Cameron Up a Tree

Cameron Up a Tree
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I took a picture I liked, cropped it, and then faded the color, and used the antique feature a bit. This is from yesterday's day trip to Wilder Ranch near Santa Cruz.

I actually took this yesterday, but I am using it for today's 365 because I took so many good ones yesterday, and I really like how this came out once I started messing with it. The original was nice too, of course.

Fun on Fern Grotto Beach

Fun on Fern Grotto Beach
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

Today, Cameron and I drove over to Wilder Ranch and hiked out to the Fern Grotto Beach. Cameron's favorite part of the day was just playing on the beach. He was great on the hike out and back too. This one really captures the essence of his enjoyment of running around in the sand, staying away from the surf as it roared and rolled in.

There's a whole set (134 pictures) from the trip on my Flickr site.

Colonial Day

Colonial Day
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

Most of my pictures from our 5th Grade's Colonial Day show students' faces, so I can't really share them here. But this one partly captures the essence of all the kids and a bunch of staff all dressed up. Here, they're listening to our music teacher and media specialist discuss the use of music and instruments during Colonial times. Meanwhile, the librarian brewed and served tea.

Boys Playing Football

Boys Playing Football
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

Before work today, I went out into the playground to find some photography subjects. Most of the pictures I attempted really did not turn out well at all. But this one was kind of fun.

No Sudden Moves

No Sudden Moves
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I am still feeling pretty rough, with lots of dry coughing and the aching that comes as a result. We were messing around with Hipstamatic, and of course, Cameron moved. But I still like this shot best of all the ones we got.

Should Be Asleep

Should Be Asleep
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

He's not really amused. So I took this one and left him to go to sleep.

The Best I Could Manage

The Best I Could Manage
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I stayed home sick from work today, and my son stayed home from school as well. I feel awful. This Hipstamatic self-portrait kind of says it all, really.

San Jose Sunset

San Jose Sunset
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I love this one. So much so, in fact, that I am borrowing it for today's 365. I'm sick and went to bed shortly after getting home from church. Been up a few hours, and now I am going to bed again VERY soon. I promise to take my camera out again tomorrow. Even if I am home sick from work!

Considering a Climb

Considering a Climb
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I took Cameron down the street to our little neighborhood park today. The weather was simply amazing, and I HAD to get out and take some pictures. Most of them have a little too much goofy in them. But I like how this one came out. He was determined to climb this tree. It didn't happen.

Spotted on my Walk

Spotted on my Walk
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I was heading out to my car for lunch and I really liked the way these flowers stood out. Tried to get a good angle to capture their beauty.

Casey Woogums

Casey Woogums
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

My friend Becki's dog Casey is at work with us today. I wub him.

Repetitive Railing

Repetitive Railing
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

This is alongside the ramp that leads up to our school's cafeteria, as seen from the library below. It just looks cool.

Cameron's Breakfast

Tried to post this to my Flickr account, but I don't think that can handle animated GIFs.

Late Night Laptop

Late Night Laptop
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

Hubby did not know he was my subject. I had to get a few snaps in because my day was so wildly busy I never even took my camera out. Now I am shattered and just need to get to bed!

Working Through My To-Do List

Working Through My To-Do List
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

Wow! Today has been a day and a half! I think I am still recovering from the wild and crazy Macworld weekend, plus I had my first and second graders today, and they always take a lot out of me.

But once I was done at work, I still had a LOT to get done.

Got my application in for Apple Distinguished Educator (fingers crossed!), stopped by the Scout Store, had dinner with my boys, did the grocery shopping, got a birthday card for my girlfriend, set up online access to my HSA account, and refilled a prescription. Now I just need to get those two blog posts uploaded that have been sitting in my files for weeks.

Mondays kind of hit me hard lately.

Hit the Bricks, Pal!

Hit the Bricks, Pal!
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

Full disclosure: this is actually from yesterday, but as days go, it had at LEAST two days worth of awesome packed into 24 short hours. So much so that I spent much of today in bed recovering. (I think I am getting a cold or something.)

Kyle did not know I was taking this picture during the Twitter Chorus at Macworld. Chris Bell and Carol Anne McGuire were talking about how to use Twitter as an educational technology tool, and they were just discussing blocking users when I saw Kyle holding his hand in this way while he worked away on something else.

Thank Goodness There Was a Sign

Thank Goodness There Was a Sign
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

While at Macworld today, at Moscone West for the big CUE all-day event, I stepped away briefly to use the restroom. On my way, I passed this.

Thank goodness there was a sign, so I did not mistake these for some kind of wall-mounted bidets. The best part? Someone I know came along (also to use the ladies' room) while I was taking this picture with my iPhone and curiously inquired as to what I was doing.

Don't Try This At Home

Don't Try This At Home
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

As I approached work this morning, the fog got really thick as we got close to school. I may or may not have taken this with my iPhone while driving. If confronted, I'll deny everything.

Blue Skies and Blue Eyes

Blue Skies and Blue Eyes
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

This is my son before school this morning. He was clowning around on the playground with my husband when we got this silly shot.

Cameron also got to hold the American flag for this morning's first and second grade flag salutes.

I Fear Things May Be Getting Out of Hand

I Fear Things May Be Getting Out of Hand
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

It occurred to me as we had to repeatedly school our son on what we meant when we said "here, bring me that remote" that perhaps it wasn't really his fault that he never brought the correct one the first time around.

Spike the Mic

Spike the Mic
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I was sitting at my desk at work today, admiring the hair on one of my 8th graders, and I realized it would look funny on top of the Snowball microphone already sitting out on my desk. A little creative angling and he didn't even notice until I showed him how the pics came out.

Food Pyramid Fun

Food Pyramid Fun
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

Here's one of my students, a second grader, searching for more clip art of food items to fill her food pyramid nutrition guide. Later, the students will type a paragraph about what the food pyramid is and how it helps us.

One thing I really like about this project is that it is one of the first in which my second graders start demonstrating some independence while repeating a series of steps to identify and locate clip art they need, insert it, change the wrapping and size, and put it into the correct part of the template diagram. After this project, they really show more confidence with a lot of what we do in the lab. It's probably at just the right time in the school year too.

