It’s the beginning of August. We aren’t into the hottest part of summer yet. We aren’t even at the peak of hurricane season yet. Why is this post called the end of summer? Because we are already back at school! Seriously.
A few years ago, my school district decided to go back earlier so that we could have a week off in October and then another week off in February. The February one is nice, but not as necessary in my opinion since out spring break is about a month after that. The October one however, is definitely worth going back a little early. But seriously, though. The first week in August? It’s a little depressing. I haven’t had to set my alarm in a while. I wasn’t even sure it would still work. My dogs did not understand what was going on when the alarm went off.
To add insult to injury, my car battery started acting up this week. It went dead last weekend. I though maybe I just didn’t lock it, and the emergency fan that cools the cabin in the event that you leave a kid or dog in the car (it’s a Volvo thing), ran down the battery. It hasn’t fully cooperated since then though. I took it to Auto Zone because they test batteries for free. The little guy (I say little because he is probably the same age as a lot of my students) was shocked. It registered as being good, but the sticker said that it was over 5 years old. He said he had never seen a battery that old before. (Also a Volvo thing).
It started sluggishly the past few days, and I decided that having my car not start early in the morning or after school wasn’t something I wanted to deal with. So, today, I left school for a little while, drove across town to the Volvo place and got a new battery. I know I could have gotten a replacement battery at Auto Zone or O’Reilley’s, but hello. Volvo’s batteries are guaranteed for like 5 years and cost about the same. Trust me, I’m a math teacher. I can usually count. If you pay the same amount but your battery lasts twice as long, it’s worth driving across town.
Anyway… I’m tired from waking up early again. I’m not ready for school to start. Like, actually not ready. My classroom isn’t fully set up yet. Really, I just want to be at the beach- or on a sailboat with my dogs and cats. Probably I just need a nap and possibly some coffee…
On a different subject, my niece schooled me a couple of weeks ago. Apparently doodle bugs (a.k.a. rolly pollies) are nice bugs. You can pet them. But the red ones are not nice. They sting you if you try to pet them. (She means wasps). She told all about how big her thumb got when she tried to pet one of the red bugs. You’re welcome for this public service announcement.
invisiblecompass 