Throughout the day, I keep thinking of interesting topics to blog about, and I inevitably forget them all by the time I get to a computer. I've started keeping track on my phone, but lately I'm not always carrying that with me (which in itself seems unusual, but I'll talk about that one day), so unless I start carrying around notepads I'm at the mercy of my forgetfulness.
I'll remember those interesting things eventually.
So far, it's rained every single day of summer vacation. The wife takes the kids out to the pool, they spend an hour or so there, and then the rain comes. It rains hard enough that they can't see the bottom of the pool, or there's lightning, or whatever. Every day, rain.
The kids are getting annoyed.
New York State has a problem. Ok, that's not a fair way to start, because this state has a lot of problems, but today one of them in particular is bothering me.
The school year ends at the end of June, AFTER SUMMER HAS STARTED.
You see, the last day of school for my kids is tomorrow. (Technically it's Friday, but they're still fully remote, and the school wants the Chromebooks and iPad back tomorrow, so that's a wrap) Summer, meanwhile, started on Sunday. Why the overlords in Albany hold our kids hostage for so late in the year is beyond me.
"BUt tHE kidS NeEd ThE EdUcAtionaL tIme"
Then stop giving them a week off in February. And since we know you pad the time because of anticipated snow days (yea, it snows up here), we can trim the fat there, too. Snow day? Make 'em remote days. There, we can clip the last two useless weeks off. The kids aren't doing any learning. The high school kids finished their finals, and everyone else is just having parties, theme days, and watching movies. It was that way when I was growing up out here, and I see the same thing is happening with my own kids.
End the madness already.
I went ahead and went on a hike on my actual birthday anyway. I was alone, and as much as I like doing things with people, it wasn't a deal breaker today. A nearby state park has some hiking trails I haven't done yet, so first thing in the morning I was out the door. The park has a pair of lakes, and most people stick to the level, well manicured trails along the lakeside. I, however, opted for a wooded trail with many ups and downs.
My aging frame immediately reminded me of my recent trip to Buttermilk Falls, and that they weren't done rebuilding me after that. I told it to shut up and deal with it. Yesterday, when I got up in the morning, my legs were on strike. They told me plainly that I would be spending the day sitting down.
I was forced to agree to their terms.
I always go hiking on my birthday. I try to find a place I haven't been to yet (which, in upstate NY isn't hard). But living in the state of NY, school ends the 3rd week in June.
Yea, I know. The first day of summer comes before the last day of school. Boo.
What this means is that the kids are in school. Normally this isn't a problem, but since my kids are doing 'remote learning', they're at home while logging in to remote meetings, etc. My birthday being on a Monday, I don't have my usual babysitters. Even if I did, they couldn't take my kids through a typical school day.
So whatever, I'm going on Saturday instead.
