thoroughly disgusted

(The below is a copy of the email  I sent to the local school superintendent and the local paper last night.)

I am absolutely, completely disgusted at this school district. First,
ramming Jamie Oliver's "healthy foods" program through the schools,
now taking out the swings because a couple kids goof off and get hurt.
Number one, there is not a kid in the world who has not fallen,
scraped a knee, gotten bruised and banged up while playing on a school
playground. I know I did, and I lived to tell the tale. Are we going
to take out the even more dangerous monkey bars? How about the little
balance beam type things that are about 6 inches off the ground that
some playgrounds have? This school system is not protecting the kids,
it is protecting itself from frivolous lawsuits that any judge worth
his/her salt would throw out. This is not about the kids, it is about
money.

Number two, when taking out the swings, why was not the whole set
taken out? Why was the frame of the swingset left behind to be used as
an even more dangerous set of monkey bars? This is happening at my
child's school...she has seen it.

If this was about protecting the children, then someone with some
sense would be ensuring that it would be done right, instead of
halfway, as usual.

This school system makes me laugh at the way it thinks sometimes. I
have 3 children of my own who are either in or have graduated from
Cabell County schools, and overall, although I do have several
complaints about the number of teacher inservice days and the fact
that while policy states the school will supply any required
materials, yet I am still having to purchase my honor student's
reading materials for the summer, my kids have done very well and have
actually had teachers who have challenged them and driven them to
succeed. Yet it can't even take a swingset down without endangering
kids more.

I guess I just don't understand priorities. Mine is to teach my child
to think about consequences...you fool around on playground equipment
and get hurt, well, I guess you learned not to do it again. You fail
to study for a test and fail, well, I guess you'll study next time.
Surely I am not the only parent who does this. Maybe I just feel like
it, but that's the way it is.

Maybe this makes sense to you, maybe you think it's a rant. Either
way, I feel you need to know how this parent feels about what to me is
a pretty senseless decision on the part of the school system.

Thank you.

the Democratic National Committee

So in the course of seeing who had called while I was sleeping earlier, I took the caller ID back a few days to make sure I hadn't missed anything important, and found several numbers I did not recognize. So as is my standard practice, I "googled" them, and lo and behold, 3 out of 4 are related to the DNC.....kind of funny as I am a registered Republican. Kind of funny as if you know me, I am the furthest thing from everything that the DNC stands for...mainly because I abhore being lied to (that means I can't stand it, for those who don't have a vocabulary).

What I would like now, is since I have these numbers in hand, would be a way to let them know how I really feel about the direction they have taken this country since the Clinton era.....that was the start of a huge downhill slide. Good ol' Clinton, having taken advantage of the economic policies Reagan (gasp, a Republican) put into place, as well as taking advantage of his interns (although Monica couldn't have been so stupid as not to see some advantage for her as well). No wonder Hillary always looked so sour......

Anyway, I digress.......the DNC has pushed its candidates and gotten them elected to create chaos in this country. Most of us live paycheck to paycheck and now that is threatened too. I so love it when it is preached that all these new taxes and laws are for our benefit and "for the children" when they clearly couldn't give a rat's rear end about the children or anyone else.

That's why I am voting for anyone even resembling the Tea Party mantra. I want everyday people in office, people who have been there and done that. Who have struggled to make ends meet, who have lived in the real world. More importantly, as stated by the Jack Ryan character in Tom Clancy's "Executive Orders" novel, I want people in office who don't want to be there...who do not look at the position as their personal way to wealth...who simply want to do the job they are asked by their constituents to do and then go home.

And before one of my oh-so-brave anonymous chain letter style commenters decides to deride me for my naivete.......go back and read the Constitution, and the Federalist papers and so on and so forth by those who founded our country. Yes the evil white men, as our kids seem to be taught these days.....the post of senator and representative were not meant to be lifelong positions.....

I love it

I love pissing off liberals. They sputter and spout. They, on rare occasions, will start throwing numbers and statistics and all that stuff at you, mainly just to try and confuse you and get you to say, "well, maybe..."

I'm waiting to be called a whore. Like Meg Whitman in CA....you know, if I were her, I think I would laugh about it. After all Jerry Brown has been certifiable for years. Anyone remember him in office in CA back in the 1970's?   Yeah, he is a nut. A cracked one. I've got no clue if any of the charges he has leveled against her about currying favor are true, but I'm quite sure while he is pointing the finger, at least one if not more is pointing back at him.....sheesh....pots call kettle black... CA will just have to worry about its own....I have too much going on here in WV to worry about CA right now.

What is the deal with the Democrat candidates, ie.Ted Strickland of OH, not using the Dem logo or admitting they are Dems on their websites? I thought my source had to be kidding me, so I checked it out. Not one Dem ID on the whole page......cheap trick.

