Monthly Archives: August 2013

RNFs for a lazy Saturday morning

It sure has been lazy. I’ve done nothing but read, drink coffee, read, eat breakfast, and then I read some more.

Last night’s concert was great! And just as awesome was the chance to reconnect with people I hadn’t seen in years (old high school classmates). It was a grand time, with some excellent music. RtB fiend Candace was sensational in the band.

So I slept in a little this morning — all the way till 7:15! Nice, eh? I know I should be getting to work, as there are only nine days left before teachers report back, but I just can’t pull the trigger on it yet this morning. So instead…

This would actually be an idea for the many things that need changed around here. It would take some organization, but if history teaches, it just might work.

I keep reading more and more about people getting post-retirement careers. For a long time, I thought I knew what I wanted to do (bake for people, which I still do), but there may be other possibilities out there as well. Let’s face it, I can’t stop working when I retire. I’m going to need other avenues. Time to think outside the metaphorical box, mayhap?

Maybe I’ll do that, but not today. Today is for relaxing! In fact, we’ll do a lot of it when we stop for dinner somewhere after hitting the Titanic Artifact Exhibition and IMAX movie Titanica with Bob and Kay this afternoon, up at the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland. Looking forward to it bigtime, as I’ve wanted to see it ever since it first went on tour. I guess that means it’s probably time to shut this down and hit the shower. Have a great weekend, all of my 100-some worldwide readers. :P You are small but mighty! (And appreciated)

More Finkday Fun

I hope you’ve had a good week! Mine shaped up nicely, as we had the Js all day yesterday, and today I will have coffee with Rae on my back porch. Haven’t seen her since her wedding back in May.

After that, maybe some grocery shopping, then out to a concert tonight at a local orchard, where I’ll reconnect with some old high school friends and hear some great music by a band that’s reuniting for one night, for a good cause (the Wounded Warrior Project). It’ll be like a Class of ’77 reunion, but without the dressing up and overpriced food. Fun!

I hope your weekend plans are shaping up. Riding bikes, fishing, relaxing in front of TV, boating, choral arranging…whatever makes it enjoyable. :-)

Please don’t.

We hates it. We hates it forever!

Now and again over the last 5+ years, I’ve been known to yammer on about any number of issues that bug me. Some just annoy me slightly, while others make me want to launch a puppy at a speeding truck.

As I’ve been up since 3:10 this morning (can you tell that school days are near?), I’ve done quite a bit more reading than usual, which increases the likelihood I’ll read something that’ll honk me off. So in the interest of continued harmony here, but mostly just because I’m crabby, behold the Please don’t list:

Please don’t tell me any of the following: Oh, just calm down; Chill out; Relax, or the like. If you crave a manifestation of the full, unrelenting force of Newton’s third law, then have at it. Otherwise, know that I would never intentionally grate on your everlast nerve by insulting your intelligence and completely ignoring and invalidating your feelings. Intentionally. :-)

Please don’t listen to sensationalist fearmongering (also known as The Weather Channel). This morning, I learned that 1400 asteroids were plummeting towards Earth. One of them is the size of a “golf course.” (???) The most poignant statement comes at the end of the clip, where Matt Sampson says (with a straight face — I am not making this up) that “scientists believe that if one of these objects collided with the earth, there would be devastating consequences.”  (*bLiNk*) Not that this is the same channel that produces It Could Happen Tomorrow or anything…

Please don’t cruise in the passing lane. This hasn’t happened to me this morning, of course; I’m just reminding all for the common good.

Please don’t parrot the lie that teachers “get paid 12 months for doing 10 months of work.” If I read that insipid, ignorant crap one more time… Here’s the deal. I work a 10-month contract at a laughable 10-month wage, which my school district stretches out over 12 months. Bam.

Please don’t believe for a New York minute that Bill Gates is giving away $5,000 if you “like” a post on Facebook. Don’t believe that Disney is giving away free tickets, or Olive Garden is giving away free meals, or that something will magically happen to your screen if you click “like” on the picture. (Yes, people really, really fall for this.) And if I see another “liked” post with the comment, “I figured it wouldn’t hurt to try, haha!!” I’m gonna…oy.

Ah *slurp another sip of cafe mocha*, I feel better. Not so crabby. I shouldn’t have read anything this morning. DO NOT READ! IT’S BAD FOR YOU!

SmeagolFink out.

WHOA, CAMEL.

When I say “Whoa,” I mean WHOA!

Heh heh. I’m on a Warner Bros. kick lately.

OK, so here’s the plan, Stan. My school district made a change, and school from now on will begin 30 minutes earlier than in past years. What that means: Instead of getting up at 5:00, I now will rise before the chickens, at 4:30 a.m. This might cause a slight glitch — or a big Whoa, Camel! — in my blogging stride, as I now have added treadmill time to my morning routine, as well as showering, coffeeing, breakfasting, reading, and most importantly, writing to you.

You’ll notice in the left sidebar a nice little “Subscribe” space. If you’ll enter your email address in that space, I’ll send you a note every time I write a post. The link to the new post will be included in that mail — and nothing else. You know me; no sales pitches, no nagging, no begging. I do it just in case you’d like to not bother checking in here unless there’s new content. (Note: if you do subscribe, you might want to add ratfink @ finkweb.org to your safe sender list, or I might end up in your garbage.)

Now of course, if you’d like to check in anyway, just to read the archives of blatherings over the last 5 years, you’re welcome to do that. This list will just let you know when it’s safe to come back for new stuff, if that’s what you prefer.

The initial plan is to have a new blog post every Monday morning, but that may change, according to schedule or whim. You just never can tell with me, right?

So what say? Throw caution to the wind and subscribe. I promise I won’t spam you or sell your address. Besides, you can always unsubscribe when you tire of it. *sniffle*

FO

Oh, and…this won’t take effect until school starts in 2 weeks, so you won’t hear from me right away. Sallight? Sallight.

All of a sudden…

…I don’t quite feel like myself.

:-P

I got so much done yesterday…it’s not like me to be so productive. Am I ill? *feeling forehead* Am I mental? Possibly.

One arrangement done, three to go. At least three. I always try to save the school district some money by writing my own charts, but truthfully, the real reason is that there are no arrangements available for many of the tunes I want to do, so I just end up writing them out of necessity. It’s OK though. When you write your own, they’re tailor-made for your singers and their range of abilities. So, onward.

I hope your weekend was grand. Mine was for sure (well, until yesterday, when I was chained to this box all day long, until finally getting up, only to make a lateral move to the couch to watch True Blood and The Newsroom).

Today I go to the school house and get my room put back together from when the custodial staff cleaned the carpet. Then it’s back home to welcome the Js to the house while their mama goes to exercise class. Of course, after that, it’s back to arranging. I will get this done this very week — just wait and see if I don’t.

Hope Monday is good to you…I’m off to the mines.