A week from manana i will have been back in the USA for 6 months. I've lived in 3 countries, and three US states. Odd.
Good to be home. Things are unstable, but that's life. Life is a contact sport, sure as hell.
I am listening to a great Rush show form 1980, previewing some Moving Pictures stuff. Lots of Hemispherses stuff, like The Trees.
Good night people!
Amazingly, it was 55F today. Mum asked me to cook steaks on the barbecue, so i agreed instantly. They were yummy.
The lakes on the way to UNH were teaming with ice melt and fog. It looked like Loch Ness.
But by the weekend we'll be colder than a witch's hoo-ha again. New England - you fickle bitch.
At least the NHL is back. It's the one place i don't mind seeing solid ice.
Cheers to all of you who read this. You all must be of a good ilk.
Well, once again, i am teaching the lowest RW (reading and writing level) at ELS. But i like it. I wish i had more teaching hours beside these, but to quote Rush;
It was it is
...And whatever
The directors are morons.
The students are all Saudi men, three of them, and quite nice. I think it will be a fun class. It won't be nearly as challenging as the last term, although he was a great guy to work with. It's not his fault he was special needs.
It's just a shame we can't address it. My academy has swept it under the table.
Like the sands of the desert....
Snowing. Again. Goddamn New England. The snow never ends! It's not even February yet!
Music to hide inside to;
Beyond the Shrouded Horizon (disc 2) - Steve Hackett
Quadrophenia (Deluxe Edition, disc 3) - The Who
Pack Up The Plantation - Tom Petty
Wembley 1974 - Pink Floyd
More shoveling today. It's a good thing i am home or Mum would be hosed with Bob, our neighbor, recovering from knee surgery.
Forgive my long absence. I was busy like all hell last week with work and the Psychosis that takes place at school. Morons run the assylum.
Friday, at graduation, the director called up a 23 year old women to get her certificate for completing all of her levels.
We had served donuts and bagels and her mouth was still full when she came up to the podium. Into the microphone he says, "We are going to wait for her while she swallows."
I was horrified for this poor women, although only the native speakers seemed to get it. Another teacher burst out laughing and said "I can't believe he said that!"
It was lucky none of the students seemed to get it, but hell, they can barely speak English.
"I wish to thank you because I learn - ed so much." The woman who said this is a sweetheart and I only had her for the Learning Lab, but that is a mistake I would correct on the 1st day of class. All Spanish speakers start out pronouncing -ed verbs that way. But to graduate her when she speaks like that and say she no longer needs to take the TOEFL exam to get into a US University? That is a travesty. I used to teach TOEFL prep in an MBA program. Not a chance any of the three we graduated would pass it.
Earlier, at our monthly meeting, where he and his assistant treat me like soul food at a KKK meeting, he was trying to think of new places for field trips. "How about the World Trade Center? That would be nice."
We all looked in horror until one teacher said "Yeah, lets take a bunch of male Saudis to the WTC site. That won't cause any problems!"
"Oh, I meant the Empire State building."
Moron.
So, what to do? Today is a a day off (for testing) so I will continue to get my CV out there. It's snowing. Guess it's a Pink Floyd kind of day. Listening to;
Paris Theatre, London 1971
Piper at the Gates of Dawn
Wembly 1975
The Capitals FINALLY won a game. HUZAH!
Weekend! Praise Jah! It was a long week and snow is back on the ground. It never got past 25F today. That's -3.8 C. Fucking cold is what it is.
A world in white gets underway
-U2
We have MLK Day off, but then a full week as I am subbing for someone else.
I'm reading Slow Apocalypse by John Varley. It's about an unknown bacteria that eats all the oil in the world and the ensuing breakdown. It's fairly terrifying. No oil = no goods, no food, no medical supplies, no police, no fireman! It means we're hosed.
Listening to;
I just Wanna Rock: Live in Paris - Joe Satriani
Workshop of the Telescopes - Blue Oyster Cult
Stick Man - Tony Levin
The Risa and Fall of Ziggy Stardust - David Bowie
The Devouring - Djam Karet
Ha! I wish the next big thing were so obvious. I would be more than willing to yield. But I was invited today to a telephone interview for Teach America, which is awesome. If accepted, I'd start next year teaching HS in a place like New Haven or Bridgeport.
And I was asked to doing some student testing once a month at UNH. So, things are looking up in the work dept. More snow yesterday, so once again, all is white. So strange. Snow NEVER stuck around in Madrid.
But still, it feels good to be back the USA. Last time i lived in this state, i was in college.
A week from manana i will have been back in the USA for 6 months. I've lived in 3 countries, and three US states. Odd. 
