hitting a parked car

Alright. I know, I fell off the face of the earth. Ok, maybe not, but it is quite a tempting offer.

I, personally, have returned home safely from Ohio. All was well in the traveling aspect. What I found when I returned back to Phoenix was quite a different story.

It was a dark and stormy night .... ok, it was only drizzling when I returned, but it was dark nonetheless. I needed to head out to the grocery store, so I hopped in my car, only to have it sound something to the effect of a metal baseball bat hitting my car. Alarmed, I assessed the situation only to find that my car had been hit. Yes, someone hit a parked car. And that car was mine.

Using my stellar physics skills, as well as my logic skills, I deduced that the culprit must have come from the house across the street and to the left of us, and it also had to have been a truck because of how high the dent (or crag mire as I like to call it) is on my car. In the heat of the moment, I charged across the street and knocked on the door of our neighbor's.

Now, these folks didn't live in the house before I left for Cleveland, so I had never met them. But, making an assumption based on the ethnicity of the rest of our neighborhood, I figured the chances of them being Mexican were high. (I was right). To no surprise of mine, our neighbors "didn't see no-ssing." Yes, just as I would have thought.

So there is no one to take responsibility for my damaged car. I'm in the process of figuring out insurance stuff, and how much it will cost to repair the damages. I do fear, however, it will be costly.

[As it turns out, both of my roommates had seen the damage, and neither though to call me whilst I was vacationing. The one apologized profusely, the other tried to blame the apologetic one. This enraged me even further.]

In my rage and frustration, I swore leave at the end of this school year to return back to Ohio, where people have car insurance and apparently, souls.

Upon further thinking, and having calmed down, I weighed the pros and cons. And as it stands, I'm 90% sure I will return to Ohio at the end of this school year. There are myriad of reasons for my decision, and relatively speaking, the car business is pretty low on the list.

Arizona is a really hard state to teach in. I might as well be teaching in Mexico. It's like a third-world country (yes, I realize that Mexico is indeed not a third-world country). I'm currently teaching on a provisional license, and in order to remain a teacher in Arizona I have to do the following, in no particular order:

• Take the AEPA (which is Arizona's own spin on the PRAXIS, which I have already taken, which the rest of the modern world accepts, which I have already paid $200, which I have already passed).
• Earn 45 hours of Structured English Immersion credits. I do this through any of the local colleges and universities. I also pay for this, which is approximately $125 a credit hour.
• Take a class and pass a test on the Arizona Constitution and the United States Constitution. These are two separate classes and cannot be taken simultaneously. This will also be to the tune of $125 a credit hour.
• Sell my soul to the Devil.

Or, I can return to Cleveland, try and find a job, and teach for free, because I already have an Ohio license. Granted, I will need to pass the PRAXIS III, which will cost some monies, but I'm not too concerned about the ordeal. In fact, I think that teaching in this hell-hole of a state has made me a better teacher (really, teaching in my kitchen would have made me a better teacher, because I knew nothing going into this).

Also, with the arrival of Baby Brown (who is a boy) in late May, I feel like I need to be in Ohio for my family. If not in Ohio, somewhere in the surrounding area ... I'd say within a 5-8 hour driving distance. Not 3 days.