Car maintenance that is. I've become fairly adept at maintaining my car on my own. I can change the air filter, the battery, the headlights, taillights and windshield wiper blades by myself. I could even change a flat tire if I needed to, but on the side of the road I would probably still use USAA. I would like to learn to change my own oil, but until I can find someone to teach me, I'll stick with paying professionals to do that.
Two years ago, my stepdad and I replaced the belts in my car. A year and a half ago, I learned how to change my own brakes and shocks when they needed to be replaced and I didn't want to spend the money to pay a professional to do it. My stepdad patiently stood over my shoulder and told me what to do while I did the work and then checked just to make sure all the bolts were tight enough before I drove off. Six months after that, I replaced my own O2 sensor so that my car would pass inspection. It almost killed me last February when I needed a transmission overhaul, my clutch replaced and my a/c fixed because those were things I couldn't do myself and it ended up costing me over $3000 - OUCH!
Well, now, those same belts that were replaced 2 years ago are squealing again at fairly regular intervals, but only when the a/c is turned on. I checked them myself this morning and they look ok to me - no cracks visible to my eye and they didn't look loose - but still they squeal. Problem is, I don't really have the money to replace them right now. Not that they are terribly expensive, but to a dried up pocketbook, just about anything is expensive. I'm wondering if there is anything I could do, possibly lube them, that would help with the squealing. Does anyone out there have any ideas or suggestions? It would be a great help...
By the way, the first week of school went really well - only 35 more to go!
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Monday, August 25, 2008
and the worst part was...
And the worst part of today was...definitely the blisters on my feet! The first day of school is always crazy, and today didn't fail to meet expectations, but at the end of the day, the pain of blisters on my feet overshadowed everything else that happened. I hate wearing shoes, especially dress or work shoes...I spend my summers barefoot or in flip flops so putting work shoes on my tender feet makes them very susceptible to blisters.
I'm teaching 2nd grade for the 7th year in a row, but what makes this year different is that I no longer have one set of kids all day long. We are team teaching so I am teaching reading/language arts and social studies and my team teacher has math and science. I have to learn the personalities, strengths and weaknesses of 41 students (so far) instead of just the 21 on my homeroom roster. The challenge today was that I had maintenance stuff (such as enrollment info and sorting school supplies) to accomplish with my homeroom class and that took up all the time I had with them plus some, but since I didn't have to do all that with my afternoon class we had a lot more "free time". I don't want one class to get ahead of the other, so 2C (the afternoon class) and I spent time getting to know each other just by talking.
Nothing crazy happened. In my homeroom, I have 12 boys and 9 girls - a much better ratio that last years 6 girls and 12 boys; in my afternoon class I have 11 boys and 9 girls. The end of the first day came much faster than I was ready for...I guess that just means I have extra to accomplish tomorrow. We'll see how it goes...and if I can avoid any more blisters.
I'm teaching 2nd grade for the 7th year in a row, but what makes this year different is that I no longer have one set of kids all day long. We are team teaching so I am teaching reading/language arts and social studies and my team teacher has math and science. I have to learn the personalities, strengths and weaknesses of 41 students (so far) instead of just the 21 on my homeroom roster. The challenge today was that I had maintenance stuff (such as enrollment info and sorting school supplies) to accomplish with my homeroom class and that took up all the time I had with them plus some, but since I didn't have to do all that with my afternoon class we had a lot more "free time". I don't want one class to get ahead of the other, so 2C (the afternoon class) and I spent time getting to know each other just by talking.
Nothing crazy happened. In my homeroom, I have 12 boys and 9 girls - a much better ratio that last years 6 girls and 12 boys; in my afternoon class I have 11 boys and 9 girls. The end of the first day came much faster than I was ready for...I guess that just means I have extra to accomplish tomorrow. We'll see how it goes...and if I can avoid any more blisters.
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Summer is ending, a new year begins...
Since my last post, my summer has wound down and come Monday, it will officially be over. I went back to work last Monday, but the 25th makes it official because that is when the kids come rolling in.
My last activity of the summer was a weekend trip to New Braunfels with my singles group to tube down the river - if you've never done it, I highly recommend it. Tubing down the river made me reminiscent of my old college days - it was so relaxing, but it was hot and after just 3 hours or so I was burnt to a crisp (yes...I applied sunscreen - twice...I learned that the spray on kind doesn't work for me). We topped off our Saturday afternoon of tubing down the Comal River with dinner at the Gristmill http://www.gristmillrestaurant.com/ (a wonderful meal, but you always have to wait at least an hour for a table) and a concert at River Road Ice House http://www.riverroadicehouse.com/. Most of my friends spent the night at a hotel in San Antonio, but Michelle and I crashed with my cousins in town. Sunday, they were all ready to spend another day on the river and headed out to tube the Guadalupe (they didn't finish tubing until after 6 pm and then had to drive back to the Metroplex). I chose to spend some time with my cousins, Billy and Margie and on Monday morning I took off on the 2nd part of my weekend get away.
I left New Braunfels around 7 a.m. and took a 7 hour drive to the far northeast corner of the state where I spent 2 days with Kim and Owen. I hung out at the Pop Pop Shoppe with Kim, Paula and Owen and learned the art of making gourmet popcorn.