On the Phone with Nanny

On the Phone with Nanny
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

My son was at work with me today, so we called my mother. He chatted away, quite the thing, and I can tell she's really noticing how much he's growing up. He just turned seven on Monday. We're in California, and she is in New Jersey, so we don't get to see each other much. But we always phone on Sundays.

Scouting Pow Wow

Scouting Pow Wow
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I spent my entire Saturday at the University of Scouting, as I am a Cub Scout leader. When I was taking some pictures (with my iPhone) of the teepee, this young man was kind enough to stop to pose. He was one of a number of young people decked out in Native American regalia as part of today's education/celebration.

One of the things I learned early in the day yesterday is that our brand-new, very small Pack (14 boys, grades 1-3) is barely a fledgling Scouting unit. There are so many huge Packs with multiple Dens at each level (Tiger, Wolf, Bear, Webelos I, Webelos II). I started to feel really isolated and discouraged. I heard about Pack Committees that consisted of a number of people, whereas I alone AM our Pack Committee right now. I heard about Cubmasters of Packs so large they did not know all the boys' names, Assistant Cubmasters, Den Leaders, Assistant Den Leaders.

We have nothing like this kind of structure. The afternoon went a little better for me and I got some real positives out of all six sessions I attended throughout the day. I came away from the entire experience feeling that I need to help each adult in our Pack find his or her special role. And EVERYONE gets a job. Now, after some work I need to get done for another responsibility of mine, I just need to make a list of adults and jobs and help each one find the perfect fit.

Where All the Cool Kids Hang Out

Where All the Cool Kids Hang Out
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I was working on testing the EyeFi card in my camera on the school network. Could not help but notice how hard our staff works to keep everyone healthy. This is next to where kids enter and exit the mini-lab of computers in our school library. Note the future president seen hanging out in a library in the picture....

Nonchalant

Nonchalant
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

They didn't know I was taking this picture. Cameron was up out of his chair and Alec was about to say something like "what are you doing?". we had just finished dinner at Pasta Pomodoro. This isn't just today's Project 365 photo because it's the only one I took today, I also like it a lot.

Fire in the Sky

Fire in the Sky
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I had only JUST uploaded yesterday's 365 pic before leaving work, so I took my camera out as I left to head home, and just started snapping pictures. The sun was close to setting, and my new camera was having trouble showing me what this would look like on its little screen.

This was the best of the pictures from the set I took on my walk out to the parking lot. I love the intensity of the orange.

The Other Side of His Sign Says "Single?"

The Other Side of His Sign Says "Single?"
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

My friend Ken and I were heading from La Jolla over to the airport so he could drop me off for my flight home. This cheerful chap stood on the corner with a sign that just said "SMILE" and in one part of the E it said "VET."

I don't know if he's homeless and looking for money or just a really happy dude. But when I looked out and smiled at him, he flipped the sign over, revealing the word "SINGLE?" I had to laugh.

The light changed, and Ken was like, "Can I drive yet?" because he knew I was taking this picture.

So, thanks Ken!

Happy Birthday, Little Man!

Happy Birthday, Little Man!
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

Today, my son turned seven. We met friends for lunch at In-N-Out Burger, and they had gotten him this huge balloon, which was so nice of them.

Today I took pictures of our family bowling, lunch at the burger joint, sunset over the mountains from the airport, and my suite and the entire hotel in La Jolla, San Diego. I've flown hundreds of miles and taken 49 pictures. This one came out the best and has the most meaning for me.

Energy Burst

Energy Burst
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I went for a walk with my husband and son after the conference I attended in Monterey. My goal was to take LOTS of pictures so I would have plenty to choose from for today's 365. I ended up really liking the colors and water droplets in this picture.

Sardine Factory Atrium

Sardine Factory Atrium
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I had dinner with some friends at the Sardine Factory last night. I took a bunch of pictures earlier today, but none of them really came close to how much I like this one. I took this from the spot where I sat for dinner. Meal was great, company was great. Tried new foods and made new friends.

Mesh and Lace

Mesh and Lace
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I was driving around, trying to find the Monterey Peninsula Airport, and I took a wrong turn. I found an adorable church I decided to stop and photograph, since I was early, and my friend's flight was delayed. When I got out of my car, I saw HUNDREDS of spider webs. They reminded me of terraced flats or something. Here's a shot I got of the detail of one of the "meshy-er" webs. The mist in the morning was perfect for bringing these masterpieces to light.

Lamentations 3:23

Lamentations 3:23
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

A former student whose mother works in our school's business office is now all grown up and she's an artist. When we came back from Christmas Break, our staff restrooms in the main building of the school had been painted. This extra gift in the ladies' room shows off some of Becca's talents. The details on the roses and thorns are lovely.

Workspace

Workspace
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

My husband and I just bought an Executive (with a capital E) office chair. He uses it during the day when I am at work (he's self-employed and does some of his work from home), and I use it once I get home. The dining room table, which resides in our living room (long story) has a special place at the end of it where the new chair stays and I sit with my laptop in the evenings now.

It's better all around than lying on the couch with the laptop literally in my lap, looking upwards at the screen, right? Tonight I am working on getting EyeFi cards working with my new Canon SD1300IS. (Hubby has the blue one, and my brown one arrived today!) So this has been my view this evening.

So I need to get back to setting up and experimenting with the EyeFi cards. This was a quick, fun diversion.

African Masks

African Masks
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

You know, a project like this 365 thing is just the thing to open my eyes to some of the fantastic things happening around my school. Last week, I had third graders jumping rope. This week, seventh grade history projects.

These are just some of the African-style masks made by our seventh graders during their World History study of Medieval Africa. Their history teacher has a number of fantastically creative projects that tie into the cultures and civilizations they study with her. They also make Adinkra cloth designs and Samurai helmets, among other things.

I went and took a bunch of pictures of the masks hanging in the hallway near her room, and I liked the composition of this shot best.

Yuletide's Last Hurrah

Yuletide's Last Hurrah
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

At the risk of having my next-door neighbors think I am stalking them, today's shot also comes from their doorstep. What can I say? It's pretty classy over there!

Their wreath is still looking fantastic, but it's on the ground next to the door right now. I cropped a shot I took, then boosted the color a bit and blurred the edges in, all using iPhoto.

