I woke up this morning feeling OK. Some lingering plague, but definitely better. No school today, but I did have work to do, so I figured I would run to school for a few hours then...I'm going to the gym. That's right, the gym. It's been 3 months and it's been driving me crazy. Yes, there are physical benefits to working out, but I find that it seriously affects my mood. Must be the roid rage.
So I got to school, and within 15 minutes I was coughing again. It's that freakin air conditioning. I packed everything up and left. Stopped home and...went to the gym. I had to sign more papers than I did for buying my car.
Now, I'm no snob...I'm not! But I do think it's a little funny to have the owners of a gym look like they should be running a diner. Don't get me wrong, they seem to be nice people, but I'm used to being able to go to the owner if I have a question about equipment or the best exercise or something like that. I mean, I'd feel comfortable asking these folks if they have any extra mayo for my BLT. One guy is big...like, has to use a cane- big. The other two ladies...they're just not people who seem to have any interest in physical fitness.
But I'm there to work out! I know what I'm doing! I don't need them!
So I fill out the reams of paperwork, leave blood and stool samples, take the standardized test and I'm ready to work out. First up....cardio. Hmmmm...some moderately current treadmills, old stairsteppers...ah, elliptical machines. Never seen this kind before. Oh, it's the same one I used to use back in Rochester at Flex only it's 15 years older. What the hell, cardio is cardio is cardio and a fractured hip. Holy crap, your legs aren't supposed to move like that! But 20 minutes, not bad for not working out and still being sick.
Let's hit the weights...still not feeling it for the machines, I'll go to the dumbells. Hit the chest, do the back, shoulders, etc. They don't seem to have any kind of adjustable cable pulley...uh...I thought that was kind of standard, but whatever, I adjusted (but I'm going to have to find a new rotator cuff exercise). Damn, forgot to do my legs.
I start looking around for a leg press machine. Can't seem to find...oh, there it is. Whoa...I'm not getting on THAT! It looks like it was donated by the Spanish Inquisition. OK...look around...what can we do...squats? Nah...I haven't done squats since high school and that was on a Universal machine. Hmmmm...well, not seeing anything else. OK, I can do some stupid squats. Throw a couple of 45's on the bar and let's have at it.
Hey, I'm doing squats! No problem. I can do this instead of some wimpy old leg press machine. OK, first set over. One more. Take a few seconds rest then we're ready to go. OK, let's get this last set over with. Bar on shoulders, hands on bar, lift and...
"Hey, hey, hey! What do you think you're doing?!!?!?"
Huh? Who was that?
"Yeah! What's your fucking problem, Man?"
It was my hamstrings. Say what you want, but when the hamstrings tell you you ain't doing any more squats, you ain't doing any more squats.
"Oh, sorry guys. I didn't know."
"Yeah, well now you know. Don't let me catch you doing stupid shit like that again. You got it?"
Yes. I'm sorry, hamstrings. Please don't hurt me too much.
I guess the leg press machine isn't all that bad after all. So I tried to do some ab work on the slickest rubber mats I've ever encountered, then called it a day. It was a good workout. I feel good (for now). I just have some adjusting to do.
Let's see if I can get out of bed tomorrow.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Thursday, September 27, 2007
Hawaii - The Tropical Fargo
One of the annoying things about me (Hey! I said one.) is that I pick up on people's communication quirks. I guess I'm just in tune to it. Let me give you an example. Back in the Stone Age, when I was living with Dave, we were watching ESPN one night and the late Dick Schaap was on. I noticed - and it always drove me nuts - that at the end of every sentence he would jerk his head up about 3 inches. I don't know if it was conscious, but I noticed it and it drove me crazy. So I mentioned it to Dave. He told me that he couldn't watch the guy any more after that because it was all he would focus on. It's been the same with my students, et al.
So I'm not sure if it just struck me now or if it just started getting worse at school, but it seems that everyone around me has picked up this pidgin habit of saying "yee-ah?" at the end of every sentence. It's like I woke up and was in a Tropical version of Fargo. It's a Minnesota/Sweedish sounding yee-ah. And now everyone ends a sentence with it. For example:
"Mr. Atias, this goes to Mrs. Temple, yee-ah?"
"There's only 4 minutes before lunch, yee-ah?"
"If you say 'yee-ah' one more time I'm going to punch you in the head, yee-ah?"
I think I actually know when this started and I know who to blame. Stick with me on this.
Last week, we had a guest come into our class. Her name is Kathy Collins. I know her, because she runs the radio station I'm at. It's not connected as one of the other teachers had her come in. Kathy has this alter-ego called Auntie Tita (I may have that spelled wrong).
Kathy's on the right
Tita does PSA's for all the radio & TV stations about littering and other pro-Hawaii stuff, she also does shows for kids telling them Mo'olelos, old Hawaiian myths. Auntie Tita speaks pidgin. For a good example, see the post on my trip to Hana.
Since Tita visited our class, everyone's started the yee-ah thing. I may have to talk to Kathy about this. Maybe we need an exorcism or something.
And while you think this is just an isolated incident. Let's note that I was the first to come out against the dreaded "There you go" craze.
Twenty-four hours from now I'll be back on the air...hopefully I won't cough up too much phlegm on an open mic. Yes, I'm still sick.
So I'm not sure if it just struck me now or if it just started getting worse at school, but it seems that everyone around me has picked up this pidgin habit of saying "yee-ah?" at the end of every sentence. It's like I woke up and was in a Tropical version of Fargo. It's a Minnesota/Sweedish sounding yee-ah. And now everyone ends a sentence with it. For example:
"Mr. Atias, this goes to Mrs. Temple, yee-ah?"
"There's only 4 minutes before lunch, yee-ah?"
"If you say 'yee-ah' one more time I'm going to punch you in the head, yee-ah?"
I think I actually know when this started and I know who to blame. Stick with me on this.
Last week, we had a guest come into our class. Her name is Kathy Collins. I know her, because she runs the radio station I'm at. It's not connected as one of the other teachers had her come in. Kathy has this alter-ego called Auntie Tita (I may have that spelled wrong).
Tita does PSA's for all the radio & TV stations about littering and other pro-Hawaii stuff, she also does shows for kids telling them Mo'olelos, old Hawaiian myths. Auntie Tita speaks pidgin. For a good example, see the post on my trip to Hana.
Since Tita visited our class, everyone's started the yee-ah thing. I may have to talk to Kathy about this. Maybe we need an exorcism or something.
And while you think this is just an isolated incident. Let's note that I was the first to come out against the dreaded "There you go" craze.
Twenty-four hours from now I'll be back on the air...hopefully I won't cough up too much phlegm on an open mic. Yes, I'm still sick.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
The TV Show
I really don't have much new happening, but I thought I'd give everyone an update on how things are going with Dave's 3 Point Plan.
