On math

I'm reviewing math for the GRE and having 8th grade flashbacks. In 8th grade I was in honors algebra with Mr. Croone. The problem was that we spent most of the year on factoring. Apparently a bunch of people in the class didn't get it, so Mr. Croone continued to teach the same material forever. The good news is that I can factor equations in my head automatically some of the time. The bad news is that when I arrived in 9th grade honors math, the teacher started the year by saying:

"Last year you learned that..." Nope.

"You'll recall from last year..." Uh, no. We just learned how to factor in our sleep.

So that was the end of honors math for me, and pretty much everyone else who had Mr. Croone.

Incidentally, it was the same 8th grade math class where I met Kevin. Since we both understood factoring, we'd sit in the back, goof off and punch each other. He was a sweet kid and funny as hell. He later went to the Gulf and lost his marbles, came home and killed a woman with a screwdriver to the eye. I guess while we were teasing each other during Mr. Croone's class, he had some really heinous stuff going on at home. I would have never guessed.