I echo the sentiments...

Yes, old man - Happy Birthday! As I've said before, I'm way too young to have a baby brother who's 36. It's just not right...

Happy Birthday BRIAN!

Picture you upon my knee

Just tea for two
And two for tea

Just me for you and you for me alone

Nobody near us to see us or hear us. No friends or relations on weekend vacations! We won't have it known that we own a telephone

We will raise a family. A boy for you and a girl for me. Can't you see how happy we will be !

( Bet you can figure this out all by yourself! Have a great time! )
Much love from Mom and Pop aka Gammy and Pappy.

The curse continues...

Ouch. Once again the hapless Rebels lose to Poly. 15-1, no less. Not a pretty sight. We haven't beat Poly in softball since I've been working here... Again, the mantra: "It's a building year, it's a building year..."

Busy week this week. Softball on Tuesday. A technology meeting tomorrow after school to discuss the technology implications of all the construction for the new library next year. Friday another softball game (if it doesn't rain). Sunday is the all-day review session before the big AP test next Wednesday. One week until the unofficial end of two of my classes. It can't possibly be that close, can it?

Hope everyone's doing well!

By the way, Dad - I figured out your animations...

Nostalgia

I read in the Oregonian this morning that 70 years of commercial aircraft production in Southern California will come to an end next month upon the delivery of the last Boeing 717. Just for the record, the 717 was originally named the DC-9 which first flew in 1965. I was working at Douglas's Long Beach facility at the time.




I started my 9 years with Douglas in 1961 at the El Segundo facility, just South of LAX. I had a bachelor pad on Century Circle (see pin). In 1962, I moved to the Long Beach Airport facility and an apartment nearby. In '63 I met your Mom who was living in Manhatten Beach. Our first home was that Long Beach apartment.


The article said that the Boeing C-17 military cargo plane would still be produced in Long Beach. This, too, started as a Douglas, or rather McDonnell Douglas aircraft, the YC-15. It's first flight was in 1975, after our sojourn in Montana.

Where does the weekend go? I turn around, and it's time for classes again. Maybe it's because I spent yesterday at school and coaching. (Another painful loss - 5-0 to Westridge, but I think we're getting better!) Of course, tomorrow should be a relatively easy day - the seniors are still "recovering" from the Prom, so they have another day off.

Looks like just as your weather up north turns nice, ours takes a turn for the worse. Rained last night, and it's grey today. And it looks like rain at the end of this week. Hmmm. I WANT SPRING!

Minor trivia - my gym opened a new location nearer to me (in Altadena) - it's brand spanking new and gives me one less excuse to go work out...

"Spoon feeding in the long run teaches us nothing but the shape of the spoon."
- E. M. Forster

Though April Showers....

...may come your way. They bring the flowers ...

C'mon, enough already!

Talk about your ups and downs! From that 19-5 mercy loss, we turned it around yesterday and pulled off a 27-7 mercy win over Oakwood. Unfortunately, it wasn't a league game. Why do they schedule non-league games in the middle of the season? We actually have two more non-league games coming up due to rainouts and rescheduling. But it was nice to see the girls bounce back and do what it takes to win.

I put a serious dent in my wallet as a result of the game. The pitcher was slow, and all the girls were way out in front of her pitches. So as incentive, I offered

to buy Starbucks for anyone who got a hit to the opposite field. I amended the agreement to include homeruns as well... End result: 3 HR, 4 hits to the opposite field. At least they showed they can adapt!

Happy Thursday!

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome!

This is great! I was beginning to believe this was going to be a male-dominated blog (Mom, Becky - the challenge has been thrown out there)... Welcome to the world of blogging, Sis! (Are the possibilities for your class spinning in your head?)

Yesterday was a long day for me, too. And not quite as rewarding. How does a 19-5 loss to Chadwick sound (ouch!)? I felt like this:

And now I've got the job of calling in our scores to the local papers. So not only did we lose horribly, I have to tell people about it! But we've got another game today (thankfully non-league), and we'll get the chance to see how the girls bounce back. Will they rise to the challenge?

Speaking of team efforts, kudos to all of you Oregonians - sounds like everyone's in on the moving act, and I can hardly wait until July to see the new place!

"Being defeated is often a temporary condition. Giving up is what makes it permanent."
Marilyn vos Savant (1946-)

Happy or Sad $$?

At Kiwanis today, I put in a Sad dollar because I missed the twin's Easter Egg hunt.

One member asked where this hunt had been held.

I replied, Pasadena, CA.

