Wichi Dude

THE HELPER

A little background first. About 18 months back, Dudette hired a "Helper". (I will continue to call this person Helper.)

Helpers job was to take over the day-to-day payroll duties and to "do" the payroll. Of course Dudette still had to verify the work and the numbers. But, she no longer would have to do all the entering, catagoring, tax liabilities, 401 K deductions, deferrals,...on a day-to-day basis. That was the Helpers job now.

This job, once all the different payrolls were figured in, (there are 5), would not be a full time task. Helper was also going to help with all the mundane filing, special projects, hot items, etc.

Job sounds good doesn't it.

THE WEATHER GUESSERS ARE AT IT AGAIN

On Friday morning, the Weather Guessers were saying we could be in for some weather. They posted a winter storm watch for the Central and South Central parts of Kansas. Ok. So what. They do that all the time. But they did say there might be as much as 3 - 4 inches of snow in the future, so I guess I'll let them.

Friday afternoon, they upped the ante to 4 - 6 inches. Still under a Winter Storm Watch.

For people not from Kansas. If you live in the Wichita area, you live in one of the most UNPREDICTABLE weather spots in the nation. You almost can't predict the weather if you are looking out the window and telling the people what it's doing outside. If they say we could get 3 - 4 inches of snow, we might actually get, nothing, a trace, an ice storm, 3 - 4 inches, or a full blizzard. So we prepare for anything, mostly by doing nothing. Why bother. You can't carry all the supplies you might need. After all, it might snow, or rain, or flood, or drought, or tornado, or just be a pretty day. Too many choices.

But it does get our attention when the Guessers start saying 3 - 4 inches, then up it to 4 - 6 inches. Then they start getting excited and up it to 4 - 8 inches. Their excitement grows, and they start getting that glazed look in their eyes. Next guess, big jump here, 8 - 12 inches.

8 - 12 inches will shut down the area. Though the idiots that run the public school system won't cancel classes unless a tornado tears the school down. And even then, only if they can't find enough "portable classrooms" to do the job. We trust our kids with these people. Oh well, back to the snow.

The last report I heard, on NOAA Weather Radio, at 5:04 Saturday morning, (yes, I have one of those radios) was 8 - 14 inches. They upgraded the Winter Storm Watch to a Winter Storm Warning. The watch means, keep your eyes open. The warning means, it's on its way and look out.

Now when you watch the progression go from "Hoo Hum", to "Whoa Boy" over the course of a couple hours, and add in the agitated state the Guessers are in, then they are onto something. (Or ON something.) The chances are good we just might get hammered this time. They have me excited enough to watch this possible event unfold.

When 3 - 4 inches screws up a city, imagine what 8 - 14 inches will do. It will probably get very ugly out there. With a normal prediction, everyone blows it off. This one had people out Friday night stocking up on groceries. It is getting our attention.

So, the winter storm kits will be in the trunks of everybodies cars. The extra food and water. The flashlight and extra batteries. The shovel and sand, the extra clothes and blankets. All that good stuff you might need.

After all, you might get stuck in the snow taking the kids to school, that wasn't canceled.

TO ANSWER BILLY'S QUESTION

In my post here , I mention a math teacher we had for college algebra. What makes this teacher special, is that he is blind.

billy left a comment in awe of this teacher. He also asked a question and marveled at this teachers abilities:

...how does he mark the kids work :^)... ...the sheer organisation that must go into planning what you are writing on the board...I suppose that people can carry chess matches in their heads etc. but half the time I look at the blackboard/whiteboard and wonder where the heck the stuff came from :^)...

Answer:

RECYCLED TEACHERS

CK started a college math class the other night. She came home telling us about this strange teacher she has math. She is carrying on about all his little quirks, and it dawns on us that we've had the same teacher several, (like 12), years ago.

What makes this guy so awesome is, he's blind. Yeah, blind. And he teacher college algebra.

It is amazing to see him up at the blackboard working problems and you know he can't see them. But he manages. And when he has an issue, one of us would let him know where he needed to be. He was really cool about it and has the craziest sense of humor.

An example: At one time during the class, according to CK, one of the students got his attention and said the example in their book didn't match the one he was doing. Now, once you figure out what is going on, you know he has these examples memorized. But the class hadn't figured out he was blind yet. He does a wonderful job masking it and it takes a while to get a clue.

Anyway, the student shows him their book, (like I said, no clue yet) and he dead pans, "I haven't read that edition of the book yet. In fact, I haven't even seen that book."

