Saturday, May 10, 2008

Random Update

I'm pretty sure it's going to be more difficult to post regular updates, but I'll do my best. I'm back in Rochester-mode...jobs & campaigning. So here's a few little things going on.

We're kind of in full swing in the campaign. I'm still having some...uh...issues. My candidate is still having problems approaching people at various venues. Church functions seems to be a big issue with her. Then there's Dad...Dad is a big cheese in the district. He owns land, is a landlord, he's a mover & shaker. And he's a great guy! I hate the term, but he's pretty liberal. But he won't make phone calls. We spent hours compiling a list of people everyone can call for support and Dad's is pretty high-quality, but he has this thing about calling for money...and it's a political thing, because both he and the wife are HUGE in the philanthropy circles...they shake people down for money for good causes all the time, and this cause is his own daughter - who he loves like a mother (excuse the pun). But because it's politics he won't make the calls. So I'm trying to be nice about his, while at the same time get through to him that it's a pretty big part of our strategy.

And I realized this week that I am STILL the only person with political experience on board and it's kind of draining because I'm doing more training than managing. And every time the incumbent does anything that incumbents do, everyone freaks out and even though I keep telling them what to expect, they still freak out.

Then I have my interns, who are 15-year-old girls, who I have to take 30 minute car rides with and listen to stories of who likes who, fashion and other vacuous things that give me an ice cream headache. But some of them are actually doing a pretty good job.

I'm making it sound like chaos for comedic effect, but I'm actually enjoying this. We're doing good work, though we're still not where I want us to be. If I can get us over a couple of hurdles, we're going to kick this guy's ass. Unfortunately, as it is in politics:

Money would help. (hint, hint)

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Work at the YMCA is going OK...everyone seems to like me there, which is cool. I can't wait to get this stupid boot off so I can start using their facilities. I know, I can't go full gear at the start, but as of right now, ANYTHING is better than what I'm doing. And I'm getting close to pulling a groin muscle from driving...too much information?

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That's pretty much it for now. School is the same. The kids are nuts, because it's near the end of the school year. We're interviewing new teachers as we're adding another grade next year. I'll only be responsible for Social Studies then. But it's going to be insane as we'll have 24 more kids in the same space. I still don't know how we're working this. "No worries" is a big saying here and the Kihei Charter School takes that to heart. So planning isn't at a premium because whatever happens it's "no worries". So, I'm still going to be able to teach, pretty much, whatever I want, but it's going to be amidst chaos. Stay tuned.