Oh My, I'm Feeling Lazy

  Well it has been almost over two three weeks since I have posted.  What has kept me so busy?  Absolutely nothing major, just bits and pieces of life that I am trying to "accomplish" before I go back to my job as a teacher.  For the record, school starts on Wednesday, but I will drop in for a couple of hours on Monday to start dragging out my boxes of resources and try to get the opening day papers copied before there is a two hour wait for the copier.  We have been told that we should not stand on chairs to put up anything in our rooms due to two new workman's compensation claims already.  Now how can I decorate the top of the six kitchen cupboards in my room without standing on a chair?  I really don't see one of our overworked custodians artistically arranging my stuff while I stand on the floor and direct.

  I also just returned from a quick trip to Clinton, Iowa.  I hesitate to call it a research trip because it was not that organized, and I only spent about 24+ hours in Clinton, but I did find some new resources, new information and had a lovely 2 hour visit with my  first cousin twice removed who just celebrated his 90th birthday. I had never met him before but his mother and my great grandmother were sisters.  I'd say that was pretty good for only one day. Actually, the opportunity to meet him was the primary motivator for the trip.  I will write more detail in a later post as I am was so intent on my mission that I only took one photo.  Clinton is about a four and a half hour trip from my house, but the road goes through the southern part of Chicago so planning your trip to avoid rush hour is a definite consideration.  I promised myself that I would get back to Clinton this summer and once school starts, my summer is over.  I hoped that my brother and I could go together since our first and only time was such a great experience.  And, let's face it, it is much cheaper when you can split the gas and the hotel room. I am a very practical person, but our schedules didn't mesh.

  The other issue plaguing me is the fact that my desktop computer bit the dust due to a power outage/surge during a storm three weeks ago.  I have everything backed up in three other places so my research is safe but my email and addresses from newly acquired relatives is still residing in that black blue hole sitting on my desk.  With that computer gone I have also lost access to my printer and my scanner.  I know what you are thinking . . . why didn't you just go out and get another one?  Welllllllll . . . I hate pre-fab computers.  I am annoyed by all of the trial versions of programs I don't want that seem to worm there way into every crevice.  I don't like the cheapo keyboards that come with them, and I am worried that my perfectly good all-in-one HP Officejet and Epson scanner will not work with Windows 7 along with a few software programs like EQ5. Additionally, I wanted to see if anything could be salvaged from my old computer - like the email! Then  I remembered an amazing computer-technology-programming teacher I had in a summer school class two years ago.  He told us that he occasionally moonlights and builds computers.  I contacted him, didn't hear anything, contacted using another email and hear the great news that he does still build computers on the side, and he asked a few questions which I instantly answered in a return email.  That was over a week ago and despite several additional emails, I have heard nothing.  I am puzzled.  So yesterday, I stopped in to Best Buy (yuck!) to see what my choices were. They assured me that all of my old hardware would work with Windows 7 . . . I'm not sure I believe them.  What is a girl to do? 

  Here it is a week and a half later . . . . I still don't have a computer which means I still don't have a scanner or printer.  Somehow I don't feel like it is a real blog post without photos and so I have stalled and stalled hoping that I would have a working computer.  Every time I think of all the work to get it all up and running as well as reinstalling all of my software and downloading new drivers, my stomach starts churning.  It turns out that it was my hardrive that failed from the power outage but the good news is that it can most likely be salvaged. Yes, I did have it backed up elsewhere.

  While I was dealing with frustration over the computer situation at home and getting my classroom ready for a new school year, I made a decision about the FGS conference . . . I'm going!!  So I filled out the personal leave forms at school, and turned them in on Friday.  If I leave after school on Wednesday, I can make it to Springfield by 9:00 p.m., and I have a reservation at a non-FGS motel. Since I will be footing the whole bill, I have to trim costs where I can.  I have some concerns because in general I do not like traveling by myself.  I am too much of a chatty Cathy and talking to strangers is not the same as exchanging opinions, observations, and laughter with a friend.  Wish me luck!