Stephen King

Cow looks like my cat!

Driving a lot for my job could get very boring and mind numbing. I have found that listening to audio books helps to pass the time. Yesterday I drove 6 hours and today I drove 5 hours and during that time I have been listening to a Stephen King book, Duma Key. (The pictures I took today are at http://www.flickr.com/photos/grtsct/sets/72157632651533905/. ) The beginning of the book was very boring. After the first disk I realized I had made a mistake and decided I should take the audio book back to the library and get another. I was on the road and didn't get radio reception so I was stuck with the Stephen King book. I have read many books by him and realized that his books don't start out like Tom Clancy books.

My cats look like a cow

Tom Clancy books start out with action and the action continues throughout the book. Stephen King books start out slow, set up the characters and then the story starts. The story gets intricate and when you think you know what the story is it changes to another story. This audio book is great, it feels like there are three or four stories in the one book, and when you think you understand the plot it gets changed with more twists and deaths. Stephen King is a master storyteller. The changes in his plots are smooth and make the reader (listener) a little addicted to book. In the past 2 days I stayed in my car twice to hear more of the book when I got to my destination. Go Stephen King!!

Where did this come from?

I'm a Republican that doesn't agree with the Republican Party

Natural camouflage, 2 birds

My kids used to ask me what the difference was between Democrats and Republicans. I used to say the Republicans wanted less government and the Democrats wanted more government. That is a very simple way to state it, but I still believe it. If they asked me what the difference is between the Democrat Party and the Republican Party I would say the Democrat Party wants Democrats to be the majority party and the Republicans want the Republicans to be the majority party. In other words there is no difference. Each party will say something, and if the other party agrees with them they will change their mind.

Gateway to the Redwoods

When George W. Bush first became president I was excited because the government was finally talking about immigration reform. The first thing the second President Bush started talking about was strengthening the border patrol then giving the illegal aliens a way to get citizenship. This included learning English, somehow paying fines for being here illegally, and learning English. I even decided to try to open an English as a Second Language school so I could get government contracts to teach these new citizens.  Then 9/11occured and the government had only one priority and forgot all other problems in America.

Dried flowers in the winter

This week President Obama came out with the exact same plan to deal with immigration reform and the Republican Party complained it wasn't fair to the aliens that came here legally. What changed from before? It is almost the same plan, but the Republican Party can agree with it because a Democratic president came up with the plan! I can't believe an important issue as this can be ignored by half the lawmakers because they want the other party to look bad. I can't believe one of the two major parties in this country can't agree with the other party on anything.

This is not the only time a disagreement like this causes the government to stall. For as long as I can remember many members of the Republican Party have advocated for all young people to give 2 years to the country. They could join the military, work in schools, train the homeless, clean streets, or work in National Parks. It was said that if young people would serve the country for a couple of years there would be more pride in being an American and people would learn to understand other points of view. The Democrats always disagreed with this proposal because people should not be forced to do things. When President Obama became president he suggested the same plan and the Republican Party said he was trying to build his own "Army" so it was a bad idea!

The only reason the Republican Party is doing this is because there is a Democrat president. When there was a Republican president the Democrats complained about the war an said we should just leave, and then a Democrat president did the same thing the Republican president did and the Republicans are complaining and saying we should just pull out. STOP! Quit worrying about which party is in power and START doing things that are important to the country!

Massage from the inside!

Grand Canyon

For the last 10 years I have had a problem with my feet. about 4 times a year my foot or knee hurts so much I haven't been able to walk. For a few years I didn't have medical insurance so I couldn't go to a doctor about it. Once I did they couldn't really see what the problem was.

Angels in Vegas

What was finally determined was I had tendonitis. Where the tendon goes into the heel was swollen. I got some medicine to reduce the swelling and then my foot got better. It usually was 3 or 4 days of using the pills and then another week or so until all the pain went away. I don't like taking pills, I am afraid they are doing something to me besides what they are intended for. In fact, I never understand why people like taking drugs, they loose their mind and are not really themselves, but then again maybe they just don't like being themselves! All of last year I didn't have problems with my foot. I think it was because I kept my tendon stretched because of all the running I did.

Flying the Gay Rights Flag in San Francisco

I hadn't run for about 2 weeks and then I started feeling my right foot hurt. I tried taking my pills, but they didn't help so I stopped. The pain go so bad I couldn't put any weight on my foot. I had to crawl around the house and hated going outside. I realized I was making the pain worse with all the driving I was doing because where my right foot rested while pushing the gas pedal was exactly the place that was swollen. I also realized my dress shoes were too tight and making the problem worse. I used a pillow under my foot while I drove and wore a sandal on my right foot. I started taking my pills again and after 3 days I found the swelling was going down.

