Today G_d reminded me of my leash. A sharp pain came into my side left where my many former years of Mittelschmerz would torture me. I have no ovaries to hurt me anymore---not after my BRCA1 surgeries. Vital organs are all I dare keep after being told 9 years ago that I was going to die from a tumor that grew to the size of a large dill pickle in 7 months.
So what was it causing the pain? Had peritoneal carcinoma finally found its way to me per my geneticist's prediction? Did G_d finally decided that I'd endured and conquered enough?
This week is the 9-year anniversary of my tumor being benign! I remember that I requested for an emergency surgery done before my birthday. I wanted to know if I was really going to die or live on my birthday. Well, tomorrow is my birthday again. I've had nine birthdays since my surgery, since being told that I was going to die.
Today though I struggled with the thought that maybe it was my time now. My tears tried to leak from my eyes at what I'd miss in my children's lives should my time be up. I realized how selfish it was of me to want to trade places with the young mother of two who died of cancer this week. The thought of her children not knowing her was jarring. My children knew me and were on their own now, but they will need me here and there through their lives. It was for them that I chose life and did the double mastectomies and oophorectomies to keep the inevitable cancer from reaching to me and our hearts.
Though that misunderstood choice to do the BRCA1 surgeries in 2005 cost me my marriage, though it projected me into a life of self-reliant struggle from a life of emotionally abused leisure, that choice brought me to live each day living, "Carpe Diem!" Through that choice, I've met amazing, eccentric people on the fringes of popular society. Eccentric people that form the silent infrastructure of the civilized world. I've been the confidant to those who will only talk to others who have eyes that have seen great tragedy, yet have raised their chin with the last of their strength, dried the tears that leaked from the corner of their eyes, and kept dreaming and forging and creating and loving and hoping.
We hope that the world would be a peaceful, loving place, and we keep trying to find a means to this goal, but the path flits out of arm's reach like a hummingbird. My chasing this elusive hummingbird has brought me to see amazing sunsets, devotion from one who is not devoted to anyone but himself, exploring the world, living a life of adventure, dancing at the HaKotel like King David.
Maybe it was just dancing again. Maybe it was just the pure joy of hearing the Rieger Klaus grand piano play---a piano that I had handmade in Yugoslavia for my mother. It played once again after one move too many made it unplayable. My joy evolved to dancing and maybe I just did one dance move too many. Maybe the sharp pain in my left side was only a dance muscle that was caught by surprise from being forgotten. Maybe I was only given a reminder of my short leash, my gift of overtime in this world. Maybe I was nudged by G_d to remember to laugh, to dance, to bless a beautiful sight, to hug a friend, to count my blessings, to live each day with love and peace.
Carpe diem!
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
Thursday, February 26, 2015
Monday, February 23, 2015
Online Dating Hazards
Today I was explaining to my students about online dating hazards. Now most were not 18 yet; however, there was a girl at my son's high school that ran off with some child molester that she met online. So just as high school students dabble in drugs, alcohol, and sex---adult behaviors---they dabble in online sites, and they dabble much more than the less-wired older generation.
So today's lesson to my Computer Aided Design class was about online dating hazards. First I explained how I always copy everything that every prospective suitor writes into a file under his name. Then I check facts at my leisure.
My students were astounded, "You really do that?"
"Absolutely. When I was just getting a divorce and my two children were still at home with me, I was falling in love with another man and did a Boolean search using his name and any facts that he gave me. It ended up that he was implicated in a child pornography scandal!"
"Today there are many fake people online, so you have to check the facts. I just caught one of those fake people. He used a famous name so it made my Boolean searches difficult. For three weeks I kept trying to find this person's background by putting his name in and any facts that he gave me and got absolutely nothing. For a former corporate spy like myself this is a major flag. Everyone has an internet trail.
"He was portraying a petroleum engineer and moved oil rig locations from Buna, Texas to the Falkland Islands, but he kept being available to chat at the same time everyday, even though he changed time zones and should have been asleep. The kicker was that he asked me for money. Never give anyone who you're corresponding with online money."
