4.0

4.0

Richard achieved a 4.0 GPA for the 3rd Quarter of this school year (his senior year!).  That means all As. Maximum Honors.

• Conceptual Physics with Lab ("Participates positively")
• Discrete Math (a college level course) - A+
• Engineering/Architectural Design ("Work quality is excellent") 
• Journalism ("Consistent good performance") - A+
• Physical Education
• Stagecraft/Technical Theater - A+

I am very proud of his efforts. What a smart kid.

I don't remember every getting a 4.0 (especially in high school).

Written Saturday May 11, 2013

Spring Awakening

Richard and I went to see this play in order to get to know this theater better since this is where he is likely going to college. He was recently accepted and so far so good.

We attended an open house here at the end of October. Richard got to talk with the head of Technical Theater. This led to a followup visit to see the black box theater. It's within driving distance of home-which is a plus. I also learned that this guy's father was a coworker of mine when I worked at HSB.

During intermission, the teacher came up to us and chatted and invited us to stay after the performance if Richard wanted to talk about the technical aspects of the show and find out more about the theater, etc. We did. Found out the building was originally constructed as an elementary school and the black box was originally the school gym.

As Richard was saying goodbye, he got some valuable tips about registering for classes for the Fall semester. We went home impressed by the show and more confident and optimistic about Richard being in this program.

Initially I was apprehensive about this play due to its adult themes even though it is a musical. I was afraid it would be a lot of PC filth. But although the show was a bit gratuitous at times, overall I was impressed by performance and intrigued by the story.  The ending didn't make any sense. So I looked it up (again) and found that the musical had been adapted from a 1906 German play. The original story made more sense to me. I think that the intent was to shock the audience out of their complacency about some deep topics. I would like to investigate the play and author further in order to get a better idea about the meaning of the play.

The nice thing about a black box theater is that all the seats are pretty good. We sat in the first row on one side. This allowed Richard to get a good view of the lights, scenery, and crew.

Written Sat May 11, 2013

Snow Update - Monday

It was warmer today, above freezing. So the snow started to melt and turn into slush. No one came to clear out the parking lot until almost noon. Instead of a front end loader, there were 3 guys with shovels and snowblower. It was slow going.

Later, a guy stopped by to check on progress and realized that the something bigger was needed. So late in the afternoon, a backhoe arrived and spent the next couple hours clearing the lot.

Initially, some of the snow was dumped next to my car. But then they realized the pile obliterated two (2) parking spots. So, they had me move my car and then moved the pile.  I think it was nice that the building owner and the property manager both showed up and were shoveling and helping. And a bunch of us were moving cars and clearing slush.

After the backhoe left, several of us were out shoveling the snow away from our cars and some of our neighbors' cars so they could get out. Still, there are several cars that are literally buried under the snow. One woman bought some rock salt and spread it out in an attempt to minimize the ice (it is supposed to go down to 31F tonight).

At the finish-this evening.

They also cleared a proper path for the front walk and did the sidewalk. Almost back to normal.