Texas!

I'm here in the Great State of Texas! More to come later (sorry no feet pics, but have have some funny ones of Kermit The Frog traveling). Will share more later.

Enjoy ~SJ

Another Blog Quiz

Thanks Rach for this one!

You Are Cumin

You are warm, unique, and pretty dominant. It's also pretty likely that you smoke or like fire. You are energetic and intense. You definitely stimulate people.

What Spice Are You?

Enjoy ~SJ

Skywatch!

On my way to work on this frigid day (-25 degrees) I was trying to come up with some picture to take for Skywatch Friday. The trick was I didn't want to have to be outside of my car. When I arrived at our new elementary school (long story, but I'm working there a little as well as my regular gig) I noticed this amazing view. The new elementary school sits on top of a hill and the steam was rising off from the river. I realized that if I parked my car right I could snap the picture from the drivers seat and never leave the comfort of my heated seats!

Enjoy ~SJ

One More Thing Off The List!

My last few days at work have been filled with lists of chores to get done before my departure to Texas next week. Getting a classroom ready for your week long absence is no easy task. There are long letters to write to the sub, activities to be created and then photocopied, lists to make, and then check twice. At the bottom of my to-do list this week has been "clean desk", which not only meant to pick up the clutter, but to also literally wipe the dust that has been collecting in its corners. A friend of mine at work has been joking with me that I will never get to that item on the list. Well, today after all of my homeroom left to enjoy their afternoon, I removed everything from my desk, wiped it down, and then only put the necessary items back on it. Thought I better take a picture of it so that I can always remember what a clean desk looks like.

Enjoy ~SJ

SJ's Beat Gets A Face Lift

* * Please make sure that you understand the title as stating that SJ's Beat for a face lift and NOT SJ **

If you only ever read my blog through your RSS feed Google Reader, please take a second to travel over to my newly improved blog page. I have worked really hard this evening (translation: wasted a ton of time) working on a new heading and picked a new layout. I really am proud of the new pics at the top of the page.

Also, don't forget to go and visit what The Mother has to say on her new blog. She is really on a roll with some pretty funny stuff. Oh, and RVB-ers, what do you think about making her a RVB?

Enjoy ~SJ

The Mother Goes Techy!

As The Music Man put it "the end of the world is near...." My Mother started a blog (without my help might I add). VERY impressive! You have to understand that My Mother is not technology challenged, since she is retired she is just hasn't been immersed in it as much as others are. Well Mom, you have blown SJ away with your creation of your own blog. I know that you will enjoy blogging once you get started (and you already have the hard part all done). I know that you will keep us all in stitches with your witty postings, oh please do the "blingo" blog post soon!

Regular and irregular readers please add The Mother's blog to your RSS feed, or links, or however you keep up on your blogs. Her blog link is: sledgirl

Enjoy ~SJ

Powering Google

I read this today on the Official Google Blog. I had never thought of the fact that when I do an internet search there are some sort of infrastructure out there powering my search. Thought I would share this amazing post in case you aren't as geeky as me and have an RSS feed on the Official Google Blog.

Not long ago, answering a query meant traveling to the reference desk of your local library. Today, search engines enable us to access immense quantities of useful information in an instant, without leaving home. Tools like email, online books and photos, and video chat all increase productivity while decreasing our reliance on car trips, pulp and paper.

But as computers become a bigger part of more people's lives, information technology consumes an increasing amount of energy, and Google takes this impact seriously. That's why we have designed and built the most energy efficient data centers in the world, which means the energy used per Google search is minimal. In fact, in the time it takes to do a Google search, your own personal computer will use more energy than Google uses to answer your query.

Recently, though, others have used much higher estimates, claiming that a typical search uses "half the energy as boiling a kettle of water" and produces 7 grams of CO2. We thought it would be helpful to explain why this number is *many* times too high. Google is fast — a typical search returns results in less than 0.2 seconds. Queries vary in degree of difficulty, but for the average query, the servers it touches each work on it for just a few thousandths of a second. Together with other work performed before your search even starts (such as building the search index) this amounts to 0.0003 kWh of energy per search, or 1 kJ. For comparison, the average adult needs about 8000 kJ a day of energy from food, so a Google search uses just about the same amount of energy that your body burns in ten seconds.

In terms of greenhouse gases, one Google search is equivalent to about 0.2 grams of CO2. The current EU standard for tailpipe emissions calls for 140 grams of CO2 per kilometer driven, but most cars don't reach that level yet. Thus, the average car driven for one kilometer (0.6 miles for those of in the U.S.) produces as many greenhouse gases as a thousand Google searches.

