It is Day 77 of Confinement

Posted on May 30, 2020 by Richard Koerner

This is typical of the circus of a house I inhabit: Lucky, our granddog, stayed overnight. The grandgirls ended up putting panties on him. Lucky didn’t care.

It is day seventy-five of Confinement and the weather is still hot. It is Thursday and it has been warm for days. Hot and humid it is in a typical Chicago way, and the air conditioning is on.

Each day, I seem to manage to pull a weed here and a weed there, and I have gone on the continued attack on the poison ivy on the northwest corner of the house. Mind you, I would so love to throw a little of that south into malbor’s yard. So far, the devil within me is still under wraps.

Today I did some pond work, taking the pond pump and putting it back together properly, it appears that there was a gasket misplaced and it was spewing water out of one of the connections. We have had such heavy downpours and rain that I am still unhappy to say that it is cloudy.
I cleaned out the little filter/aerator that I have not been using of late. I re-installed it in the pond.

I also went into the playhouse, did a quick clean up, and left. It makes me sad that despite all of the heavy playing of our two granddaughters, that they will not spend time in the house. Actually, they will not even go near the house.

At the end of the day, I pulled out a peanut butter jar that I have with mineral spirits in…I use it (as I did when I was a kid) to clean off brushes that I use oil base paint with. The beauty of it is that you can use and reuse it as the paint that initially clouds the liquid, sinks to the bottom. I actually used this paint to put on the leaves of my friend, poison ivy. I took an old brush, put on my high garden boots, and headed out to the northwest corner of the house. I painted the emerging poison ivy wherever I saw it. In total, I think I got about twenty plants. By the end of the day, they were severely wilting. I am going to keep after them as it is clear that my less aggressive work of my vinegar solution was taking too long. The biggest issue is that it is growing among plants (Snow on the Mountain), that have a three leaf configuration. As I read, I have found that it is known to be a very invasive plant that is actually banned for sale in several New England states. Besides being called Snow on the Mountain, it is called called Bishop’s Weed, Goutweed, and its formal name is Aegopodium podagraria. Truly, I don’t mind it, it is self contained in the beds despite trying to get into the lawn. When it does get in the lawn, mowing keeps it at bay. It has been there since we moved into this house in 1987.

My war continues…a better war than that of the devisive situation within our country, right?

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Day 76 of confinement: thoughts of Snow on the Mountain and Poison Ivy

Posted on May 29, 2020 by Richard Koerner

Look carefully in the middle to see one of the, least affected by my mineral spirit wash, poison ivy plants.

Here is the Snow on the Mountain (I have two varieties).

It is day seventy-five of Confinement and the weather is still hot. It is Thursday and it has been warm for days. Hot and humid it is in a typical Chicago way, and the air conditioning is on.

Each day, I seem to manage to pull a weed here and a weed there, and I have gone on the continued attack on the poison ivy on the northwest corner of the house. Mind you, I would so love to throw a little of that south into malbor’s yard. So far, the devil within me is still under wraps.

Today I did some pond work, taking the pond pump and putting it back together properly, it appears that there was a gasket misplaced and it was spewing water out of one of the connections. We have had such heavy downpours and rain that I am still unhappy to say that it is cloudy.
I cleaned out the little filter/aerator that I have not been using of late.

I also went into the playhouse, did a quick clean up, and left. It makes me sad that despite all of the heavy playing of our two granddaughters, that they will not spend time in the house.