River in northern California

A friend of mine gave me a foot massage to help with the swelling and the pain went down for a while. It was back within an hour. After another couple of days I tried something different. Even though I was limping I struggled into the gym. I did the elliptical for 2 miles. I thought of it as massaging my foot from the inside rather than from the outside like a masseuse. I found that when I exercised it helped my foot heal more than being massaged on the outside. When I am hurting I need to do more exercise rather than letting it rest. From now on I will not exercise to loose weight, I will exercise so my foot doesn't hurt me again!!

January TESL class

January 2013 in Berkeley

Today I finished my first TESL class of 2013. I teach 3 weekends, 10 hours on Saturday and Sunday. This month's class was in Berkeley. This was the first time I taught a class in this hotel. I didn't like the room they put us in because it was long and narrow like a bowling alley. I like having the desks in a U shape because I want to teach them the advantages of having their class set up that way.

Watching Drew teach from the back.

The people in the hotel were great and treated us nicely.

Sheila teaching Sam table manners.

Like every class this one had it's own personality. We had 2 couples that are planning on teaching in other countries together. We had 2 Koreans, like I often have, that were sisters trying to improve their English. There was a girl that is a nurse in Japan and she is looking to open a small school over there. There were two guys in the class and will graduate soon and want to go to the countries they studies about, China and Russia.

Ken and Liana discussing occupations.

There was a girl from Mexico that will be going back next month and will combine her Art background with teaching English and open a school. One man was in his 50s and wanted to change his career. One woman was changing her career and going to India to see if she could make a difference in people's lives. One man is a chef and his wife is from Peru so they will move there and he will teach English if he can't get work as a chef. Another girl love to dance, especially Salsa, so she wanted to go teach in Brazil. One woman presently works in a college and enjoys that environment so she wants to teach in a college overseas. She wants to go to Taiwan with her partner because, as she says, "Taiwan is more queer friendly".

You can't learn sitting at your desks all the time.

This was a fun class and they got close quickly.  They had fun and that meant I had fun too. I look forward to my next class starting. I have one weekend off and then I start again in San Francisco.

Driving too much

2450 miles in 2 weeks

Have you ever walked so much your feet hurt? Have you ever played video games so much your thumbs hurt? Have you ever had so much to drink your elbow hurts? My job is driving around Northern California. I drive long distances, some people equate my job to a long haul trucker. In this week and next I will drive 2450 miles from Oregon to Fresno, from the coast to almost Nevada. I don't mind it, my job is great! I listen to audio books (I have finished 4 books this week) and stop and take pictures of the beautiful State I live.

Mt. Shasta

In one year I have put over 40,000 miles on my work car. I have been in one accident, I literally ran into a telephone pole (but that is another story). One thing I have recently noticed is the palms of my hands are sore. I thought it was strange until I realized it was sore in the places I had my hands on the wheel when I drove.

California even has rest stops to smoke pot

I wonder if I can get Workmen's Compensation for that! I am doing my job and have a work injury because they provide me with a car that isn't designed to drive long distances. I'm really joking about that because I think I would be told to wear gloves to prevent it. I also don't have to volunteer to drive so much and can sit in my office and call people instead of visiting the schools. I can't imagine being confined like that, always sitting in an office and waiting for something to happen, rather than going out and making something happen.

Win - Win situations

Jiyoung teaching a class to native speakers!

On the weekends I teach a certification class to people that want to teach English in other countries. I have been doing this for 6 years and I think I do a pretty good job preparing my students to live and teach overseas. Each month I teach I try to find actual ESL students for the people that take my class to practice.

March 2010 class

The way this class is designed is I am supposed to tell people to teach,

Dong helping my student understand how ESL students think

but not necessarily give them practical experience. It is like the old movie, The Music Man where the guy sells them instruments and tells them how to play, but they never pick up their instruments and actually play. When I teach them how to teach they don't really learn it until they get out of their seats and actually teach a class.

showing off game pieces teaching brought

I spend a couple of hours a month trying to find people that are in the area to learn English and will volunteer to be a student for my student teachers. I had one friend from China that was living in the US to do computer work. He was a computer wizard and wanted to improve his English. Dong was in the USA for six months and he attended six of my classes. He would attend all six days for the full ten hours. He helped my students understand how people in China learn English and how they could improve their teaching style. Many of my students owe him a lot for his openness and willingness to share.

