I play hockey, and I coach hockey (hopefully
my daughter Lois' novice girls team this fall), and one thing I HATE
about the game is the old school "boys will be boys" BS that masquerades
as a front for chauvinism, racism and bigotry in general.
Up until today, Warrior gear has been something I have purchased
because of its quality, but after reading this, I will be answering this writer's call to de-logo and post photos of all my un-Warrior gear to
make sure this company understands that advertising that objectifies and
condescends to women and laughs at rape is stupid and unacceptable.
I parent a boy who plays hockey, and two daughters that will grow up
playing the game we ALL love, and NO ONE will ever make it seem normal
for women to be anything but respected and esteemed on my watch.
Until Warrior changes their approach to advertising, I've purchased my
last item from them. The soul of the game, the confidence and
opportunity of my girls, and the power of my son to be an ally in gender
equality are all worth more than gear that subsidizes idiocy.
Monday, July 14, 2014
Tuesday, January 01, 2013
Backyard ice rink, 2012-2013 season
So my Dad came over yesterday to help me put up the frame for our backyard rink, and to install the new rink liner I purchased from rinkmaster.com. It was the quickest install of the past three attempts, and I was filling the rink with the garden hose via the basement laundry sink by 4:45 pm.
Still remaining on the to do list are to put up the netting my father in law gave me at both ends of the rink to prevent pucks from ending up in the woods or our neigbour's back yard, and to get some 1 x 3 strapping to install around the lip of the ice surface to protect the rink liner from skate/puck damage.
Really pleased with the liner- I was able to fill the rink to full by about 10:15 pm. So the pricier liner @ $99 (last year's tarp was about $45 dollars at Princess Auto) saved me a ton on water- running it out of our own tap saved probably at least $160 on a load of water (last year it was $215 for the water truck).
The lights are still up from last season and working. The weather is supposed to be very cold (below -10 C throughout the day tomorrow) for the next three or four days, so here's hoping we have a solid rink to skate on by the weekend!
Still remaining on the to do list are to put up the netting my father in law gave me at both ends of the rink to prevent pucks from ending up in the woods or our neigbour's back yard, and to get some 1 x 3 strapping to install around the lip of the ice surface to protect the rink liner from skate/puck damage.
Really pleased with the liner- I was able to fill the rink to full by about 10:15 pm. So the pricier liner @ $99 (last year's tarp was about $45 dollars at Princess Auto) saved me a ton on water- running it out of our own tap saved probably at least $160 on a load of water (last year it was $215 for the water truck).
The lights are still up from last season and working. The weather is supposed to be very cold (below -10 C throughout the day tomorrow) for the next three or four days, so here's hoping we have a solid rink to skate on by the weekend!
Friday, January 21, 2011
Super Sunday Research...
This is no joke. There is some SERIOUS research that goes into this, which often involves a week or so of active dialogue on message boards for the teams (no easy thing- posting as a non-fan and asking kindly for help to put on a great party) to discover authentic dishes, and then locating recipes to make them.
We usually start conducting preliminary research once the final four are determined after the conference semi-finals.
We are WICKED thrilled that our team, the Green Bay Packers, remain in the hunt for the title, not only because they're our team, but also because the food for the Packers kicks ass. Beer Broiled Brats on a bun with mustard and brine kraut, chicken booyah and some type of super rich bread pudding with rum sauce. That's a far better alternative to the Chicago slate from the NFC, although we will make it work if we have to.
So this is me, reaching out to the internet, asking for denizens of New York City, Pittsburgh, Green Bay and Chicago to post ideas for food that one would find at legit tailgating spots at home games as comments.
Thanks all- looking forward to your ideas!
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Not the only one...
Yep, I love allusions to pop culture.
Now onto the main idea. I have often opined about the dinosaur-era public awareness strategy employed by the NSTU since I moved back to Halifax from Montreal in 2001.
As a newly permanent teacher with the English Montreal School Board, I felt like our union was militaristic- nothing happened that they didn't monitor or report in terms of respect our collective agreement. In some respects I felt like the tactics used by the MTA contributed to a relationship with administration (who were represented in collective bargaining by an entity complete other than the MTA, which is a whole other can of worms for another post), but then I discovered the joy of working in Nova Scotia under the popular myth that the Nova Scotia Teachers Union was the most powerful and feared union in the province (or so Brian Forbes and Mary Lou Donnelly, the two most recent past presidents, repeatedly told our membership).
Here, NO ONE monitored violations of the collective agreement. Principals wanted to have multiple, two hour staff meetings per month? Not a peep. Sure, we won an article in the last contract that stated that staff meetings had to conclude 90 minutes after the end of the instructional day. And then NSTU executive staff officer Gerard Cormier, whose office in the ivory tower one would assume meant proximity to intimate knowledge of recent wins, came as a guest and blew away that statute in a presentation that went 45 minutes past our agreement. Who needs admin to violate the contract when our own executive staff members, paid six figures to represent our interests in collective bargaining, are willing to do it for them?
And NO ONE talked to the press, pretty much ever, unless in reaction to an overnight controversy- no proactive presence, no strategy to leverage the power of local radio, TV or print media on a regular basis to get the issues facing education in our province into the public head space consistently through informed presentation and debate of teacher perspectives. In ten years, I can count on one hand the number of times I have heard our president on local talk radio, and those times have been limited to responding to requests by the host rather than the president reaching out and requesting air time, as other leaders have done (Peter Kelly, Darrell Dexter and assorted federal MPs, to name a few).
BUT, do we do smarmy nondescript holiday ads! Mary Lou and Alexis have perfected the 30 second, smiling president with babies and young children spots in the past five years. If any media presence is better than none, then I guess this one step would count as quantum improvement. However, as part of the first always on media-steeped generation, any coverage is NOT better coverage.
Yesterday, the Chignecto Regional School Board held a public meeting to outline their proposal to cut 21% of their budget over the next three years, as per the request of the Minister of Education. In TV coverage, Joan Jessome (head of the union that represents educational program assistants) was asked why the NSTU has maintained near radio silence with catastrophic cuts being bandied about rather than go on the offensive and make it clear to Nova Scotians what cuts of this magnitude would mean about the quality of education in our public schools.
Jessome, in what can only be described as a non-answer, essentially said that she can't fathom a 21% cut and what it would do.
It's disturbing that the NSTU can't recognize how feeble it has becoming in advocating for quality in education. Nova Scotia has languished near the very bottom of per capita funding for education for well over a decade, and until we launched a campaign called Save Grade 2 last year, you'd never know funding was an issue based on the the non-communication of the crisis to the public by the NSTU over that same period. When the Dexter government was elected, the NSTU collectively jumped for joy, fully expecting that an NDP government would finally give education its due. Then Community College faculty got a 1% pay raise in the first year of their new collected agreement and nothing for the remainder. Friendly indeed!
Now, with the same NDP government rumbling about cutting 21% (aside: I'm just waiting for someone to utter the phrase "read my lips" after hearing how this whole thing is just about getting information... Where there's smoke, I think the saying goes...), the best our president, earning 150% of her normal teaching/administrative salary to herald the cause of teachers to the public and government, can do is to talk about how stressed we are.
I wondered if this was only distressing to me, but the response from the meeting held by the Chignecto Regional School Board shows that not only are union members within the NSTU questioning the sanity of paying around $700 annually for such ineffective leadership and representation, but the public, fellow labour partners, school boards and others who have heard the NSTU spout longstanding rhetoric about being the stewards and leaders of public education are following suit too.
Perhaps I will come off as ageist, but I have said it before and I'll say it again. The fact that so many of our executive staff officers have spent a decade or more at the palace on Joe Howe DriveScotia since the Savage Liberals gutted education with cuts in the 90's that schools, students and teachers have never recovered from.
If I take any comfort in our present bumbling, it's that I finally have company on the wagon that recognizes that the NSTU stopped being relevant or effective a long time ago and is now a laughingstock without credibility to all the stakeholders we need support from to make our schools truly effective. To all the newcomers onboard? It's a disheartening ride with no end in sight. Wanna share a seat cushion?
Now onto the main idea. I have often opined about the dinosaur-era public awareness strategy employed by the NSTU since I moved back to Halifax from Montreal in 2001.
As a newly permanent teacher with the English Montreal School Board, I felt like our union was militaristic- nothing happened that they didn't monitor or report in terms of respect our collective agreement. In some respects I felt like the tactics used by the MTA contributed to a relationship with administration (who were represented in collective bargaining by an entity complete other than the MTA, which is a whole other can of worms for another post), but then I discovered the joy of working in Nova Scotia under the popular myth that the Nova Scotia Teachers Union was the most powerful and feared union in the province (or so Brian Forbes and Mary Lou Donnelly, the two most recent past presidents, repeatedly told our membership).
