Spies from the Past

At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)

The other day I was watching an episode of NOVA called "D-Day's Sunken Secrets". And because time travel is always on my mind (well, not always, but frequently), I got to thinking...

What if spies could time travel to the future to find out how the enemy won their war?

Purse Progress, Part 2

There's a point in the project when it goes from "just started" to "almost finished". I suppose most people have more of a middle ground, but not me, and not with this project. Last week, I had "just started".

On my birthday, I made quite a lot of progress. (Note: I wrote last week's blog post before my birthday, but it posted after.)

And suddenly, I was "almost finished". By Friday, I had completed the main body piece.

Before the Olympics opening ceremony I sewed those two together. During the opening ceremony I wound in the ends.

And now I have something new to contemplate. I kind of like how this looks...

But I kind of want more of a slant on the purse's flap. Something to play with.

I'd like to say it'll be done by this time next week. It's possible. But I have been known to spend weeks on the finishing up of a project.

Mass Exodus

It was the last day of summer school. The entirety of the lesson plan was a "final" (the final three chapter tests), and then they got to watch a video.

The class was four hours. The final took maybe an hour. With a half hour of preliminary stuff, some study time, and correcting the finals after (they swapped papers, and I called out the answers), they had a little over two hours remaining.

They wanted to know if they had to come back after the break.

I can totally see their point. They were done. But, legally, they were in that class, and I was responsible for them for the time until the class dismissed.

I'm not sure how the conversation got around to it, but they found the loophole. No, they couldn't just leave (I would inform the office that they'd cut). I couldn't dismiss them (we were all there until the end of class). But if a parent checked them out...

After we got back from the break, I did a head count. They all returned. Then the phone rang. Could I send a student to the office as she was leaving?

Two minutes later, another call.

By the fifth call, the secretary was very apologetic. She didn't need to be. I knew exactly what happened. They'd called their parents, and someone came to check them out.

Well, they were done...

And it was better for me, as several of my worst cases went home early. Like "Eddie Haskell". It made the rest of the day go so much more calmly.

The rest of them got dismissed at the normal time. 11:45 AM.

Silence is Golden

It was summer school. The kiddos were generally on task. They turned in everything they were assigned. They did everything they were assigned. And the major behavior problem I had was them getting too loud, especially when they were between assignments.

So, I wasn't too concerned with their cell phones.

I don't have an issue with them listening to music while they work. Just so long as I don't have to hear it. That's what earbuds are for.

But "Eddie Haskell" didn't have earbuds...

At various times I'd hear sound coming from his cell phone. He'd be playing some basketball game, watching some video, or listening to music. None of which I should have been able to hear.

I told him this. He didn't see my point. He wasn't bothering anybody.

Um, yes, he was bothering me.

So, he attempted to find something that wouldn't bother me. He and his friends discussed different types of music. They floated the idea of country music...

(Why do kiddos assume I'd like country music? I mean no offense if that's what you like, but I've never been a fan. And that they assume that's what I like offends me no end.)

...Then they thought about classical. They'd go with a Beethoven symphony.

For me, that wasn't the point. (The song he had on before was something I kind of liked.) The point was, I'd asked not to hear their music.

So, periodically, I'd hear piano or some other symphonic melody. And I'd go and tell him to turn that music off.

Deep, deep sigh.

(I did "offer" to hold on to his cell phone so he wouldn't be "tempted" to use it. That helped curb things a little. But cell phone rules are rather fluid at the moment. And as it was summer school and it appeared that Mr. C had allowed their use before, I was in a rather odd spot in terms of them. The regular school year is easier. I would have confiscated the phone and turned it into the office after the second offense.)

Logistics, Part 2

The prior week, I had covered a health class for summer school. Originally I had been contacted to cover the Monday. Then Tuesday through Friday was added. And then the last four days of summer school, the following week from Monday through Thursday, was added as well.

Needless to say, this was not a planned thing, and I wish Mr. C all the best.

They were covering the full semester health class in about five weeks, four hours per day. Which meant that they flew through chapters. And chapter tests.

But going through the chapters this quickly meant that the students didn't have study time to prepare for tests. To make up for this, the teacher allowed open book tests, but just for the first few minutes of the test.

Which, of course, the students didn't think was long enough.

This day they were taking three chapter tests together. Multiple choice and true/false. They'd get fifteen minutes of open book time.

They complained that he gave them ten minutes per test of open book time before. So, they should get longer, they protested.

One girl said that they should take each test individually.

I could see what she said, but I couldn't do this due to the logistics of passing out and collecting tests. Did they take one test, wait for everyone to finish, and then pass out the next test? Or, was I supposed to give the next test when someone finished the first? Which then would mean that each student was on a different five minutes of open book time.

How was I supposed to coordinate all of this?

The girl complained of my use of the term "logistics".

"Do you mean 'logically'?" she asked.

Um, no, "logistics" is the term I meant.

But clearly I was misspeaking because "logistics" isn't a word, and it makes no sense anyway. Couldn't I just give them more open book time? Or pass out each test separately?

This is why I've stopped trying to explain things to teenagers. Sometimes it's like arguing with a brick wall. Although, a brick wall has more give.

I passed out all the tests at the same time, but I did give them five minute warnings. I could, at least, do that for them.

Complex Aroma Key

At the heart of much speculative fiction (and fiction in general) is a question. What if? On Tuesdays I like to throw one out there and see what you make of it. Do with it as you please. If a for-instance is not specified, feel free to interpret that instance as you wish. And if you find this becomes a novel-length answer, I'd appreciate a thank you in the acknowledgements ;)

If you watch Killjoys, you'll probably have some idea where this question comes from...

What if we could unlock things (doors, safes, computers...) using our natural aromas? 

Purse Progress

The last time I blogged about my current projects, I talked of starting a new purse...

Shortly after this picture was taken, I frogged this.

It's a fairly straightforward story about needle sizes, stitch pattern characteristics, and fabric density. But as it will only be interesting to fellow knitters, I won't go into it. I went up a couple needle sizes, started over, and realized that yet again something was wrong.

So, I again started over.

Now it looks like...

The problem? I had cast on too few stitches, so the purse was going to be too narrow. But instead of frogging attempt number two, I bound it off...

I think I'll use that as the flap. I just need to figure out triangular pieces to add to the sides, and then it'll all get sewn together. I have a couple ideas...

It's hard to see at the moment. Especially as I'm making it up as I go along.

Maybe I should just go back to making Pokeball lip balm holders...