Do you want to be scared on Halloween? Look around and see all the people you know and realize...THEY VOTE!

Tonight is beggars night here in Perry. The little ones in town will be out trick-or-treating. My kids will be out and about. Jess has an FCA function called Trunk-or-Treat, it is where they bring in a bunch of cars in a parking lot and decorate them and put candy in the trunks. The kids can come and get candy and the FCA kids put a lot of work into it. Drew is going to a friends and I still don't have enough people signed up for my class so I will be handing out candy here.

Work is normal right now. Lots of stupid people with too much time on their hands. Nothing really out of the ordinary is going on right now and that is good. We purchased a new virus program for the district and it should be arriving this week. We also have a new vendor for toner cartridges for our printers and our first shipment of toner should arrive today via UPS.

Nancy and I were talking about the blog yesterday and she said I needed to print it out and keep it because I will want to look back through it one day. I found a way to save all the postings electronically and have them all saved. I looked back on the first week that I started the blog and even though it has been less than a year it did bring back memories. We had a lot of damn snow when I started this last February. I hear we are going to have a La Nina this year so we may be warmer than usual. Not sure what that means in terms of snow fall though.

So I am feeling a little bit better today. My chest still hurst and my throat is a bit sore and I have this dang cough but for some reason I don't feel as exhausted as I have been feeling. That is a huge improvement. I hope it lasts.

I kind of wish they would make tea like cofee. Put it in cans and make it so I can run it through my coffee maker like I would coffee. That way I could just decide in the morning if I wanted coffee or tea and just choose the can to scoop from. With my cold, tea with a bit of honey sounds really good but it is a pain to make so I am just drinking coffee. Maybe it is just me but I think it would be nice to have a pot of tea sometimes.

So I bought this cold and flu medicine called Thereflu, not sure if that is spelled right. Anyway, you pour it into hot water and drink it while it is warm. The one I have is Lemon flavor and let me tell you, it is a LEMON flavor. Dang! If you like lemonade and you like it hot, you will love this stuff. It isn't bad and the warm drink is soothing but WHAM ----LEMON!!!! I am not sure it really helps but when you are feeling like crap you would try about anything. I have been told Musenex, spelling again, works. I will have to go to the store and pick some up and give it a try. Once again, trying anything.

For some reason today I feel very wordy. I have a bunch more I could ramble on about but I don't want the blog to get too long today. It is ok to read a blog but nobody wants to read a novel every morning. I will keep it short and save some for tomorrow.

Symptoms of my illness; heachache, stuffy nose, chest hurts, cough and a love for reality tv.

The weekend was a bust. I was sick pretty much the whole time. I have this terrible chest cold and feel like crap. I decided to just lay on the sofa and rest on Saturday to try to just get over it. Sunday I went outside to do some yard work, that lasted about 45 minutes and my head and chest started hurting and I lost my energy. Back to the sofa for the rest of the day.

I still feel pretty crappy this morning but I am going to drug myself up and make a run at the day. The best thing about having a desk job is days like this. I can go to work and get things done while not feeling very well.

Molly must have known I didn't feel well because she spent the entire weekend on my lap. Everytime I went to lay down, she would run up and lay on my stomach. She stay with me all weekend and it was a nice comfort.

By the way. I watched an etire season of the reality show "The Restraunt". I think I watched from 1 or 2 until 8. Every episode of the season and it ended on a cliff hanger!!!! I was ticked. I went online and found out what happened. I have a weakness for these reality shows. It is like a sickness. I watch an episode than another and I am hooked, on the couch the rest of the day glued to the tv. Pathetic I know but what can I do.

Jess has open gym today and Drew starts basketball practice. The fall activities are starting up and the week off is over. Time sure has a way of passing quickly. The older I get, the faster time seems to go.

Halloween is this week. Jess is doing something for FCA and Drew is going to go to a friends house for a little get together. I will stay home and hand out candy. I kind of miss the days of taking the kids out trick-or-treating. Seems like that time went quick too.

The Huskers lost again but they looked better. We have been reduced to moral victories and that is sad. My money says the coaches will be fired at the end of the year.

Monday still sucks!

Three out of four people are stupid....If you have a smart friend, guess what!

I will call this cold Friday for a couple of reasons. First is it COLD outside. Low 40's - upper 30's for the start of the day. Second, I have a terrible COLD. Stuffy nose, sore throat, if I cough it hurts deep in my chest. UGH!!!!

