Another Bright Light Goes Out

All purtified up for my interview today: necktie, good shoes, and pants that go almost past my ankles. I'll be set as soon as I find my pocket protector. [Edit: The interview went well, but there should be a law against interviewing at a workcenter where everyone knows you. It was just not comfortable for anyone in the room.]

Finally had a good class last night. Most students have their books and they were getting incredibly annoyed at Microsoft Word instead of me, which is always good because that means they're working on class assignments.

Funny story that needs a little setup. My Monday and Tuesday classes are at Northern Nevada Correctional Center, which loyal readers (both of you) know was the site of a recent prison escape. The inmate convinced a couple of dental technicians to smuggle a cell phone into the prison so he could arrange to be picked up. After the escape, the technicians were fired and arrested for aiding and abetting. Since then, there've been signs posted all over the prison completely forbidding the use and entry of cell phones and other electronic devices into the prison grounds.

Last night, the students are working away on their computers and I'm mulling away on the instructor's PC at the front of the class when I hear an electronic chime that sounds exactly like a cell phone. It did not sound like my phone, but it was enough to make me jump and get my heart pumping pretty darn good. After I peeled myself off the ceiling, it turned out a student found a sound file on one of the computers. After the initial shock, it was pretty funny.

Nipsey Russell passed on. He was an icon for daytime television, especially if you were raised by game shows like me. What people probably didn't know about him was he was field-commissioned to the rank of Army captain in World War II and returned to the States to finish his degree in English.

I mentioned him to a younger co-worker, who said he never heard of him. This is our IM conversation:

- Young Guy: I've got an excuse for the not knowing who that game show person was... the excuse is... I'm out of touch with everything... If I don't hear about it on my drive to and from work... wow... it's bad... I mean what happened to Hurricane Rita? Did it peter out?
- Bob: Rita is heading this way
- Young Guy: did Roberts get the position in the Suprememcourt?
- Bob: he quit law and is now a carnie for Ringling Brothers
- Young Guy: OH NOES!!! whatwillwedo!?!?!?!
- Bob: we've suffered with that other clown in washington dc this long...we can last a little longer
- Young Guy: Rinquest?
Bob: bush
- Young Guy: It's not like we're living on the streets because of him... and I feel safer.
- Young Guy: :D
- Bob: we're not on the streets YET

Hey, Aunt Lily: Carson City is Number One!

Edit: I originally had a publicity photo at the top from The Wiz, but Michael Jackson and Diana Ross are scary to look at, especially before all their plastic surgery.