Up Date

Just about ready to make cider. I got the outlet pipe, hopper and push stick done for the Whiz bang apple grinder as seen in the top photo, and in the bottom photo, the pressure plate for the press. I'm going to order a bag for the press from Lehman's rather than using cheesecloth to line the basket. 

If you're not familiar with Lehman's, you're missing out. They're located in the heart of Amish country in Kidron, Ohio and that's who they cater to, along with other folks who are still using the older technologies. They've got everything you need to live off the grid or preserve food or prep for the coming apocalypse. Some of their products are a little expensive but if you need it, they've probably got it. If you're ever over that way, it's a stop worth making just to browse the store, especially if you're a do-it-yourselfer/tinkerer like I am. The Missus and I were over that way a few years back and went to the store. We also went to Warther Carving in nearby Dover - another must visit place. Mooney Warther was a genius and a craftsman with no equal. If you can't get there in person, check out the link to the Warther Museum. Absolutely incredible.

In the education news, Tony Bennett was in the NWI Times on Sunday again. It's nice to see the poster boy for education reform blow up on the front page. Especially when, as far as I'm concerned at least, his reforms were going down the wrong path. The weekend Wall Street Journal had a feature on M. Night  Shyamalan. For those of you who aren't familiar with that name, like myself, he's a filmmaker that just wrote a soon to be published book on education reform. According to the WSJ: 

"Over the course of his research, Mr. Shyamalan found data debunking many long-held theories. For example, he found no evidence that teachers who had gone through masters programs improved students' performance; nor did he find  any confirmation that class size really mattered. What he did discover is plenty of evidence that, in the absence of all-star teachers, schools were most effective when they put in place strict, repetitive classroom regimens."

Mr. Shyamalan's book I Got Schooled  should be a good read. I'll have to dig up a copy when it comes out.

And on a related reading note, one of the tree trimming superheroes the other day mentioned the drummer from Rush, Neil Peart, and his riding a motorcycle and bicycle from here to Hell and back and writing about the journeys. I did the Google search and his web site has several books available and other info that looks pretty interesting. If you're into adventure traveling - something like a bicycle trip across Africa - you might want to check him out. I plan searching out a couple of the books. Doing pretty well on my book reading this year, by the way. I've gone through 40 so far, making my goal of fifty for the year well within reach. 

Last but certainly not least, Happy Birthday to the Missus - 29 again for the 34th time.

Super Heroes

I haven't been posting too much about interesting projects of late. However, while maybe not all that interesting, I've been getting stuff done that needs to be done so I can get back to the fun projects. Stuff like this:

The tree trimmers were here yesterday and took down two trees and trimmed up a big oak that had grown out enough that it was getting into the roof on the house. I thought about getting a new chainsaw and tackling the two trees that were coming down myself, no way I was going to try the one interfering with the roof, however. I made the smart move and called the pro and this morning everything is done. I've still got some clean up to do but that was part of the deal. The guy in the bucket in the photo is a former student and we did a bunch of work for his dad at the school over the years. He cut me a righteous deal and replaced the photo eye on the big yard light while he was here as well. Tree trimming superhero, that boy. I talked to my cousin over the weekend and he's going to take most of the wood. As soon as I can get everything cleaned up, I'll put in a fence for the puppy. Like always, one thing done but another to take it's place.

I don't know how I'm ever going to get all the shit done around here that needs to be done but I'm thinking maybe a cape would help.

Photo From Here

Probably not - looked good on Evel, though. Maybe Surly should get the cape. He's the one with the Harley Ferguson.

I'm going out to put the finishing touches on the pressure plate for the cider press. The apples will be ripe soon. Be nice to sit around sipping cider in the cool evenings with or without a cape.

Keep on a rockin' superheroes!

Only Two Things That Money Can't Buy

Partial Bounty For the Day

Yesterday's lunch picked straight from the garden.

Fresh veggies light on the salt, heavy on the pepper. Lots of vitamins but lacking on the protein level. Instead of the crackers, a piece of good dark rye bread would have been good. I topped it off with a couple of mission figs and a piece of dark chocolate for dessert. The tank goes empty pretty quick without any meat or cheese on the plate but as long as there's an abundance of veggies to be had, just slice another tomato. I'm definitely going to look into extending the growing season - either some type of cover for the Square Foot Garden boxes, a cold frame or a small greenhouse. The feast or famine schedule with the garden just doesn't get it. A big yellow bell pepper at the grocery the other day was $1.79. That's each. With a little creativity, I should be able to have a nice variety of fresh veggies at least five or six months out of the year.

Give it spin. Probably be the best two minutes and forty-four seconds you'll spend today.

