‘Star Wars – Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel’ – Chapter 15 (Part 1)

HAPPY VETERAN’S DAY!! I want to take a minute right now and let all the vetaran’s out there know just how much I appreciate that you have done for our country.  I know and understand that all veterans of this country have made the ultimate sacrifice of giving your life on the line that I may have my freedom.  I respect and hold a high respect for all of you no matter what war you have fought in and in what way you fought.   You ARE the land of the free and the home of the brave!

 

Okay, so I had a day off from work today and I made as much use of that as I could.  I got up around eight o’clock this morning because Tara kept coming in and annoying Heather and I till we finally woke up.  I got up and headed downstairs along with Heather.  She worked on some jackets for Marsha and I worked on music videos for my classroom.  I continued to do that while I watched “The Early Show”, “Dr. Phil”, and two episodes of “Frasier”.  I got done with that and went upstairs to take a shower.  After my shower, I came back downstairs and did some work on my clone helmet and did more work on the music videos.  I got done with that and Heather and I ate some lunch together.  She got the kids ready for the Veteran’s Day Parade and I then went downstairs and did some more work.  They left for the parade and I took a nap and then watched the movie “Cloverfield”.

On that subject, I really did NOT like the movie “Cloverfield”.  It was an ineresting concept having the movie shot from the angle of the victims in a situation like that.  However, I did not enjoy the movie that much.  The camera angles were annoying, it made you sea sick with the camera moving around as much as it did, and then the ending.  I HATED the way it ended.  Let me rephrase that, the movie didn’t end!  It just stopped.  Horrible!  NEVER go see this movie.  You will want your two hours back!

Okay, so I got done watching “Cloverfield” and Heather came home.  We then went out to Aldi’s to get some things for dinner and came home.  I went to the basement and worked on this blog for about two hours (had a LOT to get caught up) and then ate dinner with the family.  I worked a majority of the night on the blog taking an occasional break to play “Call of Duty 4″ on the PS3.  Once my usual T.V. shows came on, I started watching those including “Garry Unmarried”, “Glee”, and “CSI NY”.  I then went to bed with Heather.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 1 of Chapter 15 of “Star Wars – Medstar I:  Battle Surgeons,  A Clone Wars Novel” by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry…..

‘Star Wars – Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel’ – Chapter 14 (Part 3)

Well, it’s Tuesday and it was a day for me to really get things going with my school day today.  I got up a little early today and actually got up with Heather.  We made breakfast together and had some breakfast together and as Heather left for work I got in the shower and got ready for work.  The kids and I talked a little bit and then watched “The Early Show” on CBS and had an interesting talk with my girls about why violence in sports is appauling.  We then talked about hockey and why it seems that it’s an exception for some reason.  The kids made a valid point.  If they can encourage fighting in hockey, then why isn’t there fighting in soccer, football, or basketball?  Why is it taboo in some sports but not others?  An interesting point to ponder.

I got done getting ready and then I was off to work while the kids were off to school.  Today was a pretty well scripted day at work.  Students were either taking finals or reviewing for finals.  The finals that I gave seemed to go smooth and everything seemed to go well.  The reviews seemed to go good as well.   I had to take some time today to talk with the orchestra teacher about how to play the String Bass because I tried to practice yesterday, but it got ugly and it did not sound ANYTHING like the song.  I knew what it should sound like and I was not even close.  But at the end of the day I got some help and enlarged the song a little bit on the paper and put in some fingerings and now I’m doing great on the song.  It actually sounds like it’s supposed to!  I got done with that and got a call from Novall from the Mandalorian Mercs and we had a discussion about things that need to be taken care of for the group.  I have some work ahead of me there and now I’m going to need to take some time either out of my Veteran’s Day or my Thanksgiving Break to get that stuff done.  I should be able to.  Hopefully.

I got done with that and did some work in my classroom and graded some papers and then was off to SMASH rehearsal.  SMASH went well.   We worked on one routine the entire time and had fun pounding away on our 55 gallon containers.  We have a routine that’s called 55-5 (which has just become 55-6) and we have most of the routine together as of tonight.  Now we just have to get it all put into order and start practicing it with some precision.  It was a good rehearsal.  We got done and Ruth and I went home to find chaos.  Apparently Heather had dinner going and ready for the night (small meatloafs and mahsed potatoes) until Austin had decided to turn off the oven thinking that it shouldn’t be on.  He was worried about safety, but what he didn’t realize was that he turned off the oven and didnt’ let the meatloafs get cooked.  So, Heather was furious because her dinner was now almost an hour behind.  I told her to relax and that we would just not go to play rehearsal at church tonight to take the stress off of us.

