September brings the back to school stuff. Entering my 7th retired year but I haven't forgotten the jambalaya of angst and anticipation that was September. Do I miss it?
Maybe at the subconscious level I haven't totally let go yet....
I did have a "teacher dream" just a bit ago. It featured Cro-Magnon AV equipment disintegrating in my fingers as I plugged it in to begin a lesson.
For the record, as a career educator, at this time of the year I thoroughly enjoyed the sensation of this being a new beginning and a fresh chance to help make enlightening things happen. Also, I remember fending off the butterflies each new year as I walked out to face the new faces on the other side of the desk. And there are few things as satisfying as closing out a day in the teaching trenches and sensing strongly that the lessons connected and you really reached your students. Instant and gratifying feedback. Even though I switched from Law to teaching at the last minute, I never felt that I was in the wrong career.
Would I go back? Well ... like Jim Steinman wrote it and Meatloaf sang it.......
Had another thought-provoking education related moment recently, at the grocery store. Things were lax at the checkout and I was able to eavesdrop on some chit-chat between a young part-timer and a lifelong cashier lady whilst having my stuff rung through. She had asked him to write down something.
" I don't write things down. "
" Why not ? "
" I can't write clearly and nobody can read it."
" What about school?"
" It's all keyboards. Only time I write is my initials to get cashback on my card ."
"Well, you're going to be doctor then, I guess."
The lady cashier carried the day, though. After taking in all of this info about not being able to write legibly she answered ....
"Well, you're going to be doctor then, I guess."
I thought about it all the way home and realized full-tilt cursive writing isn't fundamental anymore in the grown-up world. Yes, folks should be able to communicate on paper, but is the learn to write process necessary in its current extensive form? I'm of the generation that is supposedly tech-non-savvy and I keep my lists on my phone and use it or other at hand devices to record pretty well any info I get on the run.
I still write things with a pencil and paper while taking a phone message, or editing a story or composing a blog, but that's about it. And nobody other than I could decipher these scribbling's. Actually, anytime I put something on paper that I know someone else will be reading I always revert to printing. My writing is borderline illegible - guess I'm gonna be a doctor, too.
So, whadya think ?
Is "longhand" going the way of shorthand, sewing, darning socks, baking bread and shoeing horses in terms of once thought to be essential life skills?
Anyhow, Carolyn, that "sleepy little town" I live near that you were thinking might be overwhelmed and overtaxed by this annual anglers orgy has thoroughly embraced The Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular fishing derby for a quarter of a century plus. It's probably the largest single economic stimulus for the area.
The whole derby effort is underpinned by a "Sportsman's Association" that assiduously tends to the streams that feed Georgian Bay in this area with salmon spawn and river bed maintenance. It's become a smooth and sophisticated operation. I've never been able to understand the appeal of fishing but I do look forward to some of the beneficial side effects of this on and underwater lollapalooza .
Speaking of submersible stuff , encountered this fascinating item trolling Gizmag recently.
An extensive report by Mike Hanlon looked at what is poised to become the first " personal submarine " that could be accessible to us vacationing commoners.
As Hanlon noted in the August 27th article:
"No one with red blood in their veins buys a sports car and hands the keys to a chauffeur, so one of the barriers to truly personal submarining has long been the need for a trained pilot, not to mention the massive logistics involved in transporting, garaging and launching the underwater craft ... until now. Pioneering underwater aviation company DeepFlight is set to show an entirely new type of personal submarine at the 2014 Monaco Yacht Show next week, launching the personal submarine era with a submersible that's reportedly so easy to pilot that it's likely to create a new niche in the tourism and rental market.
I still write things with a pencil and paper while taking a phone message, or editing a story or composing a blog, but that's about it. And nobody other than I could decipher these scribbling's. Actually, anytime I put something on paper that I know someone else will be reading I always revert to printing. My writing is borderline illegible - guess I'm gonna be a doctor, too.
So, whadya think ?
Is "longhand" going the way of shorthand, sewing, darning socks, baking bread and shoeing horses in terms of once thought to be essential life skills?
Anyhow, Carolyn, that "sleepy little town" I live near that you were thinking might be overwhelmed and overtaxed by this annual anglers orgy has thoroughly embraced The Owen Sound Salmon Spectacular fishing derby for a quarter of a century plus. It's probably the largest single economic stimulus for the area.The whole derby effort is underpinned by a "Sportsman's Association" that assiduously tends to the streams that feed Georgian Bay in this area with salmon spawn and river bed maintenance. It's become a smooth and sophisticated operation. I've never been able to understand the appeal of fishing but I do look forward to some of the beneficial side effects of this on and underwater lollapalooza .
Speaking of submersible stuff , encountered this fascinating item trolling Gizmag recently.
An extensive report by Mike Hanlon looked at what is poised to become the first " personal submarine " that could be accessible to us vacationing commoners.
As Hanlon noted in the August 27th article:
"No one with red blood in their veins buys a sports car and hands the keys to a chauffeur, so one of the barriers to truly personal submarining has long been the need for a trained pilot, not to mention the massive logistics involved in transporting, garaging and launching the underwater craft ... until now. Pioneering underwater aviation company DeepFlight is set to show an entirely new type of personal submarine at the 2014 Monaco Yacht Show next week, launching the personal submarine era with a submersible that's reportedly so easy to pilot that it's likely to create a new niche in the tourism and rental market.
When launched next week, the DeepFlight Dragon will become the most compact, lightweight personal submarine on the market, and has been designed to be so intuitive to use that users will be able self-pilot the craft with minimal instruction. This new level of user-friendliness is expected to take DeepFlight's underwater craft beyond the domain of the superyacht owner and into the resort and tourism industry for the first time.
The new Dragon will cost a little less than the company's top-of-the-line model Super Falcon, coming in at US$1.5 million with all the additional gear required for running the craft included. In order to kick-start production of the new series, orders taken at the Monaco Yacht Show will be priced at $1.2 million."
Ouch! says the wallet but an hour of being able to check out the terrestrial final frontier to a depth of approx. 400 ft. would be worth it, methinks.
Leaving the last riddle out there for further contemplation, Carolyn. Also, I got a kick out of the thinly veiled menace you referred to when talking about your therapist. My LSBH has been dealing with a physio-therapist for the last half a year or so with a knee and leg thing. His name is Gersom but we've christened him " Gruesome" simply because he is so business-like and effective when he's dealing with her lower limb. She's adhered to his advice and just recently learned from the good medical doctor that this therapy has helped mitigate the need for an artificial knee at this time.
So do listen to the therapy folks...
Catch ya later,
Don
All images sourced from Google Images
Fig. 1 - www.blippit.com
Fig. 2 - www. dailymotion.com
Fig. 3 - www.fairmontflyer.com
Fig. 4 - www.wowcher.co.uk
Fig. 5 - www.mix106.5.ca
Fig. 6 - www.gizmag.com
Fig. 7 - www.gizmag.com
Fig. 8 - www.autoevolution.com
Fig. 9 - www.2luxury2.com
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