Tidy Up Your Teacher's Desk

This post is inspired by an article I read in a Wired Magazine, Allen, David. "Tidy Up Your Desk...." Wired Aug.2006: 022-023.

1. "Stack the Knickknacks", well, not sure teachers have these because students do not give teachers anything these days. My desk is covered with curriculum CDs, a US/NC flag, whiteboard markers (most of them are almost dried out), a cup for pencils I find on the floor, and several coffee mugs. I guess coffee mugs would qualify as knickknacks. Pile it up until you can see the desktop
   
2. "Line up the books and binders to establish a perimeter for your work area." I would not really recommend this for a classroom. Piled up books end up falling when students try to slip late homework on your desk and then accuse you of not asking for their homework or tell their parents or guardian you lost it on your desk. Do I like do, throw the textbooks in a box and stick them in the back seat of your car. I have used the say textbook for so many years I have the answers memorized. I only use them to write lesson plans. They have the Standard Course of Study numbers our school district requires on lesson plans so they can fire teachers that have poor test scores by saying we are not teaching the curriculum.
   
3. "Hit the Container Store." Container Store? Forget that! The only place I can afford to go to is Big Lots. I bought some cheap CD containers. They are full. I need to weed my collection. Bet I have some CDs of Apple software that will not run on Leopard. I also park my truck near the school dumpster at the beginning and end to the school year. When teachers retire or quit, I volunteer to carry their old stuff to the dumpster. If there is something like document trays or pencil holders, I just drop them in the back of my truck and keep on going.
   
4. "Set Aside A Few Minutes daily to clear your desk." The Wired Magazine article suggests using your daily planner to schedule time each day to clean off your desk. Use iCal or Google Calendar to make a repeating appointment, each school day, to remind you to clean off your desk.
5. "Create A Folder Hierarchy." The article changed describing the desk to the computer desktop. Tip: "group files into folders labeled by year, then make subfolders for each set of tasks. Make sure your naming conventions are clear and concise." This is a problem on my Windows machine. However, I love Leopard's new feature called Quick Look/Slideshow. This is awesome for unorganized teachers like myself. I never remember what I saved a file as. If I download a curriculum file from our State Department of Ed, they name their files differently and I never remember to rename them.
6. "Color Code Your Files." Sweet! I am not going to do this. The article recommends using bold colors for "urgent" files.
   
7. "Move Your Folders." This tip is lame. "...create a desktop shortcut pointing to current assignments." Have you heard about Box.net? Instead of using a flashdrive, I am trying this. Shortcuts are useless if you are having to work on multiple computers at home and at school.
   
8. "Choose Attractive Wallpaper." I like this tip- "if you've got a background worth looking at, your're more likely to keep the desktop free of file and folder clutter." I am doing to download some photos from Harley-Davidson for their bikes and maybe set up that "retirement date" ticker. That is worth looking at. Cheers!

Happy New Year.

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F-150

Watering the ferns
Originally uploaded by The Blake Slate

Waxed up and ready for winter driving.

Happy Thanksgiving

Gas Prices SUCK!

When I drove past the local gas station yesterday, Saturday, November 11, 2007, here in Chadbourn, NC, USA, and saw gas prices at the pump priced at $3.10 per gallon, I wanted to throw up.

What the hell is wrong with our World?

There was actually a line at the gas pump too.

There are just as many, if not more cars on the streets of Chadbourn. People driving, no one walking, and no bicycles on the streets. No signs of protest? We are just taking it like a bunch of addicts.

We are addicted to our F150s, our SUVs, our gas guzzlers. I am stuck with a big payment to the my creditors for this gas hog I drive.

America needs more efficient means of transportation. I wish there was a bus or subway, or someone I could carpool with to ride to work.

Maybe I need to start a blog called Car Pooling. Mass(less) Transport sounds good for a title. Maybe Craigs List would be a good place to start a list. One would think that with all this Web 2.0 technology, some smart entrepreneur could come up with a way for folks to schedule our drive times and post meeting places to carpool to work.

