What is bitch and moan?

First a disclaimer for this and all future blogs. My spacebar doesn't work correctly.

I really wanted to rant on here tonight. While preparing my dinner, which is now slowly cooking in the oven, I was thinking about a great blog about the meaning of respect and tying it in with how your crappy religion is wrong. It was a great thing, with themes, plotlines, and character development. But I have something much more important that needs some griping. Jeopardy.

The first problem is the KGO 7 channel that shows it starts the show before the start time of 7 o'clock. I usually set the cable box timer to switch to Jeopardy at 7, but it has already started. I miss about two or three questions. Not acceptable.

The second problem is that with the new season, they got rid of a sound effect. It's the beeping while they show the numbers on the board immediately before Trebek reads the categories. It's the sound that plays while he's telling us how many Daily Doubles are in that round. And that sound is gone. Luckily, as I mentioned in the first complaint, I usually miss it for the first round. But I'm there for Double Jeopardy. Lame.

And finally, the newest orchestration of the Final Jeopardy is too much. It smacks of effort. Scale back and let me think about the question. When I get it right and the contestants all get it wrong, my night is complete. I don't want to be distracted by the new crappy arrangement. Not that it will stop me. I will still win because I rule.

Amazing Race

I guess I've lost interest in the Amazing Race over the past few years. It used to be one of the reality shows I watched, mostly because I like to travel so much. I used to think that if there were one reality show that I would actually go on, it would be that one. And I think I would do really well. I generally have a good sense of direction and the decent ability to adapt in foreign countries. Though I do have to say that the only two continents I have been to are North America and Europe, so physically blending in hasn't been too difficult.

The problem I would have is that it's a two person game. I think that might frustrate me too much. I tend to be a "if you want something done do it yourself" kind of person. I don't really like leaving things in other people's hands that I think have to be done a certain way. In preparation for the spring break DC trip, the only thing I let anyone else do is arrange the car pools. I do that since it's a lot of calling, which I don't like to do. Also, it has always been the car pools home from the airport. If that got messed up, someone would end up getting stuck at the airport, and I have to believe that no adults would leave them alone. But the error wouldn't delay the trip. This year we will be carpooling both ways to the airport, so I'm going to have to have someone take care of that. But I'll definitely have them take care of it early, and then very carefully go over their work.

That was more of an aside than I intended. The Amazing Race requires that the two people work together at times (which I could handle) and then trusting the other person to do something (which I couldn't). I would also spend all of the time checking the other person's work. If they read the clue, I would want to read it over again. I wouldn't be able to do it without someone I could trust like that. Too tough for me, especially since as I was watching and as I typed this, the people who were eliminated lost because they didn't follow directions properly. I almost want to show that clip in class to show kids, "See? This is what happens when you don't read the directions!" But I won't.

But I will show you a clip. This is one of the most racist sounding (but actually isn't) clips from the Amazing Race. It's from the family season. And they had one black family.



(Though if you do want some recent real racist clips, there are dozens available from the Palin rally today. Sick stuff.)

I'm WRONG!

I'm not wrong about anything in particular at this moment. And while I don't like to be wrong, and sure, like anyone else don't like to admit it, I can when I am. As an example, just yesterday I returned tests. I corrected three or four errors that I had made in correcting them.

I stopped by Longs tonight for a couple quick purchases, and I paid with my debit card. That means I swipe it and follow the commands on the screen. After going through the pin number, declining cash-back, promising to kneel before Zod, and whatever else it wanted me to do, I was told to "Wait for the cashier." At that point, the cashier, a teenage boy, is looking around the store instead of at the register. I wait. I look at him, and back and forth to the message that still states, "Wait for the cashier." I continue to wait with a short cough. He looks at me. He looks down to pad where I entered my information. He looks to his register. Quickly, he reaches up and pushes a button with one hand, and with the other starts reaching toward my pad, telling me that "You have to push the button." At the instant he had pushed his button, mine had changed, asking for confirmation.

So he spaced out for about five seconds. So what? Why does he have to do this little display to make it look like we were waiting for ME? How about a quick "Sorry." I would even accept a phrase that I hate, "My bad." (That reminds me that my hatred for that phrase needs to be a blog for another day.) Or even still, don't say anything. Just push your little button and then wait for me. Nobody cares - I just wanted to get on with my little transaction and be on with it.

The thing is, I don't care if he needed to admit that his little space out was wrong. It's that suddenly he tried to deflect it to me. What is this guy going to do when something does go really wrong? Looks like this is a kid that learned well from the Bush administration.

