‘A’ For Effort, Pt. 3

The four reconvened at Brian’s place. This wasn’t over. They were convinced the plan could still work. They debriefed and improved.

First, the computer. Brian committed a major error. He should have been able to deal with the CPU issue, but he was nervous going in. Too much adrenaline meant he couldn’t deal with the problem at hand. In fact, Brian was shot. Out. He wanted out. Second, the window. Bad idea. Certainly, there was a better way than entering from the outside of the building where they were completely exposed.

And that’s that’s where Kyle came in. The Key Man. He was a TA for another teacher in the same wing. Another science teacher. A teacher that had keys to the entire building.

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Pennies for Points, one year later…

Remember this?

From a tweet in October:

• Just donated $193.33 to Child’s Play and Microsoft is matching. Total: $386.66. A penny for every gamerscore point I earned this year. #give

So there you have it. I donate and do charity in other ways too, but donating this way is a fun mini-game for me. 19,333 gamer points from January to October, nearly a year.

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‘A’ For Effort, Pt. 2

They were at Brian’s house. The four of them were hanging out as usual, talking about girls, games, and how they could get into trouble, when the topic of physics class came up. Frustration. Unfairness. Lack of honesty. No fair. Cheaters.

It was that fateful night when an elaborate plan to take control of their futures would be hatched. Counter ops. CIA shit. Secret squirrel. It was time to tip the cosmic scales.

Months ago, at home, he was infiltrating the dark corners of the Internet alone in his bedroom when he came across something called a key logger. A piece of software that records everything typed through the keyboard and stores those key strokes into a text file. He tried a few variants of the software, found the best and least obtrusive versions, and kept them on hand. For educational purposes.

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Prince Ehreth and the Kingdom of Dreams #3

The snow was deep. The freezing air chilled every living being to the bone.

Through the icy, whipping winds, a battle cry was barely audible.

“ki…kikik…ikik…ikik…iii…ii…i!”

The magoran plodded through the snow, injured. A spear jutted from its rear right leg which slowed the creature’s pace, but with seven other functioning limbs, the beast still had a chance to survive. Or so it thought.

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Sir Haxington Nearly Loses His Knighthood at the Airport

Long story short, I was running behind for a flight, then missed it. A dumb mistake, a miscalculation that would cost me an an entire day.

I felt like an idiot. An asshole. Ashamed and embarrassed. Not to mention I had people waiting for me at the other end.

I barely missed the flight too. Five extra minutes and it would been fine. Sadly the stars misaligned and I paid the price. The check-in kiosk at Alaksa Air confirmed my fear upon entering my confirmation code in vain.

“You have missed your check-in time, please see the service desk for further assistance.”

Oh boy.

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‘A’ For Effort, Pt. 1

Again, I made all this up. Seriously. Seriously! Why are you looking at me like that?

—

High school teachers come in all flavors. The new, young, cool Spanish teacher. The AP English teacher who wears a corduroy jacket with elbow patches. The just hot enough history teacher.

One stereotype that seems to be pervasive in the American public school system: The coach that teaches a remedial class, usually math. In his case, it was a track coach who taught not-so remedial physics. The ladies track coach.

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The Fat Cat Ate A Rat

Warm and content, slept the fat tabby cat.
On a cold winter’s night, he spotted a big gray rat.

The rat was too slow and didn’t see it coming.
The cat leapt from his bed and gave the creature a numbing.

The rat ceased to exist but the large cat was not finished.
The fat flabby tabby was soon to be nourished.

Half of the rodent swiftly disappeared.
It was then my wife saw what she had feared.

“GET AWAY FROM THE DOOR!” she shrieked at high pitch.
I was enthralled and so moved barely an inch.

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Adventures in Cap Hill #673

Company holiday parties are funny things. Most companies put them on for their employees, it’s no secret. Overall the pre-paid gatherings are a positive thing. It gets people out, gets them social, which is important to teamwork within groups. Groups who socialize will communicate better, and therefore will do better work together. At least, I think that’s the theory someone made up once so they had an excuse to party.

But I’m not here to talk about my own company party. No, that wouldn’t do.

This time, it’s all about a place that sells cupcakes.

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Shopping Cart Derby

The good people of Coos Bay slept. It was dark. Most had work the next day. Or school.

A ten minute drive on any given weeknight was ripe for a round of some of the best entertainment in this small West coast town.

The parking lot around the mall was vast, quiet and empty. That is, until the white Chevy Beretta appeared.

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2nd AOTCEEA Summary

The 2nd Annual Official Tree Cutting Exploration-Expedition Adventure was an epic six part saga that may or may not have happened.

While reading it, you’ll laugh. You’ll cry. You’ll fall in love. Most likely you won’t do any of these. I’m cool with that.

For your viewing pleasure, here is the Official 2nd Annual Official Tree Cutting Exploration-Expedition Adventure Compendium, chronicled for posterity.

• Part 1: The Rules
• Part 2: Getting There and Going Up
• Part 3: The Element
• Part 4: Get That Fir
• Part 5: Weekend Warriors
• Part 6: Going Home

Until next year…