As I was working today a was inspired to think about something that I haven´t thought about in a long time, taking a lap. As the students at the school went through a band lesson, besides the obviously 1970s chest piece xylophones which I found pretty sweet, I noticed something else...When the kids would talk out of turn, or continue to play their instruments once the almighty hand of silence was raised, they would be taught a lesson about their behavior by having to take a lap around the basketball court. Then it hit me, what ever happened to taking a lap?
Yes, I´m sure this is still a widely used mechanism in elementary schools and sports programs everywhere, and to it´s credit I believe is one of the best attitude and behavior conditioning tools around*. But why does it stop getting used? It´s funny how as adults we think we´re so smart and above all these ¨childish¨mechanisms, but upon closer inspection since we´ve abonded them we tend to be the ones with most the problems.
In Practice:
As a young baseball player that liked to watch the girls tennis team jump rope instead of practicing sliding drills I have taken more than a few laps in my day, and in any other situation I´m sure I would have learned my lesson to focus and stay on task. In all seriousness though, if my memory serves me, in every other instance: from talking back, to listening to instructions, to making sure to not get caught skipping class during sports season again...all were guidelines followed and lessons learned under the penalty of having to take a lap.
I guess the beauty of it goes far beyond just having to do the running (I still hated laps even though I was a cross country runner. I guess it just goes to show no matter what, running is a punishment). This time usually anywhere from a half minute to close to five minutes is usually enough to think about what you did wrong and what ways you can avoid doing that again. And if you screw up again, which people are prone to do, you continue to run laps until you have figured it out, and your behavior has been effectively conditioned. There are also times when you don´t even have to do the running to learn the lesson. Say someone takes five laps for making fart noises with their armpit during sustained silent reading (SSR), I´ll put good money on the fact that everyone else has learned the lesson to not repeat that behavior too! Also, let´s not forget that the social factor of being made spectacle in front of everyone and their ever judging eyes is the clinching factor to make you never want to do it again. Regardless of how tough people want to sound by saying I don´t care what people think, being made an example in front of peers is not on anyones top ten list.
In Theory:
To have a system where everyone would be subject to taking a lap not only to correct their behavior but to think about how to correct it? Genius! Managers have been dreaming about such a procedure for years. And with all the crazy things that have been tried over the years this idea isn´t that far out of the box.
Oh, the lenghts I wouldn´t go to put taking a lap into the by-laws of board of directors and committee meetings of almost every organization I have been part of. That person who has something personal, off task, or outright disruptive to add to every agenda point, no longer disruptive because they´re busy taking laps. Late for a meeting, take a lap. Didn´t finish your report, or get to the assignment you chose to take on, take a lap.
And not even just in business, how great it would be to see adults everywhere taking laps for forgetting the milk at the store, or to pick up the kids on time. I´d want to see extra laps for spending the rent money at the bar or at the card table. Imagine yourself hearing this from a police officer, ¨Sir you were speeding/not wearing your seatbelt/talking on your cell phone, etc. but I´m gonna let this go as a warning as soon as you get done taking a lap¨. Hell if it saves me 100 bucks I´m into it.
This could possibly even be therapeutic for customers who have received poor service. To be told by a manager they were sorry for the rudeness of their employee, but that person is taking a lap...Yeah, I´m good with that. To get to watch your waiter take a lap after forgetting the extra ranch you ordered for you salad or fries...Makes me feel better. And let´s not forget about the exercise that these employees are getting, talk about a way to keep your employees in shape.
In Reality:
To be honest, I condone this because I too have needed a lap on more than a few occassions, and could have benefited from the practice. I will also put money down that if my last boss, who is a follower of this blog, is reading this he is full on shaking his head in agreement right now. I can remember several occassions where we talked about ways to keep the tempo up, or find a word cue to use when we would come to an impass of idea as to not get bogged down, or when I let my attidude at work be colored by my personal life, etc. When all other ideas failed, taking a lap probably would have worked.
