Year: 2008

Oh Blackwater, Keep On Rolling…

Posted on By Tom 3 Comments on Oh Blackwater, Keep On Rolling…
Paddling

John N paddles downstream

Saturday morning I got up at 4:00 am, loaded the kayak into the truck and headed south once more to the Edisto River. Last month we had originally planned to kayak the entire 20.3 mile stretch from Colleton State Park to Givhan’s Ferry State Park. We wound up breaking the trip into sections, running only the portion from Mars Old Field to Givhan’s Ferry last time. This time we were going to do the section from Colleton State Park to Stokes Bridge Landing – 8 miles, about the same length as our last trip.

This time there were seven in our group. Matt, John N., Rob D., and Chris J. returned. James B. couldn’t make it, but we were joined by John R. and his son Kevin. Matt’s dog, Cotton rounded out our entourage. We unloaded all the boats, then ran a shuttle down to Stokes Bridge.

As we got underway we observed a huge group of canoes and kayaks getting started on the opposite bank. This was a mixed group of all ages. As they passed I noticed several unusual seating arrangements. Several of the canoes had a man in the back paddling, and a woman up front just along for the ride – no paddle in hand whatsoever. Strange.

Read More “Oh Blackwater, Keep On Rolling…” »

Recycling and Life on the Edge

Posted on By Tom 1 Comment on Recycling and Life on the Edge
EdTech

It’s just Wednesday. However, this half-week has been much more strenuous that many of my full weeks. Most of that has been due to the computer recycling company that we used to remove the old computers from our schools.

Old computers are a MAJOR problem for schools. First, computers take a lot of abuse in a school setting. You just can’t get as many years of service from a school computer as you can from one in a home setting. It’s hard to explain this to a taxpayer. For non-functioning computers there is the problem of disposal. We can’t send these to a landfill. It’s an even bigger problem if the computer is still functioning. Because of concerns with student data on hard drives, we can no longer just sell the computers.

So, last spring our school board authorized me to work with a computer recycling group that would give written assurance of drive erasure. I made the arrangements, and on Tuesday a truck showed up to pick up our nearly 700+ computers, plus some odds and ends of non-functioning equipment. The fun was just about to begin.

First, the crew arrived at our district office. From appearances, these characters were ones I’d never want to meet alone on the street. One actually came into our office with an unlit cigarette in one hand and a lighter in the other. I was beginning to worry.

Read More “Recycling and Life on the Edge” »