Wake up America! This iS NOT going away. We are in for the long haul on this. We need to rethink what we are doing here.

Saturday is Wash Day

After spending the better part of my day setting up a new desktop Acer computer for my mother, which was fun because it was nice to work on a new computer for a change. I am usually working on older outdated PCs at our school that should have been thrown out and replaced three years ago. We keep them because they still can be used to access the web-based content management programs we use to help teach students. But, back to my story. When I returned home from my installation adventure, it was too late to go find a cutting deck belt for my riding lawn mower. So, I pulled out my truck washing equipment:

• Long handle scrub brush
• "mud bucket"- 5 gallon plastic bucket
• my favorite car wash soap
• detailing stuff

The partly cloudy skies gave me some concern that a wash job would be wasted by a rain storm. However, the accumulation of road-kill on the front bumper and grill had to be clean off. Somehow the clouds and that rain fall held off until I finished my wife's Jeep and our F150.

Thinking about a Truck Tool Box

Something weird popped into my mind on the way home from a visit to Raleigh this week. As a pickup passed, I noticed the cross bed toolbox and it reminded me of my father's. He owned heavy machinery or land improvement equipment and his tool box as always a mess. When I purchased my F150, I promised myself to never own a cross bed toolbox. It is a status symbol for most truck owners. But I can not get the image of my father's tool box out of my thoughts and recollections.

Now, how can I describe his toolbox? The box was made out of some type of steel. It was wielded together and had a latch. He never had a lock on it. I never asked him why he did not lock the lid. It was the 60's and 70's, but that does not explain anything. Maybe it was because he could not keep up with the key. I have not idea why. He did have lots of stuff stolen over the years.

One time, I remember we drove from Chadbourn to Wilmington to buy a new gas powered chainsaw from some dealer. I do not think he kept it in the toolbox two days before it disappeared and was never heard from again. New tools, like socket wrench sets, seemed to dissolve in that toolbox. He would store motor oil in the old cans with a couple of nail holes in the top. Riding on the dirt roads of the Green Swamp (when it was dry weather) caused the cans to turn over and pour its contents in the bottom of the toolbox. If he ever put a paper bag in the toolbox with washers or bolts, the bag would fall apart. It took an "act of Congress" to find a washer in all that dirt, pine needles, leaves, and oil. The spilled oil was nothing compared to the bearing grease from the leaking grease guns all over everything.

This blog post will never make the search engine of Technorati, but nothing I have done online in the past 5 years has. Who cares.

I know why I won't ever have a butt ugly toolbox- they are nothing but oil, dirt, and beer can holders.

Saturday Night Out

Last weekend, my wife and I went to Wilmington to a really great restaurant (see photo) to celebrate the birthday of a friend of ours. We drove the F150 and another couple road with us. Our truck rides like a car and I had it cleaned up. It was funny- the other couple both drive Bimmers. But, they have until recently, driven Lincolns. The only negative comment, which not about my truck, we about how in his experience with Lincolns was "after they get out of warranty, they start falling apart." I nodded my head and said that my parent's had the same experience with Lincoln Town Cars, so they trade cars regularly.

So, will my truck start falling apart after the warranty runs out?

No one know. I am crossing my fingers that it will be fine for a long long time!

My Dad's 1967 F-150

    No, this is not a picture of my father.  But, in order to help set the mood, I have included the entire photo.  The photo was taken over seven miles from any paved highway.  Dirt road in, dirt road out of the work site.  Nobody had four-wheel drive vehicles.  These F-150s had positive traction rear-ends and the beds of the trucks always carried log chains, long 2 X 16 boards, shovels, chain saws, and railroad jacks.   In the words of the locals, "them four wheel drive trucks and big mud tires only get you stuck deeper and tear up the roads". 

    Hooked behind the Ford F-150 is the diesel fuel tank.  This tank contained fuel to operate land improvement equipment.  I can still remember how strong that fuel Parked behind the fuel tank is what is called a chopper.  It is pulled behind a bulldozer to clear a path through the heavy undergrowth. 

img067.jpg

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Ford Truck Badge

I remember when my father has a truck with a badge like this.

