Why Not to Play with Handcuffs

Funny story. We had an overnight for the junior guys at church Friday night. We did X-Bowling then crashed at Paul's place. Late night, little sleep, the usual (Side Note: hardwood floors are just that - hard!).

Some of the guys there are a part of Paul's C-Group (small group, discipleship group, whatever you want to call it), and they goof around alot. One of the things they like to do is use Paul's 2 pair of handcuffs to handcuff each other to things/people. This event was taking place late this morning and was about to come to an end when an unexpected twist occured.

I had the key and was trying to unlock Paul's wrist, which was cuffed to another guy's wrist, when one of the other students came at me with the other pair of cuffs. I instinctively recoiled, protecting myself from being cuffed. However, since I was the one holding the key at the time, this was not a good move. While pulling my arms in to myself, somehow the key snapped off inside the cuff I was trying to unlock, and while it would make sense that if Paul has 2 cuffs he would have 2 keys, that just isn't the case.

And let me now just say, these are real police-grade handcuffs. I don't fully understand how Paul got them, but trust me when I say theses we're the toy cuffs you might have played with as a child. No, without the now broken key, there was no getting them off.

This left Paul and Eliot (the other student) cuffed together and no way of fixing the problem. I really felt like I was in an episode of I Love Lucy or something.

So from there, Paul decides that we need to head up to Snohomish where his roommate works at an autobody shop. This was also an adventure, as he proced to cut the cuffs off (which is really not easy at all).

I'll spare you the details, but we were there for 1.5 - 2 hours to get the cuffs off both Paul and Eliot, and it was quite involved. Eliot may have a scar from the heat from the saw to cut it off. Cool, huh?

Yes, this was my Saturday. Not quite what I planned, but interresting none the less. Let that be a lesson to you: don't goof around when trying to unlock handcuffs, unless you want to stay in them for good.

Hi Ho

Its back to work I go! The busy summer has finished and I was back at work (for the first time since school was out) yesterday. In good Ryan fasion, I didn't leave until about 7:15pm. Ah, back in the swing of things.

I'm not fully back to the regular busy schedule yet, thankfully, but I am working all week this week. Today I'm headed to a tech training in the morning, then helping with a web training in the afternoon. The rest of the week consists of science and web trainings, as well as some collaboration w/ teammates at school.

Just to wrap up summer stuff, JH Ranch was amazing. Last year was really rough for us as a staff, and God blessed us this year with a super trip. The Holy Spirit was working in the lives of students and staff alike this past week, and some great things happened within the junior class (which I focus on). We'll see how much lasts after the high from camp wears off, but I'm hopefull.

With that, this Friday we're doing a junior guys bolwing night & sleepover which should be fun. The sad thing is it'll probably be the last social event I do for at least a month, as the start of school is rapidly approaching. Chances are good that this will be my last post for a while; its back to the norm.

3 Down, 1 to Go

I've now completed 3 of the 4 trips slated for this summer: Olympic Peninsual w/ Ben, Spokane for the Biotechnology Workshop, and Daroga State Park for SMT Safari.

I haven't given much of an update on the workshop. The quick and dirty is that it was good, I learned alot and had some great time to reflect on my teaching and network with other fabulous teachers. Now the challenge will be to integrate what I've learned in a practical way into my classroom. That's the hard part.

SMT Safari was amazing. The team was probably near the best team I've ever been a part of. There was no complaining the entire trip! The attitude of the students was outstanding and they were always willing to work. Granted, they weren't perfect, but who is, really, right? The trip was great. The staff I worked with was amazingly supportive and I couldn't have done it without them. Matt O'Brien did a fabulous job teaching and balancing my anal-retentive tendencies. : )

While in many ways I'm still processing what happened on the trip, it did confirm one thing for me: I don't really want to be in charge. I much prefer supporting someone else who's in charge than actually being the guy in charge. God definatly showed me that I can lead with His help, but that doesn't change that its not my first choice. If God again asks me to do something like that, I will, but its more an act of obedience than of desire, which sometimes God requires.

