Wednesday, March 30, 2011

WOW... if they had this during my college days... hahaha

What are your thoughts on this? (Taken from Huffington Post)

UChicago Hookups Expands: Casual Sex Site Now Welcoming Other Schools

First Posted: 03/28/11 04:16 PM ET Updated: 03/28/11 04:16 PM ET

According to the site, which is now called EduHookups.com, the media attention to UChicagoHookups piqued the interest of other colleges. So, the URL was changed and the site now welcomes Northwestern University and Columbia College Chicago students to the "no strings attached" social network. The site will also be open to Brown University students starting April 4.

The original site for University of Chicago students.

The site is similar to the "Casual Encounters" section of Craigslist, but users must have an "edu" email address to register. The updated site allows users to post and browse listings for casual encounters, serious relationships and platonic friendships.

The site's creator said they saw a boost in traffic following news coverage of UChicagoHookups last week. More than 300 people have registered, and more than 1,300 private messages have been sent since.

The new EduHookups.com.

While some say the site is in poor taste, others support its mission.

"This is a necessary step to allow people to feel free to hook up on their own time and unwind," Jon Clindaniel, a junior U of C archaeology major told CBS.
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I'm kind of speechless about this... this just seems so crazy. All I can think is that maybe some kids who are more quiet/shy/curious about sex may be more apt to try things sexually, which could be a bad thing. Are kids going to use protection?

If you are required to have a .edu account is your information in some way going to be leaked?

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Random Thoughts: Radio Musings

It has been a while since I've done this, and because we know I need to be a radio programmer in my next life, here it goes:

KOST 103.5
- What is going on? Your radio jingles are downright annoying and sound low market right now. Your new traffic/news sounders are irritating and if you weren't paying attention would think it was just an annoying commercial.
- Why did you put Rosie Rodell on in the morning and take Mike Nolan off?

KBIG 104.3/104.3 MYFM
- Valentine and Irma seem to be the best part and who I tend to tune into most in the morning
- Kari Steele continues to grate on my nerves and her voice doesn't sound like it fits on MYFM and after listening to her sometimes day in and day out, she sounds like a broken record
- I <3 Lisa Foxx and love the days she fills in for Kari
- I am glad MYFM decided to put Lisa on in the evenings... she's sooooo foxy! lol... couldn't resist
- Ty Bentli is pretty amusing to listen to
- MYFM, please put the traffic reports before the commercials
- Please update your playlist. I am tired of every other song being Pink, Usher, Rihanna, Nelly, Bruno Mars, or Katy Perry. What happened to this 90s part of your new slogan (90s and today)?
- Why not even throw in some 80s?
- I do have to salute you for playing some Adele. Love me some Adele
- I do have some songs to suggest to freshen your lineup: Anything by Sting including "Fields of Gold," a nice 90s hit; some Backstreet Boys, another 90s group; Christina Aguleria; Gavin DeGraw; some 90s J-LO; some Prince; Rob Thomas; Snow Patrol; Tal Bachman; Pet Shop Boys; and Paula Cole



KKGO/GO COUNTRY 105
- I like Ryan Fox and Ashley Paige
- Paul Freeman sounds like the same regurgitation daily
- I do have to salute you for playing less Taylor Swift every hour.
- Play more 80s and 90s country.
Suggestions include:
- Alabama
- Brooks & Dunn
- Colin Raye
- Holly Dunn
- Anne Murray
- Dolly Parton
- Eddie Rabbitt
- Faith Hill
- The Judds
- Trisha Yearwood
- Rick Trevino
- Daryl Singletary
- Tracy Byrd
- BlackHawk
- Mark Chesnutt


KOLA 99.9 - Classic Hits
Classic hits is a radio format which generally includes rock and pop music from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. ..
- I <3 all of the DJs
- Thanks for traffic reports each hour throughout the workday and weekend that just happen to come on when I need them and when I'm in the car
- Please expand your classics playlist... my iPod has a better selection at times. I do notice that you are trying. I have heard some new stuff like Phil Collins and Genesis as of late.
Here's more suggestions:
- ABBA (a 70s classic group that KEARTH plays)
- Annie Lennox (early 80s): Walking on Broken Glass, No More I Love You's
- Billy Joel: Uptown Girl, Its Still Rock-N-Roll To Me, In the Middle of the Night
- Belinda Carlisle: Heaven is a Place on Earth, Circle in the Sand
- Boy George
- Crowded House: Don't Dream It's Over

- Cyndi Lauper: All Through The Night, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
- Fleetwood Mac: (And not the same 5 songs that are always played...) Never Coming Back Again
- Toto: Africa

KNX 1070
- What the hell are you doing with those awful jingles and new electronicized sounders that sound awful on AM radio?

STAR 98.7
- When are you going to play more than the same 5 songs over and over again? I thought you were competing with KROQ. KROQ seems to have more music.
- Your DJs are pretty good at the moment. Keep it that way.
- Thanks for having traffic reports before the commercials.

KGGI 99.1
- Why are your traffic reports after commercials in the afternoon and about 7:40 in the morning?
- Please get rid of Jeff Pope and I'll consider listening in the morning

KFROG 95.1
- Where to begin... I don't like the Frogmen in the Morning or Kelly Green, but Dona Dower is great
- Does the afternoon guy, Leapin Lee, even know country music?
- Your playlist needs to be updated. I'm tired of Sunny Sweeney over and over.
- Play some 80s, 90s, or even mid-2000s perhaps?

100.3 The Sound
- I love your song factoids/rock trivia
- I'm saddened that over the past few weeks you sound a lot like KOLA 99.9 or KEARTH 101. Are you suddenly going classic hits? This afternoon I heard Rocket Man, Bohemian Rhapsody, Bob Seger, Chicago, and Men at Work all within a few minutes and all can be heard on either KEARTH or KOLA.

Monday, March 28, 2011

It was cold in LA last night...


0 degrees at 11:02pm according to ABC 7 Eyewitness News.

