2006: Year in Review

It's pretty corny to post a personal year-in-review. Here's mine anyway... The information is gleaned from blog posts throughout the year primarily.

January

• Received pre-approval for a mortgage
• Bowled the best game of my life - 176

February

• Made an offer on a condo in New Brunswick that fell through due to the owner's not wanting to move out until September
• Spent a day in NYC making sure I knew exactly where to go and what to do when I brought a group in for the Columbia Scholastic Press Association conference
• Completed the first season of the Ridge Pep Band as the founding director

March

• Began my short-lived jogging regimen
• Was accepted as a Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund scholar
• Signed the contract to purchase my condo in Hillsborough
• Traveled to NYC with 9 newspaper editors, 2 yearbook staff members and the yearbook advisor

April

• Participated in the Somerset County point-in-time homeless count. This required me, with my friend Kristen, to walk around Somerville seeking homeless people to interview. It was an interesting, eye-opening experience.
• Moved into the Hillsborough condo
• Was elected as one of the Ridge building reps to the Bernards Township Education Association by my colleagues
• The Devil's Advocate was censored by the building principal, I notified the Student Press Law Center in case the affected student desired taking the issue further...she didn't

May

• Had a couple great newspaper advisor experiences -- meeting with the advisor during the paper's glory days in the 1970s and 80s and, most notably, the banquet which included some wonderful comments made by outgoing seniors and two wonderful gifts from the staff (Ilana and Emily's scrapbook and a video Ipod)

June

• Participated in the wedding party for my sister's wedding

July

• Spent three weeks in New Zealand and Australia as a delegation leader for People to People Student Ambassador Programs
• Redesigned the Sociology curriculum to bring it more in line with how I've been teaching it and to set it up to meet the requirements for Advanced Placement Sociology, under review at the College Board
• Held the first summer meetings of The Devil's Advocate editorial board, put things on track to publish on the first day of school

August

• Taught three band camps in two weeks - Park Ridge, Bridgewater-Raritan and Ridge
• Finished designing the drill for Park Ridge, my first major drill writing gig at a school I had no affiliation with
• Wrote the new Journalism curriculum even though I'm not the teacher of the course or any course in that department

September

• Taught the first day of school (which allowed me to attain tenure) and was suspended with pay after school
• Judged two band shows (Collingswood (NJ) and Central Bucks West (PA))
• Used the unexpected free time to read, hike in the Sourland Mountain Preserve, attend a Yankees game and hang out waiting to hear from lawyers
• Met Ali for coffee at Small World Cafe in Princeton for the first time

October

• Spent most of the month reading and killing time
• Experienced Somerset County's Journey Through the Past events for the first time
• Judged three band shows (East Ramapo (NY), Carteret (NJ) and Southington (CT))
• Spent a Tuesday night out at Rutgers for my friend's birthday as a reunion with all his Rutgers alumni friends -- wouldn't have been able to do if working regularly
• Had sushi for the first time with my sister and brother-in-law to prep for the Japan trip
• Interviewed 40 students for 2007 People to People trip to Europe
• Met with school's lawyer and my own and was told (by the school's lawyer) that he saw no reason why I shouldn't be back in school that week
• Toured Philly's Mutter Museum, Eastern State Penitentiary and a performance by the Philadelphia Orchestra

November

• Accepted the position of Visual Caption Head with the Spirit of New Jersey Drum and Bugle Corps based out of Newark
• Had a fun reunion dinner with three high school friends
• Judged three marching band shows (Upper Moreland (PA), All-States Championships in Hershey (PA) and Allentown (PA)) - these represented the most shows I've judged in a year and the first time I've been asked to judge championship events, something else that wouldn't have happened if I was teaching
• Spent 18 days in Japan with the Japan Fulbright Memorial Fund program - 18 life-changing days that have inspired me to consider moving out of the United States to teach for a couple years

December

• Attended my first Spirit of Newark rehearsal
• Had a mini-reunion with Karen from the Japan trip in Bethlehem, PA when we attended a Japanese class for under-privileged kids at Lehigh University
• Flirted with working for UPS for the holiday rush - actually worked only one day
• Spent a total of seven days in Atlantic City
• Attended my first Opie & Anthony event - the Homeless Shopping Spree at The Mall at Short Hills
• Initiated the Diner Dash with Ali - the goal being a stop at one diner in every county of NJ; at the end of the month we've completed 17 of 21
• Spent six days in Florida visiting my parents for Christmas
• "Celebrated" six months since I last taught on a regular basis
• Sent a resume to the American School in Japan, which has an opening for a high school social studies teacher beginning in August 2007

Diner Dash 15-17

Last night, Ali, Alex and I headed west.

Amwell Valley Diner Restaurant

Route 31

Ringoes

County: Hunterdon

This was a pretty standard, traditional diner with unusually young waitresses. I ordered the pot roast dinner special with mashed potatoes, corn, soup (onion), salad (French dressing) and jello. Ali had the chicken dijon dinner special with artichokes and mushrooms over linguini with soup (onion), salad (ranch) and rice pudding. Alex had a cheeseburger deluxe.

During the course of teaching Alex the difference between cheeseburgers and California cheeseburgers, regular vs. deluxe, he came across an interesting phenomenon. A California burger includes lettuce, tomato and onion usually while a burger does not. A deluxe burger adds lettuce, tomato and french fries. If you get a deluxe California burger it's the same thing except it costs almost a dollar more. It doesn't make any sense really.

My Rating: Atmosphere - 7, Food - 7

Ali's Rating: Atmosphere - 7, Food - 6

Alex's Rating: Atmosphere - 7, Food - 8

Today, we headed north for two diner visits. I recognized a lot of the areas, I think from camping trips when I was younger.

Blairstown Diner

Route 94

Blairstown

County: Warren

This was a rural area. As we pulled into town, two people on horseback passed us and hitched their horses up at the liquor store.

Ali has come to the conclusion that some diners have a feel that means seat yourself while others require a staff member to perform that function. The Blairstown was a seat yourself kind of place. There was a main area which was an original dining car style building with an add-on dining room in the back.

I ordered two eggs over well ($4.70) which came with toast and homefries and I also had coffee ($0.80). Ali had a short stack of pancakes ($2.65) and coffee. Alex had an Italian omelet ($5.75) which came with french fries and toast.

Our waitress did not ask us what type of toast we wanted so we were served white. This was the first time we were served without anyone asking us what we wanted.

My Rating: Atmosphere - 8, Food - 7

Ali's Rating: Atmosphere - 7, Food - 7

Alex's Rating: Atmosphere - 7, Food - 6

Five Star Diner

Route 206 North

Branchville

County: Sussex

More driving on very rural roads of northwestern NJ. We made it to the Five Star at 2:09, which was lucky for us as they are open only 6am-3pm. This was another original style diner with just 1 car featuring a counter a 6-8 booths.