I also realize that I didn't do a good job of taking care of me on the trip (I know you're all shocked about that). (Side Note: this post is serving as my processing of the trip, so I'm sorry if it seems a bit dis-jointed) I felt an incredible responsibility to the team and even though I was tired much of the trip, I didn't take any direct down time for myself, really. There were a few times when I was just chatting w/ students, but that's part of my job description, and when I stayed in the same place for a while I did start to feel like I should be doing other things. I wonder if I would have done better the last few days frustration-wise if I had taken the time during the day to nap or read or something. Ah well, live and learn.

I also really felt alot of parallels between this camp and my first year of teaching, in that there are lots of things I would do differently if I were to lead the trip again. Thankfully, however, I'm not beating myself up about those things. Instead, I'm drawing from my teaching experience and writing them down, knowing fully that I did my best and that I can't do it all right the first time.

Like I said, the trip overall was fabulous. There were little things I would have liked to have gone differently, but they are just that: little things. It was clear that God wanted me to be a part of the trip and have a leadership role. Though I don't fully know why, I do know that I was doing what God wanted me to be doing, and that's enough.

Tonight I pack for the last camp of the summer, JH Ranch. We leave uber early Sunday morning and are gone until about 10pm the following Saturday night. It'll be great to have less responsibility and just be a staffer again. : ) Then, the following week I'll be doing training for school again, so this last camp is really my last hurrah of the summer. Then its back to the "real world" whatever that is!

5 Hours Times 3

About 2 hours ago I finished my 3rd 5 hour drive between Seattle and Spokane since Sunday. The workshop that I'm at did something that's cool, but has a downside to it over the last 2 days.

VERY early Tuesday morning we boarded a bus and drove out to Seattle. Once we got there (5 hours later) we toured 2 different biotechnology companies/institutions where they gave us information about what they do and how we can be preparing our students for work in those fields. We did nearly the same thing all day today, visiting another 2 places before getting back on the bus for another 5 hour trip back to Spokane. Again, the tours and information I learned was really interesting, cool, and valuable, and I think it can help motivate my teaching in new and exciting ways, so that's cool.

The other thing that was cool was that last night Paul was kind enough to drive out to UW (where we stayed - side note about that: the UW dorms we were in were awful! I've been in quite a few dorms visiting friends over the years, but these were gross and would turn nearly anyone off of dorm life). We just hung out and talked for a few hours. Between our two schedules, we've not had much of a chance to catch up for a few months, so it was a really good time. I also really appreciate that he kept me company when I would have been alone and bored that evening otherwise.

Oh, and it's confirmed: I don't have a roommate at all. : ) Its cool when God does the little things for you.

Workshop Update

Alright, so here's what I know about this fabulous Spokane Biotechnology workshop thing I've gotten myself into. Arrived yesterday about 5:15 pm. The drive wasn't too bad (talked to Cari for a while which was great, and listened to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy on CD). When I got here, I checked in w/ the nice lady at the table and was informed that in fact I did have a roommate, though he haddn't arrived yet. Well, it wasn't what I wanted, but at least I knew and the guessing was over.

I unpacked and explored the campus for a while (very nice, pretty), but seeing as it's so freaking HOT over here, I decided to come back to the apartment and not move for a while. It didn't take long before I became bored, so I pulled out the DS that Ben is loaning me and spent some quality time playing Zelda (my latest addiction).

A while later, another guy shows up and we talked for a while which was cool. Turns out he's changing schools and will be at LW next year, the high school my JH feeds into. He's teaching biology, which means he'll have some of my students from this last year. Kinda' cool connection, especially as I was starting to feel disconnected here.

So the night goes on, and no roommate. And here we are on the 2nd night, and I'm still in a room by myself. Don't know how that worked out, but I'm thankful it did. Needless to say, I didn't sleep well last night, what with it being a new place, and it staying hot all night, so today I've been a bit more tired.

Today was alot of logistical stuff, which was fine. We did get to run an electrophoresis lab, which was fun. I did basically the same one when I was in college, but it was fun to do again and remember some of that stuff.

Tomorrow we get to be leaving on a bus at 6:30 am (which you know I'm looking foward to) to come back to Seattle to visit some biotech companies. We're staying on-campus at UW overnight, doing more tours from the crack of dawn on Wednesday, drivig back to Spokane, crashing, and getting up and doing more stuff Thursday and Friday, though not nearly as intense.