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Final Spring Break Wrap Up

Thursday
- Subbed @ my middle school - great day! The teachers I subbed for love me and I was done by 10:45
- Ran from post office to post office and finally to city hall to get my passport - $200 later, many hours of frustration and running around, and many forms later I have applied for my passport
- Met my cousin at 1:45 to catch up over lunch at Rainforest Cafe
- Food was ick and waaaaaaaaay overpriced, but conversation was great
- Saw Mars Needs Moms
- Mike texted me and we decided to meet up after my cousin
- He had to run to the store, so I killed time in the mall, then headed to his place
- He made his fake out for me- vegetarian pulled pork and mashed squash/white potatoes
- I made dessert of white chocolate dipped strawberries
- Yay for a fellow white chocolate guy!
- Watched American Idol and was much relieved to find that Casey was saved
- Played around

Friday
- Played around even more when we woke up
- Mike had to work, but he gave me the computer and I spent some time looking at weekend happenings, Huffington Post, CNN, NPR, and facebooking
- When Mike was done with work he asked me to look up Yosemite and said we should go there, spent about an hour looking at that, checking out road conditions only to determine Sequoia may be a better option... he was hesitant since he'd never been
- Looked at Phoenix, Vegas, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, and Santa Barbara
- My vote was SLO
- Snacked on Michelob and CPK frozen pizza while we planned
- Mike got sucked into work when he had to book all of his travel for the next few weeks, then change some reservations he had already made
- We talked about our want to visits as far as travel- mine include México and Spain. His include Poland, Ireland, and a few others.
- Decided about 7pm when he was finally done to go to the Mexican place we went to a few weeks back to see what busy looked like
- Los mariachis were fun and there was a group of 12 of them
- We sat in the bar and I translated la música
- A Mexican band came on after and everyone made their way out to dance
- Fun times sitting, talking, and eating... expensive times... 2 drinks, enchilada and taco plate, shrimp salad, and guacamole and $80 later...
- Back at his place we watched some of his Tivo
- Fell asleep to "Inception"... bad movie.
- I felt like all arms as the 2 of us were trying to cuddle... I couldn't get comfortable and seemed like my elbows and arms were in the way when I was trying to cuddle up to Mike

SATURDAY
- Woke up and he was working again
- I watched TV while he worked
- He said we needed to go where it was warm, which meant Palm Springs
- We decide on a happy hour at The Palms Steakhouse, which didn't open until 4:30
- The Mexican place across the street was busy, which meant no margarita for us
- We decided on a taco and Corona at Fishermans... soooooooooooooo hit the spot!!!
- We walk up and down Palm Canyon/Indian Trail
- Stop in Gaymart for my cruise attire
- Fun times seeing Mike inside that store... lol... he's very modest... he went there for me... hahaha
- At 4:30 we head over to The Palms
- I order an apple martini because I was transfixed by the dry ice in the drinks

- cheap drinks there
- ordered mussels and their chiles... the chile was good, but I was still hungry and wanted another 2-3 of them
- Head over to Camelot to see Lions
- Lots of oooing and aaahing and feeling sad for lions
- It ended on a downer
- Mike added me on facebook while we were at the theater... a big step... got some comments on it from friends... lol.
- He teased/made fun of me for a few things related to my facebook page
- Talked about desserts we could eat heading home... must be sugarless... he's on a sugarless diet until our cruise... that's how he loses weight
- Belted out the hits like this... they always play this when we are in the car

As well as Sugarland's "Stuck Like Glue"!
- Tried to find the Stater Brothers near my aunt/uncle's house for dessert
- End up at the Ralphs my cousin works at as he is getting off
- I text my cousin that I met up with at Rainforest the other day to hurry up over to Ralphs, since she frequents this location
- Ralphs had no fresh fruits like blueberries, strawberries, or blackberries, so we go down the street to the other Staters
- We end up with yogurt, berries, and cool whip
- Mike has me text my cousin about the pizza place in the area and asks her thoughts... she raves about how great it is... Mike differs in opinion
- We get back to his place and my cousin invites us over... but we are already at his place
- She texts me asking when i'm free and what Disney pass I have so that Mike and I can go when the family goes
- We watch some "Restaurant Nightmares"
- Bed about 12am and Mike laid on the side so that I could cuddle up to him... so sweet... we stayed that way almost all night

Sunday
- Woke up at 9 and poked each other/played with the cats
- Mike began by showering, then cleaning the shower, and doing laundry
- I showered and then played on my phone while he did that and entertained the cats on the bed
- Spent the day watching "House Hunters," "Sell It," and the other fun HGTV shows
- Discussed cruises... he wanted to go to Canada, but that week is one of the busy weeks usually for me subbing and I don't want to miss making any more money as the end of the year is nearing
- Finally decided on a Mexican cruise to Ensanada
- Booked the cruise
- Got really annoyed at my new Southwest Credit Card that isn't worth shit now that they have changed the new points program
- Methinks I'll be dumping that card for a different rewards card... hopefully American Express... they have some pretty sweet rewards, but fulltime employment must come first
- Excited about the possibilities now that I'll have my passport... Spain... Mexico... Canada
- Headed home about 4 to meet my aunt, uncle, and cousin for dinner

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Accomplished Spring Break so far...

Having a great Spring Break so far...

You already know about the weekend...

Monday
- Olive Garden with my mom
- Shopped... went to the boring stores like Burlington Coat Factory, but we also went to Costco and that was a-ok
- School later in the evening

Tuesday
- Tracked down my passport and found out I needed a new passport photo
- Took my dad's old laptop to be wiped so my mom could have it for her use
- Lunch with my mom at Red Lobster
- Sprayed lots of weed killer in the yard
- Allergy shots
- Got new passport photo at Costco

Wednesday
- Tracked down my birth certificate at home
- Lunch with my mom at the hamburger place Gonzo and I really like
- Weeded the hill outside our house
- Cleaned out the garage and a car can now park in there... and for now it is mine until we do some more rearrangement so my mom can take it over
- Dinner with Jack Off Buddy, which was nice... fun to catch up with him

Thursday
- Lunch is planned with my cousin
- MUST APPLY FOR PASSPORT and crossing fingers that the post office phone message was accurate that passports are processed on a walk in basis... otherwise my trip may be a no go and I'll have some pretty pissed off people... it would have been easier had I followed through with the passport last summer
- Subbing at the middle school I went to for a short half day assignment (fun money!) Everytime I sub in this district the money I make from it is called my fun money, which I spend on me. It may be a pair of shoes or clothes, but it is fun money... extra money I wasn't planning.

Friday and beyond
- Not sure

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

I can't bring myself to be nice...

