It was a good six-week break. Here’s what I was doing.
School work- Despite being on ‘vacation’ I completed all 51 training tutorials that our staff was assigned. They weren’t due to be done until the end of August but I wanted that stuff out of my way. I also outlined the first book my students will be reading in the new school year, “Crush” by Gary Paulsen.
Personal Reading– For fun, I read Clint Black’s recently released autobiography, “Killin’ Time.” I learned new things including his father’s suicide and the throat surgeries Clint underwent a few years back after a bad bicycle accident. One GLARING omission- Clint gave no mention of the out of wedlock daughter he fathered back in 1990. Fact- Clint fully supported his love child financially until she turned 18 but had nothing to do with her. This now woman, Chelsea Bain, is an aspiring singer herself.
The other book I read was one that came out in 2023, “Life in the Fast Lane” which is the third Eagles biography I’ve consumed. Many of the same tales from the first two were in it but also other unknown facts. This book seemed to have less of an axe to grind than former Eagle Don Felder’s did and also “To the Limit” which was written by Marc Eliot.
Someone needs to make an unauthorized movie about the band’s long and storied history. However, the biopic idea might scare some studios because both Don Henley and the band’s mogul manager Irving Azoff are lawsuit happy.
Clint Black’s autobiography was a fast and fun read. In my radio days i got to hang with Clint a few times and always found him to be a good guy and very funny with a dry sense of humor.
I saw NO movies at the theater. Nothing interested me. I read The Odyssey in high school and am not into the giant epic style films. There are some late summer/early fall flicks I do have interest in seeing.
On the small screen I re-did my membership to Netflix and really liked the Martin Short documentary “Life is Short.” I also streamed the newly issued three-part series “The Idaho Murders: College Nightmare” on Netflix. This one has interviews with the friends and families of the young murder victims along with the police who were on the scene from that very first day when the crimes were discovered. It IS a heartbreaking watch but as I’ve said before, these kids deserve to be acknowledged. I taught high schoolers who were about to graduate and move forward with their young lives, just as these college kids were moving forward in theirs. Heck, we ALL have been that same age, (early 20’s) and can recall the dreams and expectations we hoped to make happen. Maddie Mogen, Kayla Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin never got to do that.
I also was blown away by “A Toxic Love Story” on Netflix. It’s a ninety-minute true story documentary that has more twists than you can imagine. Here I thought I’d seen it all in relationships… I was wrong!
This 3 part series is worth seeing and those 4 kids deserve our attention and respect.
I watched plenty of Cubs and White Sox games on TV and even geeked out by keeping scorecards for some of those contests.
Odds & Ends- Back in late-April I had a slight fender bender and needed to get the hood of my car repaired along with getting a new front headlight. That finally happened in early July with help from A-Z Auto Body in Villa Park. Excellent work done at a very fair price from those folks.
I got my teeth cleaned for the first time since before the pandemic. No cavities but my poor hygienist (who’s also a neighbor of mine) had some serious work to do when clearing and polishing my choppers. From now on, I’m seeing my dentist every six months with the next appointment set for January.
A former co-worker of mine was in need of a new teaching job and asked me to be a reference which I gladly did. She got the job so I may have been a small part of her landing that position, a job I know she’ll do so very well.
I also was the conduit for helping my cousin Linda get in touch with a reputable breeder of Boston Terriers and this fall she’ll get the pick of a new litter of pups. Boston Terriers are a great breed of dogs; Linda had one years ago and she is thrilled about welcoming another to her home. I could not be happier for my cousin who I love dearly.
Pool It. Of course, most of my days were spent doing early morning lap swimming and mid-day water walking with my summer family at East End Pool. 4th of July’s weekend was rained and power outage out and we lost another day due to the Canadian wildfires smoke but most other days were good. We still have 3 more weekends to enjoy at East End.
I spend so much time at East End Pool so maybe I should have my mail forwarded there.
At the midway point of my break, I started personal and professional projects that are in their infancy. More details on those will be shared in the coming months.
My Summer Break 2026 was graded a B+ and hopefully 2027’s will be even better.
NEXT BLOG– When I know, you’ll know.