Odds and Ends With Some Bits and Pieces Thrown In

Yesterday was the town's fall festival. A fun time to celebrate our community. The car show is a block over and shows off the ingenuity of locals and the work they do on cars and motorcycles. A street legal flat-tracker Yamaha caught my eye. Often seen online but this was the first time seeing in person. I could ride it. There were a few others, but generally not many on the practical side.

The parade travels by our house and over time it has been nice to have a front row seat for the town going by either in the parade or afterwards as they go to the city park for the activities. Again this year we didn't make in to the park. Too many faces I remember, but not the names that go with them. It's embarrassing because I foolishly prided myself on remembering student names and now it is difficult. It also reminds me of the words of a new James Taylor song, Montana. "We got a few friends but not many neighbors, The trip into town takes us most of the day. And after, 'Hello', and 'It's sure nice to see you,' It seems there's nothin' to say." Just guess I'm in a new place.

I just finished about a week and a half of the new long term sub job at the Ag farm. It's nice to be at the farm and with the teachers there. They are good, and good people also. The students are many of the students I have had in the past, and students in general have many of the same fears and phobias as each other. The don't always realize that. The time also reminds me of what I miss about teaching, being with young people trying to help them, as well as why I got out of teaching, a system that has lost its direction and common sense. Many people speak of how high school graduates are not ready for the workplace. It is easy to see why when you observe the lowering of standards and not holding students accountable. It is not fair to send young people into the world to find out what is right and wrong and what is acceptable. That is what school is supposed to help them process. It isn't happening and these young people are failing without a safety net to catch them. Schools should be that net.

On a lighter note I survived another homecoming week. It seems like a whole lot of silliness at times, culminating is a parade. The last decade or so the float building as become milquetoast and more of a donut fueled brunch with a few hastily painted signs. There was a time when some real building took place and a few clubs created thoughtful and significant floats that took days to build. I would say some students learned some real building and design skills in the process. One student went on to help build his college's Rose Parade float. I've seen what the ag mechanic students turn out. Left to their own devices they could create something great.

Sorry, guess that ended up being not too light after all. This next item will. Sam and Natalie went out last night for some local entertainment; they went to a Bingo hall. Natalie won--a pig. A eight week old, 20 pound weaner pig. So what do two college students living in a one room apartment do with a pig? They will contract with the previous owner to raise the pig then they will sell it. Now that's a real lesson being learned compared to my previously mentioned 1st World worries.