SUNDAY FUNDAY
AUGUST 21, 2022
HERE WE ARE - OVER HALFWAY THROUGH AUGUST!!!
Last week I wrote about “Back to School” - from a kid’s viewpoint. I was a college professor for 38 years - and this is my “Back to School” thoughts as a professor.
In May, I didn’t ever want to see another student. NEVER.
So, for 12 summers, I worked at Citibank’s Credit Card Processing in Sioux Falls South Dakota (with many of my alumni). I’d show up about the third week of May and get to do “real work”. One of my friends said, “It must be summer, Professor White is back!!”.
I was on different teams and different projects most summers. Sometimes I want to go back and look at the Collections processing application to see if the changes I made are still there!!! (They were written in COBOL - and if you know mainframe computing, COBOL still exists!!)
I would immerse myself in my project for the summer and forget about the academic world. I never wanted to see another student!!!
Well, about the first of July, my brain had enough downtime, and I started thinking about my teaching again. By the first of August, I was pretty much salivating to get back in the classroom. I had some new ideas and new assignments to try out. (My poor students got to hear me pontificating about working at Citibank).
The third week of August was generally faculty in-service week. We had the “state of the campus” address by the Academic Vice President, we had the back-to-school social events (generally a picnic), and the introduction of the new faculty and staff - but by Thursday I was in my office pounding my new ideas into my classes. I couldn’t wait until my students came back to campus!!!
Aside - I thought of my dentist at times. I got new classes and new students every semester. But, my dentist friend had the same old routine. He put his fingers into a saliva-filled mouth and maybe used a drill to get rid of cavities. The patient might try to talk - “ah stharnt humts” but it was just gibberish. So, I got interesting students - athletes, scholars, musicians, engineers, scientists, and artists, all eager to learn and to get great computing jobs. He got people with bad teeth and saliva!!!
*****
And, two more professorial observations:
I had been a high school teacher for seven years before becoming a professor. I think that made me a better teacher. I had professors who were so boring - and as a high school teacher, you can’t be boring!!!! With new classes each semester, I could use the same old stale jokes and stories with a new group!!!
I also had professors who had never really worked in the field. I was like that for about ten years until I started my summer “faculty internship” at Citibank. The textbook says “something”, therefore that is true!!! (Not so!!! The textbook authors don’t get out into the field much either!!!) I firmly believe that professors need to take a sabbatical to work in a real business (or do summer “faculty internships”!!!)
INTERESTING:
Can you understand this?
DAD JOKES:
What did the zero say to the eight? That belt looks good on you.
A skeleton walks into a bar and says, 'Hey, bartender. I'll have one beer and a mop.'
Where do fruits go on vacation? Pear-is!
I asked my dog what's two minus two. He said nothing.
What did Baby Corn say to Mama Corn? Where's Pop Corn?
What's the best thing about Switzerland? I don't know, but the flag is a big plus.
What does a sprinter eat before a race? Nothing, they fast!
Where do you learn to make a banana split? Sundae school.
What has more letters than the alphabet? The post office!
Dad, did you get a haircut? No, I got them all cut!
What do you call a poor Santa Claus? St. Nickel-less.
I got carded at a liquor store, and my Blockbuster card accidentally fell out. The cashier said ‘never mind’.
Where do boats go when they're sick? To the boat doc.
I don't trust those trees. They seem kind of shady.
MUSIC
Do you remember what happened this week in 1969? (Hint - over 400,000 went to a farm in New York to listen to music!!) (Second hint - it was called Woodstock!!)
Well, I've known this for years, but haven’t written about it. https://playback.fm/birthday-song lets you enter a date and it will tell you the number one song on that date. And, it is useful for finding what song was #1 on your birth date.
Well, on my birth date the number #1 was “Smoke, Smoke that Cigarette”:
Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette
Puff, puff, puff and if you smoke yourself to death
Tell St. Peter at the Golden Gate
That you hate to make him wait
But you just gotta have another cigarette
Song (and written by Tex Williams)
Try it out. What was the number 1 song when you were born?
Using that link:
August 15, 1962, the number 1 song was “Breaking up is Hard to Do”, Neil Sedaka
August 15, 1967, “Light my Fire”, the Doors
(On December 9, 1967, police arrested Doors' front man Jim Morrison as he performed onstage at the New Haven Arena. An incident that took place between Morrison and a police officer before the show led to Morrison's public arrest, making him the first rock star ever taken into custody during the middle of a performance.)
August 15, 1972, “Alone Again Naturally”, Gilbert O’Sullivan
August 15, 1977, “I just want to be your everything”, Andy Gibb
August 15, 1982, “Eye of the Tiger”, Survivor (trivia - what Movie used this song)
And with a parallel link: https://playback.fm/birthday-movie
August, 15, 1962 Kid Galahad, (with Elvis Presley)
August 15, 1967 - Born Losers
August 15, 1972 - Deliverance (what was the song from Deliverance?)
(I saw the movie in a theater and never want to see it again!!!)
August 15, 1977 - Kentucky Fried Movie
August 15, 1982 - Friday the 13th - part III
*****
NATIONAL TODAY
August 17 National Baby Boomer’s Day
August 18 - NATIONAL FAJITA DAY - August 18, 2022 - National Today
KOOL AID DAY - August 19, 2022 - National Today
INTERNATIONAL HOMELESS ANIMALS DAY - August 20, 2022 - National Today
NATIONAL SENIOR CITIZENS DAY - August 21, 2022 - National Today
“Do you have an elderly person in your life that you love and appreciate? National Senior Citizens Day, August 21, is the day to let them know how much you care and it’s an opportunity to recognize their accomplishments. In 1988, President Ronald Reagan proclaimed this holiday to raise awareness about issues that affect senior citizens and their quality of life.”
I’m “preaching to the choir”. The Bridge Brats are all seniors - and we are getting older. The old expression is “the only two sure things are death and taxes”. I’ve paid a lot of taxes - so on the horizon someplace is ‘death’!!
BE AN ANGEL DAY - August 22, 2022 - National Today
I overheard a man saying “Yes, my wife is an angel. She is always “up in the air harping about something”.
NATIONAL SPONGE CAKE DAY - August 23, 2022 - National Today
“Aching for some sponge cake baking? Break out the cake stand because August 23 is National Sponge Cake Day! This decadent dessert was first created in the mid-16th century by an Italian pastry chef for a Spanish lord. Since then, sponge cake has become a popular dessert item.
NATIONAL PEACH PIE DAY - August 24, 2022 - National Today
“National Peach Pie Day is celebrated on August 24 of every year. This is also the peak time of the peach harvest season.
August 26 Mother Teresa Birthday - National Today
I think of Mother Teresa and her work among the “poorest of the poor”. I admire her. Could I do things like she did?
INTERNATIONAL BAT NIGHT - August 27-28, 2022 - National Today
Maybe you’ve been to the Congress Bridge in Austin to see the bats come out, but my favorite bat-watching place is the Napa Auto Parts store at the intersection of I-35 Northbound frontage Road and McNeil Road. The bats live in the under the grid of the interstate highway. I think it is a lot better than the Congress Street bridge (and not as far!!)
WRAP UP
There are a few weeks left in summer - before September, back to school, back to work, back to <boring>. I hope you have some exciting things planned!! (I do!!!)
LOVE WINS!!!
Karen
August 17, 2022, ©
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