Because I don't have anything nice to say... Who knows how long this mood will last, but for now I am ignoring his texts.

And I am hoping I can bite my tongue tomorrow night when I'm at dinner with Jack Off Buddy, whose boyfriend is great friends with Keith.



... Oh... and he thinks I need to be free Saturday because I'm ignoring him.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Giving So Cali some love

Great weekend, as always!

Friday @ 11a.m.
- Met at Mike's
- he canceled his afternoon calls to meet with his new coworker who needed some training help
- we drive down to Laguna Beach
- walk to a ritzy hotel on the water for drinks
- we decide not to do lunch there since it was too unhip
- Mike drinks a bloody mary
- I order a sangria with fruit and his coworker follows
- she was such a sweetie - very well versed and knowledgeable, fun party type too
- Mike fills her in on company policies and procedures
- she paid for us since it was a company lunch/expense
- Mike informed me this is why I need to go to all of his business lunches... lol
- we go across the street to Watercress (I think that's the name) for a trendy lunch
- we share ahi tuna and watermelon skewers, and our respective salads
- I eat a warmed shrimp salad
- the business started here and Mike helped her with some database stuff
- sit there for a few hours while they work and she wanted to treat me to dessert for being soooo good
- she tries to help Mike and I find a hotel for a romantic weekend
- We decide on the hotel down the street from the restaurant
- go to the hotel about 3:30 and turn on the tv
- watch "Old Christine"
- we both fell asleep until about 6 cuddled, him holding me in his arms
- woke up and got ready
- Walked to a Belgian restaurant called Brussels Bistro
- the waiter from there was our water earlier who described every succulent dish with great detail
- I heard the descriptions of how he described a paella to a party a few tables away, turn around, take a look, take a second look, then tell Mike
- He laughs in amusement
- He asks our waiter if was the same guy worked at the restaurant we were at earlier- he said yes
- walk all around Laguna and walk along the beach - lots of talk about cupcakes, good foods, and family
- go to the movies to see the mediocre "PAUL"
- out of the movies about midnight - walk along the streets back to hotel
- we both make out and more ensues... we were both very horny

SATURDAY
- woke up about 9
- went to the bakery down the street for disappointing scones
- go back to hotel and head out
- we drive down PCH to Dana Point
- see Mike's favorite restaurant on the water in Dana Point
- Continue driving on the 5 south past San Onofre and we give our assessments to each other about the state of the nuclear plant, earthquakes, and the ocean
- before we know it we are in San Diego - he asks me where I frequent in SD and I tell him (Hillcrest, Fashion Valley, Mission Valley, etc.)
- We go to Coronado Island - I had never been and Mike was surprised
- Walk around Hotel Del Coronado and get a drink in the bar
- I have a Red Trailer Ale or something
- We only spend an hour there since parking was $3 an hour
- I got the parking and Mike got the overpriced drinks
- Drive back to his place
- Mike asks if the 5N hits the 10 and I tell him it does
- As we're driving up the 5, he corrects himself and says the 15
- I said we were going the wrong way, but take the 78 and it cuts over
- I told him he needed to be specific on his freeway choices and I wasn't lying the 5 does hit the 10, but would be an extra hour + to go that way
- Stop in Vista for Target bathroom pitstop and Famous Footwear
- Mike gets some shoes at Famous Footwear perfect for summer... some blue Converse
- Mike said no to me getting a pair of red Levis shoes that were comparable to the Vans Casuals except that they were an ugly red
- He said any other red would have been fine
- The shoes were only $15
- Mike said if we fooled around enough we could make it to the nice hotel in my city for appetizers
- We get to the hotel and sit at the bar- the stools are too high, but we move around and find a nice spot
- Order yummy ahi tuna pizza, onion rings, and a nice glass of white wine
- Mike reads a story about a possible Cali earthquake this week and I tell my extreme fear of earthquakes... he laughs... he eggs me on and I play it up... but seriously... earthquakes scare me to no end regardless of size
- back at Mike's we catch up on American Idol and give our commentary
- We go to bed about 12

SUNDAY
- woke up and played around
- shower
- Mike makes us breakfast of toast and eggs
- we watch a couple other DVR shows
- About 1:30 Mike suggests we head out to get lunch
- We go to a Chinese restaurant that was old looking and reminded him of the east coast Chinese restaurants
- He deemed the food as perfect for a lunch and dinner menu
- wonton soup, tea, eggroll, rice, and main course - just like Chinese restaurants should be
- Mike pays since I got dinner at the hotel last night
- Stop at Big Lots and Target
- In Target he gets "Edward Scissorhands"
- Back to his place we put the BluRay in and it has no English volume
- Mike does a firmware update and some investigating online to find he didn't have some option on the TV causing an error
- whodathunk the error with the disk?
- I get to experience Edward Scissorhands and Mike scans all of his documents in the computer for his taxes... he's so organized
- We also watch "Mars Attacks"
- Mike makes us dinner while "Mars Attacks" is on
- makes a tomato and mushroom sauce for ravioli and a glass of white wine.... yum
- We watch Real Housewives of OC
- He talks about the excessive product placement
- Also mentions how the OC housewives bought their cars at a USED car dealer... whodathunk?
- I tell Mike I'm amazed by his knowledge of the OC and that brought the show to life, but saddened and shattered my views of living large in the OC
- He laughed
- Watch What Happens Live on Bravo
- Bed about 12am

MONDAY
- Woke up about 6:40- managed to sleep through night
- 7am alarm goes off
- Mike checks his flight info
- shower
- Mike suggests McDonalds for breakfast, so we go to the one in the next city over instead of the one by his house
- I buy breakfast
- Mike warns me to not use elevators this week
- I tell him I had no plans and was planning on sleeping outside too so that the house won't cave in on me
- back at Mike's place he puts collars on his cats with nametags
- I joked at his earthquake preparation
- He said that was in case of any emergency while he is away - I said it was earthquake prep and he relented and acknowledged it was
- play with ihs cat while he packs
- Mike tells me bye and warns me to stay out of elevators... I told him to stop rubbing it in
- Get gas at 7-11... ugh... I hate 7-11 gas, but my light was on
- already not getting great mileage
- $3.94 a gallon is so not the biz
- home by 11
- Talk to mom and tell her about my adventures
- We go to Costco and Olive Garden
- I treat my mom to Olive Garden
- Talk about my masters thesis and my sister's tantrums over the weekend
- My mom made chicken and baked potatoes for dinner
- I'm headed off to school now...

