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CPS Removes Air Conditioning from HOT Year Round Schools' Classes

I can't even begin to wrap my head around this decision:

CHICAGO (CBS) ― A dozen Chicago public schools spending their first summer on the year-round calendar have suddenly lost their air conditioners.

Classes at the schools started on August 4. At that time every classroom at Earle Elementary and 11 other schools had an air conditioning unit. As of Monday morning, none of the classroom has air conditioning. There are big fans inside the classrooms because there are now big holes where the 19 industrial air conditioning units used to be mounted.

Those schools are: Banneker, Brownell, Dixon, Fiske, Hinton, Reavis, Revere, Yale, Woods, Whistler and Wentworth.

The issue, according to CPS Chief Officer of School Coordination Jackie Anderson, is funding. The units were leased and it cost the district more than $1 million.

Click here for the full story and video.

All of these schools are on the SOUTH SIDE of Chicago.  So, schools are switched to the year round calendar, it's HOT in these classrooms, and because of a lease that they KNEW would expire did indeed expire, these kid's and teachers now have to suffer?

I worked in a year round school my entire CPS career.  I know personally how vital those air conditioners are and how miserable the classrooms are without them.  This stupid decision really shows the lack of caring some have for our students, especially since it's not their fault.  And again, all on the SOUTH SIDE.  Just saying.

Gun-Toting Teachers on 1st Day of Class....Yikes?

HARROLD, Texas (AP) — A tiny Texas district will allow teachers and staff members to carry concealed firearms to deter and protect against school shootings when classes begin this month, provided the gun-toting employees follow certain requirements.

The small community of Harrold in north Texas is a 30-minute drive from the Wilbarger County Sheriff's Office, leaving students and teachers without protection, said David Thweatt, superintendent of the Harrold Independent School District. The lone campus of the 110-student district sits near a heavily traveled highway, which could make it a target, he argued.

Full AP story here.

So....if 4th grader Johnny talks back to you and gets in your face, do you pull out your gun and show him you're in charge?  I mean, every teacher is NOT stable and won't follow the rules on what "concealment" means.  It's a scary trend this world is coming to.

Yikes.

Having trouble opening plastic packages? Chris Pirillo does.

I'm a big Chris Pirillo fan.  So big that I'm spending well over 1K to go to his conference next week in Seattle (I'll blog more about it later).  However, as popular as he is on the net, he can't do one thing...open plastic packages.  Check out this hilarious video below.  No commentary, just pure frustration.

"Hello, My name is Lamarr, and I'm a spendaholic." ("Hi Lamarr!")

 

According to this article on MSN Money, I just may be.  The title is: "Why Generation Y is broke.  20- and 30-somethings are in a financial mess. Is it because we're dumb, arrogant or simply uneducated?"

It was an interesting read.  I admit that in my early 20's I was HORRIBLE with money.  No concept of saving, lazy about paying bills that I made, repo'd car, etc.  No fault of my mom; she always told me to save, to pay myself first, etc, long before books were written saying the same thing.  It was only a few years ago as I was preparing to leave my job that I got my act together.  Now, if I don't have the money, I don't buy it.  I use credit ONLY to build my score; everything gets paid in 30 days that I put on cards so no interest.

However, I know many in my age group (Gen Y) that are doing horrible with money.  I admit that I could be saving in a more disciplined way, but some that I know don't save at all. 

How are you with money?  Make sure you take the "Will you end up in your dad's basement?" quiz on the site.  I only answered 3 correctly: I hope the basement doesn't flood in the rainy season...

 Read more >>   Options >>  

"Would you like BBQ meat with your Roach sandwich, Sir?"

A call to 311 to report a cockroach in a sandwich led to the closure Wednesday of a Near North Side barbecue restaurant.

Hecky's of Chicago at 1234 N. Halsted St. was shut down Wednesday afternoon when city health inspectors discovered evidence of a cockroach infestation, according to a release from the Chicago Department of Public Health.

Hecky's was also cited for a wastewater backup in a three-compartment sink, a faulty "hot holding" unit that was failing to keep cooked food at 140 degrees or above, and cooked food held at unsafe temperatures (15 pounds of ribs and 15 pounds of chicken at 110 degrees, which were discarded), the release said.

The inspection was triggered by a customer who called 311 to complain of finding a cockroach in his sandwich, the release said.

Read the full story here.

