Staedtler Integrity 9505 Mechanical Pencil 0.5mm Lead

I’m a pretty easy-going fellow, I don’t obsess about things and I’m quite modest… Just ask my wife. All things considered, I do have some standards when it comes to writing instruments however. For example, if you are looking for a cheap, unpretentious pen, you can do no wrong with a ubiquitous Mont Blanc Meisterstück.

Whenever I look for fine writing instruments, I prefer to buy pens and pencils made in either Germany or Japan. The attention to detail and excellent manufacturing mechanisms in place in those two countries mean that you get a superior product every time. When you buy a pencil from a German company, manufactured in Japan, it’s pretty much guaranteed that writing bliss is only moments away: the Staedtler Integrity 9505 mechanical pencil is a case in point.

Now Dave on his blog, Dave’s Mechanical Pencils, did not give the Staedtler high marks, much in part because he had a breakage factor. He did however write up a very thorough review, so I’m not going to elaborate on this pencil by doing my own. But, I will mention that during my own testing I had very few breakage issues, less so than with other pencils, so I guess it all depends upon how you prefer to write. My touch is light as a feather. Until next time my friends…

Save America’s Public Broadcasting!

Sorry, that’s just how I feel folks. I’d rather invest in public broadcasting, libraries, museums, and education than giving money to bail out banks and corporations that then give huge bonuses to the people who landed us in this mess. Hmm, would you rather give a $1 million dollars to a Goldman Sachs executive or to a program on PBS that entertains your children? Which choice gives the most “bang-for-the-bucks?” Feel free to disagree, but that’s my 2 cents.

We are now on Twitter! Follow us or doom on you!

Punch me in the face, Tweeter!!!

Kang World is now on Twitter so you better follow us! Not only do we have excellent bloggers, but we keep it fresh, like a lake-caught trout. BTW, the graphic above was ~~stolen~~ borrowed from Elementary Writing’s blog, a fine writing resource. Word, bitches!

Last refuge of a bibliophile

So, Sharkette sent me out to pick up some soap at Sam’s Club today. Personal hygiene is exceedingly important, especially if you are in charge of multiple babies prone to spit, vomit, and poop. Driving past the Decatur Public Library, out of the corner of my little eye, I spied:

Decatur Public Library

A book sale, oh my!!!

To the true bibliophile, they might as well have given gasoline to an arsonist or handed out Bud Light at an AA meeting: a used book sale sign gets them every time. I immediately commenced a U-turn maneuver, doubled-parked, and blocked in the Book Mobile. Actually, I didn’t do any of those things, I just said that for dramatic effect. But I did decide to investigate the book sale while grabbing my handy Friends of the Decatur Public Library canvas tote bag!

The badge of honor

You see when you carry around a canvas tote bag, whose sale supports your local library, you automatically say to the world, “I can read, and I promote literacy.”

Books, books, and more books!

As I walked through the doors I got a welcome surprise: today was fill-up-a-grocery-paper-bag-with-books-for-$5-dollars-each day! Not only that, it was Non-Fiction Day! Say it ain’t so, librarian? Some of you might know that I’m a huge fan of non-fiction, so this was pretty much close to bibliophile nirvana for me.

Non-Fiction FTW!

I felt like a bandit hauling away three bags worth of books for only $15 dollars, but this was truly a win-win situation for everybody involved. The Friends of the Decatur Library got some more cash to support their operations, and I got thousands of pages worth of reading. What was even more encouraging was the amount of people, including plenty of children, that were hauling away books. It’s heart-warming to know that in this age of cellphones, the internet, and television, people still enjoy turning the pages of a good book!

my non-fiction haul!!!

We are paranoid for you!

With a budget crisis looming in the United States, and the possibility that thousands of government workers will be furloughed, few people realize how much of an impact this will have on the people that are supposed to be paranoid for you. Yes my friends, I am talking about the people that work in the emergency management, disaster response, and public safety arena. The selfless bureaucrats that spend countless of sleepless nights planning for every eventuality, ranging from air crashes to terrorists striking the food supply of the United States. Terrorists in the Midwest, you say? Why yes, terrorists are everywhere, and they can strike at our very heart and soul… including our stomachs, at any time! Luckily for you, trained professionals are busy planning for this.