Sunday, March 20, 2011

Since I haven't blogged about my kicks in a while

Here's a look at what I've acquired in the last __ months. I'm ashamed to say how many months.




2 of the pairs were gifts and all of them I bought were on sale at less than $40. Who can resist?

And I still need more...

I'm trying to catch up to someone I know who has 50+ pairs.

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Words and phrases people use to make themselves sound more intelligent

I saw this topic on a forum I was surfing around the other day - words and phrases people use to make themselves sound more intelligent.

The forum listed words like:
_______ said
in retrospect
nostalgic
collusion
discombobulated
copacetic- my grandma used to use that one ALL THE TIME
in and of itself
at the end of the day
counterintuitive
per se

Some that I thought of:
experts say
you know
one can understand
like
such as
satisfactory
acceptable

What are some of the words you use to make yourself sound more intelligent?

Hopefully, at least you use the words in an appropriate manner!

Thursday, March 17, 2011

Cheesecake Factory

One of the best things about my college is being so close to so many great restaurants. I didn't even have school tonight, but my awesome friends from school were thinking about me, texted me, I drove 30 miles to the restaurant, and 4 of us met at Cheesecake Factory for what else but Cheesecake?
So fun!

Not so much as a thank you?

I am annoyed at Keith. He went to Vegas this past week and asked me to dog sit a few weeks back. I told him I didn't have a problem with it.

He told me I would be dog sitting Friday-Sunday on 3/11-3/13.



I asked him what the job entailed and he said that I just needed to come by, get the mail, throw the ball to his dog a few minutes, give his dog 2 scoops of food, and make sure there was water. I did all of that.

I got a call from Keith last week as this was about to go on and he wanted me to come over about 7:15pm on Wednesday night. I am at the gym at the time when I get the text. I head over to his house. No one is there. I call him 3-4 times and leave messages, he doesn't pick up. I left at 7:30 after ringing his doorbell, texting, and calling him. At 8:15 I call him and told him I tried to come by. He calls me at 8:30 and asks me to come back over at 9:40. I told him there was not a chance as I was tired and told him flat out why I refused.

I was annoyed after this incident going into the dog sitting because he didn't have the decency to text/call me/pick up the phone. In his defense he said he was on a work call for over an hour on his cell phone.

I get a call later and he tells me where everything is in the house and what I need to know. He also told me that I was dog sitting from last Wednesday night, the night he wanted me to come over through Monday. I texted him a screen shot of his/my text and showed him that when he asked me initially he asked from 3/11 to 3/13. He never replied back.



I go Thursday afternoon to take care of the dog before going over to Mike's. I text him while I'm there. I let him know everything is alright and ask what his dog's name is because honestly I didn't know. He replied back with the name. I said that the dog didn't really seem to want to warm up to me and Keith said it was understandable given that the dog had been abused and is often mopey when he is not around.

On Friday he calls me and tells me that he is sorry he didn't invite me, but I'm always too busy for him. Um really? Ok... well... rub it in my face you're going to Vegas?

I get a text from Keith about 10pm on Sunday night saying next time I'm going to Vegas with him. I never replied back. I was annoyed.

Monday afternoon I shoot him a text telling him that the mail hadn't come, but that I had come by to give the dog food. He texted me back that he would be home in 2 hours. I got a call from him about 7:30 saying he wanted to go out together this weekend and do dinner together and do separate checks since he doesn't have a lot of money right now. In this call I didn't get a thank you, rather he just let me know that he was home and the dog was alive. And in this he seemed really adamant in pointing out the need for separate checks, which is bizarre to me since that's what we've always done when we go out together.

I ran into him last night, Wednesday night at the gym. I intentionally went earlier in the hopes of avoiding him, and plus it was still light outside, so I wanted time to get home and play. I see him as I'm walking out and he says hi. He tells me how much work he has and all that he has been doing with work. He tells me how much his dog missed him. He told me about his new office for the 100th time, but still nothing as much as a thank you. He had the intention of standing around for a while talking, but I hurried it along and said that I needed to go. I guess maybe he is just one of those self absorbed people... oh well.

I'm not going out of my way asking for a thank you, but I think it is necessary after this, and he's yet to say it. If he doesn't, it is all on him, and well, I don't have to be so nice the next time around meaning I don't have to offer to dog sit.

I also don't think I am free this weekend to hang out with Keith.

I do think that if anything I know that I won't be doing any favors for him in the future due to his indecisiveness on dates that could have/did interfere with my schedule/plans.

I'm not too butt hurt, rather just annoyed. I think the decency is what was lacking, and that is HUGE to me. And honestly I'm not as mad as I probably come off. It is just something in my mind slightly bothering me since it has been weird lately.

THURS. 10:20PM UPDATE: Keith texted me tonight and said "yay you," which was not surprising. Usually about once a week he messages me and wants to chat. I was not in that "yay me" mood. I always respond to texts, but I don't have any plans to respond to his.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Back up and running

My computer is back up and running after hanging out with The Guy yesterday. He reinstalled my OS. We chatted on Saturday and planned for Tuesday. He had a dentist appointment, but I got to his place early since I was in the area. He told me to just wait for him and that his boyfriend was there. I went in and hung out with him for a little bit and chatted. We chatted about common friends/schools we are both familiar with. We talked about work etc.

The Guy arrived about 1:45 and was in pain. He'd been to the dentist and had 4 cavities filled, a deep cleaning, and impressions for teeth whitening trays. He says goodbye to his boyfriend and warms up some beans and hamburger. He asks if I'm hungry and I tell him I'm starved. I am a little insistent about getting food, so he orders some from the yummy salmon/chicken place. All I can say is 9:45am is not lunch- it is brunch and I'm still going to be hungry.

The Guy warns me about all of the issues in reinstalling the OS since I didn't have the right disk and he was unsure that he did too. I told him to risk it. I am so frustrated trying to browse the internet and not being able to. He has the disk and the reinstall goes down fine. While he is doing that I run up to get the food at the restaurant. The waiters there are so nice. I pay for the food as my treat for helping me with my computer, get the food and head back. I also bring in some lemons from our lemon tree for The Guy- we have 2 lemon trees that never produced anything until recently and seem to be making up for all lost time. He thanks me for the food and lemons. We eat well- roasted potatoes, broccoli, salmon, and a delicious salad.

