As soon as Tara screamed for help, Heather and I both immediately assumed the same thing was wrong – the hot water heater.  Our hot water heater had been leaking quite a bit over the last several weeks.  We took some advice from David Ramsay (of our podcast) and David’s advice had worked.  We drained the water out of the tank and put cold water in it and it seemed to solve the problem.  The ultimate problem (which we would eventually find out) was that the emergency pressure release valve had corroded right through.  Anyway, we got downstairs and I couldn’t find the water shut off on the heater, so Heather shut off the water to the house.  She called David for some help and we started to deal with the water that was now all over the floor and not draining rather well.  I finally found the water shut off on the hot water heater and shut it off and Heather was able to at least turn on the water to the house.

We then decided that we might as well drain the water out of the heater as David showed up.  He helped me out by helping to get off the external pipe and then the failed pressure release valve.  David and I went over to “Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse” and got a new pressure release valve.  We also got some glue and came home.  We then put in the new pressure release valve and then drained the rest of the tank because we figured now was a good time to drain it and try to get rid of some of the sediment at the bottom.  We then refilled the tank and I used the PVC All purpose glue to attach a new endcap to our banner holder.  After Heather made some omlettes (because David’s breakfast was interupted), we talked for a little bit and then David left to join his wife.  Heather and I then decided to leave the house as well.

Heather wanted to go to “Joann’s Fabrics”.  We then stopped at “Wal Mart” to grab some things and I talked her into stopping at “Toys R Us” and we managed to grab three Savage Oppress figures.  I’m hoping to get two of them signed and the other one I gave to Austin as a toy.  After all the galavanting around, I decided that I needed to get some things done.  So, I headed into the basement and watched some more of the “Parking Wars” marathon from yesterday while I worked on this blog.  After that, I played another game of “Madden 2011″ before I had to head over and pick up Ruth from Binghamton Youth Symphony Orchestra rehearsal.  I came home and we all sat down and ate dinner together.  After dinner, I worked on Gary’s Mando helmet some more as another idea hit me for an improvement.  After that, I worked on this blog while Heather and I watched “60 Minutes”, “Undercover Boss”, “The Simpsons”, “The Good Wife”, and “CSI: Miami” while I DVR’d “Napolean Dynamite”, “Family Guy” and “Cleveland Show”.  We then headed to bed.

Okay, no reading tonight.  Instead, head on over to the GalaxyCast Website and check out Episode #74 of our Podcast.  As always, we would like to thank Mike Wilkerson and the 2 Guys Talking Podcast Network for all their support.

I then went upstairs and got some leftovers for lunch and the kids and I talked a little bit.  Austin was gone to a trip today for sledding and skiing.  After lunch, I headed into the basement and played some COD: BO for about an hour and then Ruth came downstairs and watched “Storage Wars” and “Shipping Wars” to get those shows off my cue.  As she watched TV, I continued to work on fixing some Mandalorian helmets that needed some tweaking.  I also worked on organizing the podcast room even more and after Ruth got done watching TV, I’ll admit that I played more COD:BO and then watched a few episodes of “Parking Wars”.  Heather had left for an appointment she had made at “White Rose” and then went over to “Joann’s Fabrics”, “Wal Mart”, “Dick’s Sporting Goods” and then to the church to pick up Austin, but as she headed over there, she got told via Austin’s cell phone that they were running over an hour behind.  So, she brought home some “Wendy’s” for dinner.

I went upstairs and ate dinner with the girls and Heather left and picked  up Austin and brought him food.  She then left the house and went over to “Price Chopper” and got a salad there.  I watched some more episodes of “Parking Wars” and then played a game of “Madden 2011″ on my Playstation 3 Slim before we switched over to watch a little bit of “Saturday Night Live” that was a rerun and then headed to bed.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 1 of Chapter 21 of “Star Wars:  Jedi Trial” by David Sherman and Dan Cragg……

