You Can't Go Home Again??

I don't know how many times I've heard the adage "You can't go home again" and thought it was a bunch of bunk.  I still think that, especially since I'm living in the home I grew up in!

Today was an opportunity for me to walk through the hallowed halls of my high school.  When the new high school is finished (which I've heard could be another year), the school I attended will be torn down.  A lot of people are very upset with the thought that the school will be torn down, and I don't get it - they can't tear down my memories!

Welcome to the cafeteria; on the right side of the pic, you can make out the blue tile that's on the lower portion of the walls.  Even in the 70s it seemed a bit outdated!  But the cafeteria looks brighter and definitely cleaner than I remember it!  We also did not have TV screens on every wall. Boy, these kids today are so spoiled [ ;-D ].

This is a view in the cafeteria I recognize all too well, except I don't remember us having fans.  We didn't have air conditioning, and just had to suck it up and deal with it.  And we all had to walk miles to school, uphill all the way, both ways [ ;-D ].

I really liked all of the different art work painted directly on the walls.  That was a BIG no-no when I was a student.  Very glad to see THAT change.

The "infamous" breezeway.  The only time it wasn't like a huge cattle chute with kids going in both directions was during class or after school.  It was wonderful in the winter to be able to get to the buildings that weren't directly connected to each other.  We did have windows that opened, however.  These are all sealed shut.

Pop machines??  We got grief for having a candy bar vending machine!  Our vending machine was maintained by the Honor Society as a fund raiser.  I'm glad we didn't have the pop machines 'cause I probably would have been late to every class from stopping to buy a pop (although I would have wanted Pepsi or Dr. Pepper!).

The front of the drinking fountain looks like it's been updated somewhat, but the part connected to the wall looked more like the same parts from my era!

Just one of the offices.  This was in Storck Hall; we were divided into the different offices according to last name (for attendance or behavioral issues), and I worked for three of my high school years in another of the offices.  GREAT memories of those times.

No  more locker bays.  Those were nice for the students, but I'm sure not so easy to patrol for the teachers/principals.  I'm guessing that was one thing they did away with after the shootings in Columbine.  

Yet another sign of the times - the alarm pad in one of the buildings by an exterior door.  To think we relied on keys . . . 

I wonder if these are school provided locks or if the student has to provide one.  Our locks were built into the lockers (and our lockers were the full length, not 2 levels of lockers one above the other).

A different view of the breezeway.

Sad to hear that the yearbook is not still the same high quality bound book, but rather more of a paper or magazine type book.  I see the benefit of it, but they certainly don't hold up as well over time.

"My" home office as a high school student, and one that I spend MANY hours in as an "Office Assistant."  That was one of the most interesting and fun things I did in high school.  I met some wonderful people and learned a LOT about working for someone else.

The Jr. Air Force ROTC Display.  Glad to see it's still going strong.

You can't see it, but the sign on the door says "Speech Therapy"  The sign above the door says Clinic.  This was a girls bathroom when I was a student!

Yeah, I'd say things have changed a bit . . . this is something we just knew.  We didn't have to be told or reminded of it.

 

I'm sure we had our fair share of weapons in the school; I remember a couple of instances with knives, but nothing with guns.  

It was an interesting tour of the school.  There was a program in the gym to start it all off, but since Mom was with me (she taught math at the high school for 30 years), we skipped that part and went straight to the walking.  It was a good thing because I ran into one girl that I'd been in first grade with and hadn't seen since we graduated; several of Mom's former students come up to her to talk to her once the program was over (it helped that they mentioned her name during the program as being at the event); plus, it takes Mom a while longer to get from one place to another.  We also met up with several of her former co-teachers from the Math Department, which she thoroughly enjoyed.  It was a great experience, and I'm glad Mom was up to it.

