I have a Facebook account, but I'm a pretty casual user. I check it a couple of times a week to see what my "friends" are up to. I also use it to send messages to a couple of people who seem to use Facebook instead of an e-mail account. My "friend" list is pretty small. Other than a few family members (including those of my children who have accounts), I have some friends from high school, and a group of women that I've done volunteer work with. There are also a handful of people I knew from organizations I participated in years ago.
I usually don't do the friend requesting, but somehow my list grows by a name or two each month. Last week I got a request to "friend" a person who is friends with one of my sons. Real friends. I've known this young man since they were in Cub Scouts together. It seemed like a strange request, but today I became Facebook friends with someone who is a friend of one of my children.
This isn't the first request I've gotten from one of my children's acquaintances. However, the other times it looked like the people were just trying to accumulate an enormous number of "friends" (can you really be friends with 547 people?), so I ignored their requests. Besides, I don't know if I wanted to be aware of what they were doing on a regular basis.
When I checked the friends of today's requester, however, I saw that in addition to the normal complement of people his age there were also several adults, including his mom. He seemed sincere, so I confirmed the request.
It will be interesting to get all of his updates.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Sunday, July 12, 2009
Baseball Is Everywhere
If you (a) live in the St. Louis area (b) are a fan of Major League Baseball or (c) watch any shows on the Fox network you're probably aware that the MLB All-Star game is being played on Tuesday. This year St. Louis is hosting the event, which has morphed into a multi-day extravaganza of activities. A ticket to the All Star Game includes admission to a Futures Game with up-and-coming minor league players, the Celebrity Softball Game, and the Home Run Derby. If you weren't lucky enough to get a ticket, there are other MLB-sanctioned activities that you can pay to participate in. FanFest is a conglomeration of exhibits, hands-on activities, and shopping opportunities, and this year for the first time there's a charity 5K run and fun run. However, a quick reading of yesterday's newspaper showed there were a lot of other entertainment downtown with a baseball theme that didn't cost a lot of money, so we decided to take advantage of them.
Shortly after we left home we stopped at Mobil on the Run for a cup of coffee. They have a promotion that if the Cardinals score more than six runs the day before (which they had) you can get a coffee, fountain drink, or frozen drink for a quarter. After we loaded up on our caffeine we headed downtown.
Our first stop was the grassy area under the Gateway Arch. The Perfectos Vintage Base Ball team was playing. They use baseball rules from 1860, and their equipment and uniforms are appropriate for the time (including no gloves). It was very interesting. The players who weren't on the field were nice enough to talk about the game and answer our questions. The only thing that detracted from the vintage feel was the sound checks for the concert later in the evening in the background.
All of the streets leading into the Arch grounds were blocked off, so we didn't have to fight the traffic on our way to the Kiener Plaza area for lunch. After lunch we took a short break from baseball-related fun and shopped at a sidewalk sale along Locust Street on our way to the Central Branch of the St. Louis Public Library to see an African-American baseball exhibit. It was the opening reception for the exhibit "Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball Experience". The exhibit, which is based on a permanent exhibition at the Baseball Hall of Fame on Cooperstown, was composed of panels that featured photographs of teams, players, and artifacts of African-American baseball players in the late 18th and 19th century. The reception portion had drinks and refreshments, including the baseball game staple Cracker Jacks.
Our next activity didn't involve much walking because it was also in the library. We went to a book discussion and signing by Joe Posnanski, who is a sports columnist in Kansas City. He wrote a book called The Soul of Baseball: A Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America where he details his travels with the legendary Negro League player during the 2005 baseball season. The program was very interesting, and Tony ended up buying a book to have signed. I'm looking forward to reading it after he's done. After we finished at the library we meandered back towards the area around Busch Stadium, stopping at City Grocers to buy a snack.
What would a modern major sporting event be without corporate sponsors? Our next stop was the area next to Busch Stadium (where the old stadium stood before it was demolished in 2005). The two-block area was a mecca for all things sponsored. There were two sections. At the first, the State Farm name was predominantly displayed on everything. They're sponsoring the Home Run Derby on Monday, and you could get in line to try your luck at a fan home run derby on a softball-sized field. There was also an inflatable t-ball game for young children and a pitching cage where you could test the speed of your fastball. We answered a few marketing questions and got a prize-I chose an umbrella and Tony brought home a commemorative baseball. We also had our pictures taken with a cardboard cutout of Albert Pujols.
