F'ing Floral Friday

So this is probably my fifth Friday off, and though I have been disappointed not to receive a single call to substitute teach in any of the 6 districts I applied to, I am using the time wisely. Today's plan involves doing some organizing in our attic storage area (mostly done, it could use another 30 minutes of my time), a trip to the library, a trip to the local food co-op (to purchase chocolate that fits the criteria of K's new dietary restrictions -- no unorganic refined sugar), getting my resume out for a job at the local charter middle/school and posting to this blog.

I'm now going to spend some time doing stream-of-consciousness cover letter writing (always entertaining) which I will soon transform into a kick-butt cover letter that will make them beg to hire me.

Happy Friday!

*The photograph is from a recent trip to the Smith Bulb Show at Smith College in Northampton, MA. I give full credit to my amazing new camera for its fabulousness.

'Cause it cuts like a knife

I probably shouldn't be blogging this while it's so fresh, but it might help. My boss called me in and gave me "it's the economy, stupid" speech, then proceeded to cut my hours to 32 per week.

This is significant. It is a significant hit to us financially, I won't lie. But perhaps more importantly, it is a signal about the future of people with jobs like me. We're not going to fire you, because we don't want to lose you. We're just going to cut your hours so that you bleed to death slowly (see what I mean? it might be too soon). I mean, if we laid you off, you'd get things like unemployment (which might be the same amount of money I make after the hours reduction) and free time. We can't have that.

Anyway, I will be looking at this as an opportunity to push forward on finding another job. Once I stop crying....

Experimenting

What do you think of the new template? I am concerned about readability and how gentle it is on the eyes. Shout out with your reactions, please!

The Life of a Researcher

It is often difficult to try and explain my job to people. Like many jobs, it runs the gamut from incredibly interesting to incredibly mundane. But in the last couple of days I have had two tasks that might give you some insight into the vast array of things I do in the course of my work.

1. Signal flags -- In a short period of time (a couple of hours), I had to research and compile a report on a particular aspect of signal flags as naval communication. Here is the text of my report:

"First, regarding signal flags as one- or two-way communication – generally, signal flags are used to communicate status or (particularly in times of battle) an order. These types of communication do not generally require a response, but it is not unheard of to have two-way communication, especially a reply that confirms an order. In today’s US Navy, signal flags are often used during times of radio silence, though due to the nature of the signal flag system, communication is necessarily truncated.

Your second question asked whether or not there are other “famous” signals in history. It depends on whom you ask. If you ask the general public (or even most history teachers, etc), they might recall the Admiral Nelson story (correctly or not). Flag experts will likely know of several situations where Nelson’s signal was used as inspiration by other naval leaders in other battles (Napoleon ordered the French translation of it on French vessels; the Battle of Plattsburgh – 1814 and; the Battle of Tsushima by Admiral Togo in 1905). There is a story of British Admiral Jellicoe using the flag signal “Equal Speed/C/L” to change the battle formation of his fleet during the Battle of Jutland (World War I), but the story is neither well-known nor particularly interesting. "


2. I am responsible for finding music to play in an endless loop for museum visitors waiting to enter an orientation theater. A thankless job from several perspectives (I had someone refer to it as "our own personal museum muzak" -- a painful truth). Three of the songs I would like to include are Pete Seeger classics - "What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor?" (my current favorite verse being "Shave him on the belly with a rusty razor"); "Blow the Man Down"; and "Golden Vanity". All the recordings are owned by Smithsonian Folkways, which tends to allow its artists a fair amount of input into how their recordings are used. I got the word yesterday that they are issuing a "no objection" letter, which means I can use the recordings and won't have to file a formal license request (which means I don't have to pay any money either). Pete Seeger totally rocks!


I hope you have all enjoyed today's insight into my world. Please don't get the idea that it is this interesting every day, but days like today have made it worth doing my job for 10 years without going bloody insane and I wanted to share it with you.

Neil Patrick Harris does it again.

Check this out, then come on back and tell me what you think.

Prop 8 - The Musical

Eureka!

I discovered this (above) this morning. Ah, sweet elixer of life! Far fewer calories than a Dunkin Donuts latte (less than 20% calories from fat) and a delicious dose that satisfies my need for caffeine in a froofy beverage. Plus I don't have to wait in the interminable line at DD.

What's your energy boost of choice?

Is this better?

I recently received a complaint about the contrast on my blog. While I would love to spend a couple of hours playing around with it, for now, I only have time to try a couple of quick fixes.

What do you think? Is it even noticeable?

Thanks and a belated Happy Turkey Day.

Dream Analysis

So I'll open this up for anyone to give me feedback. Many of you know that I have wanted to teach for a while now. I have done a bunch of stuff towards attaining that goal (passing the tests, updating my resume, volunteering as a reading tutor), but there is clearly more to be done.

I had a dream last night that I went through round after round of interviews at all of our local school districts. I didn't get hired as a teacher at any of them.

Do you think this might represent:

-A reflection of the reality of our current economic downturn and educational system?

-A way for my subconscious to tell me I haven't done enough?

-Something else?

I'd be interested to hear what everyone has to say. Bring it on (that's me trying to be brave and fearless. It's kind of working).