Another New Year....

Whooop-t-dooo. Just like always another year has past and New Year's Eve was a bust. This years culprit, the flu. Not only did my wife have it, many of my friends had it. So, we spent another year doing pretty much nothing. This is my luck for New Years. The only memorable NY party I remember is in my home town of the 'Ween. The only memorable thing was drinking champagne with my buddy Duck at Shook-Nasties. Actually that year sucked too. It was just kinda strange to be drinking champagne with Duck.

I may be partly to blame. It may be a self fulfilling prophecy. I am hoping for a great time, but in the back of my mind I know it will probably be a bust.

Oh well. At least we were safe and out of harms way. And I won't wake up with a hangover!

Happy New Year Everyone! Don't forget your resolutions!

Influenza Roulette

Apparently my wife has lost in her game of 'influenza roulette'. What we thought was a nasty cold turned out to be the flu. Luckily I have escaped so far.

I think that germs and viruses will be the end to the human race, if we don't kill each other first. It is amazing to me that with all of our knowledge we are still battling sickness and disease. It's as if we bring the disease upon ourselves. As the population grows so does our chances for catching some form of sickness. As people move into cities, and closer together, you up your chances. The closer you get to other people, in work, school, shopping, etc. the higher your chances of getting sick. In some ways, you would have to be obsessive compulsive to avoid the germs. But then, your OC tendencies would weaken your immune system by not allowing your body to "learn" to defend against the very germs you are avoiding. So if you were to be exposed, your chances would be higher to catch the bug. Then the level of exposure in the past becomes even more important. If your body is not used to fighting off similar germs, you could become sicker than "normal" people with the sickness.

Whoa! Now I am getting deeper than I had wanted. Back to the flu.... Neither my wife or I got a flu shot. Our thinking goes as follows. Getting a flu shot doesn't necessarily keep you from getting the flu. The vaccination is a speculation on what strain of the flu will be around the following year. So, your vaccination may be for the wrong kind of flu that is "goin' around". Also, if you get a flu shot, you run the risk of getting the flu from the shot! It is not a 100% viral shield. Then, add on the fact that you may not even catch the flu if you don't get the shot. Plus, by getting a case of the flu, you body "learns' how to better defend itself against other types of influenza.

So, we went to the doctor thinking bad cold. She asked "Do you ache all over?" Yes. "Do you have a fever?" Yes. "Do you feel generally bad?" Yes. "You have the flu." What? Then she reminded us that she DID go to medical school to identify these things. We agreed, it was merely wishful thinking on our part.

Don't Worry....

You havent wandered into unknown web territory. This is a work in progress. I am slowly getting things to where I want them. Let me know what you think as things change!

What's in a name?

During the holiday break the topic of nicknames came up. Although it has been discussed before, this time it really got me thinking. I have a very large percentage of friends with nicknames. Not just shortened versions of their first names, completely different names in many cases. My wife is often confused with who is who when their real names are actually used. Hell, even I get confused sometimes. Let me try and explain...........

Sometimes the nickname serves a purpose, like delineating between two people with like names.
We have a 'Big Lee' and a 'Little Lee'. Which works out nice because 'Big Lee' is big, and 'Little Lee' is littler. I rode RAGBRAI w/ three Johns. 'Big John', 'Long Haired John', and 'Girly Man'.

Sometimes it doesn't serve any real purpose.
I know a 'Muggsy', aka. 'Muggs'. I know a 'Rollie', and a 'Jame-o'. My brother-in-law is 'Range', sounds like ran-ja. Two buddies from college, 'Stimpy' or 'Stimp' and 'Nige'. An acquaintance named 'Pookie' and one 'Barney'. My dad's friend 'Wild Bill'. I know two "animals", 'Bird' and 'Duck'. I know 'Scooter', and 'Icky'. I can't forget 'Quiet Dave' or 'Jamal' either.

Sometimes there are more than one per family.I know a 'Hilly' and his cousin, 'Tango'. I know two brothers, 'Buck' and 'Hoon', and their father 'Fiddy'. I know two other brothers, 'Wag' and 'Hounddog'. They have another brother who I don't know very well, but I do know they used to call him 'T'. Two more brothers, 'Pony Boy' and 'Beat'.

Sometimes the nickname is an alteration of their last names.
I have a good buddy 'Giese'. And our friend 'Hawsie'. Then there's 'Damage' who is also known simply as 'D' or 'Heavy D' if my buddy Dallas is around, because he is also 'D'. Then there is a 'Goo', who has two brothers who are also referred to as 'Goo'.

Some friends are only known by their last names. If you were to use their first names ever, most people would have to say, "Matt who?" or "Who?"Here are some of the many. Plotz, Rundle, Haws, Arnold, Doyle, Lawless, Olander, etc. etc. There are a couple special cases here, 'Mitchell', who is sometimes called 'Mitch'. This is a special case because it is extra confusing. Since Mitchell is also a common first name, my wife once asked me, "What's Mitchells last name?" I don't think I ever recall anyone calling him Matt. And of course Troy. Troy is special because we have merely pushed his first and last names together, 'Troychurch'. You all now know him as 'Gooseneck'.

