Oh! Don't Press That Button!

Under the settings menu on blogger there's a little button there that says "delete this blog." I've often wondered what would happen if I pressed that button, but never really had the gall to find out. Would it give me a chance to change my mind or ask me if I'm sure, like most programs do? Or, would the blog simply vanish...erasing all my brilliant, heartfelt entries from the last 13 months? And, if I did delete it, would it be completely irretrievable? Or would it still be there, sitting on a server somewhere? I don't know the answer to that, but I have often wondered. I think it best not to play around with such a powerful button. I wonder why that button would even be there in the first place? What if it were accidentally pressed?

It reminds me of that Far Side cartoon, where a pilot is sitting in the cockpit of a plane. Right next to his hand is a switch that is marked "Wings Stay On" on the top and "Wings Fall Off" on the bottom. Why would there even be such a switch? And, further, why would there be a button that could instantly wipe out somebody's precious memories? Why, God, why?

As you can plainly tell from the topic of this post thus far, and from the time stamp at the bottom, it is somewhat late. I've been keeping odd hours, once again. It happens every couple of months, for a week or two. I'll just be unable to fall asleep until like 3 am, and then I'll stagger from bed at around 10. I guess I have a rough life.

I've been spending a fair amount of time each day browsing through job listings and so on, looking for a teaching position. It's unlikely, however, since budget cuts across the state have made school districts cut back on their hiring of non-credentialed teachers. Further, in order for schools to be able to qualify for federal funds under the "No Child Left Behind" program, they have to be able to demonstrate that they have only an infinitesimal number of teachers without credentials.

So, I'm looking in other areas also, but there's not much point in starting a job before I leave for Kosovo on June 19. Still, it'd be nice to have a job waiting for me when I return home.

But, no matter. In other news, we are anxiously awaiting the birth of my brother's third child. She was supposed to be born on June 4, but she seems to be in no hurry to join the rest of us here. (Incidentally, saying she is not just wishful thinking...they opted to find out the gender of the baby.) So, she's just hanging out...she doesn't seem to realize that there are people out here waiting for her.

Along those lines, yesterday my dad succeeded in scaring the hell out of me. He called me last night at around 7:00. Since it was the due date, I naturally assumed the call was about the baby. So, when he said, "I've got some bad news," the first thing that entered my mind was that something had gone wrong during delivery. Thankfully, that was not the case. However, the news he gave me was pretty bad.

It seems that my aunt (my dad's younger sister) was just diagnosed with cancer of the kidney. Fortunately, the cancer has not spread yet, and they think that they are going to be able to remove it all. She is going in for surgery on Monday, so we'll find out then what the prognosis is.

Naturally, my dad was pretty broken up by the news. I really don't understand the point of cancer. It's a horrible disease that, as I understand it, basically results from your body just spontaneously turning on itself. Of course, that's not a medical description, but I'm not really a doctor. But, as I said, the prognosis looks fairly good.

So, I guess I really ought to get some sleep, as I am supposed to go have breakfast with Shane Ross, John Lin and Ryan Cox at Pie 'N Burger in Pasadena at 8 AM. I'm curious to see what kind of breakfast foods Pie 'N Burger might have.