So, we cooked and ate dinner together.  Then I started on a HUGE task for the evening.  I installed Windows 7 Ultimate on the desktop computer (I HATE Vista, so I hope that 7 will be worth it).  The install did not go so well last night, so I gave it another try tonight and it seemed to go well.  Before I went to bed, it was up and running and seems to run a LOT smoother than Vista.  I then went to my laptop and started the install on that tonight before I went to bed so that it could install while I was asleep overnight.  While I worked on all of that, I watched “V” and “The Good Wife” and worked on this blog.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 3 of Chapter 14 of “Star Wars – Medstar I:  Battle Surgeons,  A Clone Wars Novel” by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry……

‘Star Wars – Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel’ – Chapter 14 (Part 2)

Monday.  It felt like a Monday all day long and I have to say that today wasn’t a totally horrible Monday overall.  I got up this morning and helped Heather get the kids ready for school.  We all ate some breakfast together and I took a shower while the kids finished up.  We then watched “The Early Show” a little bit on CBS and we talked about the H1N1 virus a little bit among ourselves.  My kids are freaked out by it, and I have to say that everyone needs to calm down a little bit.  I personally believe that there is a two-fold attack going on her when it come to H1N1.  First off, we are deeming every flu, cold, pneumonia as H1N1 and I dispute that all of it is really part of the virus.  I also think they are creating a pandemic for a reason.  I believe this pandemic is to prove that the government needs to run our healthcare in this country and that if they create a dependency or a need for one, then maybe Congress will be able pass their healthcare bill.  Haven’t seen anyone make that connection yet, not even Glenn Beck.  Think about it, it makes sense!

Okay, off my soapbox now and onto my day.  I got myself together and I was off to work while the kids were off to school.  I got to work and set things up for my day.  Some of my classes were finishing up their work while other classes did a Review Jeopardy game before their final exams.  I worked hard the whole day and the Jeopardy games went well and so did the kids that finished their work.  I was pretty happy with my day and I have to  say that from an educational standpoint, I got a lot accomplished with my students.  I got done with my day and did some quick arranging around the room and then was on my way home.

I got home and helped the kids out with their homework a little bit and talked with Austin about his day.  He didn’t feel well this morning and ended up staying behind.  Heather took him to the doctors and found out he has an extreme ear infection.  So, we got him on some medicine and he’s no longer contagious and he feels a LOT better now.  I then went downstairs and worked on some more things including finishing up some podcasts for myself and my classroom.  I did that until it was time for dinner.  We sat down and ate dinner together and then I went downstairs and played “Call of Duty 4″ for about an hour on my PS3 and then watched my usual line-up of “How I Met Your Mother”, “Accidentally On Purpose”, “Two and a Half Men”, “Big Bang Theory”, and “CSI Miami” while taping “Heroes”.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 2 of Chapter 14 of “Star Wars – Medstar I:  Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel” by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry…..

‘Star Wars – Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel’ – Chapter 14 (Part 1)

Sunday.  The day of respite before the last week for the first quarter of school.  So much to do and so little time to get it done in.  I got up this morning and got the kids up so we could all get ready for church this morning.  Luckily we didn’t need to get there early at all because I didn’t have to do sound and the kids didn’t have to do anything special during the service either.  We all ate some breakfast and took turns taking showers and watched “Sabrina” while others got done.  We finished up getting ready and then were out the door to church.

We got to church and had a nice service.  Although Heather and I were not a fan of the sermon this morning.  For several reasons.  It was pledge Sunday, which I realize that all churches have to do in order to try and budget on their next year.  However, I think Heather and I have a negative feeling about it after attending “Pearce Memorial Church” while we lived in Chili.  The church is affiliated with Roberts Wesleyan College and when we were there, they were constantly asking for money to keep the church going and every other Sunday was a sermon about tithing for the church.  They are doing this to a church that has a majority of college students who are broke anyway!  That’s why we decided to go back to my hometown church in Webster.  Less drama.  Well, today we had the exact same style of sermon.  I don’t know if it’s a Methodist thing or what is going on, but we are starting to get turned off by this chruch now too.  I suggested to Heather that we find another church again, but she thinks we need to just stay for the sake of the kids.  It will be interesting to see what we do once the kids are no longer around.  So, we weren’t totally happy with the sermon at church but made it through.

