I have this sort of “habit” with my sub jobs.  Every time I am hired to work in a particular classroom, as soon as I can, I try to email the teacher I will be subbing for as well as the principal of the school where I will be working.  The district where I work has a pretty standard system for staff email addresses - they are always (first-initial)(last-name) @ (district-name) dot mo dot us, or (first-name)_(last-name) @ (district-name) dot mo dot us.  Some people might consider it to be overachieving or even brown nosing to contact the teachers ahead of time, and I suppose it is in a way, but I also think it’s just good business to contact them ahead of time.  With as much communication as possible, the days tend to go much more smoothly.

Plus, sometimes I even get the lesson plans in advance.  That’s mostly a great thing.  A couple weeks ago, though, I received lesson plans that were written in the Office 2007 format- so, as I recall, it was “.docx” instead of “.doc”.  Since I have “just” Office 2003, I couldn’t open the file.  I wound up spending a LONG time figuring out how to change file extensions from something I can’t use (like .docx) to something that may be “older” but that I can use (like ABA files).  Kind of negated everything I gained by getting the lesson plans early.

And, for what it’s worth, I’m seriously annoyed by this new change in the Office file extensions.  Seems like a giant nuisance and not worth it at all.

3D Mailbox is an email program that adds a touch of adventure to your email.  In one version, new emails are represented by avatars.  Good emails are sexy models, while spam emails are goofy sumo wrestlers.  In another version, all emails are represented by airplanes.  Good emails go to the terminal (or to various hangars), while spam emails go to the airport boneyard.  Unsure emails circle above the airport until you “land” the email and choose where it will go.  I doubt I would ever use it, but it certainly looks entertaining!

Follow Cost is a site that shows you how annoying it can be to follow a particular “tweeter” on twitter.  Helpful if your cell account only allows a limited number of texts!

I remember when I first began shopping for a web host.  I was really surprised by how difficult it was to select a host!  I didn’t know what I should be looking for in my host.  Did I want more hosting space or more bandwidth?  What about email addresses?  File transfer?  Domain registration?  What about server side scripting - PHP, mySQL, Ruby on Rails, and a whole alphabet soup of computer terms I had never heard of!  Just as important was the price, but saving a few dollars a month was pointless if I got a really crummy host.  I searched and searched online for information on the different hosts.  I must have read hundreds of reviews of the different hosts before I finally settled on one.  All that hard work paid off- I am very pleased with my host and have never had any trouble.

Luckily there are now websites that “catalogs” many different website hosts and all the different website hosting features that they offer.  That makes it a little bit easier to choose a host.  Unfortunately there’s no easy one stop way to choose a host.  You have to read articles about hosting and learn about the different features that different hosts offer.  Then you have to consider which features are most important to you.  Maybe you are willing to pay a little bit more for a certain feature, or maybe it is more important to you to save money.  But if you put in the time to explore different hosts, then make an educated choice, you will probably be very pleased with that choice.

Yet here I am.  Playing catch-up.

• When I got home from work on Friday, my feedreader listed over ten thousand unread posts.  And I was just like… no way.  So I neglected this blog, only posting when absolutely necessary, for the whole weekend.  Now I have a LOT of work to do - catching up on both comments and feeds.  Argh.
• My weekend was quiet.  Pleasant.  Went to the library, Walmart, grocery store, church.
• I swam on Saturday, which was (again) pleasant.  It was nice because there were relatively few people in the pool - just a couple dozen kids in the shallow end.  So I could choose one of the lanes in the deep end for swimming.
• Subbing is really quiet this week.  The elementary schools have conferences later this week, so those teachers are not calling in sick regardless of their health.  Not a big deal for me - it’s nice to have some time off.
• So I went swimming this morning.  750m, which is a personal best for me!
• Unfortunately at around the 625m mark, something funky happened to my left elbow.  Something about my not-very-graceful flip turn (I think) messed with it.  Serious pain!  I was totally floating on my back and cradling my elbow… and wondering if I could (or should!) finish that set.
• I discovered that my arm felt okay as long as I kept the elbow bent.  So I finished my set, but I am sure I looked even dorkier than usual.  With my right arm, I was fully extending, basically doing a normal stroke.  But I could only sorta “flap” my left arm… like when you are pretending to be a bird and you tuck your hands into your armpits and flap your arms.  My hands weren’t quite in my armpits but close!
• So then after I got out of the water, my arm felt a little bit better.  It’s not really hurting now, but I can still feel it if I extend my arm out totally straight.
• Luckily I still have a sling upstairs, leftover from years ago when I broke my collarbone.  Though if I have to use that, I think i will attempt to make one that is less “blah” and more color.
• Did I mention that I don’t have health insurance right now?  Suffice it to say, I’m praying this doesn’t become anything serious.
• I picked up a job today (for early November) subbing at my old high school.  That should be a VERY interesting experience… given that there are a couple of teachers who are still working there who… how can I put it delicately… I couldn’t stand them then and I doubt that will ever change.  You know how, as a kid, you look up to your teachers and they can make a really big impression on you?  Like, I can still name the best teachers I ever had, because they were just so good I’ll never forget them.  And I can still name the worst teachers I ever had, because they were so bad that they really traumatized me.  These guys are on the “worst” list.
• I am developing a minor obsession with the jigsaw puzzles on the Shockwave.com site.  I think computer jigsaws are lots lots easier to solve than old fashioned jigsaws.
• I bought a can of compressed air today so that I can clean out the keyboard on my computer.  I’m hoping and praying it fixes my sticky w key.
• I can’t think of anything else.  Yet here I am still writing bullets.  I think I will go confront my scary feeds list.