From there we moved over to the next block and got some free swag at the Sponsor Zone, including another photo-this one in front of a green screen that came out of the printer with us standing at home plate in Busch Stadium, free tacos from Taco Bell, and a towel dunked in ice water from the Anheuser-Busch area. (They also had a nice area set up with the Cardinals game on TV and a big cooling fan.)
The end of the night found us back under the Arch grounds for a free charity concert by Sheryl Crow and Elvis Costello. When we arrived there was plenty of grass area available to spread our blanket, but by the time the concert started the grounds were completely packed. After the concert and two encores there was a short unannounced fireworks display which was a nice surprise.
On the way home we stopped at Mobil On The Run again, this time for a cheap frozen drink. Somehow that seemed like an appropriate way to end a great day.
Shortly after we left home we stopped at Mobil on the Run for a cup of coffee. They have a promotion that if the Cardinals score more than six runs the day before (which they had) you can get a coffee, fountain drink, or frozen drink for a quarter. After we loaded up on our caffeine we headed downtown.
Our first stop was the grassy area under the Gateway Arch. The Perfectos Vintage Base Ball team was playing. They use baseball rules from 1860, and their equipment and uniforms are appropriate for the time (including no gloves). It was very interesting. The players who weren't on the field were nice enough to talk about the game and answer our questions. The only thing that detracted from the vintage feel was the sound checks for the concert later in the evening in the background.
All of the streets leading into the Arch grounds were blocked off, so we didn't have to fight the traffic on our way to the Kiener Plaza area for lunch. After lunch we took a short break from baseball-related fun and shopped at a sidewalk sale along Locust Street on our way to the Central Branch of the St. Louis Public Library to see an African-American baseball exhibit. It was the opening reception for the exhibit "Pride and Passion: The African American Baseball Experience". The exhibit, which is based on a permanent exhibition at the Baseball Hall of Fame on Cooperstown, was composed of panels that featured photographs of teams, players, and artifacts of African-American baseball players in the late 18th and 19th century. The reception portion had drinks and refreshments, including the baseball game staple Cracker Jacks.
Our next activity didn't involve much walking because it was also in the library. We went to a book discussion and signing by Joe Posnanski, who is a sports columnist in Kansas City. He wrote a book called The Soul of Baseball: A Trip Through Buck O'Neil's America where he details his travels with the legendary Negro League player during the 2005 baseball season. The program was very interesting, and Tony ended up buying a book to have signed. I'm looking forward to reading it after he's done. After we finished at the library we meandered back towards the area around Busch Stadium, stopping at City Grocers to buy a snack.
What would a modern major sporting event be without corporate sponsors? Our next stop was the area next to Busch Stadium (where the old stadium stood before it was demolished in 2005). The two-block area was a mecca for all things sponsored. There were two sections. At the first, the State Farm name was predominantly displayed on everything. They're sponsoring the Home Run Derby on Monday, and you could get in line to try your luck at a fan home run derby on a softball-sized field. There was also an inflatable t-ball game for young children and a pitching cage where you could test the speed of your fastball. We answered a few marketing questions and got a prize-I chose an umbrella and Tony brought home a commemorative baseball. We also had our pictures taken with a cardboard cutout of Albert Pujols.
From there we moved over to the next block and got some free swag at the Sponsor Zone, including another photo-this one in front of a green screen that came out of the printer with us standing at home plate in Busch Stadium, free tacos from Taco Bell, and a towel dunked in ice water from the Anheuser-Busch area. (They also had a nice area set up with the Cardinals game on TV and a big cooling fan.)
The end of the night found us back under the Arch grounds for a free charity concert by Sheryl Crow and Elvis Costello. When we arrived there was plenty of grass area available to spread our blanket, but by the time the concert started the grounds were completely packed. After the concert and two encores there was a short unannounced fireworks display which was a nice surprise.
