Before

I've been thinking that maybe I need to post something pre-Christmas just in case I forget to post something about/for Christmas. Right now everything is looking like Christmas here: shops with holiday displays; booths out on the square; the smell of hot, spiced wine (which doesn't really make me think of Christmas); the cold air. But there's still one thing that's missing: SNOW! I guess this year we'll be having a green/brown Christmas, even in the mountains. This is a really unusual winter so far, being warm and cold and still no snow (OK, so we did have a little bit on my birthday). I met a boy today who said he was going out to buy some new ski pants with his mom, but laughed when he said that he didn't know if he would get to use them this year. I guess we always have the chance of snow coming in January or February, but Christmas just doesn't seem right without a little of the white stuff. O well!

On a side note: I know some of you will probably be expecting me to post some pictures of Christmas here, but alas, I might not have a camera! I've got it advertised for sale right now, and I there's a guy who said he's really interested in buying everything I've got. This means that I might not have a camera to take any pictures with. Horror of horrors!!! But don't be frightened, I'm not giving up photography, just my old workhorse. (I added the above picture to give this post some "holiday warmth", but also to try and make up for the possible lack of Christmas pictures).

I guess this will be it for now, but if I don't get another post up before Monday......... Happy Christmas and a Merry New Year! (Or something along those lines)

Come and gone

Yes, I know. Once again I haven't gotten the "hot news" posted until after things have cooled down (or are cold).

I went to the school on Friday, prepared and not so prepared. I was pretty much ready and willing to face the sixth grade class, but I still wasn't sure what I was going to do with the eighth and ninth grade classes. The sixth grade class was first with an hour break after it, and then I headed back up to the remaining two classes. To make two hours of class time shorter than they actually were, I'll just say that, although both of these older classes were a little harder, I still survived. The ninth grade was the hardest, mainly because most of the students just listened and didn't try and speak, although they know the most out of all the students I had previously "conversed" with. My conversation was mainly with just a couple of the students, and all the rest seemed to be content with just listening. I knew that this was probably what I was going to be faced with, but still I was a little surprised. Yesterday I went for the last time this year, and everything went just as well as last Tuesday.

Speaking of yesterday... Most of you probably have guessed that I drive my car to Trencin when I go there. Yesterday was no exception, but I also took my bike. After I got done at the school I went to Jozef A.'s house for lunch and then went with him to the church to help move some shelving. I drove my car to the church and once I parked (in an illegal place!) I found out that my battery was completely dead; I had been running on the alternator. We, Jozef and I, pushed my car to a better parking place and then tried to think of why the battery would be dead. I couldn't figure it out since I had just bought a new battery, plus I had replaced some burnt cables that go out of the alternator. (There is a break in the time frame here because I went riding, but it picks up later in the afternoon) We push-started the car and I drove it back to Jozef's house. I spent the night there with the plan to go with him to a couple of shops in the morning to try and figure out either what the problem was or if I could just buy an alternator (and fix the problem by elimination [which is sometimes what has to be done with an old car]). This morning we went and were told by a mechanic (who said he wouldn't do any work on the car because he had piles of other work) that it wasn't the alternator (he checked it) but that the belt was too slack. This was kind of embarrassing for me because I hadn't thought about checking the belt. I had tightened it a few weeks ago (when the battery first started charging right [hmmm!]) but it was already so loose that the idler pulley could be turned without trouble. So... we went to the other shop and got a belt (which the guy gave us because it was "old") and then went back to the house. After changing into the work clothes that I had in my trunk (for such a time as this), I went out to do the first "real" work on my car. Actually, the whole job was pretty easy and didn't take me more than an hour to do (even in the cold!). OK, so that's not the whole truth. The belt that the guy gave us was the wrong one (it was for the first model year which had a generator) which meant that we had to go back and get the right one (which we had to pay for). In all, the work wasn't all that much work. The outcome is that my battery now charges and I'm not so worried about throwing the timing belt (because I looked at it while I had things apart and decided that it had probably been replaced already). How boring it would be to own a new (new) car!