I had a slice of apple pie ($2.95) and coffee ($1.00). Ali had an apple turnover ($2.00) and coffee. Alex had chocolate pudding ($2.25).

There was some disappointment here due to the fact that apple was the only pie available even though the menu specifically stated they have lemon merengue and coconut custard. Our waitress also delivered Alex a coffee even though he told her he didn't want any and they didn't have rice pudding (a diner staple), his first choice.

My Rating: Atmosphere - 7, Food - 7

Ali's Rating: Atmosphere - 7, Food - 6

Alex's Rating: Atmosphere - 6, Food - 6

Diner Dash 14

This represents completion of 2/3 of New Jersey's 21 counties.

Clairmont Diner
431 Route 130
East Windsor
County: Mercer

Jersey Diners refers to Route 130 as "Diner Highway" because there are more diners on it than any other road in the United States. We made our way to 130 and decided to pick one at random during the Mercer County stretch. The Clairmont was another lucky find.

Ali and I enlisted the help and support of a diner newbie, her cousin Alex, 19, who is visiting from Australia. Like the best diners, the Clairmont included a book of a menu. In fact, it was probably the most extensive menu of any we've visited to date.

I ordered the bluefish dinner special ($9.99) which came with a baked potato, mixed vegetables, soup (Manhattan clam chowder) and salad bar. I think it also included dessert, but I didn't take any. Ali had the roast duckling dinner special ($9.99) which came with a baked sweet potato, broccoli, soup (Manhattan clam chowder), salad bar and coffee. Alex, over our objections that he should eat something more substantial and less home-cookable, ordered the Doctor's Choice omelet ($6.99). This was an egg white omelet with various vegetables (featuring capsicum), cottage cheese and rye toast.

The diner included an interesting fusion of old and new. One section of the diner was very modern, restaurant style and the other section had a old-fashioned counter and booths. The entire place was decorated to look like a 1950s diner with shiny stainless steel and an Americana color scheme.

Matt's Rating: Atmosphere - 8, Food - 8
Ali's Rating: Atmosphere - 9, Food - 9
Alex's Rating: Atmosphere - 9, Food - 8

I Need a School Administrator

I'm nine credits from completing my Master's of Science degree in Educational Administration, which I started only a little over a year ago. I'll have three of those done in March, but the other six require internships at both the elementary and secondary levels. I have to find a sponsoring administrator because, while my direct supervisor at Ridge was going to serve as my mentor for both, I don't think I want to do that in Bernards Township even if I am reinstated.

So, if anybody out there has connections to a school administrator of any kind at any level that might be interested in helping me finish up this degree by the end of this school year, please let me know. I need to get the paperwork in by February or so to work on the internships in the spring.

Thanks in advance!

Park Ridge Marching Band

I spent a lot of time over the past few days thinking about next year. I'm exploring a lot of options and trying to consider various ways things could play out at Ridge. The problem right now is that I can't really plan for the future and the unknown is difficult to prepare for. One firm offer is on the table right now, but I can't really make a decision on it yet.

The band director at Park Ridge is pushing hard for me to accept the position of Assistant Marching Band Director there. I wrote the drill for the band this season and taught a couple days of band camp and once during the season. Today we met and hashed out the details for next year's show. We've got a good grasp of the flow and a definite timeline that includes me writing and teaching the opener and ballad in May.

The band director agreed to hold off on the assistant director position until late January or February by which time I should have a somewhat better idea of where things are going for me. My role there would be similar to what it was at Ridge. I'll be responsible for the marching technique, teaching of the drill and running most outdoor rehearsals. The director is a percussionist and would like to devote his time as the full-time percussion instructor. Therefore I'd have the added responsibility of running some music rehearsals with the winds too. He was very good about giving me freedom the three times I met with the band this season and I suspect he'd be happy to let me guide the program as I see fit.

Let's weigh some of the pros and cons of taking the position at Park Ridge:

Pros:

• Lots of responsibility and freedom
• Great staff
• Great kids
• Would triple the stipend I currently receive as drill designer
• Good opportunity to grow as a band (they are on the cusp of moving up to Group III)
• Exactly the kind of arrangement I'd like as far as my role would be concerned

Cons:

• Long commute, a solid hour each way under good conditions
• Nearly impossible to get to after school rehearsals if I'm living/teaching in central NJ
• Many band members also play fall sports leading to missed rehearsals
• Would limit the range of professional opportunities I could consider in the coming months as I determine the next step for my full-time teaching career
• Would limit the number of judging gigs I could do in the fall

So I'm really not sure. Right now, I'm leading toward not taking the position mostly due to the distance, but if the director is willing to work something out so I'm not there every rehearsal, it might be possible. Of course, I wouldn't want to make that kind of part-time commitment either.

O&A Homeless Shopping Spree Reactions

Boston Globe article
Bill O'Reilly segment criticizing the homeless shopping spree

Here's O&A's official press release to the critics:

All we have heard from these "homeless advocates" and the Mayor of Boston, Tom Menino, is how we have exploited these homeless men during our Homeless shopping spree that we put on during the holidays. Every one of these we have done has been a great success and has actually helped these homeless men we have had involved over the years.

If anyone was exploited it was the stuffy snobs that were offended by the homeless shopping in their stunning mall.

If you listened to the show you would have known this wasn't about kicking the homeless. It was about putting the screws to some Christmas shoppers and store employees in one of the richest malls in the area. The homeless were given food and taken to a luxury mall with gift cards to shop for Christmas. Wow, damn us right to hell! How dare we treat those creatures like human beings!

Do we make jokes at their expense? No more than we do anyone else who walks into that studio. We're doing a radio show. Again, damn us for treating them like we do any "real" person that comes in. Were they being used for good radio? Yup, again, just like everyone else. There were a dozen homeless men who had a great day buying things they need for the winter as they were being treated like rock stars by 2000+ fans who pulled out their own money to buy these men things they needed. T

homas Menino the mayor of Boston? He seems to be a bit peeved that we are airing this on the day that they, now hold on, that they COUNT the homeless in Boston! Mayor Menino is and always will be a clueless ass. Regardless of this being a radio promotion, some good did come out of it. How DARE we feed and cloth a few homeless men on a day when some city official in Boston is going to be counting these...uhhh, "people".

The homeless men we took on this shopping spree were treated with respect and had a great time. This wasn't a kidnapping and the comparison to the "Bum Fights" video is appalling. If you want to vent any anger it should be directed at the snotty shoppers who had a problem with the homeless being there in the first place. They left with warm clothes to a cheering crowd and we got a good radio show out of it.

We see some of these guys on a daily basis as we walk from our FreeFM studios to our XM studios in New York City. We talk to them on the air like human beings and our listeners are some of the most generous people I've ever seen always giving these guys money when we are through interviewing them and continue our walk to our studio.