Also in my personal life, I have this misconception that being honest doesn´t need censorship, and I tend to be annoying by constantly correcting people (not to mention coming across as a know it all). Further I constantly misrepresent myself by being overly blunt or callous (not to mention I´m notorious for taking things that one step too far) about an issue, which continuously hurts peoples feelings, or leads them to be offended or believe that I don´t like them. I am more than aware of this, but never seem to learn my lesson that people generally don´t want to hear the word ¨actually¨ before everything that comes out of your mouth, or be told that using the word W.O.W. to make fun of World of Warcraft players makes you a dork too for knowing the acronym and possibly worse since you´re falsely trying to act like youre above it. This is just a taste, I could literally go on for hours about circumstances I constantly find myself in and the behaviors that I´d like to change. What if my buddies would just call me out when being a jerk, and simply say, ¨Come on Chris, you´re better than that, TAKE A LAP!¨
In Rebuttal:
I guess an argument would be to question why a person just can´t be their own self administrator of checking their baggage, fixing their problems, staying on task, or watching what they say. Should it be that hard for a responsible adult to do these things? Yeah emotions can sometimes supercede peoples better judgement, but a mature person can learn from their mistakes and make sure they don´t repeat the same mistake more than a few times at most. Sure, routine can lead to comfortability which can lead to indiffernce at times, but usually people snap out of it, and correct their behavior.
In Response:
Yes, it is that hard for people to do those things themselves, when peoples emotions are involved all bets are off. Mature or not, more often than not people are their own worst enemies and repeat the same mistakes over and over without fail. And yes, people do snap out of it, but usually after it´s already too late. I would think that a person who seriously believes this argument doesn´t hang around alot of people, or pay attention to their behavior. Or in other words, to put a new spin on an old joke...¨John Lennon called, he wants his idealism back¨.**
In Conclusion:
Maybe you too can think of an instance or two where simply taking a lap could save the day. It´s literally all around us. Or maybe you don´t like the argument against, and have a better one, I welcome your thoughts.
In Reference:
*To my discontent, since I went to school and enacted as I was in H.S. and soon after I graduated, a movement of not wanting to continue practices like cutting kids from sports, or not giving letter grades in order to not hurt a childs fragile ego was introduced into U.S. schools. It is possible that taking laps was one of these archaic, life shattering practices that had to go. If that is the case I am officially deeply saddened.
**Sorry to all the ¨Dreamers¨and Nic Wiese (the biggest Lennon fan I know) for having to go there. If you must, blame David Spade for teaching me that medium.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Roads? We don´t Need Roads Where We´re Going!
So, I guess that I have come to terms with the fact that there´s going to be quite a bit of humor that I´ll admit is cutting edge. While watching the Olympics, and several other news stories, myself and roommates were saddened at the tragic story of the athlete that had passed away in a training run on the luge course. Then a friend who happens to be Canadian, found it to be more than happenstance that the speed the luger was traveling happened to be the exact same speed as one that was referenced in a movie we were watching just before we switched to the news.
Also, note that Michael J. (also Canadian) was a big part of the opening and closing ceremonies. Also thanks to my buddy Brian for making this video a reality, and also reposting it after the International Olympic Committee banned it in January.
Also, note that Michael J. (also Canadian) was a big part of the opening and closing ceremonies. Also thanks to my buddy Brian for making this video a reality, and also reposting it after the International Olympic Committee banned it in January.
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Photos for Real
So, I´m not good at this kind of stuff if I can´t copy and paste, or whatever so this is the best I think I can do. I have uploaded the photos to a Flikr account, and the link works so you can get to them by just clicking. I have added some captions that you might want to check out, they explain stuff. Remember the old myspace days?...Someone please comment on my photos. I got most the kids, still trying to get that elusive family shot that they say I can have no problem. Also, keep in mind that these photos are most recent first, just like the blogs, so to go to the beginning, go to the end.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51849388@N08/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/51849388@N08/
Special Ed
For those whose interest I peeked with the ending of the blog on Friday...Special Ed is this show I have been thinking about for some time now. It consists of a plot that is part after school special and part Truman Show. In it there is a main character Ed who is mentally handicapped. The twist is that when he was born his single mother (working on where the father is and how she got rich) had the money and wanted to make sure that Ed had a normal life and got to do all the things that a quote un quote normal child would get to do. So everyone in the town knows that, Ed is special, but they never let on and act as if everything he does is right on cue with every other after school show teens love. Of course there is a double meaning because everyone calls him Special Ed, but he thinks its because he´s special ¨cool¨, not special ¨needs¨. While the show would aim at being funny and use irony and sarcasm as it´s main mechanisms, I think that there could also be some positive overtones and themes added to show that people shouldn´t treat people with mental or physical handicaps differently and could provide some good information about how people can get over their phobias and interact or atleast open their minds to people that are different than them. All this could easily be explained in the opening credits, much like Stangers with Candy does. --Great show by the way, it definitely pushes the envelope on what it should be okay to laugh at.
