Although today is my last day, I'm already scheduled 3 more days for substituting here at North. I can't believe the sheer amount of Thank You cards, money, and food that I've received today. Everyone has made this the best work experience of my life. The teachers pooled and gave me $50 (and a Thank You card), the teacher I'm subbing for (Mrs. Lamble) gave me: a $50 gift certificate at Barnes and Noble, a Thank You card, and a dozen donuts from Donut Bank. One of my students, Billy Lampton, made a cool batch of Rice Crispie Treats in the shape of a computer with the Quake III Arena logo on it, and there may be more... so stay tuned! Fourth period is allegedly throwing an in-class party for me, so we'll see how it goes. Today is a good day, quite possibly one of the best I've ever had. Thank you, everyone!

Today after school, we are playing Quake III in the computer lab. I think about 4-5 people will show. Should be a lot of fun. I can't believe that tomorrow is my last day teaching. I'm really going to miss my classes, but I guess I knew the end was coming. I've made a lot of friends (read students), and I hope they enjoyed the time I was here. Anyway, I have my first and third period grades finalized... now I just have to work on the 4th, 6th, and 7th.

NOTE: I have added links to 2 of my students blogs on the right-hand side. (Kendall and Dan)

Did you ever wonder what some of your favorite celebrities would look like if they gained 100+ lbs? This site is meant to be satire at the expense of celebrities, and of course would naturally cater to the many fans of larger people.

http://www.fatlaneonline.com/

Ken, Sara, Kristina and myself went and saw "The Ring" yesterday. It was a really strange movie, but a good one nonetheless. Kristina left grip marks on my arm, and both Kristina and Sara shrieked in a few spots. Although the movie is hyped as a story about a "video tape that kills people when they watch it", the story actually focuses on the reasons behind the tape's existence. I don't want to spoil any plot points, so I'll just leave you with the following description: "It's not a slasher movie about a string of deaths from a video tape." I couldn't help but think of the Sixth Sense although the stories really aren't anything alike. Gotta go to school now! *kisses mom goodbye*

Just got home from Tony's house. We went to Steak N Shake (SNS) on the west side, where we had what I would simply call "the most inadequate, mentally deficient wait staff ever" serve us. We went inside, greeted by the typical "Have a seat" sign. Also standard fare, was the fact that every table in the place was dirty. Thinking that we spotted a clean one in the smoking section, we moved in that direction. A guy wearing a SNS uniform said he'd clean one off for us. "Good deal," I thought to myself. So we move over into the non-smoking section to wait for him. He proceeds to clean off one table in the smoking section and disappears. Finally, the mentally retarded manager comes over to the non-smoking section and points at the table the other person had cleaned off. We told her that "we only went to the smoking section because we thought we saw a clean table." The average person would have inferred from that statement that we were NOT smokers. What does she do? She says, "That IS the smoking section over there." Arghhhhhh! Finally, she understood our position. Next we ordered food, not a challenge to be taken lightly. I ordered a Double Steakburger platter and for the sides, a cup of chicken gumbo and some cottage cheese without the pineapple. The lady repeated the order back correctly. Next thing I know, I get chicken noodle soup and cottage cheese with a big old nasty slice of pineapple on it. She took the soup and the cottage cheese back immediately without hesitation. The next cottage cheese plate I get has a chunk of pineapple in the first spoonful that I eat. Now I'm starting to get mad. She took that one back, and finally brought me a decent fruitless scoop of cottage cheese. Tony tried to get a refill and I had tried to get a shake for what must have easily been 30 minutes. We had our ticket alright, but were never asked about dessert or refills. We ended up asking for the refill and chocolate malt in some to-go cups. Now we realize the check is wrong, because she didn't give me the discount from the discount card that I showed her when I first ordered (made a $2+ difference). Next thing we know, a huge group of drunk people in costumes wanders in and now it's literally going to take forever before they will take our money... TAKE OUR MONEY. The lady is running back and forth like the proverbial chicken-with-its-head-cut-off, constantly shouting, "It'll be just a second guys!" Ten more minutes finally pass, and we were able to fork over said money and cut our way through the drunken USI students. I can't stand drinkers. Moral of the story, SNS is always shorthanded at night, and making your order clearly doesn't guarantee anything. Priorities are thrown down the toilet, and as far as dicounts, refills, and desserts go, they will forget leaving it up to you to catch it. Damn this was a long pointless post, my apologies if you stayed for the whole story. Pbbt!