Archive for August 24th, 2009

From a press release by the City:

Effective Sept. 1, drivers will no longer be able to use cell phones in school zones except in specific circumstances.

Under a bill passed this year by the Texas Legislature, using wireless devices in school zones is allowed only if the vehicle is stopped, the phone is used with a hands-free device or is being used to make a call to emergency authorities.

The offense is a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $200.
Fort Worth’s Transportation and Public Works Department is installing about 600 new signs to warn drivers when they’ve entered a no-chat school zone.

The National Safety Council is calling for a total ban on cell phone use by drivers nationwide, based on estimates that the practice contributes to 6 percent of the 636,000 annual crashes. About half the crashes result in injuries, including 2,600 deaths, the NSC reports.

The air is warm. Seven tired students and teachers, satisfied by dinner, flop down in the house. They are tired, their uniforms are untucked, the backpacks deposited by the door. The chores are moving slowly, and in the background Hotel California plays. We have finished our first day back, and though the heat of summer lingers, the somnolence is over. We no longer estivate.

For myself, it was a full day, starting at 6am when I alit from bed (alright, it wasn’t that fast, or glamorous) so that I could walk the dog and get ready before it was ninety degrees outside (I’d like to avoid roasting myself more than once daily during my bike commute).

We had never walked that early – at first Brise was cautious. But, soon the sun started to peek out, pink, over the tops of the trees. It was peaceful.

After riding to school with a broken bike seat, standing on the pedals (the seat tipped back if I sat on it) the whole way, I arrived an hour early. I sat and read the paper.

I found my first class – large, a hundred students. Psychology. It shouldn’t be bad – show up, keep your nose clean and you can make it. Then came Organic Chemistry. Here I met up with an old friend, always good. We gave each other dark looks as the grading was explained. “What are we doing here?” we thought. Finally, an Honors Philosophy course. I looked around to see if the honors students looked any different from the rest of the student body. Nope, pretty normal. The 60/40 female/male ratio held up. The professors were characters.

After, I checked my email, and saw some loose ends had been tied up. I checked the bookstore and decided a second time against supported the College Bookstore Racket going there and at campuses everywhere. Realizing my lunch was at home, I started back – but not before stopping in at Colonel’s Bicyles, where they fixed my seat in about two minutes. I rode home, saw my dog, ate my lunch. Put the syllabi into my planner. Made bread. Bought my books from Amazon.

Not bad for a first day.