Hopefully, I covered the facts well enough, so none of my computer savvy students will let their hearts and minds go astray to an online predator. There are so many of them.
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
So today's lesson to my Computer Aided Design class was about online dating hazards. First I explained how I always copy everything that every prospective suitor writes into a file under his name. Then I check facts at my leisure.
My students were astounded, "You really do that?"
"Absolutely. When I was just getting a divorce and my two children were still at home with me, I was falling in love with another man and did a Boolean search using his name and any facts that he gave me. It ended up that he was implicated in a child pornography scandal!"
"Today there are many fake people online, so you have to check the facts. I just caught one of those fake people. He used a famous name so it made my Boolean searches difficult. For three weeks I kept trying to find this person's background by putting his name in and any facts that he gave me and got absolutely nothing. For a former corporate spy like myself this is a major flag. Everyone has an internet trail.
"He was portraying a petroleum engineer and moved oil rig locations from Buna, Texas to the Falkland Islands, but he kept being available to chat at the same time everyday, even though he changed time zones and should have been asleep. The kicker was that he asked me for money. Never give anyone who you're corresponding with online money."
Hopefully, I covered the facts well enough, so none of my computer savvy students will let their hearts and minds go astray to an online predator. There are so many of them.
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
Saturday, February 21, 2015
The Difference Between Relationships with the Zodiac and G_d
Today I finally finished my first read of a very intense, information-filled book about the spiritual realm, "Inner Space" by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan. It was so informative that I will have to read it again and hope that I can absorb more the next read. It ended with an interesting and potent note about the difference between the relationship with the Zodiac (astrology) and G_d. Now I had always been taught that one should not have any relationship with astrology, because it is putting faith into something that is not G_d. Rabbi Kaplan explains it in a way that I'd never experienced.
First we must note Ezekiel's visions prior to the destruction of the First Temple and the end to the prophetic era. In both visions he similarly describes the Chayot, living creatures that receive the life-force from the highest spiritual dimension and transmit it. The Chayot have four faces. In Ezekiel's first vision the faces were that of an ox, lion, eagle, and man. In the second vision Ezekiel did not wish to have the ox represented, since it was a reminder of the Golden Calf, the darkest hour of idolatry of Israel. He prayed and the face of the ox became a Cherub, the face of the man as a child.
Each face of the Chayot represented a tribe of Israel: the ox represented Joseph or Ephraim, the lion represented Judah, the eagle with a snake-like tail represented Dan, and the man represented Reuben. Each of these tribes were located on different sides of the Tabernacle. To the south was Reuben with Gad and Simeon, to the West was Ephraim with Menashe and Benjamin, to the North was Dan with Asher and Naphtali, and to the East was Judah with Issachar and Zebulun.
So what is the correlation with the Zodiac? The twelve signs of the Zodiac can also be grouped in quadrants and related to the four faces of the Chayot: Aries-Taurus(ox)-Gemini, Cancer-Leo(lion)-Virgo, Libra_Scorpio(Eagle)-Sagittarius, and Capricorn-Aquarius(man)-Pisces. We know that the Potiphar's wife was told by an astrologer that her line and Joseph's line would create a great nation which is why she kept trying to seduce him. It was Potiphar's wife's daughter though that would marry Joseph and create this great nation. Therefore, the Torah does give some validity to astrology. So why do we not put any faith in astrology then?
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan answers this: "It is important to realize that although the tribes follow the signs of the zodiac, the Jewish people as a whole were lifted above the level of the Mazalot (constellations) by virtue of their receiving the Torah. The concept of Mazalot is essentially a physical concept. It is a channel through which spiritual forces come down to the terrestrial. The more a person can establish direct contact with the spiritual dimension, on the other hand, he can bypass the influence of the stars to a great extent. This is done primarily through prayer.
