JOURNAL

11/28/2001:
I had a great Thanksgiving. I went to my mom’s in San Antonio and she treated Pete and me to a delicious feast. Then on Friday we drove out to Houston to visit my sister and her husband. It was nice to see ‘em and I even managed to get two pairs of Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars out of their post-Thanksgiving shopping spree. Then it was the long drive from Houston to San Antonio to Austin. Luckily there was a Queen marathon on the radio, so I was jamming.
When I got back to Austin, I managed to get substitute teaching jobs for this whole week. Monday went great, but on Tuesday a kid passed out and chaos followed. Today was mostly uneventful, although I did have a student removed from the classroom, which was a first for me. Usually I just try to talk the student into behaving and working on the assignment, but this was this kids last day at the school, so he didn’t give a shit and was going nuts: climbing on the desks, throwing papers all over the room and harassing other students.
I also had some funny conversations with a few kids. I got them to teach me some of the new slang, like bling bling, iced, grilled out and bangin’. They also helped me with my gangster stance and stroll. Some other kids tried to convince me that a Spanish word for penis meant pen in English. These kids today!
I celebrated the one-month anniversary of my workout routine by doubling it…and am I feeling it. Yeesh!

11/18/2001:
It took the mechanic all week to fix my car...well, actually it was ready on Thursday, but I couldn't get it, ‘cause of all the rain and tornadoes! What a mess! Anyway, I got my car back on Friday and it’s working ok. Hopefully I’ll get a job for tomorrow, ‘cause I need to work!
I spent a lot of the weekend playing Breath of Fire 2 on the SuperNES. I had started it before, but I couldn’t remember what the hell I was supposed to do, so I started over. I’ve forgotten most of the plot, so I’m having fun.
Now I’m watching Home Movies on the Cartoon Network. Hmmm, am I a nerd?

11/12/2001:
So much is going on right now. I finally did some substitute teaching last Thursday and Friday. I taught a middle school typing class and, when I write taught, I mean it. I had to give a short lecture on how to write a business letter. I did a pretty crappy job first period, but the rest of the day I think I did quite well. I had a few kids who couldn’t speak English, so that was a bit of a challenge, but really the hardest thing was keeping the trouble-makers (or as the regular teacher put it, the “shitheads”) on task. I did a pretty lousy job of that the first day, but on Friday I took control of the classroom and had a relatively easy time. It’s weird, though; I always though that I would be a cool teacher or at least a kind of dorky (yet sort of cool) teacher, but I don’t think I came across that way to the kids. When addressing the class, I had to be pretty stern in order to keep everyone in line. I guess I thought that I’d be able to charm the kids, which wasn’t the case. I don’t know, it’s too early to tell. Maybe I’ll become the teacher I think I want to be or maybe I’ll realize that I need to be another way with the kids—I won’t want to be a “cool” teacher.
I didn’t take a job today, ‘cause I had to get my car towed to the shop. What a pain! I accidentally told the dispatcher the wrong intersection, so I was waiting around wondering where the damn driver was and then realized my mistake and rushed home to call ‘em and sure enough I’d messed up. Finally the guy towed my car. I took Somer’s car out there and realized too late that I’d left the directions in MY car. The place is just off the highway, so it isn’t hard to find, but I got a little confused about what exit to take and ended up getting off too early and then getting slowed down by a bunch of construction. I was getting pretty annoyed, but once I got there I forgot about it; I just let it go. So I got home and basically just waited for them to call me, so I could know how much this is going to cost me ($550). Anyhoo, now I’m not going into work tomorrow, ‘cause I got to wait around for them to actually fix it.
Hopefully I can get a job on Wednesday. I’d like to try out some of the high schools.

11/07/2001:
Ahhhhh! I'm going to work tomorrow!

11/06/2001:
I’m surprised to say that I’m still working-out. If I wasn’t actually doing it, then I wouldn’t believe it. We’ll see how long it lasts (one week, so far).
I had a shitty day today. While driving to the post office to get some stamps, my car’s air conditioner started turning off and on and my radio turned off. “Weird,” I thought to myself and parked and went inside. I came out with the stamps and tried to start my car…the key word being TRIED! It wouldn’t start. I don’t know anything about cars, so I just assumed that I needed a jump. Unfortunately the parking lot was empty. I thought about going into the post office and asking one of the employees for help, but chickened out. I ended up walking home (it wasn’t too far—actually normally would’ve just walked there, but I figured I should take the ol’ car out for a spin to keep it in shape). After Somer got home, I had her take me over there and jump my car. She drives off and I start driving down the street…THEN my car starts acting crazy again and then dies in the middle of the street. Luckily I was able to cruise down a side street and park it. I don’t know what I’m going to do now. Hopefully I just need to replace the battery, ‘cause, if it’s anything else, then I don’t think I can afford to get it fixed.
That’s right! Money’s tight right now in the 3000 household. I’ve been told that I could start substitute teaching any day, now, but I’m not holding my breath.