Archive | January, 2009

Stapled, Collated, Double Sided, Goldenrod

28 Jan

Today was test today in dreary Tallahassee in my college algebra classes.  When I told Matt Long that at breakfast with the gang this morning, he said he still dreads even hearing those words.

The first section went well.  I handed out the tests, told them good luck and I believe in them as usual, and then noticed I only had 2 or 3 tests left in my hand.  After troubleshooting, I realized I had only made copies for one section, not two.

With 15 minutes between classes, there was no way I was going to make it to the Print Shop to beg for 30 more tests.  We have an office copier for smaller “emergencies,” and this qualified as one.

Stupid Xerox jammed half way through.

And I couldn’t un-jam it.

I told my secretary about the problem, and just decided to print the reminaing half of the tests I needed on the laser.

It worked perfect.  I made it to class with  seconds to spare, asking them to give me a minute as I stapled the tests together.

Calculator out.  Sharpen pencils.  Desks clear.  Tests distributed. Good luck.  I believe in you.

In the zone.  Grading section one’s tests.  20 minutes fly by.

Cute red head coed approaches desk.

With trepidation: “Dr. Robinson, I, um, I don’t think we know how to do any of these.”

Whispering: “And I’m one of the smarter ones in here.”

Quick glance.  Oh sh*t.

Test 4.

Test FOUR!

I hit print to the laser on the wrong tests.

And for TWENTY MINUTES the yahoos worked without saying anything.

I mean COME ON.  Factoring is so much different than operations on integers.

It’s Test 4 for crying out loud.  Week 14.  Not week 3.

I felt horrible.  I really did.

I called the secretary on my cell phone and pleaded with her to come watch my class.  She did.  I printed out a dozen copies of Test 1, and they got started again, a little less anxious this time.

They laughed at me.  I was mortified, actually.  Kid-that-never-shuts-up says “You’re always so meticulous, how could you make that mistake?”

He was right.  That’s why I was so embarrassed.

And the line of the day,  the one that of course tops it off, from kid-that-sits-next-to-kid-that-never-shuts-up:

“So, do we get any extra credit for this, now?”

Yeah, sure, you yahoo…a gazillion points.

Two of Every Kind

26 Jan

Our kids program at the Well is having a re-grand opening this upcoming weekend.  This past Saturday, a group of incredibly talented and giving volunteers worked all day to get “The Ark” created.  Here’s a sneak peek at what’s to come:

There Is Something Happening Here

25 Jan

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I was in school for 20 straight years.  I’ve earned a high school diploma.  A diploma from the International Baccalaureate Program.  A Bachelor of Science degree.  A Masters degree.  A Doctor of Philosophy degree.

And I don’t know squat.

And there are a lot of things, I realize with each passing day, that I just don’t understand.

I don’t understand…

…how we can keep growing each week.  Where are these people coming from I ask?!?

…how we can have 402 people in one high school auditorium on a rainy Sunday night.

…how we can have 8 people spend 9 consecutive hours together one Saturday creating something for 5 years olds.

…how we can have 7 people show up three hours early and get the job done in an hour fifteen.

…how we can have 30 kids volunteers assemble and want to commit to what we’re doing.

…how we can have new faces, and moms and dads, and professionals and young married couples and yes, of course, college students, keep walking through the door.

…how lives are being changed, and encounters are being had, and community is being built.

I can’t fathom it.

I can’t comprhend it.

And I just don’t understand it.

And the crazy thing is,

this is only the beginning.

Conversations

20 Jan

I’ve had a lot of great conversations this past weekend.

Brian and Jenna were here all weekend.  Picking up with them and just starting from where we left off is always the best.  They’re two of my best friends, and we care deeply about each other’s lives.  I want them back in Tallahassee!

Dinner Saturday night had wonderful conversations with even more wonderful friends.  I love the Inserra’s and the Graves’.  And going to bed at 2:00 a.m. hasn’t happened in quite a long time.