We've made great strides to reduce the energy used by our data centers, but we still want clean and affordable sources of electricity for the power that we do use. In 2008 our philanthropic arm, Google.org, invested $45 million in breakthrough clean energy technologies. And last summer, as part of our Renewable Energy Cheaper than Coal initiative (RE), we created an internal engineering group dedicated to exploring clean energy.

We're also working with other members of the IT community to improve efficiency on a broader scale. In 2007 we co-founded the Climate Savers Computing Initiative, a group which champions more efficient computing. This non-profit consortium is committed to cutting the energy consumed by computers in half by 2010 — reducing global CO2 emissions by 54 million tons per year. That's a lot of kettles of tea.

Posted by Urs Hölzle, Senior Vice President, Operations

Enjoy ~SJ

Sometimes The Horoscope Is Right

Between excessive blogging today I have been working on getting ready to go to my doctoral residency in Dallas, Texas next week. I don't read my horoscope on a regular basis or base my day around what it says, but I do like to see what the stars have lined up for me every now and then. Well, today's couldn't have been more fitting:

You have your feet on the ground today, yet, fortunately, the Moon is now emphasizing your 9th House of Adventure. You are ready for that big trip, yet first you need to go over all the details one more time. Even if you don't find anything awry, you still must go through all the data with a fine-toothed comb. Solid preparation paves the way to a successful journey.

I guess today the horoscope was right on track.

Enjoy ~SJ

What I Learned This Week

This week was a little different week for me. I started substituting for the Gifted and Talented teacher along with my regular teaching responsibilities. This gave me a whole new insight into an age group of students I don't normally work with.

• Walk the elementary school students everywhere.
• Basic operations with fractions have a lot of steps to remember - this makes them very hard to learn.
• Monday's are very challenging days after long vacations.
• Remember to make time for things that you enjoy.
• What seems like a huge problem sometimes have simple solutions.

What did you learn this week?

Enjoy ~SJ

Being Thrifty

Thrifty –adjective, thrift⋅i⋅er, thrift⋅i⋅est.

1.	practicing thrift or economical management; frugal: a thrifty shopper.

A recently read an article from Yahoo Finance outlining seven things that you can do to save money.

Buy a bread maker. You can buy one for $55. If it saves you just $4 a week on store-bought bread, that's $208 a year. A 280% return.

Get a credit card with a great sign-up bonus. Like the AirTran Visa card. Cost: The $40 annual fee. After your first purchase you get enough reward miles for a free flight, saving maybe $250. Then cancel the card. Return: 525%.

Take out a local library card. Cost: Nothing. If it saves you $10 a month on books, that's $120 a year. Return: Infinite. Note: Some libraries now let you borrow electronic books over the Internet as well.

Replace your premium cable package with a Netflix subscription and a $100 set-top box. You can download movies and TV programs as well getting DVDs through the mail. Cost: $100 for the cheapest set-top box, plus $17 a month for a three-movie subscription. If it replaces a $50-a-month cable package, that's a 98% return on investment.

Order a packet of seeds and plant them in a window box or garden. Growing your own herbs, spices, and even vegetables – depending on the amount of space you have – is a great investment. If you spent just $10 on seeds and saved a mere $50 in the year, that's a 400% ROI.

Switch to a prepaid cellphone. Cost: $20 for the phone, and maybe $100 a year for minutes. Move the rest of your talk-time to free Internet calls, and stop hemorrhaging $60 a month on a cellular plan. ROI: 500%

Start making your own coffee to take to work each morning. Cost: $20 for a Thermos, $10 for a filter and papers, and $60 a year for ground coffee. Then skip the $4 a day drive-thru. If that saves you $1,000 a year, the return is more than 1,000 %.

I started making my own bread on a regular basis a few years ago. I don't do credit cards, sorry. I have a library card and utilize a network of friends for book swapping. Haven't had cable for a year now, and am enjoying my Netflix account tremendously. The Music Man is already planning the garden for next year, increasing the size and variety of things grown. My Mother and I are on a family cell phone plan, she had problems with the pre-paid route. And sadly, I cut out my regular trips to the Corner Store (D.U.) every morning for a travel mug of homemade java.


So what is a trifty Mainer left to do? Anymore suggestions?

