A long rambling post I recovered.

One thing I have learned as a teacher is: never rely on technology. Currently, my computer is telling me that it is uploading my images of the pit. First, it told me the file was corrupted, the next error made it look like it was in the process of working: "Your images are being uploaded to Blogger." The images are certainly not uploading. "Your request could not be processed. Please try again." Is the current message after three tries. I suppose I will eventually load the pictures onto a third party site. Hopefully this week.
Until then, no pictures. Oh well.
As long as I'm captive of my own website, I might as well write a rambling message.

Yesterday, I walked a few miles in the rain. One of the cars was getting new shoes for it's big inspection, so Heather and I had to share. After a long day at work, it was nice to get out and clear my head. I don't think I have walked that far in a day since the fateful honeymoon I spent hobbling around the Appalachian trail. Because it was raining, I had the sidewalks to mostly to myself and I had few hours to think. On that walk I had this thought:

I should NEVER walk miles in my dress shoes in the rain again. I have to get dressed up for work, which makes very little sense considering the paltry sums I make as a public school teacher. I don't have to wear a tie everyday, but other people at work do and I'm sucker for peer pressure. In my job, I get paid to make people do things they would never do on their own. I would compare what I do to being a prison guard, but guards don't force inmates to learn math or create timelines or take notes.

What I really get paid for is to form positive relationships with people and get effort out of them. Years ago I worked in school for school for difficult students. One of those students has since relapsed in Heroine addiction, one shot someone in the face several times, another is in jail for armed robbery, and a yet another is locked up for what can only be described is sheer stupidity (I'm leaving out the story about my student who was arrested the day before graduation for assault with a deadly weapon, otherwise known as thrown a red pepper in the general direction of his mother who called the police). The school only had under 50 students, I only kept tabs on few after I left.

These were students who would do their classwork everyday in my class. They were capable of following directions and caring about others. Many of them were smart and talented leaders in the right circumstances. Five years later, tax-payers now foot the bill for their meals and rooms. Then it occurred to me that half of the sports headlines on Yahoo today were about athletes getting arrested for drug or alcohol related offenses, Finally it occurred to me that each of us is a few bad relationships and a mistake from being behind bars. Then I patted myself on the back for never being sent to lock-up. If you are reading this, and you are out of jail, take a moment to congratulate yourself.

This is the part where I cleverly wrap this up with a reference to the beginning of the post, but my technology is failing me once again as the computer now reads "Autosave failed." I better post this before the computer won't let me.