leafing through

The Department of Education is a joke. Schools are run by the states. In fact, they’re really run locally per county. This makes the DOE just a big sinkhole for federal funds. They’re like the government’s 6th toe, completely extraneous, created for social welfare. The one legitimate purpose they have that I can think of right now is to run the Free Application for Federal Student Aid program. How about just run that, do away with the other nonsense like No Child Left Behind and actually be able to give more student aid to financially struggling students or help out struggling localities?

NCLB is conceptually pretty but it runs counter to giving students a good education. The original reason was to ensure all students have a good solid foundation of the fundamentals by the time they graduate from grade 12. So how do you measure that? How do you measure anything when it comes to academics? Tests and assessments of the standardized variety of course. I remember having to take state instituted standardized tests when I was in school. One of them was for writing. What did we do that entire year to prepare for this test? Learn how to write badly. We learned the way to write to pass the test even though it was choppy, and more or less templated writing. It took me another year to unlearn that. Heck, maybe I’m still writing that way. So that’s what NCLB is, only it’s at the national level. At the end of the day, we’re left with teachers who teach exactly what the students will be tested on, how to win these particular standardized exam games. The rigidity of it stifles learning and it even hinders the nerdos. Uncle Sam has the mediocrity touch.

Despite its obvious failures the administration has reauthorized NCLB. I mean, once you give money to an agency, you can’t very well take it away! Budgets only get bigger and at the bare minimum cover at least inflation. So Republicans and small government? Maybe not.

I’ve been on a popcorn kick for at least the past month, maybe more. Practically have to have it on a daily basis. At first, I was getting the traditional bagged microwave popcorns but I’ve figured another way which is almost as easy. Pour kernel popcorn (about 2 tablespoons worth) into a microwaveable bowl with a pat of butter and salt if desired. Cover with a paper towel or you’ll have kernels flying all over the microwave. A few minutes later, voila! The larger the bowl the more unpopped kernels you’re going to get because of uneven heat distribution.

It’s perfectly crispy because the microwave dries it out unlike the air popper which I’ve had no luck with. That contraption invariably gives me chewy stick-to-your-teeth popcorn. That’s one kitchen gadget that I’ve realized, in hindsight, I could’ve done without. Not because I don’t need it, but because it functions poorly.

Although pre-packaged microwave popcorns are much more convenient, the paper bags have Teflon which can be harmful to your health. I still have it sometimes for the simplicity, but lately, I’ve found this method as a simple substitute.

This week, I’ve been attending a training course on how the Federal government classifies its occupations. Classification is basically the process of determining the occupational series (type of job) and its respective general schedule (pay). There are laws and regulations that the Office of Personnel Management enforces to provide guidance and ensure evenhandedness. Only, as with all rules, they’re subject to interpretation. Actually, subjectivity is the name of the game. In our class of 5 teams, we all read the same position descriptions and legitimately (with reasonings tied to the handbook) classified it 5 different pay levels.   Breathe easy – the variations still fall within a reasonable range.  For our sample position, one group picked GS-7, and another GS-14.  That’s about a $54k difference.  Close enough.

I woke up at 5:30 AM to try and catch a glimpse of the lunar eclipse. Camera ready, I went outside, looked for the moon and five minutes later, it was engulfed in clouds. I waited around, checked and rechecked. About thirty or so minutes later, I threw in the towel and went back to bed.

Taken at 5:25 AM

I went to Target today after work to pick up face wash. Now I’ve already mentioned my weakness for Target so there’s no need to reiterate that, and of course, it comes as no surprise that I came out of there with stuff other than face wash. It’s a sick person who can walk in and out of Target with exactly what s/he had in mind.

Since I was shopping at the optimal snacking hour, right after work, but before dinner, I came back with these:

Archer Farms has come out with a bunch more flavors of potato chips. Now here is where I exercised self-control – out of four or five new flavors, I only got two, lemon pepper and wasabi mustard. So far, I’ve only busted into the Garden Salsa flavored Sun Chips. I remember Angela recommending them to me and indeed they are easy to snarf, a bit too easy.   They have just the right combination of crispy and crunchy. Bonus: If you look at the lower right part of that bag, it says “We buy Green Energy Credits.”

As of yesterday, I’ve been at my current job for a full year. I’m still alive and still more or less sane, having only submitted one job application in this time! So that’s something to celebrate.

