Happy Fathers Day
June 15th, 2008I hope everyone who reads this blog is NOT reading it today, but is reading it on Monday after having celebrated a marvelous Fathers Day with whomever makes you happy. I hope to be doing the same soon enough.
WTF? Ring already!
June 14th, 2008
It’s not late now. As a matter of fact, I’m writing on a Saturday morning at 08:39 EDT. It’s getting late in the job search season for teachers. School ends in two weeks. It may as well end in one week, because the last week is a series of half-days, and the students don’t come in on Thursday. We’re all off on Friday. But I digress.
The job season, as far as I can see, runs in seasons:
- New Position Season: “We’re adding a position. We added it to the budget in November, and in January we begin our search.” This is a short season, as there are rarely many of these jobs.
- Retirement Season: “Mrs. Malarkey is retiring at the end of the year, and we need to fill her job.” This season is longer, and begins somewhere in January and (if your district is dumb) may have late entries toward April and May.
- Replacement Season: “Mr. Wafflestein was not a ‘fit’ for us, so we’ll be looking elsewhere.” This season begins in late February/ early March, and wraps up in most places towards the end of May.
- Shuffle Season: “Miss Ranglehoffer took Mrs. Malarkey’s job in District ABC, and we have to replace her.” This season begins in May.
- Desperation Season: “What do you mean you’re not coming back in September? Where am I going to find a decent educational professional on such short notice?” This season begins in two weeks.
We’re in Shuffle Season now. I had kind of hoped the phone would ring. A lot. It hasn’t. So far I’ve received two call. One was with an administrator I know in a district close by my home. We had a screening interview, and she said they were just starting the search process. They have at least 3 job openings this year. I have emailed her many times. She has no called me back. This is not a good sign.
The other call was for an interview 95 miles from my home. I took the interview with no intention of getting the job or even considering it. That “the heck with this attitude” was only because I’m in a better position now. No disrespect to the folks, just the truth of the matter. I needed the practice, though. I have not had an interview in almost a year. The last time I approached an interview with that attitude was when… I interviewed for my current position. Needless to say, I got called back. Of course. I bowed out for true reasons- their demo lessons conflicted with 4 concerts I had in my present job. It was, however, a way to extend my eligibility to “if you don’t find anyone” as opposed to closing the door with “I’m NOT driving 95 miles twice a day.”
There are a certainly a few reasons I’m not getting called. a) My resume is spotty (3 jobs in 3 years), b) I’ve actually been burned by an old school board member to some other school boards (and I’d so like to prove it and own him AND the district), but first and foremost in my mind is c) the cost of me. You see, most school districts negotiate your starting pay based on experience and education. I am very experienced and highly educated. If the salary schedule were a spreasheet with box A1 being the starting salary and box Z25 being the salary for the most experienced, most highly educated teacher, I’d be somewhere around P17. Even if they give me credit for only half my years of experience, I’m in P8, at a premium of $30k over a recent graduate. Thus a+b+c= me staring at the phone, willing it to ring.
So how did I get my current job? They were in OMG Season, which occurs after the school year begins. “What do you mean you’re leaving? How are we supposed to replace you in OCTOBER!?!” Mid-semester replacements are nearly impossible to make well. Combine that with a historic policy of “we do not give credit for experience in salary negotiations” and I’m a much more attractive candidate. That said, I like where I work now. If I could move the place 50 miles closer to home, I would stay forever. They are desperate for me to stay, but for my family I must at least look for better pay/ closer to home.
So yes, It may be only 09:00 EDT, but it sure feels like it’s getting late.
Digital Father 39- Happy Anniversary Baby
June 11th, 2008This episode is sponsored by GoToMeeting.com. Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/podcast .
Father’s Day is coming: What are you getting him? Sex and marriage issues, and a few technical issues resolved.
Don’t forget to answer the question for the next episode:
What video games do your children play (and how old are they)?Send your answers to dad@digitalfather.com or click the CALL ME button on the right to have my people call your people!
Dad’s News: Read the rest of this entry »
TDD-008 - Don’t Hose Your Wives House on Mother’s Day
June 6th, 2008Vinny from the Digital Father Podcast and Roland from the Bad Dad Podcast proudly present: The Daddy Dialogues. Candid Conversations about being a father, a husband, and a man.
[Start time 01:45] Vinny talks about overzealous music judges and how wonderful children can respond.
[Start time 03:40] Roland’s house is the only one in the
neighborhood with it’s very own port-o-potty on the lawn. Neighbors are
jealous.
[Start time 07:00] The dads discuss internet access woes and the joys of fiber optic broadband.