The conversation Sunday night was pretty incredible.  The team I work with is the best, and seeing what’s been on our minds and hearts all week play out is so incredibly satisfying.  And the answer to many of my friend’s questions of “can you guys just move what you’re doing here to where we are,” the answer is an affirmative “no.”  At least for the time being.  It’s called The Well Tallahassee for a reason.  And if my eighth grade year book photo ever appears on a jumbo tron screen again, I’m going to hurt somebody!

And Dean and I got to talk today. We’d been throwing around the idea of chatting it up on video for a glimpse into how we’re doing things for a couple of weeks now.  It was fun.  I’m constantly reminded of how good of a communicator he is.  We’re calling it the “Conversation Series” and will touch base every couple of weeks.  Part 1 follows!

I Live In Florida and I Don’t Care How Cold it Is….I Will Continue To Wear Flip-flops Year Round!

17 Jan

I belong to this group on facebook.  I think everyone does.  But, I think I’m going to decline any further membership.

It’s 29 degrees right now in Tallahassee, Florida, USA, and at least for the moment, the sun is shinning.

This is not what I had signed up for.

A long week capped off by a long weekend…Brian and Jenna (college roommate and friend and now wife) are visiting for the weekend.  Sadie can’t wait for Buster.

A big Sunday night at the Well.

And gearing up and prepping for indulging in the non-stop news coverage that early next week will offer.

24 is ticking down.  Idol’s back on.  And LOST’s just around the corner.

It’s going to be a good week.

I’m interested to hear from Chelsey B. Sullenberger III.

About Face

13 Jan

Last week I obtained a rental car from Enterprise (yes, they really do pick you up!) while the sweet Carola was in the shop.

Last week when I picked up the rental, it was a Monday.

A Monday after a long weekend called New Years.

A Monday after a two week break for a lot of people.

A Monday when there were, no kidding, 37 people in line in the Enterprise dump.

A Monday, again no kidding here, when I waited an hour and thirty-two minutes to be seen.  And then another fourteen minutes to wait and have my rental so called “cleaned” for me to be able to walk around and inspect it in the pouring rain.

I. was. an. ass. to. the. customer. care. representative.

She asked me my phone number.  I told her I didn’t have one.  She said sir, I have to have one.  I told her it was 850.911.1111.  And I didn’t budge.  She asked me for my employer’s name.  I told her I was currently unemployed.  She asked me for an emergency contact.  I told her I was living life all alone.  That I was a hermit who just came out of seclusion.  And that I had no friends.

I took it all, I mean it all, out on this lady who helped half of those 37 people in front of me.

I returned my car yesterday.

And when I walked in, I saw what I had been praying I’d see.

My lady.

I said ma’am…ma’am…I was in here last week.  Last Monday.  You remember the hell of last Monday?  And you checked me out.  And I was an ass.  And I gave you a hard time you didn’t deserve.  And I’m sorry. And I really am a nice person.  And I felt horrible about it all week.  And I apologize.  And you don’t know me so you don’t know that I’m really a nice person.  And I was the last thing you need to deal with because I let my impatience rear its ugly head at you.  And you seem nice.  And you just come here to do your job and put up with all of this.  And I just want to say thank you.  And I’m sorry.  Thank.  you.  and.  sorry.

And she cried.

And she just mumbled thank you.  And it’s okay.  And she smiled.

And her boss came over and shook my hand.  And he even cried a little bit.

And I turned the car in.  And I even filled it up past full  when it only had to be a seven-eighths of a tank past E.

But I left feeling just as bad.  Well maybe a smidge better.

Becuase I shouldn’t have been that ass in the first place.

I’m sorry, Enterprise lady.

And I thank you.

Answers

11 Jan

So I’m an answer guy. I live by the answer. My day job revolves around the answer. I teach students how to find it. How to check it. How to know if it’s right or wrong.

The answer though, especially recently, has eluded me. A friend of a friend lost both her parents in a year’s span this past year. She obviously had a miserable Christmas. She doesn’t get why this has happened to her life. And the friend (that has a friend) came to me to find the answer. And I don’t have a great one.