On the way home we stopped at Mobil On The Run again, this time for a cheap frozen drink. Somehow that seemed like an appropriate way to end a great day.
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Kids Today
A friend sent me this, and it made me laugh. I couldn't find any information about the author. If you know, would you pass it on so I can properly attribute it?
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up, what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning uphill... barefoot... BOTH ways.
Yadda, yadda, yadda
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today don't know how good you've got it!
I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!
There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter, with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!
There were no MP3' s or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!
We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!
And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!
We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!
You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!
You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!
And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove ... imagine that!
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!
When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up, what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning uphill... barefoot... BOTH ways.
Yadda, yadda, yadda
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it!
But now that I'm over the ripe old age of thirty, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today. You've got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a damn Utopia! And I hate to say it but you kids today don't know how good you've got it!
I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the damn library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!
There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter, with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there!
There were no MP3' s or Napsters! You wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the damn record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the beginning and @#*% it all up!
We didn't have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal, that's it!
And we didn't have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your mom, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, a collections agent, you just didn't know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!
We didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like 'Space Invaders' and 'Asteroids'. Your guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you died! Just like LIFE!
You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on!
You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your ass and walk over to the TV to change the channel and there was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday morning. Do you hear what I'm saying!?! We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons, you spoiled little rat-bastards!
And we didn't have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up we had to use the stove ... imagine that!
That's exactly what I'm talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled. You guys wouldn't have lasted five minutes back in 1980!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Easy And Open Access To Information
Today I had about an hour to kill between finishing at the gym and clocking in at work. Home is in the opposite direction, so it doesn't make sense to return there; I wouldn't have time to accomplish anything before I had to leave again. The other days this has happened I spent the time shopping, but because I don't plan on doing that every day I tried to think of an alternate activity. I remembered there was a library right on the route between my two stops, so I figured I could use a computer there to check my e-mail. I also had time to use the computer at the library to write this post.
I haven't used a library computer for several years, and they've completely revamped the procedure. You used to have to sign up at the front desk, but now all you have to do is pick a machine, enter your card number at the prompt, and the clock starts on your session. Each session lasts for one hour, but I suspect if you need more time than that and no one else is waiting you could log in again.
At home I have my browser to set up to open with multiple tabs for sites I use on a regular basis. Others I have bookmarked so I just drop down the list and click-no typing required. Today I had to remember the addresses of all the pages I needed so I could put them into the address bar. Most of them were easy, but I've only typed the one for the work Web mail system a handful of times and didn't have it committed to memory. Fortunately, I had the memo with the information in my wallet.
After I was all caught up with my various e-mails, I opened up the blog and started writing. It felt strange not to be sitting at the desk in the kitchen where I always work, but the ideas seemed to come out faster in the new location. I followed my normal procedure of saving the post to come back to it later in the day for editing; I can "fix" the mistakes much easier if I look at my ramblings with a fresh eye. When it was time for me to leave for work I made sure I'd logged out of each site I visited. I wouldn't want someone else accessing my accounts!
I haven't used a library computer for several years, and they've completely revamped the procedure. You used to have to sign up at the front desk, but now all you have to do is pick a machine, enter your card number at the prompt, and the clock starts on your session. Each session lasts for one hour, but I suspect if you need more time than that and no one else is waiting you could log in again.
At home I have my browser to set up to open with multiple tabs for sites I use on a regular basis. Others I have bookmarked so I just drop down the list and click-no typing required. Today I had to remember the addresses of all the pages I needed so I could put them into the address bar. Most of them were easy, but I've only typed the one for the work Web mail system a handful of times and didn't have it committed to memory. Fortunately, I had the memo with the information in my wallet.
After I was all caught up with my various e-mails, I opened up the blog and started writing. It felt strange not to be sitting at the desk in the kitchen where I always work, but the ideas seemed to come out faster in the new location. I followed my normal procedure of saving the post to come back to it later in the day for editing; I can "fix" the mistakes much easier if I look at my ramblings with a fresh eye. When it was time for me to leave for work I made sure I'd logged out of each site I visited. I wouldn't want someone else accessing my accounts!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Thanks for asking!