Enjoy ~SJ

Saturday

Saturday has be my favorite day of the week. There is no work, there is no pressure of work the next day. It is the only day of the week where I truly feel as though the day is all for me. Although it is a day for me, I do tend to have a little routine for Saturdays, and I just love it. Here's a normal Saturday:

Sleep in late
Get up, surf the internet and drink coffee
Go out and take care of the trash/bottles
Get more coffee
Go to Marden's, or Dollar Store, or Wal-Mart, or grocery store
Go home

That's it. Simple. I get to wander around stores and drink coffee and get a few chores done. I think that I like it because like most other days there is no agenda of things that need to get taken care of. Also, since I always get a few chores done it isn't like the whole day is a waste.

What do you do on Saturday?

Enjoy ~SJ

N Is For.....

...New Days

Every now and then we all have bad days. One of the biggest challenges of a bad day for me is to make it through the day without letting what is making my day so bad effecting everything around me. I know that when I am having a bad day I try to take time to look through my pictures in iPhoto and remember how much fun I had when those pictures were taken. The pictures featured in this blog I took one morning while at Old Orchard Beach. I woke up early, got a cup of coffee and walked the beach with the task of capturing the beach through my eyes with my trusty camera. My favorite picture of the bunch is the self-portrait; coffee in hand camera to my face. Remembering how much I enjoyed myself that morning helps get through bad days.

Enjoy ~SJ

Don't Ya Just Love The Marden's Lady?

Ok,I wouldn't say that I love her, but she certainly sticks with you. Recently I discovered that the Marden's lady, a.k.a.Birdie Googins, as actually a well accomplished actress. According to the Maine Arts Commission, Karmo (Martha) Sanders, the Marden's Ladies real name has her masters degree from Boston University. The Maine Arts Commission goes on to say:

Formerly associated with Radical Radio, a musical extravaganza for young people which opened Off Broadway and toured the East Coast for five years, Ms. Sanders collaborated as an actress, writer, and producer of that show. A dedicated writer she looks forward to working in educational settings. "There is nothing more rewarding in the entire world, than watching young people awakening in a discovery of their own creativity. The art of understanding and writing dialogue is imperative. Whether in plays, screenplays or fiction believable dialogue is vital to a writer. I offer fun, simple keys and tools composed specifically to unleash the voices within the character.

The Birdie Googins website says:

The last thing in the whole world Birdie (aka: the Marden's Lady) expected - was becoming a super model. She's been called a phenomenon in Southern Maine; up North she's an icon. Finding herself with the status of a super model has its challenges: keeping her mascara from running while racing from the paparrazzi being just one of them.

But being a star also has its rewards: everybody and anybody she meets speaks to her. And that's a joy, walking around the world talking to strangers. Finds out she's wicked popular. She can't go through a toll booth without being asked, "Are you the Marden's Lady?"

'Course as Birdie always says: "Hard for people sometimes, seeing me up close and personal. I'm much more glamorous in real life here aren't I?" A lady at an Irving station once asked about the Marden's commercials: "Are you really having that much fun?" The answer: absolutely!

And of course, if you just haven't had your fill of her wonderful commercials you can always watch more at the Marden's webiste.

While I'm doing this little plug for Birdie I might as well also mention that she can be hired as a personality for functions. You may contact her through Utobia Model and Talent: 207.725.1364 or utobia@gwi.net

Enjoy ~SJ

Skywatch!

The view in the back yard, I just love how the sun filters through the trees.

Enjoy ~SJ

While The Feeders Away....

Ok, Phoebe and Stanley have launched themselves into a whole other level of cat mischievous while the Feeders are at work. We all know that Phoebe has a thing for destroying toilet paper. Her new thing is to try to get the shreds in as many rooms as possible, current high score of four rooms. Well now she has worked her way up the paper chain and her new choice paper product is newsprint. Yesterday I came home to an Uncle Henry's newsprint magazine shredded all over the house. The majority of the contents were left in the toilet! (I restrained myself from taking a photo of it, I wasn't sure how you would feel about seeing my toilet or how I felt about my toilet bowl being plastered all over the internet). Now and Uncle Henry's magazine is not a light object for a cat to lift up. I am guessing that it required both Phoebe and Stanley to achieve this feat.

Any suggestions?

Enjoy ~SJ

Vacations Are Great...

.... but, the first day back to work after a nice long two week vacation is tough. Yesterday was a rough day. Not so much the getting up and getting ready part, although the alarm clock was a bit alarming. It was when all the things on my to-do-list were done and I was at home sitting on the couch. I started reading a biography on Houdini a few days ago, and all day long I was excited to read more of it. By the time in the day came where I could read the book my mind was too tired I couldn't concentrate and the fascinating story of the Handcuff King. Maybe this feeling will get to be less by the end of the week, if not I might need another vacation.

