I wish everyone a relaxing long weekend. Goodness know that we need it. As I sat down to write this post, I knew that I’d written many times in the past and I seem to have come away with some extra learning in the process.
From previous posts…
2021 – Thanks to Vicky Loras, I know that it’s Holy Spirit Day in Switzerland
2010 – You could create your own parade – sadly the site is gone
2010 – Digital Photography Contest is open for viewing
After doing a quick look back, I guess I didn’t mention Victoria Day every year. Still, it was kind of neat to see what I was writing about on those days.
For 2022, it’s another dark and dreary looking morning. It got this way yesterday but we certainly did not get the severe weather that the rest of the province did.
This year, it’s Amherstburg Open Air Weekend. After a bit of complaining, the town has adjusted the roads that will be closed downtown and we’re able to walk the streets again. It’s a testament to how I’ve been trained all my life. I have this urge to walk on the sidewalk and have to force myself to do the streets. In celebration of the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, there are things to do downtown including a Queen’s Scavenger Hunt. And, you can play croquet and there’s a Fascinator contest. Do I tell someone that they spelled “fascinator” incorrectly? Could I do something special with my Tiger’s hat?
Letters to the editor: May 22: ‘I am far from alone in retaining my visceral fear of Doug Ford and his gang.’ Has Ford changed? Plus other letters to the editor – The Globe and Mail – https://t.co/l1ftgsKIDR
Here’s a summary of some of the things I learned and published this week.
Readings
You can follow my daily readings as they happen here. Below are a selected few, with commentary, from the past week. They’re posted to the blog daily under the title OTR Links.
Sunday
I love it when someone explores a piece of software and reveals things about it that I didn’t kjnow. This time, it’s Google Maps
My kids’ secondary school is closing in June and there was an open house to go through and see it one last time
The Ontario Federation of Labour has been tracking Doug Ford and showing the results here
Tuesday
A throwback video to Bring IT, Together ECOO 2013 – the first one that I co-chaired and we moved it to Niagara Falls
Abortion is a big topic right now south of the border – here are three employers that will pay travel costs to get one
Wednesday
Don Cherry was trending on Twitter so I clicked to find out way and he’s taking his ball home and not playing with Ron McLean. Sorry American readers, this really is a big deal for us Canadians who enjoy hockey and intermissions
Amherstburg is celebrating the Queen’s Jubilee although as I type this on Saturday morning, it’s raining and lightning and there’s a Weather warning in effect
Thursday
I’m quite impressed with the Microsoft Edge browser and am now kicking the tires on Macintosh and it isn’t bad
Kids today have it so easy – now use artificial intelligence to write your essays for you – is the day of essays for assessment over?
Friday
Kids today have it so easy – now there’s a website where you can simulate that next job interview
Great advice if you’re leaving your job – actually any time you’re going to abandon your technology, make sure you completely remove yourself from it to ensure your privacy
Saturday
Fiddleheads are a real treat – here’s how they get found and picked
This Week in Ontario Edublogs is a blog post/show/podcast that features great writing from Ontario Edubloggers. Stephen Hurley and I use their writing as the basis for a conversation.
Featured Bloggers:
Aviva Dunsiger – @avivaloca
Elizabeth Lyons – @mrslyonslibrary
Diana Maliszewski – @MzMollyTL
Melanie White – @WhiteRoomRadio
Melissa Turnbull – @missmturnbull
Lynn Thomas – @THOMLYNN101
STAO – @staoapso
This week’s show:
There was no voicEd Radio show this week, but the blog post from these great bloggers was still fun to research and write.
Technology Troubleshooting
It’s always a challenge when operating systems are updated but the apps that run on them break because of the upgrade. I’m going through this with one of my favourite online games Boggle with Friends.
Until this past week, Boggle was a good actor.
But, this past week, Samsung updated their operating system and Boggle is having issues with it. If you’ve ever played Boggle, you know that speed is the success to winning. But now, if I get going really fast, the application locks up.