He suggested I put in a Happy dollar 'cause I got to stay in Ashland.

I don't think he has any grandchildren..

A Brand New Week!

Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing.
-Clive James

Ok, a bit of advice - try not to give more than one class a test on any given day! Since I collect homework on test days, I've spent the day grading tests and papers. Blechh. My goal for next year: less grading, more teaching! Not quite sure how I'm going to accomplish that with another section to teach, but I'll figure it out. Right? Maybe the secret's out there on the Internet. I've got some ideas... At least after school I was able to get in a quick swim over at Darrell's!

How about some more pictures of those twins? (We should all just face facts and recognize the true stars of this blog...)




Like I said, they move pretty quick!

Happy Monday!

Happy Easter

Ok, just a quick one to make Mom happy. A few of the highlights:




That's it for now! It was kind of tough catching them in one place long enough to get a shot!
Hope everyone is having a great day...
Love to all!

Happy Hunting!

Eaeaeaeaeahrgh! No that's not Howard Dean.:-)


Have a great time with the eggs! ( Reminds me of Montana and the Eagles annual Easter Egg hunt in the snow! )

Still waiting on the sun...

Yeah, Saturday! Ok, even though it rained all day on my day off, it was still a day off, right? And the rest of the weekend looks promising. Talked to B this morning - they're on the road (actually, they're probably here by now!) and we've got the Easter breakfast and egg hunt planned for tomorrow. Hopefully it won't turn out like this:


I'm in the classroom right now (of course), but I shouldn't be here long. I may even go out country dancing tonight! For those of you who have nothing to do, I recommend renting "Little Manhattan" - I know I've talked about it before, but I think you'll like it...

Have a great weekend!

Victory of another kind!

Ah - if one day of sunshine produces this - what might a few more do?

The Sweet Smell of Success!

Yes, our little ladies finally pulled it off! Even with the loss of our catcher, we managed to defeat Mayfield Senior by a score of 9-7. A seesaw battle, it wasn't pretty... hey, we only had 8 errors! But the girls never gave up, and it was great to see their faces after their first win of the season.

Dad, you're amazing! Nice little blurb there for the Walker place. And just where exactly are these skylights going?

And I get the day off tommorow. Nyahh, nyahh, nyahh. Of course, it's supposed to rain (the only day in the forseeable forecast). But I'll figure something out, I'm sure!

Well, that's about it from down here. It's been a VERY long day, and I'm ready to hit the sack. Happy Friday!

When It Shines

Nice, while it lasts! Spent the day learning about water conditioning for 3340 and skylights for 300. Neither is inexpensive.

For Sale By Sister

An Ashland, Oregon gem.

When it rains...

Ok, so we lost our softball game yesterday (5-0). Turn that score around and you have our record this year... We may have a shot tomorrow, even though we lost our catcher. She was expelled today. Good kid, but got caught up with the wrong crowd... Which means we now have a roster of 11 (including the one girl who's never played before this year!)

On the other hand, I just picked up another section of Precalculus for next year - a little extra work, but I get to see more students! Sounds a little strange, doesn't it?

The weather's supposed to finally be springlike tomorrow - in the 80's! Then it's back to the rain on Friday. But only partly cloudy for the weekend - so it looks like we'll be able to hide those eggs outside for the twins, Brian & Becky! Don't suppose you have any bunny outfits for 'em?

Happy Thursday! Miss you all!

We're getting closer!

Great - welcome to the blog, Brian & Becky! Now we'll just wait for Alli & Rich to get through enough of the move process, and we'll have a full set!

Looks like this is going to be one of those days - woke up early to have breakfast with Vatche and Rob Banning. Went out to the car and... flat tire. Blechh. The same tire that went flat on New Year's Eve. This time it's a screw... So I pull out the spare and the jack, roll up my sleeves... then I decide there's a reason I have triple AAA! I make the call and they came in 5 minutes. Took another 5 minutes to change the tire, and I managed to make breakfast after all!

Of course, it turns out today is an assembly schedule - which means all my classes are shortened and I haven't been able to get through all the material in AP Calc. Frustrating! But we manage, right? -g-

Looks like we'll get our softball game in today at least... the weather cleared up and it shouldn't rain again down here til Friday.

Hope everyone else is doing well!

P.S. - it wasn't this bad:

Back to School Monday!

"Think wrongly, if you please, but in all cases think for yourself." - Doris Lessing

Yep, it's back in the classroom. Not a bad day, actually. I discovered the secret: extra credit! For my Precalculus and regular Calculus class, I made today a Bonus day. I gave them a packet of problems to solve for extra credit points, and they worked like demons for the entire period. Not one complaint about having to engage their brains after a week off! It's a bit of a rush, feeding off their energy on days like today...