Today was a bit crazy, but yesterday I took a number of shots I liked, and even a few I was proud of once I edited them a little. This was one of those.

I love Christmas. I love the music, the decor, the holiday spirit. But most of all, I love its true meaning, what it stands for, and the message of hope it brings. We live in a world that can sometimes feel completely devoid of hope. Now that my son is approaching seven, I don't know how many more years of magical Christmas seasons we'll get. But this one was wonderful for him, and for us by extension.

For my neighbors, in front of whose house I took yesterday's and today's Project 365 shots, this was their first Christmas with their baby boy. I am so happy for them. I remember that joy. Our son's first Christmas was less than a month before he turned one. We spent it in Britain. He doesn't remember it, of course. All that travel made it a little hectic. This year, we stayed home. It was quiet. We have no family nearby. And it was still okay.

So, even though there's a lot going on between now and next November (when I start celebrating and breaking out the Christmas music), I'll hold on tightly to that little remnant of Christmas spirit for as long as I can.

Pots Aplenty

Pots Aplenty
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

Before church this morning, my son and I went to get the office chair for my husband and I that we got $80 cheaper than if we had bought it yesterday when we were at OfficeMax getting some other stuff at 20% off. So after church and lunch with friends, we brought the chair home and hubby got home from work shortly thereafter.

Then it would be chair building time. Cameron was anxious to help Daddy, so I knew a task that would normally take half an hour could expand to an hour or more. For the sake of my blood pressure as an innocent bystander, I grabbed hubby's new camera and went for a walk around the neighborhood.

I took a number of pictures I like, but as I headed home I spotted some things right next door on my neighbors' steps. I took a couple of pictures of these flowers pots because I really liked their arrangement. Then, in iPhoto, I boosted the colors just a bit to make this richer.

It ended up being my best shot of the set, but a few others may make appearances in the coming week depending on how busy things get around here.

Memories Captured

Memories Captured
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

Been a bit busy today and forgot to take many pictures. But we've been working at preserving our memories lately. I found this picture of my mother and father and moved it into this frame I had gotten as a gift at some point. In the background is a multi-frame my husband's been filling with shots from our recent trips.

The picture of my parents was from a place they stopped on one of their last drives to and from California to visit us. They visited after, but only via airplane from New Jersey. My father loved driving cross-country, but as they got closer to their 70s, we convinced them that flying was safer, quicker, and easier.

Today I spoke to a neighbor about his recent loss of his mother. It brought up a lot of feelings about losing my Dad (March 28, 2008). My neighbor's mother was diagnosed with cancer in mid-November, and it destroyed her body VERY fast. She died on December 22. With my father, we had no warning (as little time as six weeks is, granted), but we also did not have to watch him deteriorate like that.

Losing a parent, even though you know that's the natural order of things, is never easy, and it's not something you ever really get over. I feel so much for my neighbors. They've had a rough year or so with losing both their dogs since November 2009 and now this crushing blow. They've been together 20 years, so she was a mother to both of them. I just keep thinking of both of them as they face some big changes ahead and try to find a way to cope.

Hey Dad, Look at THIS

Hey Dad, Look at THIS
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

This is actually from a week or two ago, when we were staying in a hotel in San Diego between Christmas and New Year. I was out sick from work yesterday and did not get a chance to take any pics or sit down and upload something. So this is going to be my pic for January 7, 2011.

What I loved about this was that it really embodies so much of what we enjoyed about our time spent in the hotel room. We faced Coronado Island and a wonderful view of the harbor. My son spent a lot of time looking through binoculars at the water and boats. We had two pairs of binoculars, so sometimes both he and my husband stood gazing out at the sailboats and occasional Navy vessels.

Airborne

Airborne
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

Okay, so I actually took this yesterday. I work at a school, and the two PE teachers had to leave early for basketball games they were coaching. I covered the last fifteen minutes of a third grade class while they were jumping rope. I took dozens of pictures, and managed to get a handful with kids mid-flight, as it were, which I cropped to give to the teachers and our yearbook advisor.

I liked the spirit of this one a lot, and the fact that you can't tell who the kids are unless you know them, due to the light and shadow. Plus, the boy who is so high off the ground had been whining to me earlier about how many turns each kid was getting. So I was glad to see him joyful instead.

Lunchtime Stroll

Lunchtime Stroll
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I went for a walk today during lunchtime. I needed to mail off my passport renewal, and I also needed to release two travel bugs (it's a geocaching thing) I've been holding onto for too long. I ended up going in search of two geocaches, and as I walked along some retention ponds, I found a great spot to sneak up on the waterfowl. You can't tell, but I took this picture through an intricate spider web.

I was kicking myself multiple times for not bringing a camera out with me. The weather was perfect: a tad chilly, but sunny and fresh. I was also using my iPhone to look up information about the geocaches I was seeking, so it was a bit cumbersome to keep switching back and forth between the geocaching app and Hipstamatic or my iPhone's default camera feature.

I think my new resolution, then, is to take a camera with me EVERYWHERE. All the more reason to pick up a little Canon SD1300 IS for myself now too.

Dining Al Fresco

Dining Al Fresco
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

The picture's description pretty much tells it all:

I went out to my car to get some money -- no, I do NOT keep cash in my car, so don't break in to it! -- and I saw my co-worker's pickup truck parked next to my vehicle. With an entire dining room set in the bed. Now, he and his wife DID recently buy a house, and I am sure there's a great, simple, boring story behind this. But he's also from Nebraska, so I call him Cornfed and give him a hard time about being kind of a redneck. Former Marine and all that.

The subtitle for this picture would have to be "Now, you just might be a redneck..."

In other news, I am telling my 7th and 8th grade students about Project 365 today and encouraging them to try it. Let's see how that goes. A bunch of them have seen my soda can and beer bottle picture already. Oh, good.

Back to School

Back to School
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I'm already worried about this 365 Project. I am beginning to realize how many days I don't actually take any pictures. And also how much time I spend each work day cooped up in my computer lab at work.

So I think I am going to need to start going on little walkies during my off periods.