Sometimes people don't know they have a nickname, or wished they didn't.
I know a girl that used to be called 'Bloody Mary' and one called 'Dead Fish', and another called 'Sweetness'. I can't leave out 'Denise the Grease'. We have a cop we call 'Fat Phil' and I know two 'Dirty Franks'. When I was still in high school there were several, 'Fi-fi', 'Cyclops', 'Stubby', 'Mr. Mac', 'Booger', 'Iron Tit', 'Torpedo Tits', 'Cave man', and 'Grabb'in Grub'.

Personally, I have had several.
In elementary school I was 'Rubharb' or simply 'Rube' or 'Rubes'. One of my grandpa's always called me 'Jake', he called my cousin Al 'Charlie'. We never did figure out why, but that was probably my favorite.

My name sounds like a nickname anyway, Beane. So, some people who hear someone call me that think it is my nickname. I had some people ask me once, "What is your real name?" Uh....that is my real name.

The most common one is 'Beaner'.

So, what's in a name? A lot I guess.
I know I have left some people out. Feel free to remind me.

Addition

The same goes for kids caught drinking outside of school. In fact, I believe that even kids who are not out for activites, and have not signed a good conduct policy, can recieve some sort of punishment in school.

Even if a student is simply seen at a party where there is alcohol, can result in a punishment by the school. They don't even have to be busted by the cops. Parents can turn in the students.

Once again, do you think this is fair? Legal?

Smoking

*This is not an advocacy for smoking*

Since we recently talked about school policy, both here, and in a heated debate on Goosneck. I thought I would bring up another policy to see what everyone thinks of it. My students brought it up just the other day.

Students who turn 18 before they have graduated, and participate in activities cannot smoke in public. If they are caught, even just being seen by a teacher, they are ineligible for a period of 3 weeks (at least that is the punishment at my school). All students going out for activities (sports, band etc.) have to sign a good conduct policy. If they are caught smoking they are going against that policy. The thought behind it is that they represent the school, even outside of school.

Do think this is fair? Legal? Correct? Let me know how you feel.

Here I sit......

Broken hearted......


Tried to blog, but only farted.

Random Acts of Kindness

I heard on the radio the other day about a street sweeper that accidentally sucked it up. The driver quickly stopped and rescued the kitten. He then had to blow puffs of air into the kittens nose to recesitate it!

Admittedly it was his fault, he was the one who sucked the kitten up. But, how many people would have just said, "Oh shit!", and kept sweeping? This man not only saved a kitten, (now named Hoover), he also saved his karma.

Funny thing, that karma.

And now for a weak ass reference to a weak ass performer.
Karma, karma, karma chameleon. When I was younger I always thought it was Come-a, Come-a, Come-a chameleon. As in, come here chameleon.

High School

I had thought about making this site just about the things that happen in school, but decided against it. I figure I can add posts about the things I "learn" or observe at school whenever I wish.

The post on Gooseneck has me pretty hot. It is easy for individuals outside of the school system to make judgments about what goes on in the school. Yet, they only know some of the information. There are so many more things going on in schools these days than there used to be. Yes, things are the same in many ways, but things are completely different in others.

It is funny how people think that schools are so unfair to the kids these days. Are those people in the school day after day? Would the things that kids DO get away with these days be accepted when you were in school? I admit that some rules are stricter than need be, but lines need to be drawn or the kids will take advantage of you (the teachers and aministrators). Many of the rules seem petty, especially to those who do not teach todays youth. The majority (not all) of those who complain wouldn't last one day in the shoes of most teachers. When you work with children day in and day out, you learn just as much as they do. Some students will take advantage of any situation they can manipulate. Even when they do not realize it.

Therefore we put policys into place to protect the students (both the people who are "guilty" and those who are affected by his/her actions), the teachers, the administraotrs, and the support staff.

Situations cannot be looked at individually because bias will affect the decisions that get made about what should be done. Believe it or not, students in school need some structure, because many do not get it at home. Therefore the teachers end up raising the kids more than their parents. Now, imagine that you are a parent, yet instead of parenting one, two, or three kids, you are parenting over 100 or more. Could you do it without policies in place to protect them?

The problem that arises is where to draw the line. Whomever is setting the policies needs to take all sides into account when developing the said policies. This often isn't done. The side usually left out is that of the students and their parents.

We elect a school board so that we have people making decisions for our students that we feel comfortable with. Unfortunately, just like politics, we cannot control their every action. Therefore we need to trust our boards and the decisions they make. They do the hiring and make other decisons that affect our students. You need not be a parent to vote for the school board members. It is the whole communities duty to participate in the education of tomorrows leaders. Get off your duffs, and vote. Get involved with your community schools, instead of complaining about how they are run.