"We are thus allowed to do character analyses through astrology, but predictions are forbidden to us. The source for this prohibition is the Biblical verse: 'You shall be perfect with the Lord your G_d' Deuteronomy 18:13. In other words, the more we perfect our relationship with the spiritual dimension, the more G_d is going to do for us to change the natural course of events, thus making any action based on astrological predictions superfluous."
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
First we must note Ezekiel's visions prior to the destruction of the First Temple and the end to the prophetic era. In both visions he similarly describes the Chayot, living creatures that receive the life-force from the highest spiritual dimension and transmit it. The Chayot have four faces. In Ezekiel's first vision the faces were that of an ox, lion, eagle, and man. In the second vision Ezekiel did not wish to have the ox represented, since it was a reminder of the Golden Calf, the darkest hour of idolatry of Israel. He prayed and the face of the ox became a Cherub, the face of the man as a child.
Each face of the Chayot represented a tribe of Israel: the ox represented Joseph or Ephraim, the lion represented Judah, the eagle with a snake-like tail represented Dan, and the man represented Reuben. Each of these tribes were located on different sides of the Tabernacle. To the south was Reuben with Gad and Simeon, to the West was Ephraim with Menashe and Benjamin, to the North was Dan with Asher and Naphtali, and to the East was Judah with Issachar and Zebulun.
So what is the correlation with the Zodiac? The twelve signs of the Zodiac can also be grouped in quadrants and related to the four faces of the Chayot: Aries-Taurus(ox)-Gemini, Cancer-Leo(lion)-Virgo, Libra_Scorpio(Eagle)-Sagittarius, and Capricorn-Aquarius(man)-Pisces. We know that the Potiphar's wife was told by an astrologer that her line and Joseph's line would create a great nation which is why she kept trying to seduce him. It was Potiphar's wife's daughter though that would marry Joseph and create this great nation. Therefore, the Torah does give some validity to astrology. So why do we not put any faith in astrology then?
Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan answers this: "It is important to realize that although the tribes follow the signs of the zodiac, the Jewish people as a whole were lifted above the level of the Mazalot (constellations) by virtue of their receiving the Torah. The concept of Mazalot is essentially a physical concept. It is a channel through which spiritual forces come down to the terrestrial. The more a person can establish direct contact with the spiritual dimension, on the other hand, he can bypass the influence of the stars to a great extent. This is done primarily through prayer.
"We are thus allowed to do character analyses through astrology, but predictions are forbidden to us. The source for this prohibition is the Biblical verse: 'You shall be perfect with the Lord your G_d' Deuteronomy 18:13. In other words, the more we perfect our relationship with the spiritual dimension, the more G_d is going to do for us to change the natural course of events, thus making any action based on astrological predictions superfluous."
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
Monday, February 16, 2015
Reclaiming My Sacred Ground
Sacred ground can be so many things. Mine is water. That's where I first met G_d at 12 when I was drowning at the bottom of the American River. I'd screamed out all my air when I found myself pulled down into all this algae under a boulder. My body no longer was moving, but my life jacket slowly pulled me upward to the light. I felt my soul stretch out to it ahead of my body. That light gave me hope that I'd breathe again.
When I breached the surface, I gasped desperately for air and was again able to move my body. Once I reached dry ground, I noticed that it was a cloudy day. That light wasn't the sun as I thought. It was G_d.
We had an understanding that day that He wasn't going to let me die any time soon, because there was something that I was going to do for Him. So I started taking risks that normal people wouldn't take. Cats would be jealous with all my lives. I guess being buried in a snow cave was one of the craziest near deaths, but my mountaineering teacher finally found our cave entrance after numerous digs and liberated us to the air again.
I was just telling a friend about being given a sign of fish while kayak fishing in the La Jolla Cove. That sign told me that I wasn't going to die like the doctors thought from this tumor that had grown much too quickly inside of me.