Best lines...

One of my favorite lines from a student this week was, "Is anyone here absent?" He did try to talk his way out of that statement soon after.

One of my favorite lines from a news story this week wasn't from a debate, but from sports/music story. That has to be a good combo, right? Two good things, for sure. But one of those things is hockey (not that I have anything against hockey - I'll root for the Sharks, I guess - but I didn't miss it at all when it was on strike, and wouldn't if it totally disappeared). And the second of those things is Def Leppard. Def Leppard is possibly one of the stinkiest, steamy turds that people will try to tell you smells like roses. People have tried really hard to convince me that Def Leppard does, in fact, rock. Don't pour that sugar on me. They don't. They, like love, bite. So in the story, Def Leppard's lead singer, who I believe is named Crappy McShitcrap, messed up and put the Stanley Cup upside down. My favorite line was in that story. "If only someone on stage had helped him. Why couldn't the drummer have lent a ... bit of moral support?" Because he only has.... Yeah. Funny, says me.

Challenging myself

I promised those who would start blog-a-day month that it would be a tough endeavor. A couple weeks in, topics become very difficult to come by. I argue that you can write about pretty much anything. So I'm now going to look around the room, find something, and write about it. Be back in 10 seconds...

My remote control.

Well crap. That wasn't the most exciting choice ever, but here goes. My remote control is actually the sweetest remote control ever. I won't, however, reveal how much I spent on it, since it's more than anyone ever should. But I plan to have this remote for many years to come. This is one of those super all-in-one remotes. I plug it into my computer, which then sends all the controls to the remote. I need that thing because I have my big ass TV, surround sound, and then a half a dozen different setups, including one for cable, one for TiVo, one for DVD, and one for each game system. Each one needs the TV to have a different setting and the surround sound to have a different setting, and then to control the device. It's quite a bit to remember, but now I just have to click a button while it's still facing the TV. Pretty sweet. OK, I'm playing again. Look around the room...

Can of paint

For those who don't know, I'm remodeling my bathroom. Do I know how to do such a thing? No. But that hasn't stopped me. Any day now, I'll finish. But it's been torn up for about two months now. That doesn't really mean that it has taken me that long. It's just that I need a tile cutter to finish, so I haven't done anything since school started. I think I've found one to borrow, so I'll finish it as soon as I get that into my hands. It has been an extremely interesting, educational, and humbling experience. And of course, one little or medium thing has gone wrong as just about every step. Nothing super major, though. The closest was when the outside valve to my water broke with the water turned off to my whole place, requiring a call to the homeowners association to get that fixed. As soon as I get this thing finished, which I actually hope to do in the next week, I'm going to start the house search. That should be lots of fun.

You say you want a blog about Revolution?

Let's take a moment to add to yesterday's post of brilliant El Dorado student answers

QUESTION: What did Columbus do and why did he do it?
ANSWER: Columbus wrote the Declaration of Independence

QUESTION: Who was the main author of the Declaration of Independence?
ANSWER: King George III

QUESTION:What was the first permanent British Settlement?
ANSWER: France

In spite of these answers, I think this year I took a big step in getting closer to teaching the prelude to the United States (discovery, colonies, Revolution) much better than I have in the last five years. Before then, we weren't sticklers for the standards. By that, I mean that we didn't have a real reason to get all the way through it. We would try to end the year with the Civil War, and if we were lucky, get beyond that. The standards for eighth grade don't really have a unit for the Revolution. We're supposed to teach it, as I called it before, as a prelude. It's more of an introduction until we get to the parts that we're supposed to. So I really need to condense it into about six weeks, all while getting the students used to my class, procedures, grading, and all that fun beginning of the year stuff. But how can you possibly learn anything about America without having a basic understanding of the Declaration of Independence? "We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." That's probaby the most important sentence written, like, ever. The reason it's hard to teach it is because we already know it. Kids today understand that they have freedom. They know that basic idea of having rights. So the hard part isn't telling them, "Hey! You have rights!" It's getting them to understand that before this, people DIDN'T and what that meant. There are lots of facts about the colonies and the Revolution that I pretty much ignore at this point. The actual WAR for Independence? It's a side note. It's the radical idea of rights that was most important, and what leads us into the Constitution. We're in heavy Preamble mode this week. Probably the second most important sentence ever written. (The third? First Amendment. The fourth. This sentence is the fourth most important sentence EVER written.) But don't take my word for why the Preamble is important. I'll let this guy explain it to you. Why? Because there's nothing quite as fascinating as a bad Canadian actor reciting the Preamble.