We got done with church and came home.  Heather and I changed clothes and got ready for our FanForce meeting today and then we went back to the church and picked up the kids.  We brought them home and dropped them off and then headed to Denny’s on the Vestal Parkway and had our Binghamton FanForce meeting.  The meeting went well.  I was worried that no one would show, but a few did show up a little ways into the meeting.  We had a good meeting and I was happy with how things went.  There wasn’t much to talk about, but we did discuss some upcoming events and then we finished up with the meeting and my wife pushed me out the door to get home.  We got home and I watched some football while I took a nap.  After I took my nap, I conintued to watch some NFL football on Fox and then worked on trying to catch up this blog as well as editing out the last three episodes of “Galaxy Cast” that Ian and I recorded last night.  I got done with that just in time to eat some dinner with the family.

After dinner I played a little “Call of Duty 4″ on my PS3 and then watched two episodes of “Family Guy” the Seth McFarlane almost live show, and then I watched “Stargate:  Universe” online.  After that, Heather and I went to bed.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 1 of Chapter 14 of “Star Wars – Medstar I:  Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel” by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry…..

‘Star Wars – Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel’ – Chapter 13 (Part

Saturday and it was a free day.  I had a lot I wanted to get done today and I did get a lot done today.  But I always have higher expectations for the day than the day actually gives me hours for.  I got up around seven o’clock this morning and Heather was already gone.  She had a run with the Chenango Valley bus garage taking kids to Cortland for Area All-State Band.  I got up and got Austin and Tara up and going.  Ruth was gone for the day today and had left last night.  She went to Philadelphia, PA on what they call “Revolve Tour”.  It’s where Christian groups get together and preach to young teenage girls about the perils of being Christian tennagers in a world like ours.  I took Austin to Scouts and dropped him off at the local fire station so he could do the bottle and can drive for Scouts.  I dropped Austin off and came home for about an hour and edited out the second recording Ian and I made last night.  Then I had to leave the house and take Tara to a Girl Scout event where they are putting flags in the two local cemetaries.

I got home and Heather joined me and we ate lunch together.  Alone.  It’s kind of eerie to have such a silent and lonely house.  On the other hand, it was kind of nice.  I got done with lunch and went downstairs and graded some papers I needed to grade for school.  I finished with that and then worked on putting together notes for tonight’s recording (Ian was coming over again) and then Heather joined me a for a little bit and we watched “The Jeff Dunham Show” online on my PS3 and then she left to go pick up the kids.  I worked on my clone trooper helmet for a little bit and then started to catch up on this blog.  Heather left after a little bit and picked up both Austin and Tara.  She then got some things for dinner on her way home and she decided to make me another AWESOME version of her “Nick Tahou’s” plate with the new sauce she made.  We all had dinner together and not long after, Ian showed up and we recorded three episodes of “Galaxy Cast”.  We got done with that and Ian left.  Then Heather joined me and we watched “Law and Order:  SVU” and then went to bed.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 3 of Chapter 13 of “Star Wars – Medstar I:  Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel” by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry…..

‘The Clone Wars in a Galactic Minute’ – Episodes #14 – #18

Hey everyone.  Can you believe it’s Friday already?!  I got up this morning and got myself ready for my upcoming day.  By the time I got going for the day and joined the family in the living room, Heather had the kids already going for the day.  We ate breakfast together and Heather left for work as I got into the shower to get ready for work.  After my shower, I then got myself together and watched “The Early Show” on CBS with the kids.  They were focused on the incident in Fort Hood yesterday.  Knowing what we know now, all I can say is that this guy was OBVIOUSLY some sort of radical Islamic fundamentalist.  When in the world are we going to finally realize as a country that this group of individuals in the world is dangerous?  There are fundamentalist Christians, fundamentalist Jews, fundamentalist Buddhists, and fundamentalist Catholics as well as others.  But NONE of them go as ballistic over their viewpoint on the world as bad as Islamic fundamentalists.  They are a dangerous group of people and it’s the only religion in the world that actually encourages violence instead of discouraging it.  Now they are showing up in our own military.  I don’t care what anyone says, this incident is an example of a homegrown terrorist attack.  This country is now open to all sorts of terror attacks and I believe that the incident in Fort Hood is only the beginning and it’s going to get worse unless we start to do something about our borders and how we view other countries and other groups in this world.  We are TOO open in this country  and we are going to regret that in the future.  Even our military is no longer safe.  this country is in grave danger.

