FDIC insured

I've been reading lots about our recent historical financial event, trying to stay current, becoming outraged at the fact that the whole $700,000,000 bailout was proposed on all of three freekin pages, etc. etc. So, when I saw something on CNN that was called "Recession Reality Check" I was intrigued. I was funneled off to Oprah and found myself reading Suze Ormond's advice about making sure your bank is FDIC insured.

It reminded me of the time I opened my first bank account on my own. I was 17 and meeting with the branch manager to deposit my whole life savings of $500 and, as instructed by my government teacher, I asked if the bank was FDIC insured. The man was a little taken aback but assured me my money would be safe.

What used to seem like a precocious and somewhat misdirected question now seems so much more important.

Year #5

I am now a few weeks into my school year and 4 days into actually teaching my students. It has been filled with the normal highs and lows, questioning almost everything (student placement, my approach, etc. etc.), and happiness to be around the students again. All in all, I felt that everything was kind of going along in that normal start of the school year manner.

Then, around 9:25, something stopped me in my tracks. I was in another teacher's classroom, teaching a small group of children, when it became obvious that one of the student's was having a problem. He's a snorter of snot. After directing him to get a tissue, it became obvious that getting at tissue and knowing what to do with a tissue were divergent pieces of knowledge. As I was figuring this out, the snorting was quickly moving from amazingly loud to fear inducing. He then announced that water was coming out of his nose. This whole experience caused me to lose my teacher-persona momentarily.

You see, I have have previously had a run-in with snot while teaching. There was a sneeze, a multi-inch long stalactite of booger, and a look pleading for help. Today's booger run-in caused me to flashback to that horrible image that has been permanently etched in my mind. I eventually composed myself and continued teaching. At the end of the day, I needed to go back and talk to the teacher and apologize for my lack of professionalism. Once I told her about the other snotty run-in, she understood.