Education Reform

Enough about health reform. What about education reform? I've spent the last two months registering, enrolling, collecting birth certificates, phone numbers, and processing 100s of pounds of paperwork. All of which has nothing to do with education but everything to do with accountability of tax dollars, far too many of which are being spent to keep records of where the tax dollars are spent. Let's spend less money on stuff that "supports" education and more money on education.

When a kid turns 7 years old, she/he is given an "education credit card." The card has x number of hours of education time on it. All kids get the same number of hours. Schools are open 365 days a year with a staff of responsible adults 24/7. The adults are all volunteers from various professions and have been screened for a "mean teacher gene." If they have the "mean teacher gene" they are not allowed within 100 yards of the school. When kids enter a classroom, they swipe the card and the clock starts ticking. The card must be swiped each time kids take a bathroom, recess or meal break so as not to waste the education hours. Schools all have dorm facilities so that kids can go to school in other cities if they want to.

Schools aren't the only places that will accept the cards. Libraries, computer labs, museums, theatres, businesses, etc will all accept education hours for kids to serve internships. These places will be reimbursed by the government with "tax dollars." When a kid has learned all he/she wants to learn, she/he just checks out. They don't have to waste their time in places where they are not learning, they just leave.

When kids want to "graduate" they take comprehensive oral and written exams . They are given a certificate that relfects what they have learned. They can use these certificates when applying for jobs or for further education. If they earn a certifiate before they've used all of their education credits, they can use them toward earning another certificate.

If they want to drop out, they first have to earn a certificate of citizenship that allows them to vote.

Not My America Anymore? Thank God

I never watch Fox news. The only show I watch on Fox is Simpsons. I don't watch any other "news" talk shows either. I'm either bored to death or angry enough to throw a shoe through the TV. The only radio shows I listen to are on NPR. So, theoretically I shouldn't even know who Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck are, right? However, people are constantly quoting them in order to disagree with what they said. I really think people should totally shun them, an old fashioned shunning that borders on cruel and unusual punishment. Maybe then the sponsors would put their money on another show. Maybe a Simpson's spin off?

I do however watch The Daly Show and The Colbert Report. They don't hide their bias and every once in a while they are funny. They are clearly much more intellegent, or at least have more intellegent writers. I may get bored, but I never feel like throwing a shoe through the TV. Tonight they showed clips of "those guys" all saying, over and over and over again, "This isn't the America I grew up in." Glenn Beck was weepy with emotion. All I could do was yell at them, "Thank God this is not the America I grew up in." When I was a kid, President Kennedy, Rev. Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were assassinated. Segregation was the law of the land in some states and women were actively discouraged from competing with men for good paying jobs. When they did get a good paying job, they could be paid less and the employers could get away with it. There were still signs that read,"No dogs and no Indians," in some Western city establishments. The Internet was text files only and you still programmed them with punched cards. People like me couldn't rant about people we don't like ranting about people we do like.

So I say to you Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, and Sean Hannity. Thank God this is not the same America. It may not be better in all things, but in some significant ways it is better. What would really make it better is if someone pulled the plug on you guys.

Summer Time

Ok, picture the scene in The Birds when the ground is covered in birds and the people are moving slooooooooooowly and trying not to startle the birds into flight. Or picture the scene in Indiana Jones where Indy is dropped into a pit filled with snakes and he tries to walk cautiously so as not to step on or startle the snakes. Now picture my back yard and the minute you set foot off the porch you are surrounded by GRASSHOPPERS! You can't sneak around so they won't jump on you because they are everywhere! You can hear them clicking and clacking around. I haven't seen grasshoppers this numerous in many, many years.

On the upside. Our new windows are keeping the house much cooler than it is outside.

DeskTop

Here is my new desk. My friend and I put it together one day. Only had to take it apart 2-3 times before we got it right. I think I'll put a copy of this picture on my "desktop."

Making Hay

I got home from work today and saw that the field below us is being cut for hay. It's been years and years since that's been done. New owners, I guess. I used to hear the saying about Making Hay While the Sun Shines and I never completely understood it. I knew it meant you had to take advantage of favorable conditions, but I never quite made the connection to doing that to the exclusion of all else. I mean no matter what else you've got planned for the day, if the sun is shinning, you got to get out and cut the hay until the sun goes down. So take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way and don't put it off till the "next sunny day", there may not be another before the hay is useless.

Don't know what made me get all "preachy" here. But it was a pretty sight.

Pirate Treasure

I got a catalog with this picture on the cover. I'm guessing someone is wishing they'd picked a different theme for April.

Downsized

We originally got a TV dish antenna because we had no reception at all with just "rabbit ears." Then there were over a hundred channels, most of which were sports and no good to us, but it still seemed like a good deal because even watching a dozen of the hundreds availible was better than nothing at all. But for the past seveal months, I've noticed that whenever I'm in the mood to watch some TV, there's nothing on the schedule that looks worth watching, or worse, I know it's not worth watching because I've already seen it. Then once a month comes the bill. I'm paying THAT much and not enjoying it?????? So last weekend, I went online and "downsized" the TV package. We still get access to some news, the FOOD channel and the Science channel. It's only been a week, but so far what this has meant is a whole lot more time for video games while listening to NPR. Can't let the big screen TV go to waste, can I?? Who knows what I'll do with my time when I get tired of video games?

April 14

Saturdays

Why is it that when you have to be somewhere you're ambivalent about, like work or school, getting out of bed in the morning is put off until the last minute? I can remember waking up and realizing it was Saturday and leaping out of bed. Whereas on a school day, I had to be told to get up several times before I would even think about it. This morning, however, being a Saturday, finds me up early and checking the morning paper, having a bowl of Cheerios, and writing this blog while watching the non-threatening snow falling, and listening to NPR. (I hope pledge week is over, but I'm afraid it isn't.)