The Guy takes a nap once the OS is installed and lets me install Microsoft Office and iLife. I do both and it is about 5p.m. He napped about 3:30. It was a long process.

We go to get his dogs at daycare. There is some sort of checkpoint on the street where we go to get the dogs and traffic is a mess. We talk about police checkpoints and how in my city if you try to avoid the checkpoints police will go after you- I had that happen to me. That made his blood boil. We talk about protein/the importance of meat/him being worried I'm not getting proper nutrition dating a vegetarian. We also talk about stuff like his weight and how he is trying to get that off. We also talk about teeth-I told him about my crown and he told me about how bad his teeth were. He hates the dentist and hadn't been since he was 18. He told me about the plaque buildup on his teeth, which I couldn't believe because he has such beautiful teeth. He has super white teeth and an amazing smile.

We get the dogs and work our way around the checkpoint, but have to deal with a guy who drove 5 miles under the speed limit and had no signals in his truck, as well as a (Chevrolet) Celebrity in front of us who could drive 45, but was in our way nonetheless. What an ordeal! The Guy and I talk about houses and he talks about how his dad wanted him to move into a mobile home when he moved to his city and how adamant The Guy was that he would not do that... it was so hilarious to hear, and knowing his dad, I couldn't imagine him saying that, but that was funny.

Back at his place I work on putting my photos into iPhoto- transferring the photos stored online. That was an ordeal. Mobileme really needs a way to quickly download photos back into iPhoto. Suggestion.

The Guy says we need to go to Best Buy to get a hard drive for his brother who was coming over later to get his replaced since he needed a larger one. There was 1 checker for about 12 people- and Best Buy wonders why they are having difficulties? Oh, and not to mention the greeter is now the person that has to remove security tags from items, which causes a traffic jam at the door. I don't like Best Buy. PERIOD.

Back at his place he takes apart a computer like mine and puts a new hard drive in it. That was really cool to see. We watch a couple more episodes of Roseanne and it is pretty funny. Then we call it a night about 8.

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Mini media update

Chris Schauble is now on KTLA taking over the 4:30-7am time slot. I still don't like him and I was reminded upon seeing him on KTLA how much I dislike him. I will not be watching whenever he is on. His hands still drive me crazy, especially as I watched him doing stand ups away from the anchor desk. He is not weekday talent. He is small market.


The sexy Robert Kovacik was filling in for Chris on his now vacated weekend seat this past weekend.

Maria Quiban is back from maternity leave and looking good!


KCBS/KCAL has a new hottie from South Florida named Rob Schmitt.

Monday, March 14, 2011

The second leg of my weekend

Saturday:

- Got tires for my car
- Dennis' goodbye dinner was fun. It was hard to say goodbye. I was happy to finally meet his boyfriend whom I had heard so much about and see how different he was from Dennis. There were about 8 of us and we went to an Italian place where we talked and dined.
- Texted Mike about 9:30 and headed to his place
- We watched random TV shows until bedtime, which was about 1 or so

Sunday:
- Woke up at 10:00 or so officially- springing forward played with us
- When Mike woke up he looked on his phone and realized the Rose Bowl Flea Market was yesterday
- Stopped at McDonalds on the way to discover it was 11:15 and breakfast was over
- We get in the car and drive down to Jamba Juice for smoothies instead
- Get to Rose Bowl and shop around
- He decides he is looking for license plates and vintage signs to decorate his kitchen
- He finds some license plates
- I'm going to pull some of the license plates and vintage signs from the garage that I have if I can find them and offer them to him
- We run into an Extreme Makeover Home Edition taping. Ty Pennington is filming and I snap a few photos being the paparazzi I am



- Went to Downtown Pasadena to a Mexican place for food
- Good sonora enchilada con huevos on top - I was originally going to get cheese enchiladas, and that's what I told Mike, but changed my mind at the last minute... it was pretty good
- Talked a lot about my family and his family
- Stopped at Ralphs for cake mix, eggs, milk, and a few other items
- Ran into my distant cousin that works at Ralphs- he waved- we weren't in his line- I teased Mike about not wanting to get in his line
- Get back to Mike's and he asks if I am going to make his cake
- I whip up his cake while we watch Chicago
- We watch some more Japan coverage and a few other shows on TV
- He dozes off a little bit while we are watching- unfortunately I don't
- About 11 we both are wide awake and chatty
- We head to bed and play around some
- Fall asleep around 1 to The Nanny

Monday
- Up at 7, but doze until 8
- Shower
- He makes scrambled eggs and toast for breakfast
- He has a 3 hour conference call
- I hang around watching TV and playing on his computer
- I get a call from Kaiser that they want me at 1:30 for acupuncture instead of 2:30
- I head out about 12:30 and we kiss goodbye... he is traveling until late Thursday evening

Saturday, March 12, 2011

Out in the convertible

Mike and I decided to hang out on Thursday. We had texted all week and decided this was the best day. It was nice in that I had the earlier part of the week to get everything done.

Thursday night he texted me about 3:30 or so as I was at the post office mailing a few things and dropping off letters. I said I would meet him at 5.

At 4:55 I pull up to his place and head in. He says we are going for a drive since it is so beautiful out and taking the convertible. He says we are going down to Laguna Beach. He asks if sushi is alright and makes a reservation for a place just off of PCH. The weather is perfect- it is about 70 most of the way, but it does drop about 10 degrees when we go down the 241 toll road. Mike has a Fastrak so we cruise down without any problems. We do stop to get gas in Horsetown USA AKA Norco. We get gas for $4.01 for premium. We have some good conversation about work, his business trips, my mean side at work according to others, and a few other topics.

The restaurant is a nice looking restaurant on the exterior. The interior could use some work. The rolls were only $6, so we ordered 4 different ones. We weren't super impressed with any of them- none of them stood out as being super good. We talked about my mom, Linda, my parents thoughts about things like home improvements/appliances. He was a little surprised by our nearly 40 year old washing machine... not in a good way... LOL.

