Sunday, May 18, 2008
Fall isn't so far away
OK, could whoever t is that's in charge of coincidences and irony please give it a rest?!?! Take a week or two off, cause you're killing me! Last night, in less than an hour after I posted about my summer plans I get an email that details my brother's summer plans. Which directly affects their plans and indirectly affects mine. Add to that my mother included her and my father's "Armed Forces Day" story, and I simply can't keep up anymore! So I am going to stick with my original plan and finish MY schedule today and the rest will get sorted out before I leave for Florida. I hope! First, the tentative schedule: Fall 2008 You may notice that I again have night classes. All full time faculty in my department will teach 1 night class a year. I just happened to get mine in back to back semesters. The scary thing is that Friday class. My first week in my new job, one of my office mates, Scotty, told me to NEVER volunteer for anything. He mistakenly volunteered for what he assumed was a one time class on Fridays. Three years later he's still teaching it because people keep signing up for it. Actually, our enrollment keeps growing, but we are not picking up any new classroom space. We can hire new faculty. (and in fact they're getting a new accounting instructor this summer and rumor is they're going to start looking for another computer instructor soon.) So the only way to add more classes is to increase classroom utilization, or "Utes" (pronounced Yoots) as we called it on the base. That means more nights, Friday, and even Saturday classes. EEK! It's still better than teaching corrosion control an fire extinguisher classes at 6am. The CIS 110 and 111 classes are Intro to Computer classes. The 110 class transfers to all NC colleges while the 111 class does not transfer. (CIS 111 is intended for non degree seeking students.) They use the same books and schedule, but the 110 is longer, more in depth, and the tests are harder. The CIS 115 is the Logic and Programming course (Visual Basic) and is the course that makes my toes curl. The only potential change to the above schedule would be on Monday evenings. One of the many "perks" of my job is that as long as I am teaching full time, I can take one class each semester for free. I had that option at my last job, but frankly was uninterested in the classes they offered. Not to mention after a full day of corrosion control, I was in no shape to sit in a classroom. A class I have been eyeballing since I got here is CUL-110 Sanitation & Safety. Ok, so maybe the title doesn't really do it justice: This course introduces the basic principles of sanitation and safety and their relationship to the hospitality industry. Topics include personal hygiene, sanitation and safety regulations, use and care of equipment, the principles of food-borne illness, and other related topics. Upon completion, students should be able to demonstrate an understanding of sanitation and safety procedures in the hospitality industry.This class is the first step in getting a culinary certificate or degree, and a pre-requisite for all the other culinary classes. So if I intend to have my own cooking show, this is where it starts. While I will admit that at one point I was jealous that my sister in law, Amy, went to culinary school, I ate a chili cheese pup and that always cures jealousy. I have not, however, given up on the idea of going to "cooking school." But it always comes down to scheduling. The next time the classes are offered is in the fall, and they have 3 sections:
Last but not least, in a rare move, Emily's Toybox has released their Key West concert dates through the end of the year. Normally they only release the "next" set. Here's whats up for 2008: June 23rd - 29th, September 22nd - 28th, December 8th - 14th This means they'll be in Brunswick, GA on June 30, Sept 29th, and Dec 15th (all Mondays). I obviously can't make the June date as I am teaching on Mondays this summer. The Sept date is doable if I don't take the cooking class and find a way to ditch my Monday office hours. I'd still have to leave work, drive 6 hours south, see the concert, and drive 6 hours north and go directly back to work. When I was 25 I could probably pull that off. Not because I was 25, but because I was stupid. I think I'll just wait til December, when classes will be out. So there you have it. My life for the next 6 months: teaching and surfing this summer, teaching and cooking (well learning about sanitation, really) in the fall. And Emily's Toybox right before Christmas. Sounds kind of busy, but I assure it isn't even CLOSE to my brother and his family's schedule for the next 2 months. More on that later (but not a lot more.)  |
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Let's all get our schedules out!