Dkzody of Dkzody's Weblog was nice enough to leave me a comment yesterday wanting to know how the new job was going. So far it's been great. Every day when I punch in the code to enter the building I get excited about all the new things I'll get to do before I leave for the day.
The first week of my life as a preschool teacher assistant is almost finished. I came home exhausted after the first day, but each day has gotten better. The biggest challenge right now is that each day is completely different. I'm working in two different areas (Classroom A and Classroom B). In Classroom A some days I arrive at lunchtime, one day I'm there for the entire program, and one day I come in for a staff meeting, leave, and return for lunch. Classroom B is an extended-care program that begins when Classroom A ends. Depending on how many children are in the area, I may leave at 3:00 or 5:00. I suspect that it will settle into a routine in a few weeks, but right now just figuring out when to be there has been interesting.
Classroom A is by definition more structured, with units, goals, and objectives. Since the school is inclusion based, a portion of the children in the classroom have special needs. One of my responsibilities is to make sure these children are participating to the best of their ability. Teacher A has been doing this for a long time, and can keep track of dozens of things at once. I hope I can get there, but this week the best I can do is one thing at a time.
I'm enjoying interacting with preschoolers again, especially at circle time. It's amazing how the songs I sang with my boys when they were young weren't removed from my brain, just temporarily buried.
The first week of my life as a preschool teacher assistant is almost finished. I came home exhausted after the first day, but each day has gotten better. The biggest challenge right now is that each day is completely different. I'm working in two different areas (Classroom A and Classroom B). In Classroom A some days I arrive at lunchtime, one day I'm there for the entire program, and one day I come in for a staff meeting, leave, and return for lunch. Classroom B is an extended-care program that begins when Classroom A ends. Depending on how many children are in the area, I may leave at 3:00 or 5:00. I suspect that it will settle into a routine in a few weeks, but right now just figuring out when to be there has been interesting.
Classroom A is by definition more structured, with units, goals, and objectives. Since the school is inclusion based, a portion of the children in the classroom have special needs. One of my responsibilities is to make sure these children are participating to the best of their ability. Teacher A has been doing this for a long time, and can keep track of dozens of things at once. I hope I can get there, but this week the best I can do is one thing at a time.
I'm enjoying interacting with preschoolers again, especially at circle time. It's amazing how the songs I sang with my boys when they were young weren't removed from my brain, just temporarily buried.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Talk Is Cheap
Our cell phone contract ended last month, but before we renew the plan with our current carrier we want to investigate some other options. Right now we're paying month to month on our existing contract, which has advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is being able to compare service options at our leisure, but the biggest disadvantage is not being able to get a new phone at a discounted price!
The phone that I've had for two years has become increasingly unreliable. Some days it works fine, but on other days I have to reboot it multiple times before it will work, or every call automatically disconnects after several minutes. I went to the phone department of a big-box electronics store to see what my options were. A nice associate showed me the full-priced phones (which, as I suspected, were very expensive) and then suggested another option I didn't know existed. Today I bought a pay-as-you-go phone and used my current SIM card to switch it onto my regular contract.
I bought the cheapest phone that would work with my carrier. It won't win any awards in the style department, but it will do the job. I brought it home and put it on the charger. While the battery was charging, I saved all the phone numbers in my old phone's address book to the SIM card. While I was doing it, I took the time to delete all the numbers I don't use any more. When all the numbers had been transferred, I took the SIM card out of the old phone and put it into the new one.
I made a call using the address book of the new phone and it worked! I'm looking forward to being able to make a cell phone call when I need to. Another advantage: if we end up staying with our current carrier, I'll be able to keep the prepaid phone as a backup in case I need it in the future.
The phone that I've had for two years has become increasingly unreliable. Some days it works fine, but on other days I have to reboot it multiple times before it will work, or every call automatically disconnects after several minutes. I went to the phone department of a big-box electronics store to see what my options were. A nice associate showed me the full-priced phones (which, as I suspected, were very expensive) and then suggested another option I didn't know existed. Today I bought a pay-as-you-go phone and used my current SIM card to switch it onto my regular contract.
