Good news! I'm going to a convention focused on the teaching of the social studies (history, sociology, economics and geography). It takes place in Atlanta, Georgia. It's a short event. The National Council on Social Studies annual convention is just four days long. It takes place after Veteran's Day in mid-November. I hope it's a worthwhile trip. I'm going alone, so I won't have anyone with whom I can share the adventure.

As is usual for me, meeting people will be challenging. While I am plenty friendly in these kinds of situations, and engage well when required to - I have never been able to get deeper into a social situation such as meeting new friends and going out for drinks or a dinner. We'll see if that changes during this event.

The school will only take care of the cost for my substitute for two days. I'm covering the cost of travel, hotel and registration. Knowing I will likely spend most of my time alone, I've secured my usual room at a Marriott Residence Inn downtown with a full kitchen so I can save money by cooking my own meals and not face dining alone in a restaurant. I will also save on the costs of a kennel and parking at the airport because Derek will be taking care of the pooches and the cat.

I'm looking forward to this, my first visit to Atlanta, as well as learning more about social studies instruction in elementary school. I've already registered for a tour/seminar at the Martin Luther King Center and a reception at the Carter Center.

The sad part is I will naturally compare this event to the conference I attended in New York over the summer. That week long gathering was so  superlative I'm afraid other professional conventions will pale by comparison. Furthermore, the NCSS event is much more commercial, taking place at the giant Georgia World Congress Center, attracting more than 3000 attendees and including the ubiquitous hall stuffed with hundreds of commercial retailers hocking their books and curriculum programs. I'm sure I will miss the warmth and academic focus of the Columbia University campus.

And there is more good news: Can you guess where Derek and I are planning on going in February 2010 - just four months away?

DISNEY WORLD! I've been wanting to do this trip for the last year. I actually had planned a trip to Disneyland for this past summer, but my trip to DC as well as the conference in New York precluded a vacation in California. Therefore, I postponned the trip and have not only moved it to next February, but changed the destination to Orlando, Florida.

We'll be staying at the Coronado Springs Resort inside the sprawling Disney World campus. Derek and I are also planning a day trip to the Kennedy Space Center.

The video below shows a day at Disney World. It's very cute and uses a special focus technique that makes real people and places look miniaturized.

     

I'm sitting in the lounge at Lexus of Bellevue. My car-baby is going through its 20K checkup. I'm a little frustrated because two weeks ago I discovered peeling paint on the bumper wrap.

In July, 2008 I had body work done on the car due to a friend backing my baby into a concrete pole. My insurance covered the repair minus the cost of my deductible, but now it's apparent the body shop they sent me to did shoddy work on the paint. Two spots are peeling and a third is bubbling. If I do nothing the peeling sections will continue to expand over time. Also, the bumper wrap is slightly out of alignment.

I called my insurance company to complain about the work, and they were very nice about it - they "guarantee the work." However, they want me to take the car back to the same body shop to have them do the work again. Excuse me? Why would I want to do that? I suggested to the claims officer that I take the car to Lexus of Bellevue, the insurance company approve the dealer estimate and we get the job done correctly. It looks like the insurance company may go along with that, though I won't know for sure until I receive approval next week.

The process, though, isn't my source of frustration. What bothers me is a long standing frustration with large corporations and their inefficiency.

I work for a public school system that is constantly being pilloried for "inefficiency, incompetence, wastefulness, etc." Sometimes these claims are true. The public and politicians hurl these claims, but then they go on to imply governments and school systems are always less efficient than independent corporations. That is a HUGE lie, and those that claim it are either willfully ignorant or professional prevaricators.

My insurance company would rather deal with a small body shop that has questionable work practices, than deal with a dealership that has experience and the efficiency of volume. Another problem I had was the time when the catalytic converter was stolen off my old truck. The insurance company required me to take it to an "approved body shop." Of course, body shops don't replace catalytic converters. They drove my truck down the street to Midas, then tacked a huge additional cost onto the bill. Ultimately, the insurance company paid almost double the price to service my claim when compared to the cost if I had taken it to Midas myself. That's ridiculous. Yeah, corporate America is so efficient! That is why I'm feeling frustrated. False claims and ittle injustices always stick in my craw.

But my title also speaks of temptation. "What is tempting John?" you may ask. Well, I'm sitting here in the Lexus lounge looking through an archway at a beautiful new red Lexus RX450h. The latest model of my sad car that is downstairs on a hoist having his belly poked and prodded. I talked with a sales rep about changes in the 2010 model.