But, getting back to the old adage, I still think, you CAN go home again.  Just don't expect everything to be the way you remember it was.  Life has a way of changing both our memories and our expectations.  As long as you're willing to roll with the changes, you can go home again, and stay there.  Change is not a bad thing (that's what inventions are, after all!) . . . where would we be without the computer, cell phone, or wi-fi?  Let's not assign good or bad to change, but let it be the the new and different adventure it can be.

Plans??

I had such wonderful plans for today . . . and the part of the day I was most looking forward to?  Postponed.  Bummer.  I had been looking forward to a short road trip w/ a high school friend to meet another high school friend and just hang out for a while.  But, life intervened again, I didn't get my way.

It's a icky rainy day here in SW Ohio, but I was looking forward to being w/ some sunny dispositions and laughing over stupid little things that girlfriends can find to laugh about.  I did get a little of that in, but not enough!  Met up w/ a group of ladies for lunch at Applebee's, which was a nice mix of personalities.  There were 5 of us, and 4 of us had gone to high school together (yes, 4/14/2012 must be high school not quite reunion day); I hadn't seen one of the ladies since we'd had a Spanish class together way back when.  Another of the ladies was the high school friend I was going with on our road trip . . .

But, fate intervened.  On my way to Applebee's, I was just buzzing along, singing w/ the radio, when the dreaded "Check Engine" light came on.  Since the last time I'd had that experience, the alternator went out, I started assuming the worst.  Fortunately, I was almost at Applebee's and the dealership that now services my Saturn Ion was just about 1/4 mile further down the road.  So, I had lunch w/ the lovely ladies, and then drove the car on over to the service department.

And just what wonderful news awaits me at the door to service?  They are only open until 3 p.m., and that's when we were supposed to be meeting our friend about 45 minutes away.  It was almost 1 p.m., so chances of making that happen were slim.  Crappity crap crap CRAP.

So, I called my friend in Indiana and explained to her what had happened, and we agreed to meet up again after she got moved and a few other things out of the way.  By that time, the other friend arrived to meet me, and I told her we'd have to reschedule.  The good news is that neither of us really wanted to be driving in the crappy weather, especially since the weather in Indiana was worse than what we were experiencing.

Instead of hanging out with friends and talking and laughing, I sat at the dealership with a few other people I didn't know who maintained their own little bubble of privacy (I'm a people watcher, especially if I don't have a book to read!).  I sat, and sat, and sat.  I drank a Diet Mt. Dew (I may regret that later tonight).  I tried to connect to the wi-fi via my phone, but couldn't get the connection to stay connected.  I had not planned the visit, so I didn't have my boredom busters with me!  Two hours later, I was finally out the door.

The best news?  I just needed a new gas cap.  It was leaking.  Whew.  At least it wasn't the alternator or something major going on.  Can't say it was exactly a cheap fix.  But at least it was easy, and not as expensive as some of the other possible issues.

Well, now what to do with the rest of my day?  Need to bake some cookies, but forgot to take the butter out of the freezer, so that's gonna be a while.  I can play around w/ some pictures of it raining.  Nothing catches the mood of an icky rainy day like pictures of an icky rainy day.

Yup.  Pulled out the camera and turned the kitchen chair around to look out the back door at a couple of puddles.  Tried a few things.  Like some better than others.  But I know a couple of things I don't want to do next time, and have some ideas of a couple of different things to try.  First off would be using the mono-pod or tripod . . . experiencing weather induced sinus headache issues is not typically a time of clear thinking.

I was SO looking forward to the day I had planned this morning.  But, looking back at it all now, it's turned out pretty good after all.  I did get to spend some time with friends and completely enjoyed it.  Although the Check Engine light freaked me out, it was a reasonable problem that was easily remedied.  Missing hanging out with other friends wasn't so great, but I got to catch up on a couple of things around the house, try a recipe for cookies using cake mix, and still have a batch of sugar cookies waiting to be made.  And, I can't forget the opportunity to try to catch some pictures of the rain.

I guess today was the forget the plan and go with the flow day.  Not too hateful after all.