I bought the cheapest phone that would work with my carrier. It won't win any awards in the style department, but it will do the job. I brought it home and put it on the charger. While the battery was charging, I saved all the phone numbers in my old phone's address book to the SIM card. While I was doing it, I took the time to delete all the numbers I don't use any more. When all the numbers had been transferred, I took the SIM card out of the old phone and put it into the new one.
I made a call using the address book of the new phone and it worked! I'm looking forward to being able to make a cell phone call when I need to. Another advantage: if we end up staying with our current carrier, I'll be able to keep the prepaid phone as a backup in case I need it in the future.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
The Intersection of Art and Nature
There are a lot of places to see sculpture in St. Louis, but today Tony and I visited the newest one, Citygarden. Citygarden is a three acre public sculpture and landscape garden that's part of the Gateway Mall downtown, bounded by Eighth, Market, Tenth, and Chestnut Streets.
Citygarden opened less than a week ago and has had a lot of press, but I wasn't really sure what to expect when we got there. I was very impressed. The park is laid out in three “bands” that represent the geographic features of our region: the Northern River Bluffs Band which symbolizes the high ground along the river bluffs, the Middle Floodplain Band that suggests the bends of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, and the Southern River Terrace Band that calls to mind the cultivated river terraces. You move seamlessly from one area to another by way of steps, ramps, or paths.
There are two dozen pieces of sculpture in a variety of sizes, mediums, and styles. The art is sited well; a few of the sculptures are hidden around a turn in a path, and some are so big there's no way they could be hidden! The plaques identifying each piece's title and artist name are set in concrete at the base of the piece and are sometimes hard to find, but I think that may be because some of the sculptures have no dominant "back" or "front" side.The park also has a 16-foot-long video wall that was showing a rotating collection of art videos today; however, the Citygarden Website indicates the wall will also show baseball games, movies, and commercial films. There are three water features--two fountains and a splash plaza-- scattered about the area that already seem to be popular with children and the young-at-heart who don't mind getting wet.
Both of the buildings in Citygarden have green roof systems, which will provide a nice view for the people in the office buildings around the park. One of the buildings, a cafe, is open six days a week (but unfortunately not on Sunday). It has floor-to-ceiling windows and looks like it would provide a great view of the park. The other building, a maintenance structure, is only visible from the street, because it's attached to the back of a large stone-block wall that is one of the park's design elements.
Although the sculpture is what brought us downtown, I was also impressed with the Citygarden landscaping. Most of the trees, plants, grasses, and groundcovers are native to Missouri, and it looks like the gardens were designed with all four seasons in mind. The plants were labeled, but some of the signs were a little hard to find. Although many of the plants need some time to mature and fill in, a few of the focal point trees were already quite large. Another interesting feature is the six rain gardens that will filter storm water from a majority of the park's surfaces.There were informational maps available at several places in the park, but they were large and hard to maneuver in today's wind. Next time, I'll use the self-guided audio tour which can be accessed by cellphone on the spot or downloaded as an mp3 file. The tour is narrated by national and local figures, and is billed as being "funny, interesting, and surprising" without " the "artspeak" that can make art seem inaccessible".
I'm looking forward to going back and seeing Citygarden again.
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Attack!
Yesterday Tony and I went to the Missouri History Museum in Forest Park and wandered through the exhibits for a while. Although I've been there many times, there is so much information to take in I always learn something new. One of the things I saw there yesterday led me to some research today, where I learned about the Battle of San Carlos, the only battle in the American Revolution fought west of the Mississippi River.
The Battle of San Carlos (sometimes called the Battle of St. Louis) was fought on May 26, 1780. A group of more than 1,000 British soldiers and Indians fought against approximately 300 combined Spanish soldiers and militia. The decisive Spanish victory in the battle helped prevent the British from obtaining control of the Mississippi River Valley.
