Long Week

Oh has it ever been a long week. I mean it, I am WIPED OUT. and the house is a mess and Isaiah is grounded.

I"ll explain. i am tired because I made the fatal error of getting myself some actual books. I am a book addict and I tend to not keep the damn things around because all I do is read. Seriously, I've read two in the past two days. So, anyway, my fault i am lacking in sleep. Which makes me cranky. And makes me fuzzy-brained. Which apparently one cannot do in the presence of high schoolers. I had to send one kid to the office today, and i have a whole class near open rebellion. I can't help that the text books they have are ten years old and were written for college students. I know its stupid. I know they don't like to read the book or to do work out of the book, but that is what we have. I make up worksheets were and when i can. And I find other thigns for them to do. But damn, you'd think I was attila the hun. I am tempted to give them attila and see how they like it.

I have another class that is a bit too full of their own amusement. And they had the dirtiest minds on the planet. A simple conversation always ends up in or near the gutter, and I usually don't even see it coming until they are already there. Part of it is my fault. I am a nerd and a scientist at heart, I worked 4 years in a hospital and have spent time workin gin nursing homes and as an ambualnce attendant (EMT) I don't find much about the human anatomy to be all that disturbing. So, somehow it doesn't ocur to me that the word "nipple" would cause problems with a room full of seniors. Stupid me.

And who the hell invented all these "fun days" for high school. Today was senior servant day, which amounted to the school "buying" senoirs and the students forcing them to dress up like idiots. I had a kid who was a "gesha" (yeah right, because a prarie dress and white makeup on a male student scream japanese) and two other boys who were dressed at girls in the same room. Sad thing is, a tall skinny teenaged boy fits into a mini skirt, leggins and a fitted top better then most women. they made boobs for him out of kleenexes. It was just a little hard to keep things serious today. Next week is homecoming week, I know that will suck.

What else, Isaiah is grounded for smuggling toys to school. His teacher contacted me and told me she's found him playing with them when he wasn't supposed to. She took them and will keep them for a while. He is resistant to grounding, thinks that his friends showing up is reason enough to get ungrounded. Still isn't bringing home his homework and refuses to help with house work. and has started turning on guilt trips when ever he feels he isn't getting his way. So yeah, he's a doll these days. I think i preffer younger more helpless kids to this. But I am working on it. It isn't fun.

Dino asked about storms. Yes, we get a fair amount of thunderstoms and where those are, tornado watches arent' far behind. I am on the other side of the state from greensburg kansa, which was litterally wiped off the map a year or so ago. I am in the southeast corner, we have a more varried topography. About forty miles from picher oklahoma, which is another town that got clobbered hard enough by a tornado to make national news.

About five years ago when I was still working th abulance crew I was on duty when a bunch, I think it was six, came throuhg the area. We stood on a hill and watched it chew up houses and feilds to our west. Then we went and tired to help. That was a lucky storm. Six tornados over three states (Google pineville ok), lots of down lines, lots of power out. Only two fatalities. when god drops a mobile home on you there isn't much arguing.

And eight years ago, when I was a senior in high school and big one came through town. Same deal. Lots of damage, lots of home knocked flat, no one hurt. I was at work at a telemarketing center when that one hit. Teh building was one of those sheet metal constuction jobs and out manager told us to leave when the sirens went off. I drove home with the funnel in my rearview.

Aside from that we get plain ole thunderstorms. IT can boom for hours at a time if it feels like it. Or we can go two months with no precipitation at all. This year we've had a lot of rain blow up from the gulf in the form of leftover hurricanes. Nice, keeps things cool.

And that is about all I have to bore people with.