By the way, did anyone happen to catch the speech or whatever Pelosi gave where she equated food stamps and unemployment benefits with a jobs program? WTH? Because a jobs program creates jobs. Not entitlements. The goal should be to get people working at productive jobs that they can support themselves and their families with, not to keep them getting handouts. But go figure, this administration can't seem to figure that one out either.I guess their goal is to get all of us under their thumbs so they can tell us how to live, what to eat, what to drive, etc.....all I can say is they can kiss my butt.

I quite enjoy the fact that I get to see Spike Maynard commercials on tv...thanks to the stations who thumbed their nose at Mr. Rahall. Turn about is fair play, right....if Rahall gets to run ads against Maynard like the ones he has done, then it is only fair Maynard get the same chance.....BTW I still see 3-4 Rahall ads for every ONE of Maynards....on radio it seems a little more evenly split....

And while on the subject of ads, anyone seen the one for Raese that is causing such controversy? The one the national committee did, where they advertised for "hicky" looking actors to portray West Virginians? Hey I think they did a pretty good job of casting.....these good old boys look and sound like people I see every day. My only objection to the ad is they probably should have hired actual WV people for the parts. I know plenty who would have been more than happy to appear in an ad against Mr. Open For Business Manchin. Yeah Joe how'd that logo work out for you?

Anyway, gotta go and get back to the business of getting ready for work.

He did not just..oh yes he did...

Driving to work yesterday morning, I am listening to the radio and on comes a political ad. Not surprising since it is election time. In our congressional district, we have incumbent Nick Joe Rahall  (D) and challenger Spike Maynard (R). Both are running negative ads like crazy. Rahall has actually file cease and desist orders against several tv stations for running an ad by Maynard which Rahall says is false..(Now personally I think he is crying wolf b/c as far as I can see, everything it says is true.) But the radio stations are running Maynard ads like crazy. HMMMM.....So anyway, they had both run against each other before, and I swear Rahall pulled one of his old commercials out of his rear and was running it...all about how Maynard is in the pocket of Massey energy CEO Don Blankenship.....and his time as WV Supreme Ct justice....

yeah yeah yeah, blather on.......So Maynard is corrupt...and Rahall is pure as the driven snow?   HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA........Rahall has voted for everything Obamamamma has pushed through. Even to the point of stating outright in public "I will vote for xxxxxx bill, even though my constituents don't want me to" Ummm, hello? Are you not supposed to REPRESENT your constituents, not screw thm up the butt without benefit of dinner and a movie and vaseline in quantity?

'Nuff said.

anyone out there?

Not like anyone really reads this thing, but it's good for venting.

So first rant of the day-----teacher enrichment or empowerment or whatever......for the second time within a month my high school son goes to school 3 hrs late and my elementary school daughter comes home 3 hrs early because of this crap. Which caused me to have to switch my work schedule around, again, to accommodate Cabell County schools. I don't see them adjusting to suit my work schedule. Yeah I know that's a little silly, but still.....I think it is bullshit. I think school starts at 8 am and runs till 3 pm and by God the teachers should be in their classroom, barring their one planning period, teaching the subject from the book/approved educational materials. That's what they are paid for. That's why I hoist my butt out of bed each day to ensure my kids are there on time and ready to go. That's what my property tax dollars go for, is to have teachers teaching. I don't see where these "enrichment" days or ISE days and so on are doing the students any good. They learn less, are handed more, and generally speaking seem stupider than those I graduated with 25 years ago before all this crap was mandated by the states. With the help of the teacher's unions, whose main function I believe is to keep their members from actually having to do their jobs.

And while I am on the subject, when did it become accepted practice to teach a class using popular movies? My son learned mythology by watching movies practically straight from the theater. My stepdaughter's class in child care (actually a glorified day care in the school) showed "Daddy Day Care" as a learning tool....What the hell!!! Movie time was rare when I went to school, and it was mainly documentaries that put you to sleep, but the purpose is to learn, right? Not be entertained.....

And every year I have the same conversation with my kids---the WESTEST, or any standardized test to measure learning, is a tool to see what the teachers have taught, not to measure how well the kids have learned it. Therefore, once again in the spring, I will again reiterate that they are not to stress and worry about it, as it is a reflection on their teachers, not themselves. No matter what the teachers try to tell them. Save the worry for the SAT's or ACT's......which most colleges still use as a barometer when admitting students.

somebody shoot me

No not literally. But as stupid as some people are, they would probably take it as an invite. Ok so don't shoot me. But if you would like to take away my chest congestion and cough, please feel free....

So I am perusing Facebook this afternoon and there is a link from one of the conservative groups I "like". It's about a rally at Lucasville, OH this past weekend for Gov. Strickland. According to the video and the notes accompanying it, the vet who was videotaping the rally had hot coffee poured down his back "on accident" and then got flipped off by the guy who did it. Can't honestly remember if that is assault  or battery or a combo of the two, but still yet.....I commented that I hope someone has the balls to turn the dude in and that the vet should file all possible charges against him, maybe something will stick.  Most of the comments are rude, vulgar, abusive and so on.

