Archive for January 3rd, 2007

Ain’t That a Kick in the Teeth

Posted January 3, 2007 By Dave Thomer

In a column published this morning about Allen Iverson’s feelings about being traded from the Philadelphia 76ers, Inquirer columnist David Aldridge drew on his experience of being let go from ESPN:

Anyone who’s been fired, or laid off, or taken “early retirement,” or gotten the Ziggy, to quote Dick Vitale, or whatever euphemism is used, should understand the anger in Iverson, no matter the $17 million he’s getting, the way that being dispatched twists the good memories into unrecognizable mush and pushes the bad ones to the front.

I remember it as if it were yesterday. Remember what I had for breakfast, what I was wearing, and the absolute shock that went through my brain when told my services no longer were required. It must have been what fighters go through in the seconds after a KO. And the numbness that lasted for days, weeks.

David Aldridge was one of 68 people laid off from the Inquirer last night/this morning. I doubt it’s any easier this time.

Filed in Culture and Media

Back on the Bicycle

Posted January 3, 2007 By Dave Thomer

If anyone’s still reading this blog, it’s obvious I fell off the face of the Net for a while there. I started living the life of a part-time college instructor, teaching courses at two area universities. It was overall a good experience, and confirmed for me that overall, I really do like the whole teaching thing. I’m just hoping for a more stable professional situation in which to do it. 🙂 Partially to that end, I’m going back to school myself this semester – I’ll start working on getting my certification to teach at the high school level. This will either drive me crazy or allow me to fill some holes in my background. We shall see.

I’m also trying to get back on the blogging bike as well. I’m hoping that the new Congress will provide some opportunitiesd to talk about actual good policy proposals. We shall see. And in Pennsylvania, the state House is providing all kinds of entertainment that has me once again wondering if maybe we should give the whole proportional representation thing a try.

Filed in Life in Practice