Abundantly Blessed (Part I)

For the past school three years, I’ve been working as a substitute teacher in the Granite and Salt Lake school districts. I’ve taught at no fewer than five high schools and six junior high schools. I’ve taught subjects as diverse as English, Utah History, Physics, Math (lots and lots of Math), Engineering, Shop, Medical Terminology, Anatomy and Physiology, Dental Assisting, Food Service, and Keyboarding. I’ve even taught Dance on one occasion (there’s a mental picture for ya!). But I’ve never actually taught the subject I want to teach as a full-time teacher, the subject in which I have a Bachelor’s degree: Chemistry.

Until now.

A couple of months ago, I got a phone call from a teacher at one of the local high schools—the third closest high school to where I live, in fact. She was a Chemistry teacher, and she was headed out for six weeks of maternity leave. She had called the district office, and the Substitute Teaching coordinator had recommended me. We talked for a few minutes, exchanged contact information, and she said she’d call me again when she had a better idea of exactly when she’d be needing my services. That was pretty much the extent of the conversation. I didn’t think much of it after that.

There are two main reasons why I’ve done so much substitute teaching. First, it has provided income to supplement—and in some cases, supplant—what I make at the call center (more on which in another post). Second, it’s helped me to gain classroom experience as I work on my Master’s degree and teaching certification. Among the many hoops to jump through important steps on the way to certification is the Praxis II content area exam. It’s a rigorous standardized test designed to determine whether a teaching candidate actually knows enough about a subject to teach it in school. It takes two hours, consists of a hundred multiple choice questions, and costs $80 to take, plus a once-per-year $50 registration fee. (“That’s only a little more than a dollar a question,” someone pointed out to me. That’s one way to look at it, I suppose.)

When we got our tax refund back, we used part of it to register me for the Praxis. I signed up to take it at the earliest opportunity, which was Saturday, April 25th. The closest testing center, at the University of Utah, had no more seats available for that day, so I was left to choose between driving to Orem to take it and driving to Ogden to take it. I lived in Ogden for several years and still know my way around the Weber State campus pretty well, so I scheduled the test for Ogden.

I got back in contact with the aforementioned Chemistry teacher a couple of weeks after that and finalized arrangements for covering her classes. After an initial false start, I started my long-term substitute assignment right on schedule. I’ve been teaching Honors Chemistry and AP Chemistry since March 23rd. My assignment is nearly complete now; the regular teacher returns to her duties on Monday, May 4th.

Anyway, I took the Praxis II last Saturday. And I did well. I won’t know exactly how well for approximately four weeks, but I felt very confident about the outcome when I left the test room. And I have to say, I cannot tell you how many times I looked at one of those hundred questions and said to myself, “Right, we covered this in AP two weeks ago” or “We just talked about this in Honors Chem”. Teaching these classes for the past month or so was the best test preparation I could ever have hoped for.

To conclude: After almost three years of substituting without teaching a single Chemistry class, I finally got an assignment in my own content area at the time I needed it most.

You may call this coincidence if you wish.

I call it a blessing. I see in this a sign that Someone up there likes me—not just likes me, but knows me, is aware of my needs, and provides opportunities for me to be successful.

Thank You.


--

Author’s Note — On the subject of coincidence, I’ve always liked this comment from Elim Garak:

"I believe in coincidence. Coincidences happen every day. But I don't trust coincidence."

Maybe I've Been Watching Too Much Stargate: Atlantis

I was in the grocery store this afternoon, and I came around a corner and found myself face to face with something unexpected. There was a woman standing there, dressed mostly in black. She was tallish and kind of thin. She had long, stringy white hair and way too much makeup, to the point that her skin looked white--not Caucasian, but actually white.

And as I looked at her momentarily, the first thing that came to my mind was this:

"Holy cow, the Wraith have found their way to Earth!"



If you'd seen her, you'd understand.

Milton Berle vs. Statler & Waldorf

If any of you are fans of the old Muppet Show like I am, you'll probably like this.



This is the funniest thing I've seen in a long, long time.

