Mill's Wanderings

22 Days and counting

2009-05-10T21:39:00.003-04:00

Now this bird may not possess the same dignity of an eagle, but it will have to do for the sake of making a point. I took this photo at the Hudson about two months ago. The bird was destined for take off to points unknown. I am also planning on taking flight in the near future. This week will be somewhat crazy. I have to tutor after school 3 of the 5 days. If the institution had their way I'd have to do all five days. My folks are going to Minneapolis on Thursday for Keith's graduation. I'm glad that he made it through school, and I hope he finds a job. A toast is needed in celebration of the accomplishment. Been watching the Phillies, and it's time they get their game in order. It looks like they are in a four way fight for first with only the Nationals being out of the race. Hopefully Chan Ho Park becomes the pitcher they entrust him to be.

Next weekend I will be pulling the flight out to Portland. I am flying right from Newark on Continental non-stop to Portland. I will be there for a short three day span in which I will be helping Meredith move her stuff out to the 'Boro. Hopefully after the work is completed I will be able to jump into the pool. Swimming is a hobby that I do not get to do enough of. Along with traveling out there to help out the job hunt presses on. There are limited openings due to the bad economy. I am getting to the point where I'd switch fields if I had to in an effort to land a job. Anywho, my day is done for now. Mark it! Twenty two days left of teaching this year!

Flamingos

2009-05-04T19:46:00.005-04:00

So having been a few months since I posted I feel it an appropriate time to write about what's going on lately. I went to Bayonne, New Jersey last Monday to visit my uncle who was at the hospital. He seemed to be in good spirits despite being in the hospital. It makes you think what could happen if people tried to adopt this mantra throughout all of the days of their lives. After visiting him we continued down to Philadelphia and saw the Phillies take on the Nationals. There were seven home runs hit in the game, with the Phillies hitting two grand slams. This was the most home runs I've seen since the game in Las Vegas last summer. The game was exciting as always, but I did not get to see the Phillies get the lead in the bottom of the eighth as we left an inning early to get back so I could go to work.

I have been racking up the Delta miles going out to Portland. This is only a temporary situation. Every day when I come home from work I spend over an hour looking for jobs. The people at FDR are always asking how the job hunt is going, and all I can say is that my persistance will pay off in the end. I am getting frustrated as many of my kids seem to have checked out before attempting the final exam. I can not believe how unmotivated some of these people are. I feel blessed to have things in my life that I'm passionate about. I love baseball, have a great family, a wonderful girlfriend, and some of the best friends that anyone could ask for! I know that I will get to live in the place I desire to very soon, and I just have to keep plugging away to get it.

The FDR Math Team also qualified for the state playoffs this year. We did not place well at the competition, but the fact of the matter is that we got there. I was mostly exhausted that morning as I had seen Bruce Springsteen the night before in Hartford. He totally rocked, and some of my favorite songs that he played were Badlands, Born To Run, Radio Nowhere, Lonesome Day and Outlaw Pete. I'm mainly determined on staying focused down the stretch and trying to accomplish the goals that I've set out to do.

Upcoming Trips -
Possibly - Delmarva Peninsula / Washington DC (Mid May)
TBD - Portland
Early July - Omaha

College Diner Says No Ticket

2009-01-21T21:00:00.002-05:00

This marks the halfway point to the week. It was a good thing that the week is going quickly because I am somewhat tired. The afternoon was spent with the math team. I was stunned when my whole team showed up for practice today when I told them they didn't have to, and that they should be preparing for midterms. The practice went well though. We stumbled through learning about logarithms. It was days like this that I wish I was a math teacher because it would be easier to teach the concepts needed for success.

I drove to New Paltz following the practice so that I could go to the advisor's meeting for the math league. Going into last week's meet our team was 4 points behind Chapel Field for the final playoff spot. I nearly had a heart attack when they said Chapel Field scored 15 points at last week's meet. There were scoring errors made in Orange County, and the Presidents math team is actually in good shape. It turns out we made up the four points are now in a dead heat with CFHS for the final playoff spot. Everyone gets fired up for math meets, and your especially successful if you have home field advantage. You got to love coming to the 'Cafe 142' for a rousing math meet which will be happening on 2/11. Hopefully we'll beat the Chapel Fielders and qualify for the playoffs.

I also have to throw a shout out to Dubbsy for becoming the second follower. Maybe this blog will actually pick up some readers as we grow. Readership doubled this week. You can't beat it.

Super Bowl Is A Comin'

2009-01-19T02:53:00.002-05:00

Today was a somewhat productive day. I watched the NFL playoffs tonight. The Arizona Cardinals stunned everyone by making the Super Bowl after beating the Philadelphia Eagles. Who would have predicted such a lowly team would make the Super Bowl? I certainly didn't. Seeing the game made me remember sitting in the University of Phoenix parking lot waiting to go to the Coyotes game. The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Ravens to be the AFC representative in the game. Hopefully the Cardinals will win sending all of the red-clan fans home happy!

