Sloth: The Man with the Hammer

[Sloth the Enduring]

3/20/17 Monday

 

Not much to report so I'll tell you about my new sleep habits.  I seem to have finally solved my insomnia.  It's a multi-pronged approach. 1. Work of enough energy in the day that I'm not restless. 2. Take GABA and ZMA after dinner. 3. Avoid screens, or use groovy orange goggles or at least have screens set to darkest, deepest nightshift. 4. Wear an eyemask (this allows to fall back asleep). 5. If sleeping next to snory McSnorington, wear earplugs. Now that I can sleep past 4:00, I'm moving my workouts to the afternoon to maximize sleep, I have 30 years of deprivation to catch up on.  

 

Training: DDP Yoga Fat Burner - with the Missus tonight after I get the slothlings to bed.

Eating: On point. 

Spending: I ordered an electric pencil sharpener, a gross of pencils, and new dance shoes for Slothboy's recital.  I cancelled the massage subscription, but I have a bunch saved up. I may reup when we run out; they're useful for Mrs. Sloth's hips. Accts balanced. 

[Elastigirl]

2 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

 

Pastry is full of dairy is a lesson I learn, forget, and relearn over and over again. When cake was handed out the teacher standing next to me said, "I need more frosting" and took my cake and gave me hers.  I can't imagine she was teasing me 'cause I've never talked to her before.  Weird moment.  If I wasn't supposed to be avoiding sugar anyway I would have been all "Hell no!" up in her grill. And yes, I've been scrupulously reading labels to make sure here isn't milk in my wheat.  I don't want to ruin the experiment. 

 

 

Shortly after I read this I went down to the office and ther was a hard of hearing woman who was having a very difficult time getting people to answer her questions. ASL would have been very handy right then. 

 

 

I downloaded a Spanish app.  I spend a lot of time waiting for the Slothlings staring at my phone. Let's see if I can make that useful time. 

You always have the funniest stories. That's crazy, you didn't even know her and she just swapped her cake for yours. Maybe you look like her husband? That's just very odd

[Sloth the Enduring]

25 minutes ago, Elastigirl said:

You always have the funniest stories. That's crazy, you didn't even know her and she just swapped her cake for yours. Maybe you look like her husband? That's just very odd

 

Just today I was thinking that I must be an ancillary character in a sit-com.  It's kind of surprising, but this woman is single. I'm pretty sure this was my face:

[Mrs Van]

7 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Shortly after I read this I went down to the office and there was a hard of hearing woman who was having a very difficult time getting people to answer her questions. ASL would have been very handy right then.

Yes, that would have helped a lot. Maybe next time if you climb in and start learning ASL again, but Spanish is just as good

Isn't there perhaps a school for children with hearing difficulties close to you? Thinking future change of options.

 

Personally we have to learn Zulu as a third language one of these years. Luckily there are one or two book with dvd options available here, but when I was in school in a different part of the country, I learned Northern Sotho. Some words and phrases differ a lot from Zulu, others are very similar or have similar sounding words, but totally different meaning! It caused a lot of confusion (in my brain thing), but then I haven't made it a priority to learn Zulu just yet. Thought I'd master it while I help the boys.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

Glad you hear the sleep stuff is finally working out.

Vas a aprendir espanol, yo creo.

[maegs]

Yay sleep!

[Xena]

On 3/20/2017 at 9:15 PM, Sloth the Enduring said:

 

Just today I was thinking that I must be an ancillary character in a sit-com.  It's kind of surprising, but this woman is single. I'm pretty sure this was my face:

Now I'm wondering if she didn't know there was a Mrs. Sloth and extra frosting was some kind of flirting technique.

 

Great that you are sleeping better! I have a couple friends with sleep apnea. Once they got treated their lives dramatically improved (not saying you have sleep apnea, just that better sleep can be a complete game changer).

 

I also think slothboy is going to have quite an interesting dance recital with a pile of pencils, a new sharpener and some spiffy shoes.

 

[Sloth the Enduring]

19 hours ago, elizevdmerwe said:

Yes, that would have helped a lot. Maybe next time if you climb in and start learning ASL again, but Spanish is just as good

Isn't there perhaps a school for children with hearing difficulties close to you? Thinking future change of options.

 

Personally we have to learn Zulu as a third language one of these years. Luckily there are one or two book with dvd options available here, but when I was in school in a different part of the country, I learned Northern Sotho. Some words and phrases differ a lot from Zulu, others are very similar or have similar sounding words, but totally different meaning! It caused a lot of confusion (in my brain thing), but then I haven't made it a priority to learn Zulu just yet. Thought I'd master it while I help the boys.

