Wednesday, March 22, 2006

Ukraine: The Winter that is Still Here

I got all my tax info. All told, including the readjustment allowance that's been accruing and which I won't see until December, I made $3,286 last year. And that's gross earnings. As soon as I take the standard deduction, I'm in the negative. That would be good if they had witheld Federal tax, but they didn't. Normally I look forward to tax season with masochistic glee, using all the deductions and benefits being a teacher, a student and owning your own business will provide and always ending up with a fat return. Last year, though, I didn't even make enough to have to file a return.

So I threw it in the trash.

***

I'm currently coaching the 1st place winners from 9th, 10th and 11th grade six hours a day for next week's National Olympiad. Yes, the same three students, all day long. Apparently my coordinator thinks burning them out before the competition is the wisest thing to do. Almost every second I'm not teaching them is spent prepping for the next day, because that's a lot of material to teach and it has to be done in such a way that they don't get bored and start rebelling.

Here's distraction for you: the 10th grader missed yesterday's class because she was sick. Today, this rather well-formed sixteen year-old girl came to class gothed-out in a choker, low-cut skin-tight top, skirt that came to just below her ass and knee high boots. That was not what was distracting me, though. What was distracting me was the near-permanant blob of yellowish-green snot in her left nostril. She would noisily suck this back and swallow it every few minutes and I could almost feel the nastiness sliding down my throat. I twice asked if she needed to leave to blow her nose, but she said she was okay. It wasn't her I was worried about.

***

Lastly, today I was looking at some video shot while we were building the climbing wall; I want to put together a little promo video to get kids to the weekend climbing/healthy lifestyle sessions that start next week.

In the video, while people are drilling and twisting nuts and attaching holds, it's lightly snowing.

Right now, outside, while I type this, it's lightly snowing.

That video was shot six months ago.

WHAT THE FUCK KIND OF PLACE HAS SNOW FOR HALF THE FUCKING YEAR?!?

Had to get that off my chest. Spring is coming, despite the snow, I can feel it. It comes above freezing every afternoon. But it was just surprising to see that video because it feels like we built the wall so long ago, and I realized while seeing it that, no, that wasn't last winter. That's this winter. The winter that is still here.