Category: Misc.

Mr. Zablo Day

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As many ZONErs are aware, I’m a high school assistant principal. Years ago, I decided that I would simplify my life by wearing dark pants, a white dress shirt and a tie [usually colorful] to work daily. By doing that I didn’t have to worry about matching colors. or when I wore that shirt last, etc. Dark pants, a white dress shirt and a tie became my uniform of sorts.

Today when I went to work I discovered that MANY of our teachers, administrators, guidance counselors, office specialists and students were dressed like me. In honor of my 50th birthday, it was “Dress as Mr. Zablo Day.” At lunch many of those, but unfortunately not all, who participated got together for a picture. It was a fun day — how could it not be when you get birthday cards, gifts, baked goods and people dressing up like you? — and a birthday I’ll never forget.

Jack Lord Ain’t Got Nothin’ on Me!

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Today’s my birthday. It’s a milestone. My 50th. The Big Five-Oh.

Normally, I would write something like I don’t feel fifty years old [I don’t], or that you’re only as old as you feel [a cliche that I believe] or that age is just a number [another cliche], but I don’t think I’ll resort to that today.

Instead I think I’ll just show some maturity and say, “Hey!! Where are my presents???”

Time Out

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I try to keep my ZONE posts geared to fun stuff [movies, television, novels, comic books, art, etc.]. For this post, I’m going to make an exception and write briefly about something out of the norm.

On Friday evening, one of my students who plays on our high school football team suffered a terrible injury. His neck was broken while making a tackle. He was rushed to the hospital and surgery started late that evening and went into the early hours of the next day. His mother, little brother and a couple of close friends were joined by the head football coach, the head and assistant basketball coaches, our athletic trainer, our principal and me. As the minutes slowly ticked off and the surgery continued, his older brother [he’s going to college out of town], a few more close friends and a former football coach arrived. At about 1:30AM, a doctor came out and said that surgery was going well, that all signs were good and they’d be operating for another hour or so. After surgery, the student was admitted to the hospital.

This morning all signs continue to be good. The student has full use of his arms and legs. He still has a ways to go to be fully healed, but the worst should be over.

The reason that I wanted to post about this is that sometimes we forget about what’s really important in life. We also forget about how quickly events can change, sometimes forever. It shouldn’t take a catastrophic accident to remind us of what’s important… to let those we care about know it… to appreciate the blessings that we have.

Maybe it can be something as simple as a blog post.

What’s the Worst That Can Happen?

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“What’s the worst that can happen?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe it’ll create a black hole that will devour our planet.”Does that sound like bad science fiction? It’s not.

Scientists disagree about what will happen when the world’s largest atom-smasher fires up for the first time. Most think that it’s perfectly safe and may give an indication of what conditions were present at the time the universe was created. A few men of science, however, believe that the process will create tiny black holes that will grow increasingly larger as they consume the Earth. These men even tried to get a court order to stop the experiment from going forward!

A tip of the brainiac covering to Jeff Parker for the original link.

Weather Report Anyone?

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It’s good that I didn’t bet that things would be back to normal tomorrow. Compare the map from 11am in the post below and the one above from 5pm and you can see the problem. Tropical Storm Fay is hardly moving. Who would have thought that this blog would turn into a weather report? Yeesh.


Word at 2pm was that schools would open tomorrow. Teachers, administrators and support staff would arrive on time and prepare for the students who’d come in one hour later. At 6pm a new notice came through. School tomorrow was cancelled due to flooding, winds and above average rain everywhere.

I still think that tomorrow I’ll go in and get some work done. Then again, maybe I shouldn’t plan so far ahead. If we’ve learned only one thing with this weather it’s that projections, predictions and plans seldom work out.

Fay Decided to Stay

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On Monday we received word that the Daytona Beach area was in the direct path of Tropical Storm Fay. At that time, it was projected that Fay would come across the state at tropical storm strength, hit our area at about 2am Wednesday morning and then head out to sea.

Tuesday morning I went in to work to assist in running a special needs shelter. Schools and many businesses closed in anticipation of the high winds and rain. Tropical Storm Fay changed paths. Because of the storm shift our area didn’t get near the winds or rain predicted. Our shelter closed down at 2:30pm and we were sent home. Those who had come for shelter had the option to go to another shelter.

