GED Graduation Redux

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New Fun With The Conversation Group

Tommy At Work

For the past two weeks, Tommy Hensel has been helping out with the Conversation Group. Tommy is our Director of the Fine and Performing Arts Center at MVCC. He is pursuing an EFL certificate and getting some practice in with us on Saturdays. He has a lot of energy and the students are responding enthusiastically. Tommy is a Renaissance Man - He is sings, directs plays, and is food critic in his spare time. The students had a ton of questions for him and he led them through several exercises, including the one above where he got them writing restaurant critiques. In a few weeks, he will take us over to the theater and give us a guided tour. I am as excited as the students!  It is always good when we get volunteers to help with the group. Elaine was with us this week as well. Each person who interacts with the students opens new doors, new possibilities in their lives. It is fun to see them engage others - I think they are far too used to me :)  If you get a chance, check out Tommy's blog below:

https://thelocaltourist.com/blogs/tahensel

Fun With The Bounty Hunter

It is summer here and that means half-day Fridays at work. It is a nice perk, and today, for maybe the first time in my adulthood, I indulged in a Friday afternoon nap. It felt luxurious and a bit guilty, but I was dozing away when I heard someone knocking on the doors outside my apartment. As I was stirring, the knock came to my door, a bit louder than I deemed appropriate. So I got up from the couch in my skivvies and t-shirt and answered the door. I was still formulating a plan for the intruder while I was opening the door, but at the last half second I decided to go "over-under" on the unfortunate soul on the other side. I would be pleasant and affable before addressing my irritation over having my first real Friday afternoon nap ruined. When I did open the door, I was faced with an older guy with an ID hanging around his neck and what looked like a cute little holster on his belt for his pepper spray. Once again, his demeanor was a bit too cheeky for me, so I decided to have some fun.
He started off by brusquely informing me that he was something or the other cooperating with some sort of federal agency, all designed to confuse and/or impress me. He told me he was looking for someone and rattled off a name I suspected was African-American. He then asked me if I knew him. I looked at him as sheepishly as I could and told him no. I then asked if the man was African-American and he replied yes. He then asked if any of the other tenants around my apartment were Black and I responded "no, but I think there is a Black family on the other side of the unit." This irritated him and he told me that this person had to be on my side of the building. I then asked him why. He stumbled on a bit about a partial address. He was getting impatient and I was warming up. I asked if he had a photo of the guy and he replied that he did not. I then asked him how he was gonna recognize him if he came upon him. He mumbled something. Not easing up, I then asked for a description and he mumbled more. I pressed harder saying "do people normally come up to you and surrender and provide ID in your line of work?" This really irritated him. He looked at me harshly and said "look, are you sure there aren't any African-American families on this side of the building. Just as I was replying with an emphatic "no", the door next to mine (literally two feet away) opened up and a young Black woman said "can I help you." He turned towards her, then spun back around on me. I smiled and asked him if a camera crew was coming up. He looked at me quizzically and hatefully and I continued, "you know, is Dog out there somewhere? Are we gonna be on TV?" For as second I thought he was going to lunge at me, but he said something under his breath and turned to the woman. I turned back into my apartment laughing, having exacted a bit of revenge for my interrupted nap.

Theeb

I am watching Theeb on Netflix. It strikes me immediately that I know the landscape and I even recognize clusters of rocks. Those memories come at a price though. I like the themes of honor, integrity, and family. The desert can be a lovely, beautiful place and it can kill you. Much like memories I suppose.......

Watching A Few Old Friends

Today at work, Anisa, an old student came back to the program to test. She brought her two kids, Ibrahim and Noor. I used to tutor Anisa a few years ago as she couldn't attend our regular classes. She worked hard and we always had fun. Noor and Ibrahim are with me now in my office and we are trying to stay busy. It has been a few years and they have grown so much! They are spelling words and doing math problems. They are two well behaved kids - Anisa has done a good job. They are very polite and intelligent. I am running out of things to give them to do though.............

Father's Day

Today was another very good day. I started it by finishing the painting job I was doing in the early afternoon. I got a gift certificate for prime rib and a very large contribution for my favorite charity. A bit later, I went over to Kipp and Rose's house and watched the last half of the final round of the US Open. Riyad and Mohammed came over and we had barbeque then watched the NBA Finals. Got a lot done, saw some great sports with friends, heard from a lot of other friends and family, and had some great food. Can't think of a better day this decade on American soil :)

A Typical Saturday

Today has been a very typical Saturday for me. I woke up early to drink some water (3:00ish) then dozed off and on while listening to crime shows on Youtube. I got up around 7 and read for a few hours. I went to conversation group at 10 and we had a great time. Tommy Hensel, our director of our Fine and Performing Arts Center, came and participated. He is working on his certificate in EFL (English as a Foreign Language). The students really appreciated his presence and asked him all kinds of questions. We did several activities over the four hours, including a mini-lecture on golf, given that this is the greatest weekend of the year! No, not for Father's Day, but for the US Open. I didn't bore them too long, but they are excited about the idea of me bringing my clubs in (plastic balls of course) in a few weeks from now to let them whack about a bit. I always smile when I see how competitive many of the women are, particularly the Arab women. They really like to compete and have fun.
After we finished class, I went over to a friends house to help move some bedroom furniture. She was donating to another friend and I helped load it all up and we took it over to its new home. The stuff was heavy and it was hot and humid. I was glad there wasn't too much of it or that we didn't have to tote it too far. When we got it all situated, I went back to the house to do a little prep work on a ceiling I have been patching in order to paint it tomorrow. The patching didn't take long and I was home by 4:30, in time to catch nearly three hours of US Open coverage under my air conditioner. It feels good to be lazy after doing a little bit of work :)
I will break fast in about an hour or so, then maybe catch up on some Netflix shows I like. I enjoy not having any plans for a few hours. Tomorrow I will go work for three or four hours on the ceiling and some touch up, come home and watch some golf, then go over to Kipp's house for Iftar with some other friends. I enjoy my weekends as I get a little bit done and then I just goof off. I don't think I would like to laze around for two days with nothing to do. Life is good.