In 1780, St. Louis was a Spanish colony. At the time Spain was providing covert aid and supplies to the colonists; the Spanish Lieutenant Governor, fearing British reprisals, planned to defend the town by building four stone towers and digging entrenchments around the town. Although most of the trenches had been dug, only one of the towers, called Fort San Carlos, was completed when the British attacked. The tower (which was located near the current Fourth and Walnut Streets) was equipped with five cannons, three four-pounder and two six-pounder.
On their way to St. Louis, the British attacked settlers working on the outskirts of town. When word of the attack reached the city, the town militia manned the trenches and the tower. Fire from their muskets hit some of the attackers, but the cannon fire from the tower saved the day, causing the Indians to falter. The battle lasted two hours, but in the end the attackers retreated.
No further attempts were made to take St. Louis from the Spanish.
The Battle of San Carlos (sometimes called the Battle of St. Louis) was fought on May 26, 1780. A group of more than 1,000 British soldiers and Indians fought against approximately 300 combined Spanish soldiers and militia. The decisive Spanish victory in the battle helped prevent the British from obtaining control of the Mississippi River Valley.
In 1780, St. Louis was a Spanish colony. At the time Spain was providing covert aid and supplies to the colonists; the Spanish Lieutenant Governor, fearing British reprisals, planned to defend the town by building four stone towers and digging entrenchments around the town. Although most of the trenches had been dug, only one of the towers, called Fort San Carlos, was completed when the British attacked. The tower (which was located near the current Fourth and Walnut Streets) was equipped with five cannons, three four-pounder and two six-pounder.
On their way to St. Louis, the British attacked settlers working on the outskirts of town. When word of the attack reached the city, the town militia manned the trenches and the tower. Fire from their muskets hit some of the attackers, but the cannon fire from the tower saved the day, causing the Indians to falter. The battle lasted two hours, but in the end the attackers retreated.
No further attempts were made to take St. Louis from the Spanish.
Thursday, July 2, 2009
A Candy Bar Would Have Been Safer
Today was a "big" grocery shopping day. After lunch I prepared the list, made sure the bags were in the car, and set off for the store.
When I got there, I navigated up and down the aisles putting things from my list into the cart. Since I wasn't hungry I was able to pass by all the impulse items, but when I got to the produce section some gorgeous looking plums caught my eye. Their dark purple skin glistened in the store's fluorescent light. I picked out one that was almost the size of a baseball and put it in my cart to have for a snack on the way home. They were a little pricy, but I justified the cost by telling myself it would be a healthy snack.
I made it through the checkout process, bagged up the groceries, and started pushing the cart out of the store, cradling the plum in my hand so it didn't get lost in the recesses of a bag. When I got close to my car I held up my key fob to unlock the door and lost my grip on the plum. It hit the ground with a thud and rolled under the car. I got down on my hands and knees to try to retrieve it and watched it as it rolled completely under my car, out the other side, and halfway under the car next to mine.
If I wasn't all pumped up to enjoy my fruit I probably would have just left it there, but at that point I had to have the plummy goodness, so I decided to try to retrieve it. I walked around to the other car, got down on all fours again, and tried to snag the plum. That didn't work, so I had to lay down on my stomach and stretch my arm out as far as it would go. The asphalt was hot and gritty, and I hit my head on the side of the car as I maneuvered myself into place.
After I grabbed the prodigal plum I got up and went back to my car. I got settled in the seat, put the key in the ignition, and took a big bite of fruit. It was as good as I thought it would be and worth all the trouble I had to go through. It was finished by time I got out of the strip mall parking lot.
When I got there, I navigated up and down the aisles putting things from my list into the cart. Since I wasn't hungry I was able to pass by all the impulse items, but when I got to the produce section some gorgeous looking plums caught my eye. Their dark purple skin glistened in the store's fluorescent light. I picked out one that was almost the size of a baseball and put it in my cart to have for a snack on the way home. They were a little pricy, but I justified the cost by telling myself it would be a healthy snack.
I made it through the checkout process, bagged up the groceries, and started pushing the cart out of the store, cradling the plum in my hand so it didn't get lost in the recesses of a bag. When I got close to my car I held up my key fob to unlock the door and lost my grip on the plum. It hit the ground with a thud and rolled under the car. I got down on my hands and knees to try to retrieve it and watched it as it rolled completely under my car, out the other side, and halfway under the car next to mine.