In this time, I’ve also come to appreciate my boss a bit more even though the work is still frustrating.  He’s good at the sketchy political game and it’s evident that the stupidity that comes out of his mouth is usually a result of his director.  Yeah the disease usually comes from upper management, no surprise there.  So ok, he doesn’t do a good job of filtering the BS from the management because he can’t.  But then, at least he’s honest about it.  Hey, if you’re going to toss crap at me, at least admit it.

I know I’ve ranted about my job and boss previously and I’m sure in the future, there’s going to be more rants but really, I’m understanding a bit more of his hardships.  I can’t believe I’m saying all of this.  I take it all back.  Everyone at work is an idiot!  There, much better. :p

My sister came up with this idea of buying and testing out different household paper products that are made with post-consumer content. In other words, they are made with paper that you threw in the recycle box. This is good because it closes the cycle in recycling. I mean, why recycle paper if you don’t actually make something of the products and purchase and use them? Where else is all of our recycled paper supposed to go?

Here are some other reasons why it’s good (printed on the back of the Seventh Generation packaging):

If every household in the U.S. replaced just one 4-pack of 400 sheet virgin fiber bathroom tissue with 100% recycled ones, we could save:

• 1,450,000 trees
• 3.7 million cubic feet of landfill space, equal to over 5,500 full garbage trucks
• 523 million gallons of water, a year’s supply for over 4,100 families of four
• and avoid 89,000 pounds of chlorinated pollution

So I bought the ones that seem to be the most convenient for me, basically, from local stores. They were: 365 (Whole Foods), Trader Joe’s, and Seventh Generation.

Trader Joe’s and Seventh Generation are both made with a minimum 80% post-consumer content; 365 only 40% minimum. None of them use chlorine bleach.

Left is TJ’s, center Seventh Generation, right 365. Notice how thin the 365 roll is? It’s loosely rolled up too.

Here’s the verdict:
365 feels rough and scratchy. I don’t plan on buying this torture device in the future. On top of that, I bought the large 24-roll pack to save on packaging and I find 8 4-roll packages inside which defeats the purpose of bulk packaging. These are also the smallest rolls with only 180 2-ply sheets per roll.

Seventh Generation is nice. I’d buy this again. It’s the most like standard bathroom tissue. It’s also the biggest roll with 400 2-ply sheets per roll.

Trader Joe’s is softer than 365 and it’s sturdy. That’s probably the one thing I’ve noticed about these products versus traditional bathroom tissue, they don’t tear as easily. Trader Joe’s is probably the strongest. I think in the future, I’m going to stick to this one because it’s the most convenient for me to buy.  I go to TJ’s fairly often.   250 2-ply sheets per roll.

On the left with the butterfly and flower prints is TJ’s, center is Seventh Generation, and right is 365. Don’t be fooled by the heart prints. They don’t love your butt.

Watched Get Over It! starring Ben Foster and Kirsten Dunst. Not sure who recommended it to me or if I saw it in a preview of another movie but for some reason, it was on my movie rental queue and they sent it to me. It’s a pretty fun movie, good to watch once, maybe twice if bored.

Basically, it’s about a high school guy who’s trying to win back his ex-girlfriend. Enter Kirsten Dunst who takes an interest in him and the plot thickens. Sisqo is also in this movie and he wasn’t too bad either. I haven’t seen Sisqo in a long time. They kept his part less talky and more funny/goofy, which was smart.

Someone brought Baskin Robbins ice cream here to welcome newcomers to our office.  Yummy, just what we need.  It’s been ridiculously hot these past few days.  Record breaking high temperatures and palpable humidity.  I mean, just stepping outside, you’re literally hit with a mass of thick air.  I haven’t felt this level of heat and humidity since the last time I visited Taiwan in the Summer.

I had a scoop of butter pecan and a scoop of chocolate chip.     

Saw a sticker on the back of a Staples truck that said: Maximum speed set to 60. It saves fuel and reduces emissions.

Smart marketing. Well it got me at least. I’ve been trying to keep my speed to 60 or below for the most part. Sometimes I go 65 when clearly I’m getting passed too much or on the downhills.

A few hypermiling tips:

• maintain the health of your vehicle (tire pressure, air filter, motor oil, all that stuff)
• slow down, and when you’re accelerating from a stop, do it slowly
• unload the junk in your trunk; keep the vehicle light
• coast when you can (I’ve found this particularly helpful during stop and go and coming to a red traffic light.  I mean, why rush to get to the car in front of you only to come to a halting stop?  Talk about going nowhere fast.)