Not good enough? Oh well, sorry. I don't know what a "homeless advocate" does but in all the years we've has an on air relationship with these homeless men I have never seen one "homeless advocate" put a smile on these guys faces and treat them like men. Not like burdens or the helpless animals or creatures that needed to be coddled but like men who still want to just have a little fun and make it through another day.

Listen to the broadcast and let me know if you're still "outraged".

Florida Travel Info

I'm leaving later today to spend a few days in Florida visiting my parents. I'll be flying in and out of Philadelphia on Southwest Airlines.

12/23
Flight #2391
Depart Philadelphia - 8:00pm
Arrive Tampa - 10:50pm

12/28
Flight #2951
Depart Tampa - 10:55am
Arrive Philadelphia - 1:20pm

Diner Dash 13

Steve asked if I wanted to join him for dinner tonight so I added one more diner to the list. I'm not sure if this will count as an official visit as Ali was not with me, but here's the info anyway.

Edison Diner

Route 1 South

Edison

County: Middlesex

This diner was more a restaurant than a diner with no resemblance to the earliest diner cars. I ordered the seafood lasagna dinner special ($11.95). This came with soup (seafood bisque), salad (French dressing), bread, a drink (diet coke) and dessert (I passed because I was too full). Steve had onion soup ($3.50), the swiss burger deluxe ($6.75), which came with french fries and cole slaw and a diet coke ($1.75).

The food was good. As the only diner where I ordered seafood so far, this is a pretty big compliment. Seafood bisque is one of my favorite soups and this was a good version. The seafood lasagna had scallops, shrimp and crab and was cooked in an individual baking dish with a creamy white sauce and cheese. Very unique and quite good.

Matt's Rating: Atmosphere - 8, Food - 9

Steve's Rating: Atmosphere - 9, Food - 8

Diner Dash 12

On the way home this morning, we made the final stop of this swing. We've made it through 12 of 21 counties now. Not bad for a week's work.

Marlton Diner
Route 70 East
Marlton
County: Burlington

This was a large diner with Christmas scenes painted on the windows and one of those large, annoying blow-up snow globes on the roof. The waitress were dressed as elves and very cheerful.

I had a spinach and feta omelet lunch special which came with wheat toast, home fries, a cup of soup (New England Clam Chowder) and coffee ($7.75). Ali had the chicken santa fe salad with chicken, soup (chicken alphabet) and coffee ($8.45). The salad was enormous, food was good overall and it was a nice final stop for the week.

We continued on home so Ali could get on the road to Connecticut and I could do some laundry and re-pack for my flight to Florida tomorrow.

Diner Dash 11.5

We planned to stay in Atlantic City on Thursday with no visits to diners. We wandered through The Walk, Atlantic City's relatively new outlet mall and did some shopping. When the time came to eat, we ended up in the AC Diner, our second Atlantic County visit.

AC Diner
2005 Atlantic Avenue
Atlantic City
County: Atlantic

This is a pretty new diner, part of the Atlantic City revitalization movement, but it is designed to replicate a 50s diner feel. One oddity of the place was the mural taking up one large wall of an Atlantic City scene - the exact scene we saw out the diner's front window.

I ordered The Rifleman ($8.50) - a turkey burger with potato salad and pickle, chicken noodle soup - and a cup of coffee ($1.50). Ali had The Sweethearts ($9.50) - an egg white omelete with goat cheese, roasted red peppers, green peppers and onions with wheat toast, cottage cheese and fruit salad - and a cup of coffee. This was the first diner to serve us a full carafe of coffee which we put to good use.

The waitress forgot to bring me my soup until I asked for it, our first significant error in terms of service. Otherwise, she was very nice and helpful even though she was the only waitress in the medium-sized diner. We felt a little bad because she was on her way out the front door for a cigarette break as we came up and she rushed back inside to help us.

Matt's Rating: Atmosphere - 7, Food - 6
Ali's Rating: Atmosphere - 7, Food - 8

After the diner, we stopped back in the hotel briefly and then continued to The Marketplace, the retail and dining center at the Tropicana. This was built up to be a big deal with indoor snow and everything. We did enjoy a singer at a lounge and an organist in the mall itself which was fun, but there wasn't a whole lot else going on. We ate dinner in a cool food shop that included an eclectic selection. I had sushi while Ali had some kind of hot chicken dish. This wasn't a diner though so I'll leave it there.

Diner Dash 9-11

We slept in a little later today and made use of some leftovers from yesterday to start the day. After checking out of Harrah’s around 11:45am, we headed out to the streets of south Jersey again.

Our first destination was going to be Cumberland County, but we didn’t see the diner we were looking for so we continued into Gloucester County to make our first stop.

Malaga Diner
Routes 40 and 47
Malaga
County: Gloucester County
Arrival Time: 12:45pm

The most interesting aspect of this visit was the people one table over from us. Based on their interaction with the waitress while ordering, they probably didn’t even glance at the menu. The waitress remained calm and pleasant while we wondered how they could be so clueless. Their conversation included cell phone bills of $800 up an over $1000 because of their misunderstanding of long distance and roaming charges (probably didn’t read the information in their contracts).

I ordered the gyro lunch special ($5.95) which came with cream of broccoli soup, French fries, a pickle, cole slaw and dessert (rice pudding). The soup was really good, probably the best soup I’ve had so far on our quest. Ali ordered the chicken marinara Panini lunch special ($6.25) which came with French fries, a pickle, cole slaw, a salad (ranch dressing), and dessert (bread pudding). She was disappointed with the entrée because it was a fried chicken breast on a big piece of bread instead of a handheld sandwich.

Matt’s Rating: Atmosphere – 8, Food – 8
Ali’s Rating: Atmosphere – 8, Food - 6

From there, we found a different road system and traveled in the direction of Bridgeton, back in Cumberland County. We made it to the Bridgeton Grill with a stop on the way to update the blog with yesterday’s info. Unfortunately, as we walked to the door, an employee came out from a side entrance to tell us it was closed. Back on the road…

We stopped at the next diner we came across, not too far away in Bridgeton.

Gallery Diner and Restaurant
Route 77 North
Bridgeton
County: Cumberland

It had only been about an hour since the last diner stop so we planned to just get coffee and a nice dessert. We’d been avoiding the mouth-watering display cases at previous stops and wanted to make an event out of it.

This diner turned out to the be the only one we passed today without a bakery or even baked goods of any kind so I ordered coffee ($1.10) and vanilla ice cream with whipped cream ($1.40) and Ali had coffee and strawberry cheesecake ice cream. Things were fine – nothing exceptional.
Matt’s Rating: Atmosphere – 8, Food – 6
Ali’s Rating: Atmosphere – 9, Food – 7

We did little more than traverse the southern third of the state on small, rural roads with diner stops today. The last direction for the day would take us into Camden County.