Anyway, getting off my soapbox.  I then got done watching T.V. and headed off to work while the kids were off to school.  I got to work and set things up for a usual Friday of projects.  The eighth graders filmed their videos and most of them are done now.  My seventh graders finished recording their podcasting projects and even my student that struggled with this project finished with it today.  My sixth graders struggled to get their music history pages done, so they were unable to do anymore of “American Idol” in class today.  I got through my work day with little to no problems.  I got to the end of my work day and found out that I would be playing trumpet with the Stage Band for the concert and baritone with the Concert Band and now I’m going to be playing String Bass with the orchestra group.  Fun and exciting, but scary for me to be playing the bass.  Time to brush up on my String Methods course from Roberts Wesleyan.  I got done with my day and came home.

I got home and helped Mike Wilkerson by getting show notes to him and he put up Episodes #14 to #18 of “The Clone Wars in a Galactic Minute”.  Just to clarify something for all my fans out there.  The CWGMs are NOT to replace the regular episodes of the show.  Instead, I’m producing them as place fillers until Ian and I can get together and catch up on Season 2 of “Clone Wars”.  Unfortunately, our lives have not allowed us the time to get together and record and the show is not going to change.  Once the regular shows get recorded, they will come out with those CWGMs in the show itself.  I got done getting those together and it was time for dinner.  I went upstairs and had a nice dinner with the family.  After dinner, I played “Call of Duty 4″ on the PS3 until about eight o’clock when Ian came over.  We watched the first two episodes of Season 2 of “Clone Wars” online and then recorded Episodes #14 and #15 of “Galaxy Cast“.  Ian got done and headed home and I edited out one of the episodes and then Heather and I headed to bed.

Okay, so no book reading tonight.  Instead, head over to the “Galaxy Cast” website and check out the “Clone Wars in a Galactic Minute”.  Thanks!

‘Star Wars – Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel’ – Chapter 13 (Part 2)

Well, it’s Thursday and I finally feel like I’m starting to catch up on some things.  Not only in my life but online and around town as well.  It’s hard for me not to feel overwhelmed because by the time I finish one thing in one place, I’ onto the next thing in another.  I got up this morning and was ready to take on the day!  I got in the shower and Heather got the kids going and then I sat down and ate breakfast as Heather headed off to work.  We’re really starting to get into our routine now and it’s nice to be able to do that.  Especially for someone like me that is a “routine hog”.  The kids and I watched the “Early Show” for a little bit on CBS and before I knew it I was off to work and the kids were off to school.

Today was an extremely busy day at work.  I took time today have my classes (the ones that could) start to finish their music videos.  Most of the groups did their last shots today and I have to say that I will have some of them that will come out looking very nice and some are going to come out looking pretty sloppy.  It goes back to the point I made to the students in class, and that is that if you organize before you shoot, the shots will come out looking smoother than if you have no idea what you are doing.  I did that with eighth graders, my seventh graders started to finish their music history and even started a video on “Mozart” today and my sixth graders finished out their music history as well.  At least they started to.  My students (most of them) worked hard.  I got through my day and was pretty happy with how things turned out.

I got done with work and came right home because tonight I actually had some free time to myself (which rarely happens!).  So, I came home, graded some papers and headed downstairs and started editing out the latest version of “Clone Wars in a Galactic Minute”.  Before I knew it, it was dinner time and I had to eat with the family and then I went downstairs and watched “The Office” and then played “Call of Duty 4″ on the PS3 for about an hour and then watched my usual Thursday night line-up including “Survivor”, “CSI”, and “Fringe” on tape.  I then went to bed with Heather.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 2 of Chapter 13 of “Star Wars – Medstar I:  Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel” by Micheael Reaves and Steve Perry…..

‘Star Wars – Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel’ – Chapter 13 (Part 1)

What a day!  I got a lot done but I also worked through most of my day and was working through the night to catch up on things as well.   I got a lot accomplished again, it’s just not all tangible things.  It’s a good thing that I can convince myself that I am doing well and that I can entertain myself in my own way.  I know, too much information, right?  Okay, so I got myself ready for my day and the kids were already up and ready to go for their day.  We ate breakfast together and watched “The Early Show” on CBS and found out the great news!  First off, the Republicans won back the governorship of Virginia and New Jersey.  More importantly, the Democrats are now worried about the next few years!  I think they need to be worried.  We got done watching the T.V. and then I was off to school while the kids were off to work.