Here, NO ONE monitored violations of the collective agreement. Principals wanted to have multiple, two hour staff meetings per month? Not a peep. Sure, we won an article in the last contract that stated that staff meetings had to conclude 90 minutes after the end of the instructional day. And then NSTU executive staff officer Gerard Cormier, whose office in the ivory tower one would assume meant proximity to intimate knowledge of recent wins, came as a guest and blew away that statute in a presentation that went 45 minutes past our agreement. Who needs admin to violate the contract when our own executive staff members, paid six figures to represent our interests in collective bargaining, are willing to do it for them?
And NO ONE talked to the press, pretty much ever, unless in reaction to an overnight controversy- no proactive presence, no strategy to leverage the power of local radio, TV or print media on a regular basis to get the issues facing education in our province into the public head space consistently through informed presentation and debate of teacher perspectives. In ten years, I can count on one hand the number of times I have heard our president on local talk radio, and those times have been limited to responding to requests by the host rather than the president reaching out and requesting air time, as other leaders have done (Peter Kelly, Darrell Dexter and assorted federal MPs, to name a few).
BUT, do we do smarmy nondescript holiday ads! Mary Lou and Alexis have perfected the 30 second, smiling president with babies and young children spots in the past five years. If any media presence is better than none, then I guess this one step would count as quantum improvement. However, as part of the first always on media-steeped generation, any coverage is NOT better coverage.
Yesterday, the Chignecto Regional School Board held a public meeting to outline their proposal to cut 21% of their budget over the next three years, as per the request of the Minister of Education. In TV coverage, Joan Jessome (head of the union that represents educational program assistants) was asked why the NSTU has maintained near radio silence with catastrophic cuts being bandied about rather than go on the offensive and make it clear to Nova Scotians what cuts of this magnitude would mean about the quality of education in our public schools.
Jessome, in what can only be described as a non-answer, essentially said that she can't fathom a 21% cut and what it would do.
It's disturbing that the NSTU can't recognize how feeble it has becoming in advocating for quality in education. Nova Scotia has languished near the very bottom of per capita funding for education for well over a decade, and until we launched a campaign called Save Grade 2 last year, you'd never know funding was an issue based on the the non-communication of the crisis to the public by the NSTU over that same period. When the Dexter government was elected, the NSTU collectively jumped for joy, fully expecting that an NDP government would finally give education its due. Then Community College faculty got a 1% pay raise in the first year of their new collected agreement and nothing for the remainder. Friendly indeed!
Now, with the same NDP government rumbling about cutting 21% (aside: I'm just waiting for someone to utter the phrase "read my lips" after hearing how this whole thing is just about getting information... Where there's smoke, I think the saying goes...), the best our president, earning 150% of her normal teaching/administrative salary to herald the cause of teachers to the public and government, can do is to talk about how stressed we are.
I wondered if this was only distressing to me, but the response from the meeting held by the Chignecto Regional School Board shows that not only are union members within the NSTU questioning the sanity of paying around $700 annually for such ineffective leadership and representation, but the public, fellow labour partners, school boards and others who have heard the NSTU spout longstanding rhetoric about being the stewards and leaders of public education are following suit too.
Perhaps I will come off as ageist, but I have said it before and I'll say it again. The fact that so many of our executive staff officers have spent a decade or more at the palace on Joe Howe DriveScotia since the Savage Liberals gutted education with cuts in the 90's that schools, students and teachers have never recovered from.
If I take any comfort in our present bumbling, it's that I finally have company on the wagon that recognizes that the NSTU stopped being relevant or effective a long time ago and is now a laughingstock without credibility to all the stakeholders we need support from to make our schools truly effective. To all the newcomers onboard? It's a disheartening ride with no end in sight. Wanna share a seat cushion?
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Snow days don't just bring snow...
...every year when we start to get snow and people postulate whether school will or won't be cancelled, there's the inevitable bevy of media banter about how too much time for learning is lost due to inclement weather in Nova Scotia and an ill ignored factor in low student performance overall in terms of academic basics (and, yes, I'm talking about the thankfully departed Andrew Krystal and the perpetually teacher-dogging Rick Howe).
I get that these guys are paid to get people riled up as a means to generate listenership and revenue, so, to a degree, their annual anti-school cancellation due to inclement weather campaign isn't that big a deal.
BUT, their everlasting griping about how teachers get days off at student expense goes uncontested by the highly overpaid president and executive directorship of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. Because it's uncontested, it festers in the public mind as incontrovertible fact, and it makes doing a job that's already perceived as a glorified country club gig in modern media even tougher.
It's getting harder and harder to accept that Ms. Allen and company earn well over six figures to remain silent on this issue and fail to call the public and media to account on this, in addition to inaction and apathy on far more important issues in education besides snow days.
It's really tough to know that teachers agreed, knowing that school days lost to cancellations for inclement weather impact student learning negatively, to a longer instructional year in the 1990's to compensate for the days that might be lost within a year.
It's even harder to take when I know that Nova Scotia's teachers already teach more minutes per year than any other teachers in the country.
The arguments for banning school cancellation are idiotic- parents need their kids at schools so they can work. So let's put legal minors on buses on roads that no lesser authorities than the police and RCMP advise all drivers to stay off of for risk of severe injury or death to get to schools potentially hours late so Mom and Dad can go or not go to work that day? The fact that a student may not work on academic items for a day imperils their long term academic success and competence?
In Halifax Metro, we've had two or less days lost to inclement weather per year over the past five years, but we still have people complaining about the year we suffered more than two weeks of time lost due to Hurricane Juan and White Juan in the space of four months, and using that as justification for needing to ban school cancellations.
I appreciate that the debate is different in areas of Nova Scotia that are more rural and more days are lost annually because of road conditions, but it's disturbing that the people who rant about how this problem is crippling students so quickly forget that schools in rural areas are almost universally not located within the communities their students reside in and require students to be bused long distances each way daily- sometimes commutes are nearly an hour each way. How long would those commutes be in terrible winter conditions? Twenty years ago, schools were in communities with kids around the corner. The population has shifted dramatically in that time- fewer and fewer young families remain in rural communities, which makes consolidating rural schools a financial necessity in providing public education. However, this also means that busing becomes a logistical obstacle at times, and especially during winter months.
Most frustrating are those who posture that teachers decide to cancel school, as if the board higher ups that make the call to cancel or not cancel school survey teachers on their feeling about going or not going to work the next day as part of their decision. WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE MATTER, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER!
The decision is made by someone against the backdrop of whether it's safe to require children to walk or travel on roads to and from school. These same people have, in the past, requested that teachers able to get to school do so anyway, provided they are not risking life and safety to do so. I've done it, but I can tell you that more often than not I'm at home marking and preparing for classes for as much time as I would at school anyway. It's like people think teachers are downing hot toddies at 8 am and getting sauced and coming in hung over and late the day after a school closure... Seriously...
Anyway, here's to another winter season of complete and total radio silence on the NSTU's part while they figure out a way to pay for prime time ad space to air TV commercials where Alexis Allen kisses babies with the head of the nurses union that do NOTHING to show the public what teachers do to contribute to the health and vitality of our province. I guess NSTU members, who can't call these shows themselves because they happen to be WORKING while they're on, will just have to send emails the day after that Rick Howe won't read because it doesn't support his agenda.
And yes, I pay almost $700 per year for this quality of leadership and public representation. Think of all the snow that could clear!
I get that these guys are paid to get people riled up as a means to generate listenership and revenue, so, to a degree, their annual anti-school cancellation due to inclement weather campaign isn't that big a deal.
BUT, their everlasting griping about how teachers get days off at student expense goes uncontested by the highly overpaid president and executive directorship of the Nova Scotia Teachers Union. Because it's uncontested, it festers in the public mind as incontrovertible fact, and it makes doing a job that's already perceived as a glorified country club gig in modern media even tougher.
It's getting harder and harder to accept that Ms. Allen and company earn well over six figures to remain silent on this issue and fail to call the public and media to account on this, in addition to inaction and apathy on far more important issues in education besides snow days.
It's really tough to know that teachers agreed, knowing that school days lost to cancellations for inclement weather impact student learning negatively, to a longer instructional year in the 1990's to compensate for the days that might be lost within a year.
It's even harder to take when I know that Nova Scotia's teachers already teach more minutes per year than any other teachers in the country.
The arguments for banning school cancellation are idiotic- parents need their kids at schools so they can work. So let's put legal minors on buses on roads that no lesser authorities than the police and RCMP advise all drivers to stay off of for risk of severe injury or death to get to schools potentially hours late so Mom and Dad can go or not go to work that day? The fact that a student may not work on academic items for a day imperils their long term academic success and competence?
