Just a bit of whining or kveching

Things should calm down in 3 weeks but the next three weeks will be going from one class to the next I start at 8 am then get a break at 2:30 pm !!!

I gotta find a job that pays more than this for all the work I am doing. Not that I am complaining I got a good job and out here what I make goes far but still....I was looking at annual average incomes based on Education ad I saw that an average salary for someone with a MA is $84,000 ! Drag makes me feel poor. Then again my sister cannot find a place to rent in MI for under $750 and the place when has has DEA drug raids ! Yeah she was saying for $750 / month she gets the privilege of dealing with being in the Projects! And I get to live in an exclusive apartment for $625! So I do have to say that my salary is a bit more considering the purchase power. Sure food cost are higher but I really do not spend that much more on food here than I do in the states. I wonder... Anyway this is all academic as I doubt I would ever move back tot eh states plain and simple I doubt we could live as well as we do on 2 teachers salary.

M knee still hurts but I am going to try to do the hash tonight. It is funny my knee hurts a lot when I start to move from a resting position but once moving it feels fine. I am not sure. I know I should go to the Dr. but I got no time I might go down to the PI for a complete Physical over Thanksgiving. What do you think should I hash tonight or not? When I went on the cat hash my knee felt great while I was doing it.

Update on the Saipan Rumptz house

We are in Saipan and it is nice but I do not know how long I want to live in any one place anymore. I like my life of travel and the kids seem to enjoy it if we do not move to much too often. Granted we have just moved to the new apartment complex and living on Saipan is nice once again! We had lived at a very small place for most of the last 4 years. The resent was $375 and we had an AMAZING view from our place. Also we were right next to the ocean so we had a constant ocean breeze through the house. But as the rent was low our neighbors were far from the most concerned about their children and it became a VERY bad influence on Andrew. He came home hurt a few too many times doing too many stupid things to be "cool" and it was time to move. Oddly he had no problems moving and the new apartment complex has two families with kids around his age. The kids of one family are (sometimes not so sensible) home schooled Christians (white parents to mixed like my kids) and they all get along great. In fact I think my kids are the more well adjusted of the lot. We also have another set of white kids (I am not hating on my race I'm just telling it like it is) who are a bit spastic but they are good around our kids. All in all it is a nice place. It has a huge yard, I am talking a 5 acre yard, and the kids are having a blast. Andrew, and Ashley next year, goes to the local public school and is doing well in his grades and on his national test. Ashley went to a private kindergarten that was good but way to religious for my taste, they subjugated science for religion. But she did learn a lot about phonics and writing. So the kids have it good. The problem is that there is no way in heck I am sending Andrew to the local Jr. High (that would be in Fall of 2008) it is nicknamed Hopeless (by the kids and teachers)~ and teachers who work there tell me not to send my child there! So it is tempting to move off island after next year.And here is that bit....

As you know I just applied for a PhD in Special Ed. The only problem is that the program is at the University of Hawaii. But it is for a scholarship that pays for the entire program and pays for housing too. But I have not lookied into any other PhD program and am not sure that I would do a PhD in even if it were free. I mean I am not sure I want a PhD but if I did go for one do I really wnat to do it in Special Education? So itr is truly up in the air. Too bad I will have to put it off until the next year (Fall of 2008) as Tita's grad school (her MA) and her citizenship- we have to wait until she gets sworn in.I am hoping two things first that I get into the program and second that they let me put it off for a year...I did mention that I forced Tita into a MA in Education ? Yeah it is a program where the professors come out for a week or two and do the entire class in that time it is crazy for her but she gets done and does not have to move. It is not that hard and I am doing a lot of research to help her out. I do a lot of research for the classes i teach so I just help her out the best I can.

Well like I said I have the travel bug so it would be nice to move in about a year but I really do not like Hawaii, well Oahu anymore. Oahu is not as nice as people say. It is way to touristy and boring for me. I hate Waikiki and the rest of that Pearl Harbor area. The rest of the island is pretty lame as well. After living in some real island nations I have to say I would not want to live there. But I hear that the PhD program sends you to live on the smaller islands to help train the teachers in Special Education teaching methods. If that is the case it might be cool. Who knows. I might just say toss it all and go to Africa or China.