At the end of the day, I pulled out a peanut butter jar that I have with mineral spirits in…I use it (as I did when I was a kid) to clean off brushes that I use oil base paint with. The beauty of it is that you can use and reuse it as the paint that initially clouds the liquid, sinks to the bottom. I actually used this paint to put on the leaves of my friend, poison ivy. I took an old brush, put on my high garden boots, and headed out to the northwest corner of the house. I painted the emerging poison ivy wherever I saw it. In total, I think I got about twenty plants. By the end of the day, they were severely wilting. I am going to keep after them as it is clear that my less aggressive work of my vinegar solution was taking too long. The flower bed where it is found is very hard to grow anything in as it is very dry and only gets the sun in the late afternoon. Many plants have died there over the years: boxwood, azaleas, and others. I got desperate and planted ivy, a mistake, which I have pulled out but have left between our house and the neighbor’s as at least there is a ground covering. The biggest issue is that it is growing among plants (Snow on the Mountain) that have a three leaf configuration. As I read, I have found that it is a very invasive plant that is actually banned for sale in several New England states. Besides being called Snow on the Mountain, it is called called Bishop’s Weed, Goutweed, and its formal name is Aegopodium podagraria. Truly, I don’t mind it, it is self contained in the beds despite trying to get into the lawn. When it does get in the lawn, mowing keeps it at bay. It has been there since we moved into this house in 1987.

My war continues…a better war than that of the devisive situation within our country, right?

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Success stories that make me happy

Posted on May 28, 2020 by Richard Koerner

Lincoln, AKA Rincon, at his chipmunk watch in the back yard. He is a way more effective chipmunk chaser than his Border collie counterpart.

Once in a while, you have one of those great stories of students, students encountered when they were in your class and have a story.

Just a few years ago, I had a student in my online French course at Oakton who was pushing forty years old. He told me the story of his educational experiences while in high school. He found the experience to be less than fun and actually unpleasant.

While a student in my class, he was working fulltime in Technology at a local major, national company in Deerfield, where I live. He had decided that he was going to do a test run to see if he could complete his education. He was so turned off of education, that he had not finished his undergraduate degree.

His progress in my class was amazing. In talking to him, it was clear to me that he was extremely intelligent. It was also evident that his issues in school were not due to the fact that he was a less than proficient student. I could easily tell that he had been bored in school and acting out. It was also obvious that his intelligence had more than likely been completely intimidating to his teachers.

It made me think of several things that happened to me while teaching. I remember that some teachers were always interested in sharing their experiences with students the following year, when they ended up in my class. Some of my peers would want to sit down and get a blow by blow report of how students had performed in their class. I declined when it came time to hearing these reports as I wanted to have a chance for students to have a ‘clean slate’ when they entered my class and allow me to make a judgment, if I could even call it that. I also remember having students that drove my peers crazy. I found them delightful. It is important, in my estimate, to remember that it is likely that as a teacher that we shall have individuals in our classes who are more intelligent than we are. We just need to know how to work with them and harness their passion and expertise for the benefit of all. When I had them in class, I utilized their knowledge to further mine and the rest of the class. We all benefitted.

Anyway, Alex told me of his dreams and how he thought he would possibly talk to his widowed mom, ask for some financial help, quit his full-time job, and go to school full-time. He had a goal of undergraduate degree, master’s degree, and then his doctorate. I agreed with him that it was a great goal and that he should go with it.

Alex is a very personable, engaging individual, very interested in French, doing very well, and has a passion and desire to succeed. It made me sad that in his educational career that he had never encountered that one individual instructor who might have helped him make sense of the situation which might have allowed him to continue.

Before he completed Oakton’s curriculum, which he did quite quickly, he connected with the President of Oakton, who brought him in for a special evening meal meeting. She loved his story. How could you not?

Just the other day, I got a request on Linked In from Alex. He sent me a message. He is Phi Beta Kappa and soon to graduate from the Undergraduate program at the University of Illinois’ Chicago campus. He is still planning on going to graduate school.

My philosophy: Don’t ever judge people or think that you have enough information to categorize them. I have known way too many students who had sometimes lackluster performance, only to return to see me later with tales of great success. It is wrong to judge. Everyone has different issues; everyone matures on an individual timetable.

Communcating with Alex made my day, maybe even my year. I love stories like that.

