Happy Friday, which is also National Breadstick Day and National Black Cat Day. I had a black cat for about a month waaayyy back when I was married to BvP and we were still in the apartment. We named him The Honorable Archduke Ferdinand Antonio [former last name], but we called him Ferdie. We adopted him from PetSmart and nursed him back to health from a cold. As soon as he felt better it was immediately evident that while he was appreciative, we were holding him back from his true calling as a feral cat. He’d attempt to bolt out of the door every time it was opened. The first time Ferdie escaped, it took 4 days of traipsing around the woods behind the apartment buildings with tuna to find him. The second time he escaped we never found him. He was a sweetheart and I hope he lived a long, healthy life on his own terms.
Yesterday, we finished a project at work that seemed to be a very simple task but turned out to require two-and-a-half months of planning and testing. Now we just have to fix bugs as they appear and confirm that the finances are running on Monday.
The knee is mending slower than I’d like, but mending nonetheless. It doesn’t feel “thick” anymore, but it’s still soft and wobbly. I have a compression brace, but I bought one that was infused with menthol oil, thyme oil and CoQ10 and when I wear it I smell like the worst herbal candle you could imagine.
This weekend I’ll be taking it easy.
Time for the Friday 5! This week’s theme is Lessons. Let’s go!
- What were your high school teachers wrong about?
That people would care what high school I came from. My school was one of the highest-ranked in the state at the time, and once I was accepted to colleges, nobody cared. - Which high school subject (or specific lesson) turned out to be more useful than you expected?
In the Freshman science class I talk about in question 3, I learned that 1 inch is about 2.5 centimeters. (2.54 to be exact.) That has been useful. Most of the other things I learned were interesting, but not useful. Nobody in my professional life is asking me to write a 5 paragraph essay or dissect a sentence or calculate the number of electrons orbiting an atom. - From which high school courses do you remember most and least?
Most: In Freshman year I took an advanced-level science class named Qualitative Physical Science. It was so very difficult and I got a D in the first marking period. No matter how much I studied or read, the highest test score I received was a 72. The teacher asked me to “get a tutor” and it would click but I chose to drop the class instead. I still regret it. I think he was correct and it would have clicked, but I was only 14 at the time and was desperate to “be good” by earning good grades. And in Junior year I took a Humanities class that was a double period and taught collaboratively by a social studies, an English, and an art teacher.
Least: I can’t remember my freshman or senior year English teachers at all. - How many of your high school classmates are you still in touch with?
About a handful. We get together every 10 years or so. - Which specific songs bring you back to specific memories of high school?
Kokomo by the Beach Boys. Anything from NKOTB’s Hangin’ Tough album. Sweet Child of Mine. Pour Some Sugar on Me. Any of Bon Jovi’s early non-country-cosplay work.
Enjoy your weekend! I’m headed to prop up the knee.
Need some more email in your life? If you’re a regular reader but forget to check in, you can subscribe to a once-a-week email with links to the week’s posts! Click here to sign up!
It is clear we are of the same age, just by the answer to the last question. I noted much the same music!!