KontansPlace

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This is the last full week of school. Next week we will review for exams. It’s been a busy weekend. The spring dance went well. It got off to a “slamming” start as a student decided to hot dog through the parking lot with his girlfriend’s car…or that of her parents. Spinning out at the stop sign he decided to accelerate and take the 90 degree turn between the buildings at full speed. He ended up slamming it into the side of the building. No one was hurt, shockingly. Sometimes they just do not have a lot of common sense.

Lots to do…

Leaping Lions!

Maybe in his dreams…

On campus today and took a few pics. I’ll share the rest later, but here are Leo and Una. Leo is doing what Leo does best. I think Una is posing…she was seriously interested in something.

A look to the past

I stated in my previous post that I know I feel frustrated at this time every year. I decided to check the archives to see if I was right. Yes, but there’s more. On this date in 2007 the biggest news in my life was the closing of a murder/suicide case. A former colleague murdered her husband and then later took her own life. It is tragic and disturbing. I can’t drive across the waterway where he was found without thinking of this event.

As I look at other posts I realize that my current feelings are totally normal. I’m as sane as I ever was…

Gas Mileage tips

Various tips for improving mpg:
http://www.howtoadvice.com/savinggas

The really funny part…I didn’t find a date on this article but the pic on the side shows a Shell station with the price of regular $1.72 (oh if only) and plus was an arm, premium a leg. Who here would be overjoyed to see 1.72 at the pump? Hate to admit it but I was a little excited when it dropped below 3.50 today. (3.43 down the road)

Nicole, I’m curious. In the heart of oil country what do you guys pay? I heard it was around $8 in England.

http://epa.gov/otaq/consumer/17-tips.pdf

We’ve all heard them. Slow down. Don’t floor it on start. Use the AC only when it is scorching and you can’t take the heat. Idle for long waits.

If you’re really desperate this guy has a solution that uses water for gas…
http://www.water4gas.com/2books.htm

I found this to be very interesting, even if a little strange. The mason jar blew it for me though. I think the technology has a little ways to go. Anyone actually familiar with this?

Testing the tips from 2005…
http://www.edmunds.com/advice/fueleconomy/articles/106842/article.html

Apparently the aggressive driving is the biggest waste of gas. Their recommendation? Stop driving like a maniac. Cruise control is another effective way to save. I am very surprised by the AC one. According to the test there isn’t a measurable difference. This one is actually worth the couple of minutes for reading.

Momma and Baby

I’ve seen a dog take in a cat, kittens, and a pig…but this is a new one. A local cat was acting down over the loss of her kitten. When someone dropped off the baby squirrel at the shelter they decided to give the relationship a try. Baby squirrel is being raised as a cat…litter box trained and all. It’s favorite mode of transportation? Momma’s back.

In the Trenches

I’ve had just about all the teaching of WWI I can stand. Counting the days…counting the days…

Wonderful WP tool!

One of the most bothersome issues with hosting your own site and using WordPress is keeping everything up to date. With recent releases of WP plugins can be automatically updated by a simple click, no download or ftp uploading to be done! Until this plugin it was still necessary to download WP files and transfer to your host if you wanted to avoid bugs and security issues that were fixed in new releases of WP. WP-Automatic-Upgrade is wonderful and makes the WP experience so much easier.

Economic $timulu$

The economic leap of faith stimulus plan is set to begin earlier than expected. Don’t get me wrong, we can certainly use the extra cash…I’m just not certain that a quick fix is what is needed. $600, $1200, $1800 is just not enough to make any serious purchases. Most people are so consumed with rising costs of transportation and goods that the money will likely be put away for emergency purposes or go for an immediate debt. I was reading an article today that was asking for the money to be sent to the oil companies and save us the 42 cents postage.

The Yahoo article that inspired this post quotes Senator Charles Schumer, D-NY:

“It’s galling to think that taxpayers’ stimulus checks will be lining the pockets of OPEC. The sad truth is that the average American family will spend almost their entire stimulus check on higher gas prices this year…Unless the administration gets OPEC to increase oil supply, American consumers are going to be in for a scorching summer of $4 gasoline with no relief in sight”

McCain suggests a tax break. An 18.4 cent tax break is not enough to ease the burden. In my area gasoline is up to $3.53/gallon. It’s higher in other parts of the country. Well it’s higher in Europe. Whatever, I don’t live in Europe. I don’t live in an area with an extensive public transit system where having a vehicle isn’t necessary. I live in an area where you have to drive your car to and from work everyday. Having a vehicle is essential. Honestly, I don’t think eliminating the tax would do any good. They know we will pay it so the price will drop at first and then slowly climb to where they currently are and the 18.4 cents will then be going to the oil companies instead of the government. If you want to eliminate the tax and add limits fine. But the tax is used for road improvements… Yeah. Many of the highways and interstates currently suck so obviously it isn’t working out that way is it?

Alternative fuels? Great idea. Somebody get on that and convince TPTB to accept your proposal and get a move on.