Ali, as navigator, made some excellent decisions as I came up to the county road intersections and got us to our planned destination with little trouble.

Winslow Family Diner Restaurant
491 Williamstown Road
Sicklerville
County: Camden

This was the first diner we visited serving liquor. It also offered a large banquet room for rentals and large parties.

I ordered the crab cake early bird special ($10.99). It came with soup (chicken barley), string beans and dessert (German chocolate cake). I also had a cup of coffee with dessert ($1.10). Ali had the chicken rio wrap which contained peppers, lettuce, tomato, chicken and honey mustard ($6.25). It came with string beans. Ali also had cake ($1.10) and coffee. There was a basket with a Danish and cornbread on the table too.

This was the kind of dessert we were looking for early this afternoon. It was worth the wait as this cake was great. I was pretty full and saved one of the crab cakes and some of the string beans for tomorrow, a day we’re not planning to leave Atlantic City.

Matt’s Rating: Atmosphere – 8, Food – 9
Ali’s Rating: Atmosphere - 9, Food – 8

Another successful day. We finished having completed the southern Jersey counties and are going to spend tomorrow walking to the shopping pier at the Tropicana and through the Atlantic City outlet stores. If we start going through diner withdrawal, we could always head up to Burlington County, but that’s not in the plan for now. We’ll hit a couple more on the way home Friday and then take a break until after Christmas is over when we’ll take care of those in north and central Jersey.

Diner Dash - 6-8

We decided to head north this morning to avoid using the same roads we used yesterday. After checking out of the Showboat, we jumped onto the Garden State Parkway for approximately one hour.

Roadside Diner
Route 34-33
Wall
County: Monmouth

Outside the diner, we noticed a large metal dinosaur. Conversation with our waitress revealed that its artist, Jim Gary, was famous for using recycled automobile parts for items like it all over the country.

The Roadside Diner is an original dining car style building. With operating hours of 5:30am-8pm on the long days, it was clear that we were not in a real high traffic area. The two waitress were both in their mid-50s (based on conversation they were having about their birthdays) and really pleasant.

I ordered a cheese omelet ($3.95) and a cup of coffee ($0.95). Ali had a short stack of blueberry pancakes ($2.95) and a cup of coffee. The food was pretty good – nothing exceptionally good or bad there.

Matt’s Rating: Atmosphere – 8, Food – 7
Ali’s Rating: Atmosphere – 9, Food - 8

After leaving the Roadside Diner, we made a pit stop in a development to upload yesterday’s diner dash update before continuing on Route 34 south toward the Jersey shore. After merging onto Route 35, we made a pit stop to walk the boardwalk and on the beach in Seaside Heights. It was cooler today than it had been but still good conditions for a walk on the beach.

There was quite a bit of action on the beach as construction workers made use of the mild weather to do work on game stalls and restaurants for next summer. We got onto Route 9 as we left Seaside to follow the coast south back down to the Atlantic City area.

Horizon Diner
32 East Bay Avenue
Manahawkin
County: Ocean

This was not on our scheduled list, but it seemed nice and in the right place at the right time. The dining room was nicely decorated for the holidays, mostly Christmas but also a menorah. The majority of waitresses have wished us a Merry Christmas with a few Happy Holidays greetings mixed in from time to time. This was a modern style restaurant but decorated to look 1950s in style.

I ordered the baked macaroni and cheese lunch special ($4.95) and Ali had a vegetable egg white omelet with home fries and wheat toast ($7.00). The food was pretty good and portion sizes were definitely fair for a lunch time visit.

Matt’s Rating: Atmosphere – 9, Food – 8
Ali’s Rating: Atmosphere – 8, Food – 8

We weren’t planning to visit a third diner today. We continued on back to Atlantic City and checked into Harrah’s for some relaxation. Around 6:45, we were both pretty hungry and decided to get our local Atlantic County stop done tonight too.

Phoenix Diner
Route 30 West
Absecon
County: Atlantic

The Phoenix Diner is very large and modern with impressive chandeliers and an extensive menu featuring quite a bit of seafood.

I ordered chicken rosemary (chicken with onions, peppers and mushrooms) with a baked potato and corn. The dinner special also came with onion soup and a salad with Greek dressing ($14.95). Ali ordered the chicken Sorrento dinner special (chicken with tomato, mozzarella cheese and mushrooms) with mashed potatoes and spinach. She had navy bean soup and a salad with ranch dressing ($14.95). Ali was especially fond of the mashed potatoes, but I still think the potatoes back at our Morris County stop were the best so far.

Matt’s Rating: Atmosphere – 8, Food – 8
Ali’s Rating: Atmosphere - 9, Food – 9
After the Phoenix Diner, we headed back to Harrah’s for the night and some planning for tomorrow’s leg of the trip.

Diner Dash - Parts 4 and 5

I picked Ali up at her house in Princeton and we were on the road by 9am. We decided to make the most of the nice weather by heading to the University of Delaware today, with a stop in Salem County for breakfast.

Our goal was the 295 Diner in Pedricktown but it was boarded up. We got back onto 295 and followed the signs for Salem.

Salem Oak Diner
W Broadway and Oak
Salem
County: Salem
Arrival Time: 10:00am

Across from this diner, an original pre-fab style with a room added on later, was a large, old oak tree – the diner’s namesake I guess. The book Jersey Diners said that the waitresses dress like elves during the Christmas season, but this wasn’t the case during our visit today. The menu was pretty short and the diner is only open 6am-7pm during the week. Jimmy Carter, allegedly, dined here once.

This was a regular, working class, south Jersey diner. We overheard a heated discussion about the viability of Barak Obama and Hillary Clinton as presidential candidates. Their perspective, somewhat racist when discussing Obama, is probably indicative of most Americans outside the New York and Los Angeles metropolitan areas.

I ordered two scrambled eggs with home fries and wheat toast ($2.35) and a cup of coffee ($1.00). Everything was fairly good; nothing exceptional to really comment on food-wise. Ali ordered one of today’s specials: veggie omelet with home fries and wheat toast ($4.50) and a cup of coffee.

The waitress was attentive and friendly without being over the top. Clearly the employees were all part of one family, a common occurrence in Jersey diners it seems.

Matt’s Rating: Food – 7, Atmosphere – 8
Ali’s Rating: Food – 4, Atmosphere – 8

From the Salem Oak Diner, we made our way across the Delaware Memorial Bridge and to the University of Delaware. We walked around the campus, loosely along the official tour route I walked hundreds of times as a Blue Hen Ambassador. The area around the music building has changed dramatically since I was last on campus in May 2004 with the recent opening of the Center for the Arts. We tried to get in to walk around, but the building was all locked up as it’s an intersession time.