First of all, I am putting my reunion recaps on hold for a little bit. Don't worry, I'll get back to them. As a bit of a twist on this posts title, those posts have already been written and scheduled to be posted. Blogger has "fixed" their pre-scheduling feature and released it from beta testing. I've actually used it for the past 2 posts to test it out. The reason I have scheduled those posts for next week is that I will be going out of town. You'll never even know I am gone as I should have one post a day automatically pop up between noon and 1, from Wednesday thru Monday, when I get back. I'm headed down to Jacksonville, FL to visit Courtney and Sean. Plans are also in the works for us to go camping and meet up with a friend of ours, Heather, that I haven't seen in at least 14 years. (I don't think Courtney's seen her in about 10 years.) When I say "camping" let me clear up any confusion. Courtney will be staying in the RV with Heather, and Heather's husband Omar. I will be in a tent. So I am camping Courtney is RVing. I plan to take Sean on his first camping trip, and since we're MEN we won't be wimping out in the RV. Of course Sean may veto that at any point in which case we may all wind up in the RV. The title of this post is probably only funny to my immediate family. Whenever there's a gathering, at some point either my mother or my sister Amy will say it. You see it's really tough to keep track of each other. Despite being "retired" my parents travel all over the place and get into lots of trouble. Thanks to Uncle Sam, my brother is always on the move, both in this country and outside, often at the drop of a hat. Out of everyone, my schedule tends to be the easiest. Here it is: One of the "down sides" to an academic job is that my holidays and vacation are set in stone. I can't "take a day off." (Well, theoretically, I earn 1 "personal day" a year I can use to go to a conference or something.) Of course the payback for having a locked schedule is that I get TONS of vacation days. I really can't complain. (Although I have been complaining this past week because I have had NOTHING to do and I'm going nuts!) Thankfully, summer classes start next week, so I will have something to fill my time. For two days a week.  My contract officially says I work 9 months a year. I had the option of being paid 9 months or 12 months. After consulting with my Edward Jones rep, Skip he made it so very simple. (When it comes to money, you need to make it extremely simple for me to understand.) If I take 12 paychecks, I am basically giving my employer an interest free loan until summer hits when they slowly repay it. If I take 9 paychecks and invest them without fail then I will be earning interest on my own money. So this past year I have been taking out 1/4 of each paycheck and stashing it away earning interest. With my last full paycheck this past month, I have money set aside to "pay myself" during the summer. So whatever money I make from summer teaching is just bonus. Go me! So what do I plan to do with all of this extra time and money? Well obviously I am going to learn to surf! In late June there's an adult surf clinic being held by Adventure Pathways, the same folks who arranged my Oak Island Lighthouse trip back in March. So that way I can surf Carolina Beach on the nice days, and surf the web when the weather stinks. (I also have a few friends at UNC-W who can surf, and I am tired of being left out. Of course that means I now have roughly 6 weeks to get a base tan and get in shape, because no one on the beach wants to see "The Snowman" on a surfboard. Of course neither my summer teaching, nor surfing will fill up all of my free time, so I have been thinking about getting a summer job. The question is, what kind of job? I really would rather get away from teaching and computers, since I get plenty of that at my "real job." At first someone suggested I go work as a Wal-Mart greeter. But after a few trips to Wal-Mart I have decided that I couldn't do that. While it would certainly be good to brush up on my social skills, I am certain that I'd get fired for some snide remark to a customer. ("If your pants make you look like a water buffalo being eaten by a python, then maybe should step up to XL.") I thought briefly of revisiting my youth and selling seafood. But then I realized that, here in Wilmington, I would get laughed at when I told them I used to sell seafood in Conyers, GA. ("What beach is that on?") Back in February, when I was buying Courtney's chocolate covered cherries at Just because Chocolate I asked about summer employment. When they found out I teach computers they got all excited. Apparently they wanted me to help them set up their POS ("Point Of Sale") software. I want to make chocolates! Sadly, I haven't heard back from them after filling out an application, so my dreams of being an Oompa Loompa are in danger. I'll be stopping by there early next week to see what's up. And speaking of next week. Don't put your calendars away yet! An additional perk to being on an academic calendar is that I already know my schedule all the way thru December. So come back tomorrow and we'll talk about Fall! And bring your calendar with you! |
Friday, May 16, 2008
Hug a soldier (carefully!)
