For Spring break we are going to go to a couple of the local resorts instead of going off island for one week. First we are going to some place new the Nico Hotel (owned by Japan Airlines) for a few days. If we like it we might get the membership there. But it is very far from us so we might not. Then we are off to The Pacific Island Club (PIC). We had a membership at The Pacific Island Club (PIC) a year ago but did not renew it. So I want to see if we would want to get a membership again. We are going to spend 4 days there.
David, Tita, Andrew, Ashley, Mr. Tuffs, Mr. Paws and Maddie
Saturday, April 08, 2006
Kittens
We got two kittens the other day. They are cute. Brothers I hear. I do not know the difference between boy and girl kittens. I love watching them run around the house they are funny. But they only chance to do this when I am home before I get the kids. The second Ashley gets home until she goes to bed she has at least one cat in her hands. They are attacking each other as I write this.
I guess the dog (Maddie) is bummed cuz she got the boot. Well she is just staying outside while the kittens get settled. I really do not like having Maddie in the house. She has the mange. Not bad but she does. So when she comes into the house because she has ticks the size of peanuts. You see the mange makes her susceptible to attacks by other insects. So we find ticks in the house all the time. Some are small some are huge. I need to keep here out.
Andrew is doing well in school but pushing his luck sometimes when it comes to his choices. Ashley is doing well. We got her ears pierced a few weeks ago so she is becoming a little girl. She has taken to painting my toe nails. It is cute but I am worried the students do not get the joke. Tita is doing fine as well.
I guess the dog (Maddie) is bummed cuz she got the boot. Well she is just staying outside while the kittens get settled. I really do not like having Maddie in the house. She has the mange. Not bad but she does. So when she comes into the house because she has ticks the size of peanuts. You see the mange makes her susceptible to attacks by other insects. So we find ticks in the house all the time. Some are small some are huge. I need to keep here out.
Andrew is doing well in school but pushing his luck sometimes when it comes to his choices. Ashley is doing well. We got her ears pierced a few weeks ago so she is becoming a little girl. She has taken to painting my toe nails. It is cute but I am worried the students do not get the joke. Tita is doing fine as well.
Andrew
Andrew is a really cool kid! Really, I do love him to tears I just don't want to have him run down my path. I am really worried about him but at the same time I know he will do well. He is a smart kid. I had an epiphany with him during our heated discussion (not a fight) the other day; I just realized he was acting. He was just trying to do what he wants, trying to hang with his friends. I do not remember ever having homework per se when I was in school. I do not remember having to work very hard at it. I figure things are more challenging now. I know my parents were to busy with the six of us to help with homework. I also know for several of those years I was stoned out of my gourd but I got out. That is more of a testament to my tenacity than to my mental skills alone.
Again, I just do not want Andrew to have to go through the crap I had too. I hope he can see that. I know he is sure we love him and I know he is sure we are worried about him, so I figure he will not screw up too much.
Well we are off to the hotels in a few hours.
Again, I just do not want Andrew to have to go through the crap I had too. I hope he can see that. I know he is sure we love him and I know he is sure we are worried about him, so I figure he will not screw up too much.
Well we are off to the hotels in a few hours.
Saturday, April 01, 2006
Saipan
I am going to try and stick it out in Saipan as long as we can. I figure that the govt. will not be too crazy. But they are talking about a 10% pay cut for everyone next year. I cannot think this will go through. But stranger things have happened. I again am just sticking it out so Tita can get her US Citizenship. That is why I am looking into places in the states.
If things do get much worse (e.g. 10% pay cut) we will start looking. BUT I do not want to move on Tita. She is establishing here career and I do not want to up and move on her. I know how hard it is to start teaching. I do not want to ask her to try to find a job in a new place. And then there are the state exams. Even though the Praxis test is recognized by many states many have their own test. So we will more than likely stay here for a while. Even if we get the 10% cut. It is a lot more complicated now. I have to think about Tita’s career and her comfort level with finding new employment. But I might be able to mitigate that by looking for jobs for both of us. Again 10% is not going to kill us but it will make me mad. And it makes we not want to stay on island.