Laird Campus has also changed in a big way with the destruction of the Pencader complex and the opening of three new residence halls in its place. It was a beautiful day to walk around, with temperatures in the 60s. To top it all off, I found an unmarked space in the library lot and didn’t get a ticket.

We got back into the car around 2pm and decided to find an early bird special at a diner on the way to Atlantic City. The road trip portion of our trip entails staying off the larger interstates when possible. We crossed back over the Delaware Memorial Bridge and hopped on Route 40 to cross the state (Salem and Atlantic counties) and then took Route 50 south into Cape May County. Our destination was the Time Out Diner in Tuckahoe. We both had to use the restroom pretty badly by the time we got to the Time Out. The sign on the door informed us that it was open only Thursday through Sunday. We’ve been on a roll with finding our selected diners.

The ride through rural southern New Jersey was very interesting as we passed lots of signs informing us about Jesus, acres and acres of cows and a rodeo. Luckily, we found another diner not far from Tuckahoe – Dino’s Seaville Diner.

Dino’s Seaville Diner
Route 50
Seaville
County: Cape May
Arrival Time: 3:45pm

This was another lucky find for us. We got in at the start of the early bird rush and found a large dining area. This is a modern diner, not a pre-fab building. I ordered the meatloaf special with mashed potatoes and broccoli ($7.75). It also came with soup (lentil at the waitress’ recommendation), a drink (iced tea) and dessert (vanilla ice cream). Tons of food for a great price. The portions weren’t huge, like in most diners, but I wasn’t definitely full by the end of the meal. The mashed potatoes were fake, a big disappointment for an otherwise good meal. Ali had the lasagna special ($8.95) with salad and mint chocolate chip ice cream. We also received a basket with rolls and cornbread.

Ali realized after ordering that the lasagna was probably meat lasagna. This would be her first time eating beef since July 2004. She does eat poultry so she’s not completely meat-free, but this was a big deal. She begrudgingly admitted that the lasagna was great tasting and even took the leftovers with her for later.

Matt’s Rating: Food – 7, Atmosphere – 8
Ali’s Rating: Food – 8, Atmosphere – 8

We hopped on Route 9 and then the Garden State Parkway and checked into the Showboat within about 30 minutes. A walk down the boardwalk and some shopping in the Caeser’s Pier and now we’re back at the hotel, relaxing from a successful first day on the road.

On the Road

I'm leaving in 15 minutes to pick up Ali and head out for our pseudo road trip. We have comped hotel rooms booked through Friday in Atlantic City (Showboat, Harrah's and two nights at Bally's). Because it's going to be 60 degrees today, we're beginning with a drive down to the University of Delaware to walk around campus.

So far we've visited three diners (Somerset, Union and Morris counties) which means there are 18 more to go. We should be able to take care of at least half of them this week while in South Jersey. We can take care of the north Jersey counties some time down the road or cut a day off the hotel stays and do them later this week.

I'll try to update from the road so long as we can pick up a "borrowed" wireless signal while we are driving around.

A Letter from a Group of Parents

This letter was sent to the superintendent by a small group of parents. The related students are all current and former editors of The Devil's Advocate (except one, but that's only because she didn't apply). It reiterates my belief that the students on the newspaper staff are the ones that I've had the most direct impact on (and vice versa...).


As parents of Ridge High School students we have been hoping for news of a positive resolution of the matters relating to the leave of absence taken by Mr. Mingle at the beginning of the school year. Many of us contacted you in September and October to voice our support for Mr. Mingle and we know that you had hoped to resolve this matter fairly quickly. Since that time we have heard little more than the occasional rumor or unconfirmed statement and, therefore, felt it would be appropriate to contact you again at this time to reconfirm our strong support for Mr. Mingle and inquire as to the status of the resolution process.

We recognize that many of the facts relating to this matter have been kept confidential for the benefit of all parties involved. However, in light of the importance of this decision we wanted to let you know that we continue to have a strong interest in seeing this matter resolved favorably for Mr. Mingle. We are also concerned that this matter is still an open issue for him and the Township. It it our sincere hope that Mr. Mingle will be able to return to Ridge High School in the near future.

We would greatly appreciate your contacting JW by phone or e-mail at xxx-xxx-xxxx or x@x.net to give us an update on this matter. Thank you again for your assistance.

Sincerely yours,

(Letter was signed by 7 families)

Opie and Anthony's Homeless Shopping Spree

I dragged Ali along with me to The Mall at Short Hills for my first Opie & Anthony live event. I've been a fan since they were on WNEW, listening off and on from the end of high school through college until they were fired. I've been a fan since their return to XM Radio.

The Homeless Shopping Spree consists of O&A picking up a few homeless people in New York, driving them by bus to a mall somewhere in the area, providing them with a few hundred dollars and setting them loose with crowds of O&A fans along for the ride.

Detractors suggest that this event is a mockery of the homeless or exploitation. I disagree. Yes, O&A use the event for entertainment, but they also, along with very generous fans, provide the homeless participants with a considerable amount of money to buy warm clothes for the winter and a day as welcomed members of mainstream society with food and drink and a warm place to hang out.

The fact that they chose The Mall at Short Hills, one of the most upscale malls anywhere in the country, as the location for the 2006 version is great. It is relatively close to where I live, a very popular hang-out for the Ridge HS crowd (although I didn't run into any current or former students today) and the last place people expect (or want) to run into homeless people. The most entertaining part of the day was listening to O&A fans explaining the event to unsuspecting mall patrons. The looks of shock and horror as husbands and wives previously oohing and aahing over diamonds and expensive cars came face to face with a group of smelly men (not the O&A fans, the homeless) were priceless.

Ali and I got there early for a pre-O&A walk around the mall. Then we sat in my car and listened to the first hour and 45 minutes of the broadcast while the bus from NY made its way to the mall. We had more than one person curse or flip us off when we signaled that we weren't planning to leave our parking space. The place was packed.

We got into the mall again as the homeless participants and O&A staffers made their way into the mall. The crowds of fans were impressive as were the mall security and O&A security attached to every homeless participant. As we followed a couple of them around the mall, we'd hear cheers and boos erupt from other locations followed by chants of "Let the homeless shop" and "a**holes" as certain stores shut their gates to avoid the homeless shoppers. For those keeping score at home, or thinking about last minute shopping, The Gap was the least welcoming of all the stores in the mall, kicking out everyone associated with the shopping spree at one point.

Even Santa posed for photos with the crew. As the homeless men converged on a central point for photos with Santa, so did the throngs. We stayed up on the upper level for a better vantage point of the festivities which included singing "Jingle Bells" and "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer."

Most of the Short Hills shoppers assumed some celebrity was in their midst when they saw all the cameras and crowds. They were in for a shock when they realized it wasn't a sports star or Hollywood celebrity but guys by the (self imposed) names of Half a Hulk Face, Blue, Big Red, and Grey Wolf. I personally witnessed numerous fans providing the homeless men with additional cash above the American Express gift cards provided by O&A.