*sigh*

Good times here:

Kids...

Question: What did Columbus do and why did he do it (as discussed in class)?

Actual student in the El Dorado class of 2009 answer: Columbus made a land bridge to cross to get to asia to trade.

"We don't have to accept this!"

I just saw an ad for Yes on Prop 8. It's the only one I've seen, I think. They show Gavin Newsom with his "Whether they like it or not!" quote. One of the things that the hate mongers narrators mention is that if 8 doesn't pass, churches could lose their tax exempt status. So wait - they WANT me to vote no? Even if I was opposed to gay marriage, I would still see this as a positive. Churches should not have tax exemptions. I think this is an out of date idea whose time has come. Of course, there's no way in this Christain dominated country that it will change. The commercial states that "We don't have to accept this!" And I agree. Church tax exemptions are wrong.

A few months ago, I said that I hoped this would come to a vote since I think that the climate in California has changed enough. I still believe that it has changed, and I there's still an advantage in that people are less willing to change the law. But I just haven't seen a lot of No on 8 propaganda. I have gotten a phoner from the Yes people, and one of my former subs sent out the Yes emailer to everyone since he was, I guess, concerned that gay marriage will ruin his LDS marriage of 50+ years. But I haven't heard at all yet from the No people or seen any commercials. In something like this, I think most people have made up their minds anyway at this point. It's not like too many people are going to read Prop 8 and then say, "Hmmmm.. I need to go read about this "marriage" thing before making an informed choice.

But what worries me is the "Bradley Effect," but with gay marriage instead of black people. For those who haven't heard of the Bradley Effect, it comes from the 1982 California Governor race. All the polls showed Tom Bradley, a black man, leading the race until the end. Even exit polls showed the same thing. But Bradley lost. It is credited to people not wanting to say that they weren't voting for the black guy. That's one big reason why I think Obama needs a cushion in the polls before you can start thinking about him winning. But does liberal California put enough pressure on its people to say in public that they're voting "no" but then they'll turn around and do the opposite in the polling booth? I couldn't imagine it happening in Mississippi, for example. But California, maybe?

And before any Christians try to respond by talking about the sanctity of marriage and how God doesn't accept gay marriage, just remember this: Your religion isn't real.

I am a PC...

...and I don't wear headbands. But seriously, though, I use a PC, and I have no interest whatsoever in a Mac.

I do have to admit that it's been many years since I've used a Mac, and even then they weren't the most up-to-date. It used to be that you needed a Mac if you were doing any sort of art thing, whether it was music or drawing/painting/photo stuff. But now, with USB, your MIDI devices work just as well with a PC and with Adobe's Creative Suite being released for both platforms (and nearly identically), those reasons are out.

I hear about the crashing. Since Windows 2000, crashing hasn't been a problem. Oh, I would never say that it never crashes. But it isn't worth the discussion when comparing the two. Back at SDSU when I was using a Mac while working in the dorms, those these crashed CONSTANTLY.

When I "taught" computers for a year, we were in an iMac lab. That lab SUCKED. They did crash regularly. And it was incredibly difficult to get the computers working together, much less working alone. For awhile, all we wanted was for the computers to run Word. Nope. Too difficult. Now you Mac folks (of which - I don't even think I know any - are you a Mac?) might argue that the OS has gotten better. I keep hearing about all these roman numeraled-cat named OS's for the Mac that are supposed to be stable. The thing is, as I mentioned earlier, so is Windows.

I'm actually not a huge fan of Vista. I have it on my laptop but I'm not going to bother on my desktop. It's not that Vista isn't great, it's just that its improvements don't excite or interes me that much. The Windows Switcher LOOKS cool but is completely worthless. But that doesn't change the fact that my laptop usually runs nicely.

But if I do have problems with my computers, and this includes my school computers, there is a big reason why I am a PC. Here's the reason: I can fix them. Macs are meant for people that don't know computers at all. They want something they can plug in and start playing. When it breaks, send it away to get it fixed. I don't like that. I want to pull it apart and put in the parts I want. That's something that frustrates me a bit about my laptop, since I can't really do it in the same way as I can with my desktop, which I built myself. With a Mac? When it's broken, you're stuck.

As nerdy as this post makes me, I always feel like my nerd credentials are in jeopardy because I don't really know too much at all about Linux. Shouldn't I be using an alternate OS, or at least know how to?