 

Zulu? That's way cooler than Spanish or yet another version of English. 

 

Had I become proficient way back when there would have been lots of opportunities.  It's worth thinking about even now. I was using YouTube as a radio today and this came on my playlist:

 

12 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Glad you hear the sleep stuff is finally working out.

Vas a aprendir espanol, yo creo.

 

Gracias mi amigo. I practiced my school Spanish today.  I occasionally do it for kicks anyway, "Escribe por favor."  That kind of thing, I have no idea if I'm ever close, but the kids seem to know what I mean and get a kick out of it. 

 

43 minutes ago, maegs said:

Yay sleep!

 

Oh for cute. 

 

32 minutes ago, Xena said:

Now I'm wondering if she didn't know there was a Mrs. Sloth and extra frosting was some kind of flirting technique.

 

Great that you are sleeping better! I have a couple friends with sleep apnea. Once they got treated their lives dramatically improved (not saying you have sleep apnea, just that better sleep can be a complete game changer).

 

I also think slothboy is going to have quite an interesting dance recital with a pile of pencils, a new sharpener and some spiffy shoes.

 

 

Worst flirting ever. 

Worse than this. 

 

Modern dance.  I don't get it, but what are you gonna do?

[Mrs Van]

3 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Gracias mi amigo. I practiced my school Spanish today.  I occasionally do it for kicks anyway, "Escribe por favor."  That kind of thing, I have no idea if I'm ever close, but the kids seem to know what I mean and get a kick out of it. 

We try to greet people at the grocery store, etc. some of the car guards in Zulu, and they love it. I also try to show my appreciation when they greet us back in Afrikaans.

 

That song was beautiful and the signs to interpret it very interesting, but it made me realise that if you aren't proficient in it, there might be some serious interpretation issues. Can be complex and confusing? Eish, now I take my hot off even more to @Fonzico for learning ASL.

[turboseize]

Continuing our series of diet-related music videos, and to appeal to @Sloth the Enduring's inner German, and to resurrect both his and @The Most Loathed's  commandment of the German language, lost since high school, here is a music video on how to have a proper barbecue the german way. While the butcher makes Bratwurst from fresh ground pork and secret spices, the grilling party is already heating the grill (gas and electric grills are forbidden, charcoal only!), you need shots of liquor to help with digestion and a black beer to flush it down. But most important, in Thuringia, you do not use pliers to turn the sausages, but your bare hands. Thuringia is a state in formerly communist eastern Germany, which is also why everbody is (half-)naked.  
 

 

Trivia: 

Rummelsnuff, the Shrek-like artist, is a trained orchestra musician (bassoon), bodybuilding coach and was for a long time bouncer of the legendary Berghain*. He now works as a bouncer in a gay sex club. 



*Berghain seems to have a knack for artistically gifted bouncers. Head bouncer is photographer Sven Marquardt.

[Fonzico]

We try to greet people at the grocery store, etc. some of the car guards in Zulu, and they love it. I also try to show my appreciation when they greet us back in Afrikaans.

 

That song was beautiful and the signs to interpret it very interesting, but it made me realise that if you aren't proficient in it, there might be some serious interpretation issues. Can be complex and confusing? Eish, now I take my hot off even more to @Fonzico for learning ASL.

I still can't understand fluent signers! Our instructor goes very slow and I pick up on most of what she says, abs and our class has these horridly awkward conversations with each other... But yes, it's very difficult!

Cool though. I will get better with practice if someone was willing to be very patient, I could probably have a reasonably coherent conversation on some topics... In which I sound (look?) like a three year old.

[Mrs Van]

3 hours ago, Fonzico said:

I still can't understand fluent signers! Our instructor goes very slow and I pick up on most of what she says, abs and our class has these horridly awkward conversations with each other... But yes, it's very difficult!

Cool though. I will get better with practice if someone was willing to be very patient, I could probably have a reasonably coherent conversation on some topics... In which I sound (look?) like a three year old.

I'm still impressed as you said, as you use it, you'll get better .

[Sloth the Enduring]

 

3/21/17 Monday

 

 

A problem with sleeping in and working out in the afternoon is that I get interrupted. A lot. I also don't get any solitude during any part of the day and that makes me act odd and get grumpy. I'll likely have to go back to morning workouts.

 

 

I feel like I'm starting to get my teaching mojo back. It's been a long time, a year and half at least. I'll have to nurture it.

 

 

Training: 45 minutes on the trainer, couldn't do anything else.

 

Eating: on point, Mrs. sloth made me eat gluten-free noodles made from lentils.

 

Spending: no new spending, Accts balanced.