A snow storm was forecast for this weekend, so I made sure we had some milk and bread in case we got snowed it. I have a new book, a new video game and a pile of laundry to wash. I have made no plans for the weekend because we were going to get a couple feet of snow, but right now the snow is falling so slowly you could follow a single flake from the top of the window to the ground and time it, and it would take a minute and a half. It is so sparse that you have to look twice to be sure it is snowing.

What a let down. Like getting all dressed up and "no place to go." I feel like I should take advantage of the situation and do something productive, but I'm already set in my mind to make a "snow day" of it.

So I'm off to play Zelda:Legend of the Windwalker, followed by a few chapters of William Gibson's new book and a nap before I start the laundry.

Have a Good day, where ever you are.

Snow Day

Here is what the snow day looks like today. Looks kinda pretty actually. As long as you don't have to drive anywhere.

Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud !

It's been quite warm this last few days and the snow is melting on our red clay dirt road. Or should I more acuratly say, our red clay mud road. Having already had to pull me out of a snow bank this winter, my husband decided it would be prudent to just leave my car in town and drive me home in his Jeep. He's not quite sure that even his Jeep could pull me out of the muck that passses for a road this week. The ruts look like they are several feet deep, but I'm not going to measure them until they dry out.

I'll keep you posted.

Sad Day

It was snowing yesterday and I was supposed to go to the dentist later in the afternoon. Midmorning the snow was coming down pretty hard and had been all morning. A coworker came from working at one of the schools with the news that Larry's daughter had been killed on the divide in a car accident. I don't know the daughter, but I have worked with Larry for many years now. I had seen his daughter perform her Jingle Dress dance many times; she was a good dancer. Part of the dance is that the drummers will change the beat without warning and the dancer has to respond in midbeat to keep dancing. The drummers will end the song without warning and the dancer has to stop dancing with the last beat. She did. It takes nerves of steel, legs like pistons, and feet that can flirt with the beat. She had them all, and a father who never took his eyes off her when she danced.

After I heard the news, I cancelled my appointment. Hannah and 3 other young people in our community died on the roads yesterday. It was a sad day.

Sunday Roast

Part I
1. Sometime in the morning, put your family sized roast in a slow cooker.
2. Douse with Wostershire sauce.
3. Cook slowly for several hours.
4. Douse with favorite steak sauce.
5. Slow cook until you are hungry or it's dinner time.
6. Pour out the yummy juices from cooking, save for gravy.
7. Fix whatever else, smashed potatoes, veggies, etc.
8. Make yummy gravy.
9. Eat dinner

Part II
Throw all the leftovers into a caserole dish, add more gravy from a jar if necessary. Cover with biscuit topping and bake until all bubbly.

Part III
If there's any leftover caserole, take it to work for lunch.

Part IV
You may not get to part iv if you have a big family and a small roast. But if you have any left, you can slap it on a couple slices of bread and add favorite condiments.

Winter Blues(Blahs)

It has been snowing fitfully all week, like a baby who is crying for no good reason except that she's a baby and it's her right to cry. It's been snowing because it's winter and it's suppose to snow, but winter's heart just isn't in it this year. It is easily distracted by the sun and wind it's just muddy and cold. Maybe spring will take it more seriously.

As you can probably guess, not much is going on around here, not when all I can think of to write about is the weather. I did finish the taxes yesterday, got a good start on a new course catalog at work and almost finished my Lego Batman game, a game which I may never finish as only the tricksy things are left. Our elementary school was canceled for the week as they cleaned up after a fire in one of the rooms. No one was hurt and only one room was damaged in the fire, but the smoke was toxic and needed to be cleared out before kids returned. They should be able to come back tomorrow.

It has been a rather meloncholy week as I remembered my brother, Jimmy and found out that my dad had to make a very hard choice regarding "quality of life" choice that must have been very hard to make, and he had to make it alone.

Maybe there will be something "noteworthy" happening this week. I do have a dentist appointment on Friday. (yawn)

February 10

Guess who's older.

CARma

It's been a mild winter so far, and still is for that matter, but yesterday is not a day I'd care to repeat. It had snowed a little bit and then gotten warm and snow had melted and gotten icy. Our road to the highway is dirt and very steep. So it was no surprise to anyone when I spun on the ice and ended up in a little snow drift and a slight decline on the side of the road, within 20 feet of the highway of course. I was never in any danger or discomfort for that matter, it has been a mild winter. I called my husband from my cell phone and told him what had happened. While I was waiting for him, a high school boy driving a pick up truck stopped and asked if I had a chain so he could help pull me out. I told him, "Thanks, but my husband is on the way." Then my husband showed up with the jeep and a tow rope. While he was attaching ropes and developing a strategy our neighbor and his wife drove by and stopped to offer help. He went home to get his "Ranger" that had a winch. Together they still couldn't pull me out. I think I was high centered. While they were discussing alternative strategies, a man my husband works with stopped by on his way to work to see what was going on and thought maybe he could give a push while they pulled. The end of the story is that they got me out OK and every one got to work a little late, but safe and unharmed. And I guess it wasn't such a bad day for me. I've got backup when I need it.

Happy Anniversary to US!

Here's to 29 years! We got these cool mugs for Christmas. The spoons fit righ in the handles and there is a built in coster made of silicon so you can put the mugs down on your coffee table without worrying about scortch marks.

Happy New Year

Hope this year is a least as good as last year. Two new, healthy GIRL relatives!! What could top that?