The school newspaper? Nothing. Podcast? No. Cable Access TV Show? Ahhhhh. A little movement. We have a dozen kids who are creating the first show. We have the roles assigned and we even have the stories settled on. The kids decided on Soldiers in Iraq from Maui, a controversial development program that's threatening wetlands and the endangered Sea Turtles.
Oh, I know what you're saying - Heeeeeeyyyy...those all have Dave's fingerprints on them. Wrong you are. The roles were settled and I left the kids alone in a room and told them to figure it out. I poked my head in a couple of times when it sounded like they were going to kill each other. A half-hour later, that's what they came up with.
A two-week vacation starts on Friday, so once we get back the kids start calling people to interview, doing research on the subjects and having training on filming and editing. I'm thinking of putting my own little touch on the whole thing (Whitee-style) but I haven't quite decided yet.
So...my break's coming up. I'm still trying to get over this plague I have. I have shifts at the radio station coming up. I plan on going to Haleakela to watch the sunrise, the Ocean Center, maybe to see the petroglyphs. So I should have some more pictures soon.
The school newspaper? Nothing. Podcast? No. Cable Access TV Show? Ahhhhh. A little movement. We have a dozen kids who are creating the first show. We have the roles assigned and we even have the stories settled on. The kids decided on Soldiers in Iraq from Maui, a controversial development program that's threatening wetlands and the endangered Sea Turtles.
Oh, I know what you're saying - Heeeeeeyyyy...those all have Dave's fingerprints on them. Wrong you are. The roles were settled and I left the kids alone in a room and told them to figure it out. I poked my head in a couple of times when it sounded like they were going to kill each other. A half-hour later, that's what they came up with.
A two-week vacation starts on Friday, so once we get back the kids start calling people to interview, doing research on the subjects and having training on filming and editing. I'm thinking of putting my own little touch on the whole thing (Whitee-style) but I haven't quite decided yet.
So...my break's coming up. I'm still trying to get over this plague I have. I have shifts at the radio station coming up. I plan on going to Haleakela to watch the sunrise, the Ocean Center, maybe to see the petroglyphs. So I should have some more pictures soon.
Saturday, September 22, 2007
Tidbits
I saw my first firetruck in action today. We're surrounded by water, but there are few fire hydrants so a big-ass water truck has to follow the fire truck to the scene of any fire. In Hana, Oprah got the town to install this funky-looking fire hydrant system. Can't have Oprah's shit burning down.
As of right now, the cheapest place on Maui to buy booze is...K-Mart. Uh, OK.
As I was driving to K-Mart I made a wrong turn at Alburquerque. So as I'm trying to find a place to turn around on the only road on the island you can go 55, this douchebag is behind me, literally putting up all 10 of his grimy digits, telling me the speed limit is 55. I responded by telling him that I thought it was 11. F-ing gringo.
This weekend, I've already gotten 3 e-mails from kids/parents whining about their grades. I loves me some internets.
As of right now, the cheapest place on Maui to buy booze is...K-Mart. Uh, OK.
As I was driving to K-Mart I made a wrong turn at Alburquerque. So as I'm trying to find a place to turn around on the only road on the island you can go 55, this douchebag is behind me, literally putting up all 10 of his grimy digits, telling me the speed limit is 55. I responded by telling him that I thought it was 11. F-ing gringo.
This weekend, I've already gotten 3 e-mails from kids/parents whining about their grades. I loves me some internets.
Friday, September 21, 2007
The Reason I Came to Maui
I'm sorry I didn't get any pictures of this. Normally, I would have, but I wasn't supposed to be going out into the field today. I was supposed to be in the classroom, but due to a last minute...uh...situation, I ended up going on our Service Learning outing today.
We went to a National Wetland Park. They're clearing it out of all "invasive species", which means any vegetation that is not indigenous to Maui - which is most everything here. White folks brought most of what's here...trees, fruit, etc. It's a freakin rock, what do you expect?
Anyway, this wetland is right on the coast in the western part of the island. We ended up doing some beach clean up. Now when I say beach, it's not the beach you're thinking of. Oh sure, the ocean meets the island there, but instead of sand it's a 30 foot high and wide rock wall. And not mortared, these rocks are just stacked. So it was rough walking around it. But trash from all over the Pacific comes - other islands, China, Japan, cruise ships, etc. When the tide is high, Deborah Harry starts singing and the water (and junk) gets up to the top of that wall.
[Now comes a comment that shows why I had to make this blog private]
Generally, our kids are a bunch of whiners. They're pretty spoiled and don't have a clue how good they have it and how lucky they are to be in this school. They're not necessarily rich kids, but most have no idea what it's like to be educated anywhere but Hawaii. They don't understand that almost no other students get to do things like this - and they whined all the way there and back. It took everything I had not to turn this van around and go home, goddamnit.
But while I was there, walking to the cleanup site and looking around the wetland, it was one of those moments. Not too many teachers get to do stuff like this. It still hasn't sunk in yet, as you'll see by part 2 of this story.
It was our typical Friday - a half-day so we can plan the next week - because we're with the kids from start to finish the other days. We eat lunch with them, no plan periods, etc. So I'm on a computer setting up a research activity for next week (you can check it out here). I'm looking for websites about sea turtles and I come to a site for an organization that arranges trips for students to go to Costa Rica and protect sea turtles.
I literally had the thought: Wouldn't it be cool if we could take our kids to Costa Rica to do this...
I was just about to show this site to my fellow teachers when it hit me...hey, dumbass...you're in Hawaii. You already do this stuff. Your kids were checking out sea turtles last week. You already ARE a part of an organization like this. If I would have showed them this site they would have thought I was hitting my inhaler too hard.
I think part of the reason is that I don't get out of the classroom as much as the other teachers. They're trying to get me out more, but the truth is - and everyone agrees - that our kids are so deficient in reading and writing that I have to stay back more. I know it would be cool to go into the field more, but I'm here for the gig and that's what the kids need. I'm really not that disappointed, because I can go check out these things on my own without having to hear, "Mr. Atias, he's hitting me!"
These kids are driving me to a vasectomy.
So I guess my point is, today was pretty cool...except for the kids.
We went to a National Wetland Park. They're clearing it out of all "invasive species", which means any vegetation that is not indigenous to Maui - which is most everything here. White folks brought most of what's here...trees, fruit, etc. It's a freakin rock, what do you expect?
Anyway, this wetland is right on the coast in the western part of the island. We ended up doing some beach clean up. Now when I say beach, it's not the beach you're thinking of. Oh sure, the ocean meets the island there, but instead of sand it's a 30 foot high and wide rock wall. And not mortared, these rocks are just stacked. So it was rough walking around it. But trash from all over the Pacific comes - other islands, China, Japan, cruise ships, etc. When the tide is high, Deborah Harry starts singing and the water (and junk) gets up to the top of that wall.