Ooooh weee! The new RX is sweet and oh so sexy. He is calling to me. "John. Come buy me! I have a lot of new features! I'm more fuel efficient and sleeker!They'll give you a great deal on your trade-in!"

Downstairs, Vic (yes, that's my car's name) is suffering through the indignity of draining his bodily fluids and the frustration of scratches and peeling on his beautiful black body while upstairs the new slutty red hot Lexus is winking at me. I think he wants me to buy him a drink.

Is God testing me? Could I be more shallow?

What does one blog about when nothing seems important or pressing? Not much, I guess - which explains why it's been three week since my last entry. However, I've been told by two people I need to add a blog entry, so here goes...

My youngest schnauzer has become a vampire. The old dog got a scist on her neck. It started to drain, and the younger schnauzer - well, let's just say she tried to help. Now the scist has healed and baby schnauzer wants more. Gross! She keeps staring at the old dog's neck and sniffing one spot, occasionally giving it a furtive lick. I've started calling her Vampira.

Last week, the furnace came on for the first time since early June. In order to save money and energy, as well as pump less carbon dioxide into the air, I have reduced the time during which my furnace runs - and I reduced the temperature during afternoons, evenings and weekends down to 65. It's still set at 67 from 6-7am because I mostly walk around the house in my underwear while getting ready, and 65 is just too cold for that state of undress. I'm hoping to see some monetary savings.

This weekend I'm going to get a haircut, take my car to the dealer for routine service, and bake my first loaf of homemade bread in more than eight months. I'm trying a honey wheat recipe for the first time. I'm also going to try a new Indian dal recipe. My list of chores for the weekend includes vacuuming, picking up dog poop, and fixing a flat tire on my bike.

Sadly, I have not been able to ride my bike to work over the last week because it was the victim of a construction staple. I've been driving alone or car pooling for a week now. I miss riding my bike. The day I hit the staple was the first time I've been riding during a thunder storm. It wasn't pretty. There was lightning, thunder, drenching rain, and some hail. Thankfully, I had on my rain jacket and pants. But, not a hat - just my helmet. My head was drenched and the water was dripping down my neck below the jacket. I was a drippy mess when I got home. My shoes and socks were wet too.

I spent the recent weekend with Derek and enjoyed it as usual. We saw the movie Julie & Julia. It's a good flick. We ate dinner at Hobos Restaurant in Chinatown - a gay Portland institution. The food is mediocre but we enjoy the atmosphere and service. They make good drinks too. Sometimes it's nice to hang out with your own tribe.

I've been back at school teaching for the last month. Things have been smooth. Open House was last week and the third grade potluck is tomorrow. We are learning about ancient and modern Egypt. Math, of course, is a daily routine. We finished reading a fiction book called The Stories Julian Tells. Now we are reading non-fiction books and websites about bears, raccoons, and pandas in preparation for writing a compare/contrast report about the three. We have also been following the Writer's Workshop model for personal narrative writing - successfully I suppose because one teacher came in to observe me teach a lesson and suddenly three more followed her over the next two weeks. Perhaps word has gotten out  I  have a firm grasp on teaching writing.

In science we are studying botany. Most recently we have been learning about sexual reproduction (I just refer to it as "reproduction") in flowering plants including the pollination process. Last week we went to the Woodland Park Zoo to learn about plant/animal interdependence.

Next week I have a medical check-up as part of the adoption process. At the same time I will hopefully get a swine flu shot. Also, I intend to get my tax records copied and a financial statement off to the adoption agency within the next week as well.

I made some changes to the Australia trip planned for Derek and me in December. Instead of staying in a beach condo outside the city of Cairns while diving on the Great Barrier Reef, we will stay on a live aboard scuba yacht for three days. That way, we don't have to make the daily three hour round trip to the reef. We'll just live there and dive 4-5 times each day off the back of the yacht. Believe it or not, this option is actually less expensive because it's all inclusive and we save time.

Finally, and most fun of all, I bought a new 40" LCD high definition television. I really didn't need it, but how sad is it that my parents had the latest and greatest entertainment system before me? I had to catch up with the old folks. I also bought a Sony PlayStation 3 so I can watch Blu-Ray videos and play games. Wow! With Blu-Ray and HDTV I can see the pores on the actor's noses! Kinda creepy!

Hmmmm....nothing to say takes up a lot of column space.

Ciao