Chapter 21 (Part 1):  The four scouts used the riverbed to mask their movements.  Their artillery fired and the enemy counter-fired and L’loxx smiled as he realized that their diversion was working.  The team members crawled carefully over some of the open ground and L’loxx’s suits were well padded and they were all tethered together so as not to loose track of anyone in the dark.  After an hour, they made their way to the slope behind the enemy line, ready to navigate a steep cliff.  L’loxx had memorized the terrain and had a pretty good idea of where the enemy sentries were placed and he knew that moment they could get around them.  He signaled a halt and told them that when they go up, they will be at the very right of the enemy line.  As they climbed, the barrage of artillery ceased……

Today was a day where I think that “Larry the Cable Guy” would have said it’s time to “Git R Done”!  We had final exams to finish up and that’s exactly what I did with my students.  Some of my classes finished their finals with plenty of time left over.  Other classes barely finished their finals and yet other classes had to hurry up just to finish.  I was happy that we were able to complete finals today, but it was a little chaotic.  I was also working on putting out a couple of “fires” in both my work related life and my personal life. I’m glad to say that by the end of the day, I had felt like I had caught up on a whole bunch of information and had completed a lot of things.  However, I’ll admit I was a little frustrated as well.

Heather got home and she was all hot and bothered.  She met me in the basement as I was frantically grading final exams to try and get them done for the weekend.  She asked if we could go out for dinner because she just needed a night to be the adult in the house.  So, we went out for dinner and told the kids to get leftovers out of the fridge.  We went over to “Five Guys” and got some dinner and sat down and had a nice conversation as adults.  After that, we grabbed a quick dessert at “Cold Stone Creamery” and then stopped at “Price Chopper” on the way home and got some wine coolers.  We then went home and not too long after that, Gary showed up followed by Dan and David.  We sat around and talked and caught up on our weeks and then we sat down and watched “The Clone Wars”.  After that, we then recorded the next episode of “GalaxyCast”.  After that, we talked a little and then the guys took off.

Heather and I had another wine cooler as we watched “Dog the Bounty Hunter” (Heather hadn’t seen it yet) and then we started “Kitchen Nightmares”, but we ended up going to bed early because we were just exhausted from our day today and the week this week.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 6 of Chapter 20 of “Star Wars:  Jedi Trial” by David Sherman and Dan Cragg…….

Chapter 20 (Part 6):  Erk hit his head on a rock as he sat up and asked for Odie’s equipment belt.  He held up a vibroblade and a vibroknuckler and said that they can use these to cut through the rock and said that mechanics use these to cut the metal on starfighters.  He held it up to the rock as it cut and melted the rock onto the floor.  Odie pointed out that it gave off noxious fumes and asked how they would avoid that and burning themselves.  Erk said they take it slow and use the flier’s tunic as a shield.  He asked how much power the tools had and Odie said about ten hours worth.  She offered to help and take turns as Erk kissed Odie as he said he knew she would come in handy.  He told her they would do some serious fraternization once they got out and warned the rocks they were on their way.

I got to work and set things up for my day today.  It was a busy day because I was doing my second day of final exams.  Today started the performance portion of the exams.  This is the point at which some of my students break down and actually out and out-right refuse to try to do their best.  I am not there to judge their attitude, but their performance.  For some reason, they don’t understand that even thought I try to make it clear with them.  After working with my students, I spent my prep periods grading finals and came close to being done with most of the grades of the students who finished their exams today.  After my instructional day, I headed straight home because the kids were home alone because Heather was out on a bus trip.

I got home and helped Ruth get dinner going a little bit and then they cleaned the kitchen and I went into the basement and recorded my next episode of “The Clone Wars in a Galactic Minute” for my podcast.  After that, I watched “Dog the Bounty Hunter” and worked on this blog.  After that, I went upstairs and the kids and I had a dinner of mashed potato soup and some pork steaks.  After that, I headed off into the basement and edited out the latest episode of CWGM and then I watched “Dr. Phil” with the kids before getting ready to go Binghamton Community Orchestra rehearsal at West Middle School.

