A teacher with a lesson 20-years in the making

For decades, high school teacher Bruce Farrer has been asking his students to write letters to their future selves. Twenty years later, he tracks down the students – wherever they are in the world – and mails their letters to them. The impact he has had on his students’ lives is profound and heartwarming. We hope his story is as inspiring to you as it is to us: http://www.aboveandbeyond.ca/bruce-teacher-letters-students/

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Bag of Randomness

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  • To our surprise, DaughterGeeding will be Mary for her school’s Christmas play.
  • Late yesterday afternoon I got an email from one of my managers telling us to check our email before going to bed or first thing in the morning because if Congress doesn’t pass the funding bill, we ain’t working the next day.
  • A HUGE thank you to loyal reader KC1 for giving me the heads up that Zulily had a very good special on American Girl dolls.  While it might not be the specific doll DaughterGeeding requested, and that I just became “that parent” that doesn’t get the exact thing the child requested, the deal was too good to pass up and heck, she’s four, she probably won’t notice.
  • I was watching the local news and laughed out loud when the Eric Williams trial story aired.  They stated his Boy Scout master testified as a character witness but admitted they haven’t had any contact in over 30 years.  Man, they must be desperate for some character witnesses if they have to go back that far.
  • The local news also covered the high-rise fire in downtown Dallas.  They stated that during fire drills, people only had to walk down three flight of stairs, but since it was the real thing, they had to walk all the way down.  I’m surprised they only walk down three flight of stairs, especially post 9/11.  I worked in two different high-rises pre and post 9/11, and despite being half way up, we always had to walk down to floor level.
  • The ‘CBS Evening News’ stated that a one-cent drop in the price of retail gas adds about a billion dollars in spending annually (it’s drop $1.08 since April), which leads me to believe in the next year and a half there’s going to be some very good economic news as the price of oil continues to drop.  This also means the Democratic White House and Republican Congress will both fight for credit.
  • Random Invention Idea That Might Already Exist – Modify luggage that has rollers so that it will generate electricity as the wheels roll to help  recharge a mobile device.
  • McDonald’s is shrinking its menu – I hardly eat at McDonald’s but I was surprised to see how big the menu was.  For me, I just keep it simple getting either a Big Mac, Quarter Pounder with Cheese, a Double Cheeseburger, or McNuggets.  But the name of the Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese always me, why not call it the Half Pounder with Cheese.
  • Here’s an intriguing article about the artist that painted two of George W. Bush’s portraits.  What makes it intriguing to me is that he is interviewed by a fellow painter, so the perspective and types of questions aren’t the run of the mill.  The artist is actually a former Yale classmate of his.  He talks about what it’s like to spend so much time with the man and how the former president is more aware of his image and quarks that you’d imagine.   Dubya also wanted to make sure his portrait wouldn’t be larger than any of the others as to not attract attention.  Here’s one sentence that just kinda stood out:  Outside, a Secret Service guy was whacking golf balls for Barney to chase, and we were laughing at that.
  • I love how the new Star Wars trading cards have an old school feel to them.  I remember my brother had the complete set, and if you turned certain ones over, you could combine them to make a collage or big poster.
  • This article claims HP is moving away from Microsoft Windows and creating their own operating system which they’ll show off in June.
  • I’ve been craving tamales lately, but I haven’t eaten one in over a year.
  • Surprising to me, but Twitter does make more money – Instagram is now bigger than Twitter
  • Patrick Duffy doesn’t tweet often, but I found it touching that his profile picture is of him straightening Larry Hagman’s tie.  I remember Duffy saying he’s lost Hagman’s company, but not his presence, which I think is a nice way to look at things.  Oh, and here’s a random Patrick Duffy fact, he was born on St Patrick’s Day.
  • After 12/13/14, What Are the Next Fun Dates for Math Lovers?
  • Unfurling one of those gigantic American flags that covers an entire football field is more complex than you’d think.  It turns out most of those things are rented, cost around $5,000 to $10,000, and comes in 14 numbered boxes for you to assemble it.
  • Buzzfeed – We Stalked U2’s Most Dedicated Fan
  • Buzzfeed – An Eerie And Surreal Look Inside China’s Counterfeit Disneyland
  • Buzzfeed – The New York Times has rounded up 18 of the best actors from 2014 and shot them kissing for a series of nine new short films, called “9 Kisses”
  • New show from A&E – Man has 8 minutes to convince prostitutes to quit in new reality show
  • When I saw clips of Will and Kate at the NBA game, all I could think about was the movie The Naked Gun where Queen Elizabeth is watching a game between the Mariners and Angels at the ballpark. In particular, the scene of Liz passing a hotdog down her row while sitting in fancy chairs, which is at the end of this clip, but the whole clip is worth watching anyways.

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Tortoise Fitted With A LEGO Wheelchair

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Thanks to the ingenuity of a veterinarian and some spare LEGO bricks, this tiny tortoise is now able to roll around on his own little wheelchair . . . With two sets of wheels supporting his body, Blade is now able to scoot around while his legs heal, after which he’ll be able to walk again.

Full Article @ MyModernMet.com

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