Dogs, Railroads, and Robots

I once saw this ad for Southwest Airlines in which the guy on the airplane has to pay to use the restroom, pay to recline the chair, pay to use the overhead storage… etc., etc., etc. But what’s surprising is that that is sort of true nowadays. American Airlines is charging little fees (or big fees, if it’s checked luggage) for little things that eventually add up into one great big fee. Think about it: if you had to pay 25 cents to use the restroom, 20 cents to recline the chair, and 50 cents to open the overhead storage, and you went to the restroom 3 times, recline the chair 4 times, and open the overhead storage 7 times, plus you bought a bag of chips for $1.55, that would be…

   .25

   .25

   .25

   .20

   .20

   .20

   .20

   .50

   .50

   .50

   .50

   .50

   .50

   .50

+1.55

   $6.60 total.

 Doesn’t seem like much, eh? Then just add the 300-something dollars you paid for the ticket, and the 200- something dollars for the checked bags, and then see if it seems like much.

Ouch.

The Byrd Symphonic 1 Band (of which I am a member) recently competed in the Beach Within Reach band contest, and I am elated to say that we won the Grand Champion prize, meaning that out of every single band that the judges heard, we were the BEST!!! (And man, that trophy was huge!)

Our pieces were: March from Matinees Musicales, by Benjamin Britten, Fantasy on a Japanese Folk Song, by Samuel Hazo, and Shepherd’s Hey by Percy Grainger. 

I am sure that we have all heard about the sad event that took place at the Kentucky Derby last week. Eight Belles, a filly, had to be euthanized after breaking her front two ankles.

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) maintains that the death was caused by the ‘merciless whipping of the horses as they are forced to run.’

Reality check: The ‘whipping’ is barely a light tap, lighter that a spank, and it is purely for encouragement. Anyways, the horses were bred for this! 

If Eight Belles had not been euthanized, she would have gone through great pain with her broken ankles. Also, immobilizing a horse can lead to all sorts of other health problems, with atrophy of muscles and bones being just the beginning.

I am not saying that Eight Belles should have died anyways; no one would ever guess she would break her ankles. It is still a very sad event that will probably scar the Kentucky Derby for a very long time. 

The last one was the absolute worst. The test itself was easy, but very shoddily put together. It looked like someone had just gone and cut-pasted it together. (This isn’t a state test, mind you, the district made it.)

There was nothing to do after the test, as usual. 

I really should be glad to not be dead of boredom. But now this whole thing is over, and we can rest easy. Phew!

This was the worst, as it was the quickest to be completed. We were sitting there for hours on end, not being able to talk (the 8th graders were taking their real tests), and by the time we left for fifth period, we were ready to explode with pure energy.

…I really don’t get the kind of fun the state has in torturing us like this…

Same deal as with the math portion… frustratingly boring, but really easy. I finished early, so I dawdled a bit before turning it in so it wouldn’t look like I rushed. The questions were so easy, that I could have just done a quick scan of all the passages, and answered all of the questions right off the bat.

More to come- we still have the benchmarks for Science, and then Social Studies (that’s their version of history.) 

Today, we took the math portion of the TAKS tests. It was very easy, and most of the questions I could do in my head. (I’m not speaking for all people, just myself!) The worst part of it, though, was not the test itself, but what to do afterwards. The only two things the state lets you do is either read a book, or sleep. So by the end of the testing period, I felt like I was ready to explode, what with all that pent-up energy inside me, and I’m sure that home-schooled people are smirking inwardly for not having to go through all this trouble. You lucky dogs.

It’s that time again… In four days (from the date posted), the TAKS Math and Reading Tests will take place at schools across Texas. Now, I’ve already discussed the non-usefulness of TAKS (see post here) but still, I highly doubt that many students are looking forward to 4+ hours virtually chained to their desks. Wish everyone in grades 3 through 12 good luck (and pray they don’t die of boredom.)

Things to do on Earth Day:

1.  Save electricity.
2. Drive as little as possible.
3. Recycle.
4. Hug a tree.
5. Reduce your carbon footprint.

Hey, wait a minute, we should do this stuff every day! Happy Earth Day!-Alex 

It seems that almost everything nowadays will some way or another end up on the Internet. And a great deal of the info consumed or distributed by the Internet is, if it is a video clip, on the megasite known as YouTube. YouTube, in my opinion, is the bane of some fame-hungry teenagers. These teens will often do stupid incredibly stupid things just to get themselves on the Internet.  Sometimes, they will go to such lengths that they endanger their lives just for fifteen minutes of fame. And, the chances that someone will even see that small clip are about 1 to 100. Is seventy years really worth trading for seventy possible seconds of fame?