Author: Vwala

If you’ve ever been on an elevator you understand the sensation of feeling like you’re going up and down at the same time. They have a way of tricking you, teasing your senses. Elevators were a major breakthrough, and, with Elijah Otis’ safety break, they became a unique mode of transportation all over the world. People who had the job of controlling these thrilling machines were called elevator operators. I think being an elevator operator would have been an ideal job.

Have you ever read The Elevator Family? This book caught my attention for several reasons. One, I love elevators, they give you a feeling nothing else can. Two, it’s such an interesting thought. What if somebody actually lived in an elevator? Three, I’m a people watcher. I enjoy watching people, seeing their life unfold, guessing who they are, where they’re from, and where they’re going. Lots of people go on elevators, and being an operator gave plenty of opportunity to watch them. “It’s fun, I get to meet a lot of interesting people.” Said Eleanor Adame, a former elevator operator in Kansas. She had fun doing her work, which is a revolutionary concept in this time and age.

I like variation. I wouldn’t want a job where I did the same thing all day, every day. I wouldn’t even want to be in the same position all day! Elevator operators could stand, lean against the wall, and in some elevators, sit. Elevator operating took skill, each time they stopped at a different floor they had to stop at just the right time to line up the elevator floor with the outside floor. It was challenging, and took lots of practice. They had to go through special training before operating an elevator. Each day was different, different people, different floors, an interesting workplace, being in the middle of the action. Yes, you’re going to the same floors everyday, but different things are going on, different people are roaming around, and you do it all in a different order!

Now, I must devote a section to elevators themselves. I don’t know why I love elevators, maybe it stems from my relatives who have an elevator in their house, or that they were novel in the small town I spent four and a half years of my life in. Whatever the reason, I love elevators, and they would have been an unparalleled place to spend most of my life in.

There are many perks to elevator operating, variety, people-watching, and just elevators themselves. It would have been a great job to support me while I write, challenging and variable at the same time. I think operating an elevator would have been a spectacular job, and just maybe I could’ve figured out where that up and down effect comes from.

The Kurdish region in Iraq held elections. On Sunday they finally had them after a long period of waiting. This is their first election in five years. Millions were elegable to vote before the polls closed in the evening. Results will be announced soon.

Almost done with the first quarter! Whoo! I am doing good and should finish this semester by Christmas. David seems to be doing good, and everything’s great! (FYI I will not be doing school next week. I know I know, you’re sooooo sad. You finally got rid of me! No, I’ll be back the week after. :)

9/17/18

Today didn’t start off great. My alarm didn’t go off, then math was bad. Then it got worse. Spanish was painful, but after lunch my prospects looked up. So it wasn’t a totally bad day.

In English I’m rewriting the beginning of The Gammage Cup. It’s rather daunting, but I’ve got a great idea for it. The point is to add “a good hook,” as the origanal is full of facts important to the story without much action or interesting stuff. I’m supposed to focus mostly on revision so I’m gonna spiff it up good.

9/18/18

Today was way better than yesterday. Mom is thinking about switching my math program, and we’re going to try it out. So for this week I’ll be doing a different program!

I did some revising for English. I’m really gonna polish this one up ’till it shines! Today I focused on voice and word choice. I’ll type it up tomorrow.

9/19/18

Today Mom went to our rental house for about six hours and painted. Us kids stayed home and did school or whatever we wanted. (Adi) School was okay. I didn’t like my new math because I started in a part too hard for me. (I hadn’t learned how to have unknowns on both sides yet. I do now.)

In English I did some reading about revising. Most of it didn’t apply to my one paragraph, but I enjoyed it anyway. I’ve been writing poems on my own lately. Here is one;

Memory Lane by ME!

Memory lane,

I wouldn’t complain

To go more oft’

Down memory lane

Memory lane,

It gives joy and pain,

to see the happiness

down memory lane

9/20/18

Today I did my last day of the new math, because I switch back tomorrow. It didn’t quite work out. I still like algebra though. I’m thinking of entering an essay contest, but I’m not sure yet weather to enter or not.

For my elective I wrote poetry. It’s fun. I’ve been inspired by Jo. Her poetry is so amazing! (In case you have no idea wha I’m talking about, it’s a Little Women refrence. Look it up.) I sorta made a parody of one, but not strictly. It was more copying the style.

9/21/18

Math was super easy. I guess one’s too easy and one’s too hard. Come on! Why? Oh well, it makes life interesting. I’m still doing the newspaper, even though I skipped it last week because we were camping.

I switched spanish too. Now I’m doing what I started spanish on. I started there and then switched and now I’m switching back. It’s very confusing, but I guess I must be learning something. (O tal vez no, ¿quién sabe?) BTW, that means “Or maybe not, who knows?” I just looked it up.

A Colorado mountain lion was seen near a motel office. According to Jason Clay, who works for Colorado’s wildlife agency, the mountain lion was shown in the footage of a surveillance camera at the Mountain Motel in Bolder, Colorado. In it the lion stands in the open door of the motel office. After spotting some dogwalkers and exploring it walked away. It was night during the lion’s visit, leaving less people outside. There were no deaths.

