local election highlights....

Aren't people funny? 9/10th's of the year they would kill to give you their opinion on politics and the like, and yet come election time you can't find anyone willing to put his money where his mouth is and actually vote. More importantly, and I know I'm asking an awful lot of this apathetic society, but I'd like to see someone with an INFORMED opinion, someone who has actually taken the time to study the issues from all sides, vote. Way too many just spout off at the mouth without taking the time to understand the issues involved.
Yeah, I can be guilty of it at times--most people I know do that once in a while. But I DO vote, and I do try to look at all sides of the issues. I also try to be openminded about different candidates, but quite honestly, sometimes it's way too much like the hiring process we go thru at work. Look at application, interview subject, who has all the right answers, hire them and then find out that they can't or most likely won't do the work required. Only with a normal new hire, we usually figure this out in a matter of days and can remedy the situation, but it seems like when it comes to politicians, people never learn. We just, as a general rule, keep "hiring" the same imcompetence over and over and over again---50+years later we may get a glimpse of the incompetence, but by then it's too late--he's already stolen--I mean spent--OUR hard earned money for his pet projects......
As Earl Pitts would say,"WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!!"

just a note...

To the lady who posted 2 short comments on last night's entry about my kid----sorry about not posting your comments, but I wasn't sure at all who you were. It may sound funny on the WWW, but I try to be a little cautious b/c of my kids--my brother is a self taught computer geek (by his own description) and I hear horror stories sometimes. Thank you for your interest in my post, and no, I forgot my camera. Not that it matters, because no matter where I sit in the auditorium, he is always seated just where I can't get a good photo of him. Last night was not much different.
But I try to look at it this way----I paid a lot more attention to the music instead of trying to get a good shot of him playing.
And they drowned out the volleyball game across the hall in the gym!!!!

proud mama

Once again I have had the opportunity to see one of my kids perform in public. My 9th grader is in the high school orchestra and they had a concert tonight. A short one, but the pieces they performed were decently complicated. And I have to take my hat off to my kid---all the ranting I do about not practicing--he apparently does at some point because he was right on target. I hope to see him continue in strings--he plays violin, at first by default because we had access to a free instrument(my brother's), but then by pure desire. I would like to see him come out as the leader who sets the tune and key for the rest to match--1st chair, 1st violin. He has the goal this year of joining the TriState Youth Orchestra, and also doing All County for the 4th year running and going on to AllState. Lord, give me strength--and an understanding boss!!!

And just for the record...

If you are going to pull out in front of me when it is obvious that I am going the posted speed limit and am bearing down on your intersection, at least put the pedal to the metal and give it the gas. And don't pull off at the next intersection unless you want my horn in your ear. And don't pass me by not even clearing my front bumper before you pull in front of me----don't they teach assured clear distance in driver's ed anymore? I don't pull out in front of anyone whose speed I can't judge accurately. I would rather be behind them than crumpled up in front of them. And I make sure that when I am passing someone that I can see the whole front end of their vehicle in my rear view mirror--as a minimum standard for pulling back in front of them--and I give semi drivers even more room before I pull in front of them.
Do unto others.........

The longer I live....

The stupider people get. Maybe not stupider, per se, but at least more lacking in common sense. Like the guy who called our store yesterday to complain that the guy who delivered his furniture didn't set it up and haul away the old, and he wasn't going to pay him the delivery fee. His wife had neglected to tell him that it was delivery only. Now wouldn't you at least check with the one who BOUGHT the furniture to see what the deal was before calling the store and spouting off at the top of your lungs? I would. Mainly to keep myself from looking that ignorant. Seems to me the issue should have been with his spouse, not with the delivery guy, who is very clear that he just takes the items from point A to point B. He'll tell you that, we'll tell you that.
Then for the rest all you have to do is read the local newsrag. Tragic fire kills a kid, after another kids plays with matches and CIGARETTE and sets the room on fire. And the debate is whether or not the local FD took a minute too long in getting there? What about where was the adult supervision? My 4 yr old is real good about flying under my radar when she wants to, therefore I have to keep a little more of an eye on her to keep her from doing something that may hurt herself. All it takes is a few seconds and tragedy can happen. But any parent worth their salt knows that when kids get a little too quiet for a little too long, they are either asleep or up to something--or they have learned the power of quiet play. At any rate, it's worth checking out, even if all that happens is that their ingenuity brings a smile to your face. At best, you could save one of their little lives and maybe your own, depending upon what is going on.
And did anyone bother to mention that, just maybe, the reason the FD might have been delayed in getting there was maybe traffic didn't move over to let them through, or maybe there wasn't the minimum number of firefighters at the house and they had to get them there? I have worked in that part of town, and I have seen the FD have to wait while traffic decides to let them through. Which for those of you who don't see the point--in every state in this country, you must, as is mandated by law, MOVE OVER for emergency vehicles, when their lights and sirens are on. I also know that on slow days , the firefighters get out in the community to eat and shop and maintain community relations. At all times, they walk, so that they can only be a minute or two from being back at the station when needed. I haven't seen a lazy one among the bunch yet at that location.

who needs e-harmony?