Our orchestra rehearsal was okay.  We started out the later beginning rehearsal with Dvorak’s “Slavonic Dances” and I have to say it’s only my second time playing these pieces and they were fun to play both times.  After that we played a piece by Ernest Bloch and all I’ll say is that I’m not really a Bloch fan and after that we played the “Egmont Overture” by Beethoven.  After rehearsal, I came home and Heather and I watched “Big Bang Theory” followed by “Rob” and “Parks and Recreation” and then went to bed.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 5 of Chapter 20 of “Star Wars:  Jedi Trial” by David Sherman and Dan Cragg……

Chapter 20 (Part 5):  The recon teams were briefed as they agreed that one team would take the left flan, the other the center, and L’loxx’s team the right.  Even though they were given comlinks, the intelligence chief warned them ont to use them.  they were then told to form up at Izable and when they are ready to move out, the artillery will lay down a cover fire.  Each team was then given a code to use upon their return for some cover fire.  They then headed out.  They got to Izable and waited for the barrage.  L’loxx warned his team that the enemy would be waiting for them and they were all wearing specialty clothing L’loxx designed to partially mask them from infrared.  He told them they would sneak around to the rear……

I got to work and set things up for my day today.  Today was the first day of final exams.  I usually am missing quite a few students on the first day, which means I’m playing catch up for the next several days.  But today I had most of my students there, which means we are off to a good start on the exams.  I was fairly happy with behavior today and most of my students put their best foot forward in the exam, which is all I can ask of them.  It was a straightforward day and when I got done with my instructional day, I headed home.

I got home and helped Tara and Ruth with their homework for a bit and then headed into the basement and started to watch “Dr. Phil”, but was interrupted by Heather freaking out about the fact that her “baby” (her sewing machine) not working anymore.  She quick raced the machine over to “Grandmother’s Thimble” for repairs.  She then came home and we all had dinner together.  After dinner, she got a call from the shop and it’s going to cost about $300 to fix the machine.  Let’s hope that is all it will cost!  After that, I headed into the basement and started a game of Madden 2011 on my PS3.  I won the game on Franchise mode, but then the game froze and I lost ALL my information!  I was so upset.  So, I cut my losses and got off the system.  I finished up “Dr. Phil” and then uploaded two new episodes of the GalaxyCast Podcast onto the server and then I started watching our usual Wednesday night shows with Heather, including “Whitney”, “Are You There Chelsea”, “Criminal Minds” and “CSI” before heading to bed.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 4 of Chapter 20 of “Star Wars:  Jedi Trial” by David Sherman and Dan Cragg…….

Chapter 20 (Part 4):  Pors Tonith told his commanders that their enemy would not be foolish enough to attack the center.  He said they would feint towards the center and then try to flank them, so he put reinforcements in place to deal with this and then warned them that they would be seeing probes all night long.  He told them that neither they nor their droids would sleep as they discussed reinforcing the hills on their left, but Tonith said they could worry about that as the attack develops.  He told them they have their orders and then let the know he is confident that reinforcements are on their way.  Tonith had B’wuf woken after his commanders left and went to his bunk and insisted to only be woken if there are further developments……

I got to work and set up for my day.  Today was a day to have a Music Jeopardy game with all of my students. I have had some great success with this type of review in the past. It gets students to think and use their notes to review before their final exams start tomorrow. It also helps to get a little bit of a competitive spirit going and I also make sure that all the students are participating in some way, which ensures that I’m grabbing everyone’s attention.  It was a very successful and got my students interested in reviewing for the exam that starts tomorrow.  I got done with my instructional day and prepped things for SMASH.  I finished grading papers and when the SMASH students arrived, we talked a little bit and then started to go over our stick routine.  That took all of our rehearsal, but we came close to having something that is finished by the time we were done.  After SMASH, I invited Jim over for a Superbowl party to our house and then we left and went home.