In Halifax Metro, we've had two or less days lost to inclement weather per year over the past five years, but we still have people complaining about the year we suffered more than two weeks of time lost due to Hurricane Juan and White Juan in the space of four months, and using that as justification for needing to ban school cancellations.
I appreciate that the debate is different in areas of Nova Scotia that are more rural and more days are lost annually because of road conditions, but it's disturbing that the people who rant about how this problem is crippling students so quickly forget that schools in rural areas are almost universally not located within the communities their students reside in and require students to be bused long distances each way daily- sometimes commutes are nearly an hour each way. How long would those commutes be in terrible winter conditions? Twenty years ago, schools were in communities with kids around the corner. The population has shifted dramatically in that time- fewer and fewer young families remain in rural communities, which makes consolidating rural schools a financial necessity in providing public education. However, this also means that busing becomes a logistical obstacle at times, and especially during winter months.
Most frustrating are those who posture that teachers decide to cancel school, as if the board higher ups that make the call to cancel or not cancel school survey teachers on their feeling about going or not going to work the next day as part of their decision. WE HAVE NO SAY IN THE MATTER, ONE WAY OR THE OTHER!
The decision is made by someone against the backdrop of whether it's safe to require children to walk or travel on roads to and from school. These same people have, in the past, requested that teachers able to get to school do so anyway, provided they are not risking life and safety to do so. I've done it, but I can tell you that more often than not I'm at home marking and preparing for classes for as much time as I would at school anyway. It's like people think teachers are downing hot toddies at 8 am and getting sauced and coming in hung over and late the day after a school closure... Seriously...
Anyway, here's to another winter season of complete and total radio silence on the NSTU's part while they figure out a way to pay for prime time ad space to air TV commercials where Alexis Allen kisses babies with the head of the nurses union that do NOTHING to show the public what teachers do to contribute to the health and vitality of our province. I guess NSTU members, who can't call these shows themselves because they happen to be WORKING while they're on, will just have to send emails the day after that Rick Howe won't read because it doesn't support his agenda.
And yes, I pay almost $700 per year for this quality of leadership and public representation. Think of all the snow that could clear!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
OOOOHHHHH!..... Canada.....
So the Canadian government, knowing we'd be hosting the games and wanting to put up the best performance ever by a Canadian Winter Olympic team, puts $CDN 120 million into amateur sport so the Canadians can "own the podium."
For this unprecedented investment, we got ZERO medals from the reigning world champion in men's 1000m short track speedskating to date. We got ZERO medals from our combined alpine ski team, several members of which grew up skiing the very mountain the Olympic races are being held on. Zero medals from figure skating, even after four years of being spoon fed Patrick "why would I do a quad jump" Chan by the media and several McDonald's commercials.
My favourite quote demonstrating the loser attitude of these athletes to date comes from Britt Janyk, female downhill skier who placed 5th or 6th, who in essence said that she was thrilled with her finish and that her gold medal was hearing the roar of the home crowd.
Frankly, as a taxpayer, I don't have an issue with funding amateur sport in our country. I do have an issue with how the vast majority of that funding goes to parts of the country that have already received tens or even hundreds of millions in infrastructure spending (Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver), while other regions seeking to put opportunities in front of their young people get a nice pat on the head from the federal government, whether our token national politician is Liberal (Geoff Regan) or Conservative (Peter MacKay). I also have an issue with giving millions to athletes and programs that fail to produce results repeatedly.
If our ski team can't get past 2nd tier results and medal with millions of dollars in government funding above and beyond their significant corporate sponsors, then get a new ski team and some better coaching. We have world class courses across the country, access to the same gear and equipment as the top alpine teams in the world. This isn't a matter of someone not winning a gold on a $35 per week stipend and cutting them loose to starve. These are highly remunerated, well supported athletes, and they're NOT producing medals.
The athlete I have the most respect for after not winning a medal when it was clearly in her reach was Melissa Hollingsworth, female skeleton racer. When she blew a medal with a couple of obvious mistakes on her fourth of four runs, she, in TEARS, apologized to the entire country for letting a medal get away, knowing how much support she'd received from government, taxpayers, sponsors and that it was within her power to bring a medal home to validate that support. She said she felt like she let the entire country down.
Note to any Canadian athlete who whiffs or mucks up a chance to bring home a medal when it's clearly within your power to do so- watch Melissa Hollingsworth's interview and take a lesson. Please don't tell the country that shelled out hundreds of millions so you could compete on home soil that we should be satisfied with your enjoyment of hearing the crowd cheer for you to NOT win. If you're OK with that, please stop making such ineffective use of the money hardworking Canadians are putting on the table for you to train, retire and let another young Canadian who's willing to do what it takes to be the champion of their respective sport have their shot.
I'm only one person, but I have to think that there are plenty more Canadians out there tired of supporting athletes who lead the world in moral victories. I want to see Canada well represented on the podium, because we've got one of the very greatest countries in the world- that should show up when we compete in any arena...
For this unprecedented investment, we got ZERO medals from the reigning world champion in men's 1000m short track speedskating to date. We got ZERO medals from our combined alpine ski team, several members of which grew up skiing the very mountain the Olympic races are being held on. Zero medals from figure skating, even after four years of being spoon fed Patrick "why would I do a quad jump" Chan by the media and several McDonald's commercials.
My favourite quote demonstrating the loser attitude of these athletes to date comes from Britt Janyk, female downhill skier who placed 5th or 6th, who in essence said that she was thrilled with her finish and that her gold medal was hearing the roar of the home crowd.
Frankly, as a taxpayer, I don't have an issue with funding amateur sport in our country. I do have an issue with how the vast majority of that funding goes to parts of the country that have already received tens or even hundreds of millions in infrastructure spending (Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver), while other regions seeking to put opportunities in front of their young people get a nice pat on the head from the federal government, whether our token national politician is Liberal (Geoff Regan) or Conservative (Peter MacKay). I also have an issue with giving millions to athletes and programs that fail to produce results repeatedly.
If our ski team can't get past 2nd tier results and medal with millions of dollars in government funding above and beyond their significant corporate sponsors, then get a new ski team and some better coaching. We have world class courses across the country, access to the same gear and equipment as the top alpine teams in the world. This isn't a matter of someone not winning a gold on a $35 per week stipend and cutting them loose to starve. These are highly remunerated, well supported athletes, and they're NOT producing medals.
The athlete I have the most respect for after not winning a medal when it was clearly in her reach was Melissa Hollingsworth, female skeleton racer. When she blew a medal with a couple of obvious mistakes on her fourth of four runs, she, in TEARS, apologized to the entire country for letting a medal get away, knowing how much support she'd received from government, taxpayers, sponsors and that it was within her power to bring a medal home to validate that support. She said she felt like she let the entire country down.
Note to any Canadian athlete who whiffs or mucks up a chance to bring home a medal when it's clearly within your power to do so- watch Melissa Hollingsworth's interview and take a lesson. Please don't tell the country that shelled out hundreds of millions so you could compete on home soil that we should be satisfied with your enjoyment of hearing the crowd cheer for you to NOT win. If you're OK with that, please stop making such ineffective use of the money hardworking Canadians are putting on the table for you to train, retire and let another young Canadian who's willing to do what it takes to be the champion of their respective sport have their shot.
I'm only one person, but I have to think that there are plenty more Canadians out there tired of supporting athletes who lead the world in moral victories. I want to see Canada well represented on the podium, because we've got one of the very greatest countries in the world- that should show up when we compete in any arena...
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Mount Saint Vexation University
I'm taking a masters in education degree at Mount Saint Vincent University through a cohort program. In essences, it's a fast track arrangement where a part-time degree gets completed within two calendar years instead of it taking 3 or more if you register and select courses independently.
That's about where the pluses end. The list of annoyances and hassles is legend.
There's the closure of the cafeteria in the building my classes take place in by 7 pm in the evening, so that if the prof loses track of time you're stuck trying to buy junk food from perpetually sold out vending machines with change you can't get from the perpetually empty change machine with money you can't get from an ATM that's a half kilometer walk up a mountain to get to (not to mention the lady who begins to stand by the entrance and starts glaring students down at 6:45 sharp as they go in to make sure they know to get the heck out because she's not sticking around one second longer).
There's the seven different user IDs (none of which are identical to the ID code on your student ID card, which makes TOTAL sense) you need to log into the student information management portal, the library services log in that's buried 8 clicks deep in the library website and the inability to use your student ID to pay for printing on campus (gotta love those honour system donation cans next to laser printers all throughout Seton Academic Centre), and the student webmail interface where your email address has NOTHING to do with your login ID.