My favorite time that G_d loved me on the water was right after a great white shark attack in Solana Beach. I stayed off the ocean for a few days, but I had to kayak. So as I was driving to the beach to launch my kayak, I asked G_d to keep me safe. As I paddled north a large pod of dolphins came and swam all around me for an hour. Dolphins attack great white sharks, so I had body guards of the sea! When I turned around a different pod of dolphins joined me on my way back. It was remarkable enough that I connected with one pod of dolphins, but two different pods was G_d's work.
After I moved to Sacramento for work, I prayed for my Adam. I met him on Lake Natoma while I was kayaking. It was just him and me on the lake that day. I even remember the exact spot where I caught up to him and said, "Hello." Unfortunately, he was my Adam, my first. He was not my last. He could never make a decision and stick with it, so I've stayed off the lake until today. I didn't want him to try to talk to me and try to revive our relationship or relieve his guilt from having ended the 2.5 year long relationship in a text while I was sleeping.
Today I returned to Lake Natoma and reclaimed it. Today I taught my friend from my nursery school days how to kayak there. We're both teachers, so she insisted that I teach her. It was quite fun, and she got an "A." I explained how I've not been back to the lake and why and she said, "Will just keep taking me, and I'll keep him away from you!" So I've reclaimed my sacred ground---water.
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
When I breached the surface, I gasped desperately for air and was again able to move my body. Once I reached dry ground, I noticed that it was a cloudy day. That light wasn't the sun as I thought. It was G_d.
We had an understanding that day that He wasn't going to let me die any time soon, because there was something that I was going to do for Him. So I started taking risks that normal people wouldn't take. Cats would be jealous with all my lives. I guess being buried in a snow cave was one of the craziest near deaths, but my mountaineering teacher finally found our cave entrance after numerous digs and liberated us to the air again.
I was just telling a friend about being given a sign of fish while kayak fishing in the La Jolla Cove. That sign told me that I wasn't going to die like the doctors thought from this tumor that had grown much too quickly inside of me.
My favorite time that G_d loved me on the water was right after a great white shark attack in Solana Beach. I stayed off the ocean for a few days, but I had to kayak. So as I was driving to the beach to launch my kayak, I asked G_d to keep me safe. As I paddled north a large pod of dolphins came and swam all around me for an hour. Dolphins attack great white sharks, so I had body guards of the sea! When I turned around a different pod of dolphins joined me on my way back. It was remarkable enough that I connected with one pod of dolphins, but two different pods was G_d's work.
After I moved to Sacramento for work, I prayed for my Adam. I met him on Lake Natoma while I was kayaking. It was just him and me on the lake that day. I even remember the exact spot where I caught up to him and said, "Hello." Unfortunately, he was my Adam, my first. He was not my last. He could never make a decision and stick with it, so I've stayed off the lake until today. I didn't want him to try to talk to me and try to revive our relationship or relieve his guilt from having ended the 2.5 year long relationship in a text while I was sleeping.
Today I returned to Lake Natoma and reclaimed it. Today I taught my friend from my nursery school days how to kayak there. We're both teachers, so she insisted that I teach her. It was quite fun, and she got an "A." I explained how I've not been back to the lake and why and she said, "Will just keep taking me, and I'll keep him away from you!" So I've reclaimed my sacred ground---water.
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
Sunday, February 15, 2015
My Grandnephew's Second Birthday
As I got ready for my Grandnephew's 2nd birthday party, I was looking forward to seeing the family and dreading it at the same time. There's been so much pain, especially with my brother-in-law dying last Memorial Day of a grueling, slow cancer that ate this amazing athlete alive. On top of that one of my sister's disowned me right when I was laid off from my JobCorps teaching job due to the government sequestering. (Thanks Congress!) That was the first time in all my careers to ever be laid off. It was not easy and then to be rejected by my middle sister like that was horrific.
It ended up that she saw some childhood films that my dad had taken of the boys and I hiking. She didn't see any films of her. She actually never hiked with us, so why would there be films of her? She didn't see it that way. She saw it that I was Dad's favorite. My middle sister was always a queen bee, so if she's not the favorite, the favorite shall die! That's really why I was disowned by her. I reversed it on her and told her that I wouldn't talk to her until she finished rehab, since she's an active alcoholic.