The pilot episode would open with Ed in his letterman´s jacket standing with a group of friends mainly consisting of jocks and cheerleaders. When a ¨nerdy¨ looking student walks by, one of his friends knocks the kids books out of his hand and Ed says, ¨Nerd´s who needs em´¨. Then the panic comes, turns out Ed is failing his history class, and to play in the big game he needs to retake the test and get a passing grade so he can start at quarterback against their crosstown rival. Who´d have guessed it, the kid that Ed calls a nerd is the student that is picked to be his tutor to get him ready for the test. Through a well produced montage to something inspirational from the 80s or 90s like ¨I need a hero¨ by Bonnie Tyler or better yet ¨You Gotta Be¨ by Des´ree, the two find common ground and of course Ed passes the test, plays in the big game, and scores the winning touchdown in a physical comedy sequence that puts the last play in the movie ¨Radio¨ to shame. The episode would close as a reinacted scene of the opening shot is redone, this time with Ed sticking up for the nerdy student. When his friend asks why are you sticking up for that kid he´s so different and wierd, Ed says, ¨Nerds, NO, Lucas is a person too!"
(And YES that is definitely a Haim reference).
Other episodes would include: A showdown with Ed´s arch enemy Jerry the kid from the crosstown rival school with M.S. The episode where the cool substitute comes and the kids think he´s so cool, and inspires them by suggesting a trip, but the Uncool nuclear parent character warns them the person is not dependable, the kids the the character is just lame and therefore jealous. Of course the substitute bails at the last minute but the dependable parental figure is there to take them anyway and all is well. The episode where Ed decides he´s tired of how callous cheerleaders are and goes for the artsy girl, who happens to be a knockout by simply taking off her glasses and putting on a dress instead of those jordache overalls and baggy sweatshirts. Ed gets his drivers license. Ed is stunned to find someone he looks up to uses drugs. Ed thinks he is betrayed by his best friend but it turns out he was protecting him all along. Ed finds the real special ed room. What happened to Ed´s father, Ed runs for class president, The foreign exchange student doesn´t get the memo...You get the idea. Maybe add some ideas of your own, I´m open to suggestions.
I think this idea is funny, and if done right, could be even more. Although I am assured that there are people who would be beyond offended by this idea. Here´s the deal, it´s satire! On some level is supposed to offend you and inspire you to be better, but it´s funny because people should be able to get the joke of the tables being turned and giving the upper hand to the underdog. How´s this, for anyone who says it´s out of line I´ll give this quick litmus test. When was the last time you called someone fat or thought less of someone for being so, or a redneck, or judged someone because of where they were from, went to school or the like. If you can pass that, well done, many should aspire to be as stand up as you.
For everyone else, which I´ll bet is the lions share, I have a hard time with people who get all bent out of shape about racism or sexism or any other hot button -ism, because society has deemed it taboo, yet they are the first people to judge someone else just as harshly for a fault that they won´t be called a biggot for saying. As I alluded to in an earlier blog, I´m tired of people thinking they can have it both ways. So to say their a-moral behavior is better than mine because it´s more socially acceptable, or no one will call them out or whispers about their behavior when they leave or enter a room. Once again I´m not buying it. Maybe if more people called me a blockhead (I´m scandinavian) or we could come up with a good derrogatory term for white people we could actually start to talk about diversity and the huge problems we still have with it in our country rather than keep it in the dark and untalked about, and leaving the power of discrimination in the hands of the abusers. I´ll concede that might be a bad example because it condones more discrimnation as a solution to the problem of the current overabundance, but it´s definitely something to think about. Until then, I´ll hope to see you at the Emmy´s!
