Weekly Review 202504

Anniversary

Today (well, a day last month) is the day that I officially wed my wonderful, fun, loving, smart, intelligent, beautiful wife. Turns out that the priest didn’t actually file some paperwork, so we got to do it again with our kids as witnesses. So many great years together.

AI

This year is going to continue to be about AI in schools. There are lots of concerns (e.g. water usage, power consumption, copyright, moral, etc), but the reality is that AI will be part of our (and our students) lives. I’m planning on lots of training and information for our staff.

Technology and Respect

I had an interesting chat with a fellow Tech Director the other day. We were doing the general chat thing, when the other Tech Director noted Technology Directors are the “Rodney Dangerfields” of education. (*To those of you unfamiliar with Mr. Dangerfield, he was well known for the line “I get no respect”). The Tech Director noted how difficult it was to get training time with teachers. Teachers have so very little professional development time. There are so many things that teachers could grow and develop with opportunity.

The other Tech Director went on with another example. “I was at XXX, and noticed that there were reserved parking spaces for the Superinendent, Director of Business, Director of Curriculum, Director of Food Services”. Notice which Director is missing? It’s not about the parking space, but the mind space.

Things I Learned This Week

Take hearing aids out if using an electric beard trimmer

Yea, not my most shining moment. On one hand, I’m so used to wearing hearing aids that I don’t really think about it. On the other, I thought that I wasn’t getting close enough to be an issue (wrong on that one). Those little wire tubes do split nicely though.

Facebook in Maine

In Maine, businesses may not update their website (check Facebook, they may update that). The kids invited us to go skating. They checked the website and the skating rink was opened from 7:30 – 10:00 p.m. The kids picked us up and we headed off to skate. However, when we arrived, they were pretty obviously closed. A little more searching, AND, there is a Facebook post stating that they take July off and are closed. I don’t use Facebook.

Flowers

My wife has done an absolutely fantastic job of planting, cultivating, and growing flowers around the house. The yard looks absolutely fantastic.

A Little Taste of Michigan

It turns out that you can order an Olga’s Snackers Kit directly from Olga’s. I can confirm that they are wonderful. I would lower the air fryer temperature just a bit though.

52Frames

I broke my string of a year and half of posting in 52Frames. The killer is that I had a picture ready to go, but decided to wait until Sunday. See, I was taking a hike with my youngest, and knew that I was taking my camera. So, week 30, Unusual Crop has no entry from me. My submission would’ve been a whale seen from a boat.

Garage Organization

I’m finally making progress on organizing my garage. I still have a ways to go, but the tool organization means that I can actually find tools now. I’ve also made efforts on small parts.

Jesse Terry

We went on Monday night to see Jesse Terry. Jesse Terry is an independent artist who has created some wonderful music. We had to go to Castine in order to see the show. This is a two-hour drive. Gee, if only we had a concert venue* near us.

On the way, we stopped in Bucksport for dinner at Chalee Thai-Sushi. The food was terrific. The place is small, with three dine-in chairs, but obviously owned and operated by a passionate couple. We chose to “take-out” and walked down the stairs to a picnic table.

It was a good show. He played straight through for a little over two hours. It is absolutely wonderful to hear the story behind the songs. This just deepens and enriches the song.

(* We have a terrific concert venue which is wholly under utilized. A local restaurant has more events at Johnson Hall than Johnson Hall does. However, most of those are posted on Facebook, so I can’t see those.)