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Android vs. Apple issues as a thought during the time of Coronavirus

Posted on May 27, 2020 by Richard Koerner

I know Apple products cost more, but there are benefits to them, certainly enough for me to have made the jump.

It is day seventy-three of Confinement, I am sitting on the patio in the over eighty degree heat that if there were not the high humidity, would be much more tolerable. This is the Chicago area, though, and this is what happens.

This brings me to a subject that I would have already broached in my blog if I had not already been busy ranting about our new routines.

Android vs. Apple…

Has anyone noticed that there are two major camps, in some respects, like the camps we have politically: Android vs. Apple.

I am going to avoid mentioning which political camp Android and Apple are, but I am going to talk turkey and be honest.

I find Apple, myself, to be wonderful. In my teaching career I started out with Apple in school, went to PC when the school switched, and then finally made a turn around due to having an iPhone and went to iPad and a MacBook. I particularly like the fact that, for example, I can have my text messages on my phone, iPad, and MacBook. I like the fact that I can send text messages (only to Apple people) using my MacBook or iPad. I made the final switch in 2013 when I bought my first Apple laptop, which I still have (that was after numerous PC laptops, the last one of which lasted less than two years). I have had very few issues, one being the trackpad pretty much dying, but I was happy with a cordless mouse, so that was okay. Recently, I realized that I need a new battery, as the battery life went from an amazing eight hours to just over an hour. In any case, my MacBook is more than great for my current needs as I have pretty much switched to iPad with a connected keyboard, making it like a pseudo-laptop. I am going to change out the battery as it is still a well functioning laptop. aEnough of this Apple talk…

Most people on Androids, seem (at least in my opinion) to be adamant in their dislike and sometimes even borderline hatred of Apple and Apple products. I get a certain amount of their disdain and dislike of higher prices, but I must tell you that in my opinion and in the way I used laptops, tablets, and phones, that the innerconnectivity is well worth the extra cash.

That being said, I am not adamant and do not say to Android users that I hate Androids and PCs and such. My question is, what makes them react so sometimes hatefully when Apple products are mentioned?

I am still not happy that I cannot send my Android people text messages from my iPad.

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Observations of several previous days from Day 73 of Confinement

Posted on May 26, 2020 by Richard Koerner

The view from the patio table. It is hot and humid and about 82 degrees Fahrenheit, 27.8 degrees Celsius.

It is day seventy-two of confinement. We all mention, when we see on television: people shaking hands, embracing, eating in restaurants, how odd it all seems. It is kind of like, ‘Remember when…’

Yes, there is the new norm. The new norm is a total change. When the Confinement started, we were set for a six week or so period of time in which we would have to have changed lives. Little did we all know that it would last this long and that it will, in fact, continue for much longer.

One wonders how it will go. Clearly, as the heat ramps up for the summer, it will probably be less of an issue. However, I am sure that it will be an issue in the fall and winter. It is certainly questionable as to when we shall have a vaccine or even truthfully understand it. Meanwhile, we shall have to practice social distancing as best we can and have our masks and gloves handy.

I just got back from walking the dogs and saw a Disaster Clean up vehicle in the driveway of the neighbors to the north (not the malbor). I also was not admitted through the front door of my house, so my first thought was that despite my having already checked out the entire house earlier (because I was opening windows), that something had happened. At our house, we had just gotten a delivery from Oberweis (during the night). I had totally forgotten about it this morning so I did not attend to it. Our son was bringing the milk in, and because it was wet from the rain and condensation from being cold in a warm atmosphere, the bottle slipped out of his hand and crashed and exploded on the threshold. Not the most auspicious way to begin the day. Thankfully, it wasn’t me, but I know how those bottles are, engineered in such a way to be heavy and difficult to carry. Why Oberweis doesn’t make a metal, clamp on handle available (even for purchase) is beyond me.

Such is life under the new norm. At least I had a bouquet of lilies of the valley that I took from a public area around a tree in the middle of the street.

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