[Now comes a comment that shows why I had to make this blog private]
Generally, our kids are a bunch of whiners. They're pretty spoiled and don't have a clue how good they have it and how lucky they are to be in this school. They're not necessarily rich kids, but most have no idea what it's like to be educated anywhere but Hawaii. They don't understand that almost no other students get to do things like this - and they whined all the way there and back. It took everything I had not to turn this van around and go home, goddamnit.
But while I was there, walking to the cleanup site and looking around the wetland, it was one of those moments. Not too many teachers get to do stuff like this. It still hasn't sunk in yet, as you'll see by part 2 of this story.
It was our typical Friday - a half-day so we can plan the next week - because we're with the kids from start to finish the other days. We eat lunch with them, no plan periods, etc. So I'm on a computer setting up a research activity for next week (you can check it out here). I'm looking for websites about sea turtles and I come to a site for an organization that arranges trips for students to go to Costa Rica and protect sea turtles.
I literally had the thought: Wouldn't it be cool if we could take our kids to Costa Rica to do this...
I was just about to show this site to my fellow teachers when it hit me...hey, dumbass...you're in Hawaii. You already do this stuff. Your kids were checking out sea turtles last week. You already ARE a part of an organization like this. If I would have showed them this site they would have thought I was hitting my inhaler too hard.
I think part of the reason is that I don't get out of the classroom as much as the other teachers. They're trying to get me out more, but the truth is - and everyone agrees - that our kids are so deficient in reading and writing that I have to stay back more. I know it would be cool to go into the field more, but I'm here for the gig and that's what the kids need. I'm really not that disappointed, because I can go check out these things on my own without having to hear, "Mr. Atias, he's hitting me!"
These kids are driving me to a vasectomy.
So I guess my point is, today was pretty cool...except for the kids.
Thursday, September 20, 2007
Doctor...My Brain Hurts...
OK, bad Python quote for the post title.
So, maybe you've heard...I've been sick for a few weeks. I'm starting to have doubts about my doctor. Ummmm...let's call her, Dr. Chen. The first thing isn't really her fault (I hope). When I finally got in to see her, my blood pressure was through the roof. I brought her my prescriptions from back home and she had never heard of one of my meds. Not only that, it wasn't available through my HMO...I guess they weren't getting kickbacks from the right pharmacuetical company, but there was another ACE inhibitor that had pretty much the same side effects (that's what she said). Well, I wasn't really thinking about side effects, I just wanted my headache to go away. So we decided to go with the different med. So one of these possible side effects was a dry cough.
The day I saw her, I was starting to feel a bit funky. Some kind of bug had been going around the school - which is normal with a bunch of germ factories. I start taking the meds, my blood pressure goes down, my headache goes away, but this plague I have gets worse...a lot worse.
For the last 10 days I've been coughing, sneezing and finding other ways to expel mucus (I know, not pretty). So I needed to see Dr. Chen for a follow up anyway so I go and tell her about my symptoms. Now, she's not sure if it's side effects from the new meds or I'm really sick or both. I'm pretty sure I'm just freakin sick...others have it. So she wants me to stop with the one blood pressure med and start antibiotics and a steroid inhaler. Fine. One problem. I get paid in 2 days and I'm still waiting for a check from the mainland to go through (it's only been 5 days). So I tell her that I'll need to wait a couple of days to get the new meds. No problem, she says. Stop the blood pressure med & call her in a couple of days. If I still feel like doody (my word) we can start the antibiotics.
I called her this morning still feeling like hell. "Well, at least we know it wasn't my fault," was her reaction. Uh...Honey, you're not THAT cute. I need a doctor. So she said she'd put in the prescription for the other meds but to wait on starting the one blood pressure med again...she's really worried about this side effect thing. Now I'm starting to think she's given me the real world version of Pankratol or Boinkatol (you'll have to listen to the podcast to get the reference).
Of course when I go to the HMO pharmacy in the afternoon, their reaction is pretty much: Perscription? I don't know nothing 'bout no perscription. So I had to wait an hour while they "filled" it. I don't know...I've seen nurses at Hillside give out enough medication to chill out an entire county to 12 kids in 5 minutes. I don't know what the hour was for.
So now I have new pills, an inhaler that makes me look like my name is "Spaz" and my blood pressure is back up - oh, which Dr. Chen says won't kill me for a couple of days. I'm thinking about getting a new doctor and asking her out to dinner. I think I'll find out if she's trying to kill me first.
And yes, I know I spelled prescription wrong.
NEW RADIO SHIFTS!!! LOOK TO THE RIGHT!!! I'LL BE ON DURING THE AFTERNOONS EST!!!
So, maybe you've heard...I've been sick for a few weeks. I'm starting to have doubts about my doctor. Ummmm...let's call her, Dr. Chen. The first thing isn't really her fault (I hope). When I finally got in to see her, my blood pressure was through the roof. I brought her my prescriptions from back home and she had never heard of one of my meds. Not only that, it wasn't available through my HMO...I guess they weren't getting kickbacks from the right pharmacuetical company, but there was another ACE inhibitor that had pretty much the same side effects (that's what she said). Well, I wasn't really thinking about side effects, I just wanted my headache to go away. So we decided to go with the different med. So one of these possible side effects was a dry cough.
The day I saw her, I was starting to feel a bit funky. Some kind of bug had been going around the school - which is normal with a bunch of germ factories. I start taking the meds, my blood pressure goes down, my headache goes away, but this plague I have gets worse...a lot worse.
For the last 10 days I've been coughing, sneezing and finding other ways to expel mucus (I know, not pretty). So I needed to see Dr. Chen for a follow up anyway so I go and tell her about my symptoms. Now, she's not sure if it's side effects from the new meds or I'm really sick or both. I'm pretty sure I'm just freakin sick...others have it. So she wants me to stop with the one blood pressure med and start antibiotics and a steroid inhaler. Fine. One problem. I get paid in 2 days and I'm still waiting for a check from the mainland to go through (it's only been 5 days). So I tell her that I'll need to wait a couple of days to get the new meds. No problem, she says. Stop the blood pressure med & call her in a couple of days. If I still feel like doody (my word) we can start the antibiotics.
I called her this morning still feeling like hell. "Well, at least we know it wasn't my fault," was her reaction. Uh...Honey, you're not THAT cute. I need a doctor. So she said she'd put in the prescription for the other meds but to wait on starting the one blood pressure med again...she's really worried about this side effect thing. Now I'm starting to think she's given me the real world version of Pankratol or Boinkatol (you'll have to listen to the podcast to get the reference).