New Year's Diet Elixirs

New Year's Diet Elixirs
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

So I still had $130.75 left on Target gift cards (thanks, kids!) and I decided to buy my husband a new camera. He has our first digital camera we bought just under seven years ago, shortly after our son was born. Sadly, I dropped it a few years ago. So, while it DOES take really good pictures, the screen is jacked AND the on/off situation is sketchy at best.

We picked up a soft-sided case, an 8GB SDHC card, and also a new case for his iPhone -- since that broke last week too.

Battery finally charged, so while we're both laughing away to Kathleen Madigan -- recorded on DVR when we realized her language is a tad too blue for our first grader to overhear -- I just took a few quick snaps with it. This is the only one I really liked.

But I plan to try the camera some more this week, and Alec will too, of course. So I should be able to post some more from the new camera as well as my own and my iPhone too.

Soon.

Neighborhood Walk

Neighborhood Walk
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I decided today, pretty much on a whim, to do a Project 365 for 2011. I don't know what I am thinking; I am already really busy. I took a bunch of pictures today trying to capture what today ended up being about: taking down our Christmas tree and moving into the New Year. I ended up liking this somewhat random shot up the sidewalk from in front of my house more than anything else I captured today.

But I also downloaded the Hipstamatic app for my iPhone, so there may be some more interesting stuff on the way soon.

My Son, the Rock Star

My Review of Garmin eTrex Venture HC GPS Receiver

REI

With a new high-sensitivity chipset, the Garmin Venture HC GPS receiver helps you get off the beaten path without losing your signal.

Garmin eTrex Venture HC GPS Receiver

Great GPS to use with young folks

Dowbiggin San Jose, CA 3/28/2009

 

4 5

Gift: No

Pros: Accurate, Reliable Reception, Large Screen, Intuitive Menu

Best Uses: Geocaching, Hiking

Describe Yourself: Enthusiast

How are you with directions: Great w/Directions

I bought twenty of these to use with students in grades four and up. The kids learn how to use them super-quick, and they navigate the menus with no trouble at all within minutes. Many adults take a bit longer, but once they get the hang of it, they're "in." I find that it did not take long to set the units up to have the menus and pages I wanted. A few times the kids went in and changed things (it's THAT easy to do) before I got a chance to tell them not to do so.

()

Video for Instruction: PHOTOgraphy FUNdamentals

For my EDTEC 572 class, I needed to make a video from stills, music, and text. I decided to create something I can use with my 7th graders, based on a new project I did with them this past year. I even used some of their work in the video.

Need opinions for my next podcast

I think the topic of my next podcast episode (What Your Child's Teacher Wants You to Know About Your Kid) is going to be on the topic of computers and the Internet in children's bedrooms.

I want to know YOUR opinion about this. When you comment, please let me know if you are a teacher, parent, (or both or neither), or a student. Telling me your age helps if you are under 40. No one under 40 should ever have to speak their age aloud. (Haha, just kidding!)

Here's my question: Should a child have Internet access in his or her bedroom? Does a child need his or her own computer? At what age should this privilege begin? How do you handle this in your family?

WYCTWYTKAYK Podcast

So I decided to go ahead and start creating a podcast. I sure hope I have the time and energy to stick with it.

The title of the podcast is "What Your Child's Teacher Wants You to Know About Your Kid" and the first episode is online. It's about the book Mindset by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-8740262dbfabc07ade9a982a956b2875}

SwitchPod

Not sure which of these links is more reliable yet. I also submitted it to iTunes.

I'd love to know what people think.

Introduction to Geocaching

Been working on a group project with three guys from my grad school cohort. We have to speak for five to ten minutes on an emerging technology. Being the awesome geeks that we are, we chose geocaching. I decided to interview Cameron about his experiences. Four and a half minutes of video provided a minute and forty-five seconds of good stuff, plus a lead-in and a fade at the end that came out to exactly two minutes:

fd's Flickr Toys

Cameron at Tidepools
Originally uploaded by Dowbiggin

I made this there. Testing a Flickr blog posting thing.

Flickr

This is a test post from , a fancy photo sharing thing.

Every Bloom Has Its Thorns?

So I decided I should hook my Flickr account up with my blog. And I think I can add more to this. I wonder if Picasa has a similar function.

Tonight I decided to pay another visit back to fd's Flickr Toys and make a mosaic from some macros I took this past weekend around my neighborhood. I ended up using some brand-new floral macros and a few I already had.

Would love to hear what people think of it.

(Turns out it would not let me "blog this" from Flickr after all.)

My son can read!

Okay, well, he has been practicing these books with his Dad at night when it's bedtime. But he has learned the words and recognizes them when he sees them. But I also think he has these particular books memorized. He was willing to read for the camera, so we made a little video today. It's about nine and a half minutes.

Haircuts and Five Generations

Tonight, I decided to make a video blog after Cameron had already gone to bed.



On a different note, I saw on the news tonight that a 36-year old man ran a red light and crashed into a minivan, injuring all the people inside and killing the youngest, a six year-old boy named Isaac Young. As it turns out, a 3rd grade teacher at my school is the mother of Isaac's kindergarten teacher. It sickens me enough when I learn of these things on the news. When it happens here in my city, I get a little scared. I remember that things like this do happen all the time to people when no one expects them to.

But then there's this tangential connection to people I know. That just shakes me to my core. My son turned five less than a month ago, and the thought of something like that happening to him makes me a little scared to ever let him out of my sight or out of the house.

Video Blogging, entry 2

Today, Cameron wanted to talk about his future ambitions. But when the camera started rolling, he decided he wanted to talk about teeth instead.

Video Blogging with the Wee Man

Hello ladies and gentlemen. Just thought I would share a typical conversation between me and my son. He says as little as he can get away with when I want to know how school went on a given day.

Today was Snow Day in TK (transitional kindergarten). We don't get actual snow here, so they made some from this polymer thing -- you add water, then keep it in the fridge to get cold. His teacher sent me a couple of pictures to prove that Cam actually dug in with his hands and played along. (He doesn't like to get stuff on his hands.)

The day I met Scott Budman

Okay, so this was originally from June 28, 2006, which is before I ever HAD this blog, I think. But I was reading it, and I thought it was funny, so I decided to post it. (FYI: Madeline is my MacBook, or rather the one my husband has now since the HD crashed last summer and had to be replaced under warranty.)

