Win some, lose some...

It took me a while to figure it out, since I wasn't listening to the radio much over the holidays, but apparently Smooth Jazz is gone from the airwaves, replaced by what will no doubt come to be known as K-Talk. I have to agree with Mitch that the station sounds like a loser, the FM version of WCCO's middle-of-the-road talk format. Well, at least I'll be able to tune in to Rush Limbaugh at work now, since he'll be in KTLK's 11-2 slot, bookended by a couple of nonentities.

As for KSTP-AM, WTF were they thinking, moving Bob Davis to the midmorning slot? I guess I'm going to be listening to Bill Bennett in the mornings from now on, because this new guy Wally is about as exciiting as cold leftover oatmeal. Bye, Bob; it was nice while it lasted.

Win some, lose some...

It took me a while to figure it out, since I wasn't listening to the radio much over the holidays, but apparently Smooth Jazz is gone from the airwaves, replaced by what will no doubt come to be known as K-Talk. I have to agree with Mitch that the station sounds like a loser, the FM version of WCCO's middle-of-the-road talk format. Well, at least I'll be able to tune in to Rush Limbaugh at work now, since he'll be in KTLK's 11-2 slot, bookended by a couple of nonentities.

As for KSTP-AM, WTF were they thinking, moving Bob Davis to the midmorning slot? I guess I'm going to be listening to Bill Bennett in the mornings from now on, because this new guy Wally is about as exciiting as cold leftover oatmeal. Bye, Bob; it was nice while it lasted.

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

Well, I guess St. Mary's isn't through with me yet, and I mean that in a good way, kind of. I had a talk with the MAI program director this morning about what I need to satisfy the minimal requirements for alternative licensure in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The bottom line is that I'm pretty much there already, but I need to wrap up the Social Studies Methods class and take the World Language Methods class. The latter is offered only in the summer, which I definitely have mixed feelings about, but as for the former it looks as if the way it'll happen is that I'll sign up for the course but sit most of it out while I gin up my unit plan (which I have a copy of around...somewhere) and get a passing grade thereby. I'll probably have to retake the one-credit class on Technology in the Classroom, since I never finished the web site for that one, and find some other 1 or 2 credit course to round out the summer semester. Another semester of student loans to kill off, yay.

In other news, there was an assload of envelopes waiting in the PO box this morning, along with a postage due notice, a "Your box is too full for us to stuff more crap in it" notice, and a return receipt for an envelope somebody had sent via certified mail. This last one puzzled me, since the person who sent it was on staff and could just as easily dropped by on Saturday night to hand it in. Well, whatever. It's their money. As of Saturday night we were over 400 pre-registrations, and this stack ought to bump us over 500 without even breathing hard. Big times ahead, yes sir.

Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?

Well, I guess St. Mary's isn't through with me yet, and I mean that in a good way, kind of. I had a talk with the MAI program director this morning about what I need to satisfy the minimal requirements for alternative licensure in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The bottom line is that I'm pretty much there already, but I need to wrap up the Social Studies Methods class and take the World Language Methods class. The latter is offered only in the summer, which I definitely have mixed feelings about, but as for the former it looks as if the way it'll happen is that I'll sign up for the course but sit most of it out while I gin up my unit plan (which I have a copy of around...somewhere) and get a passing grade thereby. I'll probably have to retake the one-credit class on Technology in the Classroom, since I never finished the web site for that one, and find some other 1 or 2 credit course to round out the summer semester. Another semester of student loans to kill off, yay.

In other news, there was an assload of envelopes waiting in the PO box this morning, along with a postage due notice, a "Your box is too full for us to stuff more crap in it" notice, and a return receipt for an envelope somebody had sent via certified mail. This last one puzzled me, since the person who sent it was on staff and could just as easily dropped by on Saturday night to hand it in. Well, whatever. It's their money. As of Saturday night we were over 400 pre-registrations, and this stack ought to bump us over 500 without even breathing hard. Big times ahead, yes sir.

I, for one, welcome our new robot baking masters

Yesterday was marked by indolence and sloth, for the most part, although I did exert myself to sweep the kitchenette floor and do some dishes. I also baked the fourth and most successful loaf of Irish cake. #3 was a victim of my impatience, I'm afraid; the ingredient mix was correct but I was too hasty in dumping the hot loaf out of the pan and slicing off the bottom. This led to poor bonding between the loaf and its crust and premature crumbliness, which was a real pain, so this time around I waited for the pan to cool first before decanting the loaf. That worked a lot better, and I am now confident that I have the process whipped. True, the loaves would probably be even better if I sifted all the dry ingredients together, but I'm not spending $6 on a sifter when the results I'm getting are good enough.