Today's WTH?! Moment

I got rained on this morning on the way to school, and the rain turned to snow sometime during third period. I mention this only because it is tangentially related to the rest of the post. Or, as Bill Cosby once said, "I told you that story so I could tell you this one."

After teaching today, I took my car in to get it inspected and registered. In Utah, we not only have the annual emissions test that most states have, we also have a state safety test the car has to pass. I've never had a problem with any car, even the Dreadnought, passing either test. That was before Lula, however. As longtime reader(s) may remember, Lula failed the safety inspection last year because of a mirror, of all the stupid things.

Anyway, the registration actually expired on March 31st, and while they don't normally pull people over with tags that recently expired, I wanted to get it taken care of today. So off I went, coupons in hand to save $11 on the process.

I waited in the lobby for almost 45 minutes for what they told me would be a 20 minute inspection, but at last the guy came out and said, "You're all set." I assumed that meant everything was taken care of. Only it wasn't.

My car failed the safety exam. For the second consecutive year. Why this time, you ask? Oh, you're going to love this.

The car failed because I have snow tires on it.

Apparently the state of Utah, whose license plates say "Greatest Snow on Earth"—the license plate I have on Lula right now says that, in fact—doesn't allow studded snow tires after the first of April.

WTH?!

I was incredulous. I asked, rather reasonably, I thought, "Are you serious?" He said yes, he'd even called the State Patrol to verify it. They couldn't pass a car with studded tires after April first.

I couldn't help but ask: "Even though it's snowing right now?"

He seemed sympathetic, but of course there was nothing he could do. Except take my thirty-six bucks and tell me to come back in fifteen days or less once I'd got my tires replaced.

I was warned last year about using this place. Well, not this particular place, I'd actually gone to a different location this year. But this chain. I'd been warned that they look for stupid, ticky-tack things to pick out to fail your car. I'd never had that experience before with this franchise, so I didn't think too much about it. I'm definitely thinking about it now.

Now, I'm not the kind to mention names....



...but suffice it to say I'll be taking my business somewhere else next year.

Because saving eleven dollars on the inspection is no savings at all if you then have to turn around and spend $225 on tires.

ABC Meme

A - Age: 40+

B - Bed size: Queen

C - Chore you hate: Cleaning the bathroom. Fortunately, Nancy and I have a deal where she cleans the bathroom and I do the dishes.

D - Dog's name: Manfred. That's the name of the dog I had growing up.

E - Essential start your day item: Water and a multivitamin.

F - Favorite color: Forest green

G - Gold or Silver: White gold

H - Height: 190 cm

I - Instruments you play: Tuba, Trombone, Electric bass, Vocals (baritone/bass)

J - Job title: Quality Manager, Guest Teacher

K - Kid(s): None yet. Check back later.

L - Living arrangements: Two bedroom basement apartment.

M - Mom's name: Nani. (Pronounced like in "Hey nonny nonny".) It's not her real name, but it's what everyone calls her and how she introduces herself.

N - Nicknames: None at present.

O - Overnight hospital stay other than birth: Never.

P - Pet Peeve: Utah drivers.

Q - Quote from a movie: "Well, ya see, I'm not saying that I've been everywhere and I've done everything, but I do know it's a pretty amazing planet we live on here, and a man would have to be some kind of FOOL to think we're alone in THIS universe." (Big Trouble in Little China)

R - Right or left handed: I am not really left-handed.

S - Siblings: Two younger brothers.

T - Time you wake up: O-six-hundred-hours. ("What does the 'O' stand for? Oh my gosh it's early!")

U- Underwear: Yes

V - Vegetable you dislike: Okra.

W - Ways you run late: My in-laws are generally involved.

Y - Yummy food you make: Easy key lime pie.

Z - Zoo favorite: The big cats - tigers, especially.

A New Batch of Quotes

Brought to you, as always, by the folks at A.Word.A.Day.