Have a great weekend.

Education Reform, My Ass

Yesterday's NWI Times reported that yes, indeed, former Indiana State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett did in fact alter the school accountability grades. This will require the grades to be re-figured for all the schools, however, a law requiring a new grading system  takes effect Nov. 15 which will complicate things further still. So the citizens of the Hoosier State have an educational accountability mess on their hands.

At the national level things don't seem to be much better. An editorial in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday discussed the setbacks to minority education under the Obama administration.

During the Clinton-Bush era (1999-2008), white 9-year-olds gained 11 points in math, African-American student performance rose by 13 points and Hispanic student leaped by 21 points. In reading, the gains by white 9-year-olds went up seven points, black performance jumped by 18 points and Hispanic student achievement climbed 14 points.
Those remarkable gains came to an end after the Obama administration took charge. Between 2008-12, gains by African-Americans at age 9 were just two points in each subject, while Hispanics gained one point in reading and nothing in math. Whites gained one point in reading and two points in math.

So far the Obama administration has granted waivers to 40 states, allowing them to be free from the accountability of No Child Left Behind. This is the law that says all students regardless of their race or ethnicity will be proficient by 2014. So at the end of this school year - the one that starts next week for my former school district - everyone should be reading and computing at grade level. That's going to have to be one helluva sprint to the finish for that to happen.

I've never been a fan of No Child Left Behind but if the figures cited above are true, it has done some good along with all the havoc it wrought. But if 40 of the 50 states saw that they weren't going to be able to meet the standards by the end of the upcoming school year and opted out, will the remaining ten meet the goals? Will everyone in those ten states be proficient? According to the Wall Street Journal op-ed piece:  "There isn't anything positive to report about student achievement at the high-school level, since neither the Bush administration nor the Obama administration placed much emphasis on student testing after eight grade. At age 17, whites or blacks didn't gain as much  as a single point per year either from 1999-2008 or during the past four years." Oops. Looks like maybe it didn't do that much after all.

From the political standpoint, here's my take. The right wing politicians say we need more accountability and testing, even if that means we have to cook the books a little to make the numbers come out right. The left wing politicians look at what the outcome is liable to be as the finish line approaches and give waivers to 80% of the contestants. They replace No Child Left Behind with Race to the Top, which I'm sure will be successful because they're willing to throw four billion dollars at the problem.

From an educational standpoint, here's my take on it. Come up with a list of reasonable outcomes that every student should be able to accomplish. Break everything down into small modules. If a kid hasn't mastered fourth grade math but has mastered everything else, why have him repeat all of fourth grade? Or, as is more likely to happen, pass him on even though he can't do fourth grade math. If you go to a trade school to be a mechanic, if you don't pass fuel injection class, they don't make you take transmission class over again. Seems simple enough.

Hire good teachers, pay them well and try to keep them. If half the teachers find a new line of work before five years goes by, there is something very wrong. Any other industry with that kind of turnover would be pulling their hair out looking for a solution. How about this as an example: Next week I have to attend a meeting at the college. It's scheduled for three hours in length but refreshments will be served and I'm going to get paid to attend. Paid to attend a meeting - how 'bout them apples?

Finally, while there needs to be oversight at the classroom level, that's going to require good leadership. That will probably be the hardest part of the equation. If you put knuckleheads in charge, why would you be surprised when someone who has invested a minimum of four years getting an education degree and is willing to start a job that pays only slightly above the poverty level, decides to drag up because they can't take the added stress of working for a bozo on top of attending meetings, wiping noses, staying late grading papers, and all the rest?

In summary, the issue is obviously more complicated than what my simple solutions will take care of. The point is, these are changing times. The school model needs to change with it. Recognize that today's students are not the same as those of fifty years ago and change the system to better serve the clientele. Encourage and support the creativity of the teachers, rather than stifling it. There's a lot that could be done but it won't happen with the interference of the self-serving politicians who come up with grand plans they think will work because they said it will. Educational excellence can't be legislated. It requires excellent teachers, treated fairly and compensated accordingly.

Yesterday was one of those days where I got a lot done but didn't have much to show for it. I took Larry Joe Cocker to the vet in the morning to get his surgery taken care of - snipped, chipped and de-dewclawed. The poor little guy will probably never want to go for a ride in my truck again after all that.

After dropping him off I fixed the garage door, did some shopping, got a haircut, ran to the hardware store, put a couple miles in on the bike for a warm up, then ran  a little bit before the rain came in again and baby sat the pooch later in the evening.  