It will be awhile before I get paid, but when I do, one thing I want to get is a new cell phone.  Specifically a smartphone.  Specifically a blackberry.  I am not very interested in an Iphone- that model has had just too many problems.  I know that with a blackberry I will have to buy additional flash memory, but it’s worth it to me to get a good phone.

I have one big question for Blackberry though.  I know that right now I can get a Blackberry Curve or a Blackberry Storm, but I keep hearing about this new Blackberry Bold.  Supposedly it will be even better than the Curve.  It was supposed to come out last summer… then in September… then maybe Christmas… Blackberry, I’m getting impatient!

I have fallen so far behind on my feeds… as evidenced by my last post.  Comments too.  It’s common courtesy in the blogging community to respond to comments left on your site, and I am AWFUL at that.  Please, dear readers, accept my apology.  I’m really attempting to get on top of all the comments on my site… and to stay there… and I haven’t done a very good job!  But, I’m trying!

As you can see, when I fall behind on my feeds (even by just a little, a day or two or even sometimes an hour!), I get many MANY unread posts.  Unfortunately then I am even less inclined to catch up on my feeds, because it can be such an overwhelming task!  This isn’t the first time this has happened to me… and I doubt it will be the last.  But it IS annoying and irritating.  If only there was an easier way!

Right now I’m at our local Honda dealership.  I’ve said before that I drive a 98 Honda Civic and I love it.  We have several Hondas in our family- my 98 Civic, Dad’s 2001 Accord, my sister’s 2003 or 2004 Civic, and my mom’s 2008 Civic.  They’re wonderful cars.  But my car, as both the oldest car in the family and the car with the most mileage, has the most “problems”.  Don’t get me wrong… I rarely have troubles with my car.  I just have them more often than than the rest of my family.

Anyway… a couple of weeks ago, the “check engine” light came on in my car.  My dad took it for a drive and proclaimed it “running a little rough but otherwise okay”.  Then a week or so ago, the car stalled while I was idling at a stop light.  It has since stalled a total of three times, all while idling… and thus, my visit to the Honda dealership today.  Plus I need an oil change.

The Honda dealership is so fantastic.  They have television, wi-fi, free donuts, free soda, and a delightful waiting area for me to work.  So, I packed up my computer and cords in preparation for an hour or two at the dealership, planning to surf the internet and work on my site while I was here.  Naturally, though, I get here and discover that the one thing I forgot to pack was MY WIRELESS INTERNET CARD.  That card is somewhat important when trying to get onto a wireless internet… so, here I am, unable to go anywhere and unable to do anything on my computer involving the internet.  Poo.

I’m using a dealership computer right now, which is okay, except I can only remember maybe two of my passwords - all the rest are stored on my computer!  Luckily one of them is for this website so I can still write to all of you.  But that’s about it.

I really can’t complain though.  I mean, I have a computer, and it has a few games installed.  Plus I have a car and a wonderful dealership that takes good care of me.  I’m hoping and praying that my car issues turn out to be nothing major or expensive.  I’d appreciate it if you could send all your “really-cheap-car-repair-vibes” my way!

I spent the evening wrestling with GIMP and my personal lack of artistic talent.  Seriously, in my family, my sister got all the visual artistic talent.  She has a bachelors degree in art, and she now works as a professional graphic designer.  I’m the writer in the family, believe it or not.

Actually, my dad and I also went to Chick Fil A tonight.  My mom has a class on Tuesday nights this semester, so every Tuesday we all go out for dinner.

I found something on another blog tonight that I just have to post about… but probably not right away.  I want to try to attack GIMP again and get a few things done.