I got home and ate dinner with my family.  After dinner, I went into the basement and watched “Dr. Phil” and then I played COD:BO for about a half an hour while I dealt with another issue that popped up today.  After that, Heather and I sat down together and watched “Shipping Wars” and “Storage Wars” before we headed to bed.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 3 of Chapter 20 of “Star Wars:  Jedi Trial” by David Sherman and Dan Cragg……

Chapter 20 (Part 3):  Rader insisted he would be good and L’loxx said the help would be appreciated and said that if he had to, he could leave behind Rader at their base at Izable if things were not working out.  Halcyon ordered Anakin to coordinate these efforts with the clone commandos and to meet back here in fifteen minutes.  Anakin then followed Grudo into a private room and said he wished the Rodian would not venture out as he asked his friend if he was married.  Grudo laughed and said he had married several times, but Grudo said duty goes above all else as Anakin said he was just curious.  Grudo told Anakin he would be fine as he asked the Jedi if he knew the woman they saw earlier.  Anakin said he did not know her, but she looked a lot like his mother who was killed.  Grudo said that as hard as that may have been, he was sure his mother was probably very proud of him.  Grudo said he will be a great commander and it was an honor just to know him.  Anakin wishes Grudo luck, but the Rodian insists skill outweighs luck, but thanks the Jedi for the sentiment.  Grudo then grabbed Anakin’s hand and disappeared silently into the night……

One thing I did not talk about yesterday was the death of Joe Paterno.  Yesterday Joe Paterno died and I have to say that my heart was broken, even if just a little bit.  Joe Paterno was the heart of the PSU Football organization.  He was more than just a coach to one of the most “winning-est” teams in football history.  He was a legend, an icon, and a saint in his own right.  I know many want to remember Joe Pa (as his fans referred to him) as the man that couldn’t stop child sex abuse in the PSU Locker Rooms at his facilities.  But unfortunately, with his passing, we will never know to what extent (if any) Joe Pa had in that particular scandal.  I will tell you what I do know of Joe Paterno.  He was more than just a coach to his players.  He was a friend and colleague.  He demanded excellence of them at all points in time.  Under Joe Pa’s time as a head coach at PSU, they instituted some of the most rigorous academic standards ever enforced by a University football team.  As he told many of his players, life demands them to be a success on and off the field.  Well, Joe Pa himself was exactly that, a success on and off the field.  He donated over $4 million to the Penn State library because he believed in academic success so much and eventually that library was named after him.  He had five children with his wife and has left behind an enormous legacy. But to me, the most important thing Joe Pa did for sports was emphasize the academics of sports and not the brutality of sports.  He has the most career wins in the NCAA Football Division I and the NFL considered Joe Pa’s players some of the best and brightest that they have ever received.  Joe Paterno died on January 22, 2012.  However, he will live in the hearts of Penn State fans and Americans for decades to come.  So, rest in peace Joe Paterno.  I know that you are still coaching games up in Heaven, but now God is on your team, so you can only win from now on!  Read more on Joe Paterno at Wikipedia.org.

Well, now that I’ve gotten sappy on all of you, the kids and I watched “Fox and Friends” and after some time, I was off to work while the kids were off to school.  I got to work and set things up for my day today.  Today was a day to catch up on work and give students time to prepare for their final exams which are going to start on Wednesday.  So, my sixth graders worked on any back work they owe and then grabbed keyboards to practice their scales for the final exam.  My seventh graders did the same thing and so did my eighth graders.  It wasn’t too bad of a work day and most of my students worked to try and get in their work that they owe me before the end of the quarter.  I was happy with my instructional day and then headed home right after work.

I got home and no one was there. That’s when I realized the kids were all off at their piano lessons.  So, I opened and envelope that came in the mail for me, and sure enough, it was my 501st badge.  I was a little over-excited and immediately posted pics of it on Facebook!  After that,  I headed into the basement and started working on rewiring parts of the podcast studio.  I had wired in a whole bunch of speakers into the studio, but to be honest, they speakers sounded awful and didn’t work half the time.  Normally, we were using a set of computer speakers at our events to play our podcast.  But now we have a hot “monitor” to do that with, so I am able to actually use the computer speakers for the computer.  So, I moved everything around, rewired the system and it looks and sounds much better now.  While working on this, I had to go upstairs for dinner.

After dinner, I headed downstairs and continued to work on the podcast room and then watched “Dr. Phil”.  I got done with the episode on drunk driving and then checked TV and found out that almost everything I normally watch was into reruns.  So, I played COD: BO for about an hour and then switched over to watching Pawn Stars and American Pickers before heading to bed a half an hour early with Heather.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 2 of Chapter 20 of “Star Wars:  Jedi Trial” by David Sherman and Dan Cragg…….