I also spent the night grading some papers for class. I am not impressed with the fact that I have one class where the students are lazy while in my other classes the students work pretty hard. There is no reason to not take care of your business and get your work done in my opinion. I believe in hard work and dedication. Apparantly, 14 year olds do not always have the same desire. Tomorrow I may go to the Manhattan Jaspers basketball game if time permits. For now that's all I have!

Saturday Night Darkness

2009-01-17T23:18:00.002-05:00

I am sitting here on Saturday night on the couch. Today was a mostly unproductive day. I have been getting run down at work, and decided that I would rest today so that I could maximize output throughout the rest of the weekend. I put up this photo from my drive last summer because I am thinking about summertime. The winter has hit hard here in New York, and it is really getting tiredsome. There has been a lot of bitter cold temperatures, and many days of snow. The winter is barely a month old, and there is little end in sight.

The upcoming month will prove to be hectic. The upcoming week is the last week of second quarter. That means that I have to prepare the final grades for the quarter and prepare students for the midterm next Wednesday. I am super stoked as Meredith is coming to New York next month. I miss her a lot, and can't wait to see her! I'm working on some things to see, but know that she will have fun while she's here. Other upcoming events include the Super Bowl, the English Beat concert and a trip up to Frank's.

Long Time Coming.

2009-01-07T20:10:00.002-05:00

I got home from Portland on Sunday night. I had a fabulous trip out to the west coast. I bought a new laptop which will allow me to actually post more blogs on here. It was great to see Meredith, and I know we'll have more time together soon. I will have a job soon, and that will allow us to be closer together. I loved going down and seeing southern Oregon. We got to go to Ashland, Medford and Phoenix. We saw the movie "Marley and Me" on the friday night. I'm not too proud to admit I cried during the ending. There's nothing better than businesses called Tinseltown and Chat Cat! We also tried out the Lithia Water in Ashland which was just fowl! I also was provided the opportunity to see the Blazers Celtics game with Pratt. They played well and came away with the win. The game was highlighted by a 6 on 5 power play in basketball!

This morning MacKenzie died. She looked sickly last night when I got home from work. I was in the processes of calling the vet when she had a seizure. It was painful to bury her, but hopefully she is in peace now. I think I will go look at cats on saturday.

It may not be Kentucky Rain...

2008-12-12T19:25:00.002-05:00

Oh Elvis. Today we had a day off from school up at the good ole FDR. The call came in bright and early from Julie. She goes, "Good Morning Greg... Can you hear me... Are you awake?" I grumble and mumble as I'm still asleep and ask what she wants. Apparently the FDR phone chain was in full force, and I had to make sure I actually passed the message on to Anne who is below me on the chain. I was thankful to not have school. I spent the day reading a book on Energy as I was learning about Wind, Hydro and Biofuels, and how they are beneficial as alternative energy sources. It turned out that the day off was probably not necessary. I say this because it rained all day here in Wappingers, and there was no ice or snow to be seen. Maybe it was worse to the north of here? I'm debating what to do with the rest of the weekend. I have to do some christmas shopping, christmas card mailing, and grading of papers.

Yesterday was also an interesting day. I got to school at 7:25 due to the freezing rain that was falling. As i was walking into the school, a parent wanted to talk on the sidewalk. I have no problem talking, but I don't think standing in the rain is necessary. Appointments. Could be an interesting idea when implemented. The rest of the day was spent of sedimentary rock ID labs. This was funny because the kids were getting mad that i told them they had to work quickly, and that i was timing the labs. I try to be fair, and put no unreasonable expectations on them. I also am looking forward to the trip west. Only 14 days!!!

Milltastic!

2008-12-10T23:48:00.003-05:00

Today is Wednesday night. I probably should be sleeping, but there is a strong possibility of a snow day due to the impending ice storm tomorrow. It's been a weird day today. I was tired, and it took a long time to get going today.

The day seemed simple enough. I wrote a student up because they said they were better than my class. This was frustrating because I don't think anyone is better than the class. I just want the people to be able to learn in a welcoming environment that everyone's comfortable in. I know I do a good job down there. The principal came in and was happy to see that most people were engaged in my lesson on how to figure out how to figure out the percentage of minerals in various igneous rocks. If this skill doesn't last with them, then at least they learned how to read a chart successfully which is a skill needed always!

It was a rainy ride home, but I was smiling because I got to talk to Meredith while I traveled. The weather is getting ridiculous seeing as the rain was pouring down. Tonight the rain is set to switch to ice which will make the roads impassible. I decided to go to the Christmas play at church tonight. I wanted to see what dad had been participating in over the last few weeks. The show was good, and it was weird to see all of the people from the church. People wanted to talk, but I kept to myself.

