maineiac in kc

Well, just to update people, I arrived Xmas day in New England.  The plan was to leave the 23rd (after school), drive as late as I could, then get up early the 24th and arrive that night.  Instead, it rained all day on Tuesday, so the roads were ICY…  I saw two trucks flipped over in Missouri alone, and when I hit Illinois, it was a mess.  I was fishtailing at 70 miles an hour, could barely stop.  Needless to say, I slowed down and took the next motel possible (in Vandalia, Il, the capital of Illinois in Lincoln’s time).

 The next day, I left early, and it was rainy again.  I had some bad Karma in Indy (I guess the state police must know I badmouth our rival Indy corps all the time).  Also, I hate the Colts…  I made it to Ohio in fairly decent time, and then got stuck for almost 3 hours in holiday traffic near Columbus, heading up towards Cleveland.  I ended up making it to Jamestown, Ny that night, and got up early the next day to head back here through Vt and Nh…

I am now home, relaxing and trying to fight off some allergies.  I guess not having dogs for all this time is getting back at me, because my dogs are making me a little sick.  Still, they were amped to see me, as was my family.  The return voyage ought to be fun, as my brother will be coming with me.  We leave in a few days, so I’ll check in again in Missouri!  Happy Holidays and Happy New Year (a bit early)

Hellow to one and all!  It is the night of the 22nd, and I am frantically packing, cleaning, and doing whatever else needs to be done before leaving one’s apartment for an extended stay…  Tomorrow, I’ll teach the normal day, change into some comy clothes, and proceed to drive through a hellish storm that apparently goes from here to Maine.  Anytime you sit down to watch Fox 4 news in KC, and they’re showing clips of your hometown area (Cumberland County) with accidents, thats not a good sign.

 Anyway, I’ll be driving from here all the way home, which ought to be an epic multi-day trip…  Just wanted to wish one and all a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!  See you in a few days!

-Maineiac

So this week was a tough one, in more ways than one.  First off, it was the last full week before xmas break, and that means that my students were wayyy too excited about the fact that they were nearing break…  That meant that I had some behavior issues.  Also, there was the consequences of last week’s student being suspended for sexual misconduct.  Sixth graders are apparently much more worldly than when I attended King Middle School…

 I also had a rough week in terms of home/auto type things.  I knew my car was having issues, as it made a lovely grinding noise on every turn.  I suspected the wheel bearings, so I took it to a place to get fixed.  Then I went to a dinner meeting with my fellow middle school teachers at Troost, David and Hannah, as well as our PDs.  We had pizza, salad, and made plans for the future, including organizing Secret Santa for TFA in KC.  When I got home, I discovered that the radiator in my kitchen had literally broken in half somehow, as there was a gaping whole in the bottom.  Rusty, smelly, black water was all over my apartment, and was still leaking out of the whole in this radiatior.  It also ought to be mentioned that the heat in the house that I rent along with five other TFA teachers is giant, but the heat system doesn’t seem to do much…

 I called up our landlord, who asked me what I wanted him to do.  I said, “Well, I’d like you to fix it so I don’t have water everywhere and maybe some heat.”  This was at 8:45 at night.  By 10, we had discovered that he couldn’t fix it, and the boiler repair place that he goes to was swamped, and couldn’t make it over until thursday night or friday.  At this point, I discovered that all the water in my kitchen had leaked downstairs to Emily’s bathroom, living room, and bedroom.  Now there were two TFA teachers from Troost who were pissed off, without water or heat.  Luckily, the next day was a snow day, but we didn’t get the radiators back on until thursday, although mine apparently does not heat at all.

In regards to the car, I needed to replace the bearings on both sides of the front of my car, the wheel hub assembly, the right front axel, and the belt.  So I had a week with no car, no heat, a smelly apartment, and a lovely bill at the end of it all for $1313.55 for my car repair (which, as several people noted, is a nice down payment on a new car…).

Thankfully, we only have two days this coming week before I undertake the epic drive home alone.  I am looking forward to seeing my family, my dogs, and just relaxing…  Then my brother Pete is going to drive back with me, which ought to make the drive easier, especially since he drives at least ten over the speed limit at all times (just kidding)…

 Have a happy holiday everyone!!

Well, its sunday night, and the snow is falling here in KC.  I love teaching, but I kinda hope that we don’t have school tomorrow.  Its not that I don’t want to teach, but my experience last week with a day that ought to have been cancelled was that I had almost no kids and the ones who were there were pissed!!!

 So from my point of view, it might make more sense to just have a snow day to save the headache.

 Anyway, I am starting to get excited about my trip home.  I am officially driving home from KC to New England on the evening of the 23rd.  I am considering seeking permission to leave a little early on the 23rd, given that we’re going to be showing holiday movies all day that day, so I can get a jump on the travel.  I really am aiming to make it to Indy that night (a good 7 or 8 hours of driving), then trying to make it all the way home on Christmas Eve so that I don’t have to spend it in a motel somewhere…

 Finally, in regards to my classroom, I have a flurry of new students (snow pun intended).  I have jumped up to ten students, from an original six (I know, tiny), and my new students are very bright!  I love teaching and getting to know each of them, and I hope that they stick around, because they’re all quite fun and add to the classroom dynamic!

Happy Holidays to everyone, and enjoy your eggnog (if you so choose)…

Well, today in class, I had my first epic brawl.  Not going to go into too many details, but lets just say that two students got into it pretty badly, and I was on the phone for backup about three seconds in.  Its funny, you almost develop a sixth sense with these things.  You can just tell which students are going stop when you holler, and which will ignore you or else turn on you, and in this case it was the latter.

 Good fun, but hey, half day tomorrow so maybe we can have some info on the improving safety issues…

Finally, first snow fell a few days ago, and it certainly made this MAINEiac feel like he was home…

So, back at it once again.  I am writing this in the few minutes I have while my class is in art.  I need to go make some copies in a minute, then drop off some things in the office and get my students.

 I just wanted to reflect a little bit on Thanksgiving.  I really enjoyed break.  I played some squash, watched some football, had a great time at the Fox family house for tday, and then sort of relaxed.  I did some grading and some tracking work, which is always fun.  Still, it does never seem like its enough.  Even though I went to bed early last night, I still am dead tired right now, just based on the fact that I am working once more.

Finally, a little story.  With the help of a roommate, I installed some plastic wrap on my windows.  My 3rd floor apartment is a little drafty, and now that it is getting chilly, it seemed the thing to do to keep some heat in and save on the energy bills.  Last night, it was particularly stormy, and as I lay in bed, I kept hearing the sound of a plastic bag moving.  I was convinced that the mice from earlier this year who acted as unwanted roommates had returned to feast upon things in my kitchen.  However, as I kept being awakened by this sound, I realized it sounded a lot closer, perhaps under my bed.  Therefore, that is how you could have found me, last night at 2 am, holding a flashlight, lying on the floor looking under my bed five or six times trying to figure it out…  It turns out that the wind was moving the plastic sheeting enough to make the noise, and eventually I returned to bed…