Chapter 20 (Part 2):  Slayke then said they would send a strong force at the center with a stronger force around the flanks, but said they need to scout the positions first.  Slayke then calls forward Sergeant L’loxx and orders him to recon the enemy positions by dawn as it is midnight now.  L’loxx said he was positive he could do it and reconnoiter at their position.  Anakin said they could send in three probes, and also suggested clone commandos.  Anakin and Halcyon assigned three commandos, each to a different sector and asked L’loxx how many men he will need and L’loxx insisted he would work by himself.  Halcyon wondered what happens to him when he goes down and then Grudo steps forward and offers to go along.  Slayke said it was ridiculous, but L’loxx said Rodian’s make great scouts as they are able to sneak into places that other people are not able to.  Anakin agreed that Grudo was in, when Corporal Ram Raders, of Halcyon’s personally picked guards, insists upon going along.  Halcyon then insisted they were not just sending out the entire army to scout the enemy positions and insisted that Rader sit down…..

I headed into the basement and immediately watched “American Idol” Season 11.  I watched the first two episodes and put together the question sheets for my students to go along with it.  I worked on those sheets for about an hour and a half or so and was able to have that lesson plan ready to go.  While I worked, Heather had stopped at “Sip of Seattle” and gotten us some smoothies and then she stopped at Dunkin Donuts and we had some donuts for breakfast as well.  After that, I continued my work on my Mandalorian buckets while I continued to watch “Star Wars:  Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones”.  I have to admit that movie looks much more crisp in the Blu Ray look and sound.  It was actually quite nice.  After that, I ate some lunch with the kids and then started to watch some football as I continued to work.  I have several projects on my work bench that I worked on as well as trying to clean up the workshop so I can continue to use it.  My hope is to get a majority of my work off the bench by the end of February, because the month of March is looking like complete chaos!  Heck, My wife and I aren’t going to be able to celebrate our March 1st Anniversary until the third or fourth week of the month.  Insane!  Anyway, as we watched the games, I also left the house to drop Austin off to “God and Me” class, take Ruth to Binghamton Youth Symphony Orchestra rehearsal, and then picking up Austin from “God and Me” class.  I felt like I was a taxi driver for a little bit.

After I got home, I continued to work on the helmets and even started to work on one version of “The Clone Wars in a Galactic Minute” while I waited on Heather.  She went out and picked up Ruth and then stopped at Taco Bell to get dinner for the entire house.  We sat down and ate dinner while we watched the dramatic ending to the AFC Championship between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens.  All I can say is that I feel bad for the Ravens quarterback.  One mistake and Joe Flacco’s season is over.  It’s a shame that such a talented guy had to end the season on such a downer.  After dinner, I headed downstairs and started to watch the NFC Championship game.  I was rather irked though because the game was so choppy because of our reception.  Heather called DirecTV and said there wasn’t much they could do about it as it was a Fox affiliate problem.  However, not too long after that, the problem was fixed.  I watched the game as I finished out the next two “Clone Wars in a Galactic Minute” and started to finish up fixing up the shop.  It took almost all day, but the basement is looking almost normal again.  After watching the close game and seeing San Fransisco blow the game at the end of the day, Heather and I stayed up a little later and watched some of “American Idol” while I worked on this blog, but after some time, we went to bed.

Okay, let’s talk about Part 1 of Chapter 20 of “Star Wars:  Jedi Trial” by David Sherman and Dan Cragg…….

Chapter 20 (Part 1):  Soldiers who were tired were either purely exhausted or they were well trodden veterans.  The strategy session, which lasted all night moved from Slayke’s outpost to Halcyon’s because they had better supplies.  Although it took a while to come up with the overall plan, each commander was given their commands and only knew about each of their individual tasks.  Slayke argued that a frontal assault is suicide since casualty rates usually end up being four to one on the attacking force.  But Halcyon said said the assault would be a feint so they could flank them adn attack from the rear.  Anakin suggested they use transports for a vertical envelopment as Halcyon asked what the enemy’s anti-aircraft capabilities are.  One of the intelligence officers warned them that they had sent drones out in anticipation of this discussion and that their air defense looks fairly dense.  Slayke said it was too big of a risk to try a vertical attack as Anakin pointed out that even if they attempt to outflank the enemy, he can reinforce any position within a matter of moments.  Slayke commented that the young man is quite the strategist as Halcyon joked that is full of surprises…….