The first time it happened, I just kept tapping and swiping until I lost the game. Now, I recognise the lockup immediately and force quit it and get back as quickly as I can. I do lose some seconds but I can finish the game.
I’m sure that I’m not the only one and that a fix will be coming. I just need to be patient.
Look what I made
With all the Wordle craze, I of course blogged about it earlier but also created a Wakelet of all the Wordle clones I could find. Once created, I’ve been adding to it daily, it seems. I guess it’s presumptuous to think I could do it all in one session. It certainly has taken the online world by storm.
The big news this morning was a tornado touching down in Gaylord, Michigan. Holy cow!
Photo of the Week
Woodpecker at work in the side yard.
Thanks for reading.
Please join me daily for something new and, hopefully, interesting for you. I honestly and truthfully appreciate your few moments reading my thoughts. Time willing, this summary appears every Sunday afternoon.
When I get one suggestion, I listen, when I get two, it’s like an order that a post has to be written. So, a shoutout to Ramona Meharg and Aviva Dunsiger for this one.
They ignored my pinball reference but zeroed in on Euchre and Ramona replied with a bunch of exclamation marks. I had to write this.
Cards and board games were big in our house growing up. Every Sunday after church, before my brother and I could go out we’d have to play some Bridge or Euchre with Mom and Dad at the kitchen table. In fact, my wife wasn’t allowed to marry me until she played one hand of Bridge. Needless to say, she did, but when the four of us would get together, Euchre was the game of choice.
Playing Euchre became a valuable life and soclal skill.
When we’d have stags for friends or just crash someone else’s stag, there were always tables to play Euchre. It was also an event at the Fish and Game or at the Legion.
But the best memory was at high school. As Grade 13 students, we lobbied and got to take over the old board office’s meeting room as our lounge, er, study hall. It had this big beautiful wooden table that took up most of the room. We managed to scrounge some old couches and chairs for the perimeter. I also brought in a dart board that never really had a place to be in our house but hung up nicely over a corkboard.
That table was the centre of attention and as soon as there were four people in the room, a Euchre game would break out. Yes, we would go to the Pool Hall downtown for lunch but the lounge was great for before and after school and during spares, er, study hall. Our vice-principal was known to drop in periodically to see if we needed a fourth at times.
I remember one of my Grade 13 teachers telling me that we were the most closely knit class that he can remember. Do we attribute it to good friendships, having our lounge, or playing Euchre?
For a Sunday, don’t let me trump you. Share your thoughts in the comments.
were you a Euchre player in high school? Where did you play?
did a teacher or principal/vice-principal ever play with you?
do you still play Euchre?
do you play with Jokers?
do you count with twos and threes or with fives? (as an aside, I saw a counter made with an old plastic cap with a movable pointer that kept score at a flea market – it was marketed as a Euchre counter)
what cards are removed from a standard deck of cards to create a Euchre deck?
what’s a bower? What’s the difference between a right bower and a left bower?
what does it mean to renege?
what is the advantage of “going alone”?
what is a lay-down?
have you ever played three-handed Euchre?
is Euchre just another casualty of digital device gaming?
I’d sure like to hear from the Euchre players out there!
This is a regular Sunday post around here. You can check them all out here and, if you have a suggestion for a topic, please reach out.
Thank you for dropping by to read and your kind comments, Phyllis. Shyama and her thoughts seem to have resonated with so many who haven’t found their microphone yet. You helped amplify hers. https://t.co/99CeTY6Hvo
RT @avivaloca: An unexpected recording this week plus blog posts by @missmturnbull and @dougpete inspired this post. How has student growth changed your documentation practices? https://t.co/ZsaCoTk9Ri #onted #kinderchat #edchat #ecechat …
RT @avivaloca: An unexpected recording this week plus blog posts by @missmturnbull and @dougpete inspired this post. How has student growth changed your documentation practices? https://t.co/ZsaCoTk9Ri #onted #kinderchat #edchat #ecechat …
doug --- off the record 