Sunday, April 2, 2006

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Things are starting to warm up in Loblolly.

Today, Yuoo discovered that his air-conditioning system is working again! Back when Yuoo's house had the water leak, the cooling and dehumidifying process made his air-conditioner stop working.

That was fine for the meantime since the weather was chilly then, but since then the weather has become warmer, and the house began to heat up. Yuoo knew that the air-conditioner could not be fixed for a while, so to compensate, Yuoo resolved to use the fans and start drinking more ice-water. (Fennec foxes are supposed to be desert foxes, but there is a difference between survival and comfort.)

However, Yuoo decided to try activating the air-conditioner, and low and behold, it worked!

Saturday, April 8, 2006 – Yesterday, there was a Teacher-Appreciation Breakfast at Mortar Abbey. A few weeks ago, Abbot Rains instructed all of the students to invite their favorite Loblolly teachers and staff members to a breakfast, as a way of saying, "Thank you." (and possibly as a way of getting extra credit) ;-) Though he hesitated at first, Yuoo finally invited two people. The first person was Dr. Avogadro, a mole who teaches Yuoo's advanced spellweaving class. The second person was Mr. Wallaby, who cleans the floors and the bathrooms in the building where Yuoo's office is.

Most mornings, Yuoo arrives at his office pretty early in the morning to prepare and study, but Mr. Wallaby is always there, hard at work. Before long, Yuoo and Mr. Wallaby became friends. It is not always easy for students and teachers to become friends with the maintenance workers. Though it's easy to exchange a smile and a pleasant greeting, there's an underlying nervousness, almost like an invisible barrier that keeps people apart. Yuoo wishes that the barrier were not there.

Yesterday morning, Yuoo got up very very early to do grading for the class he helps teach. (Actually, he never got around to the grading, but that's a different story.) Anyway, on his way to school, he stopped by a grocery store and bought some snacks and drinks for his students later that day. He went to Mortar Abbey where various creatures were busy in the kitchens cooking breakfast. The tables were all decorated nicely, and everyone was getting ready. Yuoo went outside and directed newcomers into the hall. Dr. Avogadro and Mr. Wallaby arrived, and before long, they were introduced to Abbot Rains and were soon eating breakfast. That morning, Yuoo ate various kinds of fruit, some pastries, and some flaxcake covered with meadowcreame.

Most of the teachers talked about business and papers and other professor-things. There were even probably a few business arrangements made. Mr. Wallaby talked with Abbot Rains, marveling at how different the good abbot looked from a few seasons ago. Abbot Rains has lost a lot of weight, and he trimmed his fur short. (It used to be very long.)

Yuoo said goodbye to Dr. Avogadro, and then he and Mr. Wallaby walked back to their building. Mr. Wallaby thanked Yuoo for inviting him. He said, "Most creatures wouldn't consider inviting a maintenance worker like me. Most people don't give us very much respect." Then, Yuoo talked with him about workers wages and rights, about treating all creatures fairly.

"I want to help the world," said Yuoo, "But I don't like arguing and bickering."

Mr. Wallaby replied, "Well, you know what is right and what is wrong. When the time comes, you have to stand up for what is right." Yuoo has been thinking about this lately.

After that, Yuoo returned to his office where students came to get help with their beginner spellweaving class projects. Yuoo knew that it would be busy that day, so that's why he bought the drinks and snacks for everyone. Surely enough, the students started piling in, bringing in their bits of ethereal thread with them. Some of them had weavings that were almost complete, with only a few threads out of place. Others brought with them weavings that were loose and tattered, filled with knots. (spaghetti code, as Dr. Corgi calls it) One by one, they ran their projects through the loom, and Yuoo helped them with the mistakes. Soon, a lot of students were showing up, and to make matters worse, some of the other teaching-assistants didn't show up, so it was Yuoo by himself! Before long, there were too many students and not enough looms, and Yuoo encountered some knots that he couldn't figure out how to untangle! It was a mess! Even so, the students were thankful for the help, and when it was over, Yuoo went home to some well-deserved sleep.

This morning, Yuoo went to a school picnic at Brown Todd Park. It was enjoyable, and he ate lots of junk-food there. Next to the picnic pavilion, there was a fairly large festival going on, called the Rainbow Pride festival. The creatures there were celebrating the use of rainbow-colored fur dye. Some of Yuoo's schoolmates at the picnic were making fun of the Rainbow Pride festival, and it made Yuoo feel uncomfortable. The reason is, this puts Yuoo in an ethical tight-spot.

You see, Yuoo was taught from an early age that rainbow-fur is bad. His abbey-school teachers would tell him, "Aslan wants you to have black-and-white fur. Having rainbow fur will make Aslan sad." Over time, Yuoo began to question this. He became friends with some people with rainbow fur, and these people were very nice. Yuoo also encountered some people with black-and-white fur who were some very very smelly skunks. Even so, Yuoo does not want to forsake the Good Teachings, but he does want to find a better way to carry them out (better than the black-and-white skunks, at least). Thus far, he has decided to avoid rainbow-colored fur himself but to treat those with rainbow-colored fur just as anyone else. He will not forsake the Good Teachings, but he will not use them to hurt others.

Anyway, regarding the picnic, Yuoo felt bad because his classmates making fun of the Rainbow Pride festival are also the sort of creatures who don't believe in the Good Teachings. If you asked them their opinion of rainbow-colored fur in a serious setting, they would probably give the nice-and-proper answer, saying that it's all okay. But if that is so, then why were they making fun of the Rainbow Pride festival? On the other hand, Yuoo doesn't believe in making fun of others, yet because he believes in the Good Teachings, he is not able to give the nice-and-proper answer as others can. (Yuoo is very afraid that others will call him a bad fox, and he sometimes goes to great lengths to convince himself that he is a good fox.)

Well, the picnic went well, and Yuoo was even ready to try out the BMX bike course they have there, but it began to rain, so he went home.

Sunday, April 9, 2006 – Last night, Yuoo was up late grading his students' tapestry work in the beginner's spellweaving class. He was very tired, and as he was finishing the last few assignments, he noticed that something was wrong with his vision. His eyesight became blurry, and he had difficulty reading the threads. It seemed like there was a colorful fog in front of his eyes. He finished up his work as quickly as he could, and he went to bed. This morning, he went to Mortar Abbey, but he decided not to operate the Script Illuminator as he usually does. Today, he will try not to strain his eyes.

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Always remember to save your file because you never know when the program will crash!

This week, Yuoo finished his final exams for the semester. Though his schedule hasn't been particularly busy (at least compared to some other students' schedules), he's been having trouble in his classes, and he's been very busy. He had to drop out of one of his classes, and now he's waiting somewhat nervously for his end-of-semester grades. Though Yuoo has been relaxing for the past few days, he will soon get down to business and look for a part time job to help with expenses.

This morning, I was working on a nice, colorful picture of Yuoo, entitled "Looking Ahead," but I forgot to save the file, and my painter program crashed! Let this be a lesson to you all. :-)

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