English Teacher Jordan Last Night Dream

I dreamed last night I was a student in ninth grade. One of my afternoon classes was in a bank. I didn't know the subject. My desk was a table where customers fill out either deposit slips or withdrawal slips located at the center. The size of the desk was small. The bank setting was a dark 1980s style. I conversed with students talking gossip when class was over. I rushed out of the bank when the bell for the final class of the day rang.

I arrived late for English I. There was an exam on the book To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The class was in the guest room of my house. The hallway light outside the guest room was the only light source. Half of the guest room was in the dark. English instructor Mr. Jordan was angry before I arrived. I picked up the exam at his desk located in the front of the classroom. I walked to the right side completing the exam in the dark.

The timed exam was difficult. I didn't prepare. Filling out my name was cryptic. Additional information was required to identify the exam paper. The exam questions were true or false and fill in the blank composed of multiple sentences and multiple blanks per paragraph. Mr. Jordan collected all exams at time expired. Almost all of the students did poorly from our reactions. Ironically, To Kill A Mockingbird is my all-time favorite fiction book.

Mr. Jordan taught a brief lesson after the exam. Another student passed around an unverified document showing Mr. Jordan's assigned books. The student likely hacked in the school computer system to print out the document. I received the document from a student behind me. I passed the document to a student in front of me. The too honest student got up from desk to hand the document to Mr. Jordan. He was furious. I woke up.

Shelter In-Place COVID-19 Blog February 2026

California issued shelter in-place orders on Tue Mar 17, 2020. I have been logging the highlights and lowlights. More measles news headlines. Less COVID-19 news headlines. 2026 Winter Olympics Milan Cortina, Epstein Files, and I.C.E. dominated the news headlines. Feb was the opposite of Jan. The month started fast which slowed down during the last two weeks. The Feb Shelter In-Place is the shortest blog.

Fri Feb 6. Shopped at Safeway, Smart & Final, and Lucky.

Sat Feb 7. Went to the West Valley Library book sale. Shopped at Costco.

Sun Feb 8. Super Bowl LX.

Tue Feb 10. Shopped at Lucky and Smart & Final.

Thur Feb 19. Ran errands at the post office, bank, and Safeway.

Bio N Tech filed a lawsuit suing Moderna for patent infringement. The lawsuit alleges Moderna's mNEXSPIKE COVID-19 vaccine violated Bio N Tech's messenger RNA vaccine design. There is a 2022 ongoing lawsuit Moderna sued Bio N Tech and Pfizer for patent infringement over Comirnaty.

Sat Feb 21. Shopped at Mitsuwa.

Sun Feb 22. Shopped at Smart & Final first thing in the morning.

Fri Feb 27. The United States attacked Iran.

Throwback Blog: Higher Priority Job Hiring And Higher Weight Job Hiring

Blogger's Note: Throwback blogs are blogs from my past. I start posting past blogs reflecting what I wrote. It's like my "A Second Look" blogs for which I give myself feedback.

Today's throwback blog is titled Higher Priority Job Hiring And Higher Weight Job Hiring written on Sep 10, 2017. The job hiring system is different in today's Information Age compared to past generations Generation X and Generation Y or Millennials. A nice job candidate with the attitude to learn is not going to be hired. I speak from experience many retail jobs the job candidate with good customer service experience only is not enough.

Discrimination was in the past yesterday. Discrimination is present today. The conversation on artificial intelligence eliminating jobs is rarely talked about in parties.

A casual conversation rarely talked about is the number of unemployed people. The number has been increasing. High school graduates, college graduates, recent laid-off workers, and long-term laid-off workers. The number of available workers is greater than the number of job openings. Job opportunities are few. People looking for jobs are many. More people are going to fail through no fault of their own.

A bottom line is high school students and/or college students who want a career in *fill in the blank* should have started training yesterday. The probability of finding a job increases the earlier the job candidate learns.

The old days a job candidate's desire, motivation, learning attitude, good communication skills, and friendliness were top qualities. They were the highest priorities. They weigh more. A job candidate's recent experience and relevant knowledge are top qualities today. The job hiring system today values the old days' qualities at the lower priority. The old days' qualities weigh less. Discrimination? My answer is yes. Discrimination has been happening for decades.

