The person who called was insistent:  "Don't be late!" she said.

It was finally time to take #2 Son in for his orientation for what they now term Adult Education.  Why they call it that, and demand that a parent be there with the so called adult, is beyond me.  But, so is most bureaucracy.

Because #2 wants to go to culinary school before he is 18, and he has to have a high school diploma to attend that schol, we had to apply for special permission for him to leave regular school and get a GED.

This has taken, as all things in the educational system do, forever.

He was approved, thankfully, or i'm not sure where we could have turned after that.  So we weren't late.

Another family was, and one lady delayed our start by deciding to go to the restroom at the last minute, after she had been sitting there for 25 minutes.  The supervisor was patient, i guess he's used to these sorts of things.

He first went over the ground rules.  You are adults here, that's why it's Adult Education.  We do not ever see your records from your former school, because we don't want to.  We don't want to pre-judge you as a person, so you can get a fresh start.

You must dress and act appropriately.  You may not play with your phone when you are here.  You must attend for 15 hours a week, or you will be considered truant.  There are no lunch breaks while you are here, and you must get yourself here and home, there are no busses.

We are open from 7am to 8pm.  Some of the satellite centers are not open those hours, but we will discuss that when we decide where you will attend, and make your appointment for your first test.

You will first take a Locator test.  This takes about a half hour and tells us approximately where you are, grade school, middle school, or high school.

Once you have taken that test, you will make an appointment to take the second test.  This Placement test will take close to two hours, and will tell us more precisely where you are in your studies.  Which version of the Placement test you take fully depends on how well you do on the first test, so don't blow the first one off as unimportant.

If you score high enough on the Placement test, you may be allowed to come in and take the practice GED.  The state requires everyone to take a practice GED before taking the real thing.  If you pass that, we will send you to the next GED test date, and you will be out of here.

If your second test shows you aren't ready for the practice GED, you will have to come here or to one of the learning centers for the requisite 15 hours a week, and you will be given classes so that you can raise your grade level high enough to pass the practice GED and the GED.

So, how long you are here is up to you.  If you do your absolute best on the Locator and the Placement tests, you might be out of the system, with a GED under your belt, in about 2-4 weeks.  If you mess around, or don't study if you do need to come here for a while, it will take you a lot longer.

When the supervisor finished going over all these things and gave us our paperwork, i let him know that #2 Son's plan is to have his GED this semester so he can start culinary school in January.  Also, i told him that his private school teacher had already given him a practice GED, and he had scored more than high enough to pass the real thing.  He seemed relieved, and smiled, and told us that if #2 Son did that well already, there should be no problem.

Finally, at that point, #2 Son smiled.  "That's what I want to hear!" he said.  This kid is ready to get to the next stage of his life.

He just needs to remember to stop for red lights.  Yes, i'm still on him about that, he has extra chores so he can earn the money to pay the fine.  If he's in Adult Education, and heading to a post-secondary institution, he can take responsibility like an adult.


Today is:

Alex Kivi Day a/k/a Kivi Day -- Finland (The Day of Finnish Literature)

Arbor Day -- Poland

Bonza Bottler Day

Chicago International Film Festival -- Chicago, IL, US (oldest competitive international film festival in North America; through the 24th)

Curacao Day -- Curacao

Double Tenth Day/National Day -- China; Taiwan (In remembrance of the revolution against the Imperial Manchu Dynasty.)

Festival for Juno Moneta -- Ancient Roman Calendar (Juno as goddess of money)

Great American Beer Festival -- Denver, CO, US (festival that holds the Guinness World Record for most beers tapped in one location; through Sunday)

Independence Day / Deed of Cession Day -- Fiji(1970)

Journee Nationale de la Femme Marocaine -- Morocco (National Women's Day)

Kruger Day -- South Africa

KWP Foundation Day -- North Korea (1945)

Maroons Day -- Suriname (celebration of indigenous peoples)

Moi Day -- Kenya

National Angel Food Cake Day

National Cake Decorating Day -- some websites say today, some say the 17th

National Depression Screening Day® 2013 -- US (don't play around with depression, get screened if you need to)

Naval Academy Day -- US

New York Comic Con -- NY, NY, US (through Sunday)

St. Francis Borgia's Day (Patron of Portugal; Rota, Marianas; against earthquakes)

St. Paulinus of York's Day (Patron of Rochester, England)

Tag der Volksabstimmung -- Austria (Referendum Day)

War of Independence Anniversary -- Cuba

World Day Against the Death Penalty -- International

World Mental Health Day -- International


Anniversaries Today:

The United States Naval Academy opened with 50 midshipmen and 7 professors, 1845


Birthdays Today:

Dale Earnhardt, Jr., 1974
Brett Favre, 1969
Tanya Tucker, 1958
Charles Dance, 1946
Ben Vereen, 1946
Harold Pinter, 1930
Richard Jaeckel, 1926
Thelonious Monk, 1917
Edward D. Wood, Jr., 1924
Helen Hayes, 1900
Giuseppe Verdi, 1813
Henry Cavendish, 1731 (discovered hydrogen)


Debuting/Premiering Today:

The Tuxedo, 1886 (introduced at The Tuxedo Club in New York)


Today in History:

The Great Hurricane of 1780 kills 20,000 to 30,000 in the Carribean, 1780
The first non-Native American settlement is founded in Oklahoma, 1802
William Lassell discovers Neptune's moon Triton, 1846
The first "Dinner Jacket" is worn to the Autumn Ball at Tuxedo Park, NY, 1886
President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal, 1913
Ho Chi Minh enters Hanoi after the French pull out of the city, 1954
U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower apologizes to the finance minister of Ghana, Komla Agbeli Gbdemah, after he is refused service in a Dover, Delaware restaurant, 1957
The Windscale fire in Cumbria, U.K. is the world's first major nuclear accident, 1957
The opening ceremony at The 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, is broadcast live in the first Olympic telecast relayed by geostationary communication satellite, 1964
The Outer Space Treaty, signed on January 27 by more than sixty nations, comes into force, 1967
In Montreal, Quebec, a national crisis hits Canada when Quebec Vice-Premier and Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte becomes the second statesman kidnapped by members of the FLQ terrorist group, 1970
Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, 1971
After having closed borders for about two hundred years, Armenia and Turkey sign protocols in Zurich, Switzerland to open their borders, 2009

Tuesday Tail

Around here, we call them 'gator tails.