After dinner we go out to his car. I have to climb in from his side because he parked too close to the curb and he was going to kill me if I scraped his door on the curb. The curb was nearly 18'' and he parked within 7-8'' of it, so there was no way I was getting out. He properly dresses us for winter convertible weather. He turns up the heat as high it will go, we put on gloves, scarves, and our jackets. We stop at a Starbucks in Irvine for hot drinks. We head back to his place and watch American Idol until 12:30 or so in the morning. My favorites are Casey, the girl who sang Shania, and a few others. Namia or whatever her name is not one of our favorites, but she is interesting. We "Overstand" everything now.

We woke up about 8 in the morning and played around. He tickled me LOTS. Kept grabbing my feet and other body parts. hehehe. He had to work- he had 2 sales calls. We get up and shower, watch Japan quake coverage, then he handles his work calls. I watch the news on Japan and get tired of seeing the same thing over and over- the tsunami pictures and the tsunami coverage here in California. The waves in So Cal were nothing out of the ordinary. He declares we need to go out somewhere yesterday as it was Friday. We looked at TV show filmings and other things. He gave me his computer to do a search. I found few things when I searched IE events. I looked on my phone at the OC Register's events site and discovered Joan Rivers was in La Mirada last night, but she was sold out we found after calling. He said we needed to go to Palm Springs. We get in the car and head out there. We go to Pacifica, where we went on Sunday. The waitress recognized us from Sunday and that was cool. We had some fish tacos that were pretty good, some disappointing ceviche- lettuce is not a filler in ceviche, sorry. We had the scallops that were delicious and some nice strong drinks. He had a vodka twist and I had a strong cadillac margarita.

We decide to go to the Camelot Theater to see "The HR Manager," which was an Israeli filmmaker's movie about an HR manager with a humanitarian side. It was pretty good. I picked the movie. We weren't expecting subtitles an I was wondering how Mike would like it. He said he thought it was interesting. Afterwards we made our way to Dinks. We continued talking about the movie. At Dinks we talked about Israel/Palestine and I explained why the 2 countries are fighting there since he had no clue. We talked about where the characters in the movie took the mother's body to. We both thought it was somewhere else in Israel- not Jerusalem- but somewhere else- turns out it was Russia and we laughed we were both wrong. I justified Russia after seeing the orthodox church after he googled that was where they took the mother's body in the movie. We sat listening to the music, looked at the older crowd dancing. He made a bet with me that his boss would come in sometime before 9pm to Dinks. He did. We tried to ignore his boss and as he came in we both smiled at each other and were amused. His boss came in with a girl who he is in some crazy love triangle with, so we got to put a face to the name we heard about the other day. They didn't sit next to us as there were no seats. We sat enjoying our creme brulee and then started to head out. His boss encouraged us to stick around, but Mike said we had a great evening out and it was winding down. His boss said it wasn't even 9pm. We managed to sneak out and headed out to the car where we just talked about how amusing that situation was.

We sing some Pink in the car, "Just Like a Pill" and this diddy... fun stuff!



We get back to his place and watch more quake coverage and "The Big Bang Theory." I tell Mike I don't mind staying the night, but I had to get up early to take my car in. He said that wasn't an issue. I sat my alarm for 7. We watched "Old Christine" until about 12:30. I slept pretty well again last night. About 6:50 before the alarm went off we started cuddling and cuddled until 7:15 when I said I needed to get up for real. I got up, threw my clothes on, and headed to the car repair shop.

I'm getting my brakes done, fuel injection cleaned, and a strut replaced. Lots of stuff. Should be expensive. Oh, and I need new tires too.

I'm meeting Dennis and his friends tonight. Dennis is leaving tomorrow for 2 years. He's going in the Peace Corp. Tonight is his goodbye dinner. I'm not looking forward to going in that I have a hard time saying goodbye- even though temporary, but it is the right thing to do.

I'm probably going to head over to Mike's after.

Talked to The Guy today- he was down the past few weeks since he was off his meds. We are going to hang out on Tuesday and he is going to do a fresh install on my Mac since I'm still having issues with Safari not always loading properly. It has been going on for a few weeks and is getting frustrating.

Thursday, March 10, 2011

2 great groups and 1 great song

Mumford and Sons song Sigh No More


And here's Sugarland covering it

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Getting myself situated

It is nice that this quarter does not seem too intense at school. It is giving me time to do things I really want.

So far in the past few days I've done the following:
- Worked- I've worked for the past 14 school days straight
- Washed my car
- Went to the gym twice
- Bought a going away gift and card for Dennis as he is leaving on Sunday to join the Peace Corp.
- Made an appointment to get my car serviced Friday
- Paid my speeding ticket
- Weedwhacked for my dad since he can't
- Bought shoes
- Caught up on emails
- Caught up on sleep
- Did my taxes and mailed the state
- I owe the state- BOO!
- Formatted my thesis paper and put what I have in it
- Researched a few things that I have been meaning to do - random stuff that came to mind

Now that all of these menial tasks are out of the way, one of those things I want to do is read more for personal enjoyment. I want to read "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang" by Chelsea Handler and "Me" by Ricky Martin. I downloaded "Yo," the Spanish version of Ricky Martin's book tonight since I really need to continue to read and listen to TV in Spanish as I notice I'm forgetting some word meanings. Yo es my first ebook. I will see how I like it... I'm thinking an iPad 2 may be in my future if I do like it.

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

I always knew writing papers on the same topic over and over would have a benefit

I always knew writing papers on the same topic over and over would have a benefit someday, somewhere. It seems the time is now with my masters thesis. I have 3 papers that I have written on my chosen topic. My professor for my class sat in astonishment and was very complementary. She has never seen this happen before. She told me how awesome I am. Those in the class who knew me already smirked and thought that was a typical complement of praise for me, but the others who didn't know me were as surprised as the professor was. It seems I have written chapter 1 and 2 of my thesis (introduction and literature review). I have a great start on chapter 3 (my methodology and data). Chapter 4 and 5 (reflection and interpretations) will come quickly based on the results of chapter 3's data. I formatted my paper today how the professor wanted and did some cutting/pasting. It seems I am already a good 25 pages into it. I could easily finish my thesis in the next 8 weeks and probably set a school record. I am amused, thankful, tickled, and more. Soooooooo crazy!