Moreover, managers and senior workers who "don't have time to train" prefer new hires with recent experience and relevant knowledge. What about your children when they're job searching after completing their education? Most of they can't find jobs because they don't have recent experience and relevant knowledge. Their potential managers and senior workers "don't have time to train." Managers and senior workers better train your children to avoid being discriminated like you're doing to job candidates who need a break.

I understand a common life quote "what goes around comes around." I also understand better some long-term unemployed quit job searching. Artificial Intelligence eliminates more jobs as time moves forward, anyways.

The job search system must be blamed. The job hiring process must be blamed. Some recruiters calling prospective candidates either don't read their resumes or don't understand their resumes content. They see key words on their resumes. They call the candidates or they email spam the candidates. Sometimes the calls or emails spam job openings are out of their metropolitan area. These recruiters are outside the United States almost all of the time.

It's very rare to find the 100% perfect job candidate. Most hiring managers believe their dreams come true. I see job openings. Time passes. I see the same job openings again as if the hiring manger rejected all of the potential job candidates. It happens to me when I reach the interview stage. Blame the system. Blame the process.

Knowledge For Strength

A more accurate title for today's blog is, "I take knowledge for $2,000, Ken." Any knowledge can open doors. The doors can be new job opportunities, new hobbies, meet new people, earn money, and save money. The knowledge for strength isn't necessarily physical strength; although, more knowledge on gym workouts can increase physical workouts. A common wisdom is, "A little knowledge is better than a lot of ignorance."

White collar people can learn blue collar knowledge. Learn cooking. Sew a button. Change the motor oil for an automobile. Diagnose a leaky toilet. Paint a room.

Blue collar people can learn white collar knowledge. Learn basic Excel spreadsheets. Keep up with financial headlines. Understand income taxes. Upgrade from basic computer skills to intermediate computer skills such as memorizing hotkeys and shortcuts for an operating system.

It takes motivation to gain knowledge; on the other hand, it doesn't take knowledge to gain motivation. The examples I mentioned above I completed them. I performed the words with action. I'm one step closer to become a self-trained genius.

The Last Best Year 1999 Or 2007?

I'm an unprofessional anthropologist. I'm an unprofessional historian. I unprofessionally answer the question is either 1999 or 2007 the last best year? Here is a quick history of 1999 and 2007.

1999: NASA launched the Mars Polar Lander, President Bill Clinton was not convicted of impeachment, Denver Broncos won the Super Bowl, a hot air balloon circumnavigated planet Earth, Shakespeare In Love won Best Picture, the Melissa worm attacked the internet, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 10,000 and 11,000 for the first time, Kosovo War ended, Columbine High School shooting in Colorado, Napster was created, USA defeated China in the FIFA Women's World Cup, multiple earthquakes in Turkey, New York Yankees won the World Series, Exxon and Mobile merged, and Russian President Boris Yeltsin resigned.

2007: iPhone debuted, Indianapolis Colts won the Super Bowl, Virginia Tech shooting killed 32 students, Nancy Pelosi became the first female speaker of the USA House of Representatives, British Prime Minister Tony Blair resigned, Bob Barker retired as host of The Price Is Right, European heat wave, The Departed won Best Picture, the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed above 13,000 and 14,000 for the first time, San Francisco Giants Barry Bonds became the all time home runs leader, Southern California wildfires destroyed 1,600 structures, Boston Red Sox won the World Series, and Writers Guild Of America went on strike.

A criteria for the last best year is the highest number of winners. Success is maximized. The winners and the success are measured on a global scale. The chances people become instant winners are high just by participating. People apply for jobs, interview for jobs, and hire for jobs. Colleges accept many students. There are plenty of acceptances to programs. Consumers purchase homes, cars, and long-term durable goods. Banks give loans to entrepreneurs.