Consider this: In 2002, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a report urging governments to draw up farm-to-fork contingency plans to protect against terrorism using the food chain as a potentially devastating weapon. In 1991, 300,000 people in China contracted Hepatitis A from eating infected clams, just imagine how many people can be affected should a group of terrorists utilize chemical, biological or nuclear agents on our food supply.

These days Farmer Joe needs to not only worry about whether he has enough fertilizer for the season but also the possibility of some evil-doer slipping chemical agents into his milk vat. But have no fear, my fellow patriots, Uncle Sam has his finest people working on this. Or rather he had… Let’s stop this squabbling over the budget and get the paranoid people back to work! Your hamburger safety depends on it!

She’s a little bit psycho(somatic).

With apologies for being a bit late to the party. Work has been absolutely crazy, etc., etc. In addition to my teaching duties, I’m involved in three different projects (because I’m completely incapable of saying no to anything) as well as national exams in English. Needless to say, my most significant generator of bitching (on my part), moaning and stress is work. It’s been foremost on my mind lately so I hope you gentle readers don’t mind if I mention it frequently in my posts. Also, just FYI, I’ve stopped using The Oxford Comma as demonstrated in the previous sentence: “bitching, moaning and stress.” Note the absence of a comma after the word ‘moaning.’

That’s enough grammar for now, but please feel free to respond with your opinions regarding the Oxford comma. It can also be called the Harvard comma depending which side of the Atlantic you happen to be on.

Right now we’re in the process of giving all the English A and B students exams in speaking. The students are paired up and instructed to have a discussion on a given topic. Their discussions are listened to by myself and one other English teacher. So far they’ve been going fairly well, but naturally there have been a few problems. Some students show up late for their appointments, or don’t show up at all, and then they have to be rescheduled. It’s a hassle but it’s pretty much unavoidable. It’s common and expected for students to try and get out of taking the exam by employing various tactics.

However, there is one student who really worries me because she seems to be sick all the time. It seems that every other day she informs me that she can’t come to class because she’s sick. She might be faking it, but if that’s the case there’s not a whole lot I can do about it. So far I’ve had to postpone this student’s exam time twice because she was (you guessed it) sick. This morning she showed up for her rescheduled exam appointment fresh-faced, smiling and ready to go (no Oxford comma…ha). Then she found out who the other teacher sitting the exam was. Evidently not someone she likes very much.

After listening to (and refusing) her demands to have a different teacher or at least postpone her test again, I went to go take care of something for five minutes. When I got back, the student was crying and clutching her abdomen and she was surrounded by friends attempting to comfort her. Apparently, in the previous five minutes, she had developed an upper urinary tract infection and was in too much pain to take the test. She had to leave school and go to the hospital. Here we go again, I thought.

But the thing is, I’m not entirely sure she really is faking it. She was absolutely fine only minutes earlier, but it’s possible that she really did spontaneously develop the symptoms of UTI in response to the stress of having to take the exam. Psychosomatically, that is. I’m certain she started feeling better as soon she left the school building.

I have some personal experience with this phenomenon. Years ago I had a job as a sort of telephone sales representative. It was easily the worst job I’ve ever had in my entire life. The people with whom I was forced to work were so loathsome, the work itself so abhorrent, that the very thought of having to go to work caused me to develop a sore throat and migraine headache. I’d call the office in the morning, genuinely feeling like complete shit, and inform them that I was too sick come in. Shortly after hanging up the phone I’d start feeling better, and by lunch time I’d made a miraculous recovery.

Anyway, I’d be interested in hearing about what kinds of psychosomatic experiences any readers have had or currently have.

(By the way, I ended up getting fired from that job so everything worked out.)