Of course when I go to the HMO pharmacy in the afternoon, their reaction is pretty much: Perscription? I don't know nothing 'bout no perscription. So I had to wait an hour while they "filled" it. I don't know...I've seen nurses at Hillside give out enough medication to chill out an entire county to 12 kids in 5 minutes. I don't know what the hour was for.
So now I have new pills, an inhaler that makes me look like my name is "Spaz" and my blood pressure is back up - oh, which Dr. Chen says won't kill me for a couple of days. I'm thinking about getting a new doctor and asking her out to dinner. I think I'll find out if she's trying to kill me first.
And yes, I know I spelled prescription wrong.
NEW RADIO SHIFTS!!! LOOK TO THE RIGHT!!! I'LL BE ON DURING THE AFTERNOONS EST!!!
Monday, September 17, 2007
Kumbaya?
This is gonna be a weird one. I'm not really sure how to put this in the right perspective.
The kids didn't have school today - our version of Superintendent's Day. So, we're in this training and we start off with this goofy team building exercise. If you've been an any kind of corporate structure you've done a million of these. This is Hawaii so it was a bit more...uh, interactive. It involved a jump rope and 18 people. Let's just say that I'm typing this with ice on my achilles tendon.
We finish our ice breaker and get to some stuff about portfolios. Everything's fine so far. We get to the idea that we don't celebrate our successes enough. I think most places of work (and homes for that matter) are in the same boat. We always focus on what can be improved and we don't recognize the good stuff we're doing. Christ, it sent me to therapy - which I really miss right now, but I digress.
So we're not celebrating our successes. This guy from the high school raises his hand and says something like:
This may seem kinda goofy, but I went to this seminar a few years ago. Has anyone heard of that Tony Robbins guy? (Uh, oh.) Well, there were like 40 or 50 thousand people and he had all of us celebrate for 60 seconds straight. (Oh, shit.) It seems silly, but we yelled and jumped up and down like our team just won the big game for a whole minute. (Lord, help me. I'll go to church. Anything, just save me from this.) Maybe we could do it for 30 seconds?
Well, then the negotiating started. "How about 5?" "10!"
We settled on 20 seconds of celebrating. It was really bizarre. I think I've talked about this on this blog...I know I have on the podcast, but I'm not a Woo-hoo kinda guy. You may get a "Yeah!" out of me, but I just can't seem to make that "Woo" sound. Any time I've won a game, I'll do a mild high five, a gentle knuckle bump and look for the beer. This is my nightmare. You may as well have said that we have to do it naked. It would have been the same for me either way.
So we celebrated. We celebrated so hard and loud that we went way past the 20 second mark because we couldn't hear the timekeeper. And yes, I lived through it. But it was so awkward for me...I tried to think of something to do that was over the top to make it silly-fun, but we all looked so ridiculous that I couldn't think of anything more weird than we were already doing. I really looked like I was one of those people with a brain lesion that effects affect.
But I will say this...
I actually let out a mini-woo. It was an accident, so I don't think I'll be able to make a habit of it.
The kids didn't have school today - our version of Superintendent's Day. So, we're in this training and we start off with this goofy team building exercise. If you've been an any kind of corporate structure you've done a million of these. This is Hawaii so it was a bit more...uh, interactive. It involved a jump rope and 18 people. Let's just say that I'm typing this with ice on my achilles tendon.
We finish our ice breaker and get to some stuff about portfolios. Everything's fine so far. We get to the idea that we don't celebrate our successes enough. I think most places of work (and homes for that matter) are in the same boat. We always focus on what can be improved and we don't recognize the good stuff we're doing. Christ, it sent me to therapy - which I really miss right now, but I digress.
So we're not celebrating our successes. This guy from the high school raises his hand and says something like:
This may seem kinda goofy, but I went to this seminar a few years ago. Has anyone heard of that Tony Robbins guy? (Uh, oh.) Well, there were like 40 or 50 thousand people and he had all of us celebrate for 60 seconds straight. (Oh, shit.) It seems silly, but we yelled and jumped up and down like our team just won the big game for a whole minute. (Lord, help me. I'll go to church. Anything, just save me from this.) Maybe we could do it for 30 seconds?
Well, then the negotiating started. "How about 5?" "10!"
We settled on 20 seconds of celebrating. It was really bizarre. I think I've talked about this on this blog...I know I have on the podcast, but I'm not a Woo-hoo kinda guy. You may get a "Yeah!" out of me, but I just can't seem to make that "Woo" sound. Any time I've won a game, I'll do a mild high five, a gentle knuckle bump and look for the beer. This is my nightmare. You may as well have said that we have to do it naked. It would have been the same for me either way.
So we celebrated. We celebrated so hard and loud that we went way past the 20 second mark because we couldn't hear the timekeeper. And yes, I lived through it. But it was so awkward for me...I tried to think of something to do that was over the top to make it silly-fun, but we all looked so ridiculous that I couldn't think of anything more weird than we were already doing. I really looked like I was one of those people with a brain lesion that effects affect.
But I will say this...
I actually let out a mini-woo. It was an accident, so I don't think I'll be able to make a habit of it.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
21 Things You Didn't Know You Can Recycle
From Coopamerica.org:
1. Appliances: Goodwill accepts working appliances, www.goodwill.org, or you can contact the Steel Recycling Institute to recycle them. 800/YES-1-CAN, www.recycle-steel.org.
2. Batteries: Rechargeables and single-use: Battery Solutions, 734/467-9110, www.batteryrecycling.com.
3. Cardboard boxes: cardboard boxContact local nonprofits and women's shelters to see if they can use them. Or, offer them up at your local Freecycle.org listserv or on Craigslist.org. If your workplace collects at least 100 boxes or more each month, UsedCardboardBoxes.com accepts them for resale.
4. CDs/DVDs/Game Disks: Send scratched music or computer CDs, DVDs, and PlayStation or Nintendo video game disks to AuralTech for refinishing, and they'll work like new: 888/454-3223, www.auraltech.com.
5. Clothes: shirtsWearable clothes can go to your local Goodwill outlet or shelter. Donate wearable women's business clothing to Dress for Success, which gives them to low-income women as they search for jobs, 212/532-1922, www.dressforsuccess.org. Offer unwearable clothes and towels to local animal boarding and shelter facilities, which often use them as pet bedding. Consider holding a clothes swap at your office, school, faith congregation or community center. Swap clothes with friends and colleagues, save money on a new fall wardrobe and back-to-school clothes – then donate the rest.
6. Compact fluorescent bulbs: Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling: www.ikea.com.
7. Compostable bio-plastics: You probably won't be able to compost these in your home compost bin or pile. Find a municipal composter to take them to at www.findacomposter.com.