The mall security and local police were phenomenal. No major problems occurred even as huge crowds took over the mall for a couple hours. The additional revenue created by the extra 800-1000 people more than made up for the handful of local "outraged" by the "exploitation." Hopefully they left the mall, drove home in their Lexus SUVs to their warm and cozy McMansions and wrote a nice, big check to the charity of their choice. This may not have been a conventional way of supporting those in need, but these men left tonight having been adored celebrities for a few hours, with bags of coats, boots and gloves and a full stomach.

Diner Dash - Parts 2 and 3

Summit Diner
www.summitdiner.org
Summit Ave and Union Place
Summit, NJ
County: Union
Arrival Time: 11:55am



The Summit Diner is a true New Jersey diner. Built in 1929, it's a tiny, pre-fab building on a corner in wealthy Summit, within walking distance for thousands of commuters using the local train station every day. The book Jersey Diners refers to the egalitarian nature of diners, the Summit being an example of this at work. Businessmen getting ready for a day on Wall Street, public works employees, retirees, everybody comes together in one of the small booths or, like we did, at the counter, here.

I ordered a slider in Summit Diner terms: taylor ham, egg and cheese on a (toasted) roll ($3.95) and a cup of coffee ($0.75). Ali had three pancakes ($3.50) and a cup of coffee. Our seats at the counter gave us a great view of the griddle and the harried waitress trying to move people through the booths quickly enough to seat those waiting at the door. The food was very good, fast and the service, direct from the cooks, was nice too.

As we were preparing to leave, a man seated next to Ali earned the ire of the main guy behind the counter. He told the man that there was a no loitering policy and he needed to order a drink to stay at all. The man then told all of us that the Commerce Bank up the street had been robbed. On our way back to the car, parked across the street from the bank, we saw numerous police cars and crime scene surrounding the parking lot. Neither of us remembered seeing it when we arrived, but we cannot be certain.

Although finding parking was an issue in downtown Summit so close to Christmas, the effort was worth it as we enjoyed an original diner experience.

Matt's Rating: 8 out of 10
Ali's Rating: 8 out of 10

Nautilus Diner
95 Main Street
Madison, NJ
County: Morris
Arrival Time: 6:00pm



The Nautilus was actually not our destination in Madison, but we couldn't find the Madison Grille so stopped in here intead. It was a lucky find.

We missed the early bird specials by thirty minutes, but I ordered a dinner special anyway - half a roasted chicken with dressing, mashed potatoes and string beans ($12.25). It also came with Manhattan Clam Chowder and an assortment of breads (roll, potato bread and cornbread). Ali ordered the California chicken wrap on wheat with sweet potato fries ($8.95) and a diet pepsi($1.65). We both found the chicken dry, but the rest of my entree was amazing. The mashed potatoes were some of the best I've ever tasted and the string beans, unlike most diners, were plain without bacon, tomatoes or anything else to muddy their flavor. The clam chowder was pretty salty and not all that clammy, but it was a large bowl serving and decent for diner soup. There was plenty of food and I brought home enough for a big lunch tomorrow.

Matt's Rating: 9 out of 10
Ali's Rating: 7 out of 10

Diner Dash - Part I

Over the course of the next week or so, Ali and I will visit 1 diner in every New Jersey county. We began Friday night.

The Jersey Diner
79 Route 206 North
Somerville, NJ 08876
County: Somerset
Arrival Time: 5:11pm

Where better to begin than a place called The Jersey Diner?

The Jersey Diner's windows are painted with holiday scenes and offered a nice welcoming to our first diner visit on the tour. An older gentleman sat us pleasantly. The diner offered the usual New Jersey diner fare - that is, everything we could possibly want and then some. The Jersey Diner did not automatically offer water so Ali ordered a diet coke ($1.75) and I ordered an iced tea ($1.75).

We sent our waitress away once for more time. She seemed eager to help us; I think she is probably pretty new to the job. She was nice and diner perky, but we only saw her a couple of times during our visit and the place had ample waitstaff for a not-s0-crowded dinner.

I ate a honey lime burger deluxe ($7.95) while Ali had the honey lime chicken salad ($9.95). It seems that honey lime sauce is a speciality of The Jersey Diner. I used it on the burger and as dipping sauce for the fries, kind of like honey mustard.

On the down side - a bowl of creamers was on our table when we arrived...and still there when we left. There's nothing like some warm half-and-half in your coffee. There also seemed to be some fly kamikaze mission going on above our table too. I'm not sure what we did to earn the extra dinner show.

Matt's Rating: 7 out of 10
Ali's Rating: 7 out of 10

Following Up on Columbus

In October, I wrote critically about the way children are taught about Christopher Columbus in school (see previous blog). The November/December issue of Social Studies and the Young Learner includes an excellent article on how to combat this problem ("Listening to Children Think Critically about Christopher Columbus").

The thrust of the article, written by two university professors of education and two fourth grade teachers from Pennsylvania, is to utilize a variety of sources when teaching about Columbus' influence. They mention three books (Christopher Columbus: A Great Explorer, Columbus Day and Encounter). The first is clearly a positive portrayal of Columbus, the second is balanced and the third tells the story of the Taino perspective. As they read the three books, students answer the following questions about each:

• How many times does Columbus speak?
• How many times do Native Americans speak?
• What did you learn about Columbus's life from the pictures?
• What did you learn about Native People's lives from the pictures?
• What did you learn about Columbus's life from the words?
• What did you learn about Native People's lives from the words?
• Does the author of this book favor one point of view? If so, which one?

After discussing the implications of author bias, students apply the concept to current events. As one student said, "This reminds me of the elections. People who want Bush to win say nice things about him, and others say nice things about Gore." If we, as educators, can develop this kind of critical thinking and analysis in elementary school students, the level of analysis at the high school level will be remarkable.

This questioning of the historical record is one of the general concepts I attempt to bring into all of my social studies classes at the high school level. The author of the textbook, the first-person account considered, the movies watched all play a role in determining the version of history students learn and internalize.

As teachers, it is much easier for us to preach to students and tell them what the "truth" is, but in the realm of social studies, it is most important to teach students how to think for themselves.

Readership

So it seems readership of this blog has increased the past few days. Through technological magic, I'm able to track who reads via my AIM account. That tipped me off that at least one student at Ridge discovered that screen name (I changed about a year ago b/c of a handful of students finding out my old sn). Tonight I received a comment on an old blog from another former student.

I've done some thinking on the subject. I've been very careful not to respond to any students that have attempted to contact me since September and there have been a few through e-mail. MySpace, etc. At the same time, I don't think there's any reason why I should discontinue using this blog.

