Posted on April 21, 2014 under Monday Morning Musings with no comments yet

Marathon Monday in Boston

 

 

My heart will be in Boston this morning for the marathon. Unfortunately, my body will be at my office. Good luck, Cathy, Lisa and Charlene.

So, here’s the tally: five church services, a turkey dinner; a ham dinner; a steak and chicken dinner ( barbeque ); too many desserts to count; a weekend visit from two grandchildren; house upside down. An Easter Sunday afternoon power snooze: Priceless! Hope you all had a great weekend too.

In the middle of all the above mentioned activity and confusion, I managed to write a few new stories.

I was driving by Kenny’s the other day and noticed the price at the gas pumps. I don’t pay much attention to the price of gas these days. The kids are gone, I don’t travel as much on business and we are down to one small, fuel efficient car. I think the price went up about .12 cents a litre in the last week. Which got me to thinking… how in the hell do they calculate the price of gas? I’m sure you’ve pondered the same thing especially when you hear that the price of a barrel of oil has dropped considerably. I have my own theory and it’s one you won’t find in any third year business course at the university. The story is called , “ Adding Fuel to The Fire.”

The inspiration for the other story came from a passing comment I heard the other day about an old boozer who showed up in town one day driving a brand new truck. He had been kicking around in the same old quarter ton truck for what seemed like an eternity. So you can imagine the heads turning and the tongues wagging when he travelled down Main Street in a $45,000 rig. It also brought back memories when we would “cruise the main” when we were old enough to drive. How cool was that?! Coming soon, “ Bottoms Up.”

Did I happen to mention that there is a fundraiser later this week? Only a few dozen times. The big day is Thursday so treat yourself to a night out and help support a very worthy cause while you’re at it. Hope to see you at 7:00 p.m on the 24^th. at the Schwartz Auditorium. Laughter, music and fabulous door prizes.

And yes, ladies, the comments I made the other day about seeing a man at a resort sporting a leopard print Speedo is 100% true. It may rank as one of the most ridiculous and obscene things that I have ever seen.

Have a great week.

P.S. The story on “new math” elicited quite a response. A friend, BV sent me this video clip on the same subject.

http://townhall.com/video/can-college-students-figure-out-common-core-math-n1818525

 

Posted on April 19, 2014 under Storytelling with no comments yet

Stunned as me arse, if you ask me. Not me. The new math.

 

“He say one and one and one is three”

Come Together – The Beatles

There’s no getting away from it.  Life forty years ago was so much simpler.  You went to school.  You learned how to read, write and do basic mathematics.  You did what you were told.  You left the house after high school and either got a trade or went to university.  And then you went to work.  Jobs were plentiful.  You dated someone, got engaged, got married, rented a cheap apartment and started having babies … more or less in that order.

Today, pretty well everything has changed.  After bouncing back a few times your adult children have finally left the nest.  They buy houses, have babies, get engaged and find work.  The order of these activities is irrelevant.  They will likely have several careers.

Thankfully, one thing hasn’t changed.  Two and two is still four.  At least I think it is.

How one arrives at that answer is a different matter altogether.  Welcome to the zany world of new math.

Quick.  What is 8×7?  If you have gray hair, you don’t even need to think about this.  It is hard wired into your brain.  We learned our “times tables” early and often.  Any number up to 12 was fair game.  We knew that 12×12 = 144.  Another word for 144 is “gross”.  How could we ever forget that?  Like spelling bees, we stood in rows and faced off against fellow classmates until spitting out the product of any combination of factors was as natural as chewing gum and walking at the same time.

And then something happened.  Someone didn’t get the memo that said “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”.  The first rumblings of new math surfaced in the late 60’s and early 70’s.  Now I was a pretty average math student so I was lucky that most of the carnage in the field of arithmetic happened long after I was out of school.  When my own children started bringing home math homework I was incapable of helping them.

Life is complicated enough for our children and our grandchildren.  They are exposed to a dizzying array of technology.  Why can’t they be afforded the chance to learn to read (with an actual book), write a sentence in cursive writing and do basic addition and subtraction?  How will they figure out some of the basic things in life, like calculating a tip or figuring out a percentage, if their technology fails for a few moments?

I am not suggesting that young people aren’t being taught critical thinking.  Or practical methods and tools that have stood the test of time.   It just appears that way.

You’ve heard the expression “Everything old is new again.”  I say we bring back the .37 cent movie, a case of beer for $3.14 and a gallon of gas for .50 cents.

And while we’re at it, let’s get back to the 3 Rs.  Rock and Roll and Rithmetic.

 

Posted on April 18, 2014 under News & Updates with no comments yet

This is one of those special weekends of family gatherings where there will be lots of food, drinks and laughter… and chocolate.

Not everyone will be this lucky. There are many people in our community who have neither the usual comforts of food nor family.

Most of you are aware of the fundraiser next Thursday the 24th. with all of the proceeds going to the Hot Meal program offered by St.James United Church. I know those of you who can’t be there would like to support this cause.

And you can.

We are accepting monetary donations which will be added to the proceeds of the show. St. James will issue you a receipt for tax purposes. The cheque should be made out to “St.James United Church” and indicate on the cheque “Hot Meal”. You can send it to me. I have been assured that Catholics writing a cheque to the United Church need not fear that their hand will fall off!

And if you are super generous, you can go to the show and make a donation. The folks from St.James will be at the fundraiser and will cheerfully accept your donation.

Thank you for your consideration.

Happy Easter and thank you for your support.