Fifty-one year old Tony Alsup saved a fair amount of animals in South Carolina. The Tennessean trucker visited shelters, picking up animals to save them from the hurricane effects. He drove an old school bus with the words “EMERGENCY ANIMAL RESCUE SHELTER” on it. Tony rescued 53 dogs and 11 cats from the storm. They are now safe in an Alabama shelter.

Squirrels, red and grey are attacking crops in New England. According to a wildlife bilogist Rob Calvert, there was a raise in acorns last year, bumping the squirrel population. This year, there is a shortage of natural food, so they have taken to dining at farms. Squirrels have reportedly been eating apples, pumpkins, corn, blueberries, peaches and gourds. “They’re eating the pumpkins. They’re eating the apples.” Robert Randall, a farmer, commented. “It’s the worst I’ve ever seen.”

First, a statement about 9/11.

Many people died that day, though God let others take their lives away, it is sad, and awful bad, but we have hope though we cried, hope in Jesus for us He died

Therefore we must watch and pray, for a breeze takes other’s lives away, though we mourn, it must forewarn, that hell is there, and people are always going there

9/10/18

Today we went to the orthodontist and got immpressions. Yuck! Yes, I have a date. Oct. 13th I’ll be bracesless! Adi’s friend, I’ll call her R, came over from 9 to 1. After she got here and we went to the orthodontist we had to go to a pond for Reed’s science experiment. We had lunch there with dad and did a bit of cleaning at our rental house. I really only brought enough school for the appoinment though!

I had a hard time of math. I had to leave half-way through and the teacher didn’t teach me how to do all the problems he gave! I also finished my reader. (I wasn’t supposed to, but it was so interesting and I had it with me. :) It was The Gammage Cup, I liked it but not as much as other books I’ve read.

9/11/18

Today is a marker of a sad day seventeen years ago when many lives were lost. I pay tribute to the brave men and women who died that day. Let us have a moment of silence while we pray for those left behind.

Today Mom was sick, so I taught Adi school, and Dad cooked dinner. I had a quiz in math and I did ok. (Barely an A.) I made some dessert with Adi, (Part of her school, obviously.) s’more truffles, and it was fun, even though they didn’t turn out exactly as we’d hoped.

In English I’m going to write a brochure for a place in The Gammage Cup. It’s going to be fun, I brainstormed today on what to put in it, and layout’s fun. Although time-consuming. I also learned a bit about adjectives. They are fun to read, but I have a hard time separating them out of sentences.

9/12/18

Today in math I learned how to do rate problems. Still no trains, but I did a car wash problem, which was fun. Combining Xs is fun too.

My English was kinda fun, but tedious. It took a long time, but ended up better than I thought. I mean, I’ll get a sense of how I want it, a vision, while I’m brainstorming. But it doesn’t always turn out how I invisioned it. Funny, isn’t it?

9/13/18

I did math today, but that’s pretty much it. I went with mom to hold our dog, Muffin, while she took him to the vet. We also dropped Adi off at her new school and swung by the library. Later I went with mom while she dropped off Reed, (He’s a part time student.) and went to the store to get a little notebook and pencil for a new writing tactic I’m trying out.

By the time we got home it felt late and the prospect of catching up felt impossible, so I asked for the day off. I packed, (We’re camping this weekend.) planned the menu for the next week or so, (Don’t worry, nobody’s gonna starve.) and did the school I felt I couldn’t finish tomorrow.

9/14/18

Today wasn’t too bad, even though I took yesterday off and had to finish packing for camping. I started Little Women on the way up there. (It’s an hour away.) Mom read it to us before, when we were really young, but I don’t remember much except one died and one fell in the lake. I love it now.

I did a lot of school, and really enjoyed history. The chapter were long though, and I like one book better than the other. The one I like better is about Ida Scudder, a missionary, although I like the other one too. They’re not good when you’re in a hurry though. I’m learning about math in the other one, (Come on, it’s supposed to be history! Why does math have to sneak into everything!?!) but math history is better than just math.

Amazon made a request for permission to build a distribution center in Little Rock earlier this summer. The committee set a date to discuss it this month. Buildings at the site will be temporary if it is like other Amazon distribution centers, a large building made of tentlike matatieral, without running water or electricity. Three other crude buildings will with running water and electricity will supply other needs, an office, a break room, and bathrooms. The deal would be a six-month one with a chance of future renewal, and will generate 100 or less jobs.

Kim Jung Un invited Trump to visit him in North Korea. Trump said he was expecting a letter from Kim soon and he has recieved it, plans to visit are being made, although the letter will not be made public without Kim’s aproval. According to Sarah Huckabee Sanders no details have been sumarized. She described the letter as “very warm, very positive.” Trump and Kim are working towards a better relationship between the two countries, although no agreement has been reached.

North Korea returned the mass games after five years. The focus was on economy rather than military although there were still weapon displays and army marching. There was no mention of their nuclear bombs, which Trump and American specialists seem to be taking as a good sign. The mass games will have displays of acrobatics, weaponry, and marching military predicted to last for a month. Foregners are buying tickets for up to $800 dollars.