Yes, I know. You have all heard my exciting news. But I need to recap my day so that you can see the exciting part in its proper light.

At 6:43 AM, my son Cameron, who was NOT already in our bed for a nice change, started whining from his bed in his room. It's a crib, actually, and for all his apelike climbing prowess, the little urchin has never climbed out of the thing. The game was afoot. I tried to get him to snuggle and sleep in my bed with me. He normally likes that. But NO, he was up and that was that.

Okay, so I am supposed to drop him off at nine for his last day with this home childcare provider, Mrs. H. Despite screaming in freakin' agony whenever we drop him off, he LOVES Mrs. H and talks about her all the time. ("Mih AAAYYCH") It was his last day because she's awesome and you get what you pay for. And we don't have the "pay for" part so much. Plus, tomorrow, my step-daughter returns and gets to spend the summer babysitting her precious lil' bro.

Okay, so, as I am going in for my shower, some time later, I recall that I have an appointment at Kaiser to discuss the discouraging results of my follow-up blood testing. Turns out that I have rather high cholesterol. Oops! Good thing I remembered.

So, I drop Cam off closer to 9:30 and think, oh well, if I get there early for my 10:30 appointment, perhaps I can get in to see the doctor a little early. What on earth was I smoking? This is KAISER we're talking about here. Where was the "smack me when I'm gettin' stupid" committee when I needed them?


My special Kaiser timeline for June 28, 2006:
9:50 A.M. Check in for 10:30 appointment.
9:50 - 10:20ish A.M. Worked on brilliant plan for getting all the bloggers to tell me when they can do CG chat meetings . . . in a format my brain can handle.
Some time around 10:20? A.M. Get blood pressure, weight, and temperature taken. All that is fine, except of course my weight. Which I check every morning, sans clothes, before I shower. And which number I prefer to their psycho scales with all your clothes AND sneakers on. (as if)
Shortly thereafter: Back in waiting room.
After that: Read comics. Solved the Jumble in my head. (It was an easy one.) Did my first ever Sudoku puzzle, rating "gentle" -- all these were from yesterday's paper. And am I a good waiting room citizen or what? I copied the puzzle into the back of my IISME notebook and worked it out there.
11:00ish A.M. Go remind nursing staff that I exist, that I need to work to earn back that insane deductible I just paid, and that I had an appointment a HALF HOUR AGO. (Of course, I used all my charm and poise.)
11:40 A.M. Finally get called in. Doctor tells me what I already know, since I viewed the results of the most recent blood testing online last week the night I had the blood drawn. (TruGeek wif high cholesterol in da hizzy!) I am told about the medication I will go on, since a combination of my British fried-food eating genes and my extremely poor lifestyle habits (or lack thereof) didn't improve my numbers much in three months. I get to go back in October to play human pincushion again to see how the meds are working.

OH, and then I went off in my politest way about the wait I had to endure. Apparently they had a lot of walk-ins. Well, had I known that, they never woulda walked out! But the conclusion is that I will be switching primary care physicians to someone at Campbell, where my kids already go to Pediatrics. It is closer, smaller, and less like a factory than Santa Teresa. (I made my baby in their factory.)

Now ya gotta love this part of the timeline: 11:50 A.M. (yes, only ten minutes later) I am in my car, phoning my husband to rant. That's why people get married, you know. To have a built-in audience. Well I didn't get thru, but he called me back right away. (See, they can run, but they can't hide.)

So, now I have lost most of my Cameron-free day, as I have to pick him up at two.

Back up to WG and I stop at Elva's Coffee Stop on Lincoln. I thought I read online that they had free wifi. They don't. But I bought a bagel, since I have not eaten at this point at all today. Up the street to Monsieur Beans, former Willow Glen Coffee Roasting Co. I know they have wifi, free with purchase, but the girl behind the counter was not so sure. Then she's like, well, yeah, if we do it's free with purchase. I purchased a banana-strawberry smoothie to go with my bagel.

Wifi was good, but started lagging later on. Found out that Vin Santo, a restaurant across the street, has a stronger signal than the cafe I'm in. And you know (I digress), we took "friends" there years ago and it cost us a bomb, and they never reciprocated in any way, so I feel like I should start getting my Vin Santo money back in wifi. I shall return.

Quarter to two I pack up and head over to get my kid. Come to find out that after lying down since 12:30, he only finally fell asleep at 1:45. Well, I've got an errand to run, so I don't want to wake him up only to have him flake out in the car, so Mrs. H offered to keep him and call me when he woke up. The planets began to move into perfect alignment just then.

Over to SVCN (Silicon Valley Community Newspapers) to humbly request a couple dozen copies of yesterday's WG Resident starring . . . . Alec Main of SoccerMainia! (bugle fanfare here) They gave me 25. I've still got a Starbucks card burnin' hole in my pocket, so I'm off to the corner, across from Peet's and not far from a third coffee joint. And here I am, not a coffee drinker.

I've done far too much Vanilla Bean Frappucino recently . . . with whipped cream . . . because I mean, come ON, you're already basically having a milkshake, you might as well go for it, right? Oh yeah, so I get a venti iced tea lemonade (passion), thinking there's free wifi and I'll be here a while. The girl's like, no, there's this T-Mobile thing, but you have to, like, subscribe or something. I love it when the staff has been fully trained on all the available services at their place of employment. I will not be asking HER any more questions. Especially ones involving technology.

So, I get my beverage all Splenda'd (yes, it is now a verb) and I turn to the tables.

It was then that I saw him.

Scott Budman and . . . . some guy . . . sitting at a table. Yes, I admit it, I chose my seat for optimum proximity. They were kinda talking shop and kinda talking just friend stuff, so I don't think he was working.

I peruse the T-Mobile handout on how to get wifi. Okay, so you have to get online to sign up for it. The logic escapes me. I give up (far too easily . . . more on this later). I start working on the CG chat schedule thing, based on the first handful of spreadsheets I got back.

Scott and friend are clearly about to leave. They stand. I say, "Hey Scott, I love the show." Okay, so I don't tape it and watch it, and I miss it more than I catch it. But I do enjoy it. I was making small talk, people! He turns to thank me, and looks at Madeline. (I had seen him glance over before. Clearly she had already caught his eye.)