It was then projected that Fay would cut across the state, head out to sea and then double back slamming into our area at about 8am Wednesday. But that’s not what happened. Instead Fay slowed down and didn’t move for hours. She just kept dumping rain and wind. News reports came in from areas south of us that homes were being flooded, streets washed out and that people should not go out unless absolutely necessary. The local news warned to be careful of snakes and alligators that could be in newly flooded areas. Schools and many businesses opted to close down for Thursday. At 10pm Wednesday evening, I received a call that we might have to go back and open up the shelter at midnight. Fortunately, the call never came [which means the current shelters were able to handle the people in need].

So here it is 11:50 on Thursday morning. The prediction is that Tropical Storm Fay will be out of our area by Friday morning. If that’s the case then things will pretty much back to normal tomorrow. Since Fay has yet to follow her projected path and timeline, I’m not betting on it.

Fay Just Teased Us… So Far

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The diagram above shows the projected path that tropical storm Fay is expected to follow for the next few days. How accurate it is, is hard to say. Fay was supposed to come through the Daytona Beach area starting tonight and hit hardest around 2am. Before that ever happened she shifted and headed out towards sea. As you can see now, Fay is projected to double back and land further up the coast. We’ll find out tonight if schools will be in session tomorrow. We’re still supposed to have high winds and rain through Wednesday.

Oh, if you’re wondering how the day at the shelter went, it was pretty uneventful. We opened on time at 10am. Usually, when we open a shelter, there are bunches of people waiting to get in. Not today. The first person didn’t arrive until almost eleven. At 12:30, only six people had come in. At 2:30pm we were closed down and people who still wanted shelter were sent to a new location. So the end result was no injuries, no property damage and only one story. [One of the people who came to the shelter ended up getting arrested. When the man signed in, a Deputy ran his name and it turned out he was wanted on an outstanding warrant.] My guess, is the man won’t be worried about shelter for a while.

Fay is Gonna Smack Us

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Four years ago three hurricanes struck the Daytona Beach area in just over a month’s time. Try calculating the odds of that. For each of the hurricanes I spent time working at a special needs shelter. The stories I can tell. On a personal level, although we were left without power during each storm [and once for a five day stretch] no one in the family was hurt and property damage was minor.

Tomorrow morning I’ll go in to work at another special needs shelter. You see we’re directly in the path of Tropical Storm Fay. I’m planning to be there for at least two days [hopefully the shelter won’t be needed longer]. If we’re lucky, no one will be injured, property damage will be nil and I’ll come out with a good story or two.

UFOs, Aliens & Big Foot

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According to an article, tests on hairs said to be from a Yeti in India have failed to link the strands with any known species! Boy, how many times have we heard something similar only to be let down later? The results end up being: it was a prank, the hairs/photos/sound recordings/etc. turned out to be an ape, a bear, a man in a funny suit.Arrrgh!

When I read articles like the one linked above I feel like Charlie Brown being coaxed by Lucy to come kick the football. Charlie Brown knows that every time he gives it a go, she yanks the ball away and he ends up falling down. He’s always left disappointed… yet he’s always willing to try it again. Every time I read one of these type articles [UFOs, big foot, aliens, paranormal events, etc.], I know that the football is going to be yanked away. I’ll end up disappointed…

Then before too long, like Charlie Brown, I’ll hear the call to give it another go…

The Interman, the Hellboy, the Lucky Man, the Miracle Man, and Seahorses

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Jeff Parker’s The Interman rocks. It is one of the most intelligently written graphic novels that I’ve ever had the pleasure of reading. Check it out. I’ll bet you’ll like it too!

CHUD has a nice interview with Ron “Hellboy” Perlman. Now, this is a comic movie that I can get behind!

Ashton Kutcher must be living right. He co-stars in “That 70’s Show,” hosts MTV’s “Punk’d.” is up against Prince William in an online vote for People magazine’s top bachelor of the year, and is dating Demi Moore. Wouldn’t you think that dating Demi Moore would be enough?

A woman has claimed that Ozzy Osburne is the father of her six year old child. I guess she didn’t know that Ozzy he had a vasectomy 17 years ago.

Seahorses are their own worst enemy. They’ve been fished to the point of extinction, yet they mate for life and their unwillingness to seek new partners after being separated has done little to improve their chances of survival. Seems the seahorses don’t believe until “death do us part.”