Both kids start basketball on Monday. Drew actually starts practice and Jess has "Open Gym".....The Open Gym concept came out of coaches inability to practice prior to the official start of the season. High School Athletic rules and all. So to get around this a bit, they have "Open Gym". It is supposed to be open to everyone but it is all the basketball kids playing/practicing basketball with the coaches watching. Now officially they can't coach but you can see the reality of this.

I am glad it is Friday even though I have a bunch of stuff to do at work. The problem with some of the work I have to do is that it is not urgent. It is easy to put things off that don't HAVE to be done today or soon. Over time these little projects build up and you have a crap load of work to do. The fact of the matter is I don't try to be too ambitios on Friday. I just work and try not to schedule meetings or take on new projects. This is probably why I hate Monday so much. I slack a bit on Friday and have to make up for it the first day of the following week. Friday Rich screwin over Monday Rich.

I typically feel pretty good about my cooking abilities but every once in awhile I have a crappy, crappy meal and last night was an example of one of those meals. So here's the story:

I thougth I would make creamed chicken on toast and was going to use chicken breasts to make it better. I ususally use canned chicken but thought I would go the extra mile and use fresh chicken breast. So I cook up the chicken breast and start to make the sauce. Well by the end the sauce was runny like milk. It tasted ok but who wants to have chicke breast cut up in a milk like substance poured over toast? NOBODY! The kids ate it but it was gross.

The huskers play Texas tomorrow in Texas. It is probably just as well that it is an away game, it sucks to lose at home. I read online yesterday that Callahan thinks he is doing an EXCELLENT job as coach and had done great things with the program. What an idiot! Maybe he and George W. share the same brain.

Barack Obama will be here tomorrow. The kids are complaining about having to go but they can suck it up. Some things you can't appreciate until you get older. Drew told me he shouldn't have to go because even if Barack became president, he would be out of office before Drew was eligble to vote. Whatever! It's not like we have to go anywhere to see him. We walk out our back door about 200 yards and thats where he will be.

Well, I am off to start my Friday and the weekend. I hope the Huskers win and I hit lotto. Which do you think will happen first?

Give your muffin stumps to the homeless, they will eat anything!!!!

The weather today is going to be good. A bit cool but sunny and nice. A sunny sky is always good for improving my disposition. It is hard to be grouchy when it is beautiful outside.

Still no news on the business manager position here. They offered it to one of the candidates Tuesday night but they had another interview with another school so we are waiting to hear a decision. It is always a bit unnerving to have a new manager in the district. They have the ability to change the way you do business so the unknown possibility of change is always a bit unsettling.

It was a relatively uneventful day yesterday. Worked all day, came home, made dinner, watched tv and went to bed. The life of a simple man I guess.

I am supposed to teach a class tonight but I will have to wait and see if we have enough people signed up to have the class. Tuesday nights class now has 5 people signed up and I need 6 to hold class so that one is still up in the air. If I were to guess, I would put my money on not having class tonight. I am pretty much indifferent about it, I do it as a way to make a little money and provide classes for the community that they would normally have to go to Des Moines to take. If there isn't any interest, then it really isn't that big of a deal to me.

The bright side of not teaching class tonight is I get to watch "My Name is Earl" and "The Office". Always a bright side to things if you choose to look for it.

Not much else to say today. Yo Ho, Yo Ho, a boring life for me!!!

Oh! One last thing, Jessica's number in volleyball this year was 5. She is normally #7 in sports but I think 5 works better with the name of Nichols...get it? I am going to tell her she should be 5 for now on in sports.

They say a shark dies if it stops swimming, don't stop swimming Mr. Mulder!

I was part of the interview committee for a new business manager in our district. There were three committees and my committee consisted of management positions; directors and principals mostly. By the end of the day I came to the conclusion that I am either completely nuts or the lone voice of reason in a group of nuts. Chances are its me but DAMN, how some people's mind work is beyond me. For the most part I think we have a couple strong personalities and a bunch of followers. Once the strong speak, the rest step in line - except me. I am always the one that has to ask the questions of WHY or WHAT THE HELL! Oh well.

The sad thing is that I have the feeling they always want what is best for them personally instead of what is best for the school or the community. I want a new manager to be able to bring something to the table; knowleged, experience, leadership, direction, a new perspective. Anything that can help us as a district get better. Everyone else seems to want a puppet. Someone that is not that smart or not the experienced so they can push them into doing things as we have always done them, right or wrong. It makes me a bit discouraged and sad for our school.