Is this what we have sunk to? The only way we can converse even in party lines is to be as insulting and rude as possible? I have my moments, but please people, use your brains. You really are more likely to be listened to and your words will carry more weight if well thought out and not of the bathroom variety.

Coming home this morning from work, I heard a song on the radio by Darryl Worley---Keep the Change....he makes his point without all the language. If you want to check it out you can find the link on my facebook page or simply look for it on youtube.I do not know if the link I put was for the official video, but it was a good one.  And it made me think....do we want people in office who refuse to salute the flag? Who try to and succeed in rewriting the Constitution every chance they get? Who demand their rights while denying ours?

My grandpa on my mom's side was dyed in the wool Democrat till the day he died. He would be spinning in his grave over the way the party has bastardized what it used to stand for. It used to be the party of the people, now it is the party of corruption, greed, "I'm here to get whatever I can get and screw you". And the other party isn't any better in a lot of ways.....Pop-paw would be telling the politicians in no uncertain terms, yet like the highly moral man he was, what they could do and needed to do. And it sure wouldn't be what they are up to now.

Do you realize that when the Patriot Act came out there were all sorts of protests against the wiretapping issues and federal eavesdropping on anybody they "suspected" of being or harboring a terrorist? Well, folks, this administration is about to go one better--or maybe two or three.....They want to be able to tap into ALL communications, even like when friends IM each other, or text, or whatever. Why? Well, the answer should be obvious--they want to root out those who don't follow their belief system, whatever that may be. They want us to inform on each other and to not be "seditious" or "treasonous"...or whatever may make their lives more difficult as they seek to reprogram us all.  All I can say to that is fight 'em like hell, and barring that, well, see ya in the pokey........

VOTE NOVEMBER 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

thinking out loud

Number one, it sucks to be brought down by allergies and sinuses when it is still 90 fricking degrees outside. Especially when you have a 4 almost 5 day weekend coming up including an out of town trip and are trying to bust your butt at work to get stuff done before you go...Oh well, sorry, I had to eat 3 more hours of sick time and come home at 1 yesterday, hit the nyquil, and go to bed for 4 hrs. I had called Ron to let him know I would get Shellie off the bus and then take a nap, but he said he would come on home and take care of stuff so I could sleep and try to knock the crap out of this before it turned into a sinus infection or worse...as it tends to do...nice thing is, the kids pretty well take care of themselves anymore--well Shellie still needs guidance and so on or she would be outside playing with the neighbor kids and the dogs that aggravate her seasonal allergies until 10 pm!!! So I didn't have to worry about anything, just rest....thanks guys!!

2nd, if a school system is going to do teacher enrichment or whatever the hell the current excuse is to get out of actually teaching, then at least coordinate the schools...Shellie went in at normal time today, but gets out at noon, while my Ben at the high school went in 3 hrs late and gets home at the normal time.....go figure...so up at 630am to make sure Shellie doesn't wear daisy duke shorts and so on to school, then look at my kitchen and got the cleaning bug...it lasted just long enough for me to rant about how I am the only one who ever does anything around here---patently not true, as my darling husband does his share, but has been concentrating on getting wood in this week , and to get the high schooler to sweep and mop the kitchen floor like I requested he do last Sunday--it's now Thursday....he did a good job though.....

So kitchen is mainly cleaned up--need to clean off top of snack bar and kitchen island, both are catch all's, and vacuum the dining room, but I can tell we have a countertop and dining table now. Load of darks in dryer and towels in washer; oldest son's (the college one) bed is finally put back together and the junk in his floor is now in his chair--sorry Chris but motherly love only goes so far--and most of the stuff I need to take to PA this weekend is in a stack on his bed....quilts and pillows are back in place in the living room, papers gone through and coupons cut out, and papers are now stacked in wood basket next to fireplace to be burned when needed. My quilting area is picked up somewhat. So except for a few minor details, I am done cleaning.

Which leaves me time on my hands to do what? Well I need to hit the grocery store--I am considering giving the Save a Lot in Hamlin a try, just for someplace different. Takes me about as long to get there as it does to WM in Bville, or Kroger......and probably less hassle, as long as I remember to watch the speed limit signs thru W. Hamlin......or I may hit WM or something this evening when I take Ben to his extended TSYO practice in Huntington...and no, I won't shop for anything in Huntington if I can get it elsewhere.....a matter of principle.....

I also need to go thru boxes of papers in the garage and get rid of the junk and make sure we have the important stuff.....but it's such a daunting task, even after all I have trashed the last 4 yrs, there's still a lot left.....

Or I could mess up my quilt area a little more.....hmmmmm......

I'll let you know who wins.....:)