The Pencil Nazi Must Chill

So I do not know how many of you work in some sort of office environment but I am sure you have met this person, The Pencil Nazi. In every office there is always somebody who has an unhealthy obsession about their office supplies. Today I had my first run in with this type of person at my relatively new position.

I am not a big fan of multiple choice exams but students often are and especially as we near the end of the term I like to give this type of test for the last one. This way they focus on their final art project instead of the pressure of writing a bunch of essays. One thing you know you need if you have ever taken a multiple choice scantron exam is a lovely #2 pencil, since this is the only thing the machine will read. Well, silly me, the other three institutions I have given exams at had an exam grading center, with a plethora of pencils for one to make their exam grading key. Now I am at a new place but I figured the room with the scantron machine in it would have pencils in it for making a key, yeah, no dice.

So, I went to the office right next door where there were three desks, all seeming to have plenty o' pencils. I kindly asked if I could please borrow a #2 pencil for just a moment, and I was glared at as if I asked to steal a baby and feed it to a dingo, followed by a very stern "I WANT IT BACK!" I replied "oh no problem I will be done with it in just one minute and give it right back, thank you so much I really appreciate it." I did this of course and then proceeded to grovel with thanks and appreciation some more, explaining I was a new instructor and thought the mighty pencils would be by the scantron machine and had none in the office I was assigned to at all (despite there being 4 desks, 4 computers, a scanner, a refrigerator, a microwave, and multiple shelving units...yeah I know, crazy right), and I was told extremely gruffly once again that I should contact the coordinator for my department because THEY were the coordinator for THEIR department and THEY made sure all of THEIR people had SUPPLIES.

Well good gracious, IT WAS ONLY A PENCIL and it was only loaned for about 1 minute and 30 seconds (yes I watched the clock lest they eat my head off for violating an unspoken time usage rule). People need to breathe! Now granted, I understand the preciousness of supplies, back as a teenager/20-something working my way through college when I worked as a cashier for K-mart and was a waitress at a restaurant I guarded my pens quite well, but...a college, filled with pencils and I am new, give me a wee bit of slack you crazy Pencil Nazi, I assure you I do not have a hidden agenda to usurp your precious writing utensils. It will be o.k., I will not sneeze on it, I will not chew on it, and I shall not break thy eraser.

Maybe they had low blood sugar and really needed a snickers....................

And so it goes...

Share Your Thanksgiving

Norman Rockwell, Freedom From Want, 1943. War bond poster. Story Illustration for The Saturday Evening Post, March 6, 1943. Oil on canvas. 45 3/4 x 35 1/2 in.


With Thanksgiving week here, I thought it would be fun to share some family traditions, must have items, or funny stories.

-What family traditions do you have each year, either typical or unique?

-Do you have any must have items at your Thanksgiving table?

-And lastly, any funny Thanksgiving mishaps that you would like to share?

Wishing you and yours a very Happy Thanksgiving, gobble gobble gobble!!

And so it goes...

Berlin Wall Anniversary

In celebration of the fall of the Berlin wall 20 years ago on November 9th 1989...I present to you, the one, the only, "The Hoff."

Let freedom ring :)

And so it goes...

Halloween was Cold but Fun

Halloween was great, very cold, but we had a blast!! Now on to preparing for the last 1/3 of the term and the upcoming holidays. I got the news I will be staying on with the college next term so I have to think ahead for that...and my other sister-in-law had her baby, a healthy boy, so we have a lot of babies to see :) Trying to start to plan a trip to see the family for Christmas time, should be a fun!!

And so it goes...

What Is Your Costume This Year?

Well it is Halloween week and I cannot even begin to describe how excited my son is to go trick-or-treating and overdose on sugary things. This year he has chosen to be a pirate (exact costume below, but not him in the picture). In previous years he has been a lion, a Power Ranger, a ninja, and a Transformer (Bumblebee).

I of course will be wearing my usual costume, Mom who helps carry the candy and watches, and although I am sorry to say to poor Sassy ( the dog) she will apparently be a fairy princess, complete with wings and a tutu we obtained at the Dollar Tree.

So what about you good people out there? What are your little ones dressing up as, or what will you be for parties or handing out candy?

Have a safe and Happy Halloween everybody!!

And so it goes...

City in the Sea

So I was looking through my son's magazines ( he is 7 yrs. old) and found out about this interesting place. My aunt and uncle pay for subscriptions to National Geographic Kids and Ranger Rick for our son, which I totally recommend, they are fascinating and fun. I came across a special insert about life on and in the water and saw an amazing image of a tower being developed and built by Nakheel in Dubai. If you are wondering where that is, Dubai is one of the seven emirates and the most populous state of the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.); it is south of Iran and west of India (google will take ya right to a map if you do a quick search).

The tower (pictured last here) is meant to be 3 times the height of the empire state building and it to stand more than one kilometer high (that's half a mile)!! Nakheel, the company that is building this unbelievably tall structure, is a development company that builds cities in the sea, in the shape of palm trees no less, such as Palm Jumeirah, Palm Jebel Ali, or Palm Deira. I just found the whole thing so fascinating and interesting, probably because I am an architecture junkie, that I just had to share it with the blogosphere! Here is the link to their website if you want to check it out: http://www.nakheel.com/en

And so it goes....

Outlawing Cellphones - Part 2

A summit met today to talk about the dangers of driving while distracted concerning many things but especially about cellphones. Here is the link: http://www.rita.dot.gov/distracted_driving_summit/

And so it goes...