Ford Truck Badge

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Random Thoughts

This week, I had my F150 and Jeep Cherokee serviced at the Tire Barn. Tires rotated, oil changed, filters, and fluid levels checked. Also, I had them update my NC Inspection sticker. Just over 27000 miles now on the odometer. The guys at the Tire Barn reminded me that my catalytic converter on the Jeep is falling off. I think it was part of a Factory Recall and I need to call Monday to see if they still are fixing those catalytic converter under the recall. I understood from what they told me that if we continue to drive it like it is, that the stuff inside the catalytic converter could break loose and clog up the engine...that would not be good.

It was so hot this week, and we had to move my daughter from Wilmington, NC to Lake Waccamaw. I did something that I had not done since buying the F150. I pulled into the car wash and used it to rinse off the truck. The car wash is one of those with the high pressure nozzles and whimpy scrub brushes. It cost me three dollars, but I felt like I got my monies worth. It was 98 degrees and we had a weather advisory in effect. Using the car wash, first of all put me in the shade, and I did not have to do some of the work. I did not have to drag out the hose, bucket with the soap, and the put that all back up before leaving. Using the car wash did not do as good a job as I can do with my stuff. I read this online:

CAR WASH OPTIONS AND WATER CONSUMPTION
• Washing your car at home: at least 50 gallons

– A standard 5/8"garden hose running at 50 pounds per square inch uses 10 gallons of water per minute (this is without the use of a nozzle that stops the continuous flow of water).
– The average person who takes extreme care not to waste water, takes 5-6 minutes to wash and rinse their car for a total consumption of 50-60 gallons. For individuals who allow the water to run while they clean, this number can jump to a staggering 150-200 gallons.

• Washing your car at a self-serve car wash: a total of 12 to 14 gallons for the average amount of dirt (a very dirty car would require more)

– Foaming Brush uses approximately 1 quart of water during a four minute cycle;
– Pre-Soak uses approximately 3 quarts of water to cover a car;
– Tire Cleaning uses less than 1 quart of water per car;
– Spot-Free Rinse uses approximately 1.5 gallons of water per minute.
– High-Pressure Wash (approximately 1000 PSI) uses about 3.5 gallons of water per minute.
– High-Pressure Wax uses about 3.5 gallons of water per minute.
– High-Pressure Rinse uses approximately 3.5 gallons of water per minute.

I know now why I bought this nice full-sized vehicle- to move my family. Maybe I could have rented a truck cheaper than I would own it but...

We also moved a single bed, and a "dormroom refrigerator" from Chadbourn to the Lake

Top 10 Reasons I Want to Buy A Harley

Read the 101 Reasons to Buy A Harley, and have been dreaming about buying a motorcycle for some time. This is my top 10 reasons, which is an attempt to sort out why I should or should not buy a Harley. Should I just stay in the 'frying pan' of driving a automobile on a highway with a sea of idiots with cell phones stuck in their ears, or hop on a two-wheeler donor-cycle and jump into the 'fire'?

Top 10 Reasons I want to buy a Harley

• #10 Even an old, beaten up one looks good. [sort of like old teachers]
  
• #9 There are thousands of accessories available, so you can make your Harley uniquely yours. [as if I could afford any of them]
  
• #8 You don’t hear songs about Suzuki’s.
  
• #7 You never have to explain or apologize for your choice or ride. [exactly! no need of brown paper bags]
• #6 “Arnold” rode one in T2. ["I'll be bac"]
• #5 Lots of extra protein from those bugs in your teeth.
• #4 Don’t need any weight lifting equipment. Just knock it down and pick it back up. [could save $60 per month by not having to go to the gym ;->]
  
• #3 “Honey, it’s economical — gets GREAT gas mileage!”
• #2 Because you’ve wanted one since you were 11 years old.
• #1 If you get stuck in boring business teachers meeting, you can always think about that last ride you took.

