5 Reasons I'm Glad To Go Back To School

Folks, it's time for an attitude adjustment. I've been having pretty mixed feelings about returning to school. At times, I'm OK with it. At other times, I'm hating life. At yet other times, I'm excited. I'm tired of the mood swings. (It's like I'm pregnant or something - no, wait, that's my wife.) So, in an effort to pull myself out of the funk, I'm going to write five reasons that I'm GLAD to be heading into a new school year.

...

Uh, number one...

Number oNe...

*sigh*

This is going to take a bit of effort. Alright, here we go:

1. I'm excited to try out some new ideas. I've had some cool lessons percolating on the back burner for a while now. Last year, between grad classes and Robotics, I didn't have time to pursue them. Now I do. It'll be great to finally take them off the drawing board.
2. Fresh starts are refreshing. In few other professions do you really get a fresh start so often. Most gainfully employed people need to switch jobs to really start anew. Teachers get to do it every 12 months. Had a miserable sixth period class? Wait a few months and you'll get a new one. Messed up a perfect lesson? Don't worry - you can try it again next year. Fresh starts are one of the hidden benefits to teaching.
3. I'm on the best part of the learning curve. As a fourth year teacher, I'm in a great place. I've been teaching long enough that I'm no longer in survival mode. But, I'm still learning a ton - AND I recognize it. It's a great feeling.
4. I no longer feel obligated to do ALL of the housework. Of course, I didn't do ALL of the housework, but it sure felt like I did. Since Cali had to work like normal over the summer and I had all this "free" time, it fell to me to do the laundry, wash the dishes, clean the house, etc. At the beginning of the summer, it wasn't so bad. But by the end, I hated doing dishes. Could I mention this to Cali? Nope. She'd give me the "I'm pregnant with your baby and I have to work every day while you ride your bikes AND NOW YOU WANT ME TO PITY YOU?!?!" look. No, thank you. I'll do the dishes.
5. I'm getting a Smartboard. Actually, it's in my room right now, just waiting for the software to be installed on the presentation computer. Cool!!!!! I borrowed one a few times last year and really had fun with it. But this one should be MINE. I've got some great ideas on how to use it.
6. BONUS! I'll get to bike commute this year! No grad classes half way across the county any more! Hooray!
   

Honestly, I feel a little better now. Let's hope it sticks. If not, well, ...hey, just have 10 months 'til summer break!

Podium!

I finally won something! I entered Fatty's "Design Kenny's Tattoo" Contest (see here, my "entry" was in the comments section where I go by "Spiff") on a whim. Apparently Fatty liked my tattoo idea so much, he decided it was worthy of a tube of Dave Zabriskie's chamois cream, DZNuts. Whooo! Chamois cream! Yeah... *sigh* I would have much preferred to have won the Ibis Silk road bike in one of Fatty's earlier contests.

End of Summer Success

I go back to school on Monday. It hasn't been the summer I'd expected it to be. Frankly, I'd expected it to be more bike riding and playing and less paper writing and textbook reading. But it's been good nonetheless - I mean, can I really complain here? I've just gone eight weeks without having to wear shoes! So, although I didn't ride the Wilderness 101 or work at Spokes or even race Wednesday's at Wakefield, I am proud of is this:

Rockin' the skinnies at Schaeffer

So long, summer 2008!

Pitt to DC: Brief Debrief

(Full details of our Pittsburgh to DC ride can be found here.)

Well, our bike trip went off without a hitch! Of course, I think we would all agree that my thorough, exhaustive, and painfully detailed bike preparation is the reason. Let me catalog the mechanical issues - I hesitate to call them "problems" - we had on the trip:

• One (1) flat: Cali's front tire flatted out on our way from Hancock, MD to Harper's Ferry because of a nasty little rock shard that wormed its way into the tired tread. Really, it's hard to fault anyone for this flat. It was fate, really, and you can't blame anyone - least of all the bike prep guy - for fate.
  
• One (1) crippled bike computer: In the homestretch, just after passing Great Falls, a rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth turtle - which looked shockingly like this - launched itself at Cali's front wheel and managed to eat the sensor from her bike computer. OK, it was actually a stick, but it was a evil, stinking sewer stick for sure and I'm pretty sure evil, stinking sewer sticks are also covered under the "fate clause" mentioned above.
  
• One (1) lost bolt: While unloading at home, I discovered that I'd lost one of the bolts connecting my rack to the bike. It was still attached in Harper's Ferry, so I must have lost it that last day. I'm blaming the rabid turtle or the Communists. And since this really wasn't an "issue" or a "problem" or even "something worth mentioning," it also doesn't count against my bike prep skills.
  

So, by my count, we had a total of zero (0) minor mechanical inconveniences over five days and a combined 700 mi. of cycling. Let's just declare me "the World's Greatest Bike and Bike-Related Preparation Guy in the Whole Wide World, Who Also Happens to Be Extremely Good Looking in Spandex" and call it good.

Good. I'm glad we got that settled.