Retirement

June 30, 2013 was my last day as a teacher after 36 years of teaching. I began my teaching career at Hanna High School now renamed the John C. Charyk High School in Hanna, Alberta in 1976. My first paycheck for the first month of teaching was $1,500 which I thought was a princely sum. I lived in a one bedroom room in the cellar of a house owned by a railroad conductor named Albert Fano. The rent was $50 a month.  Albert would occassionally at least once a month get loaded to the gills in the evening and bark like a dog. I never knew that Albert never had a dog and never knew why the dog would start barking in the night. I guess Albert was a bit of an alcoholic and when he came back from a long trip on the train, he would sit on his couch and unwind with a couple of drinks and when he got loaded he would bark his head off like a dog. Whenever, I went to pay Albert the rent at the end of the month, I was always expecting to see the dog. A  few months later I inadvertently surprised Albert sitting on his living room couch with a drink in hand barking like a dog. I had knocked on his open back kitchen door to pay the rent and all I could hear was a dog barking every time I knocked. I proceeded cautiously through the kitchen and into the living room and there I found Albert barking.  Albert stated, " I guess you now have discovered the secret about my dog"?  I replied, " Well , Albert you certainly had me fooled because I thought there was a real dog in the house." " Here is the rent for the month Albert."  I stayed in that basement room for my first year and found a new place to live a block from the school. Before leaving, I gave Albert a twenty six of crown royal whiskey with my last rent check as a token of my appreciation for renting me his basement.  Albert was quite touched with the gift and said he would put it to good use.  I am quite sure it contained many dark barks once consumed. Since I have retired from teaching , I will have some time to reflect upon my teaching experiences . Hopefully, this will be one of many posts about my life as a teacher.   My next installment will relate how I just about blew up the school with hydrogen gas fire balloons during the Christmas concert.