Aside from baking, I spent most of the evening watching Cardcaptor Sakura; a brief review is behind the cut.
( Read more... )

Tonight will be Garbage Night - I have several bags of junk mail, wrappers, and miscellaneous junk to be thrown out, and after that I may just toddle off to bed early. Or not. I do have another 4-5 discs of the CCS box set to get through, after all.

I, for one, welcome our new robot baking masters

Yesterday was marked by indolence and sloth, for the most part, although I did exert myself to sweep the kitchenette floor and do some dishes. I also baked the fourth and most successful loaf of Irish cake. #3 was a victim of my impatience, I'm afraid; the ingredient mix was correct but I was too hasty in dumping the hot loaf out of the pan and slicing off the bottom. This led to poor bonding between the loaf and its crust and premature crumbliness, which was a real pain, so this time around I waited for the pan to cool first before decanting the loaf. That worked a lot better, and I am now confident that I have the process whipped. True, the loaves would probably be even better if I sifted all the dry ingredients together, but I'm not spending $6 on a sifter when the results I'm getting are good enough.

Aside from baking, I spent most of the evening watching Cardcaptor Sakura; a brief review is behind the cut.
( Read more... )

Tonight will be Garbage Night - I have several bags of junk mail, wrappers, and miscellaneous junk to be thrown out, and after that I may just toddle off to bed early. Or not. I do have another 4-5 discs of the CCS box set to get through, after all.

I can't hear you, Mommy, I have cans on my ears

I'm old-fashioned in a number of ways, and one of them is my choice of headphones. When I was growing up during the Nixon/Ford Administration, headphones came in two varieties: large and painful, or large and comfortable, and since nobody but schools bought the first variety, there was a plentiful supply of the latter. Thirty years later, though, when you go out shopping for headphones it seems you have a choice between ear buds (which fall out of my ears), lightweight headphones (which increase my chance of deafness since I have to crank up the volume to drown out the ambient noise) or the old familiar cans, most of which are seemingly intended for DJs and cost about a day's pay. Last month I bought a pair of Koss headphones at WalMart and foolishly did not save the receipt; they lost the right-hand channel after three weeks. Tonight I dropped by Best Buy, hoping that they still carried the Sony CD-180s that have lasted me about three years now at work, but alas, the least expensive of the Sony cans went for about $80, which was fifty bucks more than I wanted to pay. I wound up getting another pair of Koss phones, which look a little more durable than the model I got at Walmart, and am going to register them for the lifetime warranty. Just in case.

Meanwhile, Hanukkah is drawing to a close, and though I'm a Jew by genes rather than observance, it's good to remember what the holiday is all about. Reverend Sensing points us to this essay by Ed Lasky on the true meaning of Hanukkah. It's not about the dreidels and Hanukkah gelt any more than Christmas is about the presents and the candy. RTWT.

I can't hear you, Mommy, I have cans on my ears

I'm old-fashioned in a number of ways, and one of them is my choice of headphones. When I was growing up during the Nixon/Ford Administration, headphones came in two varieties: large and painful, or large and comfortable, and since nobody but schools bought the first variety, there was a plentiful supply of the latter. Thirty years later, though, when you go out shopping for headphones it seems you have a choice between ear buds (which fall out of my ears), lightweight headphones (which increase my chance of deafness since I have to crank up the volume to drown out the ambient noise) or the old familiar cans, most of which are seemingly intended for DJs and cost about a day's pay. Last month I bought a pair of Koss headphones at WalMart and foolishly did not save the receipt; they lost the right-hand channel after three weeks. Tonight I dropped by Best Buy, hoping that they still carried the Sony CD-180s that have lasted me about three years now at work, but alas, the least expensive of the Sony cans went for about $80, which was fifty bucks more than I wanted to pay. I wound up getting another pair of Koss phones, which look a little more durable than the model I got at Walmart, and am going to register them for the lifetime warranty. Just in case.

Meanwhile, Hanukkah is drawing to a close, and though I'm a Jew by genes rather than observance, it's good to remember what the holiday is all about. Reverend Sensing points us to this essay by Ed Lasky on the true meaning of Hanukkah. It's not about the dreidels and Hanukkah gelt any more than Christmas is about the presents and the candy. RTWT.