Travelin' Man

This summer I have been on the road. Since school got out the end of May, I've been on the road 31 days. Not as long as some of my compadres...but a lot for me. First Colorado to grade essays, then the Bahamas to celebrate my ten-year anniversary then on to Indiana for family reunion and the Tulsa, Oklahoma to visit more family. I'm glad I don't have to travel for my job. I'm getting too old for this!

photo: Me in front of Rawson's Square, the Bahamas.

Bathtime!

Been awhile since I've posted a video of Jackson. Here's two from bathtime when he's discovered the fun of dropping things into the tub. Jackson has no need to worry...nothing is revealed that should be too embarassing to him down the road.

Back in Tejas

Made it back to Big D with no major issues. Had a woman sitting next to me throwing up into a barf back all the way from Denver to OKC. That was a first. It was a bit of a bumpy take-off. I've watched too much LOST. Then we were on the tarmac in OKC for an hour due to weather in Dallas. Flying into Love Field is much cooler than flying into DFW. You fly right above the sky scrapers in downtown then drop several hundred feet faster than you would at a normal airport due to the limited airspace. Love is the only way to go...all you need is Love. Only the Baghdad corkscrew landings would be more interesting. I'll have to ask my friend Buck how that is...but he's still in Kuwait where he tells me it's 122 degrees.

I was dropped off at DIA six hours before my flight. Luckily ran into my WHAP crew (pictured) in the main terminus and we were able to kill some time before we went to our seperate terminals. Finally got my laptop working wirelessly so I could kill some more time on the internet. Then I paid $5.00 (supply and demand for you) for Backpacker Magazine to kill more time. Ran into SNU prof Peggy Poteet who was heading back to OKC at my gate and chatted with her awhile. Then read a history book (Cause that's how I roll).

Rainy in Dallas when I landed...but it was a cool 75 degrees...good since I'm spoiled on Rocky Mountain weather. What a great thing it was to see my wife and son again. Longest I've been away from them.

photo: Last dinner at CSU with Wes "Three Minutes of Fury", Chas "Saipan Jayhawk Hippie", Jerry "KCK", and "Freakin' Redwings" Eric.

From the Mountains

Well I'm done grading A.P. World History essays. I read over 850 essays in seven days. So yeah, I'm a bit punchy. My assigned question to grade was over trade and commerce in the Indian Ocean from the 7th century C.E. through the mid-eighteenth century C.E.. Needless to say the overwhelming number of essays I graded were pretty lousy. I had one perfect 9 the whole week. But we wrapped up early and now I'm enjoying the mountain breezes before heading to the closing night party where you will see dorky historians get funky from their Rocky Mountain High.

Missed Kimberly and Jackson terribly...but I did have a good week other than that. Met great people, had engaging conversations over a bizarre range of topics and enjoyed cool breezes as opposed to the oppressive Texas heat.

My table of seven was a great table. No Nazis, fascists or anti-social louts...all cool people. Some other tables weren't so lucky. Brian, our table leader from Long Beach, was laid back Cali style yet always encouraged us to keep up the good work.

The food was good. The logistics top-notch. My room had internet access, A/C and a nice view. I am very impressed with Colorado State University and the College Board.

But I am ready to head back to Big D. I did post a few pics on my flickr site which can be accessed here. I'll be home a few days and then it's off to the Bahamas where I will not have to grade a single essay.

photo: my table taking a night out at Woody's after a long day of grading sophomoric (literally) essays.

Letter to the Times

A friend of mine who teaches history at a university in Pennsylvania told me today that his son had a letter published today in the New York Times. During a break from grading AP essays he rode his bike to a newstand in Fort Collins to buy a NY Times. Sure enough, his son's was the first listed in today's edition in the opinion section. He was responding to an article in yesterday's paper about the Senate's investigation in to the lead up to the war in Iraq. So, whether you agree with this guy's opinion or not...it's still cool to be printed in the Old Gray Lady. The article can be accessed online here. It's the first letter on the top.

Weezer Day!

Today was Weezer day. Their newest album came out titled "Weezer." It's their third release of theirs that is self-titled, so like the other two it will be known by the color on the cover...this one is known as the Red Album. I couldn't make it to the record store today. Six miles from my campus dorm here at Colorado State University...gotta rent a bike.

So I wore a Weezer concert shirt today as I graded AP essays and had all kinds of comments. Guess a lot of World History teachers dig Rivers and the gang. One dude at the cafeteria offered me his SPIN magazine featuring a Weezer cover story.

And Kim told me that a character on the Young and the Restless was wearing a Weezer shirt on today's episode. Righteous!

So here I am grading essays about trade and commerce in the Indian Ocean (650-1750) while listening to the iPod. Hope the guy next to me couldn't hear me humming "Pork and Beans."

Turn it OFF!

Back in the old days of carburetors we were taught that if you left your car idling for less than 30 seconds it saved more gas to let it run than shutting the engine off and restarting. However, most cars today have fuel injectors which lowers that magic number to 10 seconds...some even say 7 seconds. So when I go to the bank or wait at the railroad crossing I actually save gas by shutting down my engine.

I say all this to address one of my biggest pet peeves. When I drop my son off at the Daycare a great majority of the parents leave their cars running while they go in to drop off their kids. Today, for example, the car next to me was running when I got there and was still running unoccupied when I left...a good ten minutes later (and it was 70 degrees outside...no need to run the A/C).

Here's the reasons why this drives me so crazy.

1.) It's actually illegal in Texas to leave your keys in the ignition due to the great potential of theft.

2.) It's dangerous to leave your car running in a daycare parking lot with so many kids around.

3.) It's a terrible waste of gas and money during these times of $4 a gallon gas.

4.) It's terrible for the environment to needlessly spew carbon monoxide into the atmosphere when it can easily be prevented.

5.) What message does that send your kid that you drop off them so fast you don't even want to bother shutting off your engine? Might as well have a drive through window at Daycare to expedite the process.

So I talked to our Daycare representative at our school and fortunately the problem will be addressed. People, save your money and environment and turn off your car when sitting for more than 10 seconds. According to General Motors you will more than recoup your gas savings than the expense caused by wear and tear on your ignition.