Going to work on the Whiz-Bang apple grinder a little today. It's all done except for an outlet pipe and a hopper for the top. I picked up the pipe yesterday with the run to the hardware store. They didn't have exactly what I was looking for but I picked up something I think will work. If you want to check out the construction of the grinder you can check out an earlier post here. I've got oodles of apples this year, so no better time to try and make some cider. I also need to make a pressure plate for the cider press - probably work on that today as well. 

Making cider will take care of all the excess apples - I might dry a few again this year- but I need to figure out what to do with the peaches. I still like the idea of making some peach wine but I don't know squat about wine making. Maybe just concentrate on doing the cider this year and work into the wine making next year. When the Missus and I were out west earlier this summer, we picked up some wine in the Amana Colonies. They had all types of available - peach, blackberry, rhubarb. Can't see that it would be all that tough to do. A little instruction and some equipment. Seems to me like it would be a good way to preserve the harvest.

Supposed to be another beautiful day. Be a great day to work on things.

Just Another Day in Paradise

I found this at Hot Rodz & Pin Ups. It's not the type of thing I normally think of when I think hot rods but I dig it.

This one came from the same place. If I'm not mistaken this was a Frank Kurtis creation. Not only did Kurtis build midget/sprint/Indy cars, he also built a few customs. 

If you want to see some good looking hot rods and motorcycles (and some nice pin-ups), check out Hod Rodz & Pin Ups. Both of these photos are atypical of what you'll find there but are the kind of thing that I prefer.

Spent the beautiful weekend outside mostly. When you have a "country estate", it requires some regular groundskeeping. The weeds and scrub trees are constantly trying to take over so it requires a combination of weed whacking. spraying, chopping, pulling and burning to take back what is rightfully mine. Actually that would be ours but since I'm the one who did all of the heavy lifting on this job and I'm telling the story, it's mine. At least now the ownership is just the Missus and I with no bank involved. We got the official paper work from the bank the other day. No more house payments! That feels good. And on this beautiful, cool summer morning, the place looks a little better as well. Unfortunately, with the weeds knocked down, the focus is back on the shack and the need for painting. 

I've got a little vacation now before the fall semester starts. I'm not making any plans, just going to play it by ear and see what gets done. Usually the weather this time of year is hot and dry. Not the case lately - cool temps and rain pretty much on a regular basis. That means I'm still cutting grass every few days, but a small concession for these idyllic conditions. Looks like more of the same for this week again. In fact as soon as the dew is off the grass, I'm heading out to mow and then get a little run in before the rain comes in this afternoon.

Have a good week.

New Welding Helmet

Broke down and ordered a new welding helmet. It's a Miller Titanium 1600i. It's the passive, rather than the auto-darkening model. As I mentioned before, I'm not really a fan of the auto-darkening helmets for a couple of reasons, but I don't think I'm going to regret going with this one. On the plus side, the headgear adjusts nicely, the grinding shield is really big and bright and it takes the standard 4x5 filter plate and cover plate on the back side of the filter plate. The downside is that it requires a proprietary outside cover plate and grinding shield. It's also a little heavy. When you flip open the front you notice the weight pulling the helmet down. In my case it won't be a problem because it's going to be the helmet I keep at the college and I won't be be wearing it eight hours a day. If I was still doing a lot of semi-trailer repair and crawling around between the tandems, I would have bought another Huntsman Inslider. If you're going to have to open up the front in a lot of tight spots, this isn't the helmet to have. It came with a #10 plastic filter plate but I swapped that out for a #9 glass one. The plastic is lighter but I won't use anything but glass. After welding for forty-five years, I'm pretty set in my ways.

I bought the helmet from CyberWeld. The helmet was $72.00, which is a little under Miller's list price. Shipping was free and there was no sales tax. I bought a couple of extra clear lenses and filter plates while I was ordering. The filter plates were as cheap as I've seen them anywhere and the Miller grinding shield was reasonable. Miller helmets and jackets are never the cheapest but I was pleased with the pricing and the service at Cyber Weld. 

The new Welding Journal has an ad for a new auto-darkening helmet that I've never heard of before, Digi-Beret. If I was contemplating buying an auto-darkening helmet I might check one out. It's got a $79.00 price tag and has lots of features. The spec sheet says it's good down to 14 degrees. One of the reasons I'm not a fan of the auto-darkening helmets is that they don't work when it's real cold outside.

In other welding news here at Shop Teacher Bob, I received an e-mail from the American Welding Society that my Certified Welding Inspector credentials have been renewed and I should be receiving my new card and stamp shortly. I've been doing a little testing and certifying since leaving the high school - nice to be able to put the CWI to use. 

Enjoy the weekend.