I know writing a masters thesis is no easy task or feat. I have friends and mentors who have given up at various points (Mel, The Guy, and several friends). I know people who have trashed their papers and started over many times. I know the hours of research and sacrifice involved. I know how so many universities have students take up to 2 semesters and devote that solely to working on it. I know most people are not as fortunate. I can't even explain how this all worked out.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Big Lots... of junk

Over the weekend while I was gone my mom went to Big Lots. They were having a customer appreciation sale or something and your entire purchase was 20% off. I can't stand that store. It makes me sad. It is always so trashy. The aisles are littered with toys and so much of what they sell is just tacky. A part of me just dies inside. Actually, I have some good memories of going to Big Lots when I was a kid with my grandma. A lot of the aisles have just junk, though. I can walk through there by myself just fine, but when my mom comes into the picture I get annoyed. She came home with so much junk. She got me some memory foam slippers I'll never wear and that have already found their way to the trash. She got some Nutrisystem frozen dinners nobody will end up eating, some Nutrisystem Chef Boyardee looking containers of pasta that just look nasty. She bought Pringles that nobody will eat. She bought some random Snickers energy candy. She bought 4 monster boxes of Bisquick. I'm all for stocking up, but we don't have the room and the boxes are now sitting up against the large cabinet in the kitchen with all of the canned and boxed goods. And we'll have all of this stuff until the end of time... or until I go on a cleaning spree in a week after she has forgotten about it. What a waste of money to save 20% off...

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Food weekend

We know I like to write, but I need to get ready for bed and so bullet points will have to suffice...

Friday Night
- Met Mike at 6:30. We decided on that time after he texted me on his way home from his business trip and was driving home from LA
- We order Dominos Pizza in and track our order with their nifty tracker via their website
- Thin crust veggie and hand tossed cheese, mushroom and onion
- Watch 5 hours of American Idol on the couch, but less thanks to TIVO and Mike cutting out unnecessary commentary and horrible singing
- There are lots of bad singers
- My prediction- I've never watched Idol regularly - but my prediction is that one of the more standards type singers will win- the Broadway type singers or Etta James type
- We both fell asleep to Idol - I fell asleep after him
- We both woke up at 12:40am and went to bed

SATURDAY
- Woke up at 7... too early! But we did enjoy some time together in bed... lol
- Showered
- Met at McDonalds to eat and take his rental car back
- Shared with him some of the stuff I learned about McDonalds thanks to my cousin
- To the airport to drop off the car
- There was an error and the rental car company charged him $1400 to rent the car on his credit card
- To Ontario Mills for some shopping- Went to Marshalls, but ended up walking around the entire mall
- Mike and I started talking about eyebrows after passing the eyebrow threading booth. He didn't know how that worked, so I did my best to explain, although I didn't know 100%. He was oblivious to the fact that I waxed my eyebrows. He told me how they looked so natural. Everyone else says otherwise... that was sweet
- Back to his house to watch "The Middle" and "The Talk"
- We both napped in the afternoon- him longer than me- I should have napped longer, but was wide awake
- When he woke up he asked what I was cooking for dinner
- I volunteered pasta dishes
- I mentioned paella, and since he has a new paella pan he was agreeable
- Went to Fresh & Easy for the ingredients
- Went to Ralphs for the fish- seafood and scallops plus margarita mix
- Rented "The Kids are Alright" and something else
- 2 margaritas and I was ready to make dinner
- I made dinner while Mike sat on the couch talking to the cat, telling him how he didn't have to cook, and watched "V"
- Paella was sooooooooooo awesome
- Add a glass of wine here
- Mike liked it alot and thanked me. I thanked him for paying for it. It was close to $30 to make
- I fell asleep during the 2nd movie, "The Kids Are Alright"
- Was hoping to stay awake during it
- Went to bed about 12:30

SUNDAY
- Woke up at 7:00
- I'm tired of his cat kneading 3-4 times a night when I'm trying to sleep
- Mike was feeling sick and spent about an hour in the bathroom while I laid in bed watching something random
- We finally got up and Mike paid some bills
- He showered, then I did
- As I showered he washed his convertible
- He asked if I wanted to go to Palm Springs
- We drove out to PS
- Stopped at the outlets in Cabazon so he could get Starbucks
- Went to the big street fair at College of the Desert and noticed the lack of Mexican people, but the plethora of old
- Ate bean and cheese tamales
- Went to El Paseo in Palm Desert for Banana Republic
- Discovered Pacifica for really cheap and inexpensive fish, plus good margaritas
- We ended up with mussels and margaritas, which were delish
- Drove around looking at PS modern architecture
- Saw Frank Sinatra's first wife's house
- Met Mike's boss for dinner
- Mike's boss is a british guy in his 50s who is gay and known for picking up young marines
- All of this translated into lots of drama and his tragic stories
- We sat in his backyard drinking wine hearing his stories and Mike kept turning, smiling at me, and I rubbed his knee... like everything he said about his boss was true... lol.
- Mike warned his boss to not corrupt my innocent mind... LOL...
- Ate at Fisherman's and had the best fish tacos
- They forgot the mushrooms and garlic bread Mike ordered - his boss being British called him on that
- Mike lectured his boss about needing to quit smoking
- Went back to his boss' house about 7:45
- Drove back as it started to rain in Banning- convertible top down
- We pull off the freeway and put the top on
- Back to Mike's about 9
- He asks if I am going to stay the night... I wanted to, but needed a change of clothes
- Driving home I felt really sad to leave, which was understandable
- Also felt weird that I wonder when my mom will breach the subject about me being gone so much lately
- I like how when I arrive back home it was like I was never gone, except the family teases me a little for being the long lost child
- I realized how I really need to take $40-60 out of the ATM for the weekend, which is inconvenient, but I can do it. I don't always have $100 on me like Mike. Mike was insistent on paying for breakfast and lunch on Sunday because I had no cash. I did have the tip for the pizza Friday night, which was my last $5. I paid for our food at Pacifica while he snuck away to the bathroom because I try to make sure it is equal.