I think I have seen/heard way too many ads for e-harmony--that mate-finding website with the big compatability quiz. I'm glad I didn't need it. I found my husband on Yahoo Personals. And no I was not looking for easy sex. All I wanted, and I was very specific about this in my ad, was an adult of the opposite gender to occasionally go out to dinner with, and maybe a movie now and then. An opportunity for adult, non-Barney the purple dinosaur conversation with someone besides my parents (love you guys to death, but......). His ad was basically the same. He happened to answer mine first, after we each had a few false starts in dating others after our respective divorces---which just for honesty's sake, yes we instigated our divorce actions against our ex's after they refused to change the behaviors that were harming the marriage, and no we did not meet each other or even think about being with someone else until after our divorces were final. Yahoo was free, so was Messenger and email, and we set the boundaries we were comfortable with--which were basically my boundaries and were pretty strict. It turned out that we lived about 5 miles apart, and had I not changed schools in 7th grade, we would have attended the same high school and graduated just a year apart. Of course, like I have told him, my folks wouldn't have let him near me in high school---I was the good girl with the good grades and high ambitions for my future, and my folks wouldn't have considered him to "fit the bill" of the kind of guy I should date. Not that it would have been the first time I dated someone they may not have approved of, but by then I was an adult.
Anyway, we emailed and IM'd and later phoned each other and then met in a very public place. We don;t agree on 100% of everything, but then again I think that would make for a very boring relationship. The biggest thing we agree on is to respect each other's opinions, and not make the other feel foolish or afraid to voice our opinions. We agree on most things political and religious, somewhat less on child rearing and discipline, but not to the point where we fight about it--we back each other up and then take the discussion on what we disagree on to a private area away from the kids so we can present a united front. Sometimes we disagree on what is a priority in our household or relationship, but we can discuss it rationally most of the time, and when we can;t, we take a cooling off period or go ahead and get it out of our systems and then make up.
When two people are rational adults, who needs a compatibility test? Isn't that just so high-school?

and don't get me started......

Ok, so I'm driving home from work the other night, out the 2 lane state highway I have to take to get home, and some ***hole climbs up my rear end from the time I hit the road until the first passing zone---and as I am doing 55-60 at that point (Yes, Dad, I know what you are going to say about that), I didn't think he was going to blow by me like he did. Ok fine. I throw my high beams on him to say "hey you are an idiot." Then since there is oncoming traffic, I lower them and keep on trucking. We get to a small hill with a big set of curves and he is stuck behind an ambulance going back to the station in the next county. 30 miles per hour. Whatever, I'm 2 minutes from home at that point. We hit the straight stretch right after the last big curve and WHAM---he zooms past the ambulance--double yellow line.
And he's not the first one I've seen do that there. Yes years ago it used to be a passing zone, but not for at least the last 10 years or more. Anyone who travels that road knows this, because why would you travel it if there was a better option? But it's the only viable link between the "big city" and the southern end of the county, where I live.
And while I am on the subject of drivers----who the crap decided teenagers could drive? I had to pick my 9th grader up from school yesterday for a orthodontist appt. and the appt. time was set so he could not ride the bus home and get there on time, so I picked him up just after the busses left the school so I wouldn't get caught in the traffic. WRONG! There was a line like nothing I had ever seen coming from that school---9/10's were kids driving. So I get him picked up and we're just about through the local burgh headed for a shorter cut than going thru town, when some punk in a red Mustang (he couldn't be older than 16 0r 17) cuts right in front of me, barely clearing my front bumper, no signal, nothing. Now even if my kids get their licenses as teens, they are not driving to school, and are sure not getting handed a car, even a junker, much less a $40,000 piece of machinery(MY car's original selling price NEW wasn't near that). Does anyone teach new drivers how to judge speed and distance of the cars traveling with you and toward you anymore? My driver's ed teacher sure did. He is also the reason I drive with my headlights on 99.9% of the time. At least the theory is that others will see my vehicle--although the way that kid drove, he sure didn't.
By the time I got to the orthodontist, I was absolutely positive that at least half the drivers on the road should have their licenses pulled, at least until they take a safety course or something.I also had a lady pulling off the interstate in an SUV which was apparently too big for her to see waht was coming up behind her, because as I was already traveling in the lane she wanted to be in, and she was merging---I had right of way, but ended up swerving into the right lane and praying no one was there since I didn't have time to do more than glance in my mirrors.