Next few weeks are 4-day weeks thanks to Good Friday and Prom (why do I always want to say "the Prom", while everyone else says just "Prom"?). I still have trouble believing we give these juniors and seniors the day off for a dance... and seniors get the following Monday off as well! Like it takes 3 days to recover - what are they doing that I didn't do?

I'd love to hear some updates on Dark Hollow... and B&B's plans for next weekend. Don't worry, Mom - there should be plenty of pix of any Easter Egg hunt (even if it ends up inside...)

Happy Monday!

Fore!

Ok, I didn't give you enough credit, Dad! The weather link, the sound link, additional comments... So far it's you and me!

Here's a little something for Brian, since I figure he'll be watching the Masters at some point today:

"Today is the final round of golf’s most prestigious tournament, the Masters. One of the strangest occurrences in the history of golf (or any sport) took place at a match in Australia in 1931. Bayly MacArthur hit his ball into what he thought was a sand trap. It wasn’t—it was quicksand. And unfortunately, MacArthur found out the hard way when he stepped into the quicksand to play the ball. It took four other golfers several grueling minutes to pull him out. "

Let's be careful out there!

So it's back to classes tomorrow - I'm looking for ways to spend the day besides laundry and school work. Any suggestions?

Saturday at last!

Saturday at last! Slept in (I've got to enjoy my last weekend before getting back to school on Monday, right?), got my haircut - no pictures until it grows out a bit! Then I've just been lazing away for the rest of today... I'm sure everyone up north is being productive on Dark Hollow! It's cool that it's got a name, anyway. I should think about naming my place. Fort French? Chez Francaise? How about the Lazy 8? (Think about why a math teacher would choose that...)

Well, I was hoping for a little more active response on this blog thing. Hmmm.... so far:

Person/ Postings
Me /5
Dad /2
Mom /1 comment
Everyone else... the big null set!

Let's get this thing off the ground!
Happy Saturday...

The End of Freedom?

Well, it's the last official day of my spring break. :-( So I figure I should do something out of the ordinary, right? So it's off to Disneyland for the day... Happiest place on earth, right? But it certainly won't be the same without the twins!

I can hear the music now: "It's a Small World, After All..." (now you can all hear it for the rest of the day, too!

A New Day

Well, looks like I may actually experience a day without rain! Of course, I'll be spending it inside - I designated today as my prep day (literally and figuratively)...

Looks like Pappy's getting stuff done! Way to keep that whip cracking, A & R!

Thought for the day:

To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson

In my book, we've all succeeded... not to say that we're finished yet!

Rainy Day Fun

Just another rainy day in Oregon.
Are we having fun, yet?

Anyone awake?

Ok, supposedly we missed it, but at 2 minutes and three seconds after 1 o'clock this morning, it was 1:02:03 04/05/06. In the spirit of it's never too late, I think 1 o'clock this afternoon qualifies, too, don't you? Or maybe 12:03? Isn't it terrible having a math nerd in the family?

More rain down here - I'm heading back down to not-so-sunny SoCal today (and yes, Mom, I did wash the sheets before I left!) And I guess I can't complain, looking at your 10-day forecast on weather.com. 0 for 10 on the sun front? ouch.

Happy Wednesday!

And Tigger Too

Anxious for a response...

Ok, I know it's only been 6 hours, but I figured at least Dad would be chiming in... I guess I have to add some incentive. Mom, I'm holding the pictures hostage until you make a comment!

Let's Give This A Try!

Ok, I thought it would be fun to set up a family blog where we could all throw in some random thoughts, etc. I'm also thinking about trying this out in my classes next year, so I thought this would be a good way to try it out! I'll start...

It's Monday, cold and rainy here in Morro Bay. Not exactly spring break weather, but at least I've got a couple of cute twins to take my mind off the precipitation! To pass the time while waiting for them to get home for day care, I'm playing around on the computer - big surprise, huh? And of course, feeling extremely remorseful I wasn't able to make it up to Dark Hollow to lend a hand in the moving process - can you save me a wall for the 4th of July? B,B and I had lunch together before they had to rush back to work. Did I mention I'm on vacation?

Hopefully we can have some fun with this - no pressure, but an occaisional comment and photo would be really cool, don't you think? If you all register, we can form a "team" that can all work on this blog. Otherwise, you just can just post comments to my postings... It's a pretty easy registration process. What do you say?