The pilot episode would open with Ed in his letterman´s jacket standing with a group of friends mainly consisting of jocks and cheerleaders. When a ¨nerdy¨ looking student walks by, one of his friends knocks the kids books out of his hand and Ed says, ¨Nerd´s who needs em´¨. Then the panic comes, turns out Ed is failing his history class, and to play in the big game he needs to retake the test and get a passing grade so he can start at quarterback against their crosstown rival. Who´d have guessed it, the kid that Ed calls a nerd is the student that is picked to be his tutor to get him ready for the test. Through a well produced montage to something inspirational from the 80s or 90s like ¨I need a hero¨ by Bonnie Tyler or better yet ¨You Gotta Be¨ by Des´ree, the two find common ground and of course Ed passes the test, plays in the big game, and scores the winning touchdown in a physical comedy sequence that puts the last play in the movie ¨Radio¨ to shame. The episode would close as a reinacted scene of the opening shot is redone, this time with Ed sticking up for the nerdy student. When his friend asks why are you sticking up for that kid he´s so different and wierd, Ed says, ¨Nerds, NO, Lucas is a person too!"
(And YES that is definitely a Haim reference).
Other episodes would include: A showdown with Ed´s arch enemy Jerry the kid from the crosstown rival school with M.S. The episode where the cool substitute comes and the kids think he´s so cool, and inspires them by suggesting a trip, but the Uncool nuclear parent character warns them the person is not dependable, the kids the the character is just lame and therefore jealous. Of course the substitute bails at the last minute but the dependable parental figure is there to take them anyway and all is well. The episode where Ed decides he´s tired of how callous cheerleaders are and goes for the artsy girl, who happens to be a knockout by simply taking off her glasses and putting on a dress instead of those jordache overalls and baggy sweatshirts. Ed gets his drivers license. Ed is stunned to find someone he looks up to uses drugs. Ed thinks he is betrayed by his best friend but it turns out he was protecting him all along. Ed finds the real special ed room. What happened to Ed´s father, Ed runs for class president, The foreign exchange student doesn´t get the memo...You get the idea. Maybe add some ideas of your own, I´m open to suggestions.
I think this idea is funny, and if done right, could be even more. Although I am assured that there are people who would be beyond offended by this idea. Here´s the deal, it´s satire! On some level is supposed to offend you and inspire you to be better, but it´s funny because people should be able to get the joke of the tables being turned and giving the upper hand to the underdog. How´s this, for anyone who says it´s out of line I´ll give this quick litmus test. When was the last time you called someone fat or thought less of someone for being so, or a redneck, or judged someone because of where they were from, went to school or the like. If you can pass that, well done, many should aspire to be as stand up as you.
For everyone else, which I´ll bet is the lions share, I have a hard time with people who get all bent out of shape about racism or sexism or any other hot button -ism, because society has deemed it taboo, yet they are the first people to judge someone else just as harshly for a fault that they won´t be called a biggot for saying. As I alluded to in an earlier blog, I´m tired of people thinking they can have it both ways. So to say their a-moral behavior is better than mine because it´s more socially acceptable, or no one will call them out or whispers about their behavior when they leave or enter a room. Once again I´m not buying it. Maybe if more people called me a blockhead (I´m scandinavian) or we could come up with a good derrogatory term for white people we could actually start to talk about diversity and the huge problems we still have with it in our country rather than keep it in the dark and untalked about, and leaving the power of discrimination in the hands of the abusers. I´ll concede that might be a bad example because it condones more discrimnation as a solution to the problem of the current overabundance, but it´s definitely something to think about. Until then, I´ll hope to see you at the Emmy´s!
Photos
Not quite yet but while they upload, I will share a few things that have brightened my week so far...
Did I mention the women balance and carry things on their heads here? Well I should have. Some of the better things that I have seen balanced are: 5 dozen eggs, a case of 20oz SuperCola´s, and the best of all 15-20 stools.