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2007 XL 1200 Custom Sportster

Been thinking about buying a Harley. Found one just like this one. I just can not make myself borrow the money. So, maybe just looking at a video of it every once in away will be enough. I love my truck.

Pimp mi paseo- No!

Pimp mi paseo
Originally uploaded by beebo wallace

Hum interesting set of doors. Great pic.

Bling Ideas for my F-150

035/365
Originally uploaded by robherr

I am looking for a new set of tires for my F-150. I still have another 10-15K miles left on my tires I like the looks of these, but I am not sure if they will look right on a white one like mine.

1960's F-150

img067.jpg
Originally uploaded by The Blake Slate

Now, here is another really cool work truck. These are tough conditions for four-wheel drive trucks. However, two wheel drive trucks with positive traction rear ends where preferred by the real Green Swamp workers.

1960's F-150

img065.jpg
Originally uploaded by The Blake Slate

This is a photo my family made of a controlled burn in the Green Swamps. Note the forestry company employee sitting on top of the tool box watching the fire.

Cleaning my Truck in the Summer Heat

It's definitely time to clean my truck when someone writes "wash me" on the surface.

Even if your truck hasn't reached that point, a good cleaning of the inside and outside prevents the buildup of damaging chemicals and dirt, reduces the potential for rust and helps ensure the visibility needed for safe driving, according to the Car Care Council.

The first step is to remove the clutter from inside the truck, including items that have accumulated in the truck bed and under the back seat that can add extra weight and reduce gas mileage. Once this is done, thoroughly clean and vacuum the inside and wash the windows.

When washing the outside, make sure to include the tires, wheels and the underside of the fenders to eliminate any road salt or grime. The Council recommends cleaning the wheels and tires with a mitt and using a separate mitt to wash the body. This will avoid contaminating the vehicle's paint with debris from the wheels and tires.

The body of the vehicle should be washed using a product sold specifically for cars. So, put that dish washing detergent back in the house.  Starting at the top, wash one section at a time, thoroughly rinsing away the soap as you go.

Work your way down toward the front, sides and rear of the vehicle. Clean the fenders and bumpers last, since they will have the most dirt and grime that can contaminate the wash mitt.

The car should get a final rinse by removing the spray nozzle from the hose and letting the water cascade down the surfaces of the vehicle. To avoid water spots, dry the vehicle with a chamois (I prefer the synthetic chamois).

The last step is to wax the truck according to the manufacturer's instructions for application. Waxing should be done out of direct sunlight and every six months. It goes a long way toward protecting the vehicle's finish and makes subsequent washes easier.

If you identify any stone chips, rust or other problem spots while washing your vehicle, the Council suggests having these taken care of immediately to prevent further damage.

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June in Carolina

We are preparing for a family day at the lake.  Washed the F150 yesterday.  It is my Dad's 82 birthday.  Got the turkey thawing and the peanut oil sitting beside the cooker.  We are going to deep-fry the turkey.  I need to charge my camera's battery.  More later. 

Gas Prices Dip After Memorial Day Weekend

Today, gas in Whiteville, NC was $2.99 per gallon.  Still it’s way too high for a V-8 F-150.  I pumped 26 dollars worth in this afternoon on the way home from the gym and my gas needle barely made it above a quarter of a tank.  I need to trade it in on a diesel engine and have it converted so it can run off biodiesel.  I have seen the fuel processors and think I could make the fuel without any problems.  As a certified chemistry teacher, I know all the hazards of working with the components of the process.  I could buy gas for a while, even at $3.00 per gal for a long time from the amount I would have in all the stuff.  I am not sure we will be able to get enough used french fry oil.  They will start selling it soon so the cost of bio will be high too.



I laughed when I read today that our teacher's pay is only going to increase this coming year 6%.  Hello, but has anyone bought groceries lately?  If fruit and cereal continue to go up, I will have to making my own corn flakes.  I am definitely going to plant some fruit trees.  I am thinking about buying an apple, pear, peach, and plum tree.  I need to research this topic.