 


Not the best picture, but we've all seem them.  The pieces of tires from retreads that big rigs leave all over the side of the road.

Only a few times in my life have i been seriously afraid while driving.  In each case, i've managed not to panic, keep a tight grip on the wheel, remember to take my foot off the gas and not brake, and get out of it.

Yesterday was another of those times.  For the first time ever, i saw a rig actually throwing tire pieces all over the road.  The noise startled me, and i'm glad i didn't jerk the wheel as i watched to see where the debris would fly.  It happened right in the never-ending-construction-zone on the interstate, but it was right at the only exit and the driver managed to get off the road because the people in the exit lane realized what was happening and backed off to give him room.

None of the pieces that flew yesterday were as big as the one above (i pulled off to take a picture at an exit), but i think those retreads are dangerous.  While i'm all for conservation, as long as we have to use the type of tire we have now, we need to find a better way to reuse the material.

In good news, it turns out that the teacher gave #2 Son a practice test, and he could most likely already pass and get his GED next week if he wanted.  She wants him stronger in the math section, though, but it's looking good for the timeline we are working on to have him in culinary school either fall or next spring.


Today is

Crowded Nest Awareness Day -- for those whose problem is the opposite of the Empty Nest, a day to remind you to keep your sense of humor and get support when you need it

Duanwu Jie -- China; Hong Kong; Macao[Tung Ng]; Taiwan (Dragon Boat Festival Day, in which spectacularly decorated boats loaded with rowers and drums race)

Festival of Mut -- Ancient Egyptian Calendar (date approximate)

Ghost in the Machine Day -- the internet holiday that explains everything!

Helsinki Day -- Finland

Ice Cream Days -- LeMars, IA, US (the home of Wells's Blue Bunny Ice Cream calls itself the Ice Cream Capital of the World and has a parade, basketball tournament, children's activities, fishing derby, and more along with tons of ice cream; through Saturday)

Independence Day -- Philippines

International Cachaca Day

Loving Day -- US (commemoration of Loving vs. Virginia decision by the Supreme Court which struct down all anti-miscegenation laws)

Marrakesh Popular Arts Festival -- Marrakesh, Morocco (the country's best Folklore Festival, featuring art and music as well; through Sunday)

Midnight Sun Film Festival -- Sodankyla, Lapland, Finland (one of the world's most unique film festivals; through Sunday)

National Jerky Day -- begun last year, possibly by one of the jerky manufacturers (no one can track it down, sounds suspicious to me)

National Peanut Butter Cookie Day

National Time Out Day -- US, sponsored by The Association of Operating Room Nurses, which want everyone involved in surgeries to take time out before the procedure to verify the surgery site, type, and patient and decrease OR errors

Red Rose Day -- found all over the internet, with June 12 as the most common date cited; may have begun with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Australia, which has Rose Days as fundraisers

Russia Day -- Russia

St. Anthony's Eve -- Brazil; Portugal
     Dia dos Namorados -- Brazil (Lover's Day, celebrated on St. Anthony's Eve)

St. Onuphrius' Day (Patron of weavers; Centrache, Catanzaro, Italy)

Tano Day -- Korea (summer food is offered at the household shrine of the ancestors, this is the final day of the three day Tano Festival)

Turtle Races -- Nisswa, MN, US (Wednesdays in June, go race a turtle, it's only $4 to adopt a turtle for the race and get a participation racing button!)

World Day Against Child Labour -- Education International and the International Labour Organization; this year, the spotlight is on child labour in domestic workhttp://www.ei-ie.org/en/events/event_details/62


Birthdays Today:

Marv Albert, 1941
Chick Corea, 1941
Jim Nabors, 1932
Anne Frank, 1929
Vic Damone, 1928
George Bush, 1924
Alexandre Tansman, 1897


Today in History:

Joan of Arc leads the French army in their capture of the city and the English commander, William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk in the second day of the Battle of Jargeau, 1429
The French begin their colonization of Algeria with the landing of 34,000 troops, 1830
The world's first Fingerprint Bureau opens in Calcutta, India, after the Council of the Governor General approves a committee report that fingerprints should be used for classification of criminal records, 1897
Shooting begins on Paramount Pictures' Dr. Cyclops, the first horror film photographed in three-strip Technicolor, 1939
Anne Frank gets her diary as a birthday present, 1942
The United States Supreme Court in Loving v. Virginia declares all U.S. state laws which prohibit interracial marriage to be unconstitutional, 1967
The first man powered flight across the English Channel is performed by Bryan Allen in the Gossamer Albatross designed by Paul MacCready, 1979
At the Brandenburg Gate U.S. President Ronald Reagan publicly challenges Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the Berlin Wall, 1987
Russia Day – the parliament of the Russian Federation formally declares its sovereignty, 1990
Queen Elizabeth II reopens the Globe Theatre in London, 1997
A disputed presidential election in Iran leads to widespread protests, 2009