I was doing something on the internet the other day...Oh yeah it was searching for the correct wording for a quote from Run Ronnie Run, probably one of the funniest movies ever put to film. And if you even have to ask, yes Jeff Goldblum is in it so you know its good. Anyway during the movie a broadway production of Ronnie´s life is being put on and the lead character is played by world renowned opera singer Mandy Pintinkin (sp.) You might also remember him from what I would deem to be his most famous role Inigo Montoya, the swashbuckling sop out for revenge of his slain father in The Princess Bride. Of course I can´t make that reference without bringing into the conversation that Inigo´s father was killed by a six fingered man played by none other than (in my opinion the best comedy director of all time that didn´t marry his stepdaughter) Christopher Guest. Back to the important part, it was at this point that I finally made the connection that this is none other than the same Mandy Pintinktin that plays the head reaper in the short lived but actually pretty entertaining Dead Like Me. And for good measure I also made the connection that he is on one of those psychics solving crimes shows on TNT or something. All in all I haven´t been this excited about something coming full circle since I realized that Dan the henchman from Deadwood, was the same guy that played Warren on There´s Something About Mary.
The only time that I wish I had a phone was when I was in the city last week, and I was walking down the street and a shop had a HUGE silk fabric print of the band ¨Korn¨ from about 2001. I wanted to call Mike McGuinn so bad and ask him if he wanted it. On second thought, I wouldn´t even have to ask, I know he would have.
So, I have alot of time to read, and what happens when the only person you know that speaks English is a missionary is that you read books about the church and Jesus and such. There is no way that I can live here and not be influenced by faith and the like. It is funny for me though as although I personally have faith in God and Jesus as a person who overwhelming stood for love and good, and without a doubt went through an excrutiating death to make believers of men that he was the son of god and was dying for our sins, I have had a longstanding beef with the hipocracy of many organized religions and their followers. So while reading these books I am doing so with a quite objective view, and will do me best to transmit it to you the same. One book I read, ¨Jesus Among Other Gods¨ written by a man from India who grew up hindu, and converted to christianity after a suicide attempt. I wasn´t convinced of his arguments (this was the teen version so that might have accounted for some of the dumbing down) and found it more to be leading to impressionable kids (not that its a bad cause) than an examination of objective dialougue and overwhelming in fact. Anyhow I really liked this quote from Napoleon which was in the book. It was one of the few things that I really found intriguing and also a reason I admire Jesus as a historical person and as a symbol of faith:
¨Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him.... I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man: none else is like Him; Jesus Christ was more than man.... I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me.... but to do this it was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lighted up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts.... Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is accountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ.¨
Thats quite a bit so I´ll leave it there for today.
Did I mention the women balance and carry things on their heads here? Well I should have. Some of the better things that I have seen balanced are: 5 dozen eggs, a case of 20oz SuperCola´s, and the best of all 15-20 stools.
I was doing something on the internet the other day...Oh yeah it was searching for the correct wording for a quote from Run Ronnie Run, probably one of the funniest movies ever put to film. And if you even have to ask, yes Jeff Goldblum is in it so you know its good. Anyway during the movie a broadway production of Ronnie´s life is being put on and the lead character is played by world renowned opera singer Mandy Pintinkin (sp.) You might also remember him from what I would deem to be his most famous role Inigo Montoya, the swashbuckling sop out for revenge of his slain father in The Princess Bride. Of course I can´t make that reference without bringing into the conversation that Inigo´s father was killed by a six fingered man played by none other than (in my opinion the best comedy director of all time that didn´t marry his stepdaughter) Christopher Guest. Back to the important part, it was at this point that I finally made the connection that this is none other than the same Mandy Pintinktin that plays the head reaper in the short lived but actually pretty entertaining Dead Like Me. And for good measure I also made the connection that he is on one of those psychics solving crimes shows on TNT or something. All in all I haven´t been this excited about something coming full circle since I realized that Dan the henchman from Deadwood, was the same guy that played Warren on There´s Something About Mary.
The only time that I wish I had a phone was when I was in the city last week, and I was walking down the street and a shop had a HUGE silk fabric print of the band ¨Korn¨ from about 2001. I wanted to call Mike McGuinn so bad and ask him if he wanted it. On second thought, I wouldn´t even have to ask, I know he would have.