I got things set up at work and had a decent day with my students.  I was pretty happy with how things went with my school day.  We did a day that was mostly music history and I have to say that things went pretty well.  So well, that tomorrow two of my classes will actually be doing two days of recording  for their music videos.  I was happy with how today went and when my instructional day ended, I had a chance to record some information for the student I talked about yesterday and I have to say that it was fun to do the podcast recording today.  Now all I need to do is record the student tomorrow and everything should work out well.  I got done doing all of that and then headed home for the end of the day.

I got home and immediately set about to finish editing the last two “Clone Wars in a Galactic Minutes”.  I had the first one done before dinner and ate dinner with the family nad then finished the second one after dinner and before the next episode of “Clone Wars” came on tonight.  Not a lot of people kne that the current “Clone Wars” premiered tonight, but I watched that and then watched the “Jeff Dunham Show” rerun from last week.  After that I watched “Criminal Minds” and “CSI: NY” and then went to bed.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 1 of Chapter 13 of “Star Wars – Medstar I:  Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel” by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry…..

‘Star Wars – Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel’ – Chapter 12 (Part 2)

Well, it’s Tuesday and there was even more to get done today.  I got up and got myself going for my day and Heather had the kids going before I even got up.  Heather is really starting to enjoy her job of driving bus.  So much so, she’s hoping that she’ll actually get a bus route soon so that she can have an everyday route to follow.  But, she is trying to be patient and let that all happen.  The kids ate their breakfast and I ate with them and then we watched “The Early Show” on CBS for a little bit and before I knew it, it was time for me to head to work while the kids headed off to school.

I got to work and had a very good day with my students.  Several of my classes caught up on their work and I was pretty happy to know by the end of the day that I was able to get students back on track.  I then discussed what I was doing with one class about their podcasts and one of my other students who is challenged is doing an amazing concept on his podcast and I can’t wait to see how it turns out.  I think it is going to be incredible to see that student finish his project.  I’m so proud of what he has done and what will be completed.  We have a plan to do some of that work tomorrow and finish it up by Friday.  It was a good day, and was slightly inspiring for a teacher to see his students do so well and to not fight me.  It was a wonderfully educational day.

After school, I took some time to edit some of my podcasts and was able to get two of my “Clone Wars in a Galactic Minute” segments done so that we can get them up soon.  I got that done just in time to then head over to SMASH rehearsal.  We only had two members show up (one of which was my daughter), so we did the best we could.  We worked through rehearsal and when we finished, I rushed home.  I got home and ate dinner rather quickly and then Heather and I headed over to our church for Christmas play rehearsal.  We had a nice rehearsal and everyone was happy with my ability to act and I thought I could’ve done better.  We got done and came home and I raced in the door to watch the first episode of “V”.  I thought it was pretty cool and I’m excited about the show in the future.  After that, I then played “Call of Duty 4″ on the PS3 for about an hour and then watched “The Good Wife” and went to bed.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 2 of Chapter 12 of “Star Wars – Medstar I:  Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel” by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry…..

‘Star Wars – Medstar I: Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel’ – Chapter 12 (Part 1)

Well, it’s Monday and it’s the last full week with my students.  I have a lot to do with them and we have a busy week with my family as well.  I have a lot to do both for my blog and podcast and I can only hope that by the end of the week I can get all of it done.  I know, I put a lot of pressure on myself, but I do it because I know that I can get this stuff done if I put my mind to getting it all done.  I got up this morning and got myself together with some help from Heather and the kids and I ate breakfast together and we were on our way to school and work.

I got to work and got things together for my classes today.  I have classes all over the map and my only hope is that I can get everything done in the days that I have ahead.  My only hope is that I can get all my students on the same page by the time I give my final exams next week.  I worked with all of my classes and some of them are going to be able to do some extra work thanks to their ability to get things done in their workbooks.  Most of my classes are ready and some are not.  I think I can do what needs to get done by next week.  I got done with my work day today and headed straight home.  Haven’t done that in a while.

I got home and got Austin going on his homework.  I then went into the basement and got to grading papers right away.  When I finished grading papers, I then right to recording more of “The Clone Wars in a Galactic Minute”.  I got two more recorded and am almost caught up with this season.  By the time I got done recording, it was time to eat dinner.  We had dinner together and then I took Austin to Boy Scouts for the night.  I then came home and worked a little more on my podcast before starting to watch our usual T.V. shows including “How I Met Your Mother”, “Accidetnally On Purpose”, “Two and a Half Men”, “Big Bang Theory”, and “CSI Miami”.  I then went to bed.

Okay, so let’s talk about Part 1 of Chapter 12 of “Star Wars – Medstar I:  Battle Surgeons, A Clone Wars Novel’ by Michael Reaves and Steve Perry……