So I wanted to see my family, but knew that people were going to be mad at me for heading for Tahoe to get away from all the pain and leaving everyone without the intention of returning. G_d had other plans for me. So He returned me back to the Low Landers, as the Mountain People refer to the valley folks.
As I walked into my niece's new home for the first time, I was greeted by her with a warm hug. That certainly took some of the edge off. I saw my oldest sister, who lost her husband, and she looked at me with a distant, hurt look and continued talking to the person next to her. I walked over to her son, and he gave me a hug. He caught me up on the mother of his son's new life. She has three children from three different men and got married for once, so is off welfare finally! We were horrified by this girlfriend of his. It's such a blessing that she is gone.
Finally, I asked my sister if I could hug her she agreed, and we hugged. Later while we were talking she told me who her real family was. It was her friends from church mostly. It wasn't me according to her. I just smiled and wondered why she felt that that was a godly thing to say to her blood sister who just had a fiance leave her and really needed one of her two sisters.
So I decided a beer would be good and took a swig and tried to find out how my sister has been doing during her first year without her husband, despite her tense mouth when she spoke to me. It took awhile, but eventually she started loosening up. Then my dad and his girlfriend arrived. It didn't take more than a few seconds for her to excuse herself outside. She hated our dad. It was such a shame. Dad had trained her in her profession in his medical office and gave her the seed money to start Laughs Unlimited, but there was no gratitude toward him---just hate. Dad didn't save her house from going to the bank when her son defaulted on his student loan, so according to my oldest sister, he deserved only hate.
Her hatred toward my dad just scares me. It violates one of the most important of the 10 Suggestions---"Honor your father and mother." If you can't honor your earthly mother and father, G_d doesn't find you worthy to honor Him and turns His back on you. That's one suggestion that seems so innocuous, but is so important.
My middle sister didn't show up. I knew she hadn't died of alcoholism, but that was all I knew. I didn't dare asked about her. I had no idea what turmoil would explode upon me, if I even mentioned her name. Had she appeared the discomfort that she would have wreaked upon me would have surely made me leave early, as it has in the past.
After spending time with my grandnephews and inlaws, the room seemed to warm up toward me. My grandnephew really liked the paint and playdough that I got him for his birthday. My niece was wondering where exactly was her son going to be painting, "My house?" lol Blood family is like no other. You can't choose your blood family, but they are very similar to yourself which creates a strong bond.
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
It ended up that she saw some childhood films that my dad had taken of the boys and I hiking. She didn't see any films of her. She actually never hiked with us, so why would there be films of her? She didn't see it that way. She saw it that I was Dad's favorite. My middle sister was always a queen bee, so if she's not the favorite, the favorite shall die! That's really why I was disowned by her. I reversed it on her and told her that I wouldn't talk to her until she finished rehab, since she's an active alcoholic.
So I wanted to see my family, but knew that people were going to be mad at me for heading for Tahoe to get away from all the pain and leaving everyone without the intention of returning. G_d had other plans for me. So He returned me back to the Low Landers, as the Mountain People refer to the valley folks.
As I walked into my niece's new home for the first time, I was greeted by her with a warm hug. That certainly took some of the edge off. I saw my oldest sister, who lost her husband, and she looked at me with a distant, hurt look and continued talking to the person next to her. I walked over to her son, and he gave me a hug. He caught me up on the mother of his son's new life. She has three children from three different men and got married for once, so is off welfare finally! We were horrified by this girlfriend of his. It's such a blessing that she is gone.
Finally, I asked my sister if I could hug her she agreed, and we hugged. Later while we were talking she told me who her real family was. It was her friends from church mostly. It wasn't me according to her. I just smiled and wondered why she felt that that was a godly thing to say to her blood sister who just had a fiance leave her and really needed one of her two sisters.