So, I have alot of time to read, and what happens when the only person you know that speaks English is a missionary is that you read books about the church and Jesus and such. There is no way that I can live here and not be influenced by faith and the like. It is funny for me though as although I personally have faith in God and Jesus as a person who overwhelming stood for love and good, and without a doubt went through an excrutiating death to make believers of men that he was the son of god and was dying for our sins, I have had a longstanding beef with the hipocracy of many organized religions and their followers. So while reading these books I am doing so with a quite objective view, and will do me best to transmit it to you the same. One book I read, ¨Jesus Among Other Gods¨ written by a man from India who grew up hindu, and converted to christianity after a suicide attempt. I wasn´t convinced of his arguments (this was the teen version so that might have accounted for some of the dumbing down) and found it more to be leading to impressionable kids (not that its a bad cause) than an examination of objective dialougue and overwhelming in fact. Anyhow I really liked this quote from Napoleon which was in the book. It was one of the few things that I really found intriguing and also a reason I admire Jesus as a historical person and as a symbol of faith:
¨Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him.... I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man: none else is like Him; Jesus Christ was more than man.... I have inspired multitudes with such an enthusiastic devotion that they would have died for me.... but to do this it was necessary that I should be visibly present with the electric influence of my looks, my words, of my voice. When I saw men and spoke to them, I lighted up the flame of self-devotion in their hearts.... Christ alone has succeeded in so raising the mind of man toward the unseen, that it becomes insensible to the barriers of time and space. Across a chasm of eighteen hundred years, Jesus Christ makes a demand which is beyond all others to satisfy; He asks for that which a philosopher may seek in vain at the hands of his friends, or a father of his children, or a bride of her spouse, or a man of his brother. He asks for the human heart; He will have it entirely to Himself. He demands it unconditionally; and forthwith His demand is granted. Wonderful! In defiance of time and space, the soul of man, with all its powers and faculties, becomes an annexation to the empire of Christ. All who sincerely believe in Him, experience that remarkable, supernatural love toward Him. This phenomenon is accountable; it is altogether beyond the scope of man's creative powers. Time, the great destroyer, is powerless to extinguish this sacred flame; time can neither exhaust its strength nor put a limit to its range. This is it, which strikes me most; I have often thought of it. This is which proves to me quite convincingly the Divinity of Jesus Christ.¨
Thats quite a bit so I´ll leave it there for today.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Workin for the Weekend
Actually today I didn´t work. I hurt my back yesterday, and got the surprising good news this morning that el jeffe aka the boss aka abuelo aka grandpa aka the old wan´t going to be there today so I didn´t have to work. My sad state of affairs was not heroic or anything of the sort. I was moving concrete in a bucket for most of the morning pouring some columns and then had to chisel some concrete out of a wall to get to the reebar in an existing wall in order to connect some new rebar structures, I´m sure you get the idea. So while chiseling said concrete I had to be bent over because the hole that would have made it an easy task to complete the tast was filled and of course on the side that would make it possible for a right handed person to easily complete the task. Not to break into a tangent but one very frustrating thing about my experience so far is that the people do NOT work effectively, and don´t seem to understand the idea of a master plan. It´s a bit here a bit there and then we´ll figure it out later. I can go with the flow, but when it means making the job noticably harder and then I throw my back out because of it, it´s frustrating. Yeah I´m a crybaby what about it. Either way today made me think of a quote from the 1984 classic Cannonball Run II when Marci says, ¨It´s gonna be a weekend you can tell your kids about, if they´re all boys¨ My weekend won´t be like that, but its a good line all the same. I´ll bet I´ll do some reading, hopefully upload some photos, watch soccer, and go listen to a sermon or two in Spanish. And maybe do some writing on the long awaited comedy show, Special Ed that I have been formulating for quite a while now.
