Over the past couple of months I've had a number of interactions with former students. A fourth of July celebration with some of my first students, a bunch of dinners dinners and a couple of alumni events. It got me thinking that while I was the same person and same teacher for all of them, I was also a different person and teacher. We all evolve over time. One particular conversation made me think.

I spent last week in San Francisco. I didn't leave my heart there but the entire trip was indeed heartwarming. I was there with members of the Stuyvesant Alumni Association for a StuyCS/Tech meetup. As one might imagine, many tech inclined graduates from any school end up in the Bay Area and Stuy is no exception. Sure, the majority of StuyCS grads stay in New York and help drive New York's tech sector but plenty decid to "go west.

I usually listen to podcasts on my morning run. For the past couple of weeks I've been listening to 99% Invisible's series on The Power Broker, Robert Caro's incredible biography of Robert Moses. Arguably the best book on New York City not to mention urban planning and politics. Amazing book. I read it a few years ago, well, actually listened to it at the same time as Natan - our own personal father son book club.

I haven't blogged for a few weeks. Part of the reason is that I haven't felt that I've had too much to say. That's in part because it's summer time and in part because I'm no longer teaching so that means no new experiences with students, no new stories, and, at least right now, no new CS education adventures. Part of it could also just be that I'm following the trend - fewer CS Ed bloggers blogging less frequently.

Now that I'm not teaching CS every day, I find the desire to maybe write about some other things. I've still got a bunch of CS and education posts lined up, but for today, something different. I was out for my morning run a couple of days ago. I usually leave my apartment between 5:00 and 5:45, go to the Hudson River and run an out and back. It's still pretty quiet at that time.

It's been about a year since I taught my last class. I miss working with the kids and truth be told, I do miss working with other educators and tech professionals on programs, policy items and related but I don't miss any of the bureaucratic nonsense, policies made by people who don't know what they're doing, nor the record keeping, grading or paperwork. I spent the first few months in what I've been calling my retirement hibernation but more recently it's been time to emerge.

Time for another travel post. Figured that by posting here there's more permanence and search-ability than a Facebook or other post. So, Devorah and I are spending a few days in Philly. We started coming down here a year or so ago and this is our third trip. It's a nearby getaway from NYC and we've got friends here that we rarely get to see. Sports fans notwithstanding I'm surprised that Philly doesn't get more love from NYC people looking for relatively nearby travel.

As I mentioned in my CS-Ed Podcast post, yesterday was a washout. Seriously scary storms. We ended up spending the entire day in the hotel but was able to get to Middleton Place for dinner. The original plan was to do the entire plantation during the afternoon but that was a no go. Instead we got there a little before our reservation time which did let us wander the grounds a little before heading in to the restaurant.

We started day 2 with a walking tour. We've been using Free Tours by Foot or similar services. No fee or a small reservation fee up front and then pay what you want at the end. We generally haven't been disappointed and also generally end up tipping voluntarily about the same amount as what we'd pay for a pay up front tour. We walked around downtown getting more local and US history and learning about the city.

I read this morning that David Bouley has passed away at age 70. Bouley was an influential chef in New York city. A huge influence on the fine dining scene that has developed in the last few decades. Why am I, a retired computer science teacher writing about a decorated chef? As fate had it, there are some connections between David Bouley and Stuyvesant High School, specifically the new building, where I spent most of my career.