Home Topic: Property Safety
[Start time 10:15] Vinny and Roland discuss recent property damage
resulting from tree collapses their property. Vinny shares great
information about insurance for home disasters, especially about what’s
typically covered and what isn’t.
Links mentioned: Read the rest of this entry »
Think your kid has game?
June 5th, 2008In Lithuania, they start their kids on the road to the Olympics early. Check out this video of hard-core athletes at early ages.
Digital Father 38- Grand Theft Childhood
May 26th, 2008
This episode is sponsored by GoToMeeting.com. Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/podcast . Listen and find out if GTA4 will make your child violent, is your playground safe, a new book on Fathers and Sons, and our listener question, “What’s In Your Beach Bag?”
Digital Father News: Read the rest of this entry »
Looking for something new?
May 22nd, 2008So sorry! The holiday has delayed the posting of Digital Father 38. I have the episode ready, and hope to get it posted later tonight or early tomorrow. That will leave a one week gap in shows, but I will also post the latest episode of “The Daddy Dialogues” to tide you over.Thanks for remaining loyal. As a daddy-podcast-listener, you can appreciate that a 5-day weekend is cause for seeing the family I so rarely get to see, and not so much an opportunity for creating podcasts. That’s what’s cool about missing a “Digital Father” episode. You folks never complain, because you always know it’s for the best reasons and not sloth.
Talk to you soon!
TDD-007 - Don’t Hose Your Wife’s Data
May 14th, 2008Vinny from the Digital Father Podcast and Roland from the Bad Dad Podcast proudly present: The Daddy Dialogues. Candid Conversations about being a father, a husband, and a man.
Tech Topic:
[Start time 08:20] Vinny and Roland discuss family calendar solutions and compare how each family keeps organized. Links mentioned: Read the rest of this entry »
Digital Father 37- Was Grafenberg Right?
May 10th, 2008
This episode is sponsored by GoToMeeting! Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/podcast . Who should prepare children for kindergarten? A new desktop application for parenting blogs, the listeners offer their ideas for how to keep healthy, is there a G-spot (and do you know where it is)? No? Then read up on the G-Spot
Alive, but not live this week
May 6th, 2008
Our episode this week will not be recorded live. I can’t guarantee my schedule.However, there will be an episode recorded (most likely on Thursday) so I’d love to hear your answer to the following question:
What do you do to keep your children healthy?
You can post your answers here as a comment, or you can email them to dad@digitialfather.com
Viddler Fame!
May 2nd, 2008I am the Community Spotlight video this week over at Viddler. Brandice wants to feature more of the video challenges that users have submitted, and she chose mine as the first (*blush*). She says:
To start off, I thought of posting a new challenge, but we have an existing challenge that had no entries and it was a pretty fun challenge, so after watching this VidChallenge video, go record your entry, add it to the VidChallenge group, and I will feature the best “bed head” next week. Now go get crackin’!
Digital Father 36- Pope Schwag
May 1st, 2008
Today we present the REAL episode 36. I got to see the Pope when he was in town, health issues for my family, and is your wife as dense as some other wives we see in the media? Plus, Dad’s News. Read the rest of this entry »
Live Tonight!
May 1st, 2008I’ll be live on Talkshoe tonight, as I am feeling remarkably better than I was earlier this week.
Listen in and join the chat room LIVE at 10pm EDT on Talkshoe. You can join the discussion if your computer is set up for audio or VOIP.
If you want to use the phone to participate live (or just listen), call (724) 444-7444. The call ID # is 16047.
Review a podcast
April 21st, 2008
If you visit this site, there is a strong possibility that you are a podcast listener. If so, I’d love it if you would do a service to the podcast community-
Review a podcast on iTunes.
iTunes is the white whale of the podcast world. Everyone hates it. However, there is no denying that it may be the single largest source of listeners for podcasters. As such, good reviews help podcasts find larger audiences. It also helps the podcaster to feel better about their work, and let’s them know that someone is listening.
This is not a shameless plug for a review for THIS podcast. As a matter of fact, review another podcast. I reviewed 4 other podcasts this week. They were that great, and I hadn’t told them in a while.
Thank you for supporting the community.
New folks!
April 21st, 2008Hi! I’m Vinny, and I’d like to welcome the many, MANY new readers and listeners to the podcast. It seems that I was previously reaching about 100 people per episode. In the last month or so, that has jumped to over 500. I believe I have Talkshoe and The Girls Night In Podcast to thank for that, as well as an increased presence on Facebook.
I’m away on vacation right now, but I will acknowledge you new folks in the podcast. In the meantime, THANKS FOR JOINING US, and I look forward to hearing from you all soon. Remember, let’s talk about the good and the bad. It’s in the sharing that we all grow as fathers.
