The Beast Goes in for Repairs...

The beast is our Dodge Laramie Ram 350 dually diesel. It went in for repairs this week to Caliber Collision in Elkhart and parts are present and accounted for at the shop. Woo-hoo! Three weeks is the estimate...So our insurance company has a rental agreement with Enterprise. We're glad of that, we've had good experiences with Enterprise in the past and this time was no exception. Somehow, the appointment time was mixed up and we had to sit and wait about an hour past our time for them to come and get us to take care of the rental paperwork. When the agent got there, she was SUPER nice, and said that since we had to wait past our appointment time, she upgraded us to a nicer car for no additional charge! Thank you, Danielle! Here is our ride for the next 3 weeks or so....A Nissan Rogue SV. It's almost new, with only 4,000 miles on it. It's really pretty on the inside and gets really great gas mileage. We're really going to enjoy not paying diesel prices (3.99 and up locally) for awhile.

fabric panels on the side doors

And, it's wonderful to be driving a vehicle that is so easy to park! And it gets over 30 mpg. in town and over 36 on the highway! It has blind spot monitoring! And it's super comfortable to ride in and fun to drive, too! (Hmmmm....Sparky REALLY likes this car, doesn't she?) Yup.

Sparky has been subbing a LOT lately. The kids have been amazingly awesome so far, and really, not any horrendous classes--YET. Guaranteed there will be a few of those. Sparky would like to share one story that she shared on FB, so it will be a keeper in the memory bank. Apologies for repeating the story if you saw it on FB. So-o-o-o-o....One teacher left a conglomerate set of complicated lesson plans that were almost 80% technology reliant, on a Windows computer. Problem #1. Sparky hasn't worked in Windows for over 15 years. Problem #2. Sparky is not familiar with all the cute little icons that represent specific school programs--the ones that tell you which one is attendance, which one is the document camera, how to access power point slides, and how to move back and forth all morning long with the different little tabs, opening and closing without permanently closing something needed, etc. etc. Problem #3--it takes TIME to figure out the bazillion tabs open across the top of the computer, but there were also TWO computers at the teacher desk. Which one was the right one that connected to the overhead projector or the white board? Hmmmmm...the kids were getting antsy, Sparky was opening one tab after another trying to find the morning work slides, trying to figure out how navigate between different programs on the Windows computer without accidentally closing a window she might need later, etc. Not only were the computer screens in back of her, but she had to turn her back on the class to fuss with them--never a good idea. As her frustrations were mounting, the kids could tell she was getting a little upset. All of a sudden, it got deathly quiet in the room. That's usually NOT a good sign. Sparky turned around, and every single kid, all 20 of them, second graders, had laid their heads down on their desks and were waiting patiently and silently for her to resume teaching. NOBODY told them to do that, they just did it. Sparky almost cried, she was so moved and grateful for their understanding. THAT was a magical moment. They got a special treat later in the day. Teddy Graham treats. Sparky ALWAYS carries some kind of treat in her "bag of tricks". Welch's Fruity Snacks are another kid fave. These days the snacks should be gluten free, free of red dye #3 if possible, and other cautions have to be researched before passing out. Any peanut allergies? Could somebody possibly choke on a Jolly Rancher? These are serious considerations! Stickers are not as popular as they used to be. Food is ALWAYS popular. There are ALWAYS hungry kids who haven't gotten enough to eat during the day....

Next up, an on site inspection and estimate for our Pinnacle RV. That happens next week. We'll keep you posted!