Yeooooooo! Miller

2008-12-04T21:35:00.002-05:00

Yes...I would like to take a moment out of my day to thank the student who decided to yell that today. It led to an extra advil having to be taken. Today was the day I did the Igneous Rock ID Lab down at FDR. I feel like i'm providing less direct instructions this year because I want the kids to stumble at first as they learn. I believe that making mistakes is the only way too learn.

I talked to Mere briefly as I went out after school. The lights were nice, and it's good to see that people are in the holiday spirit. I'm somewhat disappointed in that I found out the case I didn't get picked for was a constitutional case being held at the lowest level. I fell asleep after eating dinner. I woke up at 845 which is disappointing because I didn't get a chance to talk during the lunch break. Anyway, the rest of the night will be spent relaxing.

"They are who we thought they were!"

2008-12-03T21:38:00.002-05:00

That famous quote was delivered back when Denny Green was coaching the Cardinals. It will live in history now.

Today I went to 228 Main Street, which is the home of the Dutchess County Jury Office. They were trying to get us to work a case that would last until the holidays, if not longer! Hooker, the head of the jury commission, was saying that if you were available you should volunteer to work the jury. So another teacher stands up and asks, "What does it mean to be available?". Hookers response, "You are available if you think you are available". This reminded me of Dennis and some of my conversations with Bill.

Afterwards I went to school and hosted the math team's meet. We finished third out of the five teams. Can't complain. We're on the back side of the week now!

Still Going Strong!

2008-12-02T22:47:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow I have to go to jury duty. This is mildly entertaining because I have no clue what to expect. I know that I'm not amused that I have to pay for parking at the courthouse, yet I will be receiving no payment for my services (because I get paid my work salary for the day). I should not take a net loss to do my civic duty! I've been tired this week as per usual I had issues falling asleep on sunday night.

Tomorrow is also the third math league meet of the year for the mighty presidents. Hopefully the kids do well. They give their best effort, and I'm appreciative of the work that they put in. Their effort shows in their efforts as they are on track to qualify for the county math meet. I ordered pizzas for the event. Who knew you could get 15 large pizzas for under $100 in NY?

The kids have all been hyper this week. I was not impressed with some of their behavior in class. I don't enjoy hearing cursing throughout the day. If i wanted to be cussed out, I would have picked a different job. There were 17 kids after school for extra help. This kind of got tiring by the end of the afternoon. I should be more relaxed after the light day tomorrow.

I'm also excited because I'm halfway through my time between visits in Oregon. I know I'll be living there soon, but I'm super stoked to be almost there for another visit! Definietly missing everyone out there lately!!!

The Holiday

2008-11-28T21:58:00.002-05:00

A good thanksgiving was had here in Wappingers. It was just me and the 'rents because Keith and Marie were unable to attend because they live in Minneapolis and Tampa Bay respectively. I kind of turned the corner on turnips. They are somewhat good, but still not my favorite food. The day was spent watching mismatched football days. This morning, I woke up to the commotion that they were buying a new HDtv. Reason being was that apparantly during the night (or while I was sleeping) the power button fell INTO the TV set somehow. Weird, I know. So I got the pleasure of going to Cablevision to swap cable boxes for an HD box. I had the wonderful opportunity to talk to a guy with a spike through his lip who was cursing about the line at Cablevision. I told him, after listening to him rant, that if he didn't like the line maybe he should switch to Verizon FiOS. Anyway, that didn't make him happy. Also saw some of the Arkansas LSU game. I correctly predicted the Razorbacks would come back from their deficit and win (Which they did). Tomorrow has the look of a paperwork day (Ugh!)

New York...

2008-11-28T12:00:00.002-05:00

Another reason why people at the holidays are crazy.

http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/Shop-Til-You-Drop----Literally-Chaos-at-the-Mall-.html

It is bizarre. A bunch of people trample and kill a wal-mart employee. Flat out not good.

First Day, Thanksgiving Break

2008-11-26T18:47:00.000-05:00

It was a quiet day today. I crashed hard last night as I slept for nearly fifteen hours. I've been spending a lot of time at work lately, and I think I've been running myself into the ground. I spent the early half of the day at home as I was preparing some laundry. Then I went to the bank. It felt good to deposit the check because it was bumped up because of the extra work I've been doing lately. There was a poodle acting a service dog at the bank. The lady who had it was clearly not blind, and she was playing with the dog in line. Seemed weird enough. Also went to staples to buy a binder. Not exciting, but yes, it was a trip out. Tomorrow is thanksgiving which i'm looking forward too.