But what I love most of all? The parking Nazis at MSVU. The office where parking passes can be purchased is conveniently located ALL the way at the top of a massive hill a 5 minute hike from ANY parking lot close to the main academic building where my classes are held. A pass to park in lots that are 85% void of vehicles after 4:30 pm is $7... There's always the pay to park option, although by looking at the signage around the payment kiosques it would seem to the naked eye that there are 4 total spots you can use this service in that are never empty (and the webpage where parking rates are listed doesn't tell you how you can pay, but like everything else on campus, it's cash only, and if you don't have cash, you can walk 10 minutes up the mountain to the ATM, try and get change out of one of the perpetually empty change machines, and then walk 10 minutes back to the pay and display kiosque, then back to your car and THEN go to class).
The parking meters closest to the building I take classes in are routinely full when I arrive for class, so getting a pass is an enormous hassle that generally means I would be 10-15 minutes late for class to get one.
So when I walk out at night and see a sea of parking tickets on car windows that belong largely to full time teachers taking night classes, my blood boils.
The kicker? The parking tickets, issued on PRIVATE PROPERTY owned exclusively by MSVU, aren't MSVU tickets payable to the Mount- they're Halifax Regional Police tickets that ensure that you're out $32 and potentially points on your licence if you don't pay within the 4 nanosecond limit before you're summoned to court to explain why, as a full time teacher who can't leave their workplace until 55 minutes before class starts, then travel home by car pool to get the one family vehicle in time to rush to class while driving through the biggest construction project in recent memory on the highway right before the exit to get to the university and take 30 minutes to go to one building and the ATM that only dispenses $20 bills that ensure you'll get 2 kg of change from the pay and display kiosk or change machine, or then the building with the security desk where you can buy the pass, and THEN drive to the lot that isn't a 10 minute hike from the building your class is in, you didn't have a valid parking pass.
Here's hoping Alexa McDonough gets wind of the genius logistics of this university and does something about it. I can tell you I won't be attending the school again, and neither will my kids, and anyone I meet considering spending money there will get a comprehensive picture of how frustrating a place it is to go to class and get stuck with idiotic municipal tickets because you parked in a parking lot at a school where ALL offices are closed before you ever parked your car.
The Canadian university to offer a masters degree for teachers in an entirely online format will be getting heavy consideration from me for my next qualification upgrade.
That's about where the pluses end. The list of annoyances and hassles is legend.
There's the closure of the cafeteria in the building my classes take place in by 7 pm in the evening, so that if the prof loses track of time you're stuck trying to buy junk food from perpetually sold out vending machines with change you can't get from the perpetually empty change machine with money you can't get from an ATM that's a half kilometer walk up a mountain to get to (not to mention the lady who begins to stand by the entrance and starts glaring students down at 6:45 sharp as they go in to make sure they know to get the heck out because she's not sticking around one second longer).
There's the seven different user IDs (none of which are identical to the ID code on your student ID card, which makes TOTAL sense) you need to log into the student information management portal, the library services log in that's buried 8 clicks deep in the library website and the inability to use your student ID to pay for printing on campus (gotta love those honour system donation cans next to laser printers all throughout Seton Academic Centre), and the student webmail interface where your email address has NOTHING to do with your login ID.
But what I love most of all? The parking Nazis at MSVU. The office where parking passes can be purchased is conveniently located ALL the way at the top of a massive hill a 5 minute hike from ANY parking lot close to the main academic building where my classes are held. A pass to park in lots that are 85% void of vehicles after 4:30 pm is $7... There's always the pay to park option, although by looking at the signage around the payment kiosques it would seem to the naked eye that there are 4 total spots you can use this service in that are never empty (and the webpage where parking rates are listed doesn't tell you how you can pay, but like everything else on campus, it's cash only, and if you don't have cash, you can walk 10 minutes up the mountain to the ATM, try and get change out of one of the perpetually empty change machines, and then walk 10 minutes back to the pay and display kiosque, then back to your car and THEN go to class).
The parking meters closest to the building I take classes in are routinely full when I arrive for class, so getting a pass is an enormous hassle that generally means I would be 10-15 minutes late for class to get one.
So when I walk out at night and see a sea of parking tickets on car windows that belong largely to full time teachers taking night classes, my blood boils.
The kicker? The parking tickets, issued on PRIVATE PROPERTY owned exclusively by MSVU, aren't MSVU tickets payable to the Mount- they're Halifax Regional Police tickets that ensure that you're out $32 and potentially points on your licence if you don't pay within the 4 nanosecond limit before you're summoned to court to explain why, as a full time teacher who can't leave their workplace until 55 minutes before class starts, then travel home by car pool to get the one family vehicle in time to rush to class while driving through the biggest construction project in recent memory on the highway right before the exit to get to the university and take 30 minutes to go to one building and the ATM that only dispenses $20 bills that ensure you'll get 2 kg of change from the pay and display kiosk or change machine, or then the building with the security desk where you can buy the pass, and THEN drive to the lot that isn't a 10 minute hike from the building your class is in, you didn't have a valid parking pass.
Here's hoping Alexa McDonough gets wind of the genius logistics of this university and does something about it. I can tell you I won't be attending the school again, and neither will my kids, and anyone I meet considering spending money there will get a comprehensive picture of how frustrating a place it is to go to class and get stuck with idiotic municipal tickets because you parked in a parking lot at a school where ALL offices are closed before you ever parked your car.
The Canadian university to offer a masters degree for teachers in an entirely online format will be getting heavy consideration from me for my next qualification upgrade.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Me 2, Little Hater 0
5 rounds: 5 jump pull-ups, 5 pushups to the deck, 15 squats, no rest
Total time: 10:01
54 seconds slower than Wednesday, but I did it with no stops and I DID it.
Eat it little hater. You ain't got no hold on me no more.
Run tomorrow night, next workout Monday. Thanks for the cheers y'all!
Total time: 10:01
54 seconds slower than Wednesday, but I did it with no stops and I DID it.
Eat it little hater. You ain't got no hold on me no more.
Run tomorrow night, next workout Monday. Thanks for the cheers y'all!
Building momentum, beating the haters...
One of my fave reads (or, in this case, views) is J-Smooth over at illdoctrine.com. I don't always agree with what he has to say, but the dude has serious chops as a vlogger and has created a style and voice that's unmatched (in my opinion) in the vlog world.
As you know, I've kickstarted the run/workout regime coinciding with the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. I've set some goals, and now the trick isn't just to post them, but actually follow through. I ran twice this week, and Eric and Shahed came to give me a boost with my first crossfit workout.
The toughest part about getting in shape is building the habit of working out consistently. I don't know how you all feel about the hardest part about getting off the couch and into a healthy routine, but I find that one of my biggest enemies is the little voice in my head that keeps jawing about how pathetic I am, how overweight I've gotten or that it's cute that I'm trying but it's inevitable that I'll be back snacking instead of running in a week or two anyway, so why not take a break?
I draw a little inspiration from this:
So I'm not going to give in to my little hater. Yes, I weigh 260 pounds. Yes, I used to weight 212. But I didn't blimp up in one week, and I'm not going to cut it all out in one week either. It's hard work, it's going to hurt, and that's the price of getting back to where I should never have left in the first place.
So here's notice hater: I won't fade. I won't give up, and I will learn to savour the ache, because that's what tells me I'm headed in the right direction. When I feel blissfully round, I'll be worried.
Pray for grace to get this one down- my right tricep feels like it's full of razors. Let you all know how it goes!
As you know, I've kickstarted the run/workout regime coinciding with the beginning of the 2009-2010 school year. I've set some goals, and now the trick isn't just to post them, but actually follow through. I ran twice this week, and Eric and Shahed came to give me a boost with my first crossfit workout.
The toughest part about getting in shape is building the habit of working out consistently. I don't know how you all feel about the hardest part about getting off the couch and into a healthy routine, but I find that one of my biggest enemies is the little voice in my head that keeps jawing about how pathetic I am, how overweight I've gotten or that it's cute that I'm trying but it's inevitable that I'll be back snacking instead of running in a week or two anyway, so why not take a break?
I draw a little inspiration from this:
So I'm not going to give in to my little hater. Yes, I weigh 260 pounds. Yes, I used to weight 212. But I didn't blimp up in one week, and I'm not going to cut it all out in one week either. It's hard work, it's going to hurt, and that's the price of getting back to where I should never have left in the first place.
So here's notice hater: I won't fade. I won't give up, and I will learn to savour the ache, because that's what tells me I'm headed in the right direction. When I feel blissfully round, I'll be worried.
