Parallel Parking 101

-
Another middle school teacher that made a huge impression on me was Mr. Cozart. Mr Cozart was a math teacher. He had a prosthetic arm. Much like Mr. Lentine's eye, I have no idea how he ended up with this prosthesis. This was the 80s, so imagine today's prosthetics and picture a mannequin arm. This was not a bionic man arm. He had an awesome sense of humor and he had mastered the art of self deprecation regarding it. But I never learned how he lost it, which kind of bums me out. Mr. Cozart also taught drivers ed. He is the man that taught Christy how to parallel park. Christy in turn taught me. His technique was to pull up super close to the car in front of you, until you are level with the hood of the car next to you. Then you put it in reverse, and when your mirrors are paralell, you cut the wheel immediately. When your mirror is parallell with the back bumper of their car, you cut the wheel back. This works 99.999% of the time without any correction. So, indirectly through Christy, Mr. Cosart taught he the art of the parallel park. Thanks Mr. Cozart! 
<<Post for April 17th, 2018>>

Popular posts from this blog

Stopping Overshopping

-
Image
Shopaholism, a lso known as Compulsive buying disorder.   We all know at least one person who does this.  They shop for things that they don't need, they are addicted to finding the best bargain.  They hit the sales thinking it is OK because it is not buying something at full price.    W hen your purchases shift from impulsive to compulsive, you may be grappling with a more serious condition: a shopping addiction.  This is made even worse nowadays due to how easy it is to shop online.   Here are signs that you may, in fact, be a shopaholic: You have many unopened or tagged items in your closet   You often purchase things you don’t need or didn’t plan to buy An argument or frustration sparks an urge to shop You experience a rush of excitement when buying Purchases are followed by feelings of remorse You try to conceal shopping habits You feel anxious on days you don’t shop You shop beyond your means Perhaps you max out credit ...
Read more

Big Ken

-
Image
In the half century that I've been alive, I have only been to two funerals that had over 100 people there. Big Ken's funeral was one of them. His grandkids called him Grandy. He certainly was a grand man - standing 6'4" he was a big man but gentle by nature. He was quiet, not a big talker, but when he did talk, it was insightful, and ususally made YOU think, sometimes for hours after you had spoken with him. I called him Uncle, but he was really my cousin by marriage. He touched the lives of so many people - and it was amazing to see just how many in the church that day we were all paying our respects. Words that describe Big Ken are humble, honorable, devoted to God, teacher, coach, mentor - the example he set is hard to emulate, but I try daily. Big Ken made you think about your life choices and why you were making them. He would offer advice, but it was never judgemental. Big Ken was an icon who made a big impression on my life.   He loved his garden too! ...
Read more

Delirious

-
Image
I believe that I got the love of funk from my dad. Back in his day it was Ray Charles. One of the best memories I have of my dad is a trip we took in Christy's convertible from Atlanta to Albuquerque New Mexico. We were delivering Christy's car to her after she had accepted a position during the dot com boom at a startup called Super Groups. She had gone out early to take the job, had her stuff shipped from Atlanta out there, and then we drove her car out so she could have it out there. I had taken road trips with my family before and short ones with my Dad in Michigan, but this was the longest road trip we had taken together up to that point. We rode with the top down listening to all kinds of music. A little known fact of my dad is that he LOVED Prince. Mainly because my dad couldn't escape a good beat. But the funniest thing was we were listening to Prince's song Sexy M%&F$@. If you don't know, that song has a killer beat, and one that drummers love...
Read more