See, here's my take on this.  Why close them down?  If the roaches thought the sandwich was THAT good, it must be a great place to eat! Right?  Anyone with me here?  Hello???

Hey Schools! Lock Down your Computers NOW! For Free!

While working for the Chicago Public Schools, I installed a program called DeepFreeze on over 100 of our desktops and laptops that the children used.  A child would download spyware, change the background to a picture of a rap star, infect the computer with a virus, delete the printers....no problem.  The teacher simply rebooted the computer, and poof!  It went back to its original state.  It is great for schools, but very hard to install, and the license cost the district a lot of money.

While listening to Leo Laporte's Tech Guy podcast, I overheard him recommend a FREE software called SteadyState by Microsoft.  It's pretty much like DeepFreeze except that...it's free. 

Not only is it like a big UNDO button, but also, it has great user features. For example, if you have inexperienced users (i.e., students) on the computer, you can simplify the interface.  You can set it to where they don't see the control panel or other advanced options.  You can even set up basic icons on the desktop so that they can just click those to access the most used programs and files. You can restrict access to sensitive files and sections of the computer as well.  You can set this for multiple computers very quickly.

Check out the demo on the main page for more info, and I invite you to try it out.  It works for all Windows environments including Vista.  I highly recommend this for schools, libraries, and other public places where computers are regularly shared!

Over 800 Pics Chess Added to Flickr

I've added over 800 pics in my collection to my Flickr account.  These all used to be posted on the web, but when I shut down the chess websites they lost their home.  Now, I'm bringing them back for those families and chess players/coaches who'd like to see their pics.  Feel free to add comments, copy them, etc.  I plan on taking a lot more this coming school year with the DLSR camera I have; should make for some great memories for you all interested in them.  Enjoy!

"I'll take Honesty for $35, Alex."

I visited my local Sam's Club today to shop massively (NO food in the house).  I stopped by the Member Services desk to get a card for my grandmother.  I have a business membership there, and I assumed that I could get a 2nd card at no charge (so I thought when I read the policy online). 

The lady at the desk informed me that the complimentary card was only for people who lived in your household.  I explained that I'm a business member, but she showed me the policy for business members, and she was right.  She stated that my grandmother can come in to get a card under my business for $35 if I like, but I told her she couldn't come in at this time, so I'll just pay the $35.

She then looked at me and asked, "Does your grandmother live with you?  If she does, you can get the card free."  I looked back and her and said, "I like to be honest, and so, no, she doesn't.  I'll pay the fee."

She said, "Well, because you were honest, here's a comp card.  Give this to your grandmother and when she comes in she can get her free card, as long as you stay a member."  I was very thankful.  I believe her question to me was a test to see if I would lie over $35.  It wasn't worth it.  It's never worth it.

I firmly believe that when you do right, good things will come to you, if not right away, very soon in the future.  I happen to like instant gratification, though.  :)

Misconceptions about Windows Vista Unraveled

I'm going to keep this simple, but I will say this: People can be so stupid sometimes. They hear something, and instead of investigating for themselves, they jump on the negative bandwagon, and this short Microsoft undercover video proves it. Click here and watch the video: amazing.

I'm Sick of all the Instant Messaging Programs! I've Settled on 2

AOL Instant Messenger (AIM)
Yahoo Messenger
Windows Live Messenger (formerly MSN)
Google Talk
ICQ
Skype

These were all of the instant messengers I had. Fortunately, I was using a program called Trillian to manage all at once (except Skype, can't be added), but it was a little quirky sometimes.  It simply became too hard to tell someone which messenger to contact me on.  Plus, I had like 2 friends left on AIM that still used it.  Back in the day that was the main messenger.  Today, the vast majority of my friends/family/business contacts are on Yahoo Messenger, and I'm gaining some business contacts on Skype.  Skype is excellent for instant messaging, but its primary focus is  internet calling and video chat, so if your friends don't have a mic and/or camera, it's not as cool.

After talking to a friend, I decided that I need to just get down to 2 clients and leave it at that.  Plus, the new Yahoo beta is very cool, and the new Skype 4.0 beta is cool as well.  With me using Trillian, I was losing out on a lot of the features offered in Yahoo that don't get ported over.

How many messengers do you have?  Do people still instant message as much, or is it mostly texting?

Connect with me!

Yahoo: lawilson2

Skype: lwilson77