So I decided a beer would be good and took a swig and tried to find out how my sister has been doing during her first year without her husband, despite her tense mouth when she spoke to me. It took awhile, but eventually she started loosening up. Then my dad and his girlfriend arrived. It didn't take more than a few seconds for her to excuse herself outside. She hated our dad. It was such a shame. Dad had trained her in her profession in his medical office and gave her the seed money to start Laughs Unlimited, but there was no gratitude toward him---just hate. Dad didn't save her house from going to the bank when her son defaulted on his student loan, so according to my oldest sister, he deserved only hate.
Her hatred toward my dad just scares me. It violates one of the most important of the 10 Suggestions---"Honor your father and mother." If you can't honor your earthly mother and father, G_d doesn't find you worthy to honor Him and turns His back on you. That's one suggestion that seems so innocuous, but is so important.
My middle sister didn't show up. I knew she hadn't died of alcoholism, but that was all I knew. I didn't dare asked about her. I had no idea what turmoil would explode upon me, if I even mentioned her name. Had she appeared the discomfort that she would have wreaked upon me would have surely made me leave early, as it has in the past.
After spending time with my grandnephews and inlaws, the room seemed to warm up toward me. My grandnephew really liked the paint and playdough that I got him for his birthday. My niece was wondering where exactly was her son going to be painting, "My house?" lol Blood family is like no other. You can't choose your blood family, but they are very similar to yourself which creates a strong bond.
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
Saturday, February 14, 2015
The Barriers of G_d
Today I was savoring the end of a great book, "Inner Space" by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan. It is a great book for understanding the prophets and what levels of prophecy they attained and what levels of prophecy exist. When one seeks to be more prophetic via meditation or prayer or just a natural ability to immediately be connected to G_d while carrying on everyday life, one discovers more and more about G_d. Many, however, give up on G_d, because they have no evidence of Him. G_d's barrier leaves no indication of Him to them. No matter how much a person who is spiritually connected to G_d shares, these people remain blind to Him, because each person has to find his own way to G_d in G_d's time.
Here is an excerpt from "Inner Space" that explains the purpose of this blindness:
"We know that no outside force can hold G_d back. Thus, if a barrier does exist that can restrain G_d, it is something that He Himself created for a purpose. We know that G_d wants us to have a separate identity and the free choice that goes along with it. Therefore, in order to allow us to exist, He has to create barriers and hold Himself back. It is only once we are separated from G_d that our returning to Him can be the source of the greatest possible pleasure. G_d wanted man to discover Him and come close to Him. This is the real purpose of creation. When a person discovers G_d behind all the barriers and achieves this by his own efforts, there can be no greater pleasure."
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
Thursday, February 12, 2015
A Visit From Korean School Administrators in My High School Shops
At my new teaching job I have many shops---the robotics PC lab, wood shop, metal shop, and AutoCAD Apple lab. Today a group of Korean school administrators came to visit our American high school. When they visited my class, I showed them the things that the students make in wood shop---cabinets, boxes, chests, tables, goblets, bowls, chessboards, cutting boards, etc. They couldn't believe that the students could make all these items at this age.
One of my gifted robotics students lent me his robot, so I showed the administrators how the pre-programmed robot moves. The new tasks that the students had to have their robot perform were for the robot to be able to maneuver the course while stopping at each turn, blinking the LED to signal a turn on that side, beep when backing up, and playing a victory song at the finish. This robot played "Yankee Doodle Dandy" which I thought was appropriate for demonstrating the greatness of American ingenuity! The administrators were very impressed and wondered where the remote for the robot was. lol I explained that it was all programmed in PBASIC and downloaded into the robot's memory.
When I took them to the metal shop, I showed them the car that one of my students is rebuilding, the TIG welding stations, the metal sanders, painting booth, metal lathe, and plasma cutter which cut out oak trees drawn on AutoCAD. I showed them the pen that we were trying to get to scribe into the metal, but so far it is cutting through. They were very impressed by this, as well.
At the end of my tour I asked if they had any questions. The one administrator who spoke the best English and translated for the others asked, "How many girls do you have in this program?"