Pray for grace to get this one down- my right tricep feels like it's full of razors. Let you all know how it goes!
Monday, September 07, 2009
Better late...
Than not at all!
So far, I'm moving ahead with most of my goals quite nicely. Lagging notoriously behind? Scripture, running and working out.
Tonight, I threw down the gauntlet on my lardy self and went for a run.
20 minutes and 3.1 km later (first run in 13 months), I have launched the first salvo in the war to get fit and stay that way after a decade of yo-yoing between being in awesome shape and being a paragon of chub.
Next up on the road to fitness? Wednesday night throwdown with Eric and Shahed in my basement, with the new chin up bar I fabricated out of an old pipe and two hunks of 2 x 4. I'm glad to get rolling, but MAN, is it painful to realize how far I've fallen in terms of my being in shape.
With three kids looking on, I gotta win this one. Need to set a good example to follow so I don't raise a generation of couch potatoes!
Smack talk, encouragement or comments all welcome to fuel my effort to win the battle of the bulge...
So far, I'm moving ahead with most of my goals quite nicely. Lagging notoriously behind? Scripture, running and working out.
Tonight, I threw down the gauntlet on my lardy self and went for a run.
20 minutes and 3.1 km later (first run in 13 months), I have launched the first salvo in the war to get fit and stay that way after a decade of yo-yoing between being in awesome shape and being a paragon of chub.
Next up on the road to fitness? Wednesday night throwdown with Eric and Shahed in my basement, with the new chin up bar I fabricated out of an old pipe and two hunks of 2 x 4. I'm glad to get rolling, but MAN, is it painful to realize how far I've fallen in terms of my being in shape.
With three kids looking on, I gotta win this one. Need to set a good example to follow so I don't raise a generation of couch potatoes!
Smack talk, encouragement or comments all welcome to fuel my effort to win the battle of the bulge...
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
The plan for eats...
So the first set of goals I have pertain to diet, and they are:
- No food after 6 pm
- Portion control – 1 plate per meal, 1 portion protein, carbs, veg
- Vitamins daily
- Water!
- 1 treat a week (junk food, etc)
So why these goals? Beyond writing them down and making them visible and known as a way to be accountable for them, I trusting that exploring why cements the resolve I need to make these habits instead of resolutions.
I'm 6' 2 1/2, and I weigh in the neighbourhood of 260 lbs. I didn't get as big as I am by eating right, and consequently if I don't change my eating habits, I won't get any smaller either.
No food after 6 is simple: it's rare I'm active after that time, and thus I don't need to be pumping food energy I won't use into my body just to turn into fat. Gotta not eat out of boredom!
Portion control is really only an issue at supper. Because I pack a lunch, it's contained in terms of how much I can eat. Breakfast is usually basic and nutritious before I head out to school. Supper can be a pig out just because I can. We don't eat junk or fatty stuff for supper either, but when you eat twice as much as you need to in a sitting, it doesn't matter where the calories come from- they're all going to fat. The fist sized measure was a ground rule that was really effective for me when I followed Body For Life several years ago, and because it's simple and I know it works, I'm going back to it.
Vitamins daily is about making sure my iron stays consistent (it's been low in the past) and that I'm taking vitamins to combat getting sick at school. Just a healthy habit, and they're all there in the cupboard- just need to make a point to put them in my mouth and swallow. Isn't it amazing how good things are so near yet they always seem to slide because we're lazy or unwilling to take a few small steps?
I have been drinking a lot of pop over the summer, and it's just sugar in spades. I need to stay hydrated at school because I'm on the very warm third floor, and it helps manage appetite. A stomach full of water is hard to stuff with junk (although it does mean frequent trips to the can!).
1 treat a week is acknowledgement that a treat is OK- just once in a while, and just ONE when I do. Eating junk food or goodies is cramming worthless calories in, and I just don't need it.
Any feedback on the goals so far? Other reasons these make sense? Hit me back readers. G'night!
Monday, August 31, 2009
New school year, new goals...
So, it's the first teaching day of the 2009-2010 school year in the HRSB. In planning for my students and looking at end goals and how to help them arrive there successfully and meaningfully, I realize there are some destinations that I have personally that I am significantly less prepared to reach with success and meaning.
So I've put together a basic list of goals for myself for this year, most having to do with establishing quality habits that will yield results with time and consistency. Here goes:
So I've put together a basic list of goals for myself for this year, most having to do with establishing quality habits that will yield results with time and consistency. Here goes:
Diet Habits
- No food after 6 pm
- Portion control – 1 plate per meal, 1 portion protein, carbs, veg
- Vitamins daily
- Water!
- 1 treat a week (junk food, etc)
Exercise Habits (by end of September)
- Run 3x a week (mornings!)
- Work out 3x a week (evenings)
- Bed by 11 pm
Mind Habits:
- No TV on weeknights (except Thurs, Survivor, The Office)
- Read scripture daily
- Memorize one scripture a month
- Small group material
- Read a book every two weeks
- Blog once a week
School habits
- Marking major assignments on two week turnaround to students
- Tech team, SFC, one school team
- Time at work is time to work- no surfing, rec, games at lunch, before/after school
- Schedule one night a week to get out and work at a "neutral" location (during weeks with no board meeting for church)
I'm going to dig into "why" for each of these goals moving forward and update on my progress. Any comments to serve as encouragement, friendly reminders/nudges, butt-kicking, would be appreciated.
G'night!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
GBP: Ted Thompson's impact and outlandish fan expectations?
Ted Thompson is the general manager of the Green Bay Packers. He has served in this role for four full seasons and is heading into his fifth year. It would be fair to say that he is not well loved by many in the Packers fan base, due largely to his introversion and aversion to public attention and highly patient (some would say neglectful) approach to building a championship calibre team.
The Packers are now notorious for letting the frenzy that is opening weekend of free agency go by without wasting much time or effort to attract the most prized (and extremely pricey) free agents. Only twice has Ted Thompson (TT to the Packer faithful) made significant splashes in free agency to sign players of note: defensive tackle Ryan Pickett and cornerback Charles Woodson.
With the Packers transitioning to a 3-4 defensive alignment in their defense this offseason with the whacking of Bob Sanders et. al. and subsequent hiring of Dom Capers (noted architect of the Steelers "Blitzburgh" defense of the early 90's which leveraged the zone blitz to unprecedented effectiveness), many fans believed that signing some big name free agents was imperative to ease the pain that many teams experience when switching a defensive scheme.
When TT did not comply with the wishes of many fans this past week, his approval rating took a nosedive highly reminiscent of GW's partway through his second term as president, and now there are desperate calls for his removal and accusations that TT has failed to put any stamp on the team.
While I'm all for spirited debate, I also believe in examining and weighing the facts when deciding what side of the fire/keep TT issue, and the clamor for regime change at our GM spot would need to be founded on some pretty damning evidence for me to join in. So I did some homework about what, if any, impact TT has had on the current Packer roster. This is what I learned.
Some have suggested that just because a player starts for the Packers doesn't necessarily make them a good or impact player in the NFL. I think if we're going to use this as a measure of quality players, I'm OK with that so long as the same measure is applied to other teams' rosters too.
The Packers are now notorious for letting the frenzy that is opening weekend of free agency go by without wasting much time or effort to attract the most prized (and extremely pricey) free agents. Only twice has Ted Thompson (TT to the Packer faithful) made significant splashes in free agency to sign players of note: defensive tackle Ryan Pickett and cornerback Charles Woodson.
With the Packers transitioning to a 3-4 defensive alignment in their defense this offseason with the whacking of Bob Sanders et. al. and subsequent hiring of Dom Capers (noted architect of the Steelers "Blitzburgh" defense of the early 90's which leveraged the zone blitz to unprecedented effectiveness), many fans believed that signing some big name free agents was imperative to ease the pain that many teams experience when switching a defensive scheme.
When TT did not comply with the wishes of many fans this past week, his approval rating took a nosedive highly reminiscent of GW's partway through his second term as president, and now there are desperate calls for his removal and accusations that TT has failed to put any stamp on the team.
While I'm all for spirited debate, I also believe in examining and weighing the facts when deciding what side of the fire/keep TT issue, and the clamor for regime change at our GM spot would need to be founded on some pretty damning evidence for me to join in. So I did some homework about what, if any, impact TT has had on the current Packer roster. This is what I learned.