All in all things are going well, though I don't feel like there's been enough happening to know if I'm really "enjoying" my time. But I think it'll be worth while and a good learning experience for me if nothing else.

Washington State Month

I think I've seen more new places in the last 3 days than I have in a long, long time. Ben and I went over to the Olympic Peninsula Monday thru Wednesday and had a great time! We started w/ a ferry ride from Edmonds to Kingston, up highway 101 to Sequim.

Let me just say: I really loved Sequim! Not just the town, but the surrounding area as well. The land by the Dungeness Spit was amazingly beautiful. Of course it was windy and cold, but beautiful, none the less. I really liked the area and would love to have a vacation home up there someday (yeah, right). We also drove thru a game farm that has bunches of different animals. It was cool to see some of them and have others slobber all over my car windows (yuck!).

We then proceded to Port Angeles, couldn't find a place for dinner, had trouble sleeping as cars barrled past our room and the upstairs people decided that 3:30 am was a great time for a party, and quickly move into Tuesday. : )

Tuesday was great, except for waiting in all the traffic to get up to Hurricane Ridge. The view was great and the flowers were beautiful. Ben and I decided that the peninsula's unofficial colors are white, purple, and green, as we saw nothing but those colors the entire trip.

We did alot of driving Tuesday, as we also hit the Hoh Rainforest and then drove all the way down to Aberdeen, hitting the Pacific coast beach on the way. Yet another great day, this time with a cheeper motel with better accomodations.

Wednesday was continental breakfast w/ fresh waffles (!!!!) then continuing home to make sure I made my SMT Safari meeting. Ben wasn't feeling good, unfortunatley, so I dropped him off at home to rest and recover and proceeded w/ the rest of my day.

Sunday I head out for Spokane for 2 weeks. I really have mixed feelings about that trip. Part of me is excited and knows it'll be a good time, the other part of me is afraid it'll be alot of work, I won't understand what's going on, and that I'll be lonely being by myself in an unfamiliar town. Boredom is definatly something I'm going to have to work to avoid. Ah well, I did it to myself. At least I'm still going to have internet access while I'm there!

Movie Stuff

When it comes to movies, sometimes I never learn. A while ago I watched Kill Bill Volumes 1 & 2 on netflix. This was mostly because I'd heard alot about them and wanted to know myself what they were like/about. The first one was bad. I don't mean it was done poorly, I mean it was gross, icky, and inappropriate. Smart person that I am, though, I watched volume 2. Granted, it wasn't as bad, and cinematically, it was actually very interesting, still, based on volume 1, I shouldn't have watched it.

Well tonight, I watched another Quentin Tarantino movie, Pulp Fiction. It was even worse. Somehow I couldn't bring myself to turn it off, but it was horrible. There was swearing like crazy, I mean ALL THE TIME! It's ridiculous. Then there's the themes and such, which were reprehensible. But even beyond that, the icing on the cake, they bring God into the mix. Samuel L. Jackson's character quotes a passage from Ezekiel 25. Only problem is, ITS NOT A REAL PASSAGE THAT HE QUOTES! By the end of the movie, it becomes an important part of the story, yet ITS COMPLETELY MADE UP! It really torques me off that the use God's Word as a device in a story...and its not even accurate! Then they give the character a "religious" experience, and he decides to change his ways, which really means the only thing he's going to change is that now he's not going to kill people for a living. Everything else stays the same. But it makes him out to be some crazy person. It just really makes me mad when God is used like that and twisted and distorted from reality.

I suppose there is one "good" thing from the movie, however. Its yet another example of Romans 2:15 - when Jackson's character "becomes religious" he gets mad at another character for "blaspheming" which is swearing using God's name. While the movie makes this out to be ridiculous, it evidences that, like it or not, we know that's its wrong when we do it. We may justify it, but deep inside, they know its wrong.

Well, let this be a lesson to me: stick to sure-fire good movies like Wall-e. Which, by the way, if you haven't seen, you really should go see. I think its arguably the best Pixar film yet. And the short, Presto, is great too.