Clocks and Progress

Today I have a bit of a rant. But for those of you who are keeping up with that big ol' thing I'm knitting, my weekly progress.

I started at...

Last week I got to...

And this week, I'm at...

Also, I finished the earrings, and now if you are so inclined, you can purchase a pair...

Bauble Earrings Multicolored Knit

The link in the caption takes you to the listing. Okay, and now for the Rant:

I have one of those atomic clocks. You know the ones?

Rather than having to set the thing, it links with some accurate clock someplace, making sure the time stays pretty close to "official time".

Only, as with all technology, it doesn't always work as advertised. Occasionally, it likes to slip into Daylight Saving Time. Like it did on Thursday. Note, it's February. We've got a couple weeks until DST returns.

Yep, so occasionally, I'll have to set the the thing or ignore the fact that it's a whole hour off.

I thought that was the only clock I had that failed.

The other day, I was on my cell phone. Email. Facebook. Candy Crush. You know the drill. It said it was 1:05.

There was one big problem. It couldn't have been 1:05. I was in the wrong place for it to be 1:05. I glanced at my other, human set, clock, and it said 12:05.

Whew. I was worried for a minute there. But that meant that something was wrong with my phone.

After some fiddling with the thing, I found the problem. My phone had my time zone listed as Denver. Um, no. Nowhere near Denver. So, I manually set the phone to Los Angeles (close enough), and went on with my day.

At the end of the day, I checked the phone's settings again. When I put it back on automatic, it showed the proper time zone. I went to bed thinking the problem was fixed.

I use my phone for my alarm clock. Best alarm clock ever. I'm weird when it comes to how I wake up in the morning, and I have managed to configure the phone to handle this perfectly. (It only took 30 years for the technology to catch up to what I need.)

I bet you see what's coming...

My alarm went off. Only, my bedside clock showed it was an hour too early...

Yup. Phone thought I was in Denver again.

*grumble, grumble, grumble*

Okay, fine. So the phone is now permanently manually on Los Angeles. Because the alarm going off an hour early just sucks.

Not Going to React

Graphic arts class at the continuation high school. It was the last day to finish their current project. I had taken roll and was strolling around, doing my usual checking in on the students.

I stood over one boy. He had a box cutter in his hand. He was playing with the thing that pushed the blade out and pulled it back in.

I asked him what he was doing. He claimed that it was his box cutter and that he had brought it from home.

But he hadn't. Earlier in the day, I had noticed the box cutter sitting on a table in the middle of the room. I figured it was needed for various projects, so I had let it be. I didn't think I needed to hide the thing.

I think the boy was looking for some sort of reaction. A box cutter could be considered a weapon, and I could have gotten the administration of the school involved. It could have gotten ugly.

But I knew the box cutter wasn't his. So instead, I told him I knew where he had gotten it, and he needed to put it back.

He did. And that was that.

I don't think they think sometimes. Or perhaps they want to scare the sub. I've learned to underreact to things. It diffuses many a situation.

Some weeks I have so many good subbing stories, there is no way to get them all down. And then there are weeks like this one. A week where I have three days of 8th graders...who behaved. I mean, seriously? I ask a class of 8th graders to work silently, and they do? It made for a good week for me personally, but the blog... Ah well.

A Different Prize

Incidents like this are why I have a blog. Because they are just too crazy to keep to myself.

5th period. 8th grade science. (No, not that class.) They had a study guide for their test the next day. Instead, they were playing Rock-Paper-Scissors. Loudly.

The prize for winning: the loser's soul.

Um, yeah...

Soon, the "winners" had souls to spare, so they started putting those up for grabs in the game.

It was amazing how fast this game went. Well, it was Rock-Paper-Scissors, after all. But I'm amazed at how far it went because I shut that thing down immediately.

I wasn't offended or anything. 8th graders can't be trusted with games of any sort. Things get loud and out of control rather quickly. As this had. (Which is why I jumped on it so quickly.)

Besides, they had a test to prepare for.

(Apparently, the penalty for losing one's soul was a prohibition against celebrating holidays. This they explained at the end of the period. After the game was long over.)

Five Minutes

I was called in to cover an English class. I had 1st period prep (no students). As I slowly set up (I had an extra hour, after all), the phone rang. I groaned. I knew just what it would be...

"Could you cover an extra period...?"

I whined and complained in my head, but I said yes. It's not like I really had anything to do, and they do pay me for it. Turned out the class I was to cover was right across from the room I was in. So, I didn't even have to walk very far.

We waited outside for security to let us in. Once inside, I looked around for what to give the kiddos to do. I found the roll sheet, so I took roll immediately.

Now I had to figure out how to keep the kiddos busy. It was the wood shop class.

Over the phone I had been informed that the teacher was running late. So, he hadn't left lesson plans. He was going to be there. But what do you give a wood shop class to do to keep them busy? Working on wood shop was out--safety concerns.

I hemmed and hawed. And then I heard a key in the back door... The teacher had arrived.

Whew. Saved.

(The teacher got stuck in traffic. It happens. Not frequently, but it happens.)

Their teacher there, I could leave. I was probably there for about five minutes.

Marital Secrets

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 ;)

What if you just learned that your spouse killed someone before you both were married? What if that person (that your spouse killed) was known to you? (This question is going read very different depending on if you are married now or not.)

Keeping on Knitting

Yeah, so new background image for the blog. Not what I was intending that piece for, but it seemed rather fitting. Not sure if I like it. I'll have to play with it a bit to get the image about where I want it. It's a work in progress.

I didn't do much knitting this past week. I was dealing with headache issues. But I did start a new pair of earrings...

They just need the hardware. I plan to put them up for sale. And I have a question for all of you: If you were going to look for a pair of these, how would you describe them? (I'm trying to figure out what keywords to tag them with. Knitted earrings and knitted beads don't give me earrings that look anything like this.)

And since it's kind of become this weekly thing, mostly because I like to see that I'm actually making progress, the backdrop last week...

And where it's at this week...

That's just about the whole skein. (It's a one pounder.)

What do you think of the new background image on the blog? Should I keep it or go back to the old one?

Better to Ask Permission

It was 7th period at the continuation high school. The bell rang. One boy stood at the door, looking out.

I urged the boy to sit down. It was time to get class started. He informed me that he didn't feel like sitting. So, I went over and closed the door.

(That was only half about him. I had the air conditioning on. I leave the door open between classes to urge the students to come in, but once class starts, I want to keep the cool air in.)

I passed out the assignment. I turned to the class to explain what they were to do, and the boy walked out.

Um... Okay...

After explaining what they were to do, I called roll. When I called the name Nathan, someone informed me that was the name of the boy who had left. Okay. I had a name. But I was marking him absent, because he wasn't in class and didn't have permission to be gone.

About a half hour later, Nathan returned. With the assignment. Not complete, because he hadn't been in class to get the instruction as to what all needed to be done.

I asked him where he went. He told me that he went to work in another class. Why? Because he didn't feel like being in the room we were in. (He might have been irritated with me.)

Have you heard the expression: it's better to ask forgiveness than permission? It seems like there's a lot of that going on at the continuation high school lately.

But it doesn't work there. Because, if he had asked to work in a different room, I probably would have let him. I did, in fact, give permission for five different students to work in different rooms that day. Each one of them asked to go.

Nathan? I informed the office about what happened, and he was marked as cutting class that period. Because, in this case, it is much better to ask permission.