"Pride, like laudanum and other poisonous medicines, is beneficial in small, though injurious in large, quantities. No man who is not pleased with himself, even in a personal sense, can please others." -Frederick Saunders, librarian and essayist (1807-1902)

"They are happy men whose natures sort with their vocations." -Francis Bacon

"We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice—that is, until we have stopped saying 'It got lost,' and say, 'I lost it.'" -Sydney J. Harris, journalist (1917-1986)

"It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." -J. Krishnamurti, author, speaker, and philosopher (1895-1986)

"Just praise is only a debt, but flattery is a present." -Samuel Johnson

"Myth: we have to save the earth. Frankly, the earth doesn't need to be saved. Nature doesn't give a hoot if human beings are here or not. The planet has survived cataclysmic and catastrophic changes for millions upon millions of years. Over that time, it is widely believed, 99 percent of all species have come and gone while the planet has remained. Saving the environment is really about saving our environment—making it safe for ourselves, our children, and the world as we know it. If more people saw the issue as one of saving themselves, we would probably see increased motivation and commitment to actually do so." -Robert M. Lilienfeld, management consultant and author (b. 1953) and William L. Rathje, archaeologist and author (b. 1945)

"Society is like a stew. If you don't keep it stirred up you get a lot of scum on the top." -Edward Abbey, naturalist and author (1927-1989)

"For money you can have everything it is said. No, that is not true. You can buy food, but not appetite; medicine, but not health; soft beds, but not sleep; knowledge but not intelligence; glitter, but not comfort; fun, but not pleasure; acquaintances, but not friendship; servants, but not faithfulness; grey hair, but not honor; quiet days, but not peace. The shell of all things you can get for money. But not the kernel. That cannot be had for money." -Arne Garborg, writer (1851-1924)

"To be nobody but myself—in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else—means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight, and never stop fighting." -e e cummings, poet (1894-1962)

"In politics, absurdity is not a handicap." -Napoleon Bonaparte

"What can be added to the happiness of a man who is in health, out of debt, and has a clear conscience?" -Adam Smith, economist (1723-1790)

"Democracy, to me, is liberty plus economic security." -Maury Maverick, attorney and congressman (1895-1954)

Welcome, Welcome, Welcome!

Hello, loyal reader(s)! I just wanted to make a couple of quick announcements. First, Nancy's blog has gone public! If you haven't checked it out, or haven't visited recently, click on over and take a look. Don't miss Carl Palmer's awesome drum solo!

Second, my nephew Justin now has a blog, too: Sports-O-Rama! His, however, is open by invitation only. (It's understandable; he's 12.) But if you already know him and haven't received an invite yet, you might click on over and see if he'll invite you. You'll never know until you try! :)

That is all. We now return you to your regularly scheduled surfing.

Simplicity

Elder Russell M. Nelson quoted President Joseph F. Smith's closing remarks from the October 1912 General Conference in his talk this afternoon. (The parts Elder Nelson quoted are italicized.)

"[T]here is such a thing as overdoing. A man may fast and pray till he kills himself; and there isn't any necessity for it; nor wisdom in it. I say to my brethren, when they are fasting, and praying for the sick, and for those that need faith and prayer, do not go beyond what is wise and prudent in fasting and prayer. The Lord can hear a simple prayer, offered in faith, in half a dozen words, and he will recognize fasting that may not continue more than twenty-four hours, just as readily and as effectually as He will answer a prayer of a thousand words and fasting for a month. Now, remember it. I have in mind elders now on missions, anxious to excel their associates, each wants to get the most "red marks" of credit, and so he will exert himself beyond his strength; and it is unwise to do it. The Lord will accept that which is enough, with a good deal more pleasure and satisfaction than that which is too much and unnecessary. It is good to be earnest, good to be diligent, to persevere, and to be faithful all the time, but we may go to extremes in these things; when we do not need to. The Word of Wisdom dictates that when we become weary we should stop and rest."

This is one of the most profound things I've ever heard in General Conference: "The Lord will accept that which is enough".

The Lord judges us on our efforts, not our results. When we do our best, come what may, we are justified before God.

That is incredibly comforting to know.