Enough of that.

The weather was pretty nice yesterday (Except I had to scrape my car windows for the first time this Fall). It is supposed to be nice the rest of the week as well. I have two meetings today and a bunch of little things I need to get done that have been kind of put off. I NEED to get them done today.

I was contacted by Des Moines Area Community College yesterday and we are working on me being able to teach computer classes for DMACC here in Perry. You have to have certain qualifications if you don't have a Masters Degree. They wanted my resume so I sent that to them yesterday. Hopefully it works out and I can make some money teaching college classes.

I really felt like crap last night. I think I am getting a bad cold. My throat is sore and I had a headache and kind of a quezzy stomach. I ended up going to bed at 7:30, slept until 11:00, stayed away in bed until about 1 and then back to sleep until now. I hate having a sore throat and it is not going away.

We have a break between sports right now. Basketball doesn't officially start until November but they start shoot arounds next week. This week, both kids are home right after school which is a first in a long time. Jess will be stir crazy by the end of the week for sure.

Well, I am off to start Hump Day!

Tuesday - Back on deathwatch!

So Monday ended up sucking after all. The weather was gloomy. The vendor I had come in to do the work was slow and unprepared. We ended up only doing about half of what needed to get done and working late to do that. I got a call from the tech person that works for me at the high school and she wont be in today. I am on the interview committee for a new business manager so Nancy has to do some work at the high school. She didn't take that well and was very grouchy.

All in all, Monday came through and sucked like it is supposed to.

The volleyball team lost last night so the season is over. Jess played well. They won the first game and she had 4 or 5 blocks and scored the last two point of the game on blocks to win it. After that, the team fell apart and we couldn't return a serve or get a serve over to save our lives. It was embarassingto watch them end the season like that. They lost the next three games.

School is back in session today. I have mixed emotions about being on the interview committee. I want to be part of the selection because my department works pretty closely with the business office but the timing is not good for me to be out of the office for a day. I should be back in the office by 2:30 or 3 but it still is day away from all the work I need to do.

I also need to check to see how many people I have signed up for my computer classes. I am teaching two classes starting this week. Tuesday is the Internet and Thursday is Office Apps. If I have 6 or more I will have class. Less than that and I don't have enough to get paid so we cancel. I will not know until later today if I am teaching tonight or not.

Well, I am off to start my Tuesday.

What do you know...It's Monday and I don't want to kill myself!

There is no school today. A full teachers inservice day and the kids are very happy. I have a vendor coming in to do some work today and I am actually a bit excited to have this finished. It is a upgrade to our network hardware at the middle school and it will allow us to do a great deal more with security and wireless access. We are also getting new firewall and I am really looking forward to that.....the life of a geek!

The weather is going to be hit and miss today. Some rain and clouds, depending on where you live, but a possibility of sunshine as well. I think the high is supposed to be 57.

Jess has a volleyball game tonight. It is the first round of regionals. We win we move on, we lose, the season is over. It is as simple as that. The have a chance to win but it will all depend on the setter. She is senior and when they win, she sets middle where Jess and this other girl Trish play. When they lose, she sets her friends on the outside. We also will have to serve well. If they set middle and we serve well we have a real shot at winning. It not, we can start looking forward to basketball season.

We had our first co-ed volleyball game last night. We played a historically weak team and got beat once. We won 2 games to 1 but we should have swept them. I was a bit tenative going in because I am out of shape and haven't spiked a ball in a year. As we warmed up, I didn't practice spiking becuase I didn't feel in rhythm. In the game, the first set I had for a spike, I whiffed the ball competely!!! Once that was out of my system I got on track and did better but it was a bit embarassing to miss. Either my arms have shrunk or I can't jump as high as I think I can...lol

The huskers still stink but at least the Broncos won. My football season has not been a good one and it kind of puts a damper on the fall festivities. As things are going now, it probably wouldn't hurt anything if Callahan and Cosgrove were fired now. They are going to be lucky to win any more games and they just say the same thing each week...."We have to just keep trying to get better." Whatever!

Oh! I found out Friday that Barack Obama is going to be in Perry Saturday. He is going to be speaking at the high school. I am going to take the kids, even if they don't want to go, because it will be a good experience for them. Last election we had George W here and Al Gore. It is kind of cool to have presidential candidates come to Perry.