See I told you not to get me started..........

what the ^*&*?

So my 9th grader brings home his orchestra newsletter with all the concert dates on it so I have a small clue what is going on, and at the bottom of the page is an ad for a local music shop. Now quite honestly, my husband runs a music shop of his own about 20 miles up the road from this one, and he gets quite a number of people in his shop complaining about the local one. My son drew his own hand gestures on the paper, which I will have to say something to him about, but I echo the sentiment. Plus I don't think that as a teacher you should recommend one shop over another--I think you can supply a list of shops--most are going to start out with the closest one anyway, but at least that gives a person some freedom to make the decision, instead of going to this certain one because it's what the teacher said to do. Which anyone with kids knows is what conclusion will be drawn--teacher said it so it's right. Yeah we have had some go-rounds in our house over that thinking......And yeah I'm probably griping over little or nothing, but hey, it's my blog.......

School violence summit...????

The blurb across the top of my computer screen says Bush is organizing a school violence summit. Huh? Ok, I think that it's ridiculous that people ar carrying guns into schools and killing people, mostly for no good reason. But....why a summit? is it that it is election time and a reaction is needed to show the people we care and are concerned? Or do the powers that be really think that talking about it is going to change it?
When I was in high school (class of 1985), school violence was a fistfight in the hallway, usually over a girl. Granted I graduated from a small rural high school (100 graduates in my class), but we watched the news---very rarely was there mention of the kind of school violence we see now. Did it exist or is it a new phenomenon? What kind of accountibility do we hold the parents of these teen killers to? And the school administrators? Should they be held to a standard of accountibility for the actions of their children/students?
I have children in high school and middle school now. After Columbine, my cousin was terrified to go to school because at our local high school, there was a supposed hit list circulating. The school was quick to clamp down at the time. But I do worry about my kids when they board the school bus in the morning, and I worry about them until they walk in the front door after school. Because I don't know if one of their classmates will snap. I don't know if that student's parents are lax in leaving their guns around. I don't know if that student will sneak a knife or whatever into the school setting and maybe my kid is caught in the crossfire.
I try not to let the worry rule my life, but it is there under the surface. I hold my kids accountable for their actions, but do other parents? I control, yes censor, what my kids read and watch on tv and the music they listen to. That's my job as a parent. So we don't allow things like cd's by Slayer and like groups to be brought into my home. We don't allow MTV to be watched in our home--and CMT is regulated. Even though my stepkids may be allowed to watch certain movies or shows at their mom's home, and they can get ticked off when I don;t allow it here, that's ok. Because some things are not suitable for kids (and some things aren't even suitable for adults), and it's my job to filter those out until such a time as they are old enough to handle it. Which means they are old enough to logically and rationally discuss the issues involved, and are old enough to distinguish fact from fiction, right from wrong, etc.
I also don;t allow them to run around with play guns, or act like they are killing people. I don't allow personal attacks on another, such as "you suck". They are taught to respect others, and although sometimes I wonder how well the lesson is sinking in, all 5 do fairly well at it, and are horrified at those who don't.
School violence summit? Hmmmmm.....how about just following the lessons learned at home--or that should be taught at home---like if it ain't yours don't touch it. Or do unto others as you would have done unto you. Make a mess, clean it up. If you make a mistake, apologize and learn from it. Take responsibility for your actions and quit blaming everyone else in sight for your screw-up.
Hmmmmm......

Superwoman where are you now?

You know, I am a child of the eighties. I came of age in the eighties, attended high school and college then, and am a sucker for "Footloose" and John Hughes movies. It just hit me that during that time period we were expected to become superwomen by society. Or at least, that is what we were told. We had to have a career, bust thru the glass ceiling, and raise a family that would be whatever is considered normal. Ok, news flash for those stuck in a time warp (Ah, Rocky Horror), it ain't happening. I have all I can do to tread water as I maintain a JOB, not a career, but it pays the bills. As well as keep up a house and raise 3 kids and 2 stepkids (as I get the chance with those two teens whom we see semi regularly).
And I'm not the only one from my generation to say "Screw it!" I know so many people who work to support their families, not to break into Guiness Book as the first female to---filll in the blank. They are married, single, divorced, with kids, with aging parents, and health problems of their own as they age. Forget retirement. We have all we can do to maintain today, much less tomorrow. Some days we can't remember our own names--forget keeping the kids straight. How many times have I yelled for one kid, only to realize when no one answered that I was using the wrong name---then there are the times I should say "Hey Beavis and Butthead, get in here."
Anyway, it's people like me who cheered when Martha Stewart went to jail (I refuse to shop Kmart because all I ever see is her name.).
No point really to this post. Just a thought or two.