I got home and started to work on printing out the templates.  I then headed into the basement and watched yesterday’s “Dr. Phil” while I cut them out and started to prep the templates to be put together.  After some time, I got some lunch and the kids joined me.  We watched “Dog the Bounty Hunter” followed by an episode of “Shipping Wars” and then the two latest episodes of “Storage Wars”.  While they watched, I put the templates together, got them cut out of the sintra and worked on getting them filed down on the edges.  While I worked we watched “Hot in Cleveland”, “The Exes”, and I watched “Fringe” on my own.  After that, I started to work on a plain black helmet for the group that I intended to make for the Falco Clan with some plain black armor so that if someone wants to troop with us, they can get an idea what it’s like to get into a kit.  After working all afternoon, I decided to take a break and played COD: BO for about an hour before dinner.
Heather made a nice pork roast for dinner and we had pork, fries, and corn for dinner.  After that, I headed back downstairs and worked on Gary’s helmet as well as mine.  I sanded the helmet down and did the same with Gary’s and formulated a plan on how to fix both helmets to help them fit regulations.  I then played a little more of COD:BO and then hung up some posters around the basement and moved some things around to get the new posters up.  After that, I watched “Star Wars:  Episode 2 – Attack of the Clones” and worked on Gary’s helmet until it was time to go to bed and Heather and I headed to bed around midnight.

Okay, so no more reading again tonight.  Instead, head on over to the GalaxyCast Website and check out episode #73 of our show.  Also, thanks again to Mike Wilkerson and the 2 Guys Talking Podcast Network for all their support.  Don’t forget our feedback contest and MAY THE FORCE BE WITH THOSE WHO LISTEN!

It was a busy day at work.  My sixth graders finished up working on their music history units.  I was hard at work as well, because I was giving my students a chance to correct their grades.  So, if they turned in sheets, I tried to grade them in a five minute turnaround so they could then make any corrections they needed to make.  My seventh graders did their last bit of recording for their podcasts and then we did some audio intervals.  My eighth graders were split with their work.  One class worked hard and got in their last workbook pages as well as being able to watch the end of “West Side Story”.  My other class did not quite finish their work, so some of them even had some homework.  It was a hard working day and I got a lot done and I was excited to see that I’m starting to catch up on paperwork.  Even on emails.  I even had a moment today to organize the contacts in my cell phone which I have been waiting to do for some time now.  After work, I headed straight home.

I got home to a house with only my two youngest kids in it.  The sintra I ordered had shown up, which was good because I had some rather larger projects to get done tomorrow and they required sintra (well, some of them do).  I opened up the sintra and took it to the shop in the basement and then I sat down and watched last week’s episode of “Star Wars:  The Clone Wars” and then sat down and recorded two “Clone Wars in a Galactic Minute” episodes in hopes of getting those edited out tomorrow or Sunday at some point in time.  After getting some things put together and watching an episode of “Dr. Phil”, Ruth came home and we made dinner and set up the table for chili.  After dinner, Gary showed up and we sat around and talked a little bit and then David showed up as well.  After some time, Dan showed up and we went into the basement and talked about a few things.  We then sat down and watched tonight’s episode of “The Clone Wars”.

After watching the show, we then recorded our next episode of the GalaxyCast Podcast and then the guys headed out since the weather was rather bad tonight.  Heather and I talked a little bit as her brother and her sister-in-law had gone to the hospital this morning and they looked to have a baby within the next day or so.  After watching “Kitchen Nightmares”, we then went to bed.

Okay, so no reading tonight.  Instead, head on over to the GalaxyCast website and check out Episode #72.  Yet again we thank Mike Wilkerson and the 2 Guys Talking Podcast Network for all their support!  Also, don’t forget about our feedback contest to win a Slave One ornament from Hallmark.  Simply listen to the show and you’ll find out more!  MAY THE FORCE BE WITH THOSE WHO LISTEN!