Yea, OK, so that last paragraph was longer than the first (but it seemed like a better story!), and I still haven't mentioned the bike riding. I'll make that...

Up the hill and down the hill. That's where we rode our bikes. Sorry, I forgot to tell you that I went riding with Lukas T. (who is a boy from one of the families that belongs to the church in Trencin). First we went into the woods that are above Trencin and rode some really crazy-steep drops/rises (I don't really know what to call them). This was pretty exhilarating, but soon we headed down through the city and on to the next place he wanted to show me. Then to the next place... then the next. And then, because it was getting dark and cold(er), we headed back to where my car was parked at the church.

No pictures. I didn't have my camera with me for any of the excitement. (I'm going to have to get another small camera so I won't have to lug around my big one) It's a pretty lame excuse for me, someone who likes taking pictures, to not have any new pictures to go with this post, but O well...

Roof-rack: 1.0

I am happy to announce that I finally got my roof-rack finished. The paint that I applied dried smoother than I thought it would, and hopefully it will last under the treatment/abuse it will go through on the roof of my car. I also attached the bike mount and drove "home" (a couple miles away) and back again without any trouble. If the weather is still (unusually) warm next Tuesday, I'll be taking my bike with me to Trencin; this will be the real test.

I'll get some pictures of it sometime, but I'm not going to promise when that sometime will be!

Teacher/Lecturer

Last week I was asked by Jozef A. if I was interested in speaking in some classes in a school. I told him that I was willing to consider it, his reply being that he wanted me to go with him to talk to the principle at a primary school in Trencin (the same school which his sons attend). I went and we talked, the outcome being that I will be going to the school every Tuesday and Friday morning for the English classes held on those days. I would be given some topics to choose from and then I would speak from which ever I chose. In a sense, I was supposed to somehow hold a conversation with the whole class. I knew it wouldn't be very easy, but I was willing to give it a try.

Yesterday I went for the first time. The first class I had was one of the 7th grade classes, and turned out to go quite smoothly. I tried my best to get the students to talk back to me (since talking from both sides is what conversation is about) but without my having to push them to do it. Most of their teachers are already quite "pushy" and do a good job of ruining the fun of learning, so I wanted to try my best to make the class time I had with them a little more enjoyable. After this first class I had an hour break and then I would go on to the next class, which would be sixth graders. This class was a little more fun to teach, maybe having to do with the fact that I was a little warmed up, but also to do with the difference in ages (you could almost read that "egos").

Friday will probably be the hardest set of classes, being the other 7th grade class, plus the 8th and 9th grades. I can see already that my "teaching" style will have to change a little from class to class, but it is nice that I'm allowed to keep the same topic for each of the classes. The whole idea of "teaching" a class is kind of new for me, but then again learning is always part of teaching, right?

I'll be sure to post updates on the outcome of Friday, and in general keep you informed of how this new "job" goes.

Project: Roof-rack 0.3

On Thursday (or Wednesday, I can't remember) I finished up the welding on all the pieces of my roof-rack. I also helped build (I prepared and ground, Daniel welded) some stands/poles to hold up a sheet for our Christmas "shadow play". On Saturday I got some of the bare metal pieces primed.

Just this morning I got the first coat of paint on everything, the roof-rack and the stands/poles. Everything is now a nice shade of gloss black. It's something new for me, but I'm having to paint everything (metal) with a brush instead of the spray can I'm used to using. Needless to say, the finished products will also have a slightly textured look to them thanks to the brush strokes.

Hopefully in a short while I'll have everything bolted together and put on the car. When I test-fitted the runners on the car everything worked out better than I expected; hopefully nothing has changed (although I don't really know how it could). The next pictures will be with the rack on the car. This is like getting an early Christmas present!