8. Computers and electronics: Find the most responsible recyclers, local and national, at www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html
9. Exercise videos: Swap them with others at www.videofitness.com.
10. Eyeglasses: glassesYour local Lion's Club or eye care chain may collect these. Lenses are reground and given to people in need.
11. Foam Packing peanuts: Your local pack-and-ship store will likely accept these for reuse. Or, call the Plastic Loose Fill Producers Council to find a drop-off site: 800/828-2214. For places to drop off foam blocks for recycling, contact the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers, 410/451-8340, www.epspackaging.org/info.html
12. Ink/toner cartridges: Recycleplace.com pays $1/each.
13. Miscellaneous: Get your unwanted items into the hands of people who can use them. Offer them up on your local Freecycle.org or Craigslist.org listserv, or try giving them away at Throwplace.com or giving or selling them at iReuse.com. iReuse.com will also help you find a recycler, if possible, when your items have reached the end of their useful lifecycle.
14. Oil: Find Used Motor Oil Hotlines for each state: 202/682-8000, www.recycleoil.org.
15. Phones: cell phoneDonate cell phones: Collective Good will refurbish your phone and sell it to someone in a developing country: 770/856-9021, www.collectivegood.com. Call to Protect reprograms cell phones to dial 911 and gives them to domestic violence victims: www.donateaphone.com. Recycle single-line phones: Reclamere, 814/386-2927, www.reclamere.com.
16. Sports equipment: Resell or trade it at your local Play It Again Sports outlet, 800/476-9249, www.playitagainsports.com.
17. “Technotrash”: Easily recycle all of your CDs, jewel cases, DVDs, audio and video tapes, cell phones, pagers, rechargeable and single-use batteries, PDAs, and ink/toner cartridges with GreenDisk's Technotrash program. For $30, GreenDisk will send you a cardboard box in which you can ship them up to 70 pounds of any of the above. Your fee covers the box as well as shipping and recycling fees. 800/305-GREENDISK, www.greendisk.com.
18. Tennis shoes: Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe program turns old shoes into playground and athletic flooring. www.nikereuseashoe.com. One World Running will send still-wearable shoes to athletes in need in Africa, Latin America, and Haiti. www.oneworldrunning.com.
19. Toothbrushes and razors:toothbrush Buy a recycled plastic toothbrush or razor from Recycline, and the company will take it back to be recycled again into plastic lumber. Recycline products are made from used Stonyfield Farms' yogurt cups. 888/354-7296, www.recycline.com.
20. Tyvek envelopes: Quantities less than 25: Send to Shirley Cimburke, Tyvek Recycling Specialist, 5401 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Spot 197, Room 231, Richmond, VA 23234. Quantities larger than 25, call 866/33-TYVEK.
21. Stuff you just can't recycle: When practical, send such items back to the manufacturer and tell them they need to manufacture products that close the waste loop responsibly.
21 Things You Didn't Know You Can Recycle
1. Appliances: Goodwill accepts working appliances, www.goodwill.org, or you can contact the Steel Recycling Institute to recycle them. 800/YES-1-CAN, www.recycle-steel.org.
2. Batteries: Rechargeables and single-use: Battery Solutions, 734/467-9110, www.batteryrecycling.com.
3. Cardboard boxes: cardboard boxContact local nonprofits and women's shelters to see if they can use them. Or, offer them up at your local Freecycle.org listserv or on Craigslist.org. If your workplace collects at least 100 boxes or more each month, UsedCardboardBoxes.com accepts them for resale.
4. CDs/DVDs/Game Disks: Send scratched music or computer CDs, DVDs, and PlayStation or Nintendo video game disks to AuralTech for refinishing, and they'll work like new: 888/454-3223, www.auraltech.com.
5. Clothes: shirtsWearable clothes can go to your local Goodwill outlet or shelter. Donate wearable women's business clothing to Dress for Success, which gives them to low-income women as they search for jobs, 212/532-1922, www.dressforsuccess.org. Offer unwearable clothes and towels to local animal boarding and shelter facilities, which often use them as pet bedding. Consider holding a clothes swap at your office, school, faith congregation or community center. Swap clothes with friends and colleagues, save money on a new fall wardrobe and back-to-school clothes – then donate the rest.
6. Compact fluorescent bulbs: Take them to your local IKEA store for recycling: www.ikea.com.
7. Compostable bio-plastics: You probably won't be able to compost these in your home compost bin or pile. Find a municipal composter to take them to at www.findacomposter.com.
8. Computers and electronics: Find the most responsible recyclers, local and national, at www.ban.org/pledge/Locations.html
9. Exercise videos: Swap them with others at www.videofitness.com.
10. Eyeglasses: glassesYour local Lion's Club or eye care chain may collect these. Lenses are reground and given to people in need.
11. Foam Packing peanuts: Your local pack-and-ship store will likely accept these for reuse. Or, call the Plastic Loose Fill Producers Council to find a drop-off site: 800/828-2214. For places to drop off foam blocks for recycling, contact the Alliance of Foam Packaging Recyclers, 410/451-8340, www.epspackaging.org/info.html
12. Ink/toner cartridges: Recycleplace.com pays $1/each.
13. Miscellaneous: Get your unwanted items into the hands of people who can use them. Offer them up on your local Freecycle.org or Craigslist.org listserv, or try giving them away at Throwplace.com or giving or selling them at iReuse.com. iReuse.com will also help you find a recycler, if possible, when your items have reached the end of their useful lifecycle.
14. Oil: Find Used Motor Oil Hotlines for each state: 202/682-8000, www.recycleoil.org.
15. Phones: cell phoneDonate cell phones: Collective Good will refurbish your phone and sell it to someone in a developing country: 770/856-9021, www.collectivegood.com. Call to Protect reprograms cell phones to dial 911 and gives them to domestic violence victims: www.donateaphone.com. Recycle single-line phones: Reclamere, 814/386-2927, www.reclamere.com.
16. Sports equipment: Resell or trade it at your local Play It Again Sports outlet, 800/476-9249, www.playitagainsports.com.
17. “Technotrash”: Easily recycle all of your CDs, jewel cases, DVDs, audio and video tapes, cell phones, pagers, rechargeable and single-use batteries, PDAs, and ink/toner cartridges with GreenDisk's Technotrash program. For $30, GreenDisk will send you a cardboard box in which you can ship them up to 70 pounds of any of the above. Your fee covers the box as well as shipping and recycling fees. 800/305-GREENDISK, www.greendisk.com.
18. Tennis shoes: Nike's Reuse-a-Shoe program turns old shoes into playground and athletic flooring. www.nikereuseashoe.com. One World Running will send still-wearable shoes to athletes in need in Africa, Latin America, and Haiti. www.oneworldrunning.com.