To any students reading this - there's obviously no way for me to stop you without removing it altogether. If you choose to comment on blog entries, I will not block them as long as they are appropriate and well-intentioned. I spent most of my first three years at Ridge keeping my personal life private to some degree. It was important to separate myself from my students, especially when I was a 22-year-old first year teacher. I continue to believe strongly that my political beliefs have no place in my classroom because it is essential that high school students develop their own ideas and viewpoints and don't adopt one simply because they think it will help them do well on a test or in a class discussion.

Over the past 3+ months I have had plenty of time to reflect. I don't miss writing lesson plans, dealing with students upset about a 96% or grading five page essays. I miss the personal connections that developed with students, especially those on the newspaper staff and in the marching band. If students reading this blog turn into random kids commenting on it to me that I don't have any relationship with or it's used in a negative way, I'll be forced to take it down or move it elsewhere where I can better control who views it. The two students I know have been on here are from the newspaper staff and academic classes and I respect them highly. I don't think there will be a problem so long as those are the types of students we're talking about.

NJEA Rally

I'm working through the press coverage of the rally in Trenton today to figure out where I stand on the issue at hand. Basically, the New Jersey legislature is considering public employee pension and benefits reform as part of an overarching movement to curb the meteoric rise in property taxes in the state. The New Jersey Education Association, extremely large and powerful in this state, is a prime supporter of this rally and advocating members taking a personal day from school to attend the rally. A handful of districts actually closed today due to the high absentee rates. Those that remained open absorbed thousands of dollars of sub costs. Seeing as how I'm home anyway, I considered making the trip. Except, I don't really agree with NJEA on this one completely.

To reiterate - teachers are using personal days to attend the rally. Schools that are closed will have to make up the day during a previously scheduled vacation day. Essentially, these teachers are taking a personal day AND adding a work day at the same time. So don't view it as an extra day off to party in Trenton.

Governor Corzine issued a statement saying changes to pensions and benefits should be done in contract negotiations, not through legislation last Thursday (he changed course late Sunday). Teacher benefits are determined through negotiations with local school boards, not the state. Pensions could be affected by legislation though. I don't disagree with NJEA fighting to maintain teachers' benefits at least at their current level. I disagree with NJEA supporting the effect of schools closing because of the rally. The negative press related to such a move may significantly affect public opinion of teachers. The fact is that while teachers may get paid slightly less than those with comparable education, we enjoy better benefits than those in the private sector. John Q. Public doesn't want to hear us complaining and he/she may strike back in the annual budget vote.

Links from various news outlets:

Daily Record - anti-teacher editorial
The Star Ledger
Bergen Record
Asbury Park Press
New Brunswick Home News Tribune
Philadelphia Inquirer

Bethlehem - The Christmas City

Karen, my friend from the Japan trip who convienently lives only an hour away in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, contacted me Friday night about an opportunity she ran into for Saturday. She and her fiance (Matt) were out to dinner at a Japanese restaurant and got to talking about our trip to Japan with their waiter. That discussion carried over to a waitress from another section accidentally. Like most Japanese women we met, her name was Keiko. Keiko is a student at Lehigh University and also teaches Japanese at some kind of community school through Lehigh on Saturday. She invited Karen to come observe and Karen invited me.

I left my condo at 10:30 for the drive out, stopped to meet Karen's dogs and then we met up with Keiko at a little sandwich shop on the Lehigh campus. We talked over lunch and learned that Keiko and her husband (they came to the US due to her husband's job) were leaving to go back to Japan in just a few days. In fact, the night Keiko and Karen met was Keiko's last night working in that restaurant. We discussed our impressions of Japan and Keiko's impressions of the United States. It was great to be talking about Japan and all of those things again.

The program is called LU STAR. We observed the Junior STARs, underprivileged fourth and fifth graders from the area. They come to Lehigh once a month. High school students work as tutors for these kids while Lehigh students teach mini-lessons. In the Japanese lesson we observed, there were about 50 students and 7 or 8 instructors. Half the instructors were Japanese students studying in the US and the rest were American students studying Japanese at Lehigh. The lesson consisted of repeating some previously learned words, adding a few more sets of hirigana letters to their writing ability and games of rock, paper, scissors (the Japanese way).

After Japanese class, Karen showed me a Lehigh establishment called Tally-Ho. It was pretty empty given the fact it was the early afternoon and students still on campus are probably preparing for exams. Then we met up with her fiance and his flag football buddies at a place called OBT. I hung out there, met some of their friends, had some food and watched the local high school football team win to go to the state championships (they showed the band at halftime too).

It was a fun, unexpected way to spend my Saturday afternoon. It's great the someone from JFMF lives so close that we can hang out on a whim like that. As I wrote in the final blogs while in Japan, it's hard to really convey the meaning of the program and the people I met there to everyone back at home so it's really nice to talk about those experiences and stories with someone who was there from time to time.

A Day in the Life of Brown

I made the decision last night not to follow through with UPS. This morning, I didn't call to see if they needed me. Around 9:30, they called me to ask if I was available so I agreed to meet a driver at 11:30 near the Somerville Circle.

The driver was pretty young, tall and skinny like me. He was a nice enough guy although he had trouble making it through sentences without any cursing. His route, he told me, was primarily pick-ups so it wasn't as bad as other drivers who may do 250 stops in a day for drop-offs.

We made our way through a few pick-ups around the circle and then did some drop-offs in Bridgewater and Raritan. At one home, a woman left a note requesting that we drop off her package to her in a hair salon at a nearby strip mall. I was surprised when the driver said we'd give it a shot. That's pretty good service. I delivered that package and the woman (and everyone else in the salon) was so happy she "bought me lunch" by giving me $20. I wasn't sure if UPS employees are allowed to accept tips so I said "you don't have to do that," but I was glad that she insisted. The driver said we wouldn't be stopping for lunch (as we learned is common during orientation) so we split the $20. Later on, he did stop at Starbucks and we used his $10 for both of our coffees.

He dropped me back at my car at 3:15 so I only worked for about 3 hours 45 minutes. This was plenty for me. The lifting wasn't that bad, it was much warmer than I expected it would be even though the temperature was in the 40s. The difficult part is jumping in and out of the truck every minute. All that climbing and the rushing up stairs to drop off packages is the hard part of the job. I imagine it must be pretty tough when it's raining, snowing, etc.

I used a cover story when he asked personal questions. I went with the "I'm a college student" line and told him I wanted to be a teacher in the future. This isn't a lie; I do want to be a teacher in the future. There didn't seem to be any reason to try to explain the story to him though.

In the end, it was a good day. I earned a couple bucks and got out of the condo. I'm not going to call in to volunteer tomorrow or next week, but if they call me I'll consider going in.

Spontaneous Travel?