You just gotta love this guy. And he is great inspiration. You feel the need to give as much effort as you can because here is a blind guy doing the work, and he can't even see it. Think about it, that's motivation. "If he can do it, I ought to be able to."

Anyway, he IS a great teacher. CK will love his style, and his sense of humor.

YEAH, FOR CK

CK got a letter from the State today. We wondered what it was all about, but had to wait fro her to get home from work to open it.

It was the results of her State board test for her CNA certificate. She passed and got her CNA certificate.

Yeah, CK. That means she can now go out and get a job as a CNA at one of the local hospitals or care facilities.

I'm telling ya, she is becoming a useful member of society.

CHOCOLATE DIPPING SAUCE

Dudette and I went grocery shopping the other night. On one of those "specialty" displays, you know the ones, some cardboard snap together platform for the new gunk, was a "new" product, Chocolate Dipping Sauce. "Just pop it into the microwave, and in minutes you have a chocolate dip for all of your favorite snacks."

Sounded like a cool idea. When we checked it out, it turned out to be nothing more than a plastic margarine tub filled with chocolate chips.

Duh! Anyone could do that at home without help. And we have.

Now, for this convenience, they were only charging $2.50 for a 4 oz. container. For that price, you can buy a couple pounds of chips and get your own tub to melt the stuff in.

Needless to say, we were not impressed.

NEW STORY UP

Put a new story up on this site .

Yeah, I know, it's still my site but in a different area. Tough.

It is a short narrative that might make you think a little (very little). But enjoy it. Oh! And let me know what you think.

UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE EAGLE

I am from the East coast originally, just outside Newark, N.J. The cemetary most of my family is buried in is on a hill right next to the Budweiser brewery in Newark. The brewery has a HUGE neon sign of the Budweiser (Anheuser-Busch) Eagle. It has been a long running joke in the family that we are all buried "under the shadow of the eagle". It is said, (though I can't really attest to it), that over the course of the year, the shadow, thanks to the shifting of the sun, touches every part of the cemetary. Therefore, no matter where you are buried in the cemetary, the shadow falls on you at some point in the mornings.

When I moved to Kansas, one of the biggest questions brought up was, "When it is time, do you want to be buried 'under the shadow of the eagle' back home? Or buried here, which is your 'new home'?"

Well, I have adopted Kansas as my new home. And I would like to be buried here. But the thought of being "under the eagle" has stuck with me. Maybe a repressed case of homesickness, I don't know.

I was talking to my oldest sister back home and for some reason this topic came up, once again. And a thought hit me, why not have the "Eagle" engraved on the back of the headstone? That way I can stay in Kansas and still be "under the shadow of the eagle".

Now if I can just figure out a way to get Anheuser-Busch/Budweiser to pay for the headstone without turning it into a "tacky advertisement".

Wouldn't that be a cool way to have the best of both worlds? Or maybe I'm just morbid? But it is a thought.

KEEPING COUNT

I finally decided to add Site Meter to my site. For a while I didn't think I could. I got to checking it out and, "no problem".

So I signed up and put it on.

When I went to get my stats to correct the count, boy was I surprised. It has been a number of months since I last checked on the numbers my stat page had. Anyway, I figured I hit my own site about three times a day (on average) and needed to knock that amount off the correction. After doing the math, I ended up taking about 960 off my stats counter and added the leftovers to the Site Meter count.

I don't expect any counter spinnage, but it is interesting to be able to see where things are without having to log on and check my stats. No way would I have guessed I am approaching the 10,000 mark.

Kind of cool really. But if Google goes down, my numbers will be in the basement.

MORE TREES

There is one tree I love to kill. Don't get me wrong, I like the tree. I've just gotten good at killing them. It was one of the first Bonsai trees I received as a gift.

Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Nana'. Also known as the Dwarf Hinoki Cypress.

I love the way these trees look. If pruned properly, they can look like full grown trees even though they are only a couple inches tall. I've also found that they are easy to kill. I've gone through a couple dozen of them over the last 12 years.

I think it's me. But I have had input from a bunch of Bonsai enthusiasts and the main theme they shared with me is that Kansas is one of the hardest places to grow Bonsai. The weather is SO extreme in its changes, heat and cold, wet and dry, that growing any kind of Bonsai is a challenge. And the Hinoki's are not very forgiving.

My books disagree, but my luck agrees with the others. I still try. I can't help it. There is a part of me that just won't give up.

So, when I ran across a couple at the local garden store, I bought yet another one. Maybe this time...