19. Toothbrushes and razors:toothbrush Buy a recycled plastic toothbrush or razor from Recycline, and the company will take it back to be recycled again into plastic lumber. Recycline products are made from used Stonyfield Farms' yogurt cups. 888/354-7296, www.recycline.com.
20. Tyvek envelopes: Quantities less than 25: Send to Shirley Cimburke, Tyvek Recycling Specialist, 5401 Jefferson Davis Hwy., Spot 197, Room 231, Richmond, VA 23234. Quantities larger than 25, call 866/33-TYVEK.
21. Stuff you just can't recycle: When practical, send such items back to the manufacturer and tell them they need to manufacture products that close the waste loop responsibly.
Saturday, September 15, 2007
School Days
Things seem to be settling into a groove. I have my cable internet now, so I'm currently listening to some Idiot's Delight out of Fordham U. I got the guitar out and I've started playing a little (more on that below). I splurged and bought some Asparagus so that's what I'm making for dinner. That may not seem like a big deal, but Asparagus doesn't ever seem to be "in season" here.
I've been meaning to blog about some things that are going on at school, but I'm still walking around with this plague or whatever it is the kids gave me. I've pretty much been coming home and going to bed.
Last week, we had the kids decorate some clay flower pots. Then we took them and smashed them into pieces. So, last Monday & Tuesday, we teachers woke up early and went down to the beach, roped off quadrants and buried the pieces in the sand. Then we went to school and brought a group of kids to the beach for an "excavation". Then, Wednesday & Thursday, the kids attempted to put their pots together. Now they have a write-up to do on it. Pretty freakin cool.
Last Monday, we had our first meeting of the people who are starting our school cable access show. We decided to call it STEM's Maui News. We have a logo. And kids are working on a theme song and "motto". Next week, we start working on story ideas, practice editing video and divide up the "roles".
Holy Crap! I'm a teacher!
Next Tuesday and Wednesday I'll be breaking out the guitar to do a little Maui Idol. We're going to take the song Home on the Range and in groups, turn it into different versions of Rome on the Range. Then, either the kids will sing 'em or I will...or both. I sure hope this plague goes away by then.
Coming soon: I'm already starting to plan on trips to take during my upcoming 2 week break. So I'll be posting pictures of a bunch of places on the rock. I'll also be doing a couple of overnight shifts at the radio station. So on the east coast, I'll be on 6am to noon. Maybe you can catch some of it online. Details coming.
I've been meaning to blog about some things that are going on at school, but I'm still walking around with this plague or whatever it is the kids gave me. I've pretty much been coming home and going to bed.
Last week, we had the kids decorate some clay flower pots. Then we took them and smashed them into pieces. So, last Monday & Tuesday, we teachers woke up early and went down to the beach, roped off quadrants and buried the pieces in the sand. Then we went to school and brought a group of kids to the beach for an "excavation". Then, Wednesday & Thursday, the kids attempted to put their pots together. Now they have a write-up to do on it. Pretty freakin cool.
Last Monday, we had our first meeting of the people who are starting our school cable access show. We decided to call it STEM's Maui News. We have a logo. And kids are working on a theme song and "motto". Next week, we start working on story ideas, practice editing video and divide up the "roles".
Holy Crap! I'm a teacher!
Next Tuesday and Wednesday I'll be breaking out the guitar to do a little Maui Idol. We're going to take the song Home on the Range and in groups, turn it into different versions of Rome on the Range. Then, either the kids will sing 'em or I will...or both. I sure hope this plague goes away by then.
Coming soon: I'm already starting to plan on trips to take during my upcoming 2 week break. So I'll be posting pictures of a bunch of places on the rock. I'll also be doing a couple of overnight shifts at the radio station. So on the east coast, I'll be on 6am to noon. Maybe you can catch some of it online. Details coming.
Monday, September 10, 2007
A Day of New Friends
All of this went down on Saturday, but this is the first chance I've had to sit and type.
I needed to get my hair cut. I hadn't had one since I left Rochester. So this was going to be the first time since I was...oh...12-years-old that someone other than Tony had cut my hair. So I looked to see what there was in the telephone book. Uh, not much and nothing that close. I guess dudes go to salons here, I don't know. So there was this place that was relatively close to the radio station, in Wailuku called Ed's Barber Shop. I doubt it's the Italian hot-spot that I'm used to, but I figured I'd give Ed a shot.
I pulled up to Ed's and was not impressed. It was this tiny room at the end of this old powder-blue building. Old style shingles, roof not looking all that great. The building had that kind of lean to it. But I figured that if it picked this moment to collapse, well, gotta go gotta go. I walked in and everthing in the room was from 1974, except Ed, who was from 1934. The chair was patched up, the scissors & electric shearers looked maintained, but old. And Ed...dude may have given the first hair cut - ever!
He talked slow and with a little bit of a Hawaiian accent, but he looked a bit more Japanese. So I told him that I needed a haircut, I got in the chair and away Ed went. It took a while, Ed's not moving like he used to (I'm assuming). His hands shook a little and once in a while he'd rest the heel of his hand on my head as he was cutting. But we talked for a long time about the island, the state of barbershops in Hawaii, what Maui was like after the war, baseball, New York and more. It was a cool way to spend a half-an-hour. I guess Ed's my new guy now.
Later that night I went to a party I was invited to. One of my Spam consultants who I met online - the MySpace page for the podcast. So I was invited to a party in Makaweo, which doesn't seem that far, but it actually is a good 30 minutes away. So I got there only knowing the host, but ended up meeting a few really...uh...interesting people. There was Caine, a fellow teacher who's at Baldwin High. He's a little bit younger than me. He had lived here for a year before, but went back to Rhode Island. They just called him to offer him the job so he just got back and is new there.
I also met these 4 Russian guys. It was like a foreign version of Newhart: there was Nitkita, Sergei, his other brother Sergei and Ernie the Mongolian. They were chain-smoking kids - early 20's. But they were pretty funny. We exchanged phone numbers and might get together to check out some music. There was this gorgeous drag queen there and I was pretty sure it was a guy, but as the night went on (and Caine kept making drinks) I started having doubts. I didn't stare or do anything rude, but the next day, Keziah helped me figure it out for sure. I also met Lisa. We started with some small talk. Then she started leaving all of these little flyers around the house. Turns out she's a pain-in-the-ass activist whose currently fighting a new condo development in some park land in S. Kihei. Well, then we REALLY started to talk. I was supposed to go to a protest yesterday, but ended up working at school, but I'm leaving in a few minutes for a meeting at the Community Center about it.
It was a good night.