Grad school....

I was reminded of my grad school aspirations after reading a post on Gooseneck and by reading my comments 9ie. Haws' question; what field).

My plans are to go for a MA in Science Education. With future aspirations of getting an EED so I can teach at a University. Inbetween the two I hope to teach at a small private college or a community college.

I currently teach at a high school. That is another subject altogether. I will get to that tomorrow.

If I get into grad school I hope to be a teaching assistant so I can get the stipend and my tuition paid for. School is so expensive these days, and I want to have some experience in the collegiate setting.

Damn code.......

I had the comments working. Then they didn't. I tried to get help from Haloscan. They say, "woking fine". Working fine my ass.

Now they don't work again. I promise to correct this problem soon.

Keep commenting. I will still check them.

Studying............

Just the thought of it makes my brain hurt. My wife is going to school to be a Radiology Tech. She has this huge test tomorrow and she is stressed out. That means that I am stressed out too.

I remember studying. Your brain feels like it could pop or just go dead at any moment. Then you spend all night thinking about the test and don't get much sleep. When you wake, you think about the test. Then you take the test. That is the easy part. Then after the test...you think about the test.

I have always been a good test taker so that scenario is a rare one for me. But on my harder tests, the ones I really had to study for, they sucked.

Getting your grade for a test can be shitty too. Of course you want to do well, then if you don't you feel like hell. If you do well but miss a few, you feel pissed at yourself. The only way that a test is purely satisfactory is if you "ace' it or if you do well even if you knew nothing about what you were doing.

I am going to do to grad school next year. I guess that means more tests.

Whoo Hooo

It seems that everything is working ok now.........

I will post something interesting tomorrow morning.

Comments are working fine now. Please feel free to write back @ me.

Comments

Not to worry. I am working ont he commenting problem I seem to be having. It will be corrected soon I hope. For those of you who have posted some comments, I have read them, thanks.

Pamida

If you're not from Iowa you probably don't know what a "Pamida" is. Pamida is like a low rent version of K-Mart or Walmart, if you can imagine an idea like that. It's kinda like relating Walmart to Target....Walmart is the low rent version of Target....now take one more step down the ladder.

Anyway, I went in there tonight to purchase some potting soil. A simple purchase I thought. They have pots, they have plants, but they don't have potting soil. So I asked the lady if they had any. She said, "No". I asked if they would be getting any. She said it was, "seasonal" and it wouldn't be until spring till they had some. I failed to mention to her that they had the other supplies necessary for potting things, ie. the pots and plants. Does that make any sense? It would be similar to going to a lumber yard and being able to buy wood and nails but no hammer.

Unfortunately for me it was the only place open that might have had it. I guess thats the price that I pay for living in po-dunk Iowa. The town I live in isn't as small as some, but it is small enough to leave a person at an inconvience some times. I guess when I think about it, the benifits do out weigh the drawbacks though. Along with an inconvienence now and then you also have less crime, less traffic, and less hassles.

That makes for pretty easy living.

Friends

Wow! Isn't it nice to have friends. I feel so lucky to have such a nice group of close friends. I guess I really have 3 groups that kind of meld together at different points. I have my friends from home, my buddies I lived with @ ISU (drinkers), and another group from ISU (drinkers and ..... lets just say, other).

All three groups get along with each other just fine. In fact many of the "members" fit into all three groups seemlessly. I was recently married and we all had a great time at the reception. In fact, my mother was blown away at how many of my friends attended and how wonderful they all are.

Help is never more than a phone call away for me or my wife. My friends all know that I would do anything for them and I know that they would do the same for me. We have a saying amoungst us, "It all evens out in the end", meaning that we don't worry about repayment of favors. We realize that any one of us will reciprocate for the other some time in our lives.

How does that saying go, "To be great, surround yourself with great people." That must mean I am pretty great, because I have the best people surrounding me..... as concieted as that sounds.

The reason I brought this all up is because one of my best friends of all time (Nate) is coming home to visit during x-mas. It is one of the best gifts you can get. We all really miss him here, yet we all want him to stay in Cali because we all like his girlfriend (Lenore) so much and don't want to see them split. I can't wait to see them. Last June wasn't that long ago, but I miss hanging out with him more often so I am always anxious to get together.

Please introduce us......

Hello. You have reached Over Fed Mind or OFM for short. These are the thoughts and ideas from a 29 year old guy, living in the middle of Iowa.

I was recently introduced to blogging from a good friend of mine, Gooseneck. He inspired me to get my own thoughts out in "internet" space, instead of bouncing around in my head. I think that it is a great idea to put your thoughts on the line and see what others think. Maybe no-one will comment on my drivel, maybe they will? I have never been one to write in journals or diaries, but typing what I think comes pretty easy.

Forgive me if I ever offend anyone, that is not the purpose of this site. I am simply stating my view and I want you to express yours as well.

Stop back often, I plan on adding a post @ least every other day if possible.