 

ETA: I forgot, I spent petty cash on fundraiser popcorn from a couple of different 8th graders for their end of year trip. I'm a soft touch.

[EricMN]

57 minutes ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

I feel like I'm starting to get my teaching mojo back. It's been a long time, a year and half at least. I'll have to nurture it.

Best line of update I've read in a while.

[peelout]

1 hour ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

I feel like I'm starting to get my teaching mojo back. It's been a long time, a year and half at least. I'll have to nurture it.

 

Must be my memes.

[Sloth the Enduring]

16 hours ago, elizevdmerwe said:

We try to greet people at the grocery store, etc. some of the car guards in Zulu, and they love it. I also try to show my appreciation when they greet us back in Afrikaans.

 

That song was beautiful and the signs to interpret it very interesting, but it made me realise that if you aren't proficient in it, there might be some serious interpretation issues. Can be complex and confusing? Eish, now I take my hot off even more to @Fonzico for learning ASL.

 

Huh.  I was under the impression that everyone spoke Afrikaans.  I didn't know SA was so diverse linguistically. 

 

12 hours ago, turboseize said:

Continuing our series of diet-related music videos, and to appeal to @Sloth the Enduring's inner German, and to resurrect both his and @The Most Loathed's  commandment of the German language, lost since high school, here is a music video on how to have a proper barbecue the german way. While the butcher makes Bratwurst from fresh ground pork and secret spices, the grilling party is already heating the grill (gas and electric grills are forbidden, charcoal only!), you need shots of liquor to help with digestion and a black beer to flush it down. But most important, in Thuringia, you do not use pliers to turn the sausages, but your bare hands. Thuringia is a state in formerly communist eastern Germany, which is also why everbody is (half-)naked.  
 

 

Trivia: 

Rummelsnuff, the Shrek-like artist, is a trained orchestra musician (bassoon), bodybuilding coach and was for a long time bouncer of the legendary Berghain*. He now works as a bouncer in a gay sex club. 



*Berghain seems to have a knack for artistically gifted bouncers. Head bouncer is photographer Sven Marquardt.

 

I haven't had a chance to watch this yet, but I'm most excited. A proper German barbecue sounds like a skill well worth knowing. 

 

Why are they naked in East Germany?

 

11 hours ago, Fonzico said:

I still can't understand fluent signers! Our instructor goes very slow and I pick up on most of what she says, abs and our class has these horridly awkward conversations with each other... But yes, it's very difficult!

Cool though. I will get better with practice if someone was willing to be very patient, I could probably have a reasonably coherent conversation on some topics... In which I sound (look?) like a three year old.

 

A three year old's level was probably were I peaked.  Working with special needs students I didn't need a huge vocabulary, they tended to obsess a few topics. 

 

3 hours ago, EricMN said:

Best line of update I've read in a while.

 

Thanks.  It's fragile though. I need to keep focusing on the good and ignore ring that which I can't control. 

 

3 hours ago, peelout said:

Must be my memes.

 

[turboseize]

2 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

 

Why are they naked in East Germany?

 

Because.... errr... reasons. Nobody in the West really knows. All we know is that the Easterner will take any opportunity do undress. Perhaps that is a commie thing. Did they not have enough clothes for everybody? 
Jokes aside, for whatever reasons eastern Germans seem to be a bit more comfortable with nudity then westerners, and FKK was and still is much more popular in the east than the west. 
When I spent six months in Dresden during my stay at military academy, I used to hang out with a bunch of car guys (and girls). Guess what happened friday afternoon? Everybody met at the garage yard, the grill burned, and the clothes started to come off... Yes, the girls would run around in bikinis. Sometimes topless. While working on their cars. (But then, why not? The guys would also not wear shirts... and eastern german women are modern, emancipated and liberal, so why shouldn't they do the same?).
 While the guys in the video are a bit cheesy, the girl is more or less authentic. More or less... 
(Also, every female in eastern Germany colours her hair in strange colours, either whole or just streaks. And all females born in the GDR my mage or younger share three names: either Mandy, Sandy or Nancy. Yeah, cheap stereotypes... but when they just happen to be true? )

[Sloth the Enduring]

3/22/17 Wednesday

 

Not much to report.  I went to McDonalds on the way to circus because of dietary boredom. It was anything but fast.  I enjoyed my salty burger though. The school district is really uptight about liability these days. I have some school-purchased power tools in my room that I'm no longer allowed to use with students. I also can't go to Home Depot to pick up a lumber donation because if a 2X4 fell on my head they don't want it to be a work-related injury. 