If I wasn't all pumped up to enjoy my fruit I probably would have just left it there, but at that point I had to have the plummy goodness, so I decided to try to retrieve it. I walked around to the other car, got down on all fours again, and tried to snag the plum. That didn't work, so I had to lay down on my stomach and stretch my arm out as far as it would go. The asphalt was hot and gritty, and I hit my head on the side of the car as I maneuvered myself into place.
After I grabbed the prodigal plum I got up and went back to my car. I got settled in the seat, put the key in the ignition, and took a big bite of fruit. It was as good as I thought it would be and worth all the trouble I had to go through. It was finished by time I got out of the strip mall parking lot.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
The Setup
Although my new job at a preschool doesn't officially start until next week, this week the teachers are organizing their classrooms for the new year and I've been assisting.
My job description has changed a bit since I was hired. Instead of being in just one class, I'm splitting my time between two rooms. One of the teachers (in Classroom A) has been at the school for many years, but the other one (in Classroom B) is new to the school. Most of my tasks this week have been with Teacher B. Since both of us were unfamiliar with the building, we lost a bit of time finding things like the art supply closet and the stash of office supplies, but it didn't take long to learn the setup and we got started.
I put together a bulletin board, which is something I haven't done for decades. I found, though, that the necessary skills weren't lost, just buried in the recesses of my brain. When I was done, the bulletin board was a colorful representation of the room's theme, complete with cut-out letters, student names written on construction paper cutouts, and tissue paper flowers for a 3D accent. I set up a filing system, organized craft supplies, and stacked games in a closet, then browsed a jumble of unwanted materials in the foyer and carried several armfuls of goodies back to Teacher B.
I was also able to assist Teacher B in setting up an Excel spreadsheet to track student attendance. Her computer used a newer version of the program than I'm familiar with, so it was challenging to navigate through all the features. Another challenge was that the laptop didn't have a mouse, so I was forced to muddle through with just the touchpad, but eventually the job got done.
This school emphasizes small-group teaching; there are always three adults circulating through the room while the students are there. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I'll be doing more than classroom setup and cleanup each day. Teacher A told me that each day next week I'll be supervising several activities (including doing my own materials gathering, setup, and cleanup). She prepared the plan for the first week, but I got to choose several activities to lead the second week. My suggestion for expanding one of the activities was quickly approved.
I'm looking forward to relaxing tomorrow and Friday because I suspect I'll be busy next week!
My job description has changed a bit since I was hired. Instead of being in just one class, I'm splitting my time between two rooms. One of the teachers (in Classroom A) has been at the school for many years, but the other one (in Classroom B) is new to the school. Most of my tasks this week have been with Teacher B. Since both of us were unfamiliar with the building, we lost a bit of time finding things like the art supply closet and the stash of office supplies, but it didn't take long to learn the setup and we got started.
I put together a bulletin board, which is something I haven't done for decades. I found, though, that the necessary skills weren't lost, just buried in the recesses of my brain. When I was done, the bulletin board was a colorful representation of the room's theme, complete with cut-out letters, student names written on construction paper cutouts, and tissue paper flowers for a 3D accent. I set up a filing system, organized craft supplies, and stacked games in a closet, then browsed a jumble of unwanted materials in the foyer and carried several armfuls of goodies back to Teacher B.
I was also able to assist Teacher B in setting up an Excel spreadsheet to track student attendance. Her computer used a newer version of the program than I'm familiar with, so it was challenging to navigate through all the features. Another challenge was that the laptop didn't have a mouse, so I was forced to muddle through with just the touchpad, but eventually the job got done.
This school emphasizes small-group teaching; there are always three adults circulating through the room while the students are there. I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I'll be doing more than classroom setup and cleanup each day. Teacher A told me that each day next week I'll be supervising several activities (including doing my own materials gathering, setup, and cleanup). She prepared the plan for the first week, but I got to choose several activities to lead the second week. My suggestion for expanding one of the activities was quickly approved.
I'm looking forward to relaxing tomorrow and Friday because I suspect I'll be busy next week!
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