Check out http://www.packers.com/team/how_built/
Offense:
WR Donald Driver (drafted Packers, 7th round - not TT)
TE Donald Lee (signed, FA, Dolphins, TT)
LT Chad Clifton (drafted, Packers, 2nd round- not TT)
LG Darryn Collegde (drafted, Packers, 2nd Round, TT)
C Scott Wells (drafted, Packers, 7th round I think, not TT)
RG Jason Spitz (drafted, Packers, 3rd round, TT)
RT Mark Tauscher (drafted, 7th round, not TT)
WR Greg Jennings (drafted, 2nd round, TT)
QB Aaron Rodgers (drafted, 1st round, TT)
FB Korey Hall (drafted, 6th round, TT)
RB Ryan Grant (trade, TT)
Of the 4 players on offense not drafted by TT, he extended Driver and Wells.
Defense (some of this is guesswork, as we don't know precisely who is starting in the 3-4 this season)
CB Al Harris (trade, not TT)
SS Atari Bigby (FA, TT)
FS Nick Collins (draft, 2nd round, TT)
CB Charles Woodson, (FA, TT)
OLB Aaron Kampman (drafted, 5th round, not TT)
MLB Nick Barnett (drafted, 2nd round, not TT)
MLB AJ Hawk (drafted, 1st round, TT)
OLB Brandon Chillar (FA, TT), Jason Hunter (FA, TT), Brady Poppinga (drafted, 4th round, TT)
DE Johnny Jolly (drafted, 6th round, TT)
NT Ryan Pickett (FA, TT)
DE Cullen Jenkins (FA, not TT)
Kampman, Harris, Jenkins and Barnett were all extended by TT.
TT has played a primary role with over 85% of our starters in either drafting, signing or extending them.
The notion that TT's FA signings stop at the bargain bin with players like Marquand Manual and Frank Walker might be accurate in the sense that he doesn't often use FA, but it also ignores that two of our most consistent starters on defense came via big money FA signings in Pickett and Woodson.
I am still waiting for a comprehensive list of FA's that we refused to overpay for that have outperformed the deals we didn't feel they were worth signing. If anyone would like to provide me with an itemized list of names, positions, contract length and values and their production after signing, we would have grounds for a discussion, but people don't want debate- they want a lynching on purely opinionated or emotional bases.
Whether we have pro bowlers at every position drafted by TT (which seems to be the standard being applied to our team but no one else's), the roster was remade. Over 65% of our roster has TT's handprints on it, and we remain in good position going forward to make a variety of moves.
I am firmly in the camp that if we're not positioned for an extended run of contention at the end of this year that TT will not have done the job that was expected when he landed on the ground four years ago, and that we need someone to come in and add some extra punch to the sound approach taken to date.
I am also firmly in the camp that says that there's enough evidence that good things can come from this roster in the coming season that abandoning ship and whacking the GM and HC is a foolhardy thing to do given the development of players on the roster.
Which brings me to my second issue for this post: what criteria are the fans calling for Thompson's ouster using as their measuring stick, and can it be legitimately applied to rosters of teams considered to be yearly contenders?Some have suggested that just because a player starts for the Packers doesn't necessarily make them a good or impact player in the NFL. I think if we're going to use this as a measure of quality players, I'm OK with that so long as the same measure is applied to other teams' rosters too.
There are plenty of players on playoff teams' rosters that are starting that don't necessarily translate to impact for their own team OR to being an immediate impact for other teams either.
Take the Steelers. Ryan Clark is a starter at safety for them, but he's not an impact player, and even though he may start for another team, he's not necessarily going to have greater impact on another roster either, because that's not his skill set- he's a steady, consistent player who allows other players for the Steelers to play to their strengths because they don't have to worry about him doing his job.
You can apply that same criteria to either of Pittsburgh's DE's, their entire OL, their fullback, and any of their WR's not named Holmes or Ward.
They have solid cornerbacks, but not lockdown guys. Polamalu is one of the top defenders in the league, Harrison is a passrushing force, Woodley is a fine compliment on the other side, and Farrior is steady in the middle. Hampton is a rock.
The rest of their guys are good players, not great ones.
One example I can think of right off the top of my head that is loaded with "impact" talent was last year's Cowboys. They had two safeties that have all pro talent (though neither of them ever played like it once last season), one of the most physically gifted corners in the league (Pacman), Ware on one edge killing teams, Greg Ellis posting career highs on the other edge. Ferguson is a rock in the middle.
But how many of those guys are impact players outside of that team? Maybe Ware. Ellis is effective because opposing offences can't double him AND Ware.
I guess part of my frustration with the current debate about our roster is that people seem to think that we should have a team with pro bowl candidates at every position, and there isn't a team in the league with talent like that (or, in the case of the Cowboys, it's a noncohesive unit that doesn't live up to the sum of its gifts).
I think that this team isn't dramatically flawed. I think that we need to make sure that our trenches are the strength of this team, because a lot of the other issues we have would take care of themselves if the lines were dictating the play on the field.
If our Oline is consistent and efficient, keeping Rodgers off his back and giving Ryan Grant and company a chance on most downs to make that one cut and hit it, we're a team that rushes in the top 10, even top 5. We just can't afford waiting until week 7 to get it together and deliver that kind of play.
If our Dline can gum up the opposing Oline and let out guys get one on one, I think we have personnel that can produce consistent pressure on the QB and keep Woodson and Collins near the top of the INT leaderboard.
My biggest concern isn't that we didn't pay a FOOLISH amount of money to bring in Chris Canty, because he's just one piece, and there are players than can deliver quality consistency at DE for a far more affordable price that lets us make moves in trades and resign key guys.
My biggest concern is that we use the full range of avenues available this offseason to strengthen those units and get these players ready to execute and win from week one onward. I happen to be fine with TT taking until training camp to make moves that brings in players to accomplish these goals.
It just seems like there are a ton of people who feel like it should all have been addressed in the first 72 hours of free agency, and that even if TT drafted pro bowl picks to fill three more spots on each side of the ball, many would still be complaining about the starters that WEREN'T pro bowl worthy.
In either case, I continue to watch the offseason unfold with great interest. Some teams improve dramatically through bold moves. Others improve because they leverage the talent already on their rosters through consistency with schemes and superb coaching. Here's hoping that the latter is very much the case for the Pack, and that we're treated to a couple of bold moves through the draft and trades that help vault the defense forward into the top 10.
Until next time, make mine with sauerkraut and beer mustard (my brat, that is)...
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
The sky is falling... (again!)
So, the Green Bay Packers stunk out the joint last season, going 6-10. Of particular concern was the decline in the play of the defense and special teams. Ultimately, the slip cost Bob Sanders and everyone on the defensive coaching staff except for Assistant Head Coach/Linebackers Coach Winston Moss their jobs.
With the recent hiring of Dom Capers, one of the architects of the Pittsburgh "blitzburgh" 3-4 defense in the early 90's, the shift is on from the Packers base 4-3 defense to the 3-4, along with the requisite transition personnel wise to accommodate the move.
I'm a fairly regular poster over at the Packersnews.com message board, and I have to say that it's about time for me to walk away from the scene until we get a little closer to draft time.
We went through a pretty dry spell after packersnews.com whacked the phpBB based forum and moved to a content management system called pluck. A lot of the mainstays left altogether, and the board was overrun by newbies that pretty much either subscribed to one of two schools of thought:
1. Ted Thompson (TT in message board parlance) is a total incompetent and needs to be fired now
2. Everyone else here is an imbecile and can only understand ideas communicated in the most obtuse and insulting fashion possible
Thankfully the haters either burned out or wore out, and for a while we hit a pretty nice stride on the board with some intelligent, well informed debate with people with very disparate views about how things are being run kindling respectful connections with posters on the other side of their perspective.
And then it happened. The NFL's free agency period opened last Friday, and now we've been beset with a plethora of debbie downers who have never posted a word prior to last week flooding the board with calls for TT's head on a platter and negativity for everything Packers.
This kind of reminds me of what's happened after the first few days of free agency EVERY YEAR since Ted Thompson became GM of the team.
In some respects, I suppose the fresh crop of haters is like punxsutawney phil- a rite of the dreary winter before the post draft spring has a chance to thaw the pessimism and fans have a chance to grab hold of the hope that belongs to fans of every NFL team in late April- that the season still has to be played, and that this could be the year.
In the meantime, I guess some of us will need to endure the March doldrums of complaint about how TT didn't sign the biggest name free agents and how it all spells the eternal futility of the team to get to draft day and see what kind of additions we find to make things work and get back to contending for the Super Bowl.
Until it's April, I'll be going a little punxsutawney myself on the old packersnews.com message board until I can see my shadow in at least one ray of the sunshine of hope.
Make mine Packers!
With the recent hiring of Dom Capers, one of the architects of the Pittsburgh "blitzburgh" 3-4 defense in the early 90's, the shift is on from the Packers base 4-3 defense to the 3-4, along with the requisite transition personnel wise to accommodate the move.