 

Training: 5X10/10 KB swings at 16kg, 3 rounds shovelglove, meant to do a little Yoga as a cool down, but the kids kept interrupting. 

Eating: Sort of; I didn't eat any IBS triggers, but I can't call eating McDonalds on point even if I swapped fries for a salad. 

Spending: Accts balanced, I bought dog food, a few pounds of nails for a school project, and McDonalds. 

[Mrs Van]

6 hours ago, Sloth the Enduring said:

Huh.  I was under the impression that everyone spoke Afrikaans.  I didn't know SA was so diverse linguistically.

No, Afrikaans is only a small part of the languages, but someone will speak and understand it everywhere. The Cape Provinces are more specifically Afrikaans, especially the Maleiers, and then up in the northern part of the country. English is also everywhere, but especially here in KwaZulu-Natal province where we live. Then there are about 9 African languages. We have 11 official languages with English and 1x African language compulsory, and in some areas, Afrikaans too. It is why we are called a rainbow nation. Basically 11 different races make up the population of South Africa.

[Tanktimus the Encourager]

6 hours ago, elizevdmerwe said:

No, Afrikaans is only a small part of the languages, but someone will speak and understand it everywhere. The Cape Provinces are more specifically Afrikaans, especially the Maleiers, and then up in the northern part of the country. English is also everywhere, but especially here in KwaZulu-Natal province where we live. Then there are about 9 African languages. We have 11 official languages with English and 1x African language compulsory, and in some areas, Afrikaans too. It is why we are called a rainbow nation. Basically 11 different races make up the population of South Africa.

Being in South Texas, we get a lot of calls for Roman Catholic priests at the hospital. We actually have two working for us, one from Kenya (who has taught me more about black tea than I ever thought there was to know) and one from Nigeria (who is not a prince needing help transferring money). We also get asked for priests who speak Spanish (the can call their own priests, but many haven't been to church in years). I often have to tell them, our priests are from Africa, and while they speak many languages, Spanish isn't one of them.

[Mrs Van]

16 hours ago, Tanktimus the Encourager said:

Being in South Texas, we get a lot of calls for Roman Catholic priests at the hospital. We actually have two working for us, one from Kenya (who has taught me more about black tea than I ever thought there was to know) and one from Nigeria (who is not a prince needing help transferring money). We also get asked for priests who speak Spanish (the can call their own priests, but many haven't been to church in years). I often have to tell them, our priests are from Africa, and while they speak many languages, Spanish isn't one of them.

That would be an interesting conversation to try and follow. Down here it would go something like this (in the languages I know a little bit of):
 

Spoiler

 

"Dumela" (N.Sotho for good morning to one person) There is a different word to use for more than one person.

"Sawubona" (Zulu for good morning to one person) ^^same

"Good morning"

"Buenos dias"

 

"Wena o kae?" (How are you doing? to one person)

"How are you doing?"

"Si, si... no entiendo...? "

 

"Ke a le boga. Sala gabotse." (thank you and stay well) Different word to use if the person walks away from you, to if the person are staying and you go away.

"Hamba kaghle" (stay well in Zulu) ^^same

"Good bye"

"Oraron por mi?" (Google translate for Spanish. I only know some words from Dora and that little builder guy ).

 

 

I heard that the tea and coffee making rituals are big up in Africa. Personally we love Kenyan coffee beans. Wow! You got a legitimate/good/innocent Nigerian?! Shame there are a lot of good Nigerians, but the people seem to be known either for money scams or drug/people trafficking, especially here. You should try for an Angolan priest, they might know more Spanish I think your two priests would probably understand some of our languages down here though. And then there is of course "Fanigalo". A native language which is sort of made up of bits and pieces of all the languages, but are also different. Most people pick that up when they grow up on a farm.

[DJtrippyT]

 

The A-team understands the importance of knowing a second language

 

On 3/21/2017 at 9:28 PM, Xena said:

Now I'm wondering if she didn't know there was a Mrs. Sloth and extra frosting was some kind of flirting technique.

 

I agree with this assessment. Xena's on to something.

 

 

[Mrs Van]

2 hours ago, DJtrippyT said:

The A-team understands the importance of knowing a second language

Yes of course! I forgot about that one.

[Bearlee]

Glad to hear you're getting your mojo back. I know last year was a hard class. Hope you are able to get your workout schedule figured out. You got some races coming up soon don't you? Did the training run ever happen?

[shaar]

On 3/22/2017 at 3:17 PM, Sloth the Enduring said:

Eating: on point, Mrs. sloth made me eat gluten-free noodles made from lentils.

 

Thoughts?  Opinions?  Non-pasta-eating minds need to know!