Before I begin my tails of Krystals and reunions and travels and freezes, I think it is important to take a moment for a very special message about tomorrow. You'll probably read on the above link that when Truman tried to get ALL of the US Armed Forces to drop their individual days of celebration in favor of Armed Forces Day the Marine Corps declined. While the Marines happily celebrate AFD with the rest of the services, if you try and take away "The Marine Corps Birthday" (10 November, 1775) you are in for a world of hurt. See also: Marines Gone Wild. Obviously I have a special attachment to the military. There is blue, gray, khaki, and olive drab up and down my family tree. My grandfather was in the Navy, my father is a retired Marine and my brother is in the Army. Oddly, I am the closest my family has to the Air Force with my 5 years teaching at Robins Air Force base. Some are confused with both Armed Forces Day and Memorial Day. Here is the easiest way to think about it. Armed Forces Day is a celebration (worldwide actually) of those who are in the armed forces NOW. Memorial Day (May 26th this year) is more a celebration of those who have served and in particular those who died for our country.  About two weeks ago I happened to find myself in a Subway at about 10pm. In line in front of my was a solider in his fatigues (BDUs, or "cammies" if you must). For the life of me I can't figure out where he came from. There just isn't that big of an Army population in Wilmington. I knew he was cavalry, because my brother was armored cavalry at one point and I recognized the patch.He stepped up to the register. As the girl at the register rang up his order I told her "His goes on my tab." His head about snapped off it turned around so fast. There was a long pause as he tried to figure out what my "angle" was. I just held out my hand and said "Thank you for your service, and have a good night." Now I realize that it was just a "five dollar footlong" and in the grand scheme of things that's not much. (Heck it's a Subway sandwich, it's almost cruel.) But here's my angle: These young men put their lives on hold, put their lives in jeopardy, and volunteer to kill or die so we have our choice of toppings on our sub. A lot of these men get paid crap wages and some have families that are forced into government assistance programs to make ends meet. They deserve so much better. On the flip side we have the worthless retards up in Washington who somehow think they are qualified to run a war. John McCain got in hot water recently by saying if he was elected he'd bring the war in Iraq to an end in 5 years. Heck I can top that. I can end the war in 6 months. It's easy. It's a two step process:
Those in Congress are only good at talking and they really only live to hear themselves talk. If you doubt me then answer me this: why do we need C-SPAN and C-SPAN 2? Watch either one late and night and you'll see our congressmen talking away. The cameras are not allowed to show the rest of the hall, though, otherwise the public might see that there is no one there. Those who know how to run and win a war are the ones in uniform. The ones who volunteered and paid their dues in time and blood to EARN the shiny ranks on their collars. While those in Congress are good at talking, those in uniform are good at solving problems, anyway they can. So tomorrow, if you see a serviceman, be sure and thank them. Buy em a sackful of Krystals. (Don't buy em Subway, that's just mean.) Thank them for their service, even in the face of a government who seems to take pleasure in kicking our servicemen in the teeth. What good is having the most powerful fighting force in the history of the world if you keep it half starved and locked in a cage? Well actually, you don't have to wonder too much about that. Turn on the TV, watch the news and you'll see what we get. |
Labels: Warner Robins
Thursday, May 15, 2008
It's never too early for steak
| One of the difficulties of my road trips back to Georgia has to do with proper planning of pit stops. With current gas prices, you really have to do your homework. Gas in South Carolina is almost 10¢ a gallon cheaper than Georgia and NC. (This probably explains why South Carolina interstates stink.) Even more important that feeding my truck is feeding me. It's a given I'll be stopping at the first Krystal I run into. That would be either Pooler, GA if I go via Savannah, or in Augusta, GA if I cut across I-20. Either route is roughly the same distance to Macon. The decision point is Florence, SC. And that is the decision point in more than one way. As you approach Florence from the North, it lays in wait on the side of the road. Crouching down ready to pounce on you and attack your hunger.  Sold!    It was all so good. It was all soo much. I almost didn't finish it. Almost. (But I did!) When I was done I waddled back out to my truck and headed on down the highway knowing that in roughly 2 hours I'd be devouring Krystals. If my stomach wasn't so preoccupied with nearly a pound of meat, it might have cheered. Look mom! I ate an entire steak and it didn't ruin my appetite! PS Angela didn't get a regular sized tip. She got an Iron Skillet Rancher Steak sized tip. |
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Dinner with Andrea
| While KrystalAdventures has more or less been on hold for 2 weeks, MY adventures have not. So that means I now have about 15 very busy days and 2 or 3 adventures to catch up on. While I am trying to get a handle on that, let's just go ahead and get the best part out of the way first. The first weekend of this month was the bi-annual Alumni reunion of my fraternity. These guys have been getting together every two years for quite a while and I am honored that about 6 years ago they invited me. I missed the event 2 years ago, but was determined not to miss it this year. It is such an amazing feeling to be among all of that brotherhood even though most graduated 30, 40 and 50 years ago. In fact on Friday I was the youngest person there by at least 10 or 12 years. (For those Mercer ATO's closer to my age that are reading this, it makes me sad to see the lack of participation by the younger crowd year after year. Missed opportunities to connect and reconnect with that which makes our fraternity great, our brothers. Yeah, I'm calling you out!) Anyway while planning my trip I decided that I always have such a blast it would be a shame not to share the weekend. So I summoned up the nerve (that took about 3 weeks) and I invited Andrea. I technically met Andrea about 12 years ago, but due to her career taking her all over, we lost touch until about 2 years ago and we've been emailing since. Because I was in the middle of finals, and Andrea's life was rather chaotic, it took a while to get our plans set, but she was able to come down for the Saturday evening banquet.      |
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
whoa nelly!