Enjoy ~SJ

M Is For...

...My Mother!

My Mother at Disney World, her favorite place, circa 1992 (sorry Mom for the not so flattering photo, but I have always liked this one of you).


My Mother, maybe my number one blog fan although she never writes a comment, pointed out the other day that I am about half way through my ABC blog postings and she has not been the subject of one yet. She also wanted to point out that she feels she has been the topic of enough blog entries. Well here you go Mom, it doesn't get any better than this!

My Mother and I are close, really close, like best friend close. We talk on the phone at least once a day, mostly when I am in the car driving around. We talk about everything and nothing all at the same time, it is kind of like Seinfeld, conversations about nothing! (Seinfeld, now there is one of our favorite TV shows, right up there with Alf)

When I was in college I think that she sat by the phone from the moment I left Maine until I got back from Boston. If I didn't call her as soon as I got back to my dorm room she would immediately have visions of me "dead on the tracks somewhere". These visions would lead to her calling my cell phone until she reached me. She still has these visions to this day, until I call her and inform her that I am not "dead on the tracks somewhere".

One of my funniest memories of My Mother and I involves the meatloaf birthday cake inspired by Miss Martha. I blogged about this earlier, here is an expert from that blog posting:

Since it was around both of our birthdays we decided to make one of these birthday meatloaves. We followed Miss Martha's directions to the T. We decided that we would trump Miss Martha's meatloaf by putting it on one of the many cake stands that I own (this was the beginning of the end!) We had not thought about the fact that meatloaf is naturally juicy, and if it was placed on a cake stand the juices would have no place to go other than the counter and then the floor. As we started to attempt to "frost" the cake the juices began to run. Gretal, Moms daschund, was of course underfoot and began to lick the running juices. The meatloaf was crumbling everywhere and was getting more and more difficult to "frost". At this point we were laughing hysterically, and I said "Mom, just imagine, there are disastrous meatloaf birthday cakes all across the country right now!"

Time with My Mother typically involves laughing and imagining. When I was little we would create these elaborate stories about our pets and the secret lives that they lived when we were not home. We would write stories together, typically involving animals. We would read books aloud to one another (we still do this today). My Mother instilled in me the value of creativity and humor. My Mother also tried to instill in me the importance of folding laundry, but for some reason that one just didn't stick.

My Mother is a retired teacher, who now enjoys substituting. Every now and then she subs in my classroom. This is always a little treat for my students since math is not her strongest subject, but she tries very hard when she is in my classroom. The students always love her since she will entertain them with a few stories about me when I was little. Of course these stories usually involve telling them how much of a math geek I was at a young age, but they entertain the kids none the less.

I think all tolled up she is the best Mom you could ask for. She always makes you laugh, is always there to talk to, she doesn't judge you even when she thinks you are making the wrong decision (lets not go down that path), and will always come over the fold my laundry and make fresh cookies.

Enjoy ~SJ

Charlie Brown's New Years Resolution

I just caught the tail end of Happy New Year Charlie Brown. Towards the end of the movie Peppermint Patty asks Chuck what his New Years Rules are going to be. He responds to her with something like this:
"Be nicer to people, don't leave the crayons in the sun, water the plan more, don't volunteer to chair a committee, and remember to feed the dog as much as he wants whenever he wants."

That about sums it up, if we all lived by these rules what a happier place our world would be. There would be fewer committees, more crayons, and happier people, pets and plants. Stanley would love the kibble increase!

Enjoy ~SJ

Skywatch!

Here is a shot I took Christmas morning of the view of Hummarock Beach. It was too cold and windy to go down to the beach for the actual shot. Not only do you beach and sky, but you also get my feet. How much better can it get. Happy Skywatch Friday (Saturday now).

Enjoy ~SJ

New Year Brings New Luck?

I would not describe myself as lucky by any stretch of the imagination. I also would not say that I am unlucky. I guess you could describe me as luck average. Well folks, it is all changing in this new year (technically the end of last year, but I'm hoping the wave continues through at least February). Rach, one of the fellow River Valley Bloggers ran a contest on her blog last week. The task was simple, she posted a picture of a photo of hers and all you had to do was write a comment to get a chance at winning a print. Since Rach has to be my number one commenter, and I may be her number one commenter, I wrote a nice comment. Wel,l on December 31 I got the exciting news, I WON! The photo is to the left, I snagged it from her blog.

Enjoy ~SJ