I'm a fairly regular poster over at the Packersnews.com message board, and I have to say that it's about time for me to walk away from the scene until we get a little closer to draft time.We went through a pretty dry spell after packersnews.com whacked the phpBB based forum and moved to a content management system called pluck. A lot of the mainstays left altogether, and the board was overrun by newbies that pretty much either subscribed to one of two schools of thought:
1. Ted Thompson (TT in message board parlance) is a total incompetent and needs to be fired now
2. Everyone else here is an imbecile and can only understand ideas communicated in the most obtuse and insulting fashion possible
Thankfully the haters either burned out or wore out, and for a while we hit a pretty nice stride on the board with some intelligent, well informed debate with people with very disparate views about how things are being run kindling respectful connections with posters on the other side of their perspective.
And then it happened. The NFL's free agency period opened last Friday, and now we've been beset with a plethora of debbie downers who have never posted a word prior to last week flooding the board with calls for TT's head on a platter and negativity for everything Packers.
This kind of reminds me of what's happened after the first few days of free agency EVERY YEAR since Ted Thompson became GM of the team.
In some respects, I suppose the fresh crop of haters is like punxsutawney phil- a rite of the dreary winter before the post draft spring has a chance to thaw the pessimism and fans have a chance to grab hold of the hope that belongs to fans of every NFL team in late April- that the season still has to be played, and that this could be the year.
In the meantime, I guess some of us will need to endure the March doldrums of complaint about how TT didn't sign the biggest name free agents and how it all spells the eternal futility of the team to get to draft day and see what kind of additions we find to make things work and get back to contending for the Super Bowl.
Until it's April, I'll be going a little punxsutawney myself on the old packersnews.com message board until I can see my shadow in at least one ray of the sunshine of hope.
Make mine Packers!
Thursday, February 26, 2009
The career leader in moral victories...
...has to be the negotiating committee for the Nova Scotia Teachers Union.
Nova Scotia's teachers ratified a two year deal on Wednesday that was about as vanilla as they come. The main "victories" were:
Substitute teachers got nothing in the first year of the deal, but a $20 per day increase to the substitute flat rate to $160 per day, and a decrease in the time required to reach pay at salary scale from 31 consecutive teaching days in the same position to 21 consecutive days.
Some have opined that this represents a major victory, but they forget that less than two years ago Dennis Cochrane, the Deputy Minister of Education, made the rare admission to Nova Scotia's newspapers that substitute pay was laughable and definitely needed to be addressed if we hoped to keep motivated and capable substitutes working in our province.
The NSTU failed to include in our asking package our standing policy of three years to seek to have substitute pay tied to the bottom most rung of the salary scale to end, once and for all, the glaring gap between the gains won by "regular" teachers in negotiations and the far lesser gains won for substitutes.
Had we included this item in negotiations and won, substitute daily pay would have looked like this.
The new starting salary for a first year teacher in the new agreement is slightly more than $47,000 per year. The NSTU policy seeks to have substitutes paid the first year salary divided by either 261 days (the number of days in a school year, including weekends, holidays and professional days) or 195 days (the number of days teachers work during the school year).
At 1/195 of a first year salary, substitutes would have been paid $241 per day. At 1/261 of a first year salary, substitutes would have been paid $180 and change per day.
In New Brunswick, substitute teachers are not required to have teaching certificates, and thus, are not paid in a manner reflective of teaching certification.
In Nova Scotia, substitute teachers MUST hold a valid teaching certificate, which means that they are every bit as qualifed to teach as their full time counterparts. It also means that they have at LEAST 5 years of university education to finance, and their daily pay does not consider the huge debt loads many new graduates must incur to get teaching training in Nova Scotia, the most costly teacher training in all of Canada.
The failure of the NSTU to make tying substitute pay to the salary scale, as their policy states that the provincial economic welfare committee is to seek in negotiations, is unacceptable and weakkneed. It ensures NS substitutes maintain their position behind their counterparts across the country in terms of daily rate and time to salary scale, however improved that position may be.
The national average for time to pay at salary scale for substitute teachers is 12.5 days retroactive. NS substitutes now need 21 days consecutively without retroactive pay, despite the fact that many substitutes do the work of the regular teacher from day one. They have a legitimate case for suffrage on their hands, and one the NSTU, if it had a moral bone in its spine, would be shouting from the rooftops about.
This is a deal of teeny wins. We asked for little, and got little, and now we're acting like we won much.
This is the second contract in a row of standing still on every major issue facing teachers, particularly the issues facing early career teachers and substitutes which continue to go blatantly ignored by asking packages.
The base pay for teachers may have increased, which is good, but there's STILL no framework for long term substitute service to qualify teachers for full contract status and benefits in the manner that exists in the vast majority of comparable teaching jurisdictions across the country. If there's no way to get a term contract so that you gain a foothold in the system so you can be paid according to the new salary scale, of what real benefit is the new salary scale to the thousands of early career teachers that will never see a paycheck on salary with benefits and rehire priority?
The NSTU is ever more semblant of the NDP under Audrey McLaughlin and Alexa McDonough- the party shrank in influence and relevance on a national scale and in size in parliament under their watch, but it won more moral victories than it ever had before under their watch.
I hope Nova Scotia's teachers wake up and realize that our strategy in negotiations isn't working and make it clear in the next presidential election that change is needed. Someone needs to aim higher than where we were in 1993 when setting goals for negotiations. The rest of the country has moved far past those measures- it appears we're happy just to get back to the good old days.
Nova Scotia's teachers ratified a two year deal on Wednesday that was about as vanilla as they come. The main "victories" were:
- a 2.9% raise in each of the two years of the deal
- some nominal increases in a benefits package that was already one of the finest in the public sector in Nova Scotia for orthotics and treatment from chiropractors, naturopaths, homepaths, etc
- the addition of 12 weeks of adoption leave for teachers adopting school aged children (prior to this deal you only got adoption leave if the children you adopted were preschool age). This is a nice add, but not a major win by any stretch given the extremely low number of adoptions of this type in Nova Scotia.
- the addition of 12 weeks of topped up parental leave for a teacher who is the non-birth parent of a newborn whose spouse is not a teacher (which has the greatest implications for male teachers who represent the main source of incoome in a household whose non-teaching spouses/partners give birth)
Substitute teachers got nothing in the first year of the deal, but a $20 per day increase to the substitute flat rate to $160 per day, and a decrease in the time required to reach pay at salary scale from 31 consecutive teaching days in the same position to 21 consecutive days.
Some have opined that this represents a major victory, but they forget that less than two years ago Dennis Cochrane, the Deputy Minister of Education, made the rare admission to Nova Scotia's newspapers that substitute pay was laughable and definitely needed to be addressed if we hoped to keep motivated and capable substitutes working in our province.
The NSTU failed to include in our asking package our standing policy of three years to seek to have substitute pay tied to the bottom most rung of the salary scale to end, once and for all, the glaring gap between the gains won by "regular" teachers in negotiations and the far lesser gains won for substitutes.
Had we included this item in negotiations and won, substitute daily pay would have looked like this.
The new starting salary for a first year teacher in the new agreement is slightly more than $47,000 per year. The NSTU policy seeks to have substitutes paid the first year salary divided by either 261 days (the number of days in a school year, including weekends, holidays and professional days) or 195 days (the number of days teachers work during the school year).
At 1/195 of a first year salary, substitutes would have been paid $241 per day. At 1/261 of a first year salary, substitutes would have been paid $180 and change per day.
In New Brunswick, substitute teachers are not required to have teaching certificates, and thus, are not paid in a manner reflective of teaching certification.
In Nova Scotia, substitute teachers MUST hold a valid teaching certificate, which means that they are every bit as qualifed to teach as their full time counterparts. It also means that they have at LEAST 5 years of university education to finance, and their daily pay does not consider the huge debt loads many new graduates must incur to get teaching training in Nova Scotia, the most costly teacher training in all of Canada.
The failure of the NSTU to make tying substitute pay to the salary scale, as their policy states that the provincial economic welfare committee is to seek in negotiations, is unacceptable and weakkneed. It ensures NS substitutes maintain their position behind their counterparts across the country in terms of daily rate and time to salary scale, however improved that position may be.
The national average for time to pay at salary scale for substitute teachers is 12.5 days retroactive. NS substitutes now need 21 days consecutively without retroactive pay, despite the fact that many substitutes do the work of the regular teacher from day one. They have a legitimate case for suffrage on their hands, and one the NSTU, if it had a moral bone in its spine, would be shouting from the rooftops about.
This is a deal of teeny wins. We asked for little, and got little, and now we're acting like we won much.