He asks about my new MacBook. (I didn't tell him her name was Madeline. It felt a bit premature to do formal introductions.) We talk features. His friend's iBook was about three years old, but the silver body made it look distinguished. And it still gets the job done. They drool a bit over Maddy's features. I offer (jokingly . . . sort of) to take our picture with PhotoBooth and the built-in camera. His friend says, "Or how about I take it with your camera phone?" Smooth. TruGeek all da wizzay.

They go. I immediately send the pic to my gmail account. And my husband's cell phone. His response: "Why" I had to text him back to explain about the geek bonding. He still doesn't get it. Whatever. Go kick a ball.

Then, I decide that since I have some offline time, I will figure out how to make the special c with the cedilla for Wanda's name on Madeline. I know it's Alt-0231 (keypad only) on the PC. The help won't run properly, as it requires online stuff. But in the help window . . . . . . T-Mobile. Asking me if I want to sign up. I had noticed that I was able to get their airport, but not get it to do anything. Or so I thought.

A few minutes and six dollars on my credit card later, I am surfing, blogging, e-mailing, IMing, and making sure everyone in my IISME circle of peeps knows about me and Scotty B.

Of course, I have, by this time, forgotten about Wanda's special c . . . but I'm on that as soon as this blog is done. (Which is longer than I had planned . . . sorry!)

Long story short, worked till 3:45, went to get my kid, hung out at Mrs. H's house for a while, came home, changed into shorts, took kid for walk on which he demanded to be carried but I did not give in and ended up coming away with a hug, a kiss, and a walking toddler. Blah blah blah. Did some stuff. Watched Jeopardy! Back online. Working to make up for all that lost time today in the Kaiser Zone.

Now I gotta go find Wanda's special C.

Another sample essay I wrote

This is originally from March 1, 2006. At the time, my teaching assignment was 6th grade language arts and math, and I had about 75 students in 6th grade that year.

The following is a sample five-paragraph essay I wrote for a topic I assigned my students. They have to write about three life lessons they have learned during sixth grade. (I gave them a brief summary of "All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten" for inspiration.) Since I've been out of sixth grade for more than twenty years, I wrote about three life lessons I've learned during my career as a teacher.


What’s the Difference?

“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I – I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference.” These words are the end of my favorite Robert Frost poem, “The Road Not Taken.” I like to think they describe so many points in my life when I have decided to go against what everyone else was doing and do what I knew was right for me. I have had these words, on a small poster I made my first year in teaching, near me during every teaching position I have held since I began my career in 1992. Where I have had my own classroom, the poster was stapled to the wall. Where I was a “traveling teacher,” the poster was taped to my cart or my crate of supplies. When I moved from New Jersey to California, my poster moved with me. And I can see that poster right now, out of the corner of my eye, as I type this on my computer at work. During all these years, at all these different jobs, I have learned some important life lessons. Among these are to be respectful, to avoid over committing myself, and to never stop learning. These three concepts have served me well in my life as a teacher and in my time outside the walls of school as well.

I start every school year telling my students that if I had only one rule, it would be one simple word: RESPECT. Respect God. Respect others. Respect yourself. Deserve and earn respect, and others will give it to you freely. Command respect, as I try to do every day, and people can’t help but respect you. The key, however, is that you only get respect when you give it to others, and if you don’t respect yourself, no one else will either. During my first two years as a teacher, I worked in an inner-city junior high school in New Jersey. Race is a huge issue there. All of my students were from different racial groups than I am. And a majority of the students were all one racial group. Those kids who were different from the rest had to almost prove themselves to get respect, which is not the way it is supposed to be. Some of the other teachers even taught their students to only show true respect to the teachers who were their same race. This is blatantly wrong too. But the students could see through all that. They respected the teachers and other kids who gave them respect first. As my basic life rule is respect, I made a big deal out of making sure everyone in my classroom showed and was given respect. The reward was that, despite what some of their other teachers may have told them to do, my students and I had a bond. Did they always do their homework? Were they perfect angels every day? No, of course not. But they knew that I cared about them, and they and I were sad to part ways when I moved on.

I did eventually have to move on, because the school where I worked was fifty miles from my home, and two hours or more in the car every day was beginning to wear on me, as was the stress of urban teaching. I had to begin to see myself as a person who was a teacher, not a teacher who happened to also have family, friends, and interests of my own. No matter what a person’s career, she has to make time for the things outside of work that are truly important. Even though I now work in a Christian school and get to pray and read the Bible at work, I still need to make time for God, prayer, and church in my regular life. I am now a wife, mother, and step-mother. Each of those relationships demands time from me. If all I ever do is work, I won’t be good at all my other roles. That means that if I am asked to do more than I can handle, I have to politely decline. That is not always easy to do, especially at work, but sometimes “no” is the only correct thing to say. There are classes I want to take, books I want to read, and hobbies I would love to take up. But what could be more important than just having the time on a Saturday to take my son to the park to play on the swings? In my time as a teacher, a very important lesson I have had to learn is to avoid over committing myself, especially to things that detract from my family life.

Even though I may not have enough time to take classes, that does not mean I have to stop learning. Some people may even think that by working in a school I have more opportunities to learn than most people do. That’s not really true either. But working with students means I have to keep on top of a lot of information. My students know more about pretty much everything than I ever had to when I was their age. And there is so much more information available now. I challenge myself to learn as much as I can, about all the things that interest me, so that I can be a better teacher. It also makes me a better parent and a better person all-around. When a student asks me a question I can’t answer, at least I can tell him or her, “I don’t know, but I know where we can look to find out.” Hopefully, I am modeling my love of learning to my students. There are subjects that have nothing to do with school that I enjoy pursuing also. I have been researching my family history since before I was a teacher, so British history is a topic of particular interest to me. I love computers, and I use them for keeping in touch with friends and family back East, editing the family pictures I take with my digital camera, and keeping track of my genealogy data. I’ve had to learn a lot to use my computer as much as I do, but I love it. I find learning to be immense fun, and I intend to stop only when I leave this world.

