I corrected her paper in the class, and explained the only mistake she made on the assignment, the other sheets will be returned next week on Tuesday (Monday is a half-day, which is a no work day for substitute teachers).

So, how did the class end? Wildly, of course. The classroom teacher stayed in the room for about 15 to 20 minutes before leaving, so I was on my own. I stopped the lesson (!?!) 10 minutes early. I use going to lunch on time as a way to try to keep the kids in line. By stopping the lesson 10 minutes early, I let the kids know that if they were quiet they could go to lunch on time. From the classroom, it would have taken about 2 or 3 minutes to reach the lunchroom. Problem.

The students were determined not to make things easy. Or, maybe they resented me being strict about the procedures they’ve had since September. What were my conditions for going to lunch?

1. Clean up the messes they made (including the worksheets they did not do, and the scraps of cut up paper from students cutting up the "silly money").
2. Line up in size order. Although, after about 15 minutes, I compromised about lining up in size order. I settled for just getting on line and stop playing.

They just would not cooperate. After about 20 minutes the messes were cleaned up, but they just would not stop talking and playing on line. I refused to move from in front of the door. Pencils were thrown at me. They continued talking and playing on line. Chanting and shouting: “Let my people go.”, “Attica “. One boy continued with “shut the f**k up several times each time the rowdy ones wanted to know why I would not let them go. The ones who argued the most were the ones who played the most, and were the most disruptive. Normally, I would send a few students out, but they were so wild and out of control, I worried that if I opened the door, several students would push through and run. Problem, I still have about 2 more weeks at this school. There most likely would not have been any consequences for the disrespect. But a good incentive to be even wilder the next time.

Basically, if I could not manage them this time, I would not be able to manage them next time.

Ending. 30 minutes later, the classroom teacher returned. I am happy to say that he supported me and helped me let the children know that they were not in charge. I did have to think twice when I typed the words children. About 4 boys and 2 girls were much bigger than I am. Yes, I am still writing about an elementary school. In one school I subbed at, there was a girl who had to repeat several grades; she was in the same class as her little sister. If I am not mistaken, I believe I was told she was 14 years old in the fifth grade. Unbelievable.

Probably a few kids mention in this class have also repeated a few grades.

I could write about my 7th period class, but I’ve been on this computer long enough.

Post Date Monday, June 12, 2006 2:32am