Of course I was thinking, "NOT AGAIN!" That was the same question that the Federal ROP overseer asked me. I answered, "Well, we have a few girls in each class, but when the girls at the school saw a female shop teacher, more joined my classes."
Then the administrator asked, "Aren't the girls not strong enough to do these things? How do they lift heavy things?"
Of course I was thinking, "NOT AGAIN!" Here I'd been a pioneer for women in engineering when I was running a million dollar Japanese/American project that lasted 9 months. My boss and I didn't let the Japanese know that I was a woman, since they only had female engineers serve coffee. At the end of the project that my team finished on time and within budget, which was unheard of for American engineers, I finally let my boss tell them that I was a woman, and they were in utter disbelief! Now I had to find a way to gently tell this Korean administrator about the greatness of women in creating things from thought, if they're given a chance.
Without missing a beat, I pointed at the strong teenage men in the metal shop and said, "We have all these strong young men to help move the heavy things. When I worked as a mechanical engineer, I had many people who worked for me." I pointed to my head and added, "I was paid for my thoughts and delegated to others the details of creating my designs," and left it at that. The female Korean administrator smiled at me in acknowledgement of what I do every day to truly emancipate women to be free to discover and pursue their talents. Not many of our dad's taught us how to use tools, so I'm stepping in and giving the young ladies and men a chance to discover the joy of shaping their own worlds with awesome power tools!
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
One of my gifted robotics students lent me his robot, so I showed the administrators how the pre-programmed robot moves. The new tasks that the students had to have their robot perform were for the robot to be able to maneuver the course while stopping at each turn, blinking the LED to signal a turn on that side, beep when backing up, and playing a victory song at the finish. This robot played "Yankee Doodle Dandy" which I thought was appropriate for demonstrating the greatness of American ingenuity! The administrators were very impressed and wondered where the remote for the robot was. lol I explained that it was all programmed in PBASIC and downloaded into the robot's memory.
When I took them to the metal shop, I showed them the car that one of my students is rebuilding, the TIG welding stations, the metal sanders, painting booth, metal lathe, and plasma cutter which cut out oak trees drawn on AutoCAD. I showed them the pen that we were trying to get to scribe into the metal, but so far it is cutting through. They were very impressed by this, as well.
At the end of my tour I asked if they had any questions. The one administrator who spoke the best English and translated for the others asked, "How many girls do you have in this program?"
Of course I was thinking, "NOT AGAIN!" That was the same question that the Federal ROP overseer asked me. I answered, "Well, we have a few girls in each class, but when the girls at the school saw a female shop teacher, more joined my classes."
Then the administrator asked, "Aren't the girls not strong enough to do these things? How do they lift heavy things?"
Of course I was thinking, "NOT AGAIN!" Here I'd been a pioneer for women in engineering when I was running a million dollar Japanese/American project that lasted 9 months. My boss and I didn't let the Japanese know that I was a woman, since they only had female engineers serve coffee. At the end of the project that my team finished on time and within budget, which was unheard of for American engineers, I finally let my boss tell them that I was a woman, and they were in utter disbelief! Now I had to find a way to gently tell this Korean administrator about the greatness of women in creating things from thought, if they're given a chance.
Without missing a beat, I pointed at the strong teenage men in the metal shop and said, "We have all these strong young men to help move the heavy things. When I worked as a mechanical engineer, I had many people who worked for me." I pointed to my head and added, "I was paid for my thoughts and delegated to others the details of creating my designs," and left it at that. The female Korean administrator smiled at me in acknowledgement of what I do every day to truly emancipate women to be free to discover and pursue their talents. Not many of our dad's taught us how to use tools, so I'm stepping in and giving the young ladies and men a chance to discover the joy of shaping their own worlds with awesome power tools!
P.S. To my blog readers: If you want to support a struggling math/engineering teacher and author, please buy my first book, "The Romance of Kilimanjaro," soon to be followed by my second book at: https://www.tatepublishing.com/bookstore/book.php?w=9781613464960 Thank You!
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