My daughter, Lindsey took my class in Aug 2011

One girl from Korea came to one month of classes and attended every class like Dong did. She really became part of the class so much that on the last day of class she taught a class herself and the class had prepared a certificate for her just like their certificates. She gave a class on how to write our names in Korean and my students learned something very interesting. Imagine a person coming to another country to learn their language and then teaching a class in the new language to native speakers. Jiyoung was fantastic!
I once had a married couple from Russia that came to many classes. They were very helpful in helping my students understand about teaching in Eastern Europe. It was nice to have someone from another region than Asia. I also have had a few of my old ESL students from Mexico that have attended many of my classes.

One student taught a class about reptiles

All of these people were heroes to me and my students. They all attended hoping to meet Americans and learn a little English and American culture. They were very thankful to me that I "allowed" them to attend my class. They thought the chance to attend my class was a "win" for them because they learned so much and had a lot of fun. They learned that English isn't a school subject, but just a way to communicate. My students couldn't thank the ESL students enough for helping them learn how to teach better. Every time I had an ESL student attend one of my classes it became a better class. One of the biggest complaints of the program I teach for is that the students don't get practical experience, so the "extra students I bring in helps with that weakness. My student "win" having these helpful people join them!

November 2009 class

Driving California on US 101

Morning in the mountains

Arcata US 101

Yesterday I woke up in Arcata, California and worked on Hoopa Valley Indian Reservation for an hour then I had to drive to Paso Robles to work the next day. This is a 9 hour drive down US 101 in California.

Through one of the few Redwood Forests

Largest and oldest trees in the world

Sometimes we forget how big California is. Highway 101 is the length of the state, from Oregon to Los Angeles. This highway goes through small towns and big cities, not around them. After Arcata I drove through the "big city" or Eureka, population 27,200.

Rocks next to the highway

Highway goes down to 2 lanes

After Eureka the highway goes through on of the few redwood forests in the world. Huge trees on both sides of the road. At some places the road narrows to only 2 lanes, 1 lane each direction. Hours of driving through huge trees and small towns. Then you get into the area where all the trees are gone.

Trees turn into pasture lands

Cows are cool

Further south you get out of the trees and there are a lot of cows and vineyards. There are still not many cities or towns in the area and then you get to Willits, which calls itself "the Gateway to the Redwoods" (coming from the other way).

sign over Highway 101

Driving into wine country

After Willits (3 hours of driving) I get to Ukiah and then start driving through miles of vineyards. This is winter so the vines are just woody stumps. Some people were working in the fields pruning the vines. It was raining all day so it wasn't as pretty as it could be, but is was a pretty and calm drive.

Many miles of vineyards

Marin county has many open spaces

Getting into the famous Marin County there were more cities and larger populations. The closer I get to the Golden Gate Bridge, which is US 101 there are more and more cities. The rain was finally gone and the drive was getting better. I decided not to go over the Golden Gate Bridge.

End of the open area

Driving over the Richmond Bridge

I got to San Francisco at 4pm and if I continued going down 101 I would have to drive through downtown San Francisco. Instead I went over the Richmond Bridge and went down I880 around Oakland and down the east side of the bay.

A California Mission

Long drive in central California

By the time I got through the San Francisco Bay Area it was dark and I had another 3 hours to drive. I decided to drive to King City and spend the night there. It was a long dark drive and I got there around 8pm.

US101 has bells from SF south every mile

Oil Fields

The next day there was no rain. It hadn't gotten down that far south, yet. I finished driving to Paso Robles and worked for an hour in the morning and then started my drive home. I love this drive because it is open and through fields.

Salinas River has another river under it

Train through the central coast

There is much diversity in this area. From oil wells and river valleys to lettuce fields and vineyards. The speed limit is 70 miles per hour, when I was in college I used to drive this same road and the speed limit was only 55 miles per hour. I remember getting a ticket for going 65.

Rain in the mountains

Beautiful clouds over the fields

Paso Robles then King City and Greenfield and then Salinas, if those town sound familiar they might be mentioned in books by John Steinbeck. He lived in the area and wrote many books based in this area. going up highway 101 you even drive past the Steinbeck Museum.

Gilroy grows garlic for the world

I loved the clouds

I finally got home around 5pm and it was nice. 1000 miles and 19 hours of driving in 3 days round trip from Sunnyvale, CA to Hoopa, CA then to Paso Robles, CA then back to Sunnyvale, CA. Glad to be home!!