More opportunities. More openings. High enrollments. There are plenty of pie slices for everyone. Spend here, invest there, and gamble or bet on the opportunity. Reduce savings to earn more money. Money is plentiful attributed to the central banks such as the Federal Reserve, Bank Of England, Bank Of Japan, Bank Of Canada, European Central Bank, People's Bank of China, and the World Bank.

The above happened in both 1999 and 2007. An economic catastrophe happened their following years. The dot-com bubble burst in 2000 resulted in a recession. The real estate bubble burst in 2008 resulted in The Great Recession. Maybe 2019 was the last best year. The COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020 resulted in a recession and an inflation.

What is the last best year for the world? There are multiple answers and explanations because they depend on the perspectives.

Update On A Past Blog

I want to add two more bad advice, bad lessons, or bad teachings to the Top Ten Bad Advice, Bad Lessons, Or Bad Teachings blog written on Wed Feb 4, 2026. The first is calling out my parents. I connect the dots backwards as I age. I acquire more knowledge, more wisdom, and more experience. The three convince me my parents gave me bad advice, bad lessons, or bad teachings. Do they mean well for which they didn't want me to be a bad adult? Yes. Do they try to be the best parents they can be? No. I forgave them decades ago on the day I realized I must grow up on Sat Oct 4, 2008.

The second is learning Riichi or Japanese Mahjong. I quit learning Riichi in 2007. I'm lucky I relearned Riichi in 2009. The reasons I quit Riichi in 2007 were bad lessons and bad resources. The books I read were terrible. The online resources were confusing. Fortunately, there are more good books and better online resources today. I consider myself an advanced level Riichi player.

A Full Time Job For Children

My parents are neither the best parents nor the worst parents. If they teach me one lesson, then they teach me to learn. My full time job was to learn as a child. What did I learn? Read, walk, talk, smile, computers, write, . . . . The two-word answer was learn everything. If I must self-learn, then I self-learn. Unfortunately, my parents are terrible teachers.

I failed to learn when I was a child. My parents failed to teach me when I was a child. They did not teach me their if. My childhood was too much fun, too little learning, and too easy childhood. Fortunately, I realized the mistakes decades later as an adult. I taught myself my if--self-learn. I started catching up when I missed when I realized I must grow up on Sat Oct 4, 2008. The catching up continues today. I learn job skills. I learn life skills. I'm the most physical fitness shape. My emotions are stable. I sleep eight hours a night. I get it. I understand it.

A child's full time job is to learn.

Update On A Past Blog

I wrote a blog Some Parents Can't Teach Their Children on Nov 15, 2022 explaining why my parents are poor teachers. I said they're embarrassed of their lack of knowledge, ashamed of their ignorance, and lazy they don't want to learn what they don't know.

I elaborated my too much fun childhood A Childhood Lowlight written on Oct 23, 2011. One can say too much fun is boring because fun can be an addiction. A fun activity can be boring or dissatisfying leads to another fun activity to compensate for the previous fun activity. Repeat multiple times. Repeating fun multiply times results in fun addiction. I incorrectly occupied my childhood time with too much fun; in particular, summer vacations were playing toys, playing video games, and watching TV.

Some Endings Are A Relief

I remember my junior year and senior year attending San Jose State University. I felt relief when I completed my last final exam of the semester. The relief feeling was the same for a good semester and for a bad semester. All semester obligations completed. The stress was removed. The tension was gone. The brain relaxed. Freedom. My post-semester activity was shopping later in the day after the last final. In particular, I completed my Christmas shopping after the fall semesters. The mandatory stores were Valley Fair shopping mall in Santa Clara, CA; Fry's Electronics; and Barnes & Noble.

There was no post-quarter activity after I completed a quarter when I went back to school at De Anza College. There was no relief. There was no post-quarter activity. Stress and tension were mild compared to San Jose State University. I was in my mid 30's with life experience, maturity, and not repeating my mistakes as a second-time college student.

I digress. The end eventually happens. It's over. Finish. Complete. Victory or defeat. Win or loss. It's the end. Take time off. Stop. Take a breath. Evaluate. Debrief. Reflect. Think of the positives. Think of the negatives. Strengthen the accomplishments. Correct the mistakes. Resume life or continue living life when the break is over. It's the life system.