A typical woe-is-me teacher post

I am a teacher. I love being a teacher. I went into teaching knowing that it would never make me rich.

But here's what I didn't realize about living on a teacher's salary:
I qualify for income controlled housing.
Even living in cheap housing, it's still a struggle to make ends meet every month.
I would shop at Aldi not because they have fun stuff, but because I can't pay what Walmart charges for milk.
I would feel like I'm drowning in credit card debt.
I would worry about affording birthday presents for my child.
I would feel guilty about taking dance classes to try and get into shape because dance class isn't super cheap.
I would tell my children they can't have a cat/dog not only because we live in a small space, but because I can't pay pet deposits/rent/vet bills.
We would eat a lot of pasta and eggs in my house because of how cheap those are.
Going to the movies (matinee) twice a year is extravagant.
So is a concert.

A teacher's salary is barely enough to live on.

Irritation

Google: you do many other things right. I do not understand why you can't make it easy to sign out of accounts on mobile devices! With the iPad it is really simple. Push the botton that says sign out. Then sign in as a different account. On the computer, same thing. But on my phone or my HTC tablet - no log out button? How hard could that possibly be to make? Seriously, fix this.

Awoken

Finished Awoken, liked it better than Twilight. Of course, in the normal scheme of things, that's not saying much. However, as this book is a send-up of Twilight (and the whole current teen romance genre) it is pretty amusing that I like this more.
1: Elder God, not whiny vampire.
2: Gods can carry off arrogance better than teenage vampires.
3: he is an ass, but... he is Cthulhu.
4: he doesn't socially isolate her
5: he doesn't injure her
6: more believable motivations
7: no pesky plot holes

Um. That's all the reasons I have to prefer the one over the other. Neither one is a very likable character. It's a bit... fast? as a love story. Kind of the R&J situation. I don't believe that real and deep love happens that quickly.

But, an entertaining read!

Nanowrimo

I only wrote 177 words last night before children interrupted me. I'm not gonna win this thing at this rate...

Awoken

Gagworthy line:
"Now, truely, I was awoken. I was in love."

Page 108

Doppelgangster

Alas, not the first in the series. I believe this one is the second, but I feel no pressing confusion that makes me put this one down and go find the first book.

The protagonist is an NYC actress, out of work at the moment. She picks up some shifts at a local area restaurant which happens to be the favorite hangout of the Mob. While there, she witnesses an incredibly improbable murder. From there it just gets more complicated, eventually including magic, a Great Dane, explosions, a cop boyfriend, and doppelgangers.

It's quite an enjoyable read so far.
Page 234/386.

The Rithmatist

Young adult style fiction by Sanderson! There are pictures! I handed the book to my 10 year old this morning. By lunch she was at least 1/3 of the way through. Maybe half way.
I would have called it steampunk, then I read the afterword and Sanderson refers to it as gearpunk. Never heard that word before.
He magic is based on chalk, drawing, and geometry. Sanderson is a genius at innovative magical systems.
Read it!