Whenever I look at that poster with the final lines of my favorite poem, I am forced to ask myself: have I followed the best path for my life? Have I made a difference? Did each of my decisions lead me to where God wants me to be? I don’t really know for sure, but I do know this: I have learned a lot along the journey. The lessons I have learned as a teacher are not just lessons for the classroom. They apply to every area of my life. The next time I am at a fork in the road, which road will I choose? I will draw on all these experiences and lessons learned, even the things I have learned from my mistakes. And then, that will have “made all the difference.”


Word Count: 1201

Why Grading Student Essays Is So Difficult (a five-paragraph essay)

This is originally from February 21, 2006. I was teaching 6th grade language arts and math.

Why Grading Student Essays Is So Difficult

Do you enjoy hearing what the younger generation has to say? Would you like to take a look inside the mind of an eleven year old? Have you ever graded an essay written by a sixth grader? In my career, I have graded thousands of student essays. This is a much more difficult task than one might think for several major reasons. The pre-teen seems to be locked in a never ending battle of refusal to follow a prescribed format. Young people just entering adolescence also resist deciding upon and committing to three concepts to support their arguments. And reading their essays to someone who might help them find and fix their mistakes is taken as a scandalous suggestion. When facing these obstacles, it’s a wonder we ever ask these children to put pen to paper at all.

My sixth grade students spend quite a bit of time, during the first few months of school, learning about the structure of a five-paragraph essay. We spend weeks on introductory paragraphs alone. Once we have practiced the introduction, we learn to develop the entire essay, finally focusing on the proper way to conclude the essay. We have visuals, handouts, and memory devices. We have six different tried-and-true methods of coming up with attention-grabbing introductions and equally gripping conclusions. Yet as I pore over the fourth assigned essay of the school year, I find that far too many of my students have thrown format out the window and have just decided to “wing it.” Introductions lack that attention-grabbing quality. Body paragraphs, if they can be called that, blur together in a sort of “stream of consciousness what do you expect I waited till the night before it was due” muddle. Conclusions conclude only that someone was not listening (or reading the detailed handout) that week in class.

Perhaps their reasons for abandoning the requirements has something to do with the trouble they have coming up with three different ideas to support their theses. Now, don’t get me wrong: the average eleven year old has plenty to say about things that really matter, such as why life is so unfair, popular culture, why life is so unfair, how uncool adults are, and why life is so unfair. Of course, they will not put these ideas down on paper; they will simply “instant message” them to their friends, “text” them over their cell phones, or whisper them over the phone when parents have just left the room. But ask the same young people to give three distinct, separate reasons why they strongly believe something, and they fall apart. Or perhaps they can come up with three supporting details, but those details, like the wild creatures they are, simply will not stay neatly confined to their assigned spaces in the essay. It becomes a kind of “free for all” of subtopics scaling the walls of their body paragraphs and raiding a neighboring paragraph village, where they sometimes settle, giving up on a life of pillage and plunder, even if they know darn well they don’t fit in there.

All these issues might not be so bad if each student found a responsible, mature user of our precious language to whom they could read their writing. Or perhaps they could simply use the spell check and grammar check options of their word processing programs. Ideally, each student would find a writing “mentor.” This could be a parent, an older sibling, another relative, or even a peer their own age. As long as the person can hear and has a fairly good grasp of the English language, another brain thinking about the ideas being produced is twice as much intelligence. Another set of ears to hear when things don’t sound quite right is a powerful tool. But what really happens is that students reading their own work out loud finally notice those things that never popped out as being incorrect before. The student actually ends up clarifying or correcting their work with very little input from the mentoring individual. However, for some odd reason, young people refuse to pursue this very effective option. They prefer to throw away the essay grade rather than experience a little awkwardness the first or second time they read their work aloud. I worry what will happen to them when they enter the work force. You can’t even ask “Do you want fries with that?” if you’re not willing to speak up. Forget about the corporate world.

The generation who will decide on the rest homes for my generation does have a lot going on in their minds. They are creative, they have good ideas, and they are very funny. But for some reason, they prefer to hide these talents from us old folks by ignoring proper essay structure, obscuring their fantastic ideas in bland body paragraphs, and including as many errors as they think will cause my red pens to run out of ink forever. Therefore I beseech the middle schoolers of America: Trust the English teacher. Plan the essay. Stick with your plan. And then get someone to listen to your essay before you hand it in. Your teachers forevermore will thank you for it. (And please type it. We really like that.)

Word count: 872

Sample essay about adjusting to parenting

This is from October 22, 2005. I had my students write an essay about having to adjust to something, such as sixth grade.

I just wrote this for my students to have a sample. And I graded some more math tests today. So I totally rock. Okay, here goes . . . .

“Well, ma’am, you’re having this baby tonight.” I could not believe my ears. I had only just finished work that day. I still had three and a half weeks to enjoy my maternity leave, get ready for the baby to arrive, finish childbirth preparation class . . . I hadn’t even finished childbirth preparation class! All we had in the house was the car seat and some things people had given us at the baby shower. Where was this baby going to sleep? I had not really had any time to adjust to having the baby. Little did I know, giving birth was just the start of a whole new life, and I would have a lot more to adjust to than I had ever realized. I would need to plan out all my time differently, I would need to budget our money more efficiently, and, most of all, I would instantly begin putting someone else before myself, all the time. Becoming a parent is the biggest adjustment I have ever had to make.

The first major change to my life was in the area of time management. Babies don’t really believe in or adhere to schedules. Even when they eventually fall into a routine, a new developmental stage comes along and messes all that up again. For example, Cameron did not sleep through the night at first. I was still recovering from my surgeries, so my husband got up with him a lot, which made him really tired during the days. When Cameron finally did sleep for longer periods, his nap times during the day changed. The only thing that never seemed to change was that he needed his diapers changed . . . a lot. After two and a half months at home, I had to go back to work. That meant we had to learn to juggle our different schedules. It also meant that my husband could not work much at first. When he did go back to work, we managed to find a friend to watch Cameron those few afternoons my husband had classes to teach. And now that I was back at work teaching, the demands on my time increased. But I also had to make sure I set aside time that was off-limits to everyone but my family.