¨Who knows I don´t know if I´ll have enough time¨
¨Who knows I don´t know if I´ll have enough time¨
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Small town livin´ Big city game
Today I went to the city of Chimaltenango. Got off work at around ten because the ¨Old¨* that I´m working with was doing something else, and so I went and mowed the rest of the big field and then was done. It was a good thing as I had been working everyday but Sunday from 7:30 to 5:00 doing actual labor for the past two weeks. Not that this is a big deal but when your grossly out of shape and have spent the last six months collecting checks from uncle sam and living the easy life, it was a welcome pleasure. It´s funny to me what is cheap and what isn´t down here. Pretty much I pay the family I live with 12 bucks a day or 100Qs. Pretty cheap for a room three meals, laundry service, and no dishes or chores. Other than that I think I´ve spent about $20 since I´ve been here, and half of that was a birthday present for Flory´s quince. I can get a soda** and a bag of chips for about 75cents, so since that´s all I buy every couple of days its pretty managable. And we rode the bus into the city for 6Qs or about 80cent which was a good fare considering it was about 30 miles***. Food though isn´t that cheap if you buy namebrand stuff. It was pretty expensive at the costco and the grocery store I was at in the city. Anyway we went to the mall which was about the size of Eastgate (bad reference for anyone not from ww) in it´s heyday except every store was filled. There was even a payless shoe source getting ready to open. Anyway we hung out there while the Coy´s car was being fixed. Watched the Netherlands beat Uraguay on a huge screen in the food court, and had lunch. I was amazed that it was 46Qs for a big mac meal about 7 bucks. Thats high, they also had dominoes, taco bell, and Pollo Compero which is more like popeyes than kfc for those who might wonder. I thought that was high, so I got a hamburger from some offbrand place called restaurante internacional. IT WAS AWESOME. After eating cold beans and brocolli for 60% of my meals the past couple of weeks it hit the spot. Not that I don´t like the others, but the repitition and lack of meat has been a hard adjustment. Moving on we walked about 3 miles to the place where the car was, oddly enough a ford escort wagon. It is about ten years newer but still the same model as the long historied one I used to drive and wrecked a few years ago up Tollgate. Anyway when we got there it took about 5hours for it to be finished, and I as usual had no idea what was going on because being in the loop revolves around understanding Spanish beyond basic dialougue. It was all for the better. They had cable, which I will tell you, beat the pants off their employees running everywhere...take note Les Schaub. And not just cable they had English shows with Spanish subtitles, so it was actually very educational. I am stoked to be able to say that I learned a great deal of Spanish from watching 90210, Felicity, and Law and Order Re-runs. I now know a few different ways to say Liar, I´m sorry, Oh my God, and pissed off now. Also I learned a couple of words that I had been hearing over and over again for the past few days. Anyhow later on the way home we stopped for food and I finally got some pork! Not a bad day at all.
Footnotes
*Olds is a term I will take credit for coining in the mid 2000´s, to describe a person that is out of date, and lives solely to be bitter about the world and the state of how their life has turned out. This can also be used in quick passing for anyone over the age of sixty regardless of their outlook on life. I will admit that this is a generalization, but as long as I´m a young punk...you get the idea.
**I have learned that their are three types of Water (Agua)
Agua - This is water used for washing, cooking, cleaning, and all other general purposes such as rain, and watering flowers. You don´t want to drink this water, unless run through a filter or boiled.
Agua Pura - This is drinking water
Agua Pepsi- This is pepsi, and I have only heard it referred to as the soda ¨pepsi¨. no agua coke or aqua super cola, or agua seven up, only agua pepsi. BTW there is an awesome soda called Rica Roja which is tantemount to red cream soda, like the kind they used to have at 4jays. It´s the best.
***Once getting to the city, I noticed that there were several other buses going everywhere in Guate, including Antigua and San Miguel which are tourist spots. They were easy to understand and find. My head was filled with ideas of learning enough Spanish to set out on adventures...
Footnotes
*Olds is a term I will take credit for coining in the mid 2000´s, to describe a person that is out of date, and lives solely to be bitter about the world and the state of how their life has turned out. This can also be used in quick passing for anyone over the age of sixty regardless of their outlook on life. I will admit that this is a generalization, but as long as I´m a young punk...you get the idea.
**I have learned that their are three types of Water (Agua)
Agua - This is water used for washing, cooking, cleaning, and all other general purposes such as rain, and watering flowers. You don´t want to drink this water, unless run through a filter or boiled.
Agua Pura - This is drinking water
Agua Pepsi- This is pepsi, and I have only heard it referred to as the soda ¨pepsi¨. no agua coke or aqua super cola, or agua seven up, only agua pepsi. BTW there is an awesome soda called Rica Roja which is tantemount to red cream soda, like the kind they used to have at 4jays. It´s the best.
***Once getting to the city, I noticed that there were several other buses going everywhere in Guate, including Antigua and San Miguel which are tourist spots. They were easy to understand and find. My head was filled with ideas of learning enough Spanish to set out on adventures...
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