Grumps can suck it, it's Friday!

[bigbill]

Yeah our kids do swim team at our neighborhood pool in the summer and the meets are brutal. There’s basically a 1:1 ratio of kids to parent volunteers too, so you have to work like every other meet.

My son swam for his high school team in Paris, Texas. (nothing at all like the movie) Because NE Texas schools had so few swim teams, my son's 3A team had to compete against 5A teams, including Highland Park, a wealthy area in the Dallas area. The kids from that school each had a personal coach. Swimming helped my son gain another varsity letter, which helped him get into the Naval Academy. FWIW, he won the district meet in the breast stroke, beating all the rich kids. He didn't podium on any other event.

[bigbill]

I am officially a contract teacher at Valentine Elementary K-8 in Truxton, AZ. On Tuesdays, I will teach technology, and on Thursdays, my wife will teach art. It's a decent gig and I can still call myself retired. Most of the kids are Hualapai Indians. I will help develop STEM curriculum by working with the local elders to determine the jobs these kids might have one day if they decide to stay on the reservation. I am hoping to lay the groundwork for future teachers, civil engineers, firefighters, police, welders, AC&R, etc. My wife will use our kiln to teach horsehair pottery, teach repousse with copper, and multimedia for the K,1,2 kids. All the art will feature traditional tribal images.

In other news, I will likely start another master's program in December. It should be easier since I'm retired.

[rwsaunders]

Despite an overnight flight delay and humping to get back home just to switch suitcase contents, my wife and I hopped in the Honda on Friday afternoon and made our way to Ann Arbor. Our youngest finishes grad school at UM in December and I wanted to see a game at the Big House with him before he moved on. I had to pack the Buckeyes t-shirt as an inside joke, since he went there undergrad, but he warned me that the t might set of a metal detector at the stadium ;) Looking forward to a good time as we really enjoy college football and the town is buzzing.

[rwsaunders]

Our kids all came in from out of town for a family (one of their cousin's) wedding this weekend and the espresso machine and grille are going full bore...it doesn't get much better.

[72gmc]

Visiting family this weekend for a memorial, but it's a good feeling nonetheless. We will enjoy celebrating someone we loved, and then spend some long-overdue time together.

[bironi]

I'm projecting one day ahead to Friday.
Looking forward to riding my geared Moots with my new old man fit.
The excitement is because I have a similar fit coming soon for my winter single speed bike, and that's what I'll be on for months.
Less stress on arthritic points is the point.

[72gmc]

^^^ Enjoy! After a lot of time away, I'm excited to spend this weekend on two critical activities: cleaning up my puttering space and puttering.

[bigbill]

It's Friday on the East Coast. I was accepted into a Military History Masters program at Norwich University beginning in December. I'll do it from my home office in AZ and it will take one year because I have an MA in Murican History. If possible, the subject of my thesis will be the impact of mounted Indian Warriors in the West. I can work with historians at the Crow Agency and Wind River Reservation (Arapaho, Shoshone) over the summer in Wyoming. I'll need to find some contacts in the Lakota (Sioux) Nation. My GI Bill will cover it.

[bigbill]

Today is the 248th anniversary of the US Marines. My son and his date will attend the Marine Ball tonight in Corpus Christi. His girlfriend is in law school, hopefully she steers him clear of trouble.

[72gmc]

What do I say to a Marine today, bigbill? Happy birthday?

[rwsaunders]

What do I say to a Marine today, bigbill? Happy birthday?

If my Dad were still around, he would have accepted happy birthday. Here's a pic of him on leave walking down a street in Tokyo in 1952, before heading back over to his "UN peacekeeping duties" as he liked to say, in the ROK.

[bigbill]

What do I say to a Marine today, bigbill? Happy birthday?

I wished every Marine I know a Happy Birthday. The have a huge cake at the birthday ball which is cut by the oldest and youngest Marine present.

[bironi]

Friday here in Oly has a cold sunny day for a ride with a group of friends.
I'll take that and a good beer and conversation after.

[rwsaunders]

This snippet of the coffee mug collection gives you a hint that we have fun at my firm.

[j44ke]

My wife’s back for the holiday.

[bigbill]

I got my official teaching certification from the State of Arizona. In no way do I want to teach full time, but a couple days a week is okay.

[Tom]

A week from today I am retired again, and this time I mean it. It was fun just being a technician for a while, but not so much fun that I wanted to extend the contract.

I meant it last time, too, but let personal loyalty to the team I left behind cloud my judgment.

[bigbill]

A week from today I am retired again, and this time I mean it. It was fun just being a technician for a while, but not so much fun that I wanted to extend the contract.

I meant it last time, too, but let personal loyalty to the team I left behind cloud my judgment.

I've had three retirement parties with cakes. Each time involved the odd feeling of decompression. When I retired from the Navy, I was working two weeks later. When I retired from Kimberly-Clark, I took three months to ride my bike and think about what I wanted to do. I got a generous severance so I had the time. My last job was four years before retiring at 57. I took the teaching job because there was a need. The school borders a Reservation and there's a real challenge to find people with college degrees to teach or substitute. It's a 20 minute drive for me, all on cruise control, on Rt 66.

I'm starting another MA on December 4th. This one should be easier without a full-time job.

[Mark Walberg]

A week from today I am retired again, and this time I mean it....

One of my cycling friends told me, "They have a retirement party for me every year !"

[bironi]

It's a Friday and a fun football game was played in Las Vegas.
I have a good buddy in Oregon that was rooting against my Washington team.
Either outcome was fine if a good game ensued, and it did.
Doesn't take much to make a good Friday here in my little hood.
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