Current location:	Getting There
Current mood:	relieved
Current music:	"Scotland the Brave"

The Light at the End of the Tunnel

It's been a busy time of late, what with Jessica graduating, the Corvair Club's Econo-Run Northwest approaching, and me trying to keep my hand in the "writing game."  Whether I could use it as an excuse or not, it seemed that I had enough to do, that I didn't post since before Memorial Day.  Now, I've made enough progress on certain projects, and graduation is behind us, that I can take a little time and add a bit to my LiveJournal.  Hence, the "light at the end of the tunnel."

As part of my tasks in preparing for the Corvair Club's hosting of the Econo-Run, I've been trying to come up with tickets for the various meals that will be available, create ballots for peoples' choice award voting, as well as tracking registrations and depositing fees into the club banking account.  Our official deadline for registration was this past Friday, but we'll probably include anything that shows up early in this next week.  Well, as of yesterday I completed "design" work on the tickets, ballots, and placards for participants entry numbers.  I'll print them out later today, although I want to go buy some card stock for the entry number placards.  I want something a little stiffer than regular paper.  I also had to change my approach to the meal tickets.  A few weeks ago while in one of the local office supply stores I noticed packs of blank event tickets.  They were sequencially numbered and had a stub.  But when I went back to get some they were gone.  Rather than driving all over town to see if I could find more, I just decided that I could use business cards.  I already have quite a few blanks, and I bought some more.

Now, the only major thing I have left to do before the Econo-Run is to get my own Corvair back on the road.  My plan now is to work on it this afternoon, providing the weather doesn't interfere.  If not, I'll go against my usual trend to not do any outdoor stuff after work.

Friday afternoon Jessica and I went out to graduation at Saint George's School here in Spokane.  I used to work there, and she attended Kindergarten through 4th grade there as well.  I thought that she would be interested to see what is a very unique graduation ceremony, as well as to see some of her friends from her earliest days of school.  As it turned out, only six of the graduating twenty-eight had started with her.  A few others had started before she left, so we knew about ten of the class.  I'd witnessed several graduations during the time I worked there, but as I was working, I never observed one from start to finish, so it was in ways a first for me as well.  One of the more unusual things about graduation there is that the graduates do not where the traditional cap and gown.  Boys are in school blazers and girls in formal white dresses.  The faculty, however dresses in the traditional graduation attire.  The event takes place out of doors, with the graduates, the faculty and other official participants arriving to the sound of a Highland Pipe Band.  Because the classes are small, diplomas are not handed out like on an assembly line, but rather a little is said about each graduate in turn.  Then his/her diploma is handed to whomever he/she has selected to present it to him/her.  That or those individuals then present it to the graduate.

Following the ceremony, they have a reception at the Davenport House, which is the anchor of the site on which the school is located.  Jessica and I went up to that as well, although I remember that when I worked there, the maintenance crew would alway order pizza after stuff had been put away.  Jessica said she was somewhat bored by it all, and didn't remember that many of the teachers that had been there when she had been.  Yet most of them remembered us, including her kindergarten teacher!

In contrast, Jessica's own graduation on Saturday featured over 300 seniors from Shadle Park High School.  Because the classes are so large, Commencement can not be held at school, but is held at the INB Performing Arts Building in downtown Spokane.  Rather than having something unique to say about each graduate as diplomas are handed out, it's a production line process.  There's the individual leaving with his or her sheepskin, the one recieving it from the Principal, and the one whose name has been called, all on stage at the same time.  Within the next few seconds, the scene shifts as the next name is called.  Still the time taken to graduate 300 wasn't much different than the previous day's graduation of less than 30.

We didn't have any really big plans made to celebrate her graduation, so we simply went to the newly opened Red Lobster in the new Northtown Square.

I suppose that I should end now and get to printing out the stuff for the Econo-Run.  We are supposed to be gathering tomorrow night to assemble participants' registration packets, and most of what I'll print will be needed for those.

Dave