The more I can save on other stuff, the more gas I can afford for my gas hog truck.



Things on my budget cut list:

• Internet / DSL- I am going to reduce the speed I have to cut costs.  I am not downloading stolen music or movies, so I can stand to wait a little longer.  So, this is one item that will get hit soon.
  
  
• Going to the movies- Most movies are so sorry, I can just wait until they come on NBC or CBS.
• Satellite TV- Ok, our current provider has one big problem- no local stations, and no NBC, CBS, ABC, FOX, or Public TV.  Dishnetwork has tried, but they just don't have enough clout.  I am moving to DirectTV, so I can watch my local channels.  I would use cable, but the suckers won't offer me service because of the road I live on.  I have given up on them.  Hey, if they don't want my business, I am not going to lose any sleep over it.  As for TV, I just want the basics.  I may consider buying the package for the ACC basketball game coverage.  We shall see.
• Cell phone- I have been having a fit for a smartphone, but let's get real about this.  I do not have a circle of friends that I have to call every hour.  I hate "texting".  I never even check my voice mail.  If someone needs to call me, like my daughters or wife, they know how to get up with me.  I am not impressed with 1 mega pixel cameras, or 2 or heck 5 meg cell phone cameras.  If I want to make a photograph of a chicken crossing the highway, I have nice digital camera handy at all times.  Oh, I do not have to pay for a data plan to send photos to a server using a slow cell phone connection.  So, I am giving up on the smartphone dream and focusing on paying for my gas.
• Eating out- this one hurts, but it cost money to drive around buying lunch, when I can live off a cold piece of chick between a couple of slices of whole wheat-high fiber bread.
• Buying books- I have never liked reading novels.  I majored in chemistry because I hated reading old thick books about dead people.  When you read my blog posts you will see that I did not major in English.  Sentence structure, punctuation, spelling, and such have never been a strong point of mine. So, I can say without hesitation, I am not buying any books.  (This will not help increase my gas budget, but it gives me an excuse to not read).  Oh, and it cost money to drive to the library and back to return it. 
• No motorcycle- Well, I have whined about wanting a motorcycle for a couple of years.  I am getting too old to ride on anyway.  My reaction time is nothing what it was, and it was never worth a darn to start with.  Sure, they are good on gas, but I can drive a few weeks for $15,000 I would put in a Harley.
  
  

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Black River and the Lake

During Memorial Day, we traveled to Lake Waccamaw and Black River. Our F-150 carried all our coolers, and stuff with no problems. Gas prices hovered around $3.19 per gallon. The truck has around 25000 miles on it now. I have noticed the tires are not balance as well as they should be, because cups in my cup holder are vibrating much more than previously observed. This will be addressed on my nexted scheduled tire rotation and oil change.

God All Mighty- When will gas prices settle a little?

Tomorrow, will this morning, my truck is going to get a wash job. For the past two weekends, family plans have taken priority over scrub brushes and water hoses. I can hardly tell if my truck is white or gray. Gas prices in Columbus County are below the national average. They will probably hop up this weekend and make it above the $3.09 I saw on my way home this afternoon.

I see a ton of S-10 Chevy small trucks on the roads. They are mostly raged out, but folks are driving them. The ones I have driven did not get more than 20 MPG. I can get near that with my F-150. Driving habits are important. Slow and steady acceleration and stopping. Traveling below the speed limit is a good trick. We have a four lane highway that connects Chadbourn and Whiteville. The posted speed limit is 70 MPH. However, I never get over 65 MPH on it. Now, on my way to work, log trucks, freighters, and mini-vans driven by little moms with cell phones tattooed to their ears, run over me everyday. Aggressive drivers waste carbon, and make how highways a scarily place.

I am sure they say, there goes that old fart, always driving slow and getting in my way. I say to them, buy more gas, the oil companies need the profits.

Strawberry Festival Time again!