But sadly I doubt we can afford to leave Saipan. We have it good hear you can live middle on a teachers salary- I know unheard of in the mainland. Heck with Tita and I teaching we can live at the upper middle class. So I do not know if we will be leaving island anytime soon. But things are changing here - federal takeover seems imminent - the federal government just raised the minimum wage - everyone is scared that the economy which has been in the doldrums for years is going to collapse when the minimum wage increases - it is currently $3.05/hour. And then we worry that the federal government is going to get rid of all these overseas contract workers- basically dirt cheap labor. SO it is a big toss up as to what will happen in the next few ears for us if we can ride out the storm we might stay here - the pay is good. But part of me would like to see more of the world. I mean live in other parts of the world. It might have to wait until the kids are done with college. Then I Can afford to have a job that does not pay well. Right now I think of Andrew and Ashley's college education.



I am SO bad I have classes to prepare for - lots of them- and here I babel on and on

Rumptz

Great Cat Hunt

It was the textbook cartoon morning at my house. One of our cats, Mr. Paws, had been missing of the past few days and we did not know what to do. Our other cat Mr. Tuffs, was acting very strangely this morning and so I decided to ask him where his brother was~ we had watched a movie about fairies last night. So Mr. Tuffs proceeded to meow and look at me so I figured this was worth investigating. So I did! Again I asked him if he knew where his brother was and as he started to lead pausing to look back and meow I figured it was the "Timmy is in the well with a broken leg" meow that they give in Lassie. So I followed the cat Into the jungle behind my house. He ran fast and did not take into account my size in his journeys so I was much slower than him. When I was lost I would meow and wait for his response and then follow the sound. This went on for a while and I get to see parts OT the jungle behind my house like a great bamboo forest. It was truly amazing and it look very ancient but I am sure it is not that old. Alas I had lost my lead so I needed to back track to find my leader Mr. Tuffs. After backtracking for a bit I caught the sound of his voice sure that he was leading me on a trail to his brother. I headed up his and got caught by surprise when a small coconut crab came out of a coconut I was about to step on. Well I had the sound of the cat in the distance and had even caught a glimpse of him a few time when I swore I had heard the sound of our other cat. In a fever I foll wed that distant call ~ the cat has been missing for days. I was worried and so I followed with reckless abandon until I ended up in the middle of a bush surrounded by no easy or passable exits save the entrance I can in. At this point I tried futilely to find another exit before giving up and calling it the mission off. I finally found my way back near hoe when I see note placed on the eh ground by my son. He wanted me to come home to eat breakfast. Cute. So I traipse home and clean my very dirty close and body. But I had a clue as to where Mr. Paws was. So after a shower and some water I take the kids on the explore I figure he is in the grass by the road as that is my best guess to where I was in the forest. Well we traipse a long for a bit then we hear IT! But it turns out he is not in the grass or in a well with a broken leg no he is up a huge tree, which is more of his style. This is the 3 time he has gone up a tree for safety. The last two times it was up a 26 foot coconut tree in our old apartment. Those times I almost killed myself getting him down. This time I found a ladder and tried getting up the tree but was hit by a bunch of paper wasp. It is funny the sting is bad but as the stinger does not stay in like a bee it only last a few minutes and then it is back to normal. I tried the ladder on another part of the tree but never could get it high enough. And the cat would not come down to me. Right now my wife says let him learn his lesson. I am surprised as it seems like it is a much easier tree to get down from and if my knee did not hurt so much I would be able to climb a bit more to get the silly cat. As far as the journey Mr. Tuffs had taken me on ... I guess I am a sucker to listen to a cat, he just wanted to get me out in the woods so he could take advantage of me and he did!

Oddly enough summer is busy for me all the classes I sighed up for have gone! It is weird as most classes did not go this summer. but I had some good luck. I will be busy this summer but luckily the classes are short so they will be done soon.

I also had to write the following to the Saipan H3....

My son Andrew (10 be 11 in July) has been asking me to go on a hash! I am all for it the adult content is right up his alley but I need to ask you. He is pretty good. I would say he is almost at my level. He went on the Laderan-Tangke Trail and did fine he had no problems with it and I would like to take him whit me but I do not know what the rules are about kids. I do not know if he is permitted to go on the hash trust me the "adult material" is nothing new for him and I would like to encourage him to get out and exercise more. he has a bit of a belly on him ~ like me.

Well let me know the rules an what it would cost to take him along if he is permitted. He would love to go and he would be fun to have a long. he is a very sharp witted kid~ again like me. And he has a pretty good sense of things too.