On Wednesday I headed home for a few days of absolutely nothingness - it was wonderful. The following week I had 3 days of staff development training for school - I learned a little, but not a lot. I spent the week of the 11th up at school painting my classroom, moving around furniture, throwing out old stuff that never gets used and finding places for all my frogs. The paint, a blue gray and light yellow, turned out great and really gives the room a calming feel - much better than the dingy white it was before.
On the 18th, Dallas ISD employees reported back to school, along with many other school districts across the state. We had two days of inservice training on campus and then on Wednesday we all (some 20,000 Dallas employees) headed to the American Airlines Center for a school year kickoff celebration. We were welcomed back to school by the likes of the mayor of Dallas, the DISD board president and through video, Nolan Ryan, Cynthia Izaguirre and John McCaa (Channel 8), Marty Turco (Dallas Stars), state senators and representatives from the Dallas area, Barney (the big purple dinosaur) and many others. The superintendent spoke for a while about where the district is heading over the next few years in attempt to become the premiere urban school district in the country. He discussed how far we've come since we began this journey in 2006, how far we have to go to meet our goal by 2010, and the things we need to do to get there. About 10:45 he finally introduced the keynote speaker for the morning - this is one of the most dynamic speakers I've heard in a very long time. Dalton Sherman only spoke for about 10 minutes but his message was powerful and touched the heart of every teacher sitting in the AAC. Dalton is a 5th grader from one of the Learning Centers in Dallas - after listening to his speech, I can only imagine the great things in store in his future. Take a few minutes to listen to Dalton's speech and see if you aren't moved by it...http://www.dallasisd.org/keynote.htm.
Well, in about 48 hours, my first day of second grade (for the 7the year in a row) will be coming to a close. I'll let you know how it goes and post some pictures of my home away from home. For all the teacher out there (new and experienced), and all those going back to school or sending their little ones off to school...Happy School Year 2008 - 2009!
My last activity of the summer was a weekend trip to New Braunfels with my singles group to tube down the river - if you've never done it, I highly recommend it. Tubing down the river made me reminiscent of my old college days - it was so relaxing, but it was hot and after just 3 hours or so I was burnt to a crisp (yes...I applied sunscreen - twice...I learned that the spray on kind doesn't work for me). We topped off our Saturday afternoon of tubing down the Comal River with dinner at the Gristmill http://www.gristmillrestaurant.com/ (a wonderful meal, but you always have to wait at least an hour for a table) and a concert at River Road Ice House http://www.riverroadicehouse.com/. Most of my friends spent the night at a hotel in San Antonio, but Michelle and I crashed with my cousins in town. Sunday, they were all ready to spend another day on the river and headed out to tube the Guadalupe (they didn't finish tubing until after 6 pm and then had to drive back to the Metroplex). I chose to spend some time with my cousins, Billy and Margie and on Monday morning I took off on the 2nd part of my weekend get away.
I left New Braunfels around 7 a.m. and took a 7 hour drive to the far northeast corner of the state where I spent 2 days with Kim and Owen. I hung out at the Pop Pop Shoppe with Kim, Paula and Owen and learned the art of making gourmet popcorn.
On Wednesday I headed home for a few days of absolutely nothingness - it was wonderful. The following week I had 3 days of staff development training for school - I learned a little, but not a lot. I spent the week of the 11th up at school painting my classroom, moving around furniture, throwing out old stuff that never gets used and finding places for all my frogs. The paint, a blue gray and light yellow, turned out great and really gives the room a calming feel - much better than the dingy white it was before.
On the 18th, Dallas ISD employees reported back to school, along with many other school districts across the state. We had two days of inservice training on campus and then on Wednesday we all (some 20,000 Dallas employees) headed to the American Airlines Center for a school year kickoff celebration. We were welcomed back to school by the likes of the mayor of Dallas, the DISD board president and through video, Nolan Ryan, Cynthia Izaguirre and John McCaa (Channel 8), Marty Turco (Dallas Stars), state senators and representatives from the Dallas area, Barney (the big purple dinosaur) and many others. The superintendent spoke for a while about where the district is heading over the next few years in attempt to become the premiere urban school district in the country. He discussed how far we've come since we began this journey in 2006, how far we have to go to meet our goal by 2010, and the things we need to do to get there. About 10:45 he finally introduced the keynote speaker for the morning - this is one of the most dynamic speakers I've heard in a very long time. Dalton Sherman only spoke for about 10 minutes but his message was powerful and touched the heart of every teacher sitting in the AAC. Dalton is a 5th grader from one of the Learning Centers in Dallas - after listening to his speech, I can only imagine the great things in store in his future. Take a few minutes to listen to Dalton's speech and see if you aren't moved by it...http://www.dallasisd.org/keynote.htm.
Well, in about 48 hours, my first day of second grade (for the 7the year in a row) will be coming to a close. I'll let you know how it goes and post some pictures of my home away from home. For all the teacher out there (new and experienced), and all those going back to school or sending their little ones off to school...Happy School Year 2008 - 2009!
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