It is funny how life goes. I have fallen in love with my life in Saipan but originally I had come to Saipan to get some more college level teaching experience. I had planed to stay for 4 to 8 years. I had planed to get Tita’s citizenship and be on my way. But then Tita got a job and I did fall in love with the place. But it is not about how I feel it is about how well we can provide for our family's future. I do not believe any place is that important. All places have something special about them heck I was even in love with the Marshall Islands.And I have accomplished most of my goals for my stay on Saipan. Heck I even got Tita out and working again. So Who knows we might be here for a long time.
But I am thinking that we will be out of here in a year or two.
If things do get much worse (e.g. 10% pay cut) we will start looking. BUT I do not want to move on Tita. She is establishing here career and I do not want to up and move on her. I know how hard it is to start teaching. I do not want to ask her to try to find a job in a new place. And then there are the state exams. Even though the Praxis test is recognized by many states many have their own test. So we will more than likely stay here for a while. Even if we get the 10% cut. It is a lot more complicated now. I have to think about Tita’s career and her comfort level with finding new employment. But I might be able to mitigate that by looking for jobs for both of us. Again 10% is not going to kill us but it will make me mad. And it makes we not want to stay on island.
It is funny how life goes. I have fallen in love with my life in Saipan but originally I had come to Saipan to get some more college level teaching experience. I had planed to stay for 4 to 8 years. I had planed to get Tita’s citizenship and be on my way. But then Tita got a job and I did fall in love with the place. But it is not about how I feel it is about how well we can provide for our family's future. I do not believe any place is that important. All places have something special about them heck I was even in love with the Marshall Islands.And I have accomplished most of my goals for my stay on Saipan. Heck I even got Tita out and working again. So Who knows we might be here for a long time.
But I am thinking that we will be out of here in a year or two.
Cruise
4-1-06 Dad's going on a Cruise
Well my efforts have paid off my parents have decided to go on a cruise. Well not that dad can decide much now a days. Mom decided to go on a cruise with her long time friends the Dunn's. I think that is best because mom will know someone else on the cruise and have more fun that way. The Dunns have said that they have been on a cruise (if not this exact cruise) before. The cruise that they (my parents and the Dunns) are going on is organized by the Dunns church. So it should be a good time you know those Catholics are all drunkards. I should know I am one (of both). I am pretty sure they are Catholic bnut I am not positive.
Well my efforts have paid off my parents have decided to go on a cruise. Well not that dad can decide much now a days. Mom decided to go on a cruise with her long time friends the Dunn's. I think that is best because mom will know someone else on the cruise and have more fun that way. The Dunns have said that they have been on a cruise (if not this exact cruise) before. The cruise that they (my parents and the Dunns) are going on is organized by the Dunns church. So it should be a good time you know those Catholics are all drunkards. I should know I am one (of both). I am pretty sure they are Catholic bnut I am not positive.
The Debian Operating System
4-1-06
Well I finally gave up playing with the Knoppix version of Debian and put the native Debian on the system. It is amazing how much better it works. I know Knoppix is supposed to really supposed to be a Live CD and not per se an installed OS but it was my first entry into the land of Linux. Anyway Debian is great. I was playing with it last night and this morning adding programs with Apt-get - which is the easiest program in the world.
So I am bragging!!!
Debian is easy because it loads with KDE the same desktop that Knoppix uses. KDE pretty easy to use so I get my kids on it. I am worried the computer is going to become a game machine for the kids not a project computer for me.
But I want to try out other flavors of Linux and see which I like most. That if if the kids give me any time on the computer I just set up. They are loving the games. Sure they are mostly 2-d games with no real action but they love them. Although they have a free version of Civilization which I was playing last night not as good as the original but i am still addicted to it!
You have to realize I put this on Pent III at 500 Mhz with 128 MB or RAM . And it runs great! It make me wonder how it would run on a current computer? They even make a 64 bit compatible version. I do not know if the 64 bit runs in 32 or 64 though. I have heard it just runs at 32 but I am not positive.
I am being good now! I only destroy computers when I have free time. Not in the middle of the semester like before! Also I use my External 120 GB hard drive and back up frequently (well not as much as I should). I am going to try to do it every Saturday morning that way my data will be safe.