My daughters are home for this year's festival. It is hard to believe it is time already for the parade. The weather this year is much cooler than average. Last year, it was too hot. I just read the weather forecast I subscribe to from WECT-TV.

It has been a few years since we have had rain on the parade, but unless George Elliott is way off, we will be fine for the parade. Just carry your wind-breaker, baseball cap, and an umbrella.

I will post photos later today.

Greetings from George Elliott at WECT-TV! Here's my outlook...

We need the rain, and although it looks like a weekend event, we'll have to take what we get. Showers will increase across the area today and especially tonight, and most likely linger into the first part of Sunday. Some spots could see an easy half inch, with isolated higher amounts if an isolated t'shower passes overhead.

A complex storm system to the west will transfer energy along the Carolina coast tonight through Sunday, and this will develop a potent offshore low pressure area. In the process, showery weather will spread across the area, and winds will pick up Sunday into Monday as the storm system offshore intensifies and high pressure from the Northeast builds down the eastern seaboard.

Precipitation should end as the storm system moves (but stalls) east of us by late Sunday into early next week. Eventually, the storm center to our east will weaken and will move farther out to sea.

Mostly cloudy with patchy showers developing today; high lower 70's. Northerly wind becoming easterly 4-16 mph.

Cloudy with showers likely tonight; low around 60. Easterly wind 4-16 mph.

"Deer Hunting" with my F-150

On the way home from work, I noticed what I thought was a neighborhood dog walking down the shoulder of the road. I was in a residential area beside the Whiteville Country Club. It had to be a dog...

However, within a second, the "dog" turned and I could see it was not a dog, but a whitetailed deer. Then to make things worse, two or three more stepped out of the undergrowth and crossed the three foot wide shoulder of the round- BAM! I had slowed to almost a complete stop and was trying to slip by the deer as they grazed on the green grass growing on the edge of the road. I glanced in my side mirror and noticed the what looked like a deer staggering in the middle of the road behind me. It was almost dark. The doe had darted into the road and hit right on my drive side door and scraped the side of my new F-150. I knew it was not going to be good. It was just dark enough I could not see the damages on the side of my truck. I was ready to go home, and knew that the since I was the only one involved and no humans were injured, I did not need to call the highway patrol. It was up to my insurance company to pay the damages.

The next afternoon, I drove down to the insurance office. Those folks are so nice. They reassured me that I had been very lucky. The clerk at the front desk told me several horror stories about deer and automobiles. There was an elderly lady sitting in the office, with a walking cast on her foot. She over heard me whining about the deer and my truck and politely interrupted my conversation to tell how she had spent 5 days in the hospital as the result of a big buck jumping into her windshield, causing her to run into a ditch and totaled her Cadillac. She was going to physical therapy to get where she could walk without limping on her broken ankle.

SOME SUGGESTIONS ON WAYS TO AVOID DEER-VEHICLE COLLISIONS

The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission recognizes the growing problems with deer-related accidents in our state. As both human and deer populations continue to grow, some of these accidents are unavoidable. Here are some steps that may help a motorist avoid many of these accidents.

Deer are most active near daylight and dusk and on dark, overcast or foggy nights. Motorists should reduce their speed during these times, especially in areas known to be frequented by deer.

Drive with headlights on high beam when possible. Watch for eyes reflecting in your lights especially at field edges or posted deer crossing areas. If you see deer, immediately reduce your speed, even though the deer may be a considerable distance from the road. Your headlights may cause them to panic and run at any time.

If you see a deer cross the road in front of you, don't assume that all is clear. Deer often travel in groups and one will often cross right behind the other.

Don't place your confidence in "deer whistles" or other "ultra-sonic" devices claiming to prevent deer collisions. We are aware of no scientific evidence that these devices are effective. (My parents swear by these)

Support legal and ethical hunting as a means of keeping deer numbers at levels where they can be enjoyed by all. Please, ya'll get your limit, and help your friends with get their limit too!
http://www.ncwildlife.com/pg06_CoexistingWildlife/pg6a.htm#5