Allan's journal to the world. (Sounds important, doesn't it?)
Today …
Today …
I just bought a new used car. The Kia Soul is probably scrap, so I’ve been looking at other vehicles. I found a 2010 Chrysler Town & Country. A what? Why such a big vehicle? Many reasons – plywood, mattress, camp gear, people – all will fit. More later.
Today I …
Four major things happened today. Here’s my report.
I had an interview today with TT today. It was a good interview.
Probate on Father’s house finally came through today. Finally.
I was in an accident this evening. The car is totalled, but the airbags went off, and I’m fine.
I had a new student start today. Unfortunately, I was two blocks away from his house when the accident happened, so I never saw him.
I think I’m ready for bed. <sigh>
According to CNBC, the US bond yield curve has inverted, a significant indicator of a slowed economy.
Now I’m no professional economic analysis expert by any means – but is it not just as simple as knowing that the industries and, indeed, industrial models you’ve relied upon for “growth” all this time have started to fail because they should? Did the steam engine not get replaced by the Diesel? Then the Diesel-electric? Did stone houses not make way for brick, then wood, then steel & glass?
Is Alberta not suffering now because people have a poor idea of the reputation of oil sands? Lethbridge, for example, has an enormous amount both of sunlight and wind. Isn’t the writing on the wall stating that, within 20 years or so, oil will seriously on its way out? Now I’m not getting on the Liberal bandwagon and saying we should all convert farmland into solar panel land. … Then again, you’re building huge advanced greenhouses to grow pot. Good for you. (There’s a facetious tone to my remark, by the way, in case you couldn’t hear me.)
Instead of looking at this as a doom-and-gloom thing, this seems to me to be a sure indicator of the need for innovation, changes to the status-quo, advancement of “alternatives” (as though oil is the benchmark and everything else is an alternative). In short, the stuff you’ve invested in is losing ground. Stop trying to prop it up with make-shift measures. Let it die. Move into something else.
And Trumpy wants to open up more coal mines and “put Americans to work again”, as though going back in time will save us all. Fool! And you’re dragging everyone else down with you.
Mom told me a story.
“I put my foot in my shoe, and I could feel something in there. I dumped out my shoe, and nothing came out.” She checked her slipper. Nothing. Then she dumped out her sock. Of all things, a pill came out. Apparently, Floyd lost a vitamin-D pill a few days ago. How it landed in her sock, no one will ever know.
However, she apparently hadn’t heard the story, The Princess and the Pea, so my comment, “You’re the Princess,” didn’t make any sense to her. Floyd thought it was funny though.
I’ve completed the walls for the latest project, the teardrop trailer. Unfortunately, I broke a jigsaw blade and had to go buy some more. Fortunately, the shop is close. Unfortunately, those little suckers are expensive. Fortunately, I get AirMiles. Unfortunately, I haven’t figured out how to use my AirMiles – just keep collecting them. Fortunately, however, all my AirMiles points are toward cash value from now on instead of travel / merchandise. Life is full of ups and downs.
The same day I posted my last entry on M & F (students, not Mom & Fl0yd), F quit. He’s gone with another tutor. His schedule has changed, and I can only tutor after 5:30pm, so F is no more.
At the same time, another student started. Students come, students go. This time, however, the student isn’t in Coaldale like F was; he’s in Lethbridge. Good for me. I don’t spend $5 in fuel driving to and returning from a student’s house to make $17 / hour.
My students have been improving considerably. Two in particular, M & F (no, not Mom & Floyd, but another M & another F!), have caught the I-want-to-learn bug.
M has improved his mathematics skills considerably (among other skills). It’s not easy to do ‘mental math’ without guidance and practise. We’re using the practices of 1) using fingers to count, 2) memorization (as in the multiplication table), 3) writing out problems long-hand, and 4) using a calculator for complex calculations or to check one’s work. Because M is in a Montessori program (and, no, it isn’t just for playschool, preschool, and kindergarten – it’s valid all throughout elementary school and beyond), it involves practical life (understanding everyday activities), sensorial (tactility, sound, vision, etc.), academic (mathematics, language arts, histories, the sciences), and societal (creativity, games, group work, social activity). It’s not just reading, writing, and ‘rithmatic anymore, folks. So, part of yesterday’s homework is fractions and their uses. What’s the good in knowing fractions unless you can use them? He’s a creative fellow, so he could go on to use this skill in everyday life.
No, he’s not helping me build the trailer. He’s reading the tape measure in the pictures.
F has improved his reading skills. It started with not knowing the phonics of letters and combinations of letters of the alphabet, having difficulty writing letters in patterns, and knowing sight words. Now he’s sounding out words he doesn’t know and breezing through those he does. It’s about not being intimidated by the written word, I think, and he’s come a long way in this. He says he enjoys writing, so hopefully this will pull him along in the reading thing, too. Plus, I promised him a prize (a notebook from Korea) if he reads really well – something to shoot for.