Play it to the left, wait, watch out for the Tentacle! No, Bobby, don't go into the woods!

So, it's about 4:52 P.M. here, and I'm deciding (for the second day in a row!) to knock off a little early. Yesterday I talked to my mother, today, I'm talking to all y'all. I trust you had a good weekend, with it being Labor day and all in the States. We get next Sunday off because it is Masood Day, and then next Wednesday off because it is the start of Ramadan. Except I don't really get Wednesday off, because I have a couple duties that I have to perform on that day. But it won't take all day, so it'll be a working holiday.

I've had car line duty this week, it has been somewhat interesting. There are kids that try to push the boundaries of what is acceptable behavior. I guess I should explain car line. All of the kids gather in an area by the street, and as their drivers come, we call out the kids' car numbers, and then once there car is here the kids get to go. Anyway, they are supposed to stay in spots grouped by number. The elementary kids are there first, they have to stay seated while they are waiting. The high school kids don't have to, which presents a challenge since then the elementary kids get up and jump around, and the High school kids (social animals that they are) try to congregate with their friends, regardless of where their number is. Anyway, there's these two brothers, 4th and Kindergarten, that I having been having running skirmishes with this week. They're not bad, like some of the other kids, they just push the limits. The younger one (pretty smart kid, good English) yesterday came over 4 times to fill up his water bottle. Then, he comes over and says, "I have to go to the toilet!" I just laughed, sent him to the portables instead of letting him go in the building, and then when he came back, asked him, "Now, what have we learned about water consumption and the toilet?" He says, "I drink alot, and then I have to go?" I congratulated him on his deduction skills. Then today, he asks to go in and fill up his water bottle. "And what did we learn about water consumption yesterday?" "I drink alot, then I have to go?" "Right. You're only going to get to go once here today, so choose wisely." He only filled his water bottle back up one more time. And went to the toilet right before his car came. I was so proud.

More news - I volunteered to help with student activities, I said I would help with futball and basketball, and volunteered to do a Computer Programming club. Once a week, an hour and a half, 10 weeks, I figure we can do plenty in that time.

Now today, today was diverse and divisive. Did lots of different things - took apart a laptop with a piece of hardware that freezes windows whenever it is enabled, took the part out, now the PC works fine. Needs a new Mini-PCI wireless card, but we've got some spare USB wireless nics for the time being. It also has an irrevocably damaged battery, so it will have to stay somewhere wired, but that's OK, it's a spare right now anyway. I also drafted some policies, troubleshot some issues, only had to look at the copiers twice, and finally, did some research into things that teachers had asked for.

One more thing I need to do tonight is go see if I can fix a TV. I'm pretty sure the picture tube isn't working, when I turn it on, I don't hear the electronic hum, and none of the guns seem to be firing (it's a CRT). It's the 'community' TV, so many people would be disappointed if it's out of commission. I'm not entirely sure in any way that I would be able to fix it, but it will be fun to try.

We're having hamburgers for supper tonight. Should be good.

Finally, tonight we have another team meeting. They're trying to finish up the life story presentations... part of me hopes I get to go tonight, just so the over-analyzing, repressive part of my personality will finally be sated like a squirrel with a nut. Another part of me hopes that they forget about me, and that I can just happily skate along without ever having to do this. It is becoming rather odd, I feel unsure of what I should share. As I continue to look back at my drawing, and back at it in relation with my life, I grow less and less confident that I understand what is important. I can think of few significant moments in my life, things that stand out to me since for the way that it changed my thinking, and I can't think of anything that would be categorized as a drastic realignment. Rather, a number of things in my life are not represented like an earthquake, but instead like the gradual way that a river etches its way through the landscape. Slowly, inexorably, the channels and currents have worn their way into my life, into who I am and what I have become. So I don't really know how to tell my story. I don't know what is the extent of significance, and what is the extent of memory.

Despite this uncertainty, however, I do know the content of my story. I can guess at who I was, who I am, and the only thing left which is uncertain is the future, and wither does that lead that any man can know? So the story I tell, this story won't be complete. It won't be entirely accurate, it may not always make sense, but it is what it has been, just my life. The pearl of great price is not to be found in the telling, but is found when it is searched for. This is what here I hope to find.

One day, one day that I dread and long for, I will recount that life. And when that day comes, I hope to hear the phrase that I don't deserve to hear through my own agency. I will hear it only through the agency of Another. The pearl of great price.