I needed to get my hair cut. I hadn't had one since I left Rochester. So this was going to be the first time since I was...oh...12-years-old that someone other than Tony had cut my hair. So I looked to see what there was in the telephone book. Uh, not much and nothing that close. I guess dudes go to salons here, I don't know. So there was this place that was relatively close to the radio station, in Wailuku called Ed's Barber Shop. I doubt it's the Italian hot-spot that I'm used to, but I figured I'd give Ed a shot.
I pulled up to Ed's and was not impressed. It was this tiny room at the end of this old powder-blue building. Old style shingles, roof not looking all that great. The building had that kind of lean to it. But I figured that if it picked this moment to collapse, well, gotta go gotta go. I walked in and everthing in the room was from 1974, except Ed, who was from 1934. The chair was patched up, the scissors & electric shearers looked maintained, but old. And Ed...dude may have given the first hair cut - ever!
He talked slow and with a little bit of a Hawaiian accent, but he looked a bit more Japanese. So I told him that I needed a haircut, I got in the chair and away Ed went. It took a while, Ed's not moving like he used to (I'm assuming). His hands shook a little and once in a while he'd rest the heel of his hand on my head as he was cutting. But we talked for a long time about the island, the state of barbershops in Hawaii, what Maui was like after the war, baseball, New York and more. It was a cool way to spend a half-an-hour. I guess Ed's my new guy now.
Later that night I went to a party I was invited to. One of my Spam consultants who I met online - the MySpace page for the podcast. So I was invited to a party in Makaweo, which doesn't seem that far, but it actually is a good 30 minutes away. So I got there only knowing the host, but ended up meeting a few really...uh...interesting people. There was Caine, a fellow teacher who's at Baldwin High. He's a little bit younger than me. He had lived here for a year before, but went back to Rhode Island. They just called him to offer him the job so he just got back and is new there.
I also met these 4 Russian guys. It was like a foreign version of Newhart: there was Nitkita, Sergei, his other brother Sergei and Ernie the Mongolian. They were chain-smoking kids - early 20's. But they were pretty funny. We exchanged phone numbers and might get together to check out some music. There was this gorgeous drag queen there and I was pretty sure it was a guy, but as the night went on (and Caine kept making drinks) I started having doubts. I didn't stare or do anything rude, but the next day, Keziah helped me figure it out for sure. I also met Lisa. We started with some small talk. Then she started leaving all of these little flyers around the house. Turns out she's a pain-in-the-ass activist whose currently fighting a new condo development in some park land in S. Kihei. Well, then we REALLY started to talk. I was supposed to go to a protest yesterday, but ended up working at school, but I'm leaving in a few minutes for a meeting at the Community Center about it.
It was a good night.
Friday, September 7, 2007
More Hawaiian Culture?
A couple more things that I don't quite understand...
This may actually be a plot to drive me crazy, though if I say that it definitely is I may be certifiably paranoid. Every weekday, I get home from school...the time varies...the earliest would be 4:30 (on a really good day), but it's usually around 6. It doesn't matter the exact time - within 5 minutes of me coming into the house I hear...uh...I think it's an ice cream truck, but I still haven't seen it.
[My cottage is behind "the main house" so I really can't see the street from where I am...or not enough to see what's coming down the street]
So, it's weird that no matter what time I come home, I hear the music 5 minutes after I get home. And it is that cheesy, loudspeaker, ice cream truck quality sound. But to make it even more weirder is the song is "It's A Small World". Wha? How does that equate with ice cream? You can't tie that into Hawaii. That's just weird.
So I'm serenaded with that cheesy Disney song...every...day...of...my...life. As if they couldn't find an ice cream truck version of "I'm Too Sexy". That would be awesome!
Another thing happened to me tonight. It's pretty much dark here at 7pm every night. Because we're so close to the equator, it's pretty much that way all year 'round. So I went "into town" tonight to run a couple of errands and by the time I was headed home it was dark. Now I'm used to the trusty old Chevy Prism...if I forget to turn on the lights, the car takes care of it. Not my brand new Focus. Roll up windows, each door locks on its own and the lights don't go on unless you turn 'em on.
So I manually unlocked my door, manually rolled down the window and manually forgot to turn on my lights - I even had to manually take care of a wedgie, but that's more information than you need. I pulled out of the parking lot onto the road, got to the intersection I needed to turn to get back to Kihei and got into the left-hand turn lane...
If a poor schmuck forgets to turn on his or her lights, civilized people know what to do...you flash your lights on and off. Lazy, obnoxious conservatives flash their brights, but I'll keep my politics out of this. The jist is, you do the thing that is safe for everyone but with the least amount of human contact possible...civilized.
Not in Maui. As I'm getting ready to turn, I hear someone from a car turning right into the lane opposite of me, "LIGHTS!!!!"
I honestly couldn't tell if the person was really afraid an accident was going to happen, he/she was offended or if I was the 5th person on her trip she had to yell at about lights. Whatever the reason, I was so tightly clenched afterwards, I had no danger of a wedgie the rest of the ride home.
Man...this place is weird.
This may actually be a plot to drive me crazy, though if I say that it definitely is I may be certifiably paranoid. Every weekday, I get home from school...the time varies...the earliest would be 4:30 (on a really good day), but it's usually around 6. It doesn't matter the exact time - within 5 minutes of me coming into the house I hear...uh...I think it's an ice cream truck, but I still haven't seen it.
[My cottage is behind "the main house" so I really can't see the street from where I am...or not enough to see what's coming down the street]
So, it's weird that no matter what time I come home, I hear the music 5 minutes after I get home. And it is that cheesy, loudspeaker, ice cream truck quality sound. But to make it even more weirder is the song is "It's A Small World". Wha? How does that equate with ice cream? You can't tie that into Hawaii. That's just weird.
So I'm serenaded with that cheesy Disney song...every...day...of...my...life. As if they couldn't find an ice cream truck version of "I'm Too Sexy". That would be awesome!
Another thing happened to me tonight. It's pretty much dark here at 7pm every night. Because we're so close to the equator, it's pretty much that way all year 'round. So I went "into town" tonight to run a couple of errands and by the time I was headed home it was dark. Now I'm used to the trusty old Chevy Prism...if I forget to turn on the lights, the car takes care of it. Not my brand new Focus. Roll up windows, each door locks on its own and the lights don't go on unless you turn 'em on.
So I manually unlocked my door, manually rolled down the window and manually forgot to turn on my lights - I even had to manually take care of a wedgie, but that's more information than you need. I pulled out of the parking lot onto the road, got to the intersection I needed to turn to get back to Kihei and got into the left-hand turn lane...
If a poor schmuck forgets to turn on his or her lights, civilized people know what to do...you flash your lights on and off. Lazy, obnoxious conservatives flash their brights, but I'll keep my politics out of this. The jist is, you do the thing that is safe for everyone but with the least amount of human contact possible...civilized.