This is the second contract in a row of standing still on every major issue facing teachers, particularly the issues facing early career teachers and substitutes which continue to go blatantly ignored by asking packages.
The base pay for teachers may have increased, which is good, but there's STILL no framework for long term substitute service to qualify teachers for full contract status and benefits in the manner that exists in the vast majority of comparable teaching jurisdictions across the country. If there's no way to get a term contract so that you gain a foothold in the system so you can be paid according to the new salary scale, of what real benefit is the new salary scale to the thousands of early career teachers that will never see a paycheck on salary with benefits and rehire priority?
The NSTU is ever more semblant of the NDP under Audrey McLaughlin and Alexa McDonough- the party shrank in influence and relevance on a national scale and in size in parliament under their watch, but it won more moral victories than it ever had before under their watch.
I hope Nova Scotia's teachers wake up and realize that our strategy in negotiations isn't working and make it clear in the next presidential election that change is needed. Someone needs to aim higher than where we were in 1993 when setting goals for negotiations. The rest of the country has moved far past those measures- it appears we're happy just to get back to the good old days.
What I'd say...
Shout out to my man Ray for the title of this post.
So I've thought long and hard about what I should be doing to make this blog a consistent and engaging read, because posting as regularly as I have so far is hardly a recipe for retaining readership.
In thinking, I realized that you're best off blogging about things you're either passionate or knowledgeable about, so I tried to boil down the essence of this blog to a few things that fit that bill for me.
After all that thinking, here's what I feel like I know enough about to write an informed and engaging blog:
I hope you tune in as I work to establish rhythm and identity here and chime in with your thoughts. Those comments are fuel to the blogging soul, so fire away.
The stream flows again...
So I've thought long and hard about what I should be doing to make this blog a consistent and engaging read, because posting as regularly as I have so far is hardly a recipe for retaining readership.
In thinking, I realized that you're best off blogging about things you're either passionate or knowledgeable about, so I tried to boil down the essence of this blog to a few things that fit that bill for me.
After all that thinking, here's what I feel like I know enough about to write an informed and engaging blog:
- Husbanding/Parenthood
- My faith journey with and through the local church
- teaching
- The Green Bay Packers
- Canadian politics
I hope you tune in as I work to establish rhythm and identity here and chime in with your thoughts. Those comments are fuel to the blogging soul, so fire away.
The stream flows again...
Monday, December 22, 2008
Negligent blogging in the first degree...
So I'm a blogger that lacks a plan, which also means that I typically lack posts as well.
I'm hoping to change that. I just finished reading a 30 days to a better blog challenge over at teach42.com (thanks for all the hard work Steve!), and I learned some good things I think will help me to be better prepared to blog more faithfully.
I know that I need to have some topics to stick to as a guideline, to give my blog some backbone and substance.
I think I would also like to try out some vlog action as well. I'm not saying I'm going to be Ze Frank or anything, but I do hope to put some stuff out into the vlogosphere worth viewing and responding to.
So, if you are actually someone who used to read my blog but has abandoned me because I'm a loosey-goosey poster, check me out over the next month. I am developing (like Blackadder always did) a cunning plan...
I'm hoping to change that. I just finished reading a 30 days to a better blog challenge over at teach42.com (thanks for all the hard work Steve!), and I learned some good things I think will help me to be better prepared to blog more faithfully.
I know that I need to have some topics to stick to as a guideline, to give my blog some backbone and substance.
I think I would also like to try out some vlog action as well. I'm not saying I'm going to be Ze Frank or anything, but I do hope to put some stuff out into the vlogosphere worth viewing and responding to.
So, if you are actually someone who used to read my blog but has abandoned me because I'm a loosey-goosey poster, check me out over the next month. I am developing (like Blackadder always did) a cunning plan...
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Go for it sister!
Ever since I started running, one of the things I began doing was cheering on other runners I saw while I was out doing things, driving in my car, on the bus, etc. Regardless of how speedy or efficient they looked, whether male or female, young, old, skinny, fat, slow, fast, I took to waving and calling out "go for it brother/sister!" (depending on the gender of the runner, of course...)
Funny how habits stick with you. Years later, I'm still doing it, and now the tradition has passed on to my son, Jonah. At 4 and a half years old, he hollers out "go for it sister!" every time he sees a runner out doing their thing. (Still have to work on the gender appropriate cheer with him- even boys get the "go for it sister!"- hilarious!)
I love it. One of my fave scriptures is Hebrews 12:1-2:
Thank God for kids. I know Jonah's cheers give me juice to push through my flabby cramps to make the distance, and the cheers from heaven still give me the push I need to keep going forward toward the prize.
Funny how habits stick with you. Years later, I'm still doing it, and now the tradition has passed on to my son, Jonah. At 4 and a half years old, he hollers out "go for it sister!" every time he sees a runner out doing their thing. (Still have to work on the gender appropriate cheer with him- even boys get the "go for it sister!"- hilarious!)
I love it. One of my fave scriptures is Hebrews 12:1-2:
Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. NKJVThat image of there being a huge crowd cheering each of us on as we pursue our faith with God always overwhelms me. I always visualized those voices calling out and urging me on, but now those voices have a human sound- Jonah in the back seat cheering on runners of every description and size as they go for it.
Thank God for kids. I know Jonah's cheers give me juice to push through my flabby cramps to make the distance, and the cheers from heaven still give me the push I need to keep going forward toward the prize.
Ricardo is going down...
Last night I ran 7.5 km without pause. Tonight, I nailed a 5K tempo run. Ricardo says he doesn't need to train because "there's no quit in [him]."
He better hope there isn't. Because I'm not letting up until I cross the finish.
He better hope there isn't. Because I'm not letting up until I cross the finish.
Monday, June 09, 2008
Guess I'm a betting man...
So the school I teach at engages populations of students from two very different yet challenging communities. About half the students hail from North Preston, which is the largest indigenous community of black people in Canada.
I've enjoyed my year at the school, and one of the brightest spots is how I've been able to forge really positive and warm relationships with many of the students from North Preston. There are many students from this community who arrive with the expectation that things will not go well due to negative past experiences. I haven't been perfect, by any stretch, but the hard work to build a shared normal has even paid off with students who may not be the most academically engaged but have come to appreciate the structure and support I provide.
One kid (who we'll call Ricardo, for anonymity's sake) has been talking smack all year long about how he can beat me at whatever we happen to be talking about in class. Until a little while ago, that was generally basketball (which he is pretty good at), hockey or football.
But about 10 days ago he told me how old I was and that he'd cream me in a running race.
Now I haven't REALLY run in years- I go for a run every once in a while, but I'm not dedicated like I used to be when I trained for half-marathons in Montreal. But I couldn't help myself. He bet me that he could beat me straight up in a race. So I agreed to race him if I could pick the distance. He grinned and said sure.
I told him we'd run 10km the last day of school for bragging rights once and for all. He shook on it, and I have been training since.
Tonight I went for the longest run in ages, the longest since training for the demi-marathon de Montreal in 2002 with my friend Matt. I ripped off a 7.5K in just over 42 minutes at an average heartrate of 180 BPM.
Here's the route I ran:
Be afraid Ricardo. Be very afraid. I'm going to run you into the ground... :) And this old man will get to call you a loser AND get back on track with running.
Who knew petty competition could be such a great motivator? LOL...
I've enjoyed my year at the school, and one of the brightest spots is how I've been able to forge really positive and warm relationships with many of the students from North Preston. There are many students from this community who arrive with the expectation that things will not go well due to negative past experiences. I haven't been perfect, by any stretch, but the hard work to build a shared normal has even paid off with students who may not be the most academically engaged but have come to appreciate the structure and support I provide.
One kid (who we'll call Ricardo, for anonymity's sake) has been talking smack all year long about how he can beat me at whatever we happen to be talking about in class. Until a little while ago, that was generally basketball (which he is pretty good at), hockey or football.
But about 10 days ago he told me how old I was and that he'd cream me in a running race.
Now I haven't REALLY run in years- I go for a run every once in a while, but I'm not dedicated like I used to be when I trained for half-marathons in Montreal. But I couldn't help myself. He bet me that he could beat me straight up in a race. So I agreed to race him if I could pick the distance. He grinned and said sure.
I told him we'd run 10km the last day of school for bragging rights once and for all. He shook on it, and I have been training since.
Tonight I went for the longest run in ages, the longest since training for the demi-marathon de Montreal in 2002 with my friend Matt. I ripped off a 7.5K in just over 42 minutes at an average heartrate of 180 BPM.
Here's the route I ran:
Be afraid Ricardo. Be very afraid. I'm going to run you into the ground... :) And this old man will get to call you a loser AND get back on track with running.
Who knew petty competition could be such a great motivator? LOL...
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