Saturday, March 5, 2011

I'm gonna call the cops on you

I was going to the mall the other day and was driving down the highway toward the mall. I am doing between 55 and 60, which was appropriate as the posted speed limit on the street was 55. I had been in the right lane and there are 2 lanes in each direction. About a mile from the street I need to turn on I signal, check my mirrors, then ease into the left lane. I then go over to the center turn lane. I am stopped maybe 10 seconds. All of a sudden this blonde woman with wavy hair, who is about 50, in a black Toyota Highlander pulls up next to me and stops. She has her window rolled up as do I, and she is mouthing something at me. I look at her strangely, then roll down my window too. She then rolls down her window and yells, "you need to learn to drive, you need to watch your fucking self, you need to be careful, you are a fucking bitch head, young man, I'm going to call the cops on you." She had her phone and started dialing a number and held it up so I could see. I was floored. WTF did I do? I roll up my window and my light turns green. I make my turn and this entire time I'm wondering what I did. I don't think I did anything and I don't think I was being reckless. I think she was just an angry old woman.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Oh, and on another note there are 2 books I really want to read in the near future. They are old, yet have been out for a while. I want to read "Yo" by Ricky Martin en Espanol y Chelsea Handler's newest book "Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang." And how sexy would that look reading it on an iPad 2? Sadly I'm not sure I qualify to ride it off as an education deduction like I hoped...

Friday, March 4, 2011

One of these days... I will have a masters

One of these days, like in 2 1/2 months I will have my masters degree... I just found out it is 2 more classes. My Monday night class for the next 2 quarters is basically working on my thesis. The good news I got Monday night, the first night of class, is that I could be a good 1 1/2 chapters into it.



I am actually excited for this quarter at school. I'm back in classes with a couple good friends from school- Laura and Jamey. This is the first time Beth and I don't have class together. I did get a plethora of texts from her tonight as she was stuck in class. I said little, but she still texted relentlessly. Back to my Monday night class, though. It should be a challenge, but in a good way as I collect the data necessary for my masters. It should be a challenge in seeing that I am creating my trials appropriately. It won't be easy, and I have no doubt this woman who is teaching the class has a wrath I don't want to experience, but I feel comforted by her at the same time. She assures us she will not let us go and will guide us. She KNOWS her material unlike some of the other nuts I've had. She even is going to treat us to dinner every week in class...

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Allergy headaches

My allergy headaches have returned. I have been sleeping most of the evening trying to sleep it off. And I managed thanks to my Coca Cola, migraine medicine, and Tylenol. Ick. If this is only March I am going to have a long, long allergy season.

Oh, and I want an iPad 2. I would love if I could find a way to deduct it on my taxes... I was reading up on the tax laws... I'd be willing to buy ebooks etc. for my laptop, but it seems unless a school requires a computer it is not a tax deductible item...maybe my meager tax rebate check could be put toward the purchase of one?

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Is teaching really for me?

I posted the other day about my conversation with Mike and my questioning whether or not I want to be a teacher. I do that often- daily, weekly, monthly, you get the idea. It depends- when I have a defeat at work I question.

I have a bachelors and minor degree that could be very marketable- Spanish and my major could allow me to work in any sort of job I want- journalism, public relations, marketing, human resources, and anything writing related. I would love to do something in one of those fields. Is it difficult to break in? Is it something I am scared of? Does it take time? Does it take sacrifice? Yes to all of those.

I have talked to friends who tell me I have everything it takes to succeed in banking, management, or sales. I think all of those would be neat. Do you have to work your way up in many of those fields to get a level of success for a modest income that you can live comfortably? Yes.

Why am I not taking the sacrifices and trying something different? My comfort level. I tend to stick within my comfort level and teaching just seemed natural.

I have applied for jobs in the fields I mention above, but never really took the risk and followed it whole heartedly. Maybe I should have.

I should have probably said by now I am not giving up on teaching -- afterall I just applied for my teaching credential. I really do like teaching. The feeling when a student finally understands something is amazing. The excitement and thrill that comes with 180 students that look up to you is a rush. The thought that you are impacting lives is cool. You really do hold so much power as a teacher and can turn a student on or off to learning- it works both ways. I find I love the difficult kids- I love English language learners- I love the behavior problem kids (as long as you don't give me too many in the same class where they become unruly). I like the lesson planning sometimes when it flows and when it works. I love the teaching of course, which is why I am going into this. Do I think I'm wrong? No.

I guess where my frustration really lies, and what I told Mike about the other night stemmed from our debate where we are at opposite ends of the spectrum. These are everyday reasons that go through my mind that worry me.
- I am scared as a teacher that test scores will determine our fate- as a young teacher I feel like a target. There are those that will argue as long as you teach, you will be fine. They don't take into account the unruly kids, the kids who perform very low and you move from below basic to basic in their skill levels
- I don't buy that argument "as long as you are doing your job the kids will do theirs" - You expect the kid who might dislike you, doesn't take your performance seriously, the major behavior problem kid, your really low special ed kid to perform well and make sure you keep your job?
------- I know alot of these issues go into teacher performance and I'm not going to argue how/what what way I believe teachers should be tested- I just want to throw out my concerns
- When salaries are on the line and based on performance it has yet to have been made clear how teachers in low performing schools will be impacted, but the consensus seems to be we will never get raises, and that's the kind of school I see myself at.
- Awful administrators that are out to target you- it comes with any profession.
- Teacher pay - Mike seems convinced if teachers weren't unionized we would make $125,000 a year
- Continued slashing of teachers pay- my parents have both taken close to 10% decreases in pay over the past 2 years
- The great backlash against teachers- surely the number of good teachers outnumber the bad
- Backlash against union rights like collective bargaining - it is about rights
- The fall of unions? What about our representation/lack thereof from the unions? Who will represent us? What will happen?
- Abuses from administrators/districts/lack of representation from unions
- The expectation from parents that we should/it is necessary to spend/spend our own my to make our classrooms run. Do they do that for their jobs?
- The pay cuts teachers have already taken... are there going to be more? Is it going to get better? When? Am I going to be able to live modestly? Have a nice car, house, be able to take vacations
---- My pay is important to me because it is about my personal happiness
- The grading
- The pressure to perform
- Anxiety - so many teachers I know are on antidepressants/anxiety meds due to the stressors.
- The fear I'm not good enough
- Teaching is for the bottom of the barrel/housewives - I've heard this from Mike and many others
- The pink slip in my first several years of teaching
- Not knowing what the future will bring as far as teacher pay, respect, reforms, unions, etc.
Many of these arguments you'll probably say come with any job, but again, these are reasons I worry about becoming a teacher... I've been through a lot already in my short teaching career, and it hasn't always been easy. There are a lot of challenges being a teacher which I enjoy, then there are others that I detest, which at times have made me hypersensitive to many of the issues teachers face.