Lawrence Goldstein, quoted in this article has a different suggestion:

Instead of rolling back the tax, Goldstein says, the government ought
to help low-income Americans pay for gasoline. That would be cheaper and benefit those who need it most.

I can appreciate the socialist love but you know, some of us in the middle could use a little relief too. There are more than enough programs in place to offer assistance to those who need it and those who will do nothing but mooch off the system. Next suggestion, please.

So what do we do? Boycott!!! Oh, like that is feasible. Lurkers, all those who can afford to skip buying gas please post your comment now. However, a little pressure on the oil companies should come from somewhere. After all, check out their profit margin sometime.

According to this article from Feb. 1, 2007:

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Exxon Mobil Corp. Thursday reported the biggest annual profit on record for a U.S. corporation - earning more than $75,000 every minute of 2006 on the back of record oil prices.

The world’s biggest publicly traded company by revenue posted net earnings of $39.5 billion on revenue of $377.6 billion last year, topping its previous profit record of $36.1 billion in 2005, which at the time was the largest for any U.S. company.

Not adjusted for inflation, oil prices hit a record high of $77.03 a barrel last July, pushing gasoline prices above $3 a gallon nationwide.

Wow! Those were the days. Oil prices were at the low cost of $77/barrel. Today, April 25, 2008, the price per barrel is $118. Oil price predictions are for $125-$130/barrel.

Exxon profits as reported Feb. 1, 2008:

HOUSTON — Exxon Mobil Corp. posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company _ $40.6 billion _ on Friday as the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company benefited from historic crude prices at the end of the year.

Exxon also set a U.S. record for the biggest quarterly profit, posting net income of $11.7 billion for the final three months of 2007, beating its own mark of $10.71 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The previous record for annual profit was $39.5 billion, which Exxon Mobil had in 2006.

It’s nice to know that some companies are doing well.

Here’s an interesting comparison for gas prises since October 2005:

Wow. Remember when we were shocked to break $2.00? Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could be shocked again?

So good to be home!

We had a great trip that I consider rather productive. It was a nice introduction to the area, even if we spent most of the time working the job market. For me, Friday was a small county job fair that was rather relaxed. Jem spent the morning in the opposite direction talking to his people. When we met for lunch things were looking pretty good. IMO in the working world there is little worse than spending an entire morning speaking with possible employers and feeling like you have wasted your time. We spent the afternoon just getting to know the area.

Saturday was the big day. Up early and down to the convention center for the cattle call, which they chose to call a job fair. Me, and 4999 of my closest NC teacher buddies, met with representatives from all across the county. I had researched and mapped out who to visit and who not. Sorry, a $3000 bonus is not enough for me to sign a year of my life away just to have a job and be miserable at a failing school. Nope. First, I waited in line to be sent to the out of state licensure line, mistake #1. After thirty minutes of my life was wasted I went on to another line as instructed (mistake #2), but didn’t spend much time there before being sent downstairs. There were people EVERYWHERE. Fortunately the floor was divided by regional learning communities. I went straight to #1 on my list and stood in line to talk to their people. Mistake #3. There is over an hour of my life that I will never get back. I interviewed and then moved on. Two positions available there, I’m not even that hopeful. I roamed the room and dropped resumes with several schools on my list. Interviewed with a couple. Deciding for one last school before giving up the madness and heading back to the hotel I stopped at one last booth. This is a school I would not mind being a part of. I was very fortunate to be placed on the interview list. In fact, they stopped adding to the list just after me. When she scanned my resume and talked for a moment my name was literally squeezed in to the side of all the others. Unfortunately, it involved more waiting. I’m here, might as well. After an hour I sat down with a representative and had a rather positive interview. The rep ended the interview by saying I should hear from someone this week. I don’t think he was just being nice, but in these situations you never know.

After leaving the job fair I headed back to the hotel. Jem was kind enough to meet me halfway and bringing my comfy shoes. Now, that ladies and gentlemen is a good man. LOL. My feet were killing me! Ugh. I hate professional shoes. I could have worn the comfy dress shoes but they didn’t look nearly as good. Guys are now thinking about the fact that they have need for only one set of dress shoes. Sorry, it doesn’t work that way for us. Do shoes really matter? Yes. Women notice these things. Your shoes matter, your clothing matters, your nylons matter, your nails matter, and your hair matters. Skirt or pants…matters. Judgments will be made on your appearance. If you think I’m wrong then by all means tell me in the comments. BTW, your kidding yourself if you think it doesn’t matter and prospective employers do not notice. I’m not saying it will be a no hire if you aren’t dressed professionally, but you have limited your chances somewhat.

So back at the hotel I crashed. I’m not talking I curled up and watched TV. I mean I slept so hard I probably did the little snore thing. Five hours. SO TIRED. Physically and emotionally worn out.

After that we had a nice dinner and walk around town.

I hope it turns out to be a productive weekend. I also realize that I can’t control everything. I keep trying, but lately am realizing that the effort is futile. Things will happen when they are supposed to happen and I can’t make everything go my way.

We’re back!

I’m exhausted. More later. Hope to see what is happening with everyone later.