summer | BulgingButtons

June 25, 2015
by BulgingButtons 3 Comments

One More Day

Nineteen down, one to go. Days of summer work, that is. Not that it’s difficult work. It isn’t. In fact, it’s very rewarding work that come fairly easily to me, especially since I’m part of a terrific team.

We’ve been running a writing camp for kids at our local university. I did it last summer too, and enjoyed it. It’s fun to be with kids, teaching, in an environment where the strongest “discipline” that you ever dole out is a raised eyebrow, and the kids are all there because they want to be. Oh, and there’s no grading, no worry about common core, and no tests. Cool, huh? The kids think so. I have to agree.

Still, the alarm clock goes off each morning, and there’s a commute to deal with, made longer by summer construction (which is absurd where I live – do it during the cooler months, people!). Then there’s the trek from the parking lot to campus and back. Not so bad in the morning, but grueling in the afternoon heat. All in all, not a bad gig, but I’m looking forward to a few weeks of NO obligations. What will I do? Read. Write. Sleep. Swim. Visit family and friends. The usual. I can’t wait!

I’m looking forward to days where the biggest decisions I make involve which flavor of fudge to sample and which bathing suit to wear. Should I read another chapter now or wait until tomorrow morning? Do I want to cool off in the ocean or in the pool? It’s a rough life, but someone has to do it. This time, it’s going to be me. One more day. I know it’s going to be a good one.

June 19, 2015
by BulgingButtons Leave a comment

Summer in Phoenix

Hot is a dog who won’t go outside,

preferring instead to sprawl across the tile floor

directly across from the air vent

Hot is the sensation that your paper parking permit

Will spontaneously combust between your fingertips

As you remove it from your windshield

Hot is a ponytail, braid, or bun

Morning, noon, and night

Hot is driving home from work

With the air conditioning on high

and pulling into the garage

before the car has cooled down

Hot is feeling apprehension every time you turn the ignition key

and feeling gratitude every time the car starts

Hot is waiting until later in the day

when the shadows appear

to go into the backyard pool

Hot is floor fans, ceiling fans, wet cloths, and water bottles

Hot is planning on cold cereal and yogurt for dinner

Hot is finding the one parking spot under the scrawny Palo Verde Tree

just for a little bit of shade

Hot is laundry. So much laundry.

Hot is choosing shoes with thicker soles

so you don’t feel as much of the heat coming up from the pavement

Hot is watching movies like Ice Age and Frozen

Even if there are no children in the house

Hot is extra chemicals for the pool

and extra water for the lawn

Hot is Phoenix in the summer

and no surprise

Hot is the temporary price we pay to live here

For that reason only, hot is okay.

June 1, 2015
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Google Drive is Killing Me

Ok, that’s not exactly true. It is, however, driving me crazy. Sure, I understand how it works, and how it’s supposed to make life easier for me, but at the moment that’s not my reality. My reality is that I’m feeling confused and overwhelmed by it, and it’s making me feel ineffective at my job. There, I said it.

I’m teaching a summer writing program and we just started today. There are three sites operating simultaneously, and there are three age levels operating at our site. In all there are seven instructors, plus a director making sure that all of the moving parts come together. All of us are supposed to be sharing ideas and materials, including presentations, via Google Drive.

It sounds logical. It sounds like it would save a lot of time. It sounds like it should be a piece of cake. Unfortunately, I just can’t quite seem to get the hang of it. I can’t find what I need when I need it, and if I want to change something around, I feel like I’ve negated someone else’s work, unless I save it with a new name, and then how will they know which document they actually want?

My head is spinning, and the whole thing is making me want to run away from the computer and just stick to notebooks and pencils (which wouldn’t be an entirely AWFUL idea), but I know I can figure it out and it will make what we’re doing so much more meaningful for the kids.

Still, I feel frustrated and I’m glad that my colleagues in my main job don’t use this particular method to share information. This old dog has learned a lot of new tricks, but this particular one is giving me fits.