Not in Maui. As I'm getting ready to turn, I hear someone from a car turning right into the lane opposite of me, "LIGHTS!!!!"
I honestly couldn't tell if the person was really afraid an accident was going to happen, he/she was offended or if I was the 5th person on her trip she had to yell at about lights. Whatever the reason, I was so tightly clenched afterwards, I had no danger of a wedgie the rest of the ride home.
Man...this place is weird.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Dave...After Dark
Welcome to the "private" blog. Again, sorry for the hassle. But now that this is a subscriber-only blog I can really cut loose...say whatever I want. It's like basic cable and Cinemax...now I can have gratuitous nudity and phony sex scenes.
Uh...well, maybe not. But I could if I wanted to. That's the point. So, just a note to say Hi. Have to go to give my kids their edumacation.
Uh...well, maybe not. But I could if I wanted to. That's the point. So, just a note to say Hi. Have to go to give my kids their edumacation.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
Quick Update
No big news, just a lot of little stuff...kids are germ factories no matter where they live. There's this bronchial thing sweeping the class and I have it. Coughing a lot and not much of a voice. I'm really tired, but that's because I can't sleep...back on my meds, the headache is gone...for those whom I talked about the car issues - everything's cool. The bank just felt the need to kill a tree and spend $.41 on postage...Hillside money should be arriving any day which is a GIGANTIC relief...and that's about it. I'm sick and cranky so I'm going to make dinner, practice my guitar and go to bed. Ciao.
Saturday, September 1, 2007
F-The FCC
I just finished my first shift on the air in about 15 years. (Damn, I'm old) Overall, it went pretty well. I received some calls during the show telling me I was playing good stuff. The person who runs the station called me with a few minutes left and told me that people called her to tell her I was doing well. That's cool. A couple of small problems that need to be taken care of, though...
Uh...first would be the 2 F-bombs I let loose on the air...in the same song. I was actually connected to 3 of them, really. I intended to play a song from this compilation CD from Amnesty International to help the refugees in Darfur - famous bands doing the songs of John Lennon. Sound's noble so far, right? Well, I thought I'd try to show my hipness by playing the Black Eyed Peas...which I know isn't really hip, but there was the possibility of some of my students listening (more on that later). Either I wasn't paying attention or the CD player was being goofy, but I got the wrong song. It was Green Day instead. OK, fine. I'll let that finish, then I'll play BEP because I already announced it. It didn't click in my head what the song was - Working Man Hero. BAM! F-bomb. Great. While it happened, the DJ before me was in the booth. He started laughing, because he had accidentally let one on the air earlier when he played a cut from the Jill Souble concert I told him about last week - it's downloadable for free on her website. So he played a song from it without really previewing it and she dropped one in the intro. Meanwhile someone calls up whining, "This isn't the Black Eyed Peas." I know, I screwed up, I'll play it next. Just then, the other DJ says, "Hey, isn't there another one in this..." BAM! The second f-bomb.
OK, I've been on the air less than an hour and I've let the word "fuck" go over the airwaves twice. This is not going to look good on my resume'.
Then I get a call for a request...but it starts off, "Is this Dave Atias?" Says my name right and everything.
"Uh...yeah."
"Hi, it's blah, blah, blah. Sally's father." (not her real name) Sally is a kid in my class. I've let two f-bombs go and one of my kids was listening. This is going to suck on Tuesday. Anyway, he says everything's sounding great and he made a few requests and I'll deal with the rest on Tuesday.
But then came the PSA's. Oh Lordy. I'm surprised there wasn't a group of Hawaiians waiting for me after the show to escort me back to the mainland. The problem? I can't speak Hawaiian. Every street and landmark has a freakin Hawaiian name and I had to to 2 PSA's an hour. So after I butcher the first one, Mr. Helper calls me and his first words to me were, "You haven't been here long, have you." I figured I was already responsible for enough "fuck"'s tonight so I just told him he was right. Well, Richard Helper then proceeded to give me a lesson in Hawaiian on the phone. He basically told me (as others already have) to pronounce all the vowels in Hawaiian words as you do in Spanish. Of course he was assuming I spoke Spanish. I guess he was inviting me to butcher two languages at the same time. Can you say "douchebag" on the air?
But overall it went well. It was good being back on the air. If I can get some regular time I'll be my old smooth self again in no time.
Uh...first would be the 2 F-bombs I let loose on the air...in the same song. I was actually connected to 3 of them, really. I intended to play a song from this compilation CD from Amnesty International to help the refugees in Darfur - famous bands doing the songs of John Lennon. Sound's noble so far, right? Well, I thought I'd try to show my hipness by playing the Black Eyed Peas...which I know isn't really hip, but there was the possibility of some of my students listening (more on that later). Either I wasn't paying attention or the CD player was being goofy, but I got the wrong song. It was Green Day instead. OK, fine. I'll let that finish, then I'll play BEP because I already announced it. It didn't click in my head what the song was - Working Man Hero. BAM! F-bomb. Great. While it happened, the DJ before me was in the booth. He started laughing, because he had accidentally let one on the air earlier when he played a cut from the Jill Souble concert I told him about last week - it's downloadable for free on her website. So he played a song from it without really previewing it and she dropped one in the intro. Meanwhile someone calls up whining, "This isn't the Black Eyed Peas." I know, I screwed up, I'll play it next. Just then, the other DJ says, "Hey, isn't there another one in this..." BAM! The second f-bomb.
OK, I've been on the air less than an hour and I've let the word "fuck" go over the airwaves twice. This is not going to look good on my resume'.
Then I get a call for a request...but it starts off, "Is this Dave Atias?" Says my name right and everything.
"Uh...yeah."
"Hi, it's blah, blah, blah. Sally's father." (not her real name) Sally is a kid in my class. I've let two f-bombs go and one of my kids was listening. This is going to suck on Tuesday. Anyway, he says everything's sounding great and he made a few requests and I'll deal with the rest on Tuesday.
But then came the PSA's. Oh Lordy. I'm surprised there wasn't a group of Hawaiians waiting for me after the show to escort me back to the mainland. The problem? I can't speak Hawaiian. Every street and landmark has a freakin Hawaiian name and I had to to 2 PSA's an hour. So after I butcher the first one, Mr. Helper calls me and his first words to me were, "You haven't been here long, have you." I figured I was already responsible for enough "fuck"'s tonight so I just told him he was right. Well, Richard Helper then proceeded to give me a lesson in Hawaiian on the phone. He basically told me (as others already have) to pronounce all the vowels in Hawaiian words as you do in Spanish. Of course he was assuming I spoke Spanish. I guess he was inviting me to butcher two languages at the same time. Can you say "douchebag" on the air?
But overall it went well. It was good being back on the air. If I can get some regular time I'll be my old smooth self again in no time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