As far as Debian goes the easiest was to do install is to do a network/Internet install. You burn one 180 MB file and boot your computer from it. I am wondering now, you should be able to do it from a flash drive. I had seen the documentation for it on the Debian site but did not read it. Anyway you boot from the iso and it is easy after that. It auto detects everything. I think it is easier than setting up a Windows machine. There are some tricky questions on it if you want to tweak it but you can leave the the defaults in Debian knows how to set itself up. Then it all depends on your Internet connection. My home DSL is good so it took about 30 minutes to an hour. Again, You have to realize I put this on Pent III at 500 Mhz.
Well I finally gave up playing with the Knoppix version of Debian and put the native Debian on the system. It is amazing how much better it works. I know Knoppix is supposed to really supposed to be a Live CD and not per se an installed OS but it was my first entry into the land of Linux. Anyway Debian is great. I was playing with it last night and this morning adding programs with Apt-get - which is the easiest program in the world.
So I am bragging!!!
Debian is easy because it loads with KDE the same desktop that Knoppix uses. KDE pretty easy to use so I get my kids on it. I am worried the computer is going to become a game machine for the kids not a project computer for me.
But I want to try out other flavors of Linux and see which I like most. That if if the kids give me any time on the computer I just set up. They are loving the games. Sure they are mostly 2-d games with no real action but they love them. Although they have a free version of Civilization which I was playing last night not as good as the original but i am still addicted to it!
You have to realize I put this on Pent III at 500 Mhz with 128 MB or RAM . And it runs great! It make me wonder how it would run on a current computer? They even make a 64 bit compatible version. I do not know if the 64 bit runs in 32 or 64 though. I have heard it just runs at 32 but I am not positive.
I am being good now! I only destroy computers when I have free time. Not in the middle of the semester like before! Also I use my External 120 GB hard drive and back up frequently (well not as much as I should). I am going to try to do it every Saturday morning that way my data will be safe.
As far as Debian goes the easiest was to do install is to do a network/Internet install. You burn one 180 MB file and boot your computer from it. I am wondering now, you should be able to do it from a flash drive. I had seen the documentation for it on the Debian site but did not read it. Anyway you boot from the iso and it is easy after that. It auto detects everything. I think it is easier than setting up a Windows machine. There are some tricky questions on it if you want to tweak it but you can leave the the defaults in Debian knows how to set itself up. Then it all depends on your Internet connection. My home DSL is good so it took about 30 minutes to an hour. Again, You have to realize I put this on Pent III at 500 Mhz.
3-20-06
Well dad is going off the deep end. That is a not so nice way to say that my dad is suffering form the vagaries of cancer (that happens to be in his brain but it is not brain cancer per se) and radiation treatment. I feel bad for the man but at the same time I think the Dr. is being crazy. He is suggesting we continue chemo. What is he trying to prove? It will not make my dad better in his mental functioning and cost time and money. My parents have to drive an hour to the hospital, wait for treatment, wait to go home then drive an hour home. Mom says she does not mind but it seems ridiculous. Then you get the cost because after treatment they do a MRI at about $5,000. It just seems a waste I mean it was fin to be as aggressive as possible when he first got the disease but now that he has lost his marbles why prolong the pain. I talked to most of my siblings and they back me up on this. In the end it is my mother choice. I trust her would put my own life in her hands. If I were in the same spot I would want to be put down. I mean it. I want this to be a public record I can deal with out a lot of things but my mind is key. If I lose my marbles please put me to sleep like the dog I am.
David
Well dad is going off the deep end. That is a not so nice way to say that my dad is suffering form the vagaries of cancer (that happens to be in his brain but it is not brain cancer per se) and radiation treatment. I feel bad for the man but at the same time I think the Dr. is being crazy. He is suggesting we continue chemo. What is he trying to prove? It will not make my dad better in his mental functioning and cost time and money. My parents have to drive an hour to the hospital, wait for treatment, wait to go home then drive an hour home. Mom says she does not mind but it seems ridiculous. Then you get the cost because after treatment they do a MRI at about $5,000. It just seems a waste I mean it was fin to be as aggressive as possible when he first got the disease but now that he has lost his marbles why prolong the pain. I talked to most of my siblings and they back me up on this. In the end it is my mother choice. I trust her would put my own life in her hands. If I were in the same spot I would want to be put down. I mean it. I want this to be a public record I can deal with out a lot of things but my mind is key. If I lose my marbles please put me to sleep like the dog I am.
David
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