My being a teacher, and my husband being self-employed, means that we don’t have much money. And the more my husband works, the more need we have to pay someone to babysit Cameron, so that cuts into our finances as well. Babies bring an extra financial burden into the picture. There were so many things we had to buy that we never bought before: diapers, formula, baby clothes, baby food, baby toiletries, baby everything . . . and a lot more paper towels. We went through so many paper towels that I wish we had owned stock in Bounty. Fortunately, my step-daughter came to live with us when Cameron was one year old. Not only was it great to add another family member (without surgery this time), but she’s old enough to watch Cameron from time to time when the adults in the home are both working. But she is also another person to feed, clothe, and house, so it adds to our expenses. We’ve had to learn to do without a lot of things in order to save money.

It may sound like having a baby is a negative thing, when you consider all you have to adjust to. But just the opposite is true. The biggest adjustment I had to make came naturally. When you’re married, you are part of a team, and you don’t put yourself first, but rather “tied for first” with someone else when you prioritize things in your life. When you have a baby, however, you and your spouse move over and put the baby’s needs first . . . all the time. You learn pretty quickly that if you only have a certain amount of money, you can eat less, put off buying some cleaning supplies, and buy nothing extra, but you will buy all the diapers this kid is going to need. You can’t cut them in half or only use them a few times a day. When you look down at that baby whose diaper you’re changing, it hits you: this little person depends on you for everything. You are in charge of another person’s life. And instead of feeling super-powerful, you feel weak and doubt yourself. But you get through each day, mainly driven by the knowledge that someone special is counting on you. The way you look at life is never the same again.

Eight days after that night when I went into labor, our son was finally released from the hospital and could come home with us. He was tiny and helpless, and he was beautiful. He has grown and changed so much since then. He just passed twenty-one months of age earlier this week. He walks and runs all over the place, and he talks a lot – but not in front of strangers much, and not really in English words yet. Our lives have changed immensely since Cameron was born. And even though it’s harder in some ways, it is definitely better. As I approach my son’s second birthday, I can’t help but reflect on how much life changes when a baby enters the family. I guess what you really have to adjust to, when you have a baby, is that every day there is something new to adjust to. Next, it will be toilet training and preschool. After that, it will be kindergarten and learning to read. And someday, it will be college graduation, and perhaps marriage and giving me grandchildren . . . and my son learning for the first time what it really means to have something to adjust to.

The Little Joys of Teaching Are Without Number

I've been teaching for about sixteen years now. Teaching can be a very rewarding career, but it's not often we get to hear back from a student who can specifically point out the things you taught that helped him or her. I use Facebook, and I have a lot of my former students as friends on there. Today I got a message from one that really made my day. No, my YEAR.

This student told me that in her biology class they're writing a research report, and they also did one recently in another class. The librarian had them in the computer lab and was going over search engines and research methods and ways it's okay and not okay to conduct research. My former student kept wondering why the librarian kept going on and on about things she (my student) thought everyone should know. Then she realized that her experience at Milpitas Christian School was why she already knew all this stuff. (My take on this: our staff are so consistent about making sure kids conduct honest, fair research -- and cite all those sources -- that our graduates leave our school truly ready to face these tasks in high school and beyond.)

My former student then went on to talk about how much MY class (technology) helped her and prepared her for all the work she does in high school. She told me she has classmates who don't know how to change margins in Word or even what Excel or PowerPoint are used for. When she was my student, she wondered what the point was to all the projects and assignments we made them do. But now things she takes for granted, believing everyone should know how to use them, are things she sees as having been very useful training. She thanked me profusely for what she learned from me in middle school, and she expressed how grateful she was to have all these skills to take with her into her future.

Of course it made me feel good to hear from a former student who is happy and successful in high school. But what made this especially wonderful for me is that it's pretty rare for a teacher to get such specific, enthusiastic feedback from students so soon after having them in class. Some of us teachers wait YEARS -- DECADES, even -- before we ever hear from our former students that we made a difference in their lives.

Now, this "difference" I made to this one student may not have been huge, but it reminds me that what I do here is important, has value for years to come, and is appreciated.

Like I said, it really made my day.

"Freedom is Not Free."

I wrote this letter to the San Jose Mercury News today. I wonder if they'll print it.

Today (Thursday, August 14, 2008), I was among thousands of people who paid $8 per car to park at the County Fairgrounds and NOT get to see my husband become an American citizen. It took ages for the new citizens to actually get inside the facility, but most of the guests who had come along to watch never got to go inside. At no time did USCIS tell people attending this ceremony what to expect upon arrival. No signs, no workers from the Fairgrounds or USCIS to tell people where to go or what to do. Much of today's terribly planned disaster could have been avoided with a simple "what to expect at your naturalization ceremony" document enclosed with the directions sent to new citizens.

I am a very proud and patriotic American by birth. I was embarrassed and ashamed at how we were treated today. When ONE person from USCIS FINALLY came outside to tell people how they might let people in five or ten at a time, he was very rude to the people who had assembled. The line of thousands dispersed for the most part after being told we would not be allowed inside to witness the ceremony. It was very hot and sunny, so most people headed for whatever shade they could find. And then we proceeded to wait and wonder how long it would take before the new citizens would be done with the ceremony many of us would never see. I am truly heartbroken that after all this time, all the forms and fees, and all the waiting inherent in the immigration system, I did not get to see my husband take his oath of naturalization. We had brought my son (age 4), my step-daughter and her boyfriend, and a family friend to the ceremony. If I had known what we would have encountered I would have gone alone or perhaps just brought my son. I had been telling him for weeks about when we would go to see Daddy become an American.

It is perhaps fitting that this ceremony is held at the County Fairgrounds. We were herded and spoken to like animals, and we were assumed to have the intelligence of cattle when the ONE representative from USCIS (or the Fairgrounds?) actually did bark at us. (The people who were waiting were actually surprising calm and respectful, despite the heat, dust, and aggravation.) I have to wonder if the lack of information about what to expect was just to get $8 per car (we had to bring two cars for our group, by the way) out of people ignorant to the mess that awaited us. At least WE live in San Jose. My heart goes out to the families and friends who traveled from all over Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Benito, and Monterey counties today only to be charged to park and then turned away at the door.