During my drive back from AC this morning, I got to thinking that even if I'm reinstated soon at Ridge, they probably aren't going to make me come back until after the winter break. Instead of working at UPS for the next two weeks, maybe I should do some solo travel. I've been feeling kind of adrift and restless since I returned from Japan a week ago and maybe this would help scratch the itch a bit.

I did some preliminary searching online to see if I could get anywhere good using frequent flyer miles as actual cash flow is an issue. It seems that even with trips to Australia/New Zealand and Japan, I don't have enough miles to get a flight to Europe. I could work something out domestically, but that doesn't seem nearly as exciting and in Europe, I could use public trains while in the US I'd have to rent a car if I flew somewhere random like Kansas.

I'm not sure what the plan is just yet, but I still want to mull it over. I guess I'll call UPS tomorrow morning anyway and work at least a day or two. I feel kind of guilty bailing on the job after going through the interview and orientation and I could use the money of course.

The Rise and Fall in Atlantic City

I left Hillsborough around 2pm for the trip to Atlantic City. The ride went quickly thanks to Ron and Fez til 3 and then Opie and Anthony the rest of the way. All the Harrah's properties are offering free parking for Total Rewards cardholders so I parked in the Showboat garage without any (direct) cost.

I checked into my room in the newly remodeled Bourbon Tower and took the elevator up to the sixth floor. The past few times I stayed at Showboat, I was in the Orleans Tower because it is the newer of the two. It turns out these rooms are probably even nicer with a large sitting area, king size bed, huge bathroom and plasma tv.

I grabbed my camera and headed out to the boardwalk to take some photos before the sun completely set. The boardwalk was pretty empty due to the cold temperatures and the fact that it is early December and walking on the beach in the winter is not all that popular. I had the beach to myself as I took some shots of the low tide, birds, rocks, the abandoned amusement pier, etc.

I stopped in one of the few shops open for dinner. Who can pass up hotdogs for 99 cents apiece? Along with an order a fries, I sat in the store wondering about the employee and assumed owner. How does he make enough money during the winter to keep things going? Does he operate a loss now and earn enough profit in the summer to stay afloat? An obviously homeless man came in to buy a hotdog and coffee. Mental illness was clear as he made his way past me to use the restroom. I considered paying for his items on my way out of the shop while he was in the bathroom but ended up not doing it. I am not sure what stopped me.

Thirsty, I wandered next door into a souvenir type store advertising two sodas for .99. There were a handful of people there. I ended up buying a caffeine-infused Powerade for .60 or so. The guy behind me in line saw my gloves and asked if I'd bought them in the store (I hadn't). After I left the shop I saw that he was one of the carriage pushers on the Atlantic City boardwalk and wasn't wearing any gloves. Like in the food store, I considered going back and giving him my gloves as he'd be outside in freezing temperatures all night and could surely use them more than I. Again, though, something held me back.

Once inside, I finally made my way to the casino floor. I sat down at a World Series of Poker slot machine, inserted $20 and, like magic, printed out a ticket for $325 less than 30 minutes later. This is the most I'd ever one in a single sitting. I should have quit.

Instead, I decided to enter the 7pm no-limit poker tournament. I wanted to play from the get-go, but wasn't too keen on putting up the $65 it costs to enter. Seeing as how I was playing with house money, I went for it. This was only my second casino hold-em tournament. The first time, I played with Dave quite awhile back now, and was so nervous I was going to mess up that I messed up and was out pretty early. This time, I made it through almost four hours of the tournament and finished in 12th place out of 65. I didn't make any major blunders throughout the tournament and am pretty happy with how I finished although only the top six got paid.

I wandered around the casino floor playing a variety of slot machines and lost a little bit of the money but went to bed still up a pretty good amount.

This morning, I woke up in a fright that I was on some kind of organized group travel program (think JFMF) and had missed my transportation out of Atlantic City. I realized the reality and went back to bed only to experience the same thing again. So at 6am, I headed into the casino and did very poorly, giving them back most of the money I'd won last night.

In the end, I left close to even which is fine when you factor in two meals, tips, the hotel cost, etc. I had a good time and regained some of that living on the road feeling I'm missing from Japan.

On the way home from AC, I pulled off into a scenic overlook area on I-295. I'd stopped there once or twice before when I used to visit Liz at The College of New Jersey when I was at UD. I walked through some of the trails and took a couple pictures too. With the sun shining, the cold wasn't so bad.

Atlantic City

I called in to UPS this morning and they didn't need me today. I had been thinking of going down to Atlantic City last night and so now I'm going to go this afternoon instead. I booked a free room online. I can call UPS at 7am and, if they need me tomorrow, I can get back up to the area in time for the driver pick-up around 9am. I'm going to go down by myself, bundle up to walk the boardwalk a little, maybe get some photos of what AC looks like with a high of 35 degrees, play a little and enjoy the plasma tv that comes in the hotel room.

Taking a Stand

My lawyer is taking a stand at my request. The following is quoted from a letter he sent to the Board's attorney:

"A more than significant amount of time has passed since Mr. Mingle's suspension from school. The District's delay in returning him to his duties is mystifying to me. It is my considered opinion that every day that Mr. Mingle is kept in "limbo" is another day in which his good name and reputation are being injured. I called you and left messages inquiring as to Mr. Mingle's status, however, I have not heard back from you, hence this letter."

Game on.

The UPS Transformation

UPS policy prohibits beards and goatees so, for the first time since college, I completely shaved.

Before:

After shaving beard:

Completely shaved:

What can brown do for you?

I saw an ad for seasonal work at UPS on Sunday and filled out a form on their website. This morning I went in for an interview and then stayed for an orientation. I'm eligible to start working Tuesday morning through December 22 as a driver helper. Essentially, I meet a driver along his/her route in the morning, ride all day making deliveries and get dropped back off at my car. I have to call each morning to get work until I connect with a driver for a regular route. Hours may range up to 10 a day, Monday-Friday at $13.62/hour. It's decent money, I'll get outside and lots of exercise and I'll replace some of the lost income from not receiving my Ridge marching band stipend, pep band stipend and newspaper stipend. It'll also give me a reason to get up and leave my condo every morning.

First Spirit of Newark Weekend

Friday night was my first meeting with some of the Spirit of Newark staff and Saturday was the corps open house.

The staff meeting was Chateau of Spain restaurant off Broad Street in Newark. As I searched for parking spot, I realized how far from Hillsborough I was. Once inside the restaurant, I searched for the other staff member, none of whom I'd met before. I felt all eyes on me as I walked through the restaurant, the only white person in sight.

On Saturday, there was a pretty good turnout, probably about 40 kids. Of the 40, 38 were black, 1 was white and 1 was hispanic. Most of the kids come from Newark and are truly inner-city. I think this could turn out to be an extremely rewarding experience for me as a teacher and as a person. The students in my student teaching experience that came from the city of Wilmington were the most rewarding to work with.