Life

Each day I get ready for work. I climb in my red truck and head out. I stop by my favorite bookstore / coffee shop then head to work. At work I turn on my computer, I insert my memory stick in the usb port and send a worksheet from my computer to the photocopy machine, and I get ready to use the document camera connected to the projector mounted from the ceiling. I check my cell phone for the time. I may receive a call on the phone sitting on my desk. I check attendance on the gradebook website, then send an email to a parent or another teacher. I google for a senior t-shirt pattern. I attach a dvd to projector and I show a video. After work I go to the bookstore to visit the friends I've made there. At home I check facebook to see what my friends and family are doing and I send messages to my friends. I go to another website to read the newspaper or check the local radar. I google to see where the college football games will be and how long it will take me to travel to another town. I make hotel reservations and look up books I would like to read but know I will never get around to. Then I ask myself how we did things before document cameras, cell phones, computers? What did I do before the bookstore was there for me? How did I keep in touch before facebook? How did I learn anything before Google? And what did I do before I had a truck to drive to school?
And my biggest question of all: These devices were invented to save time and to make life simpler. So how did life get so complicated?

Adventures in Eating

Last night I went to a Japanese / Chinese restaurant. It was my first experience with the Asian hibachi grill. This restaurant was rather small and built in an old fast food restaurant. They did not serve wine or sushi. So we elected to go with the grill instead of ordering off the menu. I was expecting the chef to come out and cook on the grill in front of us. I was not expecting the noise or entertainment factor. The chef came out and spoke broken english with an asian accent ( I suspect that was part of the act). He twirled his spatula, created a huge fire, flipped an egg around and broke it on the grill, stacked up an onion and filled it with oil to make a volcano, then pulled a train whistle out and made it choo choo across the grill. There was a little six inch plastic boy filled with water. The chef picked it up, pushed on it's head and caused it to "pee" on our food. The chef seemed especially pleased with that as he did it several times. After some other antics we finally had filled plates and he had a clean grill. Then he pulled out an harmonica and played Yankee Doodle. If I'd had anything in my mouth at that moment I think it would have spewed everywhere. Nothing can compare to Yankee Doodle from a man with a heavy asian accent. The food was good and the dinner was definitely an experience. I'm glad we went, but I don't think I'll go back. It was just a good Friday evening adventure.