| As Krystal Adventures moves forward from our week long celebration and memorial of Penny, I did have an interesting side note to pass along. Not many people know that at one time many years ago Penny worked at Krystal. Many times over the years Penny provided me with valuable insight into "life behind the counter." When I was in Macon this last time (May 2nd) after leaving the hospital where I visited Penny, I made my way over to Krystal. After all, I can't get THAT close to my old Krystal and not stop by. Of course I also had a few things I'd been planning since I stopped by the previous weekend. When I stopped by for breakfast the previous week to catch up with Bernida, I discovered that Krystal HQ is not only reading my blog, they are now using it against me. Apparently after reading my post with multiple references to the red haired waitress at Andy's, Krystal had gone out and located a cute little red haired girl and placed her at my old Krystal on Vineville Ave. I asked Bernida about her and said that if she'd been there a year ago I probably wouldn't have moved. Bernida then informed me that she (the cute red haired girl) was in management training and Bernida was going to try and keep her at the Vineville store once she finished training. So let's see, cute little red haired girl, working for Krystal, trained by Bernida, and just down the street from where I used to live. Well played, Krystal. Well played! I had planned on my return trip to get a picture with the cute little red haired girl, but she wasn't in. Much like in the Peanuts cartoons, apparent YOU are not supposed to actually see her. But I did. Well played, again, Krystal! But Krystal wasn't finished there. Oh no, they had more taunts in store for me. When I was there the first weekend I saw the sign for the two newest MilkQuake flavors.  On my return trip I told Bernida my plan. She also though I was nuts, but she made it anyway. Cause Bernida rocks!  Between the two trips south I was also able to finally try ALL of the Krystal Freezes (reviews to follow later). I felt I had finally caught up on all that was new and tasty at Krystal. Then I saw this:  Look at some of the new Freeze Flavors that are just out of the test kitchen and tell us which one you would buy. Watermelon, Strawberry, Banana Popsicle, Lemon, Blackberry, Peach, Tropical Punch, Mojito The test kitchen has been busy coming up with new MilkQuake flavors: Smores (Graham Cracker crumbs, Choc Shake, Marshmellow syrup), French Vanilla, Key Lime Pie (with graham cracker crumbs), Banana Split, Cotton Candy, Peanut Butter and Jelly (made with real Peanut Butter), Triple Chocolate (Choc. Shake, Oreos, Choc. Whipped Topping) There you have it folks, the test kitchen is now cranking out delicious goodies faster than I can get to them. They're just rubbing it in that I live in Burgatory now. Maybe it's time I get back to the KrystalAdventures test kitchen and start cranking out my own delicious goodies and make those at Krystal HQ jealous of me!! I am, technically, on summer vacation. (Is this starting to sound a bit like The Summer of George?) |
Labels: Macon
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Famous Jason and Penny Pics
| For years when I got email from Penny (and I got a lot of Penny email, or P-mail) I always noticed a rather curious thing. I have yet to find the official name for it but I have seen it called a nickname, a lookup name, a real name but it is NOT an "alias." Beside my email address, in parenthesis, I was labeled "Famous Jason." This is apparently how I was listed in Penny's address book. I don't exactly know why I got that label. This was well before this whole Krystal Kid thing really got started. As you saw in my previous post Penny had plenty of options for names to use for me. I guess I was just thankful was "Famous Jason" not "INfamous Jason." Penny always did see more in me than I saw in myself. She always fought for me, defended me, and encouraged me. Would I be where I am today if not for Penny? I doubt it. I may never know exactly how I got to be "Famous Jason" but that's ok. I'm just honored by the title. This past week has been my attempt to make sure the whole world knows about "Famous Penny." I very much appreciate you allowing me this aside from the usual Krystal Kraziness. For those who have posted comments and sent emails, I do VERY much appreciate them. This past week has been a rough week for me. Between dealing with the loss of Penny and the end of the semester, I have more or less been in a haze the past 2 weeks. (Or as Penny was fond of saying, I was "shot out!") But starting on Monday it's time to get back to work. Krystal Adventure will return to "normal" (as if it ever was.) Like me, Penny hated it when she was kept away from work. Mostly because she knew without her there to manage things, it would be a disaster upon her return. And then she'd have to clean it all up. I cannot imagine life at Mercer CompSci, AP (After Penny). If you visit Mercer's CompSci website they've been running a nice tribute to Penny for the past week where people can upload their own Penny pictures. I quickly went out to find some, knowing that I would have a lot of Penny and hockey pictures. But as I dug through my pictures I found a severe lack of picture of Penny. It was then that I realized that most of the time Penny was taking the pictures, not me. So I have a large collection of pictures from Penny's point of view.  Penny Hated the Columbus Cottonmouths  But she did enjoy the rough stuff. That is why I chose today, Mother's Day, as the proper day to wrap up this week of celebration of Penny, Famous Penny. With the greatest of love, -Famous Jason, Thumper, or Robin |
Labels: Mercer, Warner Robins
