A View from the Now-Retired Principal's Seat

Do you remember Cheers ?  It was a popular sitcom on television in the 1980s about the exploits of a retired baseball player-turned bar owner-in Boston and his employees, friends, and customers.  While I'm not condoning drinking ina bar, the theme song was entitled, "Where Everybody Knows Your Name."  You can listen to the theme here . I always liked that song.  Everyone should have a place to get away--where everybody knows your name.  You should feel comfortable and welcomed--where everybody knows your name.  You should be able to be yourself-where everybody knows your name.  It's a nice idea. We live near a large grocery store which was built about the time our now teenage daughters were born.  Grocery shopping is not one of my favorite activities.  I keep going back to that store, however, because people know me there.  In fact, one of the employees, Denise, always asks about our daughters and marvels at how much they've...

"Dad!  Something's wrong with the dishwasher." "What's wrong?" "The little wheelie thing falls off each time the big rack slides out." "You mean one of the wheels that guides the top rack is broken?" "I guess so.  It doesn't look right, and the rack keeps falling down on the floor.  How are we going to wash the dishes?" You guessed it.  Our family's dishwasher broke about three weeks ago.  Our daughter discovered that one of the wheels that guides the top rack was cracked and falling off.  This resulted in the top rack not sliding in or out.  After reminding our girls that humans have washed dishes by hand for generations prior to the invention of the dishwasher, I decided to take a look. First, I noticed the plastic clip that held the wheel was broken off.  It wasn't something I could fix, but I could order a replacement piece and repair everything myself. Once the replacement parts arrived, I was qui...