I told another friend the other night that she needed to stop wishing for the burning bush. That that was all she wanted, all she was looking for, and all she had her mind set on.

It’s so easy to tell someone else what you have such a difficult time listening to yourself.

But tonight the Well got an answer.

We busted through a hurdle, people wise, that we’ve been trying to get over for months.

But, and this but is so huge and keeps us going every week, there are still so many sheep out there.

What a night.

Confidently, we planned and prepped for a service that we’d prayed over all week. And our prayers were answered. The music. The message. The reading. The everything. Every piece and element we’d been working towards fell in to place. We had record numbers. Record kids. And a record experience.

What a night.

Dean-isms:

  • This is who you are…that prey…and Satan wants to literally devour you.
  • It all starts with giving just an inch.
  • And I’m not trying to call Polo Club Apartments a palace…
  • And Boyz II Men just started playing in his head…
  • When was the last time we really cared and were really concerned about the fact that what we were doing was displeasing to God?
  • Ladies: Potbelly’s on Nickel Beer Night is probably not the best place to meet a dude.
  • Whenever we are tempted we will always be provided a way out…sometimes all it takes is just saying “No.”
  • The Gospel heals.  And the Gospel forgives.
  • Despite the fact that you fall short and I fall short..DESPITE all those things…
  • When you get the free water cup at Subway and Jimmy John’s and you put Sprite in it…I”m telling you, the bank robber, that’s how he started.

We know what the Answer is.  And that’s what we’re continuing to prepare for.  Get ready!

Some people I know (Mom… :) out there need to watch this. Don’t be that guy!

The Kids are registered at Target under “Sarah Graves” and we’re looking forward to their Baby Shower, and another exciting evening, next Sunday night.

Back in the Saddle

11 Jan

What a hectic first week back this was…it’s always non stop the first few days. Luckily, I did most of the heavy lifting for this semester before Christmas, and my plan is to just let the next few months unfold. Pending any surprises, I hoping that works without a hitch.

Because of budget cuts, cost saving measures, and a surge in Spring enrollment, my classes are jammed packed. I’ll never complain, though. Before class size hit Florida’s public schools, I once had 42 seventh graders in one period. Anything’s a breeze compared to that. My future society-contributors are below…I can already tell for the most part who I’m going to love, who’s going to drive me nuts, and who I’m going to be telling a lot of stories about this semester!

Someone who I respect very much…who I just realized is actually no longer living, once told me that “you can judge the complexity of your life by the number of keys on your chain.” I added four keys to things to my key chain this week. What does that mean!?!?!

The white Mazda 3 rental I’ve been sporting does not have power anything. I keep forgetting to lock the doors, and I look like an idiot every time I approach the Sonitrol gate at school and fumble around for a button before I land on a window-roll-down-crank. I miss my zapper and “beep” every time I get in and out of the Corolla.

I made another resolution…to take my shoes off the right way…with my hands, and not by holding the back with the front of my other shoe or my toes…we’ll see how long that works.

Pumped for tonight at the Well and for this Spring in general. Happy New Year!

This is pretty funny

7 Jan

I converted over about a year and a half ago…and I’m not ever heading back!


Apple Introduces Revolutionary New Laptop With No Keyboard

Randoms of the last few days…

6 Jan

Favorite text I can’t believe I sent Dean: “The background’s going to be a brilliant blue tomorrow.  Don’t wear blue.”

Dean to me 24 hours later: “How do you do it? You’re a freakin math professor.  You’re not supposed to have a creative thought!”

A line from a gchat with a former student who had her first day as a teacher today: “I was like man… things that I am noticing already were things we talked about in your class.” (this touched my little heart)

In a class I’m teaching online, I have my